Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2003 22:36:38 -0500 From: Dash Jarrod Subject: Force of One 9 Disclaimer: This story is totally fictional. If any of the characters resemble anyone from your life, that is just coincidence. Any celebrity involved in this story may or may not be homosexual. If you are under 18 please don't read. Thanks to anyone that has responded to me about my story. I have been enjoying writing it; I just hope that you enjoy reading it as much. Thanks to Alex and Dustin for letting me make them into characters. Character list so far: Matthew-Powers: telepathy, telekinesis, pyrokinesis, control over magnetism, control over the weather, and a healing factor Age: 19 Body type: semi-muscular yet skinny Features: 6'1", blonde hair, blue eyes, and 140# Andrew-Power: telepathy Age: 18 Body type: muscular but skinny Features: greenish eyes, black hair, 5'11", and 140# Bobby-Power: ability to produce ice Age: 19 Body type: muscular Features: 5'10", 140#, blonde hair, and blue eyes Aaron-Power: unlimited teleportational range, absorption and redirection of energy, some telepathy (mind-speak and reading minds) Age: 17 Body type: slim but muscular Features: light brown hair, green eyes, 5'11", and 135# Jake-Power: limited acceleration of mental and physical processes, increased agility, speed, and strength Age: 18 Body type: slim but muscular Features: dirty blonde hair, dark blue eyes, 6', and 140# We sat there discussing my talent and my powers for a little while longer. During this discussion, I found out that he is very passionate about helping other mutants cope with their powers. This is definitely a good thing to know about him because I know so little. The more I learn about him, the more I feel comfortable around him. It would be a good thing if I felt comfortable around him all the time. Not only when we are discussing my powers and me or training. As soon as we were done discussing my talent, Bobby came into the room. I have no clue why he is there at the moment but I am sure I will learn why. When Bobby came in, he said hi to both Professor X and I. He then sat down waiting for the professor to begin explaining what was going on. He began by stating, "I have brought Bobby here because he is the one that we will be mind-controlling. I chose him because his power is one that can be easily seen when he is using it. I will try to explain to you how to control someone's mind and then show you what it looks like when he is controlled." The first thing he explained was that I had to establish the telepathic link like I would for reading his mind. But this time, I would have to control the nerve impulses in his brain and therefore make him do what I want him to do. In order to control the nerve impulses, I have to basically suggest something for him to do. But of course, this isn't the easiest thing to do. He went on to explain that when suggesting something to do, you basically have to replace his thoughts with yours, that way if you speak he speaks. If you want him to move in a certain fashion, just think that motion and he will do it. You basically have to overprint your mind onto his for the time you are controlling him. Then he explained that when you are controlling someone's mind, you can't do anything else because it takes all of your concentration to pull this off and because you can't think of anything without that person doing that thing. He also said that this would most likely take the whole week to learn how to do proficiently. This is one of the hardest things for a telepath to learn. I would probably have to agree with the professor on this one, I believe this will be one of the hardest things for me to learn. It will take all of my concentration to get this right. I am curious though, I wonder if I will be able to control more than one person's mind at once if I am good enough. I hope that onne day I will be good enough, possibly as good as Professor Xavier. Who knows if that will ever happen or not, but I hope it does. The next thing I saw was amazing. Everyone had stopped talking and the professor had gotten this intense look of concentration on his face. The next thing that happened was that Bobby all of a sudden got up and formed this second skin over his clothes. The weird thing about this skin was that it was completely made of ice. This should not have surprised me as much as it did considering his power. But I had never seen him do anything with it. All of a sudden I had a very worrying thought. I thought about the fact that Bobby knows I am gay. The thing that worries me is the fact that I don't know if the professor does or not. I have a feeling that he does because after all he is one of the most powerful minds on the planet. If he does know, I wonder if he is ok with it or not. I haven't thought to question Bobby about what the professor thinks about his being gay. I am sure that there are more gay people here than just Bobby and I. I will have to question Bobby about if he would be willing to introduce me to some of the people he knows is gay. I just had another thought. I am glad the professor is busy controlling Bobby's mind because I don't know if my mental barriers are still in place or if I have to rebuild them. While I was thinking all of this, Bobby was being made to walk around the room and every once in a while he would use his power for something of other. I think it's fascinating to watch someone else use a power I do or do not have. But there is one person's power I really want to see used. That person is Jake, with his ability to basically slow down time around himself. He does this through speeding up any physical or mental process. That is one power that I want to see used. Another person's power I would like to see would be Aaron's ability to absorb power. He then also is able to redirrect the energy he absorbed. That would also be a power that would be interesting to see used. Just as suddenly as Bobby started walking around the room, he sat back down again. Before he sat down though, he defrosted himself. What I mean by defrosting himself is that he took off the second ice skin and reverted to his normal look. All of a sudden I had another thought that might help me learn how to do this faster. I just don't know if my thought is doable. I had to ask, "Professor, I am wondering, is it possible for me to establish a telepathic link with Bobby and still be there when you take control of his mind? Or do I have to establish a connection with you and go along for the ride?" He replied with, "I have honestly never had a student ask me that type of question. Usually, they just suffer through many attempts before they ask me to help them do it once. It's an interesting set of questions that you have posed. I don't know how to answer your question exactly because I don't think either has been tried. I would speculate that if you were connected with Bobby when I took over his mind, you would possibly be taken over. Either that or you would just get kicked out. But if you were to establish a link with me, you would be able to tag along and see what I am thinking when I take control of his mind. I will further contemplate your set of questions and give you your answer tomorrow. In two days I have once again scheduled you to meet with Dr. McCoy so that he can possibly figure out why your hands started to glow." At that, Bobby and I got up and left the room. When we were outside the room, we started talking like we were old friends. I confessed to him my fear of what the professor thinks of gay people. I also told him that while he was covered in ice, he looked really good. Although, he would look good in anything he put on. At least that is what I think. I then asked him, "I know this might seem like a weird question but would you mind introducing me to some of the other people you know are gay?" His reply was, " I don't think that is a weird question at all. I would be glad to introduce you to some of them. In fact, I can take you to meet two of them now." With that he grabbed my hand and started leading me down the hallway that leads to the band room. In fact we stopped at that exact place. When I realized where I was, I couldn't help but ask, "There are other gay people in the band then me? I wonder if I know them or not?" He then said, "You probably do know them, they are two of the section leaders. To be precise, they are in charge of the percussion and trumpet sections, although I can never remember who plays which instrument." "I had no clue Aaron and Jake were gay, although I bet they don't know I am gay either." "They probably don't know. You aren't obviously gay and you aren't out to everyone. The combination of those two things would make it very difficult for anyone to figure out you are gay unless you tell them." "I wonder what their reaction will be to learning that I am gay?" All the time we were talking outside the band room, we were still holding hands. We were doing it as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do. But directly after I asked the last question, the door opened and instinctively I dropped his hand. As soon as I realized what I did, I looked over at him. He had this hurt look on his face that made my heart break. I started to explain why I did that when he just walked into the room looking for Aaron and Jake. When he found them, they started talking and I slowly made my approach. When I got there, he turned to me and said, "I have done what I said I would." As soon as he finished saying this, he left rather quickly. This action by him stunned all of us. Now I have no clue what he said to them but I can imagine the worst. Jake all of a sudden broke the silence by asking, "What did he mean by 'I have done what I said I would.'" There was no easy explanation for this question, so I started at the beginning. I explained that I was gay and that Bobby knows this, which he has known since the beginning of my time here. I also explained that Bobby had agreed to introduce me to some of the other gay students attending school here, and that the first two people he was going to introduce me to were you two. This explanation appeased their curiosity as to his departing words. Although, I could tell that they were still curious as to why he left. So, I said, "I can tell that you are still curious as to why he left. Bobby confessed his attraction toward me the first time we met. Now, I was attracted to him as well but I had my eyes set on someone else at the time. Now, I found out firsthand that my crush didn't like me the same way. After that, I was going to focus on my studies and training solely but for some reason I could not get Bobby out of my mind. One day, I got out of my training session early and I found him kissing some other guy. This made me mad, so I dealt with it like I deal with a lot of my problems. I ran. But Bobby followed me until I landed and settled down, then he approached me. We talked for quite a while and we once again admitted that we like one another. When we finished talking, I said that I needed to think about whether or not I was ready to forgive him for doing what he did. Of course, I forgave him and he figured this out without me actually having to say it. But as to why he left, we were on our way down here when he grabbed my hand and started to lead the way. We stood outside the room talking and still holding hands. But when the door opened, I dropped his hand. Now, you must understand that I did not intentionally drop his hand. It was just instinct to drop his hand since only a very few people know about me. When I dropped his hand, he got a very hurt look on his face. When I started to explain why I did what I did, he just entered this room and started looking for the two of you. Please understand that it pains me to see him hurting like that, but I don't think he will listen to anything I have to say. If you have any suggestions as to what I should do, please tell me." They contemplated my story for a spell. I think Jake believes me but Aaron still needs more convincing. When I realized this, I made him an offer he couldn't refuse. I was going to let him down all of my mental barriers and let him read my mind. He finally agreed to look through my memories concerning Bobby. When he said that he agreed, I sat down and started to relax my mind and take down my barriers. When he saw that I was ready, he came and stood before me and put his hands on either side of my head and started to concentrate. I could feel him moving about in my mind, searching to see if my story was true or not. In what was probably no time at all, he took his hands away and said, "Every word that you just spoke was true and I am sorry for not believing you in the first place." I replied with, "It's quite all right. You had no reason to believe me right off the bat. You were concerned about Bobby and I am glad to learn that he has such dedicated friends. Now, if you don't mind, I would like to be able to talk to him but I don't think he will want to listen to me. Do either of you have any suggestions about how I should go about it?" The only suggestion they had was to wait until he calms down to talk to him. So, basically they told me to reverse situations with Bobby. I just hope that he understands and forgives me. Band class that day sucked because I couldn't concentrate on playing the music. Don't get me wrong; it wasn't noticeable to anyone except for Aaron and Jake if they looked over at me at all. Although, I don't know why they would worry about me because I don't deserve their concern. When band was over, I went over to talk to Aaron and Jake. I needed to ask them if they might know where Bobby would possibly go to lick his wounds. The only place they could think of that was both quiet and secluded was the library. I headed over to the library, but before I went in I did a mental search of the area. I was looking for Bobby. When I did my mental search, I found that he was in there but not near the front. This isn't necessarily a bad thing because it will give me a little time to think about what I am going to say. When I got to where he was sitting and saw how sad he looked, I almost turned around and left but he looked up and saw me. When he looked up, he motioned for me to join him. As I sat down, he stared up at me. When I had seated myself, I started off by saying, "I am sorry for my action this afternoon. I want you to understand that it was instinct. I was really enjoying holding your hand but when that door opened I sort of panicked. As you know, not many people know I am gay. But if you bear with me, you will end up helping me get used to people seeing me holding a guy's hand. Before too long, I will be kissing you with all my heart with people watching." After I had said this, I looked at him for any response. He was contemplative for a while. While this was happening, I was becoming worried. I was worrying that he wasn't going to bear with me through any of it. That would be my luck with guys if he did do that. Although, I have a feeling that he is different. Considering all the trouble he went through to get me to admit my feelings about him. Finally, we started talking again and we basically started back up where we left off this afternoon. After that, he walked me back to my room. Before I actually entered though, he leaned over and gave me a kiss. It started out nice and soft and tender, but as time wore on we got more and more into it. I did not want to end the kiss but I knew I had better let him get back to his room for the night. As soon as I got in the room, I knew I would have sweet dreams that night. The next day, I don't think the smile left my face. I was probably the happiest I had been in a long time. This was all because I had found myself the sweetest, kindest guy in the whole world. Just the thought of seeing him again this afternoon made me overjoyed. Classes seemed to fly by in the morning. The combination of my happiness and being able to concentrate unusually well made every class fly. When it came time for my training lesson, I was really excited. One I get to see Bobby, two I was learning how to control someone's mind. I did not expect to get a chance to try it, so I was looking forward to the possibility of tagging along in the professor's mind when he took over Bobby's. As I approached the room where I train, I saw Bobby standing there seemingly waiting for me. When I spotted him, my smile broadened even wider. I was positively beaming when I spotted him. We stood there talking for a while before I got a telepathic message from Professor X. I hadn't realized how long we stood there talking. As soon as I entered the room, I received a mental attack without any warning what so ever. I wasn't prepared for an attack on my mind but I don't think I did that bad because I can't feel anyone moving around in my mind. I wasn't sure that my mental barriers would hold up to an attack, but as soon as I felt someone trying to invade my mind I quickly set to strengthening them. When I could no longer feel anyone attacking my mind, the professor spoke up. He said, "I just tried to invade your mind to find out how much you have actually learned. I am very proud of how you handled the situation. You strengthened your barriers almost as soon as I was attacking. Since you weren't sure that your barriers would hold up to an attack, you got right to strengthening them. I am glad you didn't panic." He also said, "In response to your questions yesterday, I have to go along with my speculation. I still don't know what will happen, but if you are willing to experiment with me, we will figure out the answer ourselves. Bobby, you don't mind participating in our little experiment do you?" We both replied that we would love to take part in the experiment. It was actually kind of exciting to be doing this. To think, if my idea works, it could help other students learn to control people's minds quicker. This thought made me smile. I seem to be doing an awful lot of that recently, although that is one trend that I want to continue for a long time. I wonder though, if I will get credit for this idea if it works. Who knows, first we have to see if it works at all. When we were done talking about what we were going to do, I started to establish my telepathic link with the professor when I stopped. I explained that the reason I stopped was because a thought entered into my head and I had to pay this one heed. The thought was that I suspect not may people get to establish telepathic links with the professor and that I should feel honored that he trusts me enough to let me do it. With that said, I established my link once Professor X was ready again. Once I was in, I could sense the strong telepathic "waves" rushing at me. I could also sense where his barriers stood. There was a kind of resonance where they are normally erected. I can tell that I probably wouldn't be able to break through his barriers if he hadn't let them down. Once the professor started to control Bobby's mind, my mental picture changed drastically. What I saw at first was all of his thoughts behind controlling someone's mind. As soon as I got used to what I was seeing, the view changed again. This time, I saw Bobby's mind. Except this time what I saw was through Professor X's mind. It's a little bit weird seeing someone else's mind second hand. If I could paint a picture of what the professor's mind looked like when he started to control Bobby's mind, it would be a jumble of blue and green lines everywhere. Most of them were interwoven and connecting. Now, when Professor X took over Bobby's mind, all of these electrical things were happening. It seems to me that the professor was overlaying his neurons and synapses onto Bobby's. To see this happen is indescribable. It is probably the most amazing thing I have ever seen. I do not think the most gifted poet or writer would give justice to what I have just seen. As quickly as the professor had controlled Bobby's mind, he set it free again. When everyone was back to normal, I told Professor X that I had followed along through every step he had done. There had been no complication in viewing his thought process. I don't know why, but I am glad the experiment worked. With the experiment done, he let us go early. The only thing I wanted to do was make it official between Bobby and I. I planned on doing this when we had found a secluded spot that we could talk in. The most logical place was in the library. When we sat down at one of the tables furthest from the door, I grabbed his hand and looked him in the eye. When I had done this, I asked, "Bobby will you go out with me and make me the happiest man in the world?" It took him no time at all to respond with, "Of course I will Matt. I have waited for you to ask that question since I first met you." Seeing him so happy overjoyed me. It put the hugest smile on my face knowing I had made him so happy. Although, I am sure of the fact that I am just as happy as he is. When I came to the school, I never expected to be accepted so quickly. Especially considering the fact that most people don't know the real purpose of this school. I am glad that I was accepted as one of their own. I am also glad that I have the perfect boyfriend. Right now, my life is pretty much like I hoped it would be when I grew up. It almost seems too perfect to be true, but each morning when I expect to wake up to my old life, I don't. Instead, I continue to wake up to this unbelievable life that I have found myself thrust into. There is no way I would trade any of this for anything in the world. I don't think anything could compare to what my life had become. I am definitely happy with my life as it is. Well, that's it for another chapter. Please, please, please tell me what you think. I would love to hear what you have to say. You can contact me at djminf@hotmail.com. Thanks for reading.