WELCOME TO NEXUS.

[XxBroadband]

Broadband took the hood from his head and ran a hand through his emerald hair. For a place that was supposed to house people like him, he hadn't seen anyone like him. No one had a physical mutation like his--one that stood out in a crowd no matter where he was at. He supposed he should be thankful he still looked like a human. He couldn't imagine how he'd feel if he was a giant elephant or panda bear.

He glanced down the hallway of the dormitories, eyes sweeping over the countless open doors. Every room he looked at was just as pristine as the last, but in a welcoming way. He scrunched up his nose in the thought of countless hotel rooms he was in when he was younger thanks to computer conventions his dad wanted to go to. The stench of antiseptic was enough to burn his nose at times then. But here, there was no unfriendly smell. Everything was warm and comfortable as if Charles Xavier knew how to place furniture to relax newcomers.

Broadband still wanted to meet the owner of this place. He figured a school would be huge, but this huge? The sight of it nearly took his breath away from the outside. When he was let in, it was even bigger on the inside. He tried to let his awe replace his curiosity of the strong signals he was picking up. There were several strong enough to stop him in his tracks, but he forced the information out of his head, uncomfortable in "seeing" what he wasn't supposed to.

For now, at least.

Nonetheless, he took a room not too far from the stairs, but not too close to hear everyone that went up and down. He gently placed his knapsack inside next to the door and approached the made bed. Glancing around, he guessed this was his room now. Cleaner than his back home, but at least it was comfortable. And no roommates? Always a plus. Slightly trembling fingers picked up the itinerary on his bed, reading down the list.

Classes. Of course there were classes. He was still disappointed, though. He thought being invited to a school for mutants would have the fun stuff, like... one mile sprint for the fast people, or flying lessons with those with wings. He didn't have any of that. Geometry? Gross. Physics? He was already going to fail. Writing? Okay, but he already knew how to write. Art? Why was he expected to take art? He scratched his head and shrugged. At least the school laid out their expectations from the get go.

Unzipping his hoodie, footsteps knocked against the floorboards in the hallway. He turned around, hoping to take a peek at whoever it was.

[Shepherd]

[CF: Wasting My Time Away]

Jeb was sprawled out on his bed, his face stuffed into his pillow. He had followed the map Miss Grey somehow, awesomely, implanted in his head to find his room, and when he saw that huge bed in that huge room, all to himself for once (having so many siblings that he shared a room with) he just had to lay on it. He had time to unpack, he thought, and all tension, all nervousness, seemed to drain out of his body. That’s when he finally became vulnerable to the effects of “jet lag,” what his Momma warned him about, now that he was alone…

He didn’t want to be alone. He wanted friends. He was not going to start of his time here as a dork. He was dork all his life back in Kentucky. Here, he wanted to be more than that. At the least, he wanted real friends that weren’t related to him. That made him think of his older brother, Sam, who he had been hoping to see first upon arriving to the school.

He had to find him.

He knew that he had a complete tour schedule in about an hour, as Miss Grey had told him, and that he should be back in his room by them, but he had to explore the place anyway. He could not wait, no matter how badly he felt like taking a nap. He didn’t just want to know how to get to his room from the entrance hall, he wanted to know how to get to all the rooms, and, more importantly, he wanted to see Sam, who he hadn’t seen in a while. He was too busy saving the world… so cool.

So he peeled his face from his pillow, rolled off of his bed and fell onto the floor. No stranger to clumsiness, he took this in stride, picking himself up as he heaved a breath and heading out the door. He patted his hair down as he walked, to fix it, and peered through any room that was open down the hall. He wished the doors had name tags, as most of them were closed. Better yet, he wished he could see through walls, and clothes, but mostly walls. And clothes…

Shaking his head, telling himself that his set of optic powers was a lot better than that, he just about passed an open room before he saw something green in the corner of his eye. He backed up a few steps to find a guy, a teenager like him, staring right at him through the doorway, with bright green hair!

Must meet him, was Jeb’s first thought, fully and completely intrigued by the fact he looked different than anyone he had ever seen before. “Hey!” he greeted him, giving off a wave of his hand as he was pulled closer to his room as though by a magnet. His skin color seemed a little off, too. “Whoa, you look different.” Jeb didn’t mean to state the obvious, but he was excited and didn’t see it as an insult, smiling widely. “How long have ya been here?”

[XxBroadband]

Someone walked by Broadband, only to pause then take a couple of steps back. Broadband stared at the other teenager a moment before feeling an uncomfortable awkwardness stir in his chest. Was he being stared at? “Hey!” the other student, Broadband assumed, greeted. “Whoa, you look different,” he continued. “How long have ya been here?”

“Not even an hour yet…”

Broadband trailed off, tapping a finger against his chin. Did this boy look familiar, or…? Guh, he was the one staring now. He hated when people did it to him, and now he was doing the same thing. “I’m Broadband, nice to meet you.” He extended his arm to initiate a handshake, still catching glimpses of the teenager’s face. He knew he saw the other student before. But where at? Now the question was going to bug him like an unreachable back itch. Broadband went silent, taking a few steps back, his thoughts trying to repeat where he might have met someone with such an accent. No one where he lived spoke like that.

Sure there were a lot of people at the terminals when he was taking the connecting flight, but seeing the other teenager there didn’t ring any bells. There was the guy’s head he nearly hit trying to get his luggage down from the overhead rack, then the kid that shoved him forward just so he could get out quicker. In his own awkward silence, Broadband suddenly snapped his fingers, pointing at the student. “Now I remember! You were on my plane! I kept wondering why some guy kept looking at you weird, but I couldn’t see much.” Not like he had much else to do waiting for the flight to end. “Then I saw you when I was leaving the plane. Small world, huh?” Broadband smiled. Even though the teenager was a stranger, at least there was a hint of common ground.

“Did you see this yet?” He picked up the paper that he laid back down his bed. “Physics? Biology? Ethics? You’d think we were joining a college campus instead of one on a grade-school level.” There was a nagging question too on Broadband’s mind he was hoping the teenager could answer. “Do you know how Charles Xavier is? I haven’t met him yet, if he’s even still alive…” There were a lot of schools named after people long dead. Broadband didn’t want to seem awkward expecting to meet a dead person.

[Shepherd]

Why did he look like that? How did he look like that? Jeb had heard about babies being born with deformities, but he didn’t think it gave them green hair and silver skin. His skin wasn’t even consistent in color, he now noticed the more he stared at it, the center of his face more of a gray color. Maybe it was because of his mutation? But why didn’t Jeb look different then? “Is that yer power? Lookin’ different?” he asked honestly instead of returning the introduction, his mind distracted. He may not have been a total stranger to the likes of mutants, but physical mutants… yes he was. “Ah don’t mean to be rude, Ah’ve just never seen anything like it before! It looks kind of neat,” he admitted. He sure wouldn’t like looking like that, but to see it on another person he found awesome. He played back the name the green-haired boy gave him and was even more intrigued. Even his name was different. “Ah’m Jeb Guthrie, by the way. Is Broadband yer real name?” Maybe they named babies differently outside of the South?

Jeb brought his head back and quirked his brows in confusion when Broadband spat out that he remembered now? Had he been trying to remember something? His brows lifted in surprise when that memory was related to him. He was on the same plane as him? “That’s queerer than a three dollar bill,” Jeb responded. What were the odds that they were both mutants, on the same plane. Wait a second. How did Jeb not notice him? You would think he’d notice someone that looked like that. But he was somehow right about that guy gave him weird looks every time he slipped (whenever there was turbulence). Jeb had to do what he had to do to hide his powers… How did Broadband hide his?

“But why didn’t Ah see you then? We could’ve sat together, and Ah wouldn’t have had to worry so much about sparking every other darn minute! Are ya from Kentucky, too?” He didn’t speak the same Jeb did, but maybe his mutation made him not only look weird but sound weird too?

“Did you see this yet?”

Broadband picked up a piece of paper from his bed that Jeb, the same one Jeb found on his bed. He had only skimmed it, not really wanting to think about school right away. His main focus was on mastering his powers, becoming the best mutant he could be so he could save the world someday, like his big brother. “Yeah, I know…” Jeb agreed, but half-heartedly. School never really bothered him too much, the academics portion of it anyway. Of course he’d rather not do homework and study, but when you didn’t have many friends it was good to have something else to focus on, something to be good at to compensate for his poor social status.

“Do you know how Charles Xavier is? I haven’t met him yet, if he’s even still alive…”

Professor Charles Xavier. The one who personally invited him here. He wanted to thank him in person so badly, and impress him! If there was any X-Man to impress at the mansion, it was him. “If he’s still alive?” Jeb echoed Broadband in confusion. If he wasn’t alive, he wouldn’t be able to thank him, to impress him. How else would he have gotten the letter. “What do ya mean? He’s not dead,” Jeb said. “Ah would’ve known… Ah would think. He’s kind of a family friend,” Jeb exaggerated to sound cool, recalling a very faint memory when the bald man stopped by the farm to retrieve Sam for all his talent when he was little.

“Ya see mah big brother, Sam Guthrie, has been a part of this school for a while. He’s an X-Man now,” he said with a widened smile on his face, proud as ever. He had been dying to tell people this, planning to even. It would be his ticket to popularity.

[XxBroadband]

“No, I…” Broadband scratched his head. He’d never had to explain his abilities before. His dad just kind of found out what he could do, so Broadband really didn’t have a reason to explain. “I hear radio waves and project the signal they carry. I’m like a living movie reel. I look different because, I guess, my skin turned shimmery to help project the light.” He still had no clue about his hair, but Broadband shrugged. “I didn’t take any offense. I’m just not used to being stared at.” He probably never would be, either.

Jeb Guthrie. Broadband made a mental note to remember that. “Just call me Broadband,” he answered, still not up to revealing his name. This was a new place and new life, remember? Being somewhere different required new rules, or maybe those rules were the ones Broadband made up to keep the Sapien League out of his green hair. And… and queerer than a three dollar bill? What? Broadband squinted at Jeb. Three dollar bills never existed, did they? How could something be… queerer… than a non-existing bill? He determined Jeb had a very peculiar way of thinking about things.

“I wore a hoodie to cover my head,” Broadband answered. He was pretty sure the airport security would ask him to clean off his “make-up.” He’d have a hard time explaining he wasn’t wearing make-up, and who knew what kind of trouble he could get into because of such. Thankfully the shadow of his hood eliminated all that nonsense. Though Jeb said something peculiar yet again. He wouldn’t have to worry about… sparking? Like a spark of a flame or a spark of electricity? He’d have to question that later as he went to his bed and picked up the note. Jeb gave a halfhearted agreement until the topic of Xavier came up.

“I don’t know who he is. I didn’t mean to offend anyone.” Broadband gave a halfhearted smile. “Sorry?” And a family friend, huh? This Charles Xavier got around then, unless he too was from the south and carried such a thick accent. Given how Broadband didn’t know, he couldn’t dismiss the idea. He listened further as Jeb explained his older brother had been at the school for awhile and was an X-Man now. Broadband blinked. An X-What? Oh God, was he at a place where porn stars went to school at to learn… stuff? Wait, wouldn’t that be XXX-Man? Broadband squinted again, still confused.

“X-Men? I don’t know who they are.” He seriously didn’t. While sure he heard of the Avengers and Fantastic Four, the X-Men weren’t a household name where he was from. There weren’t a lot of mutants there either, which was what made Broadband’s “illness” so strange in the hospital. “I just know my dad got an invite to come here to help me learn my abilities. I figured this was a place for people like us, but…” But he hadn’t seen anyone look like him. “You are a mutant too, right?” Hopefully he didn’t have to ask the usual ‘What do you do?’ He didn’t want to sound too prying.

[Shepherd]

Jeb quirked his brows at the explanation of Broadband’s powers, not really understanding or seeing the point of radio waves which he didn’t really understand either. That was… at least better than just his strange looks being his powers, to ward off enemies with confusion at why he looked like a humanoid broccoli. What was the point of projecting a signal?

“Like a dolphin?” he asked cluelessly, thinking that maybe he used his signal to navigate like the undersea mammals that he learned a little about in science class. Either way, Jeb’s powers were totally better. And that thought brought a smirk to his face. When you had an older brother who turn into a rocket and a sister that could pretty much become invulnerable, he felt the need to size himself up to every other mutant in compensation.

What confused him even more was why Broadband was refusing to share his real name with him. ‘Just call me Broadband,’ pfft! He was hiding it! And Jeb’s curiosity flared; he wanted to find out why. Was it a really embarrassing name or…

“Oh,” he said when he was handed one piece of the puzzle that was Broadband. He had been covering himself up, really well too if Jeb hadn’t notice. Ever since his powers manifested, he had been able to spot things quicker than most and be told he had ‘good eyes.’ He figured it had something to do with the electricity that’s constantly buzzing in there, making him even more powerful. But maybe it was just a coincidence, since he had failed to notice a guy who looked like that.

On a better note, Broadband had no proof of the Professor being dead and so he heaved out a sigh of relief. No Professor meant no head X-Man to impress. And plus, from what he heard, he was a really good guy who helped out his family financially when he took Sam away for both of their benefits. “Don’t sweat it,” Jeb said to be friendly, about to suggest that the two go and find him, to meet him for the first time together so that Jeb looked like less of a suck-up before Broadband spat out craziness.

“You don’t who who the X-Men are!? They’re super-heroes! An' they all graduated from this school that we're now in!” Jeb knew that they weren’t known around the whole world because humans sucked (with the exception of most of his siblings and his mom), but he felt all mutants should have heard of them, and should appreciate them, and Sam, for being everything a mutant should aspire to and sending a good message to society and just being awesome.

Jeb was even more shocked when Broadband asked if he was a mutant. “Of course Ah am! Can’t ya tell?” He sounded somewhat offended, not wanting to be taken for anything less. Not that he saw himself as superior or anything (only a little, to everyone but his family). Although, with another look at Broadband’s face, he guessed it wasn’t too evident in comparison.

“Ya see these?” he pointed to his eyes. “Ah call them mah good ole electro eyes. Wanna know why?” His smile got wider and his eyes became squinted as he said this, having been itching to show off, to someone ever since he stepped foot into the mansion. Might as well be to another teenager that he wanted to like him. A blue membrane washed over his eyes as they began to throw off tiny bits of blue energy. There it was! Any moment now…

“Ya might wanna stand back,” he warned mostly for dramatic effect as he knew his powers weren't that dangerous, still grinning as he focused harder. He wanted it to be a big one, not wimpy ones that he tended to make when really trying. When it came time to release, however, it just occurred to him he had no target.

ZZZZZTTTT!

Two focused beams shot out from each eyeball, not wanting to contain it in fear of the energy being reabsorbed and waning in strength like he knew it would. It rammed right into Broadband’s bed, engulfing the entire bed in what seemed to be blue flames.

[XxBroadband]

Did his powers work like a dolphins? No, not exactly. Broadband supposed he didn't explain his powers very well. He should have shown instead of told... Ah well, too late now. Maybe he'd find a more opportune time later on.

Broadband continued to listen as Jebediah, with great excitement, exclaimed the X-Men were superheroes and were trained at this very school. Broadband looked around his room quickly, feeling a knot tie in his stomach. He was going to be trained to become a superhero? The thought didn't settle well with him. He didn't have the type of abilities that could make him useful. And he never signed up to go out into the real world and nearly sacrifice his life for a greater cause. Maybe that made Broadband weak, but becoming a superhero wasn't on his bucket list at such a young age.

Broadband frowned a bit as Jeb explained he was a mutant. "Sorry, but not really..." Jebediah looked normal--just like everyone else Broadband had seen. Though he suddenly felt stupid as if there was a secret code that allowed all mutants to tell when another one was a mutant. Funny how someone's words could cause such a reaction the other one wasn't expecting. Jeb spoke again, pointing to his eyes. Electro eyes, huh? His eyes shifted into a blue color as Broadband raised his eyebrows. That was kind of cool... And the energy that seeped from his eyes, even cooler!

Broadband nodded once in understanding, then a second time in true understanding as he took a step away from Jeb. In a sound like electricity being charged in a machine and unleashed on its surroundings, two beams shot from Jeb's eyes and hit Broadband's bed. Broadband's eyes opened wide as his bed... was on fire. Broadband's mouth dropped open, shock paralyzing his limbs, but he quickly blinked the surprise away and shoved Jebediah out of his room.

"We have to find someone to help! Hurry!" Not even his first day at the mansion, and he was already involved in arson! Broadband quickly glanced up at the ceiling of his room and realized there was a sprinkler system in place. With his mind whirling, he cast a look around the hallway, hoping to find an adult, until at last he found the signal he was hoping for. He stopped, listened, then frowned. "It has to be broken..." The sprinkler system wasn't detecting any smoke. But Broadband could see the fire. So if it was broken, that just made things worse!

"We don't have time! We have to put it out!" What could he use? What could he find?! He dashed into the room and took his knapsack, running to the bed and slamming it onto the comforter. If this didn't work, then the repercussions could be catastrophic!

[Rd Wing]

(WIng starts here)

Edison Walker always wanted to be an X-Man. Sure there were teams like the Avengers and the Fantastic Four out there, but the X-Men appealed to him in a different way; they were kids themselves, only a little older than him from what he could make out on the TV and whilst nobody ever cut them a break, they always kept trying – the bad boys and girls of super heroics. What hope did he have stuck out on the farm in Ohio though? It might as well have been the back of beyond, and it wasn’t like he had anything else going for him like an alliterative name: You had Reed Richards, Bruce Banner… and he gets stuck with a name like Edison Walker; A terrible name that he placed the blame squarely upon his Mother for.

Then the X-Men died in Dallas, on live TV and his dream shifted, from joining them to joining them, to emulating their efforts in some ways and when the fateful day came that he finally came into the powers that his genetic code had decided to give him he took a huge step towards bringing it to fruition, but it was the arrival of Professor Xavier at his doorstep that it finally became a reality.

To say he jumped at the chance then was an understatement, but being one of the first of the new Helix initiative to arrive and being settled into the Mansion for well over a week now, he was beginning to get the lay of the land in terms of what to expect...

With little else to do on what basically amounted to an elongated study break, he floated aimlessly along the hallways and back up towards the boys’ dormitory block. Most of the rooms were unoccupied, his own for instance, having more than enough space for someone to move into the bed at the far end (‘though that would mean Eddie having to give up half of the closet space he was happily making the most of), but then someone stuck their head out of the one other rooms in a somewhat state of urgency, before ducking back inside.

None of his business? It was enough to pique his interest anyway and as he picked up his speed, he would have sworn later that he manage to spot a few wisps of smoke trailing out from just above the floor. Rounding the door to stand in the entrance, those ‘suspicions’ were readily confirmed with a smouldering bedspread – a revelation he greeted with an all-to-accepting ”Okay.“ because what could shock him after you learnt in your first briefing that apart from guys with wings, or who could turn into walking ice sculptures, there were also the ones out there with spectacularly disfiguring mutations, like having their whole head permanently ablaze. What was so surprising then about a bed being set on fire? ”Am I late for the house-warming party?“

[Shepherd]

Dang nabit!

Jeb felt like he was always setting things on fire. If only he had turned his head a little sooner, he would’ve hit the wall, which was less… flammable? But Jeb knew from experience that it wasn’t real fire, and a smirk couldn’t help but stretch across his face as he stared at his beautiful work as though it was art. His bed would be fine, and Broadband should be impressed at his demonstration of power.

"We have to find someone to help! Hurry!"

Broadband unexpectedly shoved Jeb out of his room. Caught off-guard by the force, he almost fell over and he was instantly reminded of all those times he was shoved in the hallway in school. Knocked down for being smaller, a part of a mutant family. In that moment, he wrinkled his brows and felt like zapping Broadband himself to get him back, but he didn’t want to risk losing a friend on his first day, especially when Broadband probably didn’t intend to. He was just scared. “Stop yer fussin’!” Jeb demanded rather than going to get help. “It’ll all be alright! It’ll go out on it’s own!” Eventually... The quicker way to do it was to get Paige in here and have her lay on the electrical flames in rubber form. Where was his skin husking older sister, anyway?

”Okay. Am I late for the house-warming party?“

Jeb jumped when a voice suddenly appeared behind him, instantly feeling like he was about to get in trouble and ready to blame it on his sister Melody like he usually did before realizing it was just another student. Who, thankfully, didn’t seem panicked at all, so he was one less person to worry about being upset with him. “Hey,” he said, giving off a wave of his hand to be friendly. Almost like he had forgotten about the ruckus he made once the possibility of making a new friend became apparent to him. “Ah’m Jeb.”

[~*Wind Dancer*~]

((OOC: Be forewarned, grammatical errors and awkward structure in Sofia's dialogue are purposeful. She hasn't quite mastered English yet.))


She'd never thought that she would manage to see a mansion larger than her fa--Mr. Barrett's. His estate had been well-sized, being the owner of a successful chain of supermarkets. Mind you, anything would look big to a Venezuelan import more accustomed to shacks and small houses. Yards? Oh, you mean that green space everyone shared. There was no 'get off my lawn'. That was everyone's lawn. Fences? For what? They'd get torn up by kids or pets, if not damaged by police and protestors. Alarm? Like an alarm for the house? .../please/. The best you could do was chain up the door and have your neighbor watch your house when you went out. Or if the family was big enough, you could just ensure that someone was always home.

This place though...it made Mr. Barrett's estate look like the houses and shacks in Venezuela. Then again, this was supposed to be some sort of school, so maybe some of these halls and rooms were meant for classes. There was an itinerary, class schedule, on her bed indicating such. But curiosity, a desire to see what all these rooms were, that wasn't why Sofia was out. She was...lost. It was her own fault really, as soon as she'd been brought here - by someone who /wasn't/ Derek, parting shot from Mr. Barrett no doubt - she'd been abandoned. Oh, she'd had someone to let her in and such, but Sofia found it hard to focus. She heard things like school and help and powers and special. Things that told her everyone here was a mutant like her. At the very least, she wouldn't have to worry about rejection for that. It was enough of a silver lining to keep her perky, happy-girl mask firmly in place.

Feigning tiredness, she'd come all the way from Colorado after all, Sofia had kind of holed herself up for the remainder of the day. Yesterday, that is. It gave her plenty of time to get it together with no witnesses to her out-of-character behavior. At first, she had come out to see who was around, get a feel for who she'd be dealing with. She needed to see how much to brace herself. Her last experience in a new setting with new people had ended...poorly. Though maybe if I'd tried harder, they would have liked me and it wouldn't have gone so badly. And I should have kept my temper. I never lose it like that, someone could have really gotten hurt, even if I was specifically trying to prevent that.

All she could do is try.

She'd start by trying to get back to her friggin' room. Maybe she should find a window, fly out, and start over at the entrance. Sofia was kind of ignoring the voices, used to words being carried to her whether she wanted them or not. Then the Venezuelan teen realized that she was inside and not using her powers at all. Those were actual voices of people that were actually around. Or up ahead. Sofia debated approaching or turning around, buy herself more time to get ready. However, the sound of panic made her unconsciously pick up her pace. Maybe she could help. That push things off to a great start right?

...or not? When Sofia arrived, she felt very confused. While one boy of odd coloring was scrambling about in a panic, the other two seemed completely unconcerned. And so while she felt maybe they should really do something about that weird blue fire on the bed, it was possible she was jumping the gun and there was really nothing to worry about. What was she thinking about? It was fire, of course they should worry! Bearing an expression of utter confusion and alarm, the pink polo-clad teen asked, "The bed...why is it on fire!?" A better question? Why did no one seem concerned about it except the one teen there? Did they not see it?!

"You could burn the room down if there is spreading!" And so Sofia did what came naturally, she panicked and waved an arm at the bed. Being an elemental meant, sadly, her alarm put an extra - unneeded, at that - oomph to her move. Acting upon her will, a strong wind pushed at the blue flames. It seemed to get worse, mostly because the wind was blowing the wrong way. Further alarmed, Wind Dancer's second try was...more potent. Fortunately, some of it went in the correct direction - a downdraft. As for the remainder? Well it was a powerful wind, and the girl was inexperienced. Sofia knocked over several items in the room, and if anyone happened to be in the way rather than standing safely to the side of behind her...ah, well...

Wind Dancer's wide eyes suggested that she hadn't necessarily expected all of that. She'd only wanted to put out the fire before it got out of control... What was the correct idiom here? "Oops...sorry."

[XxBroadband]

Why. Was. This. Fire. Not. Going. Out?! Broadband continued to swing his bag against the blue flame, trying to strike different spots. His teeth were gritting, and he wasn't paying attention to know if he was feeling the heat or not. He only knew this fire had to go out or they were all going to die. And Jebediah? He wasn't doing anything! Stop his fussing?! Yeah, right. It'll go out on its own once the room burns down. He thought he heard a second voice, but Broadband didn't care right now. He only wanted the fire to go out.

Somewhere in his brain he was trying to rationalize how much trouble he was going to get into. He hadn't even been at the mansion for an hour and already his room was burning down. He expected some power flare-ups, but this? This was ridiculous! He shouldn't have asked Jebediah if he was a mutant. If he didn't ask, the bedspread wouldn't be burning right now. And was the fire spreading? It seemed like it, but Broadband didn't know. God, what would his punishment be? Immediate expulsion? His dad would kill him. And like all things, Jebediah would walk away with only a stern talking to about starting fires since his brother was a big, bad X-Man and all.

Broadband decided he didn't like Jebediah now. Especially since he was too busy ignoring the flames.

Were there no adults coming around to stop this madness? Broadband was throwing more and more of his strength into banging against his bedspread, but his arm was tiring. There had to be something better to snuff the flame out. He heard another voice, not willing to look back, but it sounded like it had more urgency. Broadband jumped back as a burst of wind fanned the flames toward him. He quickly dropped his knapsack and patted his clothes, making sure he wasn't on fire. He was still wholesome. Ready to jump back and smother the fire... some how... a large burst of wind struck the fire from above, and Broadband suddenly felt free. Was that the right way to say it? No, try... screaming like a five year old girl!

His feet left the floor, his clothes whipped behind him, his body arced as if the wind slammed into his gut as he was flung, literally, out of his room, into the hallway, into the next room (thank God the door was open), and crashed against the wall. His screaming stopped immediately, the breath knocked out of him as he slid to the floor and stared at the ground in a daze. His chest heaved trying to find oxygen, but as he finally took his first gasp, filling his lungs with sweet relief, he slowly stood on his feet, pointing at Jebediah. "What is your problem?! You set my bed on fire and you act like it there was nothing wrong?!" Who was the other kid? Whatever. As he glanced into his room again, the fire was out, leaving Broadband to sigh in relief.

"Thanks," he muttered to the girl. "You're a life saver, unlike those two." He wasn't even upset about being flung across hall. At least the girl did something.

[Rd Wing]

“Hey, Ah’m Jeb.”
”Pleased to meet ya“ Edison replied with a nod of his head, before adding a ”I'll be right back.“

For all his many faults – and there were several that his teachers had made plain for his parents over those always fun parent-teacher conferences year after year – complete stupidity was not one of them, as despite his rather crass greeting to the two new boys, he could hardly stand back and watch whilst the flames grew high enough to trigger the sprinkler. Instead, he decided the proactive route was the way to go, and spinning in the air, started to fly down the corridor in search of a fire extinguisher.

Of course, despite the extra couple of week’s advantage he had over the other new students, he still hadn’t taken enough time to remember the full layout, because if he had, he might have remembered that the closest extinguisher to his current position was mounted in completely the opposite direction. In any event, there was the then the issue of which one to bring back as well though. Because although the bed was on fire, the flames had been blue… which suggested electrical? But no part of the bed had any sort of current running through it so…? The more he thought about it, the more his head hurt, but feeling like a CO2 was his best bet, snatched it off the wall in mid-flight, before turning a sharp 180 and heading back again.

He needn’t have worried quite so much, as it turned out, because in his brief absence, another of the new intake of Helixers had turned up to take care of the problem in their own inimitable way. A pretty latina, whom had turned up yesterday, Eddie remembered – which explained why he hadn’t had a chance to introduce himself yet, but from what he understood her powers were something to do with wind, which as he brought himself to a landing by the doorway again and craning his neck to peer inside, guessed correctly she had used to thoroughly ventilate the room and put the unusual flames out.

”Nicely done.“ He smiled at the girl, before turning around to look over at Broadband, whom, after being noticeable flung out of the room during his approach, was now lying in a heap on the opposite side of the hallway. ”You okay over there?“

"Thanks, You're a life saver, unlike those two."

”Oh so you don’t want my housewarming gift then? “ Replied Eddie in mock offence, as he set the Fire Extinguisher down just inside the room. ”I’m Wing, by the way, or Eddie, either works. “ But as he turned back to Broadband again, his brain still had the filters to his mouth still set firmly in the off position. ”Cool… “ and he swirled his finger around the outline of the own face as he looked for the right word to sum up the interesting patch of colouring head going on, before settling on a simple ”…face.“

[Shepherd]

Why couldn’t Broadband just calm the heck down!? He was jeopardizing his chances at making a new friend, as the boy he had just met flew away before Jeb could even get a name. Wait, he could fly? It hit Jeb like a truck, causing him to stare until he disappeared around the corner, even though he shouldn’t be surprised. His brother could fly, only it was much more violent and explosive. Better than this guy’s flight by a long shot.

“The bed...why is it on fire!? You could burn the room down if there is spreading!"

Oh, great. Another frantic student. Jeb didn’t even bother to look. He really didn’t think he would cause this much of a ruckus, but he was kind of liking it. He had been worried he would have a hard time finding friends and they were all here, swarming to see him. Or at least the fire he made. Which wasn’t real fire! “It’s ain’t gonna spread! It ain’t gonna do nuthin!” he couldn’t help but yell , but bit his tongue when he noticed he was yelling at someone as pretty as she… Who was that?

And then she was using what seemed to be the wind to extinguish his blue fire which he wished he had the power to extinguish on his own, but ended up knocking a slew of Broadband’s things over in the process. And Broadband, who went flying out of his room, past Jeb, and slammed into a wall. Jeb tried not to chuckle, or stare at the girl who he thought he was already getting a crush on. So pretty and so powerful. She was just the girl Jeb always wanted… but never got. “Hi,” Jeb spat out when he caught her eye. “Ah’m Jeb.”

"What is your problem?! You set my bed on fire and you act like it there was nothing wrong?!"

Turning back to Broadband, Jeb’s smile fell off of his face and his eyes widened in surprise when his expression switched from frantic to angry. He had not been expecting that he would be blamed for all this. He wasn’t the one who tossed him into a wall, and he felt the need to defend his case. Broadband was trying to make him look bad in front of the flying boy and a girl! “That’s cuz nuthin’ was wrong! Just look at yer bed!” Jeb pointed at it. “Ya see any scratches? An’ besides, it was an accident…”

[~*Wind Dancer*~]

Ah..maybe she could get something out being abandoned on this place's doorstep after all.

While she did put the 'fire' out, she also put out the majority of someone's - Broadband apparently - things as well as the panicking boy with shiny skin...way into the next room. The boy's surprised shout - she'd spare his pride and not call it a rather high-noted scream - added to her guilt. Sofia was Catholic..she was good at guilt. Really good. So good that she slowly edged over to Broadband like he'd start shouting at her, but she'd still check on him and take her deserved punishment. Also not helping was her being extremely accustomed to people's disdain. Her mind failed to remind her that she was, in fact, surrounded by mutants now and no one here was going to hate her on principle. When these boys, her new classmates, looked at her, they saw a girl. Not the mutant freak, not William Barrett's bastard daughter-not-daughter, but a girl. Her being a mutant was not particularly fascinating, or disgusting, news.

Just a girl. Or, specifically in dear Jolt's sights, a very pretty girl.

“Hi,” -- “Ah’m Jeb.” Sofia turned around, recognizing the voice of the one who'd said the fire wasn't going to spread because it wasn't real. She hadn't taken the comment in, too busy freaking out with Broadband. Sofia paused, stopping herself from drowning Jeb in a flurry of Spanish. She'd not had someone approach her in a friendly manner before. Outside of Derek. She almost didn't know what to say. The Venezuelan blinked, wondering why his words sounded different than others. She understood though; he was greeting her, saying his name was Jeb. "Hi," she parroted. "My name es - is! - Sofia."

"What is your problem?! You set my bed on fire and you act like it there was nothing wrong?!" To her shock, the one she'd knocked way over here wasn't mad at her at all. He zeroed in on the boy behind her, pointing accusingly at him. Evidently, Jeb was their fire-starter. Sofia blinked and then Jeb fired back. “That’s cuz nuthin’ was wrong! Just look at yer bed!” -- “Ya see any scratches? An’ besides, it was an accident…” Sofia opened her mouth to try and diffuse the argument, but another boy beat her to being the next to talk.

”Nicely done,“ he said with a smile in her direction. Puzzled, Wind Dancer turned around to look at the room again. As Jeb had indicated, there was no actual fire damage to the bed. In fact, it now looked like she had been the one to trash the room, now that there was no fire. Great. ”You okay over there?“ She'd never hit an actual person with her powers before. Sofia hoped nothing was broken... Surprising her again, the boy on the ground thanked her. "Thanks," -- "You're a life saver, unlike those two."

"Really?" she replied, obviously surprised. "But I hit all you things and send you over here." There was something wrong with that sentence, something missing maybe? Whatever. She got her point across. ...Creo.. The other boy - she really needed to learn names - had a different take. He didn't get mad though, just said, ”Oh so you don’t want my housewarming gift then?“ It sounded like..'sorno'... 'sarcasmo'....sarcasm! That was the word: sarcasm. Thankfully, there were many cognates in English. Words that sounded similar to the Spanish she knew. Something heavy was set down - a fire extinguisher. Tsk, if she'd waited a little, everything might have been fine. Well, the bed would be covered with fire extinguisher..stuff, but his belongings would be safe and he wouldn't be all bruised up. Well, she didn't know if he was bruised up or not, but that abrupt stop to the screaming indicated it probably hurt.

”I’m Wing, by the way, or Eddie, either works. “ Alright, two names. Jeb and..Wing. Or Eddie, he'd said. Jeb and Eddie...or Wing. Wingless Wing. "You..your nickname is Wing? Why?" Was it rude to just say it that way? Did she say 'nickname' correctly? And still no name for the last one. She was going to ask, but stopped short at Eddie's observation of Broadband's..face. ”Cool… “ -- ”…face.“ Wind Dancer blinked slowly at the commentary. Broadband's face, now that she was paying attention, was in fact a silvery color. Or a patched silver? She had noted the green hair - it was hard to miss - but further staring made it apparent that he hadn't dyed it that color for fun.

"What is your name?" This directed at Broadband. Oh, but it was polite to give your name first right? "My name is Sofia."

[Julian Keller]

There was only so much reading even he could do. Despite actually loving books - a secret that he kept very, very hidden from anyone else in that damn school, until at least they decided to pair him with someone as a roommate. The prospective irked him a little. He was used to having his own room, his own space, with no one bothering him... Besides, he wouldn't want a loser for a roommate. And he was finding it actually very hard to find anyone decent around that damn school.

Closing the book and putting it back in his desk's drawer, Julian stood up and stretched his arms in front of him. Boredom was a nasty, nasty thing. He had enough of it.

The Californian boy decided, then, that a stroll around the school's grounds was something more interesting to do when there was nothing else to do at all. At least there he wouldn't be forced to keep that ridiculous 'hush hush' attitude his parents had tried to force upon him.

No, in there, he could be himself. It made him smirk a little as he simply idly reached for objects in his way, making them float and then putting them back in place, as if purposely showing off, like the best of them.

But then voices down the corridor made Julian's curiosity come to the surface. So they were gathering already? At one of the bedrooms? Now how interesting was that?

And how come he wasn't invited?


The dark-haired boy made his way to where the commotion was happening, and simply leaned against the doorframe until he decided to make his voice heard. "Well, well, look at this. The nerds are all gathered and I wasn't invited? What's up with that?"

Then blue eyes noticed. Hot girl was with them. Really hot girl was with them. He smirked, then finally pushed himself off the wall to walk towards Sofia. "And the rest of you definitely don't deserve the company of such a pretty girl with you. What's going on around here? Are you all up to trouble again?"

Turning to face the girl, he smirked. "I'm Julian. And trust me, you're better off with me than with the rest of them."