Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2015 23:05:23 +0000 (UTC) From: DJ <dj_nifty@yahoo.com> Subject: Changing Darkness - 3 This story is a work of fiction containing homosexual (male on male) situations. If you are too young to read this or are offended by such actions (if the latter I doubt you would have accidentally found this site, but anywho) then please press the back button now. Also (DISCLAIMER), the characters in this story do not belong to me. The X-Men and all characters associated are rightfully under the ownership of Marvel Comics (besides Thomas). Bla Bla Bla. Other than that, enjoy! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ch. 3 Thomas's body was tense as he walked down the wood hallway. He held his breath within a tense body as he advanced. He moved with his hands balled up into fists which were locked stiffly together and clawed into his palm. The little stabs of pain hurt him as much as they acted as a form of comfort. All the while he glared into the backs of the two teachers who walked ahead of him. "What's this about?" he asked for the third time. "The professor wants to see you. He'll explain there," the man said without looking at Thomas. "Ok," Thomas responded with a droll tone. As the three walked in silence Thomas tried to maintain a calm exposure while on the inside he raged. She must have told them. She had to have. It can't be anything else. What're they gonna do? Surround me? I could take white bitch easy, but the guy will be hard. Emma chuckled as they continued to walk, which alarmed Thomas and confused the man. "What's up?" the man asked her as he turned his head. "Nothing Scott," she replied before looking at Thomas from the corner of her eye and then turning her head forward. She's reading my mind. Bitch, get out of my head! Fuck you. Thomas continued to curse the woman off in his thoughts as they halted to a stop. In front of them stood a large elevator used by students and staff to move between the three floors. Thomas had used it a few times in the day and thought nothing of it. After standing in front of the elevator for some time the doors opened. The two teachers parted to allow Thomas access inside the elevator first, but then quickly followed. After the door closed in on them a female voice rang around them. "Floor?" the automated voice asked. "Basement," Scott responded. "Identification?" it asked. Scott then raised up his hand and a red line shot out from the wall. It scanned over his palm and fingertips as he said the word, "Cyclops." "Understood," the voice said before the elevator shifted and began descending towards the basement. Thomas was confused because he had never heard word of a basement to this place before this moment. The elevator stopped moving and a bell rang before the doors opened up. Thomas's eyes squinted slightly as he saw that beyond the doors was a bright hallway made of white. "Come on," Scott ordered as he and Emma Frost moved out of the elevator and into the hallway. Thomas followed and scanned the room around him. The place was bathed in bright blinding lights that seemed unhealthy to use in such a spotlessly white area. Though obviously differentiable the floors, ceilings and walls were all covered in the same white marble substance. "This way," Scott commanded as the two walked to the right and down the hallway. Thomas followed while looking around himself. As the group continued to walk Thomas noticed several doors, but none of them were open, leaving their contents a mystery. Finally, the group stopped again and stood in front of the door at the end of the hallway. Emma and Thomas waited as Scott pressed a code into a button pad by the door. A prison cell? The doors opened and again all Thomas saw was a big white room. A padded cookoo nest? "Go inside," Emma told Thomas while staring at him darkly. Seeing that he had no other options Thomas walked inside. Once he was in he looked around to see that he stood inside a large dome of a room made up of white panels. The entire room was made up of these while panels or tiles that were rectangular in shape at about 3ft by 4 ft. Thomas couldn't tell exactly what the material the tiles were made of. They looked smooth as marble, but felt more like metal under his feet. "Stand in the middle Thomas," the professor's voice echoed all around him. Thomas did as he was told and slowly walked toward a circle placed on the ground in the middle of the room. "What is this?" Thomas asked knowing that he could be heard, and that he was being watched. "This is the Danger Room. It is where our students go to train their powers. We're here Thomas because we would like to assess where you are with your powers so that we can better help you," the professor's voice explained. You mean I'm not in danger? "You have all your students do this?" Thomas asked while looking up at the empty ceiling. "The older students. We will also use this as an opportunity to place you in one of our training squads, but we can talk about that afterwards." "What's with the white stuff?" Thomas asked. "Excuse me?" "What's with all the white spaces? The hallways, this room. It's creepy," Thomas explained which caused a laugh. This laugh wasn't from the professor however, but from another man whom Thomas didn't recognize. "The Danger Room and the Basement are used by the X-men to help us hone our skills and fulfill our mission of protecting human and mutantkind. The designs of both were made with this in mind," Scott's voice rung throughout the room. "Sure," Thomas responded. "The Danger Room itself uses high tech holographic technology as well as mechanical..." Scott continued. "Yeah, yeah, sure. I've already lost interest," Thomas deadpanned. "Seriously Scott," Emma Frost agreed. "You memorize that speech?" the gruff man's voice asked. Great, so they're all watching me, Thomas thought before asking, "What am I here to do?" "You will be going under a danger room sequence. Be prepared Thomas, there will be some level of danger in this task, but don't worry the physical harm will be minimal. We are only testing your capabilities to get a better idea of how to teach you. We aren't looking to hurt you. This test will be a survival mission where we will be throwing obstacles at you. You must survive in the room for a total of five minutes without quitting," Charles explained. "Five minutes? That's all?" Thomas asked. "The last student we tested gave up in mere seconds," Emma Frost said and Thomas could almost hear her smile. "Well, I'm not him," Thomas said while crossing his arms, "Let's get this over with." "Alright, we'll start in a moment," the professor answered. Thomas stood in the empty room and waited. He felt uneasy as he was engulfed by the pregnant nothingness of the moment. His skin started to prickle as he became more anxious and though he would deny it, his heart began to quicken. Thomas stood in this moment of silence when suddenly a large thud sounded behind him. He turned around and saw that the floor had begun to move. Thomas shuffled his feet and stumbled a little as the center circle began to slowly rotate. The lines making up the several rectangles on the floor all seemed to be shifting underneath him. Thomas looked to his left to see one of these rectangles was now rising out of the ground. A rectangular pillar soon rose up from that spot and continued to grow. Thomas looked up and was surprised to see that the ceiling seemed to be rising as well. It now stood hundreds of stories above him when earlier the room seemed to extend to only three. Then, as if an earthquake had erupted beneath him the floor began to rumble. The circle that Thomas stood on was now not only spinning faster, but it was shaking violently. Thomas jumped off the platform and fell onto his right side. He looked over and saw that the center circle was now shaking incredibly fast creating a loud cracking sound. He witnessed it thrash about causing cracks to form along its sides. Soon, it had broken the floor and the circle fell under itself. Thomas crawled over to the new hole in the floor and saw what looked like a large cave system below. The further down Thomas looked, the harder it was to see until he could see nothing more than dark shadows. The circular platform bumped into the sides of the ground creating more cracks in its wake as it fell indefinitely to a dark demise. After the circular platform was no longer in sight, Thomas thought he saw movement. He squinted his eyes to see better and was alarmed to see shadowy figures moving upwards along the sides of the cave walls. These figures looked demonic with shark claws, dark faces and razor sharp teeth. Horrified at what he was seeing Thomas ignored the movement from beneath him at first. Soon though it was too hard for him to ignore the escalating vibration of the rectangular tile beneath him. Thomas jumped off the square in time to see it fall and follow the starting platform's demise. With haste Thomas began to jump around from one rectangular tile to the next. As he continued this Thomas realized that due to them all falling down he would soon run out of space to run to. He then noticed that some of the tiles had risen up into tall pillars like the one at the beginning of the exercise. Thomas ran toward one of the pillars and upon reaching it he saw that there were climbable bars connected to it. Thomas quickly began to climb up the tower with a fury. Thomas clawed at each new level in order to escape the collapsing floor tiles. The rumbling of the ground matched the stampeding pace of his heart as he rushed toward the infinitely expanding ceiling. Soon Thomas was horrified to see that the tower he was climbing had run out of itself. His eyes widened as he realized he had no more room to go. Thomas then looked down and saw that demonic figures were also climbing upwards. Their claws quickly reached for each new handlebar and they seethed as they stepped closer and closer to Thomas. He looked further down and noticed that he could no longer see the ground. It was as if he had been climbing for hours and was now way up in the clouds. Thomas looked around and saw that another pillar stood a few feet away from the one he had been climbing. It was too far for him to jump to, but close enough for him to consider it. He stood there on the side of the pillar terrified because he knew he couldn't make that jump, and if he tried he would meet the same terrible fate as the circular platform he had started on. His heart felt as if it had moved up into his throat as it slammed away inside of him and suffocated him. For once, Thomas didn't know what to do. "Thomas, it's Ororo. Remember, this isn't real. We're testing your power. Use your powers," Storm's voice echoed all around him. Thomas's eyes once again widened as he was reminded that this was all fake. None of it was real. All of it was holograms and gears. Realizing this created a cooling effect on Thomas. His emotions were his again, and he knew what he could do. With one hand pointed toward the second pillar Thomas stretched his fingers out as long as he could. He forced one of the seeds hidden inside his right sleeve to stretch out with his fingers. A little green vine crawled out from underneath his arm and started to extend toward the pillar. Looking down he could see that the shadowy creatures were still climbing up toward him and would soon reach his legs. Their eyes seemed to shine as that fact pushed them onwards. Thomas looked back up at the vine which had grown twice in length and girth as it finally touched the other pillar. It twirled and wrapped itself around one of the climbing levers. After making sure that the vine was secure Thomas took one more look downwards to see that the demons were only a few steps away from him. With one great breath he closed his eyes, used his left hand to grab onto his right forearm and jumped off the pillar in the direction of the adjacent one. The air swept against Thomas as he sailed through it like a bullet. He swung with his right arm extended above him and flew past the pillar. As if he was on a child's swing he kicked his feet up to fly up higher. For a few seconds Thomas soared through the air like this before he decided to cut his connection with the vine. He flipped so that his stomach faced the now invisible ground and began to free fall. His body plummeted to the ground with amazing speed. Thomas passed by some of demons on the pillars and he smiled as they roared at his escape. Thinking that it was time to fight back Thomas extended both of his arms. He reached out with his left arm and began the process of stretching one of the seeds in that sleeve. The vine grew quickly and snapped out of his arm toward on the nearby pillars. It wrapped around the pillar and Thomas used this as leverage to swing himself through the air. Knowing that he only had so many seeds to spare Thomas chose not to cut this one off, but attempted to make it recede back to the top of his sleeve until he would need it again. Thomas then swung his right arm out and extended one of the seeds in that sleeve. He used it like the others to swing across the pillars and move around. He would then alternate between his arms in order to swing his way across the area like a monkey in a forest. Then, he decided that he had enough of running away. Thomas wanted to take action against these beasts that were chasing him. While using his right hand as the vine that would keep him flying through the air, Thomas chose to extend a vine in his left hand into a sword. He strained the vine until it had reached around two feet long and he had formed it into a pointy spike. Thomas leaned to his right side and sailed through the air as he zeroed in on a target. He flew down in the direction of one of the pillars that was crawling with the demons. Once he was in striking distance Thomas raised his left and slashed the back of the nearest monster. He smiled as he watched the thing scream all the down to its death. There wasn't much time to celebrate however as soon Thomas began to hear a snapping noise above him. He looked up to see that the vine he was using to swing was tearing. He had used it for too long and stretched it out farther than it was able to go. He quickly cut it off and began to fall on his back. He reached his left hand out to start a new vine when suddenly he was blinded. He quickly moved his armed over his eyes to protect them. In this moment of distraction Thomas hit his back on something hard. Thomas groaned as he back radiated with pain. He moved his arms from in front of his eyes and saw that he was back in the Danger Room. The room was the way it looked before the sequence had started. It was empty with its white walls and white floor tiles. Thomas got up on his feet and looked down to see that he had fallen onto the center circle. "Congratulations Thomas, you survived the sequence," Ororo voice said with her voice resonating in his surrounding area. Thomas looked up and saw something that wasn't there before. High up and to the side of the room now stood a window. Through it Thomas could see the professor, Emma Frost, Scott, Storm, and a new person standing in what looked like a control room. It appears the wall that Thomas saw there before was another hologram that had been placed since before he had even walked into the room. "You lasted the time limit and, I will add, with flying colors. Also, clever thinking with those vines. Very Spidey-esque," The professor praised in the control room. "So we're done with your test?" Thomas asked with obvious agitation. When the room had gone back to normal he was met with a sudden fury as he realized the mixed emotions he had just went through were all put on him by these people. "Yes, I think we got enough data on you with this," Emma Frost answered while looking down at him. "One last thing, now that we know you can handle yourself you have to choose a training squad," Cyclops added. "It's up to me? That's a shocker," Thomas seethed. "Don't get bitchy bub. All the students go through this, and all the students choose who they train under. You're nothing special," the other man in the control room said. He stood looking down at Thomas with his beefy arms crossed. He looked both menacing and completely bored with the situation as we glared off at Thomas. His short yet muscular body made it look like he'd seen a few battles and he'd even had a few evident scars to prove it, "So pick a teacher, and do it fast." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- They're all idiots. They're complete idiots. Thomas thought with both excitement and bewilderment. He walked through the second floor hallways of the school after he had finally gotten away from the teachers and the Danger Room. All it took was yelling out a name and a few more minutes of aggravating conversation before he was sprung free. No one had mentioned what he did to Scott, not even Emma Frost. It seemed the boy was in the clear. They can't be this dumb. Not after all I've heard about them. They must know. They have to. They're probably watching me. I'll have to be careful. Especially around that bitch Frost. "Thomas," a voice called out to him from behind. Speak of the bitch. "What's up?" Thomas said while raising his head, rolling his eyes and turning around. "I just need a moment," she said. "Go ahead," Thomas said before mumbling, "What's another annoying minute?" "What was that?" Emma asked. "Nothing," Thomas quickly replied with a smile. "Sure it was," Emma agreed with her own smile, "Just like I'm sure whatever mind game you played on Scott was nothing." Thomas's smile disappeared as Emma said this, which seemed to make her smile more genuine. "Yes Thomas, I noticed. I've messed with that man's head too many times. I was bound to notice when someone else did. Now I don't need to know why you did it. I'm sure that'll come out in time. At the moment you don't seem like a real threat, so I'll let you go for now. Just remember, I'm watching," she warned Thomas with her smile looking as sinister as ever. Emma began to walk away from the direction she came before stopping and turning around, "Oh and by the way, what is it with you and the dark? Usually you think so loudly I don't have to poke around your head, but one time I did and I caught a glimpse about some shadow business. You seem to have a lot of hang ups about that." Thomas was alarmed and speechless at the audacity of the woman, which only made her more pleased, "You shouldn't let your weaknesses be read so easily. Someone could use it against you and say, put a bunch of shadow demons in a holographic sequence. We wouldn't want that," she smirked before walking away. Thomas stood still while he watched her walk away and fury started to bubble up inside him. Bitch... He turned around and walked away mumbling obscenities to himself. As he walked along he stopped beside a window. It looked out to the front of the school. Directly in front of the main doorway was a large fountain. It was majestic with a large sculpture at the center of the water standing one floor tall. The structure was a small mountain that was covered with the angels. Thomas's eyes flickered as he realized that one of the angels was moving. He looked closer to see that this angel was real. He must have been a student at the school. He had a slim build and wore a black t-shirt with the sleeves cut off. He had deep red hair, which at first looked to be dyed, but as Thomas looked further he knew the color had to be real. He knew this by looking at the color of the boy's wings. The boy had red wings in the shape of an angel's which looked bigger than his whole body. They laid behind him with their feathers slightly moving against the wind. The boy held a guitar in his hands and looked to be playing under the night sky. He was entirely focused on his instrument as he strummed away. Thomas took a moment to stare at the boy, for he looked like he belonged on the sculpture. He was a peace, and Thomas envied that. Quickly Thomas remembered himself and shook his head to wake himself up. He remembered the threat that he was just given moments ago and continued walking along while cursing off a certain blonde. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back in the quad Sam and Roberto were sitting on the couch in the living room while playing a video game on their tv. They yelled and screamed as they shot at each other on screen. The moment was nice and peaceful, something they don't get too often in such a chaotic world. "Just wait until I kill you," Roberto threatened. "Ah don't think that's gonna happen," Sam responded. "Oh really? Then what's this?" Roberto yelled as he snuck up behind Sam's character and shot him, "Boom, headshot." "What the hell?" Sam yelled while throwing his controller down on the couch earning a laugh from his friend. "Hey," Thomas announced his presence while walking in the door. "Hey, how'd it go?" Roberto asked while turning his head to Thomas. "It was a pain in the ass, but I passed," Thomas answered. "Congrats, wanna play a game?" Sam asked while pointing at the television screen. Thomas looked at the two and immediately wanted to decline, but he hesitated. He didn't know why. He never really cared much for games, in fact he can't remember the last time he played one. That said, he wasn't against them, and he also knew he'd probably not get any sleep while they were playing anyway, so eventually he decided to say, "Yes." "I'll get the other controller," Sam replied before jumping up and running to his side of the room. "I'll play too," a voice said on the opposite side of where Sam ran. Thomas looked over and was met with his third roommate. The guy stood in front of him in black pajama pants and nothing else. He scratched at his bare torso while leaning against a wall. Thomas gave him a once over as he looked from the bottom up. He noted a sizeable package, but didn't bother to look at it too long. Then he saw the salacious v at the boy's waist that pointed to said package. Moving upwards Thomas saw an evident, but not bulking ab section and muscular pecks. All over his torso they boy had different type of tattoos. From a set of jagged lines that looked like bricks on his left wrist, to what looked like a bomb on his right bicep. Thomas then moved up to the boy's strong jaw, daring eyes which looked like the kind that were always squinted in disapproval and short blond hair. "Sam," Roberto yelled to the left side of the room, "Get the other one. Sleepin' beauty's up." "Shut the fuck up," The boy laughed while pulling up the chair at Thomas's desk and placing it by the couch. Then he looked up at Thomas himself. "You the new guy?" He asked before raising his hand to shake Thomas's, "Eric Gitter." Thomas raised his hand in response and shook Eric's, "Thomas." "You got a last name or what?" Eric asked. "Warren. Thomas Warren." "Nice meetin' ya cuz," Eric responded. At that moment Sam came back and with two new wireless controllers in his hands, "Here ya go," he said as he handed each one to Thomas and Eric. "Free for all?" Bobby asked. "Yeah, You're all gonna die," Eric responded before turning to Thomas, "You play this before?" "No, but I'll learn," Thomas told him. "Just don't cry when I kick your ass." The boys played a few games in silence excluding the trash talk they sent each other. Eric won most of the games, but Thomas was a quick learner. While he didn't win any of the games at that point, he was quickly killing his roommates more often. "What was the test like," Bobby asked in the middle of a game. "Crappy. The floor was falling under me and demons were chasing me," Thomas responded. "Sounds messed up," Sam noted before screaming, "What the fuck?" as he was shot by Eric. "It was Frost's idea," Thomas remarked. "Makes sense," Roberto responded. Thinking about Frost made Thomas remember something else, "Hey, I saw this kid with red wings earlier. You know who he is?" He asked. "Red wings? Yeah, that's my brother Jay," Sam said before yelling, "Headshot. Sorry Roberto." "Fuck you," Roberto yelled at Sam, "So hey, who'd you pick?" "Huh?" Thomas asked while getting ready to shoot someone. "What team did you pick?" Roberto repeated. "Ororo's," Thomas replied before being shot himself. "Got ya. I win, again. You sorry pussies suck," Eric yelled before he started to flex his muscles. "You're on Storm's team? That means you two are teammates," Roberto told Thomas while looking at Eric. "Welcome," Eric greeted Thomas while putting his arm around him. "Yay," Thomas mumbled bitterly. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A/N: There you have it. Chapter 3. I hope you enjoyed it, and if so drop me a message at dj_nifty@yahoo.com. All critiques and responses are welcome. And of course don't forget to donate to this wonderful site everyone. See you all next chapter. :)