ISSUE #5

" Hellion and the Hellions? How about a little ego to go with that swelled head of yours Julian?"

Josh said to Julian as the two teams faced off.

" What's the matter Josh? Jealous? Miss Frost let us pick our own codenames, unlike that loser Moonstar."

Julian said to the boy disrespecting his teacher.

" I've just about had it with you picking on Dani."

Josh yelled getting in Julian's face.

" Why so defensive, Josh? Oh, that's right. She's not just your advisor, she's your guardian. Cuz your real parents threw you out with the trash!"

Julian said to the boy making him angry.

" That's enough Julian! That was uncalled for you little pink haired dick."

John said to the man getting in between him and Josh.

" Josh, back up! Let it go man. It ain't worth it."

John turned to Josh and pushed him away from Julian.

Julian waited until John's back was turned and slugged him in the head.

" Ugh!"

John grunted in pain.

John turned around and punched Julian in his nose, breaking it.

" Argh! You bastard, I think you broke my nose."

Julian said as he grabbed his bleeding nose.

Santo and the rest of the Hellions squad stepped up to help their friend.

" Trust me you guys don't want to do this. Let's just drop it and leave it alone."

John said to the Hellions trying to get them to stand down.

" Fuck that, you hit our friend."

Brian said to the man.

" Tch! He hit me first!"

John replied in amazement.

" Don't worry John, we got your back."

Josh said as he and the rest of the new mutants got ready to fight as well.

Santo was the first to rush into a fight.

' What a drag, I just wanted to go get cake from the teachers' lounge. Now, I gotta deal with this.'

John thought to himself as Santo charged him.

Santo raised his fist to attack.

John dodged the man's fist and threw him onto the ground.

" I don't get it Cessily, why are boys always so boy-like?"

Laurie asked the metallic girl as she watched the boy fight.

" Oh, look... The quiet girl speaks! Someone alert the media!"

Cessily replied obviously mocking the girl.

" Hey! Wait a minute. What was that about Laurie?"

John asked the girl in shock as he sat on top of the rock man

" Well, you guys are always fighting."

Laurie replied.

" THEY STARTED IT!"

Josh, David, and John yelled at once.

" And I'm finishing it. Break it up!"

Scott yelled as he walked into the yards to end the fight.

" We broke the student body into smaller squads to teach small unit tactics and teamwork. Not turn you into rival gangs. However, there is clearly energy that needs to be worked off. We were going to introduce a new intramural training tradition. Two squads competing towards one strategic goal. Congratulations. The New Mutants and the Hellions have just volunteered themselves for the first field day exercise."

Scott explained to the group before walking away from them. However, on his way back inside he stopped and turned to Santo.

" And Mr. Vaccaro, put your hand back on."

Scott said to the boy.

" Oh, man there goes the rest of my day."

John hung his head in sadness.

" Whatever, let's kick their assess at this field day and prove we're the better squad."

Josh exclaimed.

" Why are you so huffed up about being the best? It's not like we're enemies. I mean yeah Julian's a dick. But that doesn't mean I want to hurt the guy. There are other ways to deal with guys like that. Just watch, tomorrow that uniform is going to be rainbow colored."

John said to Josh.

" I want in on that. Maybe we can dye the whole team's uniform?"

Noriko asked.

" THAT SOUNDS AWESOME! Come on we have some planning to do before this stupid event!"

John yelled in excitement. He quickly picked Noriko up and raced inside the mansion with girl laughing along the way.

" Those two seem to be getting closer day by day. You better be careful, David if you wait too long, he'll snatch her up."

Sofia warned the man as the rest of the new mutants wandered inside.

A few hours later Dani called a meeting amongst the new mutants, bringing them all into her office.

" I can't wait, they are going to be so pissed."

Noriko joked as she and John sat going over their plans for the Hellions.

" I know, right? This is going to be awesome!"

John laughed in excitement.

" Okay, John settle down. Glad to see everyone is here. I've been meaning to go over this for sometime. As you know, your exercise against the Hellions happens in a little while. So, first things first! Meet your new member."

Dani explained to the team before gesturing to the door.

The door opened and in walked Kevin.

" Oh, Kevin you're back!"

Laurie yelled in excitement.

" Hey, Laurie."

Kevin seemed happy to greet the woman again.

" Kevin! It's so good to see you again. This is Noriko and Johnathan!"

Sofia introduced the two newest members to their little group to the boy.

Kevin smiled and waved at the two before turning and scowling at Josh.

" Hey, last I saw, you were working for Donald Pierce."

Kevin said bitterly.

" And last I saw you tried to kill him."

Josh shot back.

" Okay, guys... Let's get a few remaining squad-related issues taken care of."

Dani said getting in between the two angry boys.

" Kevin, you'll need a codename. The faculty already gave them out to others. So, I need recommendations. Any suggestions?"

Dani asked the group.

" Hey, how come he gets to pick his own?"

Josh asked aggressively.

" Yeah, that does seem unfair. don't ya think?"

John asked as well.

" Wither!"

Kevin replies to the woman.

" Are you sure? That's a little negative."

Dani replied.

" No, Mr. Death would be negative. Wither is what i do. it's not a problem."

Kevin explained to the woman.

" Okay. The other issue is squad leadership. It has been left to the advisors. And I've selected David."

Dani said to the group as she pointed David out to the others.

" Thanks, but no thanks. I'm doing this training thing because I have to. But I have no desire to be an X-Man. The leader spot should go to someone who can use that experience in the field someday."

David explained.

" All right, David. It's your choice. We'll need someone else, then."

Dani said to the others.

" Don't look at me."

Noriko stated quickly.

" Me neither. Don't really like playing the leader."

John exclaimed also turning down the role.

" I think Josh would make an excellent leader."

Laurie spoke up.

" Nah, he has too much hatred for Julian. That makes for bad juju later on. How about Sofia?"

John spoke up getting a small rise from Josh.

" Hey!"

Josh yelled.

" Hm? Not a bad choice. How about it Sofia?"

Dani asked the girl.

" I'll do it."

Sofia answered quickly.

" Are you sure you want the responsibility?"

Dani asked the girl to make sure she was certain.

" I can handle it."

Sofia replied.

" Good. Then the squad is yours, Sofia."

Dani said to the girl.

" All right we've got our leader, now let's get suited up and kicked those Hellions right where it hurts them. Wait? How's this going to work with Kevin being a member now?"

John asked.

" Well, John that's another thing we needed to talk about. Kevin will be participating in the event today. And you will stay in the group until a new squad is formed where you will be the first member."

Dani explained.

" Oh, that sucks! So, I'm going to get stuck with a group of strangers? That's so stupid."

John complained.

" Don't worry. There aren't any teachers who have started squads yet that aren't already full."

Dani explained to the still sour young man.

" Whatever, let's just go do this stupid exercise."

John grumbled as he walked out of the office with the rest of the squad close behind.

" Hey, John are you okay?"

Noriko asked as she places her hand on the boys back.

John turned and smiled at the woman before replying.

" Yeah, I'm alright. But it still sucks that I'm going to end up being moved to a new squad because Dani likes Kevin more."

John complained much to the dislike of Noriko.

" It'll be alright. Besides even if you do get moved, we can still hang out right?"

Noriko said to the boy.

" Of course!"

John replied.

" Now, come on! Let's go kick Julians ass."

Noriko said to the boy.

The New Mutants made their way to the yard where Cyclops and the other teachers were waiting for the two teams to compete.

" Welcome to field day. We will be holding these exercises regularly. Each is a small-scale mission. The squad that wins the most will be rewarded at the end of the semester. Today we've hidden an object on campus. This is designed to simulate a mission in which a villain, say magneto, has left a bomb somewhere and you don't know what it looks like or where it is. There are clues on campus, whichever squad finds the object and brings it to one of the three of us will win. One last rule. No offensive use of powers on members of the opposing squad. Break this rule and your team loses. Go to it. Have fun and may the best team win."

Cyclops explained to the two squads before releasing them to their task.

" Noriko! John! You two are the fastest. Search the entire campus, start with the school."

Sofia said to the two.

" Say what? What am I looking for?"

Noriko asked in confusion.

" I do not know. A bomb? A clue to what it looks like or where it is? Anything."

Sofia explained to the two.

" Maybe we could narrow it down a bit there Sofia. I mean I can recharge nori, but I don't think getting charged so fast so often is good for her. I guess I could still do it and Nori could stay with you guys."

Johnathan explained to the girl.

" Julian and his team already left, I want you both searching the campus. Now go!"

Sofia ordered the two electricity users.

" I got this."

Johnathan said before his body started emitting lightning.

He took off, leaving behind a speed trail, starting his search for any clues on the object. He started running towards the maze searching for any sign or clue.

' Where do I even start?'

John asked himself before he smacked into something hard.

" Ugh!"

John grunted as he tumbled on the ground.

John rubbed his head and looked up to see a very large creature blocking his path,

" Uh-Oh!"

John said nervously.

Back with the other New Mutants Noriko had returned from her search to inform the others on the location of the object they were looking for. The object was hidden in the center of the Hedge maze. Seeing they now had the location to their objective Sofia led the others towards the maze, only to be stopped by Santo and the rest of the Hellions

" Your rock projectiles are hardly stopping me santo. I can ride the wind over you!"

Sofia explained to the man before slamming into a telekinetic wall.

" Unless you hit one of my telekinetic walls, Sofia."

Julian explained to the girl.

" You lose Julia. The rules state that you are not to use your powers on us!"

Sofia said to the boy.

" No, the rules say I can't use them offensively. I simply put up a wall and you flew into it. What's offensive about that?"

Julian explained cockily.

" Well, the fact the wall came from you is what makes it offensive"

Sofia retorted.

" You wound me, Sofia. Let's face it. I've got to be getting under your skin if I can get you this riled up!"

Julian joked back.

" If you want to get anywhere near my skin, Julian, you'll bring this wall down."

Sofia said seductively to Julian.

" Sofia! Stop wasting time with Hellion! We need another way into the maze! They've got Icarus flying over. There's not much time!"

David was explaining before Sooraya blocked his view.

" Julians good. I'll give him that. He's got dust blocking our view so we can't even see where Icarus is going. Johnathan hasn't come back yet. We're at a complete disadvantage. We've got no strategy."

David explained to the group as he remarked Julians skills.

" We got strategy, David. We got you. Give us a plan!"

Josh yelled to the man.

" I don't know Josh... Sofia is our leader, and I don't want to undercut her."

David explained.

" David, if you've got a plan, now would be the time."

Noriko explained.

" Okau, Kevin, your powers wither anything organic right? That includes hedges."

David explained.

" I get it, good thinking."

Kevin said to the man.

" You should tell Sofia this plan so she can decide."

Laurie interjected.

" Laurie, Sofia's not listening. She's too busy playing footsie with the enemy!"

Josh yelled to the girl.

" Hellion was right. Prodigy's going to be a problem."

Santo said to Brian

" Yeah, he's the brains of the operation. Time to take him out. Let me through."

Brian said to the rock man.

" Once inside, you guys need to..."

David was explaining before being cut off.

" Hey, prodigy!"

Brian called out to the man

" Uh Yeah?"

David answered.

" Tag you're it!"

Brian said as he tapped the man on his foot.

" Hey, you can't do that!"

David yelled.

" Just did. You're it pal. And since your teammates are in on my little game of tag, they have to run away from you! You can't give them any more orders!"

Brian explained to the man as he made the team split up with his powers, effectively taking them out of the game.

Noriko kept running until she eventually got out of range of Brians powers.

" I... I don't feel so good..."

Noriko groaned before nearly collapsing. Thankfully Johnathan caught her before she hit the ground hard.

" Are you okay Noriko? You can't drain yourself like this. It's not good for your health."

Johnathan said as he cradled the girl in his arms

" Johnathan? You came after me? The team needs you."

Noriko said to the boy with little to no energy in her voice.

" Don't worry about them. You're my number one concern right now. This game is insignificant compared to how much you mean to me. Now, come on and check this out. I found it at the middle of the hedges."

Johnathan said as a small creature popped out of his shirt, making the girls eyes pop.

" Is that?"

Noriko asked.

" Yup, he's a real dragon. He's a nice little guy, though he did surprise the hell out of me when he showed up and started breathing fire at me. But after a few minutes I noticed, he wasn't actually trying to attack me. So, I figured he was either a friendly dragon or..."

Johnathan was explaining to the girl.

" Or the objective. Which means we win!"

Noriko exclaimed excitedly as she wrapped her arms around John's neck, pressing her chest against his.

John returned the gesture wrapping his arms around the woman's waist before picking her up bridal carry style making her laugh.

" Come on, let's go turn in our little fella so we can win this contest."

John said to the girl as he carried her towards the school.

" Well. it's been long enough now. I wonder how the teams are doing?"

Scott said to the two women.

" Does it matter? Last we checked my hellions were vastly outdoing the New Mutants."

Emma gloated.

" I'm sure any moment now they are going to walk in here victorious."

Emma stated proudly.

" I wouldn't be so sure about that~"

Johnathan sang as he walked into the room with Noriko in his arms and Lockheed the dragon on his shoulder,

" Hm, well! Well! Would you look at that Emma. It seems my new mutants are the winners of this exercise."

Dani said to the girl with a smirk on her face.

Emma gritted her teeth and huffed as Scott got up from his chair.

" Nice, job you two. How did you find him? I don't remember seeing you ever find the clues."

Scott asked the boy.

" I ran really fast into a giant dragon. It didn't take long for me to put the pieces together."

John joked as he placed Noriko down in one of the chairs.

" Although unorthodox, you did find Lockheed, which makes the New Mutants the winners. Come on let's go tell the others."

Scott said as he gestured for Dani and the others to follow him.

" I'm going to give you some energy, but I want you to stay here and rest okay."

John said to Noriko as he placed his hands on her gauntlets.

" Okay, I'll see you when you get back."

Noriko said to the man as he passed a small charge of electricity into her body.

" Alright, ready Lockheed?"

John asked his dragon friend.

" PFRA!"

Lockheed cawed as he flapped on John's shoulder.

John pat Lockheed on his head as he followed Scott and the other teachers back into the maze.

The others unaware that the exercise was over were still trying to overcome each other. But just as the two teams finally managed to get to the center of the maze they arrived just as Scott and the others did.

" I must say, I didn't expect you guys to take so long getting to the center. But as you can see the first field day is over and since it was Johnathan who found Lockheed first. The winners of the first ever field day are the New Mutants!"

Scott explained to the two teams.

" YEAH!"

The New Mutants yelled in excitement.

" But wait! How were we supposed to find a dragon? How were supposed to know we were looking for a dragon? And another question, how did YOU! Find a dragon?"

Julian asked in anger.

" Simple, I am very fast! Jules."

John joked on the pink haired boy.

" And for why Julian. We included this exercise to prove a point that life as an X-Man is never as simple as it seems. This was a test of creative thinking. Both teams showed initiative and for that good job. But I guess pure luck prevailed in this scenario."

Scott explained to the others as John scratched his head and laughed.

" How were supposed to beat a guy who can move that fast? I didn't even know he could move that fast."

Julian asked still salty over his loss.

" I can use lightning Julian. How could you not think I was fast?"

John asked.

" Look the answer is simple Julian, you got beat fair and square. Oh well, you lose bye bye now see ya later."

John joked as he walked back towards the institute victorious.

John walked into the building and was greeted once again by Noriko who was still sitting in the cafeteria.

" Hey, how are you feeling?"

John asked the girl as he placed his hands on her gauntlets again.

" I'm tired."

Noriko said groggily.

" I bet, you used a lot of energy searching the entire school and campus. Come on, let's get you to your room."

John said to the girl.

Noriko lifted her arms and allowed John to pick her up once again, the boy then carried Noriko across the school and to her room where he placed her down gently on the bed.

" Heh! Quite the day huh?"

John asked the girl.

" Yeah, Sofia can't lead for nothing. Maybe picking her wasn't the best idea after all."

Noriko explained to the boy as she sat up in bed.

" Yeah, maybe not. But David doesn't want it and Josh isn't going to get over his hatred for Julian anytime soon and that can be lethal."

John explained to the girl.

" We've got so many problems to work out. At least we managed to win today."

Noriko said as she got to her feet, she then started taking her pants off, making John fall off the bed.

" Wha... Wha... What are you doing?"

John asked the girl.

" I'm getting changed."

Noriko said to the boy.

" Let me know first. I'll give you some time to do that."

John said as he got to his feet.

" You don't have to leave. I don't mind, I'm proud of my body. Unlike miss religious."

Noriko explained to the boy.

" Still doesn't feel right."

John said as he turned his back to the girl and waited for her to finish changing.

" I'm done."

The girl said to the man telling him she was finished.

" Good, you got any plans for the rest of the day?"

John asked the girl as he turned around.

" Yeah, I got to head to work soon. But my shift should be over later tonight if you want to hang out then."

Noriko explained.

" Are you sure work is good right now?"

John asked with slight concern for the girl.

" Yeah, I'm not feeling as tired as I was earlier, and I've got enough energy to get me through the rest of the night. So, I should be good. But thank you for worrying about me. Wanna walk with me to the store?"

Noriko asked as she slipped her shoes on.

" Yeah, hang on let me go get changed real quick and I'll meet you outside."

John said to the girl as he left her room. He walked back to his room and quickly got changed into a plain white and a pair of blue jeans, with a pair of white airforce 1's. Once he was done he made his way downstairs where Noriko was waiting for him.

" Ready?"

Noriko asked.

" For you? Always."

John said to the woman with a smile.

The two walked out of the building and slowly made their way to Noriko's job at the nearby coffee shop.

" Well, here we are."

Noriko said as the two arrived at the shop.

" Oh wow, I didn't even notice we were here."

John replied as he looked up at the shop.

What followed was an awkward silence between the two as John looked back and forth between the shop and Noriko.

" You wanna come in?"

Noriko finally asked breaking the silence.

" Uh, sure."

John said to the woman with a small smile on his face.

Noriko smiled and grabbed John by his hand and led him into the shop where the two were greeted by Noriko's boss, Luna.

" Hey, Noriko! Who's your friend?"

Luna asked the girl as she and John walked in.

" Hey, Luna! This is a friend of mine from school. Johnathan Storm."

Noriko said to the woman as she introduced the boy.

John walked over to the woman and shook her hand.

" Johnathan Storm? Like the human torch?"

Luna asked.

" No relation, but I see why you would be confused."

John joked back.

" So, you ready for your shift Nori?"

Luna asked the woman.

" Yeah, just give me a second to say goodbye."

Nori said as she placed her apron on. She then walked over to John and gave him a hug.

" I'll see you again tonight?"

Noriko asked the boy.

" I'll be here before your shift ends."

John said as he returned the hug.

Noriko and John eventually separated, and John waved as he left the building to head back towards the school.