"No..." Megumi Morisato looked in disbelief at the image the mirror showed her. This couldn't be... She was just having a stupid nightmare. She would wake up soon and everything would turn back to normal.
Damn it ! Why wasn't she waking up !?
The... creature staring back at her from the mirror's polished surface was humanoid-looking but looked like something out of a crazed swiss illustrator's imagination.
She caressed her face with her other hand. It was hard and rough to the touch. Her skin had turned to a sickly grey leather-like consistency. Blank eyes blinked at her, no irises or pupils, only milky white was visible in her orbs. And her hair... Tentacles would be a better word. When her thoughts turned to the black pointy appendages now adorning her head, they moved like living things. To her astonishment (or would that be horror ?), she could control them like they were just extra limbs !
She looked at her hands. Her nails had become white claws and bony ridges of the same color crawled up along her arms. She touched herself on several places and realized that other bone protrusions had sprout all over her...
She opened her mouth to scream in denial only to find out about her new teeth, worthy of a carnivorous predator. Her rapidly mounting distress caused new tentacles to appear, growing under her chin like a living beard.
She pinched herself several times to no avail. The monster just wouldn't leave her sight !
"No... No... NO... NOOOOOO !!!" Megumi threw the mirror at the wall, shattering it, and continued screaming until Urd force-fed her one of her personal concoctions, sending her back into sleep.
*****
And while Megumi Morisato lost consciousness, another mutant regained it. Keitaro Urashima opened his eyes to see a single lightbulb hanging from a wooden ceiling. It took him a few minutes to completely regain all his wits and think about his current situation.
He had fallen in the ocean, trying to escape his pursuers. The pitch and toss of the room clued him on the fact he was on a ship. A fishing ship if the fish smell was any indication. They must have saved him from drowning.
He tried to stand up and leave. When the ship got back to his port of call, the sailors would call the authorities and his jailers would come for him. Unfortunately he was too weak and collapsed back on his couch.
"You should stay in bed and rest if you want to recuperate, Urashima-san" Keitaro slowly turned his head to look at the person who just talked. She was a woman in her thirties with long brown hair, glasses over her blue eyes and an attractive figure. She was clad in a coat and carried a briefcase.
"Who... Who are you ? And how do you know my name ?" He was starting to panic, they had found him again !
The woman smiled "My name is Yomiko Readman, Urashima Keitaro-san. I know your name because I work for someone who wants to help people like you"
"Help ?" He snorted "What kind of help, exactly ? Military or assassin training, perhaps ?" No way he was going back to that place without a fight...
"Hardly. It's more along the lines of control of your gifts, self-defense and how to integrate society" Yomiko answered "I guess your kidnappers have different ideas"
"How did you know I was kidnapped !? Answer me !" Little arcs of electricity ran on Keitaro's body but he didn't notice, caught up in his anger.
"You weren't the only one kidnapped at your house, were you ?" She walked to a chair in a corner of the room and sat legs crossed, still hanging on her briefcase "Mutsumi Otohime and Shinobu Maehara disappeared from your house the same night you did"
"I know that. Get to the point !" He had never struck a woman in his entire life but he was willing to start if need be.
"They managed to escape with a few others from their prison with the help of the X-Men. Then they were entrusted to my employer's care who opened a school where young mutants will be able to learn how to use their powers for the common good" She pulled out a visiting card out of a pocket in her coat. The piece of paper simply floated to his waiting hand !
He read it and gasped "Yashida School for Gifted Youngsters ? Wait a minute ! Yashida as in Shiro Yashida ? SUNFIRE !?"
"The one and only. I'm here to ask you if you want to join the school as a student. Your two friends have already accepted and told me to say this : 'Don't worry and come. You can still prepare for Todai there with us !'. And if you accept, I'll help you as well since I'm one of the teachers. So what do you say ?"
Keitaro pondered but to see Mutsumi and Shinobu again... He was willing to take the risk "Okay..."
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Jamil Nate
(Posted Fri, 13 Dec 2002 22:41)
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