ISSUE #3

" This cannot be true David. Why would they split us up?"

Sofia asked.

" I don't know for sure what's going to happen us, Sofia. But they're breaking the entire student body into squads. I don't know about you guys, but I didn't sign up for this. I came to be a student not a potential X-Man."

David explained to the group.

" They can't split us up, we work great as a team! We just took down sentinels and a squad of bad guys!"

Josh yelled when suddenly the sound of clapping filled the room. The group turned to see Julian standing in the doorway to the danger room.

" Oh, yeah, you're real pros, Josh. I'm betting the Danger Room was on wimp setting."

Julian mocked the boy.

" What are you doing here Julian?"

Josh asked the boy.

" Saw you sneaking out of the cafeteria after the lights went out. Figured you'd drag your loser friends int trouble, Josh. And then I'd be the one to make sure you got caught."

Julian explained.

" Hey, whoa! Way to be a total jackass man. But seriously why the need to be such a jerk?"

John asked the boy.

" I'm sorry, who are you?"

Julian asked.

" Oh, I'm sorry. I'm the new guy! Names Johnathan. Friends call me John."

Johnathan said to the boy.

" Well, you should ditch these losers, John."

Julian was explaining before John raised a hand.

" I'm sorry you weren't listening. I said Friends call me John. And you aren't acting very friendly right now."

John explained to the boy.

" Whatever, you and the rest of these Jerks'll be split up Monday anyway."

Julian replied.

" You know about the assembly Julian?"

Josh asked.

" Sure do. Perk of having the headmistress as your advisor. Miss Frost tells me everything. I mean who do you have as an advisor? Dani Moonstar? A leftover from the original New Mutants, who were basically just X-Men wannabes?"

Julian mocked the groups teacher.

" And what are you, Julian? A stuck-up asshole like Frost?"

John asked the boy.

" What did you say punk?"

Julian asked.

" We had ways of dealing with jerks like you back on the streets."

John said to the boy.

" Go ahead and show me punk!"

Julian yelled as he pushed the boy back with his telekinesis.

John stuck his hand out and went to blast Julian before Sofia stepped in.

" My wind can push people just as easily as your telekinesis, Julian"

Sofia explained to the boy as she lifted him with her wind powers.

" What do you want Sofia?"

Julian asked the girl.

" We were just helping out a friend. I want for you to keep our secret."

Sofia said to the boy.

" Well... I never could refuse a beautiful girl, especially one with a sexy accent and cool powers. Fine I won't tell. But only because Sofia asked so nicely. You owe me one gorgeous."

Julian said as he left the room.

" Dude... What a dick."

John said as Julian walked away.

" Forget Julian, I want to ask Dani what's going on."

David said as he started to leave the room as well with the others following him.

" What's with Julian Sofia? Does he like you?"

Laurie asked.

" Honestly, Laurie I do not know, and I do not care. All I know is that we have to keep him quiet."

Sofia explained.

" Well, to answer that question honestly Laurie, he does like her. He likes her a lot. Enough to drop his asshole attitude anyway."

John joked.

" So, you guys are going to go see your teacher now?"

John asked.

" Nah, She's not my advisor. They can go talk to her if they want too. I'm going to bed."

Noriko explained.

" That's fine I'll do some exploring. See if I can catch Julian off guard and maybe throw something wet on him. Mind if I walk you to your room?"

John asked the woman.

" Sure, let's go."

Noriko said to the boy as she turned to leave the group.

" But Noriko..."

Sofia called out to the girl as the two left.

" Let them go Sofia. It's time for us to get some answers."

David said to the group as he walked in the opposite direction.

" He seems deadest on not being an X-Man. What about you Nori? Do you want to be an X-Man?"

John asked the girl as the two walked towards the girl's dormitory.

" I don't really care about it. I just want to get my powers under control. If being an X-Man is in the future, then so be it."

Noriko explained to the boy.

" What about you?"

Nori asked.

" Of course, I want to be an X-Man. I was always a fan of the X-Men. I used to watch them anytime we got the chance."

John explained to the girl.

" Glad to see you're so excited about it."

Noriko said with a smile on her face.

" Yeah, that's why I kind of overreacted with Julian earlier. He's disrespecting the New Mutants in a way that I can't tolerate. They were just as awesome as the X-Men. And he had the nerve to talk about them like they were yesterday's trash."

John explained to the girl, his sad face telling just how angry he was at the boy.

" Don't mind Julian. He's like that with everyone who doesn't bow before him. But I'm surprised you didn't fight him back. Why didn't you?"

Noriko asked.

" Lightning can be lethal to humans. I can control it yes. But it is still lightning. Even at its weakest it would still be enough to hurt him if I wasn't careful. And besides it seemed like Sofia had it handled."

John explained to the girl as they walked up the stairs.

" Well, that was very adult of you. Had it been me I probably would have fried Julians nuts off."

Noriko exclaimed making Johnathan laugh.

" Now that I'd love to see. But for now, it looks like we've reached the end of our journey together... For tonight at least. Goodnight, Nori. I'll see you tomorrow. Sleep tight."

John said to the woman as he hugged the woman.

" Goodnight John, sleep well."

Nori replied as she returned the hug.

John smiled and turned to leave the woman for the night.

" All right, now. Where did that Julian get off to?"

John asked himself as he started wandering the halls of the Institute looking for any sign of the boy. He searched high and low looking for the boy until he eventually gave up.

" Looks like he's probably already back in his room. Guess I'll get him tomorrow. Hm?"

John was saying before something fell out of his pocket. He picked it up curiously and was shocked to see it was Cyclops's keycard.

' Uh-Oh!'

John thought to himself as he realized how much trouble they were going to be in. He started walking down the stairs hoping to get to Scott's office and put it back before he noticed, until he saw the man walking down a further flight of stairs. Johnathan quickly ducked to hide himself from the man and ended up accidentally overhearing a conversation.

" Ah, Ms. Ashida I was just looking for you."

Scott said to the girl as she rushed out of the girl's dormitory.

" It's getting close to curfew. Do you think now is a good time to leave your room?"

Scott asked the girl.

" I had to get some air, Cyclops. You gave me a religious nut for a roommate!"

Noriko exclaimed angrily.

" You'll deal... You're tough. But I didn't come here to listen to complaints about roommate assignments."

Scott said to the girl.

" Yeah? So what did you come to bust my chops for?"

Noriko asked.

" I came to get my KEYCARD back. The one you stole to break into the danger room. We have rules in place for a reason. It's not SAFE in the danger room without proper X-Men supervision."

Scott explained to the girl angrily.

" it's not her fault."

John yelled out as he jumped down from the stairs landing in front of the two with Scotts keycard in his hand.

" It's mine. I remembered the danger room from earlier and dragged the others with me. I'm sorry sir."

Johnathan explained to Cyclops as he handed the man his keycard.

Noriko looked at the boy stunned, that he was taking the heat for her when they were only there to help her in the first place.

" I see. Seeing how you all preformed I'll forgo punishment. THIS TIME. But you must have your gauntlets looked at tomorrow Noriko."

Scott said to the girl.

" What?"

John asked.

" There are cameras in the danger room kid."

Scott replied to the stunned boy.

" Can't I just get rid of them? They're big. They're clunky. They're ugly. And apparently they're fragile and unreliable."

Noriko explained to the man sadly, as she hated her gauntlets.

" Noriko, Miss Moonstar gave me all the details on your life before you came to this school. I know that when you were living on the street, you used pills to regulate your power. Are you saying you want to go back to that?"

Scott asked the girl honestly.

John looked at the girl a little shocked at what he heard. And instantly felt even worse for Noriko.

" No... Maybe..."

Noriko replied solemnly as she hung her head in shame.

John walked over to the girl and hugged her again.

" Nori, I'm sorry. I had no idea this was eating at you so badly. Mr. Summers, I heard we're getting broken up into squads Right?"

John asked the man.

Scott nodded in response.

" Then put me and Nori on the same team. I can control my powers better. I could help her do the same, and if her gauntlets ever broke, I could help safely regulate the flow of her electrical charges."

John explained to the man.

Noriko looked at Johnathan in shock. He had already offered to do so before. But this time just felt different. Noriko believed he would truly do everything in his power to help her. And that made her feel... Happy.

" I told you I saw the danger room footage. I know how well you two work together. I was already planning on that Johnathan. If you can help Noriko get control of her powers without her gauntlets then that's great. But until then, I want you to give the gauntlets another try. And give your roommate another try as well."

Scott explained to the two.

" Affirmative on the gauntlets. Fat chance on the roommate."

Noriko replied to the man.

" Fine. For now."

Scott said in defeat.

" I still don't like you; you know."

Noriko said to Scott.

Scott smiled at the girl.

" You don't have to. I'm still in charge."

Scott replied to the girl before walking away.

" It's nearly curfew say what you need and get to bed Mr. Storm."

Scott said as he walked away.

John laughed and scratched the back of his head nervously before turning to Noriko.

" Nori, I promise I'll do my best to help you. We'll do this... Together. Just promise me you won't go back to the pills."

John said to the girl.

" I believe you. And I promise I won't."

Noriko replied to the boy. She walked closer to John and hugged him once again.

" Thank you for helping me, John. I appreciate it."

Noriko said to the boy.

Johnathan smiled before wrapping his arms the woman's waist.

" No problem, Noriko. I will always be there for you."

John proclaimed to the girl.

The stood there for a few minutes before a cough from Cyclops finally broke them up.

The two turned to see the man still standing there and both turned red.

" I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight John."

Noriko said to the boy before rushing back to her room.

John looked on, stunned by the woman as she ran. His world around him slowly changing as he fixated on the blue haired woman.

' Young love. I remember those days.'

Scott thought to himself as he watched the two teenagers.

Scott smiled and walked over to the boy placing a hand on his shoulder and drawing him from his stupor.

" Huh! Oh, Sorry Mr. Summers I..."

John was explaining.

" You don't need to explain it to me Johnathan. Trust me, I know. Now, come on it's curfew. I'll let it go for tonight. But no more missing it understood."

Scott explained to the boy,

" AYE AYE CAPTAIN!"

John joked.

" THEN GET TO BED SOLDIER!"

Scott yelled to the boy.

John laughed and ran towards the boy's dormitory for his own room where he would think about his exchange with Noriko for the rest of the night, until he eventually fell asleep.