Chapter 4

When the term "portal" is thrown around it conjures up images of short but brilliant transitions from one location to another. Kenna experienced none of that. No, much to the horror of everyone in the room Kenna was forced out the other side through some dude's chest with Elizabeth in tow. Where she was promptly ran through with a Japanese sword. With the few seconds of life and consciousness she had left she tried to reach a nearby sink, but the two other men there held her back trying to provide aid in their own panicky way. She slumped to the ground. Shock began to set in with all the sights and sounds around her fading away. In the confusion Elizabeth calmly poured water into a glass.

"Hey guys, check this out," said Elizabeth, pouring water on Kenna's gaping sword wound. Steam erupted from the torn flesh to the surprise of the others. They backed off.

"Who the fuck," Kenna stammered to her feet, "Who the fuck stabbed me!?" Even with the room filled with a layer of steam it felt familiar. It was laid out like her room with the standard two beds and a sink she had been acquainted with but there were three men in this room. Or, at least there was. When the steam cleared there were only two now. One of them was a mop free Elliot and the other was a trim South African with an extra left arm. Elizabeth, still wearing Kenna's face, was standing behind imitating everything she was doing. "Well!?"

"Are you okay?" asked the multiarmed man.

"Yes! Just fantastic! I woke up this morning and thought it would be really cool to get re-birthed and killed all the same time! It really brings this mortal coil into perspective!" Kenna looked over shoulder at Elizabeth, "Thank you by the way, that was very nice of you to not let me die." Elizabeth ended her mockery long enough to give her a thumbs up. "Now who stabbed me!? It's not like I can do anything about it right now but I have words! Lots of loud words that I want to hurt you with emotionally!"

"Please keep your voice down,"

"I just got stabbed! I think I get a pass to be as loud and obnoxious as I want!"

"I beg of you please keep your voice down. You're not supposed to be here."

"Where is here!? Who are you!? Why is Elliot huddled up in the corner covering his mouth!?"

"Okay, yes, I think I know what you need," he said approaching her.

"Whoa now! You stay where you are! I have, powers?" He gently guided her to a chair, sat her down, and massaged her neck and shoulders at the same time. "What is this? What's going on?"

"Relax chest child."

"You can't just!" The tension left her back, "Okay, you get five minutes of silent Kenna and you better use that to explain everything.".

"My name is Chudame,"

"Again, Kenna, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"But you may call me Chu Chu."

"Did you mutate into some kind of wonderful multi-armed masseuse? Cause that is what I'm getting from you right now."

"Do you know my friend over there?"

"Yeah I saw him in the dining hall with a mop through his arms."

"Ah, then it would be safe to assume you are a student here at the Xavier Institute."

"I thought this was Xavier's school for gifted youngsters?"

"I could be saying it wrong."

"The Xavier Institute makes this place sound like an insane asylum."

"Either way you are in the men's dormitory."

"Maybe this is an insane asylum. This has been a crazy day."

"Where a Mr. Logan said he would castrate anybody who was caught with a woman in their room so fast they wouldn't realize it until they took a piss."

"Or is this normal? Maybe this is just my life now. Wait, what?"

"I thought he was making a joke or maybe I didn't understand him correctly, but he wasn't laughing."

"But a woman is what I am."

"Then a long blade sprouted out of his fist that he used to cut off the top of a beer bottle like it was nothing."

"And that is what she is. And we are here in your dorm."

"So do you now understand why you need to keep quiet."

"Yes, very much so."

"Well 'she' is going to scream if 'she' doesn't get a turn," said Elizabeth, pulling Kenna away from him to take her place. Chu chu just kept on going hoping he could massage his way out of this predicament.

"That being said, I still want to know who stabbed me."

"Only if both of you promise to leave."

"Sure."

"He's a japanese boy named Yuuto."

"Where did he go?"

"I don't know. This is the first time I've seen him do anything other than listen to music."

"Ugh, I'll find him later. So how does this work? Do we just go back through your chest or what?" she asked, turning towards Elliot. He was still huddled in the corner with clenched hands across his face. "It's not toxic." He dropped his hands and took a breath in relief. "At least I don't think it is. I've never heard any complaints." His hands went back over his face. "Whatever, I don't even need you for this part." She touched his stomach, but nothing happened. She continued to feel around the general area where she emerged from with various degrees of pressure, and still nothing happened. She even turned him over and tried to enter from his back thinking that she would come out of Ellie's front this time, but even that proved to be fruitless.

"Elliot, why isn't your side of the portal working?" she asked calmly. He didn't answer her. Still adamant about trying to breath in as little of the air as possible his hands remained sealed around his mouth. She considered forcing him to breath in the air and accept whatever fate awaited him, until the phone on his bed rang. He was receiving a call from Ellie.

"Hey, this is Kenna. Why isn't Elliot's portal working?" Kenna answered, grabbing the phone before Elliot could stop her.

"Can I, um, speak to my brother please?" said Ellie.

"Mutation! Explain! Now!"

"We're a one way portal! People go through my back and out of his front! It sanitizes anything that goes through! That's all I know!"

"That's stupid! You're both stupid!"

"Keep your voice down," said Chudame.

"Please don't kill my brother!" Kenna hung up.

"Okay, so we can't go back the way we came apparently. Any ideas?" asked Kenna.

"Walk out of the building as quickly and quietly as possible," said Chudame.

"Ugh, I should call her back and apologize. Their thing isn't stupid, I'm just angry about being stabbed."

"If you are stopped by anybody just tell them what happened." Kenna looked out the window.

"It's too high to jump."

"I'm sure Xavier would understand."

"Maybe a disguise? Maybe that thing where I wrap my hair around my face like a beard?"

"Are you listening to me?" Someone knocked on the door.

"Hello, it's John Proudstar from earlier. May I come in?" said John through the door. They all stared at each other expecting the other to say something until Chudame finally spoke up.

"No."

"I understand that it is a bit late, and you guys are really tired from your first day, but it sounds like we need to have a quick chat." he said unlocking the door. Kenna frantically wrapped her hair around her face in a beard like fashion as Chudame threw a blanket over Elizabeth. Just before the door opened though the wall slid open and a chain was thrown around Kenna. She was pulled in. "Now I know that you all come from different walks of life with different ways of living but we all need to be both respectful of others and–," the large Indigenous American stopped mid-sentence to acknowledge the blood on the floor and the student cowering the corner covering his mouth, "Are you alright kiddo?"

"I had a nosebleed!" yelled Elliot.

"Mr. Proudstar, I'm so sorry. There was an accident. Two girls came out of Elliot's chest and one of them was hurt but then she was fine and I know how this sounds but we didn't bring them here!" John looked around the room and pointed at the person draped with a bed sheet. Chudame nodded.

"Excuse me ma'am," John said, pulling the blanket off. However, instead of Kenna's twin they found Chudame's with one less arm.

"Hello my name is Mudame, but you may call me Moo Moo." said Elizabeth in Chudame's voice.

"I don't know who this is," said Chudame.

"How can you say that to me brother? After I came all this way to see you."

"It's okay Chudame, I understand. I too have a brother that I miss very much," said John.

"Is he dead?" asked Elizabeth.

"No he, uh, his life took him down a different path."

"Interesting, did he have any abilities?"

"I'm telling you this isn't my brother and the other one was pulled into that wall right before you came in here!" said Chudame.

Kenna didn't move. Maybe it was the cramped nature of being squished behind a fake wall. Maybe it was the knife pressed against her throat by the adolescent boy that pulled her in. Either way her situation was more limiting than usual. "You're the one that stabbed me aren't you?" whispered Kenna. The knife pressed a little harder. "I am very mad at you." Yuuto pressed another knife against her ribs. "No, keep going. Give me even more reason to scream. My flesh will grow back, but I doubt your nuts will." He withdrew the knives. "Yeah that's what I thought."

John knocked on the wall. Yuuto's replica wasn't perfect but the mansion had been damaged and repaired so many times John couldn't tell the difference. "And you're sure she was pulled into this wall?" asked John.

"Yes!" said Chudame.

"Well, while I'm against needless destruction I would regret leaving her there all night. Please stand back and shield your eyes students. I'm going to open the wall."

"What?" whispered Kenna. John drove his hand in the wall and began taking it apart. Kenna and Yuuto sank lower to avoid being immediately found, but with their hideaway crumbling apart they could do nothing other than cram themselves deeper into darker crevices. Until Kenna fell through one.

"Yuuto there you are, you rascal. Did you pull a nice young lady into this elaborate hide out you've made for yourself?" John asked, pulling away the last of the fake wall. Yuuto said nothing, but the speed in which he was talking with his hands was difficult to follow, let alone understand. "Yuuto, champ, you got to use your note cards. I don't understand sign language let alone japanese sign language."

Kenna was getting tired of being pulled through things that people aren't generally pulled through. However, it was different this time. There was no tactile way to describe how she felt about her new surroundings other than an overwhelming sense that she wasn't supposed to be there. The room she had slid herself into had the exact same dimensions as the one before except it was barren of any of the normal amenities she had seen at the school before. No beds, no plumbing, hardly any light. It was like a version of the school that had not been finished. What little was in the room looked like sophisticated electronic equipment. Kenna was by no means scientifically minded, but she could tell from the lights it seemed excited to see her.

The hole she had squeezed through had sealed itself like a fleshy scab. Her egress wasn't very inviting but as far as she knew it was her only way back. So she pressed against it hoping she would fall through like she did before. While it did begin to accept her, it also started bleeding. Kenna backed off. The notion of a bleeding wall was enough to make her more than a little uncomfortable. It took her a moment to work up to another attempt, but when she was just about to she heard a noise. It was footsteps. Heavy methodical footsteps that got louder with each step giving away its mechanical nature.

The robot, if it could be called that, kicked open the door. It was essentially a large battery with rudimentary arms, legs, and whirling cameras attached to it. Kenna was not about to point any of this out though since it was pointing a high grade rifle at her. She put her hands up, but the robot pushed her head down and put shots through the window. "I see you're busy mister," she looked at its chassis, "Property of A.I.M, but I should probably be going." It grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room while still putting shots on target.

"Seriously!? Can I just have a moment to breathe!? Is that so much to ask for!?" she yelled while being dragged down barren halls illuminated by only hanging lights. As they went, the walls told a different story. One of the munitions fire and monstrous remains. She even tripped over the sheer amount of shell casings covering the floor. The robot paid her no mind and even pulled her across the floor like nothing had changed. The journey ended at the foyer where instead of ornate decorations that give one a sense of formal academia there was a large yellow metal box sitting just underneath the indoor balcony. Sensing the robot's return the box opened up to receive its guests.

"Oh no. No no no!" Kenna grabbed the partially made banister leading up to the balcony. The robot was not amused. It was having a hard enough time keeping the skittering inhabitants at bay without having to deal with her resistance. The issue became even more pressing as it ran out of bullets. It only let go of Kenna for an instant to switch out magazines. It was also all the time she needed to get out of reach.

She ran up the stairs. The robot gave chase and had greater speed then its design led her to believe. Even before it could get to her on the balcony she was stopped by the sight of what it had been shooting at all this time. A large locust bleeding from its eyes blocked her path. Even worse as it acknowledged her it began shrieking while shaking its head back and forth. She was so taken back by its visage that she fell over backwards narrowly avoiding its lunge. The robot was not so fortunate. With its wings flared out the insectoid had caught it by surprise and was tearing its rough construction apart. Kenna crawled to the edge of the balcony to weigh her options. The cube was still open, but more importantly there appeared to be a large scab much like the one she had seen earlier on the floor below.

She looked back to see how the robot was fairing against it. The creature was having more trouble breaking the battery than ripping most of the appendages off. It shrieked again before posturing back towards Kenna. It lunged, but the robot managed to grab it with its last arm hindering it considerably. She looked back at the floor scab, groaned, and carefully dropped off the balcony into its crusty embrace.

She dropped feet first and passed through easily enough. Upon passing through the threshold she found herself falling towards the ceiling, then not falling at all, then falling back towards the floor. As fortunate as it was unfortunate the passage had closed behind her sending her plummeting into the hardwood floor. The impact was painful. Despite this she relished in the fact that she was in one spot for more than five minutes at a time. The unmoving floor was her friend and would never betray her.

"You seem to have a guest," said a figure not too far from her with an otherworldly voice.

"You're wasting time we don't have. Keep going." said the other figure with a heavy Kentucky accent. Finding herself with company she, with great discomfort, turned her head to see what she had to deal with now. The one person she could see clearly was a young woman basking in the moonlight coming in from the foyer windows. The other one that she could barely see in the shadows appeared to be a well dressed man with a bird skull for a head.

"Perhaps another time Ms. Guthrie," the well dressed bird skull man said, fading into the shadows.

"But there's only three moons left! Are you listening to me!? We don't have another time! Khonshu!" the woman yelled at the moon. The moon didn't answer her. Ms. Guthrie turned towards Kenna with rage across her face.

"Hello, my name is Kenna, and it's a pleasure to–," Ms. Guthrie pulled the skin off her right arm causing it to erupt into an inferno, "Fuck."

"You have no idea what you've done," said Ms. Guthrie as she walked towards her.

"I really don't," said Kenna.

"And now you never will."

"Okay, so, fair warning. While I was near the ceiling I noticed there were several sprinklers up there. So while burning me death sounds like a good idea it's just going to make the night much longer for the both of us."

"Oh trust me, sprinklers won't be able to put this out."

"Yeah, but it will trigger my mutation."

"Mutation?"

"You're probably familiar with my work. I call it 'wounded dorms'."

"You're a student?"

"Yes?" Ms. Guthrie pulled off the fiery layer of her arm and smothered it with another layer of skin made of fire resistant minerals. Without another word, and her arm back to normal, she dumped the various layers of skin into a garbage receptacle and walked away. "What did you think I was?" Kenna asked without an answer.

A welcomed quiet filled the air. Nothing was happening. Kenna finally had her moment to breathe and absorb everything that just happened. "This place is weird," she said to herself. She flopped onto her back and scooted her way back to her room. It was an agonizing journey. The stairs were especially difficult given her fragile state and the looks she got from the odd person were de-moralizing, but the idea of getting to a bed of any kind kept her going.

"Hello?" asked Ellie, answering the door.

"Down here," said Kenna. Ellie looked at her and tried to close the door on her. Kenna fought her off, aggressively scooting her way in.

"I, I told you. This isn't your room. Please get out."

"Ellie! Ellie. I don't care. I'm sleeping here tonight." As Kenna scooted further into the room she noticed Ellie was the only person in there. "Where's the other two?"

"Layla hasn't come back yet. I thought Elizabeth was with you."

"She was but we got separated."

"What did you do to my brother? Is he okay?"

"He's fine?"

"Are you sure?"

"There might have been some talk about cutting off his nuts."

"Excuse me!?"

"Calm down, they'll only do that if they find out we were over there," she said, pulling herself onto a bed.

"Oh no."

"Which they won't! Elizabeth turned into a dude and I got away before anybody noticed." Ellie grabbed her phone to call Elliot again. "No offense Ellie, but your brother's nuts don't even make my top ten of things I'm worried about." Kitty opened the door. "And there's ten through six right walking in right now." She looked exhausted and covered in claw marks.

"Where have you been?" asked Kitty. Kenna looked at Ellie who looked back at her.

"Here?"

"Where's Elizabeth and Layla?"

"I don't know?"

"Did they go to the men's dorm with you?"

"What?"

"Why do you have blood all over your shirt?"

"It's not blood. It's ketchup."

"Okay, why do you have ketchup all over your shirt."

"I really love ketchup."

"So you put it on your shirt."

"Yes."

"Stop it."

"But it reminds me of home."

"Stop lying to me. You're bad at it."

"No I'm not." Kitty let out a heavy sigh and sat down on the bed next to her.

"I'm going to level with you both. I'm tired, and I don't know if you were there or not, but there's a very good reason we have separate dorms."

"Because of the implication?"

"Because we are already unstable horny idiots without our gifts, and I can't be everywhere at once. And some of them are starting to figure that out already."

"Kitty, may I ask you a question?"

"Yes."

"Where's Franny?"