"I'm sure," Justin reiterated as Charlie put her hand in his palm. It pained him to see this young girl in agony despite her extraordinary ability; but he knew what he was doing, he knew really what he had to do.
His hand felt warm as Charlie began passing his wound back to him, her side slowly patching itself together as searing pain ripped at his side. She had healed the wound enough so that it would not be fatal, but he still bit his lip, holding back the screams of agony as tears threatened to run down his cheeks. He could literally feel the skin ripping apart to reveal the soft flesh, however this time the fragments were not scratching against his flesh making the wound that much more bearable.
Charlie's wound soon healed completely as blood now started flowing from Justin's side and the two broke contact. Letting the levee break, a flood of swearing and profanities left his lips as he clutched his side in pain; having momentarily forgotten about the amount of pain he had been in before. Now though, he was in a much clearer thought process than he had been lying on the floor with his wound before. Lifting up his shirt, he hovered his hand over the wound as spots began to blur his vision.
Like a miracle, he skin around Justin's skin began to toughen and harden, as what looked like bark started to form on the edges of the wound, slowly creeping further in until the entire wound was covered in a skin like bark. Justin's eyes rolled back into his head as he let go, blacking out for a couple of seconds before coming to.
"Wow, Charlie, you're one tough person," he congratulated her, "that wound was almost unbearable."
Reaching into his bag, Justin fished around until he grasped a box and brought it out. Popping a couple of Barley Sugars into his mouth, he offered them to Charlie, "take several, the concentrated Glucose will help with your blood sugar level."
Several minutes later, heavily armed swat members burst through the door, sweeping the room before converging on Justin and Charlie. After brief questions, they helped them to the main foyer as a rapid response team was setting up a makeshift hospital for the hundred or so people injured in the attack.
Justin and Charlie were sat next to each other while they were inspected. "Justin Oliver Evans, 28, Atlantean Royal Family," he told the doctor as they examined his bark covered wound. After explaining the wound, it's transferral and re-transferral, Justin restored the wound to human flesh so the doctors could stick it back together.
While he laid there, wincing as the needles sewed his skin together, he turned to Charlie who was just having her final check by the doctor's, "So Charlie, what do you plan to do now that you have signed up?"
Antonia wasn't such a big fan of the array of American accents, sometimes it was hard enough to understand people in her own country much less another one, but Austin's accent wasn't overly bad compared to her rather common British accent. It hadn't been her choice to come to America, more like orders from her superiors, but it meant getting out of the Mansion grounds to do real work in the real world.
"I'm Antonia Costa, I can speak Italian naturally if that's what you're asking." She knew exactly what he meant, it was almost a common ice breaker to find out what everyone else's ability was, but it was also sometimes considered intrusive to ask as well, however Antonia never did see the point how it could be so intrusive.
"How about this, I'll tell you about mine if you tell me about yours?" Antonia was of course, actively flirting; flaunting her feminine charms. It didn't help that she resembled somewhat like Emma Watson from the Harry Potter movies, but she knew how attractive she was and was not afraid to use that to her advantage.
"What happens next is entirely up to you," River responded, as hard as she tried to rephrase it, she couldn't help feeling like she was Morpheus offering Neo the choice of pills, "you can exit through that door with your registration card, and try to return to the life you have left, otherwise you can take up my offer to join me and a whole lot of other Atlanteans and learn to control your ability."
River decided to back up her motion, she hadn't said a lot about her organisation so much, "I am with the Atlantean Royal Family, we train and prepare younger Atlanteans to better control their abilities and to aid us in the coming future. We're based in Britain, but we have people from all corners of the world studying and learning with us. Minerva, you could become a valuable member of our rather extended family, and I would love to have you become a part of us."
River took another bite of her apple, letting the words sink in before asking Minerva again, "So, would you like to join us?"
Excited, Jeremy began appearing, disappearing then reappearing all around the room, in celebration, garnering quizzical looks from both Wyatt and Mr. Cain. "Please, excuse him," Cain spoke, "now, before you get acquainted with the rest of the crew, follow me." It came off more like an order than a suggestion; still, Wyatt followed Cain without hesitation, entering the lift with the imposing man and leaving Jeremy alone to his own devices.
Wyatt simple watched as one by one they passed each floor, heading down to a floor with a button embossed with the letters 'S' and 'L'; Wyatt trying not to think of the letters as some sort of sexual innuendo. It seemed like no time at all had passed when the doors finally prized open to reveal several rows of computer terminals all leading up to a large, glass window that over looked a large, football sized, white-washed room. Walking to the window, he looked down at a rather muscular man sparring with what appeared to be a very lean, flexible and somewhat agile woman. With a small pop, Jeremy appeared beside Wyatt, making him flinch at his sudden appearance.
"That's Adrian and October," He explained as Wyatt continued to watch their match, "they're the other, older members of our division."
Wyatt watched in amazement as Adrian's arms flurried in a mass of punches, almost appearing has if he had more than two fists while October blocked, parried and dodged her way around him; seemingly trying to tire him out. She dodged through the his flurries, sweeping her leg in an arc, however Adrian saw this, stepping back at the latest possible moment yet still being caught off guard by it. Noticing the break in his concentration, October jumped forward, throwing herself up off the floor and at Adrian; colliding heavily with his chest and sending him sprawling to the ground.
Behind Wyatt, the Directive cleared his throat, causing the two boys to turn 180, "This is the Science Lab, here we do research on Atlanteans and also help you to better control your respective abilities."
A man soon joined the Directive, short and stocky, this man was well built and didn't seem like someone Wyatt would like to cross much less encounter when he was in a bad mood. Messy blonde hair that was already starting to fade and piercing green eyes just added to the man's intimidation; however the unkempt stubble showed he liked to delve long into his study.
"I am Professor Joshua Meier," his accent was thick, something Mediterranean; Austrian would have been Wyatt's first guess, "what is your ability, Wyatt?"
Since they had arrived, Wyatt hadn't told anyone his name, but it made sense that the Directive would have told Professor Meier about him. "I honestly don't know, something with my eyes I guess."
The professor sighed, looking at the directive before looking back at Wyatt, "Surely you must have already used it? Think, boy!"
"I'll leave you two to it, then," the Directive smiled, before motioning for Jeremy to follow him. All Wyatt received was a pat on the shoulder from Jeremy and a wink before the boy popped off into another section of the building as the Directive left via elevator; leaving Wyatt in the capable hands of the doctor.
Slouching back into the chair, Wyatt was finally able to relax after being poked, prodded and tested for what seemed like every conceivable ability that could originate from the eyes. What seemed like 3 hours had only taken thirty minutes and they soon came to the conclusion on his ability. "So, I can see through walls? Bloody useless if you ask me," he retorted.
"Not so much, Wyatt, you could prove valuable yet," Professor Meier looked up from his desk as two figures made their way out of the elevator that lead down to the large room below. Wyatt had to twist his neck around just to glimpse the hulking figure and the sleek beauty beside him. "Adrian, October, let me introduce our new recruit, Wyatt."
Wyatt stood, turning around to size the two up. The hulking guy name Adrian was a mass of muscle looking somewhat Latino or South American while a second set of arms relaxed below his other set of arms. He reached out both right arms, gesturing in handshake at Wyatt before realising what he had done and retracted one. Out of courteous, Wyatt shook the guy's sweaty palm. October however, was sleek and thin, long auburn hair tied in a ponytail that ran down past her shoulder blades and wearing a rather revealing top and track pants. She was perhaps a head shorter than Wyatt, but seemed to cling to Adrian as if the two were a couple.
"So, newbie, what's your ability, huh?" October taunted, her accent quite Irish causing Wyatt to have to do a double take of what she had said.
"I can blow stuff up," he retorted half casually, smirking at his lie.
"Nice to meet you, amigo," Adrian responded, "but October and I must be going. We shall see you soon." Wyatt was starting to like Adrian, despite being scared that the guy could probably squash him flat like the Hulk.
"See ya later, babe," October whispered in his ear seductively as she walked past. He felt her briefly touch his arm and it soon erupted into spasms, causing Wyatt to clutch his arm close to his body. Whatever October had done, Wyatt was pretty sure it was the least of her ability.
Returning to the Professor, he slumped to the seat, in somewhat of a bad mood after his encounter with October. "So Doc, how do I become stronger?"