ISSUE #38

" That was an amazing job, Paragons. You guys did great!" Rahne told the paragons.

They had just finished their run in the danger room and had successfully completed the exercise.

" That was awesome! Did you see me, Ian? Did you see me?" Megan asked excitedly.

" Yeah! You guys really did a good job. I was impressed by how quickly you freed Hope from her trap." Ian told the girl.

" Thank you!" Megan replied. " So, what now? Why are you in uniform?" Megan asked.

Ian sighed and rubbed his face.

" I agreed, tae do a training session with the New Mutants for David's little sister, Kim." Ian told the girl. He wasn't too excited about it, but hey one session isn't going to hurt his pride.

" That's so cool! Can I watch?" Megan asked

" Alright, Megan, why don't you all go get washed up and I'll see you back in my office?" Rahne spoke.

" Yeah, because oh boy you guys' stink!" Ian exclaimed.

" HUH! IAN!" Megan exclaimed. She fluttered over to Ian and slugged him in the arm. " Ow!"

" He! See, ya shouldn't go around hitting people." Ian told the girl.

" Alright, you two. Enough." Rahne spoke. " Megan you and the others go ahead; I'll be right behind you okay." Rahne told the girl.

" Yes, Miss Sinclair." Megan replied. She and the other Paragons left the danger room's observation deck allowing Rahne and Ian a moment to themselves.

" So, what do ye think?" Rahne asked.

" I think they did really good. I mean I don't know why the other girl, sarah I think, yeah, I don't know why she sat out. But other than that, it was fun watching them." Ian replied.

" That is Sarah, and she can somewhat see the future. I keep telling her not tae sit out just because the future she sees isn't one she likes, but small steps. And I see you're making small steps tae. Dressing up and joining the New Mutants again, I'm so proud of ye." Rahne joked.

" Oh, you be quiet. I'm only doing this for Kim, she's a nice young girl and I think it'll be nice to get to show off a little." Ian replied.

" I get it, she's a new face. She's impressionable, she's nice young lady, I completely understand. " Rahne replied.

" Hey, when you say it like that you make it sound like I want her approval. Which I'm not saying I do. Cuz I don't. I'm just saying, ye know it's nice tae make kids like her smile with the things I can do, since so many people are afraid of us." Ian explained to the woman. For the first time since he's been at the school, he's met someone who wasn't like him that was happy and excited to meet him.

" I understand that completely. It does give ye hope doesn't it." Rahne replied.

" It does a least a little make me think that maybe Xavier's dream isn't such a pipe dream after all." Ian stated. " Anyway, the New Mutants should be here soon. And I think you've had enough for one day as it is. Why don't you go ahead and get out here. Before they show up and I embarrass myself." Ian asked the woman.

" Och, dear. Ye can't think so little of me. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone else yuir little secret." Rahne joked. She stood up from the chair and kissed Ian on the cheek. " Have fun." Rahne told the man. She walked out of the room and ran right into the New Mutants who were just about to walk in on them. " Oh, hey Dani."

" Hey, Rahne. Are you guys finished with the Danger Room?" Dani asked

" Yes, we are. I was just having a conversation with one of your boys. He's very excited." Rahne told the woman.

" Really?" Dani asked.

" Hey, I heard that!" Ian shouted out of the room, he poked his head out of the observation deck and Dani smiled.

" Well, look at who finally decided to stop being a jerk. It's about time." Josh exclaimed.

" Yeah, Ian. Does this mean you're one of us again?" Sofia asked.

" No, no no. None of that. I'm only here because Kim wanted me to show off. That's it." Ian replied. " Alright, come on, let's stop wasting time, I got a fan to impress. Let's go!" Ian shouted. He walked into the danger room ahead of the others and stood in the center of the room.

" Well, at least he's here." David stated.

" Yeah, but for how long?" Jay asked.

" However, long he wants. He's still on this squad if he wants to be." Dani told the others. " Now, on you go. Kim, you'll sit with me in the observation room." Dani told the little girl.

The New Mutants flooded into the room.

" I'm telling you guys it's a ghost."

Ian heard this and then turned his attention to the others.

" A ghost, Laurie? Really. That's a little far-fetched. Besides think about it. This school is filled with kids with all sorts of abilities. What happened to you guys could be the result of invisibility, teleportation or even telekinesis." David spoke up.

" I'm sorry, did you say ghost?" Ian asked Laurie, completely ignoring David and his hypothesis.

" Yeah, when Kevin and I were in one of the science labs, the beaker disappeared, and a message written in red was left on the board." Laurie explained to the man.

" The same happened when me and Megan were in there. Did this happen to anyone else?" Ian asked.

" Something trashed my room and someone smashed Jay's picture." Noriko replied

" Okay, that's a bit concerning." Ian stated.

" Oh, don't worry. I'm sure it's just Julian messing with us again. You should know, you're good friends with him now. Why don't you tell him to stop it." David said to Ian.

" Well, I would if I could. But Julian said he didn't do it and I believe him." Ian replied.

" Would you tell us if it was him?" Noriko asked.

" Hey, if Julian dumped a beaker full of boiling water on my head, trust me you'd know it. But I'm telling you it wasn't him. There's this green glow when Julian uses his powers. I didn't see that. One second it was there the next second it was gone." Ian told the group.

" Yeah, okay." David was clearly bitter about whatever was happening, but Ian didn't care. He wasn't gonna let him blame Julian for something he didn't do.

" Yeah, it is okay." Ian replied.

" Alright, New Mutants. Let's get started." Dani spoke from above.

Ian and the others nodded, and the room turned on. Each member of the New Mutants suddenly found themselves trapped in some kind of contraption to counter their powers.

" Alright guys, this is a creative power use test. You've each been trapped in a situation where your powers don't work. For example, David. Your captors are skilled Martial artists. but because they are robots you can't telepathically copy their skills. Laurie, you can only get out of that cage the way you got in. And that robot has no sense of smell so he's immune to your pheromones. Sofia, that organism is growing quickly and as you may have noticed, it's quite sticky. Your wind won't be able to blow it away. You have to escape it before it engulfs you. Noriko, you are forming a closed circuit with the ceiling and the floor. Your gauntlets can't help you control this electric flow and you'll be overloaded soon. Jay, the winds you're dealing with are far too strong for you to walk or fly out of there. Find another way out. Ian, that forcefield will keep you in from moving any further. You need to find a way out without falling into the lava below. Josh, you are the key to this exercise. You have to help your teammates free themselves." Dani explained to the group.

" Oh great. Me, the one with no offensive powers whatsoever." Josh complained.

" If that's the way you want to see it. The exercise begins.... Now!" Dani shouted.

Josh ran straight to David first.

" Alright, Mr. Strategist. Let's get you out first." Josh spoke.

" Josh, no. I've studied with Mr. Logan. I have enough training to keep moving, help Sofia." David told the boy. " These goggles are giving me nothing on that slime, but Dani said it's organic. Maybe it's some sort of virus or bacteria. Josh, use your power to stop it from replicating." David told the boy.

Jodh nodded and ran over to Sofia, and placed his hands on the slime, and slowly it began to deteriorate.

" It's working!" Josh exclaimed.

" Alright, Sofia use your wind to free Jay!" David told the girl.

" On it!" Sofia replied. " I will not let the wind hold you down, Jay. It bends to my command." Sofia held out her hand and blew the wind holding jay in place away.

" Alright." Jay exclaimed. When he got free, he flew straight over to David to help him out.

" No, not yet. Help Ian." David told the boy.

" Fine." Jay replied.

" Ready bird boy?" Ian asked.

" If you're gonna do something, then do it." Jay told the man.

Ian raised his fist into the air and punched the floor of the cage he was in out from under him and started falling towards the lava pit. Jay caught him just before he landed and flew him to safety.

" Good job, now go help Laurie. I'll help, Noriko." Ian told the boy.

" Right." Jay responded. He flew over to Laurie's cage and started singing to match the hum of the cage and Laurie was freed.

" Noriko, I'm comin!" Ian shouted. He straight towards Noriko's trap and jumped through the pillar of electrictity and tackled the girl out of place.

" Thanks. When there's this much juice, it's hard to stay calm. The circutisbrokenandIhaveafullload. Idesperatelyneedtodischarge." Noriko spoke. She was so full of elecritcity her speech was moving faster than anyone could understand. " Ithinkit'stimesomeonefreedyoudavid." Noriko spoke. She raised her gauntlets and blasted the robots attacking David with a full burst of electricity and destroyed the robots. She then turned to Sofia and finished destroying the last of the bacteria. She then collapsed onto the floor from overcharging. " Too much energy in... Too much energy out." Noriko stated.

" Dani! Nori's not well!" Sofia exclaimed.

" Hey, sparky you okay?" Ian asked the girl on the ground.

" Nori! Are you alright?!" Dani asked as she came running into the room. She and Ian helped Noriko to her feet and held her.

" Yeah... Just gonna need a minute." Noriko replied.

" Guys! Guys! You won't believe what just happened!" Kim ran into the danger room shouting.

" Kim, I told you to wait upstairs." Dani told the girl.

" You did, because I don't have powers right. But it's not true... I just discovered, I'm a mutant." Kim exclaimed, much to everyone else's shock.

" Cool!" Ian replied.