Angel and I decided to try and make a X-men/mutant rpg

now you can't be wolverine or cyclops or any current guys, you make your own, and if you've seen x-men evolution, we're all in high school, and we will be facing prejudice so we're outcasts (no one really communicates/likes us) and will basically do anything to get rid of us, almost no one is going to be like, "Cool powers man!"

Yeah, and no metal claws or duplicate powers, except maybe fire and ice control or speed (cuz those are basic)

Orange and blue, green and pink
I see you in everything...

Anjani Chidambar woke up at 6:15 in the morning to Liz Phair. She sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes, and hurled a pillow at her stereo.

"It's nothing personal, Liz," she mumbled fuzzily, "but shut up." She crawled out of bed and went to her closet, pulling a pair of boy-cut jeans and a white baby T-shirt out. Laying them on the bed and picking up her blue, fuzzy robe, she snuck into the empty hallway of the Xavier Institute.

"I'm using the shower!" she called, but there was no answer. Shrugging, she said to herself, "Can't say I didn't warn them," and went into the bathroom.

Thirty minutes, a shower, and a blow-dry later, Anjani put on her robe and went back into her bedroom. She pulled on her jeans and T-shirt, brushed her hair a final time, and applied some last-minute makeup.

"Oh-kay. All ready," she proclaimed, looking herself over in the mirror. She poked the silk-screened image of Ganesh on her shirt and said, "You better bring me some luck on my calc test today, okay, buddy?"

She grabbed her purple backpack and shoved her Walkman inside, then headed out the door.

"Come on, you guys, we're gonna be late!" she called as she went down the stairs in search of breakfast.

Chrono finally got out of his Nintendo phase. He had been playing the 'Cube for about an hour. He jumped up, and since he was already dressed he just grabbed a cookie he had left on his computer table last night, holding it with his lips as he ran out the door, turning his gamecube off as he passed it,

"Holff onff!" Chrono muffled shoving his arm through the strap on his white backpack and trying to talk with a cookie in his mouth at the same time. He ran up to Anjani, taking a bite of the cookie (since his hands were now free to hold the cookie).

"Geeze, Anjani.. cut a man a break. I was just finishing a lap on Mario Kart.... you really should have played." Chrono said, walking next to the girl.

Locke glanced at his alarm clock, noticing it was about 7:15. Shit! Last time I try and hit the SLEEP with a sonic wave Locke jumped out bed and sprinted to the showers, running back out, barely covered by a towel. Locke threw on yesterday's outfit, not ready for the Tuesday ahead of him. Running out his room, he stopped in the kitchen to grab a Nutri-Grain_TM and ran to find Aaron, the oldest of the high-schoolers at the Institute, starting his topless mustang. "Damn you Aaron!"

Using his sonic waves, Locke flew off the ground a bit and sped towards the car as it accerlated towards the gates, catching the bumper and pulling himself in he said, "Jerk, I oughta key this thing for that little stunt."

"Yeah, well, we sane people were sleeping," Anjani retorted good-naturedly, grabbing her bagel from the toaster. "You ready to go? I'm gonna be late for art at this rate."

Vivian was in the kitchen happily eating a donut and reading a book.

"You coming Viv?" asked one of her friends.

"My first class doesn't start for another hour," she smiled and returned to reading the paper.

"You suck," her friend mocked her, "I'm jealous... well anyway, I got to go to class. See ya' later."

"See ya!" Vivian replied.

After twenty minutes or so Vivian got bored w/ the paper and proceeded to walk around the school grounds. "Such a nice day..." she commented to herself.

Chrono smiled, "What!? Just because I was up 'til one playing last night and woke up early to play it today... that doesn't make me crazy." He said, playfully rolling his eyes. He stopped talking and grinned,

"That's probably the reason I fall asleep in first period history... that or it's because my teacher is mono-tone." Chrono said laughing, "I swear I can hear that man in my sleep."

He took another bite of his cookie. He suddenly remembered something,

"Heh heh, Anjani... today I'm not re-doing time if you drop your bagel... so don't even try." He said, giving her the evil eye, "It gives me a massave headache.."

"What, you're saying that your health is more important than my breakfast?" Anjani teased. "Well, my bagel is terribly offended."

Chrono smiled, "Well, I'd appologise to your bagel but it looks too delicious." Chrono said eyeing the bagel,

"Look! A distraction!" Chrono yelled pointing a finger in a random direction dramatically... of course it didn't work, Anjani's eyes were still fixed on Chrono, but the boy didn't care and quickly stole a small chunk of the bagel anyway.

"Heh heh, good bagel." He commented eating it. He looked at the girl and finally tore off a small chunk of his cookie and offered it as a peace offering...

Anjani took the peace offering and smiled innocently at Toki. She stood on her tiptoes, smiled cutely, and patted him on the head.

"Last one to school has a Wolverine fetish," she informed him cheerfully, then ran like hell to the door to put on her rollerblades. As she left the house, she yelled, "And no using your powers to get a head start, either!!"

"Hey!" Chrono yelled, his eyes widening when he saw Anjani putting the roller blades on. Chrono didn't know what else to do, he just ran trying to get a head start. He saw a car come zooming up, Chronos timed it and dived inside. He popped his head out once he got upright, he saw Anjani and stuck out a tongue at the girl, then he thought about who's car he was in. He looked around, his face instantly reddend,

"Hey Wolverine." He said, a little antsy due to the comment Anjani had said. The mutant just glared at him and growled,

"So what are you kids doing now?" Wolverine growled.

"Umm... trying to get to school..." Chrono said weakly, "I thought that you only rode your motorcycle...." Chrono added in,

"Well, I'm visiting the school, and the professor said I should try to drive a car for once... so that's why I borrowed Cyclops' car." Wolverine said with a grin.

"Well.. uh, could you drop me off at the school?" Chrono asked, wolverine nodded and gunned it, throwing Chrono against the back of the seat. They soon reached the school,

"Thanks.." Chrono said, getting out,

"Yea kid...." He said. Chrono waived and walked to the steps of the school, waiting for Anjani.

Anjani saw Toki jump into the passing car and growled.

"That was dirty!" she complained to no one in particular. "Well, I'll just have to avoid seeing him before school. That way he'll have no evidence that he was there first." True to her word, she skated to school but went around the back way. There she removed her rollerblades, put on her sneakers, and put the 'blades in her locker.

"All done!" she said cheerfully. As if on cue, the first bell rang and she hurried to her first class.

Chrono was waken from his sleep by the first bell. "Ahh! I gotta make it to class!" He yelped, He concentraited while running, all around him the birds flew backwards, the grass blew the opposite way, only a little, then time reverted again, and true to his power, the bell rang again five seconds after Chrono used his power, but on his way to the class he ended up running into a locker,

"Arrg... that dumb headache..." He complained, getting into his class before the late bell rang" He looked up to see his history teacher Mr. Renas. Chrono sat down,

"I know she cheated somehow, she should have gotten here after me..." Chrono mumbled to himself, massaging his head.

Iria was walking through an open field. It was snowing lightly.

Well, another winter comes, and another winter will go. I just wish I wasn't alone.

She looked at the sky.

No need to use my powers, I can walk.. besides, where would I go anyway?

She shifted her cloak over her wavy, spiked red hair and walked into the trees.

Aaron drove to school, parking and jumping out with everyone else.

Iria came across a road in the middle of the forest. Paved, with a bright yellow line in the middle. To the left, there were trees. To the right, a small mountain town. She walked to the town, it was early, and she hadn't eaten anything for a while.

Maybe I can get some more money here.

She pulled a small black pouch from her suit under her sarape. She pulled out a $5, and looked what else remained inside. All she had was a $50 and two $10s.

I have enough for a few days, but I could always use more....

Locke heard the bell ring and he ran towards Stats. Shit! I didn't know we were thislate! Locke sped into his class, where his empty desk and scorning look from his teacher were waiting like any other day. "Sorry, too much traffic."

Anjani, however, had made it to her Design in Mixed Media classroom before the bell without the use of any powers. Since her powers generally didn't assist her in getting to class on time(unless she wanted to expend the energy needed to create a doppleganger of herself), she'd adjusted her schedule so that she could be on time without them.

Tucking her curly hair behind her ears, she settled down in her seat and pulled out her Walkman and her sketchbook.

"Okay, 'Jani, let's design," she said to herself, and busily began sketching ideas for her etched glass project.

Chronos, however, was droning out Mr.Renas. His headache was getting better. He was busy doodling how he would look like when he got his mutant suit. He had whisps of power swirling around himself to empasise his powers.

"heh heh... this should be my costume..." Chrono said under his breath, to aviod anyone from hearing...

I imagine everyone sometimes
Will cross their heart and hope to die to tell I love you lies...

Anjani hummed happily along with her CD player and continued sketching, oblivious to the world around her.

Iria entered a small coffee shop, sat at the counter, and flipped her sarape back a little, letting her chest and armor out for a little fresher air than they got since she woke up and started walking.

She threw down her $5. The waitress looked her over.

"Hun, you look like you've been walking through the snow for a while! What can I get ya'?"

"Um... the biggest breakfast I can get for $5. And some coffee too, please"

The waitress got her a good cup of coffee, really good and warm. It wasn't long before some eggs and pancakes showed up. Iria smiled and ate the best breakfast she had had in some time. The total came to $3.50, and out of generosity, she left the rest for the waitress.

Locke sat down, listening to the lesson for the most part. But that soon stopped happening when he heard the whistling of some type of projectile. Turning around he sent back a nearly invisible sonic wave reflecting it back at the student fast, knocking him out of his seat. A jock in his Varsity jacket stood up, "Freak punk, what'd you do that for?" he shouted pushing Locke over in his desk.

The teacher slapped his hand down on his desk, "Locke! If you cannot control yourself I will send you to the office with a referral."

The jock laughed as Locke stood, brushed himself off and stood his desk back up. "I think I broke something with the fall, can I see the nurse?"

"Yes, just go."

Locke picked up his bag without another word and headed straight out heading towards the nurse's office.

A note was placed on his desk, and it was a minute before he realized it had been put there.

"Huh?" Chrono mumbled, opening the note whithout letting the teacher see.

Hey,
I think I know a secret about you. Meet me by the hallway just past the bathrooms, it's usually deserted. I want to talk with you.

Chrono "pssshed" and crumpled the note up, but putting it in his backpack, he didn't really want it lying around. For the rest of the lession part of his mind was on that letter...

Iria stopped before leaving the restaurant.

"Ma'am, where are we? What city is this?"

"Why, this ain't a town. This is just a coffee shop here along I-91. About 5 miles down thataway is Holyoke."

"Thanks. Oh, and that was really good, too."

"Glad you liked it."

Iria left the shop and continued to walk alongside the road. She hadn't gotten very far when the waitress came running after her.

"Wha... what's wrong, ma'am?"

"Darling, don't tell me you've been walking everywhere!"

"Why, yes, I have."

"Well, if you can't afford a ride, at least take this."

The waitress handed her a $5. Iria's eyes widened.

"But..."

"No buts, dearie. Just go. Think of it as a gift."

And with a smile on her face, Iria thanked the lady, and turned around to walk. A cool wind blew.

Anjani stopped sketching and held her drawing out at arm's length. Scrutinizing it, she leaned back in her chair and held it backwards up to the light. This earned her a few strange looks from nearby classmates, but she ignored them.

Okay....his nose is a little too big, and her arms need to be shorter, she noted, lowering the paper momentarily to sketch again. And then, her hand will end up on his shoulder...there. She smiled at her picture and set it down again. The CD she'd been listening to ended, so she put it back into her CD booklet and popped in her Dance Dance Revolution soundtrack.

1, 2, 3, 4, 007
All the good guys go to heaven
5, 6, 7, 8, hey hey
All the rest can go away!

Satisfied, Anjani settled down to sketch a girl playing DDR, but then the bell rang. Instead, she scooped up her sketchbook and pencils and put them in her backpack before heading to her English class, still listening to perky techno goodness.

The bell rang realeasing him from class. Chrono thanked all that was holy, while grabbing his things as fast as he could and stuffing them into his backpack, he spied the note again.

"Nah, I wont bother with that... it doesn't matter anyway..." Chrono said, zipping his pack and sailing through the door.

Now, to intercept Jani in the hall. He thought grinning.

Walking through, the bell rang and classes exited their rooms. Locke spotted Chrono on his way to the nurse's, opening the door and asking the nurse if he could lay down. The nurse was a kind woman who was African-American had sheltered Locke, remembering her own persecution when she was in school. "Bad time again?"

Locke responded, "Yeah, that stupid jock. Had I blasted him through the window I'd probably be in trouble." Locke frowned and sleep a little laying on one of the health office's beds.

Shift was closely following Chronos through the halls. He had to get some useful information about his past before he could attempt to fool him into thinking he was a ghost.

Iria entered a city after an hour or two of walking along the road. It was your average, middle-sized city, probably with 15,000 people in it.

So many people, someone must need some work done

As she walked by a television shop, she saw a sign that said "Help Wanted". However, her entrance was halted by images on the television in the display.

"Are you gifted with powers beyond those of a normal person? Do you wish to know more about yourself, and meet others like you? Then come to the Xiaver Institute, the place where your questions can be answered. THe Xiaver Institute, only 10 miles from..."

She gawked at the fading image as it turned into another commerical.


"The Xiavier Institute... maybe I can go there..."

Chrono neared Jani's room. Before he reached it he pondered about his next class, it was math....but his math class was not boring... in fact, it was kind of fun....

By the time Anjani got to her next class, she'd flipped to a later song on the CD. She'd taken the shorter way to avoid running into Chrono(he had an....interesting....habit of coming up behind her and scaring her in between classes, and she did her best to avoid it), so she didn't get as much time to listen to her songs as before.

You're my hero, I love you
And all I want to know is if you love me to
You're me hero, I like you
Why don't you take me away and make my dreams come true?

Anjani listened to the last strains of music, then hit the stop button. She put her CD player into her backpack, sat down, and prepared to discuss Walt Whitman.

Chrono scanned the hallway,

"Arg! She excaped!" Chrono muttered, suddenly bursting into a run down the hallway towards her next classroom, it came into view. As he passed by the door he yelled in, "You suck Jani!" and detoured back towards his math class. Barely making it on time before the bell rang.

"Whew..." Chrono sighed, slumping into his chair.

Iria moved into a quiet section of town. Since seeing that ad, she had been longing to get there.

"Forget the money here, I need to see what I can do there!"

She closed her eyes and focused on the image of the large school she saw on television. The image was as vivid as she could make it in her mind, and then, she moved her hands slowly in front of her.

Now, she would demonstrate why she had the nickname "Transit".

Her hands were tinted light blue, and a speck of light appeared before her. Concentrating on the exact place she wanted to go, she moved her hands in the shape of an oval, from the top of her head to above her knees, and her body's outline turned the same color of blue as her hands, then, it grew brighter and brighter, as she focused harder and harder.

This wasn't a huge distance to travel, she had done farther, much farther. Her body was illuminated by the puncture in space-time she had made, and she disappeared. No one saw a thing, except a quick flash of light as space-time fixed itself.

Instantaneously, she appeared on the front lawn of the institute. She drew a quick deep breath to signify her arrival, and walked to the door.

Anjani heard someone yell, "You suck, 'Jani!" at her as they passed in the hall.

Oh, there's Chrono, she thought, smirking to herself. The girl next to her looked at her oddly, but she paid her no mind. She opted instead to doodle little Pearls(a character from her favorite video game) in the margin of her English notebook.

Two hours later

Locke awoke, seeing the nurse shaking him. "You oughta get to class now, if you need to come back I'll write you a note home."

"Sure, thanks." And with that he picked up his bag and went out into the hall and headed towards Spanish. He arrived and slugged into his seat, trying not to say anything about the yellow-toothed hag at the front of the classroom (a.k.a. Martilla).

After a couple of hours had passed, Chrono had gotten through another class of Math. This time it was really boring... they had a sub. Chrono hastily stuffed papers into his backpack and ran out the room.

The rest of the day passed relatively quickly, and Locke sleep through most of it. Thank God It's Friday...

Aaron was waiting by the car when Locke sulked to it, "Bad day?" he asked slightly sympatheticly.

"Yeah, like normal. Let's go" Locke responded. They waited for few more minutes for the rest of the guys to arrive and started to leave.l

IC: Shift was going to follow Chronos back to the Xavior institute, but if the rumors of Professor Xavior being able to detect the precense of every mutant near him was true, he would be found out and dealt with, even in his mutant form. He was content with waiting in the trees outside the walls in his human form until Chronos came back out, hopefully this time revealing something that he could use.

Iria walked onto the front steps of the Institute, just as someone in a car came ripping down the driveway.

More.. Mutants...

She felt happy all of a sudden.

Anjani left for school the same way she'd arrived-- on rollerblades. She employed her trusty blue Walkman as well, popping in the latest Matchbox20 CD and speeding off.

The skate home was fairly uneventful. She considered making some wings for herself but decided it wasn't worth the effort or the attention she'd draw to herself. So, she just kept skating and listening to her music. As the CD came to the last track, she saw a car pull past her and head toward the Institute. In the back of her mind, she knew it was Locke. She turned the corner and began to fish her key out of her pocket, but accidentally ran into someone in the process.

Oh, CRAP! she thought, and looked up.

The woman she'd run into had somewhat spiky, silky-looking red hair and deep brown eyes. She stood taller than Anjani and was clad in what looked like a tight black bodysuit and silvery armor. In a scene that would have made any movie producer proud, the song playing on Anjani's Walkman slipped into the chorus as their eyes met.

For all you know, this could be
The difference between what you need
And what you wanna be
Yeah, what you wanna be...

Iria felt someone smack into her, and after recoiling, she looked down to see a small Indian girl laying on the ground looking very worried.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I must have been in your way. Can you help me? I'm not sure where I am."

Reaching out her hand to pull the fallen girl up, she added, "My name's Iria."

Anjani took the hand that was offered to her and stood up, sweatdropping furiously.

"No, no, it's my fault," she assured the taller woman. "I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm Anjani, and you're standing in front of the Xavier Institute." Unsure of whether or not to offer more information(after all, even if she seemed nice, there was no telling what her motives were quite yet), she compromised. "Have you...um...heard of it?" she asked.

Glad to hear she had found the correct destination, Iria said,

"Thank goodness. I was hoping the picture I saw on TV was the right place. Are you a mutant as well?"

Chrono left the school. Jani was nowhere in sight so he decided he'd fare home himself. Chrono walked along the sidewalk, watching the scenery as he walked.

"Geeze... so much homework." Chrono remarked, "I'd be surprised if I get more than 5 hours of Mario Kart!"

He felt in the back of his mind that he was being followed, but he blamed it on his superstitious mindframe and ignored it.

Instead of answering, Anjani raised one hand and traced some letters in the air. Using her powers, she made a rainbow-colored line follow wherever her finger went.

Guess, said the pastel, prismatic cursive hanging in the air. Anjani smiled. Then, something Iria had said registered.

"Wait," she said, "You asked me if I was "a mutant, too". Did you meet someone else from the Institute? Who was it?" She peered curiously upwards at the red-haired woman. "Or...does that mean that you're also a mutant?"

Watching the pretty colors fade, Iria looked down at this girl.

"No, I'm a mutant as well. I really just got here. And I mean just got here."

Flipping her sarape back so it acted like a cape, Iria noticed about a cup of snow had hitched a ride with her here, which looked very out of place as the leaves were still falling off branches onto dry concrete.

"I guess your powers are a mastery of light?"

"Wow! Is that real snow? Where'd you get it?" Anjani's eyes were wide and sparkling as she scooped up a handful of the snow. "It is! Aw....it's melting...."

When all the snow had disappeared from her hand, she looked back up at Iria. "No, I don't have control over light," she replied. "I'm an illusionist. Watch!"

Anjani concentrated for a moment and closed her eyes. When she opened them, they'd changed from a dark, deep brown to a iridescent white. Small flecks of color danced in them, making them resemble opals. Concentrating harder, she pointed at Iria(mostly for dramatic effect) and a pair of feathery white wings sprouted on her back.

"I'm afraid they're not real," she told the surprised woman regretfully. "You can't fly with them. But it's still kind of pretty, huh?"

Iria was shocked to find wings attached to her. She touched them, but they felt... distant. They looked quite real.

"Wow.. that's pretty.. here, I'll show you mine! Do you have any specific place you wish you could go?"

"Uum~" Anjani chewed on her lip, casting around in her mind for a place she'd like to go.

"The Taj Mahal," she decided on a whim. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, then today's your lucky day."

Iria closed her eyes, grabbed hold on Anjani and focused a wide rift in India. As the Taj Mahal is a well-known place, Iria had little problem picturing it. In a only a few seconds and a flash of blue, there stood a structure with a huge golden dome. A quick increase in heat signalled the end of transport.

"Well, you can scratch that off your list."

"....Wow," Anjani managed, looking around her. She'd only been to the Taj Mahal once before, and that was years ago. The exhilaration of being back in the beautiful palace overwhelmed her, and a wide smile broke across her face.

"That's amazing, Iria!!" she exclaimed, clasping the woman's hand tightly in excitement.

"Yeah.. that's my power. Now, I hate to cut this short, but I really need to go back and check out the Institute."

Once again, she pictured the building in her mind, the trees dropping their leaves, and the snow she had dropped. A flash of blue, and they were back.

Except they were standing in the trees.

"Oops! I focused on the trees too much! Hehe, my powers work, but within a margin of error."

"Oh, who cares if we're in the trees?!" Anjani grinned. "That's the best power I've ever seen!" She let go of Iria's hand and somewhat awkwardly managed to get herself down from the tree.

"C'mon," she urged Iria, motioning for her to come down. "I'll introduce you to the Professor myself!!"

Anjani pulled Iria into the huge entryway of the building, one that could have been the mansion of some super-rich guy, but apprently, was severl persons' home, for Anjani was not the only mutant living here.

The halls had them everywhere, some using powers, others just acting like normal kids. It was amazing.

"Anjani... I never realized the school was this popular!"

"Not many people do," Anjani replied. "It's sort of like a boarding school for mutants, mostly the younger ones. We go to public school, but all our training is done here. It's cool, like a big extended family." She peered around and half-frowned. "Hmm...I'd introduce you to some of my friends, but it seems that they've disappeared for the moment. Come on, the Professor's office is this way."

Trisk looked around the front of the school it had taken him 3 weeks to get here but he was finally here. Hands firmly in his pockets he walked up to the front of the school.

Shift was on the grass across the street from the Xavior institute watching the gates and tossing a ball in the air. He spooked a kid into dropping it.

Damnit, why is everyone going in there. Those Xavior mutants are all snotty bastards. I should start my own little mutant club. Hmmm.... gotta recruit though. And gotta find a place to stay. So many things to do.

He got off the ground and let the ball roll from his fingers into the street. He turned and walked away in search of free housing.

What the hell was that?
Trisk spun around facing a person crossing the street.
He is pissed about something concerning this school

Turning to cross the street trisk walked up to the person dimming thier natural suspesion slightly.

They reached a big wooden door, with pillar with a potted plant on each side of the door. It looked important, very much so.

Iria knocked four times, and a voice, sounding as if she heard it in her mind rather than her ears, said:

"Enter."

Anjani peered inside the room and grinned when her eyes landed on the Professor. The bald, wheelchair-bound man smiled back at her from behind his desk.

"Hi, Professor Xavier," she greeted him, waving. She opened the door some more and motioned for Iria to follow her in. After a moment, she did and stood there looking shy.

"This is Iria," the younger girl introduced. "She's one of us. She's got the coolest power, too!" she enthused. "It's soooo awesome, Professor, you've gotta see- oops." She sweatdropped and smiled apologetically. "I'll let her tell you. But she's really nice, Professor; d'ya think she could stay for a while?"

The Professor turned to Iria with an friendly, welcoming expression on his face.

"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Iria," he said. "It seems you've made quite the impression on Anjani here" -Anjani blushed a little- "so why don't you tell me a little about yourself? This Institute is open to all mutants, so you needn't worry. Oh," he interjected as a sudden thought came to him. "Where are my manners? Here, I'll pull you up a chair."

A chair levitated from its position by a large glass window and landed gently in front of his desk.

"Please, sit down," the Professor invited.

"Thank you for speaking with me on such short notice, Professor. My name is Iria. Iria Ayanami. All my life I've been trying to find a place I could stay and fit in, but to no avail. I've wandered around from palce to place for almost twelve years. I saw your commercial, and thought I'd might as well give it a shot."

The Professor raised an eyebrow.

"Well, Iria, you are lucky. This school accepts all, regardless of past. I would like to know more of your past, just to get to know you better."

"Umm, Professor? Iria?" Anjani spoke up shyly. "I know this is a confidential conversation, so...ah....do you want me to leave?"

The Professor raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "I suppose it all depends on what Iria would prefer." He glanced back at the red-haired woman. "Well? What makes you feel most comfortable?"

"I'd assume that if I can stay here, people will learn about me anyway. And I've already showed her my power, so it doesn't bother me."

She began her story.

"In the late 70's to early 80's, the government decided my abilities would helpful to defend from a nuclear attack. Their idea was to use me, and others with somewhat similar powers, to teleport attacks away from the United States."

She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Well, when the Berlin Wall, the government wasn't so worried about nukes anymore, and all the project funding dried up. They let me go on a condition- I never reveal the specifics of the project to anyone. I was sure they would follow me for some time to make sure of that, but I escaped their view entirely. For the last twelve years I've pretty much walked across the continent, using my powers to make money. The first few times, I was a huge money-making courier, since I got things to their destinations in seconds instead of days. But my favorite job, by far, is bounty hunting. My powers let me catch almost all the guys I need to, then live off the rewards.

"The entire time, I was shunned for being different, and that's why I never could tay in one place so long. I was so different, that people in one place would eventually learn about my powers, and further alienate me. Yet, saw the commercial, and thought I'd try this place."

She smiled and looked right at him.

"Could I try your school?"

SHift turned around at the sound of footsteps behind him. He was slightly suprised to see a boy there, who seemed slightly suprised that he was slightly suprised. This suprised him even more, and the chain went on. Finally he said, "Who are you and what do you want?"

"The question quickly becomes why do you wonder? My name is Trisk. I was just wondering why you look so pissed. This is a happy place it seems you should be happy."

The professor looked at her and smiled.

"Like I said, this school is open to all mutants, regardless of past. You're welcome to stay as long as you wish, and all we ask is you help keep this house in running order, small chores mostly."

"And, if you want, we can help you develop your powers more."

Iria was very much happy. Finally she had a place to call home. She stood and reached out for the Professor, and shook his hand.

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

The Professor relplied, "Anjani, could you ask Storm to find Iria a spare bed? After that, we need to see who will be roomates with our new guest."

"Actually, Professor," Anjani spoke up, "There's an empty bed in my room. I haven't been issued a roommate yet, so Iria could stay there if she wants." She turned to address Iria and frowned slightly. "Though...since you're not a student anymore, I'd probably keep different hours than you. You might be better off rooming with another adult."

Iria nodded at the factoid Anjani had observed.

"Well, you're right, I won't do things at the same times as you would, but I don't really have anything to do, so we won't run into each other. It doesn't bother me!"

Chrono neared the institute and saw the mutants out front of the school. He approached them cautiously,

"What are you guys doing?" Chrono asked.

For Locke, the ride home was short and uneventful since he spent most of it sulking. Upon arriving, Locke noticed Chrono approaching some other mutants outside the Institute. Looks like trouble...

Locke focused his sonic powers lightly through the palm of his hand, one beneath him and one behind, hovering above the ground flying towards Chrono. He reached Chrono just as...

This seemed an odd question to Shift.

"Why do you think this place is happy? If it is true that one man's trash could be another man's treasure, then it is also true that one man's pleasure can be another man's pain. The happiness in this place is my pain."

When he finished saying this, he was startled to hear Chrono behind him. He turned to look him in the face.

"What business is it of yours?"

Chrono took a step back.

"Whoa, just asking..." Chrono said, holding his hands up in a peaceful manner.

Iria walked down a long, semi-lit passageway to what apparently was Anjani's room. She opened the door to find the average teenage bedroom. Clothes on the floor, furniture and bed. Even the unmade bed had clothing on it.

At least there isn't any hanging from the fan... she thought.

Crap, this is the guy I was following before.

Shift began to panic a little.

"Well I suggest you mind your own business!"

Crap, that might have been too hostile... now he could be getting suspicious... gotta end this...

Shift turned away from Chrono and back towards the other one standing there, hoping it would end this risky encounter.

Anjani sweatdropped majorly and neatly inserted herself between Iria and the doorway.

"Ahh....hold on just a moment," she said with a nervous smile. "I...uh...gotta do something." She shut the door, opened it again, and added, "I'll only be a second."

Fueled by the embarrassment of her messy room being seen as well as the typical teenage hyperness, she managed to get the room looking somewhat decent in roughly 1.003 seconds. The rest of the mess was shoved under her bed and in her closet, but she left the other bed and closet alone.

"Come on in~" she called, opening the door again.

Iria also had a chance to sweatdrop and walked in. She reached behind herself, inside her sarape, and pulled out a small, flat sack, one that could easily be hidden beneath her cloak-like coverings.

"A few extra clothes, for ti