Jabberjay's Story

Static and Jabberjay

Static could hear the blood pumping through her ears, feel her heart pounding out of her chest. Her breathing was labored, and the cool chill of the night air combined with her cold sweat had her freezing from head to toe. Her throat was dry too; they’d (she and her brother, Jabberjay) been running for what felt like hours, but was in reality only a few minutes. Sirens blared behind her, and no matter how far she ran, she felt like they were right there.

Her brother was huffing alongside her, his green eyes wide with fear, cracked lips bleeding, brown hair tousled in the wind. The length of his arms were marred with the pale healing lines of various scraps and scratches he’d received, both from when he had been in the School, and now out here running among the spikes and thorns of the forest bushes.

Her mouth twisted into a frown.

“Stop,” she gasped, beginning to slow. He blew past her, face rampant with fear, and probably full of adrenaline.

“Stop!” She yelped, dashing out to grab his arm. He jerked to a stop, flailing in her arms a little before realizing who it was. Her mouth formed a wry smile on her lips; she theorized in a few more months, he’d grow taller than her.

“Stop.” he exhaled, letting the word simply hang in the air for a moment. Panting violently he slumped against the dark bark of a giant tree. Gosh, Static had never seen trees that large before. In fact, she’d never really seen trees, outside of the occasional picture reference in a book.

For a moment, Jabberjay, or Jay, as she liked to call him fell silent, alongside her. The only noise she could hear was the irritating blow of the wind, amplified by her adrenaline pumped senses. They were listening, listening for them. The Hunters.

Her eyes slowly moved to skim the top of the trees. There were no dark silhouettes of giant bat like creatures gliding overhead, and so, for the moment, she guessed they were safe. She could only hazard a guess; unlike Jay and herself, the Hunters were well fed monsters with a knack for tracking, apprehending, and/or killing mutants. At any moment, one could pop up from the branches of a tree having been totally undetected.

“We should probably scout the area.” She suggested, holding a hand out for her brother to grasp. His nose scrunched, and he looked at her defiantly,

“What?” he challenged, the usual humor empty from his face, “Fly up there and be killed.”

“No,” she grimaced, sneering back, but pulling her hand away, “Climb.”

She moved to the tree he was leaning on, sticking her hand on the knots, splinters, and stray branches of the tree that were large enough for her to grasp, but strong enough to support her weight. She couldn’t climb extremely far. These trees were huge. And Jay was right; flying could mean danger…but…

Snapping her wings out, she let herself get caught by the air, before pumping up and down. She glided upwards in circles around the tree, before perching on one of the topmost branches. She crouched, trying to afford herself some cover. A few seconds later, her brother noisily landed beside her, cracking off some weak sticks.

“Be quieter,” she growled.

He snorted, “Your landing was no better, princess.”

She glared at him. He was right; flying was hard, and the two were still learning. But they had to make an effort. Crash landing on the ground every time was not going to make them any stronger.

“So, what do we have here?” He asked, doing a cramped 360 on the tree branch.

“That,” she pointed, jerking her head in the direction of a brightly lit section beyond the span of the treetops, “I think it’s a city, and I think we should be heading there.”

“Surely not by flying?” He asked, face clearly skeptical, “Stat, we’re better off—“

“What? Walking? They can catch us either way, and flying is faster.”

Just as he was about the retort, both heard a commotion below the trees. Peeking downward, they spotted a dark figure moving slyly in the shadows of the tree. Static froze, getting ready to flee, and she could feel Jay tense beside her, probably thinking along the same lines.

Just then, the tree shadow broke, and Stat could clearly see this was not someone or something to be afraid of. A young mutant, maybe around their age, towing alongside herself several smaller ones. Real children by the looks of it. Couldn’t be more than eight years old.

Static was glad to see they hadn’t been the only ones to escape. There were few flying mutants though. Just a set of about seven. The rest, besides the Hunters, were landlubbers. For the most part, maybe there’d been a mutant with butterfly wings, but she hadn’t seen one. She barely even knew the names of her feathered mutant friends, much less know the nature of the hundreds of mutants that had been kept in the lab.

The small land group disappeared in the shadow again, and, following suit, Stat spread her wings and headed off in the direction of the city. Her brother sighed but followed her. There was safety in numbers, and besides, Jabberjay loved his sister, no matter if he disagreed with her. In the end she’d probably be right anyway.

And so, reluctantly, they began their escape to a safe haven.

STATIC AND JABBERJAY

Static sighed, tugging urgently at Jabberjay’s sleeve.

What should have been a five minute flight had turned into a ten minute one when both children had realized that, on account of the wind, both of them were even further disabled in the sky. As a result they had clumsily skimmed the treetops, scrapping their wings on the rigid branches that stuck out, just waiting for them to make a wrong move.

Stat was sure she’d found her balance now, but Jay was lagging, his eyelids heavy with desperately needed, and wanted, sleep.

“I’m fine, Stat,” He mumbled, though he welcomed her hand, wrapping his own larger hand around it. The warmth of his sister being there was his undeniable security blanket, since he had none, really.

“We’re close,” Static encourage, picking up the pace, stumbling a little when her wings tilted the wrong way.

They flew for maybe another three minutes, before they reached the skyline of the city. Static’s eyes widened, taken aback by all the bright flashing lights and pretty signs. Next to her, Jabberjay was now wide awake. He pushed ahead of his sister, still holding her hand, and began to guide her between buildings.

Their fingers brushed against the walls of skyscrapers, making sharp turns around the dangerously pointed edges of the buildings.

“We should land,” Static called over the howl of the wind. Jay said nothing, but nodded his agreement. Slowly, they began to dwindle to the ground, taking their time as they landed, fearful of hurting themselves.

It was bright; bright but empty.

“Helloooo,” Static drawled, cupping her hands around her mouth. No answer. The streets were devoid of life, and the stores seemed empty. In fact, as Static plastered herself to the glass wall of a supermarket, she felt a prickling sensation crawl up her spine. Food galore. But absolutely no one in the market.

“I’m hungry,” Jabberjay whined, obviously oblivious to the dilemma at hand, “Look at all that bacon,” he groaned, stomach crying with hunger pains.

“Jay, doesn’t something seem wrong,” Static said, narrowing her eyes at her brother.

He considered her for a moment, lips forming a prominent pout, “Besides me slowly starving to death? Nope.”

Static sighed frustrated.

“Okay,” she said, pinching the bridge of her nose, “Where are we?”

“I dunno,” he shrugged, “a city somewhere in the middle of the United States?”

“Alright, well, what do you know about cities?”

“Well for one,” began, beginning to list them off on his finger, “Cities are usually defined by a lack of rustic area and a large population people that live closely together…-“

He stopped abruptly, eyes going wide, realizing the problem here.

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.” Static snorted. This city was, in a very literal sense, a ghost town. Huge, but not a single life form beside Static and Jabberjay. Not even stray dogs or cats.

“Come on,” she muttered, dragging him by the edge of his shirt, “Let’s see if there anyone anywhere else.”

The treetops were easy enough to jump through. Placing one foot lightly on a branch while sprinting, and reaching out a hand to pull herself forward was like breathing. How many times had she done this? Not often in real trees. The white-coats let them use metal structures in a workout room to train, but it didn't feel nearly as nice as the smooth bark under her strong hands. Then again, training with the metal was simpler. It didn't snap into two if she gripped it too hard, or nearly drop her to the ground if she stepped too heavily.

Again, Percei nearly fell. Swearing, she swiftly reached out and wrapped her fingers around a branch above her head. The momentum carried her small frame upwards, still. Kicking out, she turned her body and carefully placed her feet on a thick branch. Taking a deep breath, she gazed between the leaves, seeing clearly into the woods. The only movement visible was falling leaves and scattering animals. Most creatures who caught scent of her fled out a fear; she wasn't exactly a friendly creature. . .

She smiled at the thought, but shook herself. "Concentrate," she told herself. This was as mission given to her specifically be her instructor. She couldn't let him down. Not now. . .

Growling, she chastised herself for becoming sidetracked. Standing straighter and holding her breath, Percei used her power. When she concentrated, she was able to absorb the powers of anyone near. She was also exceptionally fast, but she couldn't use both of her powers at once. It wasn't safe. . .

Percei gasped. Her fingertips lightly tingled, and her ears expanded outwards. Someone's close! Scrunching her face, she tried harder, trying to get an exact location. . . Percei let out her breath. Not close enough. Sweat beaded down her face, and she clutched a branch for support. She had felt them, two of them. Close! So close, but where?

STATIC AND JABBERJAY

JABBERJAY POV

Jabberjay felt the saliva rolling in his mouth as he stared longingly through the glass panes of the supermarket window. His fingers were wrapped tightly around the market’s cool, metallic, handlebars. He tugged ever so gently on the door, trying to ebb it open. His jaw hung slack, thin lips forming an ungraceful oval while he imagined raiding the supermarket for every delectable morsel of food it had to offer.

“Come on,” Static’s impatient voice penetrated his thoughts effectively destroying his food raiding fantasy. His sister was still tugging incessantly at his shirt attempting to pry him away from the glass door he was plastered too. She looked tired and aggravated and Jabberjay thought better than to annoy her any further.

“Fine,” he said slowly, pronouncing the word carefully as she wrenched him away from their only source of food thus far. Her forehead was crinkled with lines of stress and her eyebrows were crooked, held at a tense angle that told Jay she was peeved. He couldn’t understand what the big deal was. They had an entire city to themselves. They could live here in bliss for the rest of their lives without having to worry about money, or jobs, or whatever else normal people had to worry about.

He wrestled his arm out of her tight grip, nearly ripping his shirt off. Scowling at her he abruptly jerked his shoulder, shaking his shirt back into place around his neck. She sneered back at him, but for the most part remained quiet.

Neither of them spoke as they traversed slowly down the shiny black road. Yellow dashed lines painted the slick heated tar of the road here and there, and Jay found his shoes occasionally sticking to the floor. He didn’t understand what the lines were for, but figured that the blistering heat from the morning had essentially melted the road, causing it to become a sticky, boiling mess. Now in the cold breeze of the night, the road was just beginning to cool down to a more acceptable temperature.

Glancing at Static, he could see her nose wrinkled as she made the same assessment as him. He didn’t understand why they couldn’t just walk on the concreted sidewalk. His sister insisted on sticking to the road. Jay figured it was in case they needed to make a quick escape, but his irritation told him that such precautions were useless. They weren’t helpless. They could fight if they had too.

Static stopped abruptly, putting her hands on her waist, and starring up at the skyscrapers.

“What?” Jay asked, muscles tensed. Had she spotted something dangerous? His eyes flickered back and forth as he quickly surveyed their surroundings. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

“Nothing,” Static replied, still looking up. Jay relaxed his stance, but this temples rose and fell as he gritted his teeth with frustration. Now was not the time for his sister to go all enigmatic and spaced out on him.

Waving his hand dismissively at her, he wandered away from where she was standing. If Static needed thinking time, she could have it.

Jay spotted a dumpster, and the bright idea to go dumpster diving hit him like a blessing from heaven. He jogged over to the dumpster, hefting the suspiciously clean green lid up. Pulling himself over the dumpster he glanced inside.

STATIC POV

“Empty!” Jay exclaimed causing Static to jump at least two feet in the air. Looking to her right, she found him rummaging through an oddly untouched looking dumpster. From what Static knew, dumpsters were supposed to be grimy and ugly, overflowing with molded bread and slimy pasta. This dumpster was a shiny khaki green color, looking comparatively brand new, and smelling relatively scentless.

“What?” she asked, totally out of it. She’d been thinking. They were in what Stat assumed to be a ghost town. Lonely and empty and frightening. But what would cause such a huge city like this to be abandoned? Surely the apocalypse hadn’t happened while they’d been stuck in that rat-hole of a lab.

“The dumpster,” he sounded aggravated and terse, and Static rolled her eyes. For a boy his age, he sure did whine a lot.

“What about the dumpster?”

“There’s nothing in it moron. Or didn’t you hear me say empty?” He turned his head so she could properly see him dramatically rolling his eyes. Her mouth turned down in a frown.

“Maybe they picked up garbage?” Static suggested, shrugging.

“Who Stat?” Hmm. Point taken.

Static was just about to lope over to where he was, when she froze. A pair of incandescent eyes were peeking out shyly from behind the dumpster. For a moment, she mistook the luminescent round eyes for a stray cats, relieved that the city wasn’t completely abandoned. But, upon closer inspection, Stat found the head, marred by the dim light, to look oddly human.

A Hunter maybe?

Static didn’t think about what she was doing when she jabbed her finger in the direction of the head and screeched. Jabberjay yelped, sprinting away from the dumpster when his line of sight followed his sister’s finger.

Her brother’s wings outstretched to cover Static from whatever it was hiding behind the dumpster. Incredulous for a moment, that her younger brother would think she needed protection, she shoved in front of him, pushing his wings back so that their feet were now aligned in one straight horizontal line. She would rather stand with her brother than behind him.

“Hello,” she called tentatively, putting on her bravest face. If there were Hunters…well surely she and her brother had no chance of escape now…

(WEIRD DOUBLE POST. IGNORE IT.)

Jayson

Jayson had been flying away from the school fine for one second the next she fell to the ground. With a thump and a cry of pain she struggled but stood up. She dusted herself off before finally looking around at her surroundings. She noted the emptiness of the place she was in. Jayson walked forward looking around and not seeing any sign of anyone else at first. She kept on walking hearin nothing but silence for the most part until a loud voice intruded the silence. "Empty!" she heard a male voice say. The voice was fairly close and she cautiously walked to where she heard it. At first she thought it could have been a hunter and as she approached she saw two people. One male one female.

They didn't have the visible characteristics of a hunter so she relaxed slightly. She continued walking towards them. She thought that they could possibly be from the school. The city seemed completely deserted so it seemed unlikely to her that they could be residents of the city. She was about to speak when it seemed something surprised the girl and the male outstretched his wings over her in a protective manner. 'So they are from the school.' she thought. Her guard was let down after the realization. She wasn't one to just speak to people she hadn't known as she hadn't spoken to many people at all during her life so as she made her prescence known to them she stayed silent and looked over to the dumpster. She turned her gaze from the two she initially saw to the dumpster where she saw someone else. Yet again her guard was brought back up again thinking the person could in fact be a hunter instead.

Nerine watched with slight amusement. The dynamic between the two was that of siblings or very close friends. How had the two of them managed to keep up their relationship while in the lab, anyway? It was designed to make it difficult for mutants to interact with one another much, if at all. She herself barely remembered any, beyond their faces. Then again, she hated socializing with mutants. Just because Nerine kept to herself didn't mean other mutants did as well.
She was surprised. There were these two mutants, the one that was hiding and very, very nervous, and the slight breeze which she was controlling indicated that there was one more somewhere close. However, she couldn't figure out where the fourth one was--she was too tired to focus.
Nerine's powers slipped for a minute, and in that instant she was visible, standing behind the two siblings in full view of anyone else present. She grasped control of them again, terrified. She didn't want to be caught. She didn't want to be known. She cast her illusion again, sighing heavily, making sure it was moving with her as she backed up silently until she was pressed against a wall, in shadow, and invisible because of her illusion.
She may be exhausted, but she knew nothing about these people. She knew nothing about their aims. She didn't trust them. And worse, they knew she was here now.
Nerine hoped that neither of them had a power that would allow them to find her. She just wanted to watch them, not get caught out. With any luck, her illusion would hold long enough. She closed her eyes, sweating profusely, her teeth clenched, exerting herself to keep the illusion in place and the breeze running around the city, which was as empty as it looked.

Shade had tried to follow the two bird children like himself, but among the large buildings, he lost them. He didn't want to be in the sky for too long, in case someone in the city or whatever this place was saw him. He found a quiet little spot beside a street lamp and grabbed the pole to help himself slow down. He still skidded to a halt and had to flap his wings a few times but didn't fall on his face this time. He smiled a little and shook off a moment before he folded his wings neatly behind him. It really was nice to fly and have the room to stretch his wings. He just wished his muscles weren't so sore with their lack of use. Ah well. He was sure he would get used to it if he managed to survive out here and not end up back in a cage.

Now that he was on the ground, it was time to explore. Maybe he'd find those two mutants again. He looked around at the tall buildings and tilted his head to the side. They were the sources of the bright light but how did the lights get turned on? He walked over to one of the stores and peered into the window. There were games inside and stuffed animals and a bunch of things in it for kids. There was no one inside though. He bit his lip in wonder. Why wasn't there anyone there? He pulled away from the window and started to check each store he went to. Each time, he was met with an empty store. The streets were lonely and so quiet. He was afraid to make a sound least he disturb the peace. Was this really what a city was like? Maybe it was like this at night only.

Shade stopped in front of another store that had some clothes. He debated with himself and looked down at his own stained clothes from the lab. If there did happen to be people around here, they'd ask questions. And he was cold. He opened the door he was surprised actually opened and entered cautiously. Then he grabbed a pair of pants, a shirt, and a sweatshirt. He changed quickly and made a slit in the back for his wings to slide out of. He gave a small shiver. It was nice to be in warm clothes. He pulled the hood over his head and hurried out of the store. He was starting to feel that uneasy feeling the more he stayed here. Something wasn't quite right and he wanted out of this place. His stomach was growling though and he was tired. He needed food to fuel himself again before he took off out of this empty city.

Shade kept to the shadows as he weaved through the streets and found a store with food and drinks. He crept into the store and looked around before he grabbed a pack that he could sling over his shoulder and quickly shoved water and food into it before he ran out again. He could eat and drink when he felt safe again. He wished he could find those other mutants. He didn't want to be alone. It was safe in number.

He heard voices then and froze. After his mind processed the fact that he wasn't being attacked, he slowly crept forward and clung to the shadows, pulling them around him. Unfortunately, his cover wasn't as complete as it was in the forest. He was just a darker figure that could be seen when he moved. He stopped when he found the two winged mutants he had followed in the sky. They were looking at something in the darkness but he couldn't see what had their attention from his angle against the wall. He did see the person that appeared behind them and then vanished from sight, however. His eyes narrowed. Was that one of the hunters? He hadn't gotten a good look. Should he come out of the shadows and warn them? He'd want someone to warn him if he was in their position.

Shade reached up and pushed the hood away from his face as he stepped out of the shadows and crouched low. "Hey, there was someone was behind you," he called out to the two and continued to train his eyes over the area, looking for the vanishing person.

STATIC AND JABBERJAY

STATIC POV

"H-hello... My name is Snowspot ... I'm sorry I s-startled you. I-I didn't mean t-to..." A small whimper greeted Static and Jabberjay from behind the dumpster and solidified Static’s courage just a little. This girl (since it was in fact the voice of a female) sounded as terrified as Static felt. Biting her bottom lip she stood up straighter, trying to look tougher, and leaned her body to side in order to see around the khaki green dumpster. Jabberjay snorted beside her, obviously seeing through the bluff.

In the lighting Static couldn’t identify much; maybe a thick whip like protrusion from the back of the girl, soft and fluffy looking in texture, but nothing elaborate. The darkness isn’t usually a bird kid’s strong suit. She was crouched in an agile position against the dumpster, looking ready to pounce away if need be, and making Static assume that part of her powers had manifested similarly to her own; physical enhancements that made the human body a true ever present weapon/escape plan/ whatever you needed it to be.

In her peripheral vision she could see that another mutant had revealed herself. A petite female with pale skin, long dark brown hair, and vivid blue eyes. Static’s mouth twisted down in a frown; even though this was expected, finding other escaped mutants, she hadn’t expected to be the center of attention for a lion king-style mutant meeting.

She could see Jay’s head snap up, eyes droning in on the new female. His eyebrows furrowed, and for a second she was distracted by wondering what they were all thinking about. Mutants rarely met outside of the cages. Maybe once in a blue moon when the whitecoats permitted limited socializing. But not often after they hit their teens.

And yet here they were, now with the potential to be able to actually physically touch each other (or punch).
Abruptly, she saw Jay smile hesitantly, but reassuringly, towards the female. Jabberjay had always been lax; not one to make enemies quickly, even with the whitecoats. For a minute, Static couldn’t help herself, and found a small smile threatening to edge onto her mouth.

Lastly, but not least, another male around Static’s age revealed himself;

"Hey, there was someone was behind you," Static’s nose crinkled in mock offense

“Not even a hello?” She quipped, eyebrows raised expectantly. Her body, however, tensed under the pressure of his revelation, and her skin prickled knowing that she and her brother could have very well been decapitated from the back. In reality, she was actually thankful.

Now this mutant she recognized from limited interactions back at the lab. Seventeen years old, the same as her. Out of the flying mutants, there were only three of them that were seventeen. If Static’s memory served her correctly, this one, with the silver-ish hair, and blue eyes, was Shadow. The other one was Storm (at least that’s what she thought), an olive skinned boy with shaggy black hair and dark eyes.

Jabberjay slowly turned around, while Static kept straight on looking at the white haired boy, only faintly able to keep her concentration divided between both him and whip-tailed girl. It was hard. Static had never done this kind of thing before, and she suspected that either one of the two mutants she was facing directly, or the girl standing off to the side, could sneak away under her faulty surveillance. Still she and her brother worked in tandem with one another, she keeping an eye on whoever had presented themselves, as he blindly searched in the darkness for the lass mutant.

“I don’t see anything,” he said softly, turning his head towards her slightly.

Static debated internally on what to do. They could make a break for it now, save themselves the trouble of having hitchhikers. But…what if they were the real hitchhikers? What if they couldn’t take care of themselves beyond the city? Or find other people beyond the city?

In a split second decision, she raised her hands saying, “Peace, peace, people. We don’t want to fight. We’re lost, same as all of you.”

Her eyes roved over their faces, a hesitant offer tickling her lips, “But we’re not Hunters. We’re relatively good. I’m sure some of you must have seen each other, and me and my brother here, at the lab. We’re the same as you…”

“I’m Static. This is my brother Jabberjay.” She motioned to Jay, “Let me repeat, we don’t want to fight…unless you all have other intentions…”

Static lowered her voice to what she assumed sounded pretty threatening. She though she did a pretty good job, but Jay still mocked her from the side, whispering her words in the same voice and tone she’d used as they waited for answer and introductions.

Jayson remained silent though she was eyeing the male she now knew was named Jabberjay. When she saw him smiled towards her for some unknown reason she felt nervous and hesitantly and only slightly smiled back. She couldn't help but think of their nicknames. The female had whom introduced herself as Static, had explained her intentions and this may Jayson feel less defensive towards them but she was still alert in case of anything. After a moment or two she spoke up finally. "I'm Jayson. I was running and found myself here . I have no plans of harming you if you do not harm me." she spoke nonchalantly but truthfully.

Jayson didn't have that much energy left and she didn't wish to use it fighting other mutants. Even though her thoughts were wrapped around ideas of getting as far away from the school as possible Jabberjay invaded her mind. Jayson didn't have much interaction at the school as she wasn't skilled in it and learned how to naturally become distant and stay silent around others. It was like second nature to her but now that she was at least free of the school or at least escaped from it she could have the chance to better herself at interaction.

Nerine was panicking inwardly, and if possible, tried to dig herself farther into the wall.
It was so stupid of her to have been caught--to have been seen--by the other mutants, as they seemed to be. The boy, whoever he was, had seen her, had warned the others, and now they knew she was here. She cowered into the wall as far as she could go, her heart racing and her mind working lightning-fast. How could she get out of this situation?
She was shaking, most likely from fear rather than exhaustion, and slowly began backing away, still pressed against the wall, heart in her throat, while Static finished speaking.
Nerine had less than a minute to process that she was falling when she tripped. She hadn't paid attention as she moved back. As a consequence, she had managed to trip and sprawl onto the ground in front of the boy who had glimpsed her when her illusion slipped, hitting her head with a loud thump.
Of course, her illusion didn't slip with her, so she appeared to be a darker, vaguely humanoid patch on the asphalt, a bit like a three dimensional shadow. She lifted a hand to her head, waiting for the pain to lessen slightly so she could fix her illusion. If she tried now, chances were that it would slip, but if she waited thirty seconds and moved fast, she'd possibly be able to escape all...how many were there?
The two siblings, the one whose feet she was right next to, the girl with the blazing blue eyes, and the one behind the Dumpster. The only ones close enough right now were the two siblings--Static and Jabberjay--and the boy right here, but if she could move fast enough... Nerine winced lightly as she probed her head, her illusion still firmly on her, and wished that she had gotten better at using her second power. She wouldn't be anywhere near as tired otherwise.

Shade grinned at Static’s hello comment. He didn’t see why a hello was so important. It was a waste of breath and he announced his presence well enough with his warning. From the way she and her brother tensed, he could tell they appreciated that well enough. He preferred warning over useless words any day. Now he just wished he could actually see the threat, if it was truly a threat. Was it a mutant like him, someone able to vanish in plain sight? Was she a chameleon or were their conditions? There certainly weren’t many shadows in the direction he had seen the other mutant vanish so he or she wasn’t dependent on them.

He looked over at Static when she began to call for peace. He straightened a little so he didn’t look ready to pounce on anyone and leaned against a wall as he continued to scan the area. Huh, did the other mutant run away by now? “Jayson, Static, Jabberjay,” he greeted, “I am Shadow, but you can call me Shade,” he answered. “I have no ill will towards any of you.”

Shade saw a blur then and quickly snapped his attention to the girl that had leaped out of the alley. He tensed and crouched low again and winced at the pain in his injured arm. He reached up to clutch it and try to ease its ache. This girl didn’t have wings, but she did have a cool looking tail. It looked so soft. He almost wanted to go over to her and touch her tail. Almost. He gave her a nod in greeting as well and eyed her. He didn’t like those sudden movements. They made him kinda jumpy and he was already anxious as it was about this people-less city.

“I think we should all get out of here. This place gives me an uneasy vibe,” he warned. He was sure the others felt it to.

JABBERJAY POV

"I'm Jayson. I was running and found myself here. I have no plans of harming you if you do not harm me." Jabberjay’s lips formed a grin when he heard the brown-haired girl’s name. Surely, any nicknames were bound to cause confusion among the group. But, putting that at the back of his mind, his eyes squinted into the darkness, trying to look for whatever it is the white-haired one had been talking about.

It was pitch black in the direction Jay was staring. He couldn’t see, or hear anything. And then abruptly, a vaguely humanoid shape, dark and featureless, seemed to have zapped in front of the boy…Shade. As quickly as it had appeared, it had disappeared, and Jabberjay felt an uneasy feeling boiling over in his stomach. Before he could address what he’d seen, the mutant from behind the dumpster hopped over their head landing in threatening pose in front of them.

She was a tiny little thing (compared to Jabberjay), with blonde hair, ice blue eyes, and a long fluffy tail that was impossible not to notice. Jabberjay snorted as she puffed out her chest and, rather rudely, asked, “What are you doing?”

Jay was sure if this had been a better time Static would have face-palmed by now.

STATIC POV

If Static could have slapped her brother right there and then, she would have. He was being a rude arse. And the whole point, at the moment, was to make friends, not enemies. Not even frenemies.

“I think we should all get out of here. This place gives me an uneasy vibe.”

And apprehensive feeling pervaded Statics chest when she realized that she and Shade were most probably the oldest among the group. She grimaced; while she agreed with Shade, there was no saying the younger mutants would follow suit. In fact, if she was one of them, she knew now was about the time that she would very rebelliously start questioning the, because hey, who’s to say they were trustable.

Static straightened her back, and looked over the group. Tense, hungry, beaten, faces stared back at her. For a minute of mental pain, the memories of the school flashed into her mind. The picture were vivid. Why wouldn’t they be? Their escape had only been about two hours ago. Gaunt faces, emaciated bodies, hopelessly, desolate eyes, all blankly staring out of their cages, waiting for some whitecoat to come and perform more experiments on them, or yell at them yet again for not passing a test.

Static flinched. The pain felt almost real. Taking a deep breath, she sighed. Right now, the best choice seemed to be sticking together. Safety in numbers.

“Okay,” she said slowly, turning her head to meet the eyes of everyone she could see, “I think the first thing we need to do if find out where we are. And for that to happen, I think we need a computer,” she pronounced the word carefully. Static had never used a computer. Of course the Whitecoats would never allow them to use something that could assist in their possible escape. But she knew what one was. From reading the skimpy articles they had thrown at her, to improve her cognitive skills, and from observing Whitecoats tapping away on the keyboards of their various laptops. Computer seemed to be a reasonably helpful thing in this situation.

“This city is huge. Huge, but empty. I’m sure, if we scavenge enough we can find some kind of computer store,” she shrugged. Where were computers sold? In fact where was anything sold? How the outside world worked was an enigma to Static. Before now, she’d never in her life, even seen a basic store. That sold anything. Except for that market, when they’d first arrived.

Huffing she looked down at her ripped up clothing, noticing that Shade had clothes remarkably different from the standard dirty and beat clothes they were usually offered at the School.

“But first, I think we should find a clothing store…” She looked up at Shade apologetically, “You mind taking us to where you found those clothes? Oh! And you’re all welcome to come along.” Static called out, in what she hoped sounded like a friendly tone, “We, me and my brother, don’t have anyone else here…so well…safety in number…”

It was the first time Static had stuttered or clammed up since the group had gotten together. The adrenaline rush that had her going from before was all out of her system now. But either way, this whole group thing was beneficial. And it was be an opportune moment for them to get to know each other.