Westbrook Academy for Metahumans: Forums

"Now dears, I'm going to charge you pretty fast," said Mrs. Weatherbee, the school secretary, in her kindly voice. She had a way of sounding as soft and safe as one of her cardigans, even when discussing the fact that she was about to attack. "I want you to react. Try not to think about what it is you're doing; just do what comes naturally."

Violet nodded her vaguely green-tinged head. Her concealer and foundation had been brand new this past weekend and they were already almost gone. Jimmy nodded as well, though his eyes kept drifting to the grass, trees, and bushes all around them out here on the grounds.

And then there was a screaming Amazonian warrior running at them, a fierce battle cry on her lips and a wicked javelin held aloft in her hand.

Jimmy threw out his hand toward her. On Sunday, tree roots would have erupted from the ground to tangle around her legs. Violet spread her feet and prepared to take the oncoming charge head on, but instead of the ground coming up to meld with the girl, together able to withstand most assaults, the grass grew a little longer and wrapped around her feet and ankles.

The warrior-princess-secretary halted her charge within inches of collision. "You continue to think like warriors you are not." Her voice was deeper, firmer, and not the slightest bit soft. On the whole, this woman bore only a passing resemblance to Weatherbee, more of a cousin than the actual same person.

"How am I supposed to not think like me?" Jimmy demanded.

Without warning, Weatherbee pushed him backwards, hard. In an instant the shocked, tumbling boy was a boy-shaped rock formation protruding from the ground, paused in mid-tumble. The rock-boy creaked himself back into a standing position, shock etched on his face region, mouth-crevice gaping at the becardiganned secretary smiling happily at him.

"That, dear, is progress. You're going to get this, both of you, and we're not going to give up until you do. And now..." she trailed off as she turned to walk back to her original position some ten yards away.

The Amazon turned back, javelin raised. "Again!"

“So...when would you like to try out the training thing? We should probably do that, you know.”

Diya tugged on her pigtail. “Um, whenever, I suppose. We could...probably find, like, a free space now?” She knew she sounded like an idiot - and she probably had every time she’d been around Lauren for the past couple of weeks. But if Lauren noticed, she didn’t let on. In fact, she was practically bubbling over with excitement when she suggested going to the bunker to start their training. “With the fire and all,” she explained to Diya.

“Just don’t set me on fire, okay?” Lauren asked as the girls walked from the commons to the bunker. “I think you got my fireproofing,” she added with a grin.

Diya was so nervous all she could do was nod.

Inside the bunker, Lauren shed her jacket at the entrance before approaching Diya. “Where should we start?”

“Uh, the beginning?” Diya muttered. “I seriously have no idea how to get any of this to work on command.” It frustrated the hell out of her. Her original abilities had come to her naturally - literally. There was no turning the ability to mimic people on and off, except under something like the power suppression field the sports complex used. “It’s been happening randomly, on and off,” and was totally outside of Diya’s experience. “I haven’t broken anything except my chair though, so that’s good right?” Diya was sure she sounded like a little kid, desperately seeking approval from a grown up. Pathetic. Yet she couldn’t help but smile when Lauren assured her that meant she was doing great.

“I broke the kitchen counter. And set the dining room on fire,” Lauren explained. “But that was the worst of it! And Westbrook is much better equipped to handle that sort of thing. Besides, after what you did on the field? I think you’re doing better than I did at first.”

Diya felt her face flush, and for just a second was sure the fire was going to come back. “That was so embarrassing.”

Lauren nodded in sympathy. “Well, let’s kick this off. Do you remember how you felt then when you, uh, ignited?”

“Um, pissed off at Cork?”

Lauren smirked. “That helps. It’s kind of like a defense mechanism. When I’m on patrol, I just try to work myself up. I remind myself I’m about to start serious trouble.”

Diya nodded. “Okay. Is it just anger that does it, or do I have to be on the lookout for anything else?”

“Anger will work, but it doesn’t have to be anger. Determination. Fear can do it. Or like you said about the stairs, a sudden injury could trigger it. It’s like a defense mechanism. All kinds of things that might make you feel defensive could do it.”

Diya just stared at Lauren for a moment. “Wow. It’s a miracle I haven’t burnt down the whole school.”

Lauren laughed lightly. “You’re not that bad!”

That struck a nerve. On one level Diya knew it was a joke, but on another... She reached for a pigtail out of habit. “Yeah. Sure. Not that bad.”

Noticing the pigtail tug, Lauren smiled gently. “You’re not bad at all, Dee.”

Hearing something akin to pity in Lauren’s new tone, Diya looked up quickly and shrugged off Lauren’s pity and her own self-pity. “Let’s just try this, huh? So...anger or something?”

“Anger or something,” Lauren confirmed. “Just grab the fire and pull it out!”

Diya closed her eyes and furrowed her brow for a minute, trying to do just that, remembering Cork’s constant haranguing on the field at practice. She didn’t feel anything happening, but just in case she opened an eye and glanced at Lauren. “Anything?”

“Not yet,” Lauren said with a shake of her head. “What are you thinking?”

“About Cork being a dick yesterday.”

Lauren laughed. “Try something more...righteous fury, maybe.”

Diya nodded, then paused to think. Righteous fury - the first thing that came to mind was learning the results of her genetic test. Back in Brazil, they’d rushed it through so they’d know whether or not she’d be able to compete. When she was told she couldn’t compete for her team, couldn’t follow through with what she’d spent her whole life training to do -

The now-familiar sting of heat and fire rising from her skin coursed over Diya’s body. Her eyes popped open as she exclaimed “Whoa!”

“You got it!” Lauren cheered.

But just as quickly as it had started, the flames snapped off. “Hey! Where’d it go?” Diya looked down at her arms. “I didn’t mean to turn it off. And now it’s cold again,” she complained with a sigh.

“It gets easier,” Lauren assured her. “After you’ve done it a bit, you’ll be able to light up without having to work yourself up as much. And you’ll be able to hold onto it. To start, you might have to keep yourself worked up. Or if you feel threatened,” Lauren added with a smirk. “I bet people shooting at you would do it.”

Diya gave Lauren a sideways look. “No shooting me. Not until I know this works, okay?”

Lauren giggled, then interrupted herself, seeming to realize something. “Oh! Passion works! You could try to remember something you’re really passionate about.”

Diya frowned, dubious. That’s kind of what she’d tried with the righteous fury memory, wasn’t it? “Maybe.”

“It’s got to be something that really gets your blood racing and your heart pumping.”

“Any more advice before I give it another go?”

Lauren hesitated a moment, thinking. “Let’s see how you do this time. I’ll see if I can come up with...something.”

Blood racing and heart pumping, Diya repeated to herself. She looked at Lauren again, and had a sudden flash of memory. Lauren carrying her to her room, making out the first time, shopping for Homecoming together... then the dinner afterwards.

”I told him okay.”

She remembered it all in an instant, and just as suddenly the fire started up again. Surprised, Diya opened her eyes. “That was faster!”

“Yes, it was! Now, hold onto it!” Lauren instructed

“Got it. I think...”

“You can do it.” Lauren nodded with encouragement and watched Diya burn for a few moments. “Alright! It looks like you’ve got it!”

Diya smiled tentatively, pride at her apparent achievement at war with the emotions fuelling her literal fire. “Yeah?”

“I think so. Ready for those bullets?”

“Uh, maybe just, like, Fight Club?” Diya suggested. She put on a poor imitation of Brad Pitt’s voice. “I want you to hit me as hard as you can.”

Lauren laughed. “No way! I’m not fireproof anymore, remember?”

“So someone touches me and they could burn up?”

“It could hurt, yeah. A lot of people will pull punches once they get close and realize they’re about to do something stupid. And I’ve turned bullets into little blobs of molten lead. Now,” Lauren continued. “Can you put it out on command?”

Diya frowned again, so many emotions, most of the negative, pulling at her she felt like her stomach was tied in knots. Feeling helpless, she looked down at her arm and commanded “Go out!”

Of course, nothing happened. Except Lauren laughed. Diya looked up at her impromptu mentor at the sound of her laughter, and as quickly as they came, the flames flickered out. Diya quickly looked down at her hands and tugged at her gloves. “I’m...not quite sure what I did. But, it’s out?”

Lauren nodded. “I was just going to say. The best way is to relax.”

Diya let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. Then heard her stomach rumble. She’d been trying hard to increase how much she ate, but it was hard. At least she wasn’t stumbling around woozy any more. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the bag of almonds she’d been snacking on surreptitiously all evening. “Oh good,” she said. “I was worried I was gonna melt the bag.”

“If it’s close enough to you, it’s pretty safe.”

Diya poured herself a handful of almonds, then offered the bag to Lauren. “Um, want some?”

“No, thanks,” Lauren said. “I’m already a little over after this week,” she added with a smirk.

Diya smirked back slightly before downing her almonds. “Well, um, if it’s okay with you? I, uh, think that’s a good start for now.”

“It is a great start! Maybe by the end of next week we can try one of Druce’s training simulations!”

Diya grimaced. “Maybe. I suppose fire might be more effective than karate chops.”

Lauren grinned. “You could have flaming super strong karate chops!”

Diya smirked. “There. Something to work on next time.”

“It sounds like we have a plan.”

Diya nodded. “A plan. Yes.” She stifled a yawn. “I should probably, like, get some sleep. I’m kinda tired.”

Lauren nodded, sympathetic. “So...we’ll try this again soonish?”

“Soonish works for me,” Diya agreed. “This is taking all sorts of getting used to...”

“I know,” Lauren said. “It feels weird not being able to do it on my end.”

Diya started to respond, to say that’s really not what she meant, but stopped herself before forcing a bright smile. “Okay. Bedtime. Night!”

“Good night, Dee! And, this was fun!”

Diya hesitated, debating how to answer. Debating how she actually felt. Finally she nodded. “Yeah, I think it was.”

Part 1 - Written by Syd

"How long is this going to take?"

"Not too long, usually, an hour tops."

Sydney walked along with his hands shoved inside his hoodie, Lark knitted R2-D2 cap on his head on their way from the Atlas park tram station, down to city hall.

"There is a lot of paperwork for this kind of thing. I mean would I just hand the keys to a tank over to a 16 year old girl....? Okay don't answer that."

Faige let out a small laugh and ran a couple of steps to close the gap between them. "Thanks, for you know, hooking me up. I know you are more than a little busy. Between video games, and those video's you were watching on the internet..."

Syd cut her off with his mildly offended cry "Hey!! That is only like one third of my free time, the other goes into..."

He was about to ramble on before he caught her expression, smiling back. "Right right, no problem though. I bet I can have you something up and running in a week, tops. I mean it might not be the prettiest if we are going for something that quick, but it'd let you get back into patrolling. Its a lot easier to design a drone than a piloted suit. I mean its not easy easy, but its not as hard."

Faige looked over to him as they walked side by side "Can you still make it look like a girl bot?"

Sydney nodded along "Sure! I mean unless you want a face now, I don't do kill bots with facial expressions, that is just goofy. But boobs I can do, it gives me more room to fit the TX-920 power cells. Plus you know, girl robots are sexy."

Faige gave him a shove "Such a perv!"

"What! I'm just saying.... hey, here we are! Lets get you your learners permit to pilot a weapon of mass destruction!"


Part 2 - Written by Faige


"It's really cool!" Faige heard herself saying those words as if they were coming out of somebody else's mouth. That was happening a lot lately.

"Just don't destroy it." Syd had said, his voice goading. She knew he was kidding but, like somebody had once told her, nobody was ever a hundred percent kidding.

"I wont!"

It was difficult to believe that this hunk of metal weighed like three hundred pounds easily. It was taller than Faige but looked like a girl, that's what she'd asked for. "I want one that looks like a girl." As if she had to remind people that she was still a girl while she was in a machine. She wondered if Brook had to deal with that.

Faige looked around the lab, this was a safeish place to go comatose. She nodded, pulling a glove off and laying down on the cot that had been laid out for her. Awkward. Exhaling, she closed her eyes and pressed her hand against the palm of the drone. That rush was almost instant, the tunnel vision, just like a movie. And then she opened her eyes again. They weren't her eyes though, they were the synthetic eyes of the drone.

Syd could see it turning it's head slowly and resisted the urge to scream "It's aliiiive!" mad scientist style.

The eyes were good, still she felt like this is how an insect must see the world of something. She tested the voice modulator. "Testing, one two.."

"Yep loud and clear." Syd gave the drone a thumbs up. "See if you can walk."

The senses of this thing were better than the Vaseline-o-vision fog that was Brook's drone. Faige made the bot take it's first shaky step, then another. She jumped up and down and turned around, then tried to walk backward. "This thing is made of win." came the modulated voice again, devoid of emotion. Still the sentence "made of win" was enough to tip one off to the fact that there was a teenager piloting it.

"There's some targets set up down the range, can you hit them?"

Oh sweet, here comes the fun stuff. Or... at least she knew it would seem fun later on. The drone turned and in the process Faige caught a glimpse of her own comatose body. She reminded herself to be disturbed by that later. Facing down the range, she lined up the sights on the HUD and raised the megaman style arm cannon on her left arm. Concentrate, focus... then BLAM a beam of concussive energy hurtled out of the weapon and sent the drone on it's back. That was surprising, remember to be surprised too.

She made it stand up and fired again, this time managing to keep balance.

Syd was writing something down, she could hear typing and cursed the fact that the drone's vision was only one hundred and eighty degrees. It needed more cameras.

"Good test run." She heard him say, and turned the drone's head to face the direction of his voice. She could hear it clanking as she made it walk over to him. This whole thing was bizarre, like an extended out of body experience. Literally.

"Get back in your body, I need to calibrate a few things. " Syd looked at the drone.

Faige made it's head nod then lumbered back over to her own still comatose form. "It needs to be more agile." Reaching down, she picked up her own hand and the tunnel overtook her vision again.

Waking up, Faige sat and rubbed the eyes of her squishy, vulnerable flesh and bone self. She gave Syd a bleary "thumbs up". "I need a drink of water."

[Thanks for the collab Syd!]

A worn, dusty warehouse loomed across the street as Lauren paced the sidewalk. According to the report she had been given, PPD suspected it was occupied by drug pushers of the meta variety, possibly Skulls. They wanted someone to check it out, and by “someone” they meant low-level heroes looking to prove themselves who had nothing better to do.

Lauren was eager to really put her new powers to the test, so it suited her just fine. Training drones were only so helpful. She wasn’t about to be careless, so she paced the sidewalk and waited for Peyton to arrive.

“Hurry up! Before the zombies eat me!” Apparently, Halloween came early in Paragon, as people were already taking to the streets in costumes. Well, other costumes than usual.

“In retrospect, telling me to hurry is just mean.”

Over the radio, Lauren wasn’t sure if Peyton was being sarcastic funny or sarcastic annoyed. “Sorry!” With nothing to do but wait, Lauren paced and thought back to last night’s training session, still fresh in her mind.

********************

Their first session together was relatively brief, probably just long enough to check off a box on some list that the faculty kept somewhere. Focusing entirely on Lauren’s – now Diya’s – powers, Lauren felt a little neglected. To be fair, Diya’s powers – Lauren found it easier to refer to them by their original owner’s name – weren’t difficult to use. They were always there, functioning constantly, as Lauren had discovered over the past week.

Take English class. Over there, someone might be scratching their head. Up front, a girl could yawn. To her left another girl sometimes chewed on her pen. Nasty habit. A guy two desks up liked to tug on his ear lobe when he was thinking.

Everywhere Lauren looked someone was engaged in some small gesture or expression, and she was acutely aware of the subconscious urge to mimic every single one of them. With a focused effort, she could keep from doing so, but as soon as she relaxed and quit thinking about it, Lauren began to fidget in the same fashion as the people surrounding her. No wonder other students were casting looks or even glares her way at the beginning of the week. It was annoying and embarrassing, but compared to the problems other students had, she’d deal with it.

********************

Lauren and Peyton crept through the warehouse cautiously. Lauren felt strange trying to pad along softly in her sneakers. Usually she went in blazing. Literally. Stealth wasn’t in her usual repertoire given how inconspicuous a human bonfire tended to be. She had become rather content with the direct approach.

Rounding a corner, Lauren came face-to-face with a young man in a skull mask. In barely the time it took her to wonder what she should do, she sprang back around the corner. She risked a quick glance around for Peyton who was out of sight. The Skull followed after her, and Lauren met him with what she hoped was a crippling kick to his knee. Before she could see how effective it was, Peyton appeared out of nowhere, dropping the Skull with a swift strike.

The next two saw them coming and one had a crowbar ready as Lauren approached. They were too cocky to call out for help, and Lauren could see in his eyes that he didn’t consider one lone girl in plain clothes a threat.

She simply smirked at crowbar-wielding Skull as they faced off, shifting her weight on the balls of her feet, and waited for him to make the first move. He closed the remaining gap with a sudden charge, swinging the crowbar in a whooshing arc. Lauren let her body react seemingly of its own accord. She twisted and ducked under his swing, bringing her leg up in the same motion to drive her foot up into his stomach.

As he doubled over, she heard a scuffle as Peyton engaged the other Skull. Lauren brought her knee up hard under the chin of her opponent, knocking him backward. Before he could recover, she seized his hands and zip-tied them to a nearby rail.

Lauren turned to Peyton with an elated grin. Diya’s powers were amazing, no doubt about it.

It was like that throughout the rest of the warehouse. There were too few Skulls to be a serious threat and the two cheerleaders made short work of them one or two at a time. They left zip-tied Skulls and their stash to the tender mercies of the PPD.

********************

Lauren’s fire powers were harder to control. Still, whether she wanted them on or off, Lauren just knew how to make them work. She could light up in an instant and suppress an accidental flare up before it spread more than a few inches. Diya needed the session far more than Lauren did. At least that’s what Lauren decided she was going to keep telling herself.

But how do you explain to someone how to do something that has become as nearly as common-place as raising a hand? Lauren had to think back on all the things she tried when she was figuring out her powers. Until she really knew how to control it, Lauren had relied on emotional triggers. She gave Dee what advice she could, and then... open mouth, insert foot as they say.

“Oh! Passion works!”

Lauren had a few examples in mind. Her father was absolutely on fire, though not literally, when he was facing a difficult medical puzzle. Her mother had her favored charities. Landing a perfect triple axel was something that always made Lauren’s heart race.

It took a full five seconds for Lauren to realize the possible double entendre that made every example slip from her grasp. She might have blushed, only the realization gave her an idea. It was a stupid idea, but it would probably work. No, it would definitely work. Then Dee would probably set her on fire just for thinking it.

Dee was saying something. More advice?

“Let’s see how you do this time. I’ll see if I can come up with... something.”

Something. Lauren was relieved when the next try worked, but she buried it under her excitement for Diya’s success. Whether or not it elicited the desired response, there was no way Diya would have taken being kissed well.

********************

The night was filled was minor assignments. Check out this warehouse or that office. Sondra and Lorne joined in the fray. Having Lorne at her side was a lot like fighting with Wyatt, only Lorne seemed to be much more level-headed. Lauren stood ready to receive a hit from a rather rocky-looking individual...

That wasn’t what she was supposed to be doing! Lauren frantically twisted and willed herself to move out of the way. A heavy impact lifted her from the floor. The next moment she was on her side on the carpet with her back against the wall. Her left side throbbed painfully as she pushed herself up.

Stone covered fists raised up as the meta closed the distance, but Lorne intercepted him, hammering him back with a double-fisted blow. While Lorne was engaged, Lauren gingerly pressed against her left side. Boy was that stupid. She was bruised for sure, but she didn’t think anything was broken. It sure didn’t hurt as bad as the time she broke her arm.

Pulling herself to her feet, Lauren concentrated on healing herself. Nothing happened. Her side still throbbed. She looked around nervously. The fight had moved away from her. She was safe for the moment, but why couldn’t she heal? She started to feel panicked. Minor injuries were easy to heal. Sure it hurt, almost like a toned-down version of cauterization, but it beat trying to get back into a fight bruised and in pain. Why couldn’t...?

Through the haze she remembered. Diya’s powers. Lauren had forgotten what she was doing, overreacted, and tried to force those powers to respond. Now? Of course she couldn’t heal. That wasn’t something Diya could do. Alright, then. Relax. Nothing was broken. She just needed to trust her instincts, like she had earlier. Trust her instincts and not get hit.

And quit thinking about how disastrous last night could have been.

"Dude, you have to train in your powers!" Adam Hunt repeated what felt like the hundredth time to Donovan. The former technopath simply sat listlessly at his desk, idly spinning his phone with one gloved finger. "How else are you going to get good at them?"

"I don't -want- to get good at them, Adam. I want them gone. I want my old powers back. I want Amy to be happy again." Donovan replied angrily.

Adam sat down on one of the beds, "I know it's hard man. I know. But what if this doesn't go..."

Donovan cut him off, "It's going to go back!" he yelled at his startled roommate, "It has to go back!"

It had been almost a week since he'd done his training with Faige. Since then though, Donovan found himself less inclined to care about his new powers. Tired of wearing gloves and worried sick about Amy and how she was having trouble adjusting to losing her powers and learning that the MASH-1 program was looking to be axed and sold off to Crey if his powers didn't return, Donovan became more and more reclusive. Catching a glance at his reflection, he saw his green hair which caused him to scowl. Fallout Boy...ridiculous. The only reason he still had the green hair was because he was too depressed to do anything about it.

Adam sat in silence, unsure what to say to his friend. It had taken him about two days worth of sleep to adjust to losing his powers, but now he was awake and alert. In fact, he seemed to enjoy actually having to sleep. Everyone seemed to be adjusting just fine. Donovan sneered at himself. So why couldn't he? Then again, why should he? It was all going to go back soon, right? This wasn't permanent.

Sighing, Adam got to his feet and moved to the door, stopping just before opening it. "Look man, I can't make you do anything. I'm just saying you have to make the best out of his situation. Life gives you radiation powers, go nuke something. I mean, Hell, you've bitched about wanting to be able to fly since I met you and now you can. When's the last time you did?"

"Anyways, I can't do this anymore man. I'm sorry dude, but the world doesn't revolve around you and your problems. Right now, you can fix things. Heal people without needing to use MASH. Take the fight to the bad guys. But if you want to sulk in your room because life hit you with a curveball, that's your problem." Adam added as he walked out, "When you're ready to figure this out, remember you have friends that are willing to back you up. Just lose the attitude first."

As the door clicked shut, Donovan sat in the silent room, staring at his gloved hands. Part of him was mad that his friend would talk down to him like that. Adam didn't know what Donovan was going through. Adam just lost his powers and that was it. If that was all that had happened to Donovan, he'd...then Donovan realized he'd still complain about it. Looking at the closed door, the wheels clicked in Donovans head as everything Adam told him finally fell into place.

He was being a whiner. Here he was with this power that normal people don't have and he's sitting in his room pouting over it. Man, what would his father think if he saw that? He knew for sure his grandma would have hauled him out and down to the Bunker in a heart beat. Looking at his reflection again, he nodded. Alright, fine. If he was supposed to be Fallout Boy, then so be it.

Picking up his phone, he shot out a text to Faige. Hopefully she could still help him out.

Place: Eastgate, aka, the Hollows.
Time: Late afternoon.
People: Lorne Hazelwood and Wyatt Wyborn.

Wyatt stands above ground watching Lorne fight Igneous creatures in the chasm below. Lorne's powerful blows explode the Pumicites into clouds of white dust and drop the Magmites into steaming heaps of black stone. In turn, the volcanic monsters barely rattle Lorne with their blows, at their worst causing him only to stagger back a step or two. It's an impressive display and Wyatt wonders if he ever made it look that effortless when he had those powers.

"You're gettin' real good at bustin' up those magmites," Wyatt says as Lorne emerges from the chasm and brushes chunks of still smoking lava rock off of his bare chest.

Lorne picks up a piece of soft volcanic rock between his thumb and forefinger, "My fine control is coming along too." He grins wide tossing the rock into the air and catching it in his other hand.

"I think you're better with them powers 'n I was."

Lorne furrows his brow in response. "I don't know bout that, but I'm certainly better at your powers than you are at mine. Only one way to fix that, though. Why don't you take a turn showing off your moves?"

"I was wantin't to talk to you about that."

Lorne looks at him concerned, "Yeah?"

The two young men start walking toward Cherry Hills where Lorne had planned to pit Wyatt against some unlucky Trolls.

Wyatt remains quiet for another few moments. Lorne reaches out and grabs his shoulder, "Talk to me, Man."

"Well..." Wyatt begins hesitantly, "I was in Steel Canyon a few days ago with Mr. D. cause he had to pick up a new motor for the greenhouse fan from a dealership there. I waited outside while he did his business and I noticed down the street these Tsoo pickin' on this girl. So... "

Lorne says, "You decided to break it up?"

"Yeah. Except these guys ain't like Skulls and Hellions. These guys can fight. And they totally kicked my ass. Mr. Deathrage came out yelling at them and they ran off. But if he hadn't been there, I don't know what would've happened."

"Hey, it's not something that's going to happen over night. You'll get there."

Wyatt stops walking and looks up at Lorne's smooth, clean-skinned face and says, "That's just it. I don't think I want to get there. I mean, don't be offended, but your powers -- my powers now -- they're not really... powers. They're just you. Tooth and claw. And you know how to use them. You know how to fight."

"That's not entirely true. I mean you're strong, you're fast, yeah you'll have to take some time to learn how to fight. But I just kinda figured you had already done that."

Wyatt shakes his head. "Lorne, I never wanted powers to begin with. And I never wanted to learn kung-fu or tae-kwon-do anything like that. And that's what it'll take to fight with tooth and claw -- that kind of trainin'." Wyatt looks away and finishes, "I think I'd rather just get the claws trimmed and forget about bein' any kind of hero."

Lorne nods. "I get it. Honestly it was never my intention to be a hero either. I'd be more interested in becoming a doctor or a scientist. Herrera told me something once. He said that your powers don't define who you are or what you can or should do. They're a gift and what you choose to do with them, even if it is nothing at all, is up to you."

Wyatt stands quiet, looks at his hands and the sharp-clawed fingers. What was he going to do? What else could he do?

Lorne pats him on the back. "We'll skip the trolls today. You're getting better at the self control but you still have some work to do there too. Maybe you should consider signing up to a dojo. If not to train to fight, then to train to control your emotions. I can recommend a place if you'd like."

Wyatt nods. What else could he do? "I'll think about it."