19 ISSUE #4

" What do you mean, I don't have to be a part of a squad?" I asked Mr. Summers. He had called me into his office the night before the assembly to tell me that if I wanted i didn't have to take place in the Squad training.

" Well, like I said, you already have advanced training and your control over your abilities is greater than most of any of the students. I'm just saying if you wanted to spend more time practicing alone then it wouldn't be a problem. Of course, Emma does want you on her squad as well." Mr. Summers explained.

" Okay, I mean it doesn't sound like such a bad thing either way. Can I at least see the squads first?" i asked.

' Sure, this is the roster for the currents squads as some teachers haven't fully prepared themselves yet." Mr. Summers explained.

I looked over the current teams and saw that Mr. Summers, Miss frost, and Miss Moonstar all had full teams.

" The Corsairs, The hellions, Julian's on this team, and the New Mutants." Ha, I knew they wouldn't split David and the others up. " But wait? The paladins... they only have Three students, Hisako, Edward, and Ruth. The rest of the teams all have six. Why are they short?" I asked. It was weird seeing they only had three, especially when Mr. Summers just said the other teachers hadn't picked their squads yet.

" Well, truth be told. Only Kitty wanted to take them. She said it wouldn't be fair to leave them out and I agreed with her." Mr. Summers replied.

" So, they're at a severe disadvantage compared to everyone else... Can I be on this squad?" I asked.

" If that's what you want. I'm sure Kitty would be glad to have another member join her squad." Mr. Summers spoke.

" Yeah, I think I'll join the Paladins." I told the man.

" Okay, I'll let Kitty know right away, I'm sure tomorrow will be a hectic day. So, get some rest. I'll take care of everything else." Mr. Summers spoke.

I nodded and got up from my seat and walked out of his office.

" Oh, also. Next time don't go into the danger room without a teacher. There are cameras in there." Mr. Summers yelled.

I felt a chill run up my spine, I had forgotten there were cameras in the danger room. I let out a nervous laugh and continued walking away.

XxX

The next day I got up and was immediately pulled out of my room by Miss Pryde. She showed up in such a hurry that I barely had time to brush my teeth.

" I'm so glad to hear you decided to join us. I know the others are gonna be happy to know they'll have someone else on the team." Miss Pryde spoke in such excitement it was hard to imagine she was an X-man.

She walked me down to the danger room and opened it up. Inside I saw my three other teammates looking around bored.

the only male of the group, Edward most likely, was sitting on the ground while the girls Hisako and Ruth were standing waiting.

" Alright everyone, look alive!" Miss Pryde shouted. " We've got a new member. Everyone, I'm sure you already know David." Miss Pryde spoke.

" David, this is your team. The red head is Edward Tancredi. Codename wing. He can fly." Miss Pryde told me.

" Hey man, nice to meet ya." Eddie waved with a smile.

" Likewise." I replied with a smile of my own.

" The young lady with a blindfold is Ruth aldine. Codename Blindfold. She is a telepath, with the ability to see the future." Miss Pryde explained.

" Nice to meet you, Ruth." I said to the girl.

" Yes, Hello. She says hello. She is happy to meet you, David. No? Yes!" Ruth spoke.

I felt my mind nearly break as I tried piecing together what she said. But I think I got the message. She was happy to meet me.

" And finally, Ichiki Hisako. Codename Armor."

" Hello, Ichiki. It's an honor to meet you." I told the girl.

" Same here." Hisako replied. " But just call me Hisako."

" All right, now that everyone is acquainted. We need to get ready for tomorrow. And I also need to pass out Uniforms. Oh, and we need to pick a code name for David, any suggestions?" Miss Pryde asked.

Good lord she was really getting into this wasn't she.

" How about sparky? Or Lightray. Or Jetray!" Eddie shouted.

" Nah those are lame. How Photon?" Hisako offered up.

" Oh, a codename? I thought you guys knew. I already have one." I spoke. It was kind of rough seeing the excitement leave Miss Pryde and the others eyes. But I didn't know that they didn't know I already had a codename.

" Yes. Genesis is a very good name she thinks. Very proper. Yes?" Ruth spoke.

" Uhhhh.... What she said." I poke as I pointed at Ruth. " My codename is Genesis."

" Oh, man Genesis sucks. Jetray was so much cooler." Eddie complained.

" Look, Genesis is my name for now. But if at the end of the year, I get enough requests I'll think about changing my name to Jetray." I only said that because Jetray actually sounded pretty cool. And because i wanted to cheer up. he did seem pretty bummed out when i didn't choose one of his nicknames.

" Alright, Paladins. I have your uniforms all ready. Here ya go." She handed out a bunch of spandex uniforms that were black and white. The chest was white but the under arms down to the waistline were all black. The pants were all black completely and the shoes were black.

" Uh, Miss Pryde? Can I change this up a bit?" i asked the woman.

" Sure, but the color scheme has to match." Miss Pryde replied.

Well, there goes my idea out the window. I was gonna at least wear one of my white and yellow over coats. Well... I guess I could, if I could change the yellow off of it and make them black instead. But the whole yellow thing went well with my powers.

" Alright, everyone get dressed, quickly. the assembly starts in two hours." Miss Pryde spoke.

We all sighed and walked out of the room and headed back to our own rooms to shower and get changed.

It took me about thirty minutes to finish all of that up, meaning I had a good hour before I had to see Miss Pryde again. So, I got to work on the coat. I wanted this done as soon as possible. I grabbed one of the many coats I had off the hangar and walked down to Mr. McCoy's lab. If anyone could do what I wanted done in the amount of time I needed it done, it would be him.

" Mr. McCoy! You in here?!" i shouted as I walked into the man's lab.

Mr. McCoy dropped down and hung himself from the ceiling in front of me. The first time he did this I nearly died from the scare, but now I was used to it.

" What can i do for ya my boy?" Mr. McCoy asked.

I held up the coat and pointed to the yellow parts. " Do you think you can change this to black?" i asked the man.

" Just changing the colors? No other enhancements or changes to make?" He asked me.

" Nope. that's it." I told him.

" Sure, I can do it. Just come back in an hour and I'll have it ready." Mr. McCoy answered.

" Yes! Thanks a lot Mr. Mccoy I appreciate it." I shouted. I ran out of his lab to try and find something to do for the next hour. Since I had no class today, I figured I'd just go and eat breakfast.

I walked into the cafeteria and saw that the New Mutants were sitting together. So, i decided to join them for Breakfast.

" Hey guys!" I exclaimed as I approached their table. " How are you all doing today?" I asked.

" David! It's good to see you." Noriko exclaimed. She got up from her seat and gave me a hug, which normally would be pleasant, if not for her heavy and hard gauntlets squeezing my back.

" Someone's happy today? Did you guys find out what's happening with your team?" I asked as I broke the hug Noriko had given me. We both sat down at the table and I looked over at josh.

" Yup, Dani says we aren't splitting up. Guess you were right." Josh spoke.

" Of course, I am." I told the boy.

" What about you man? What squad are you on?" Josh asked.

" I'm a part of Miss Pryde's squad, the paladins. There's me, Wing, Armor, and Blindfold." I told the boy.

" But's that only four of you. Why did they put you on squad of only four people?" Laurie asked.

" Well, Mr. Summers said I didn't have to be a part of any squad at all. But when I saw they only had three people I decided I'd join them. To try and make things a little fair." I explained.

" Fair? Fair for what?" Sofia asked.

" Oh, you'll know. Don't want to ruin the surprise." I spoke. I was one of the people who came up with the idea to make squads a thing in the first place.

Things were relatively quiet after that. i ate my breakfast, with Noriko occasionally asking me simple questions, like where I was from and what I liked to do. And I in turn asked her about herself. It was actually nice. She seemed so rough before but now that I've talked with her. She's actually really nice.

" Alright, guys. It's about time for the Assembly and I still need to go see Mr. McCoy. So, I'll be seeing ya. Sofia, Laurie, Noriko. You wonderful ladies have a good day. And gentlemen. See ya!" I turned and walked out of the cafeteria. I liked the new mutants. They were nice people.

XxX

" Ah, Mr. Lance. Welcome back." Mr. McCoy spoke as I walked into his Lab.

" Doc, do ya got it?" I asked.

" Yes, I do. I took the measure of changing the color and adding a little something else. See, I made this for you from scratch. It uses Unstable anti-particles. That way it will change with your body when you use your powers." Mr. McCoy explained.

" Oh, thanks. It's perfect." I said to the man as I took the coat from him. i threw it over my shoulders and turned around. It fit perfectly. " Thanks again doc. I wanted to look a little cool for the assembly. And this is it. I'll see ya later." I ran out of the lab and back up the stairs just in time to meet my squad.