“Limbo bent us, but it didn’t break us,” she offered.
“Exactly.” Illyana agreed. “Every fear we face teaches us a lesson. Today, Christopher learned how strong he is. When the chip is down, as you say, he now knows he has the courage to save a life under great pressure. He has never done this before, and now he knows without a doubt that he can. Doubt is a powerful thing. One day, the self-confidence he acquired from Emma’s stunt may save someone’s life. Now he believes in his abilities in a new way, and so do the rest of you.”
Eva thought about that for a moment, staring into her glass. She’d never doubted Christopher’s abilities, but she had to admit that they weren’t exactly flashy. After spending years idolizing the likes of Captain America, it was hard to be impressed by a healer. But maybe she should be.
“I reckon you’re right. But I’m still glad it wasn’t real,” she said, sagging with relief.
Illyana smiled. “The Danger Room takes some getting used to. Don’t get too comfortable. I have seen students who started thinking that everything was a simulation and got their butt handed to them on a platter because they quit trying. They thought that since the damage didn’t carry into the real world, they didn’t have to give their best effort all the time. So, their instructors met them in the real world and wiped the carpets with them. Don’t make the same mistake, yes?” She paused, looking at Eva’s face. Eva tried not to snicker, but Magik’s occasionally mangled slang cracked her up. “That is the right phrase, yes? Wiped the carpets?”
“I know what you meant,” Eva replied, her lips twitching.
“Good enough.” Illyana paused. “I had better move. I was hoping to sneak a snack before lunch, and I don’t want to get caught.” She grinned.
“Oh! I almost forgot. Before you go, can I ask you a quick question?”
Illyana quirked an eyebrow and gestured for her to get on with it.
“I feel awful for Jean, and all of the other time-travelers too. Being stuck here must be difficult for them,” said Eva.
“It has been awkward.”
“No kidding.” Eva snorted. “So I thought I’d offer to help. I’m the only mutant here who manipulates time, after all. Maybe with my time bubbles and your magic, we could…” She fumbled for specifics. “You know. Send them back somehow. You know more about these things than I do. Obviously, I’d need more training.”
Instead of laughing off the idea, Illyana tilted her head and gave it genuine consideration. Eva could have hugged her. It would have been easy for Magik to dismiss her as new and inexperienced, but she chose to take the suggestion seriously instead.
“It isn’t a bad concept,” Illyana finally admitted. “Although its success will depend on the limits of your abilities.”
“How do we find out what those limits are, and does it involve any stabbing?” asked Eva.
Illyana’s teeth flashed as she grinned. “Probably not, although I make no promises.”
“I cannot believe I’m joking about this already.”
“The mind is a flexible thing. You are already recovering. When you return to class, you will see.” Illyana paused. “Speaking of class, I believe that you are late.”
Eva looked around for a clock, swearing.
“That is OK. I am teaching, so you’re off the hook.” She grinned again. “Find me a snack and join us in the Danger Room. We will discuss this more later.”
•••
The cafeteria had been stocked mostly with pre-packed food, yet another sign of the last-minute preparations that had been involved in the school’s establishment. Eva scanned the cabinets with a sense of disappointment. She hadn’t realized it was possible to get sick of junk food, but she was well on her way. She didn’t feel the slightest temptation to snag something extra for herself. It was just all so boring.
She didn’t know what Illyana liked, so she ended up bringing a variety of convenience store delicacies – an apple, a granola bar, and a little bag of chips. When she opened the door, David clicked his tongue and said, “Late again?”
Illyana froze him with a stern glance before crossing the room toward Eva, her slinking stride like a lion on the hunt, and plucking the chips from her hands.
“Thank you for fetching these for me, Eva,” she purred. “Please take a seat, and we’ll get started.”
Eva did. The group had shrunk since the morning session. To her intense relief, Christopher sat in his usual spot, looking none the worse for wear. He even smiled at her as she sat down. Fabio, David, and Benjamin also remained in their places. The Stepfords had gone to another class, and Eva didn’t particularly miss them.
“We’re going to do a combat session in the Danger Room for the rest of the morning,” Illyana said with a wide grin. “I hear that you passed one earlier thanks to Christopher’s excellent grace under pressure, so I expect you to do well.” Christopher’s cheeks went crimson, and Eva clapped him on the shoulder. “You must defend yourself against all attacks. If all members of your team survive, you pass the test. Simple, yes?”
Eva’s heart sped up, fueled by nervous excitement. She’d given up her entire life to learn from the best, and it felt like the instructors were finally ready to teach. But on the other hand, she already had enough nightmare fuel for the next year. She knew Emma’s trick with the knife would haunt her for a long time, as would her experience in Limbo. She still wanted to be an X-Man; she’d wanted to be a hero all her life. But coming to this school hadn’t been at all what she’d anticipated, and sometimes she wondered if she’d made the right decision. If she really had what it took.
“Piece of cake, with Chrissy-boy here on our team,” said David, reaching out to ruffle his hair. “As we saw earlier, he can heal anything. So we’ve got this in the bag.”
Christopher ducked out from underneath his hand.
“Please don’t call me that. Not unless you want me to call you Davey-boy,” he said.
“I’d like to see you try it,” said David, jokingly.
“Dang,” said Christopher, ignoring him. “If I would have known we were fighting in the Danger Room, I would have brought my staff. Is it too late to run back to my room for it?”
“Yes. Make do without it.”
Illyana left the room, leaving no space for argument. The conference room fell away, to be replaced with a busy city street. Scents assailed Eva’s senses, overpowering after the long weeks spent in the unending monotony of the school grounds. The hallways all smelled the same: old and cold, with an underlying layer of mildew that never fully abated no matter how much they cleaned. Now, exhaust and smog hung in the air, a cloying fume that threatened to choke the air from her lungs. But underneath it she could catch the sweet scent of the oranges from the fruit vendor on the corner. A woman who walked past them as they stood dumbfounded on the sidewalk wore a pretty floral perfume.
“I smell tacos!” David declared, pointing. “I’ll be right back.”
“Tacos?” Fabio’s expression lit up. “I’d kill for just one meal that didn’t include a squishy sandwich.”
Eva looked in the direction that David had indicated. A taco truck sat halfway down the block, its gaily striped awnings shielding its patrons from the bright midday sun. Chalkboard signs advertised a long list of daily specials. Her stomach rumbled. After weeks of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and bags of potato chips, she would have killed for a bite even though she knew it wasn’t real.
Fabio nearly stepped out in front of a bus in his eagerness to get his hands on one. She yanked him back with both hands just in time, and the driver laid on the horn with both hands and then saluted them with his middle finger for good measure. But Fabio just grinned.
“Guess I should watch where I’m going, huh?” he said. “I’ll be right back.”
“That’s a bad idea,” said Christopher, his face pinched with worry. “One, you don�
�t have any money.”
“I do,” said David, beginning to search in his pockets. “I always carry my wallet.”
“Two,” Christopher continued without waiting for him to finish. “That taco truck isn’t real. This is the Danger Room, remember? We’re here to fight. There are probably big… bad guys. Of some sort. Waiting to punch us.”
“Yeah, and you heard Magik, right? All we got to do is survive it.” David ran his hand through his hair and straightened his shirt. “Look, we’ve been cooped up in that school for weeks, eating the same boring food in the same boring room. This is our first opportunity to live a little. I’m gonna go with Fabio to scope out that truck and talk to some honeys. You in or not?”
“This is a bad idea,” said Christopher.
“You probably can’t even eat those tacos,” added Eva, scowling in disapproval.
“Well, I’m gonna try,” declared Fabio.
“You in, Benjamin, or are you hanging here with these killjoys?” asked David.
“Uh…” Benjamin said, looking between the two groups with the stricken expression of someone who really wants to be anywhere but there.
“Feel free to join us if you want,” said Fabio. “Those tacos are calling my name, and man do they sound good.”
“But…” said Eva.
She wanted to stop them, but short of grabbing onto them, she didn’t see how. Idiots. Their immaturity made her want to scream in frustration. But she could do nothing but exchange an exasperated glance with Christopher as Fabio and David dashed across the street. They didn’t even use the crosswalk, which in this traffic was like holding up a sign saying you’d really like to be run over by a car, please. It nearly happened, too. Multiple times.
When they finally hit the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street, she heaved a sigh of relief. The feeling lasted all of about half a second. A big black van with SWAT painted on the side came screeching around the corner and squealed to a stop right in front of Eva, Christopher, and Benjamin, blocking their view of their teammates.
Benjamin said, “What the…?”
Then the rear doors opened, and SWAT officers spilled out. They wore head-to-toe black body armor and black helmets that gave them what Eva thought of as the evil motorcycle rider look. White letters spelled out SWAT on their chests, just in case their affiliation wasn’t entirely clear. Each officer carried a lethal-looking assault rifle in black gloved hands. The weapons loomed menacingly in Eva’s mind. She’d never even seen a gun in real life before about a month ago, and now they seemed to be everywhere. She’d become desensitized enough that she no longer flinched every time she heard gunfire, but the sight of drawn guns still shook her badly. She couldn’t help but wonder how fast the bullet would travel after being fired from one of those things, and how much pain the Danger Room would allow her to feel.
Although she knew the cops were only holograms, and Triage would heal any injuries they received anyway, her heartbeat still sped up. Adrenaline flooded her veins. The urge to run and hide made her feel physically ill. The thought of being shot terrified her. Even worse, someday she would have to face down armed assailants in real life. For the first time, she began to wonder if she had it in her or if she would fold at the first sign of true danger.
Two of the guns swung around to point at her, and her heart began pounding so hard that she felt it in her ears. All rational thought went out the window. She completely forgot about the fact that this was a simulation, because every cell in her body screamed that she was in terrible danger.
“If you move, we will shoot you, mutant,” said the one on the left, her voice distorted by the speaker on her helmet.
Eva swallowed, her throat dry. She held her hands out to her sides in an attempt to look nonthreatening. “This is a mistake,” she said.
One of the officers poked her in the sternum with the gun, pushing her backwards, isolating her from the others.
“You can’t do that!” Christopher exclaimed. “She has rights!”
For a tense moment, it seemed like everything would explode into violence.
“Hey, guys,” David called out, casually interrupting them before chaos could break out. He leaned on a lamppost on the opposite sidewalk, Fabio at his side. A few of the cops whirled to train guns on them while the others continued to aim at Eva and Christopher. But David didn’t even blink. Eva had no idea how he could be so chill. Maybe he also had unflappable calm as a super-power? He gave them a cocky grin and said, “You didn’t forget to put that transport vehicle in park, did you?”
After a shocked moment, all eyes went to the armored vehicle, which sat idling at the curb. Nothing happened. For a moment, Eva considered making a run for it while the cops were distracted. The tips of the assault rifles wavered a bit as their owners watched the van nervously, but then they steadied as it failed to move. Eva’s heart sank. She’d lost her chance to escape, although she probably would have ended up getting shot anyway. Everything seemed so hopeless. Then the van’s engine roared to life and it lurched into gear and began spinning wildly. Everyone scattered as the vehicle careened out of control. Tires screeched as it barreled toward Benjamin, who tripped as he scrambled to get away. Eva barely managed to yank him out of the way. They toppled to the pavement, the thick tire passing inches from his head. His face went white.
The van tore past them, swerving through a lane of traffic before it collided with a pickup truck. It pushed the pickup out of the way and continued on, mowing through a sports car before it impacted on a fire hydrant, sending a spray of water shooting into the air.
“You nearly killed me!” shrieked Benjamin.
“How was I supposed to know they didn’t straighten the wheel out before they got out of the vehicle? You always straighten the wheel out!” David shouted back.
POCK POCK POCK!
The dry pop of gunfire drowned out the remainder of the argument. Everyone on the street screamed, running for cover. David and Fabio dove to the ground as bullets pounded the pavement around them. They had nowhere to go, no cover to seek. If someone didn’t do something, they’d die.
Eva tried to psych herself up. She had to help them. But she couldn’t make herself move. She didn’t want to die. She wanted to go home.
“Help!” shouted Fabio. “Please! Dios mio!”
The plea firmed her resolve despite her terror. She stood up and whipped her hands out, freezing the officers and their van in a pale blue, gleaming time bubble. Bubbling took a certain amount of mental strain, although she’d been practicing so much that it had started to get easier. It felt like she was trying to balance a shaky stack of plates in place with her mind. Once the plates had stabilized, she could release them, but for a moment she had to concentrate with every fiber of her being. The more complicated the subject, the harder it was to bubble it. Bigger bubbles would be like trying to balance huge towers of plates. Moving targets would be like trying to balance them while walking. Bubbling during a fight sometimes felt like trying to balance plates while riding a unicycle on a tightrope. She just couldn’t carry the mental load, which was why she usually tried to catch all of the bad guys in a single bubble. Had she gotten them all this time?
As she looked around, a bullet caught her in the shoulder, spinning her around in a wild loop and throwing her to the ground. Strangely, it didn’t hurt as badly as she’d expected. Her arm felt like lead though, and the impact site burned. She toppled onto the pavement, her eyes wide with shock. Apparently, she’d missed at least one of them, and he had good aim.
Benjamin threw up noisily on the ground right next to her head.
She clutched her shoulder and rolled onto her back, avoiding the puke. They were dangerously exposed out in the middle of the street and desperately in need of cover, but she couldn’t make herself move. Her shoulder had begun to throb, and although it didn’t hurt as badly as it should, it still didn’t fe
el good. She had no desire to take another bullet. As she hesitated, Fabio emitted a barrage of heavy gold balls from his body at random, knocking some of the shooters – and David – to the ground. He’d lost control completely. He flailed his hands, looking panicked as the balls kept on coming, taking out windows and setting off car alarms.
“No! Stop!” he yelled.
POINK! POINK! POINK!
“AAAH! What’d you do that for?” yelled David, rolling on the ground and holding his head. “That hurt!”
Benjamin retched again.
Eva didn’t know what to do, and things weren’t looking good.
Chapter 5
In the midst of all this chaos, Christopher crept belly down on the dirty street toward Eva and Benjamin. The occasional stray bullet pinged off the concrete nearby, but so far, he’d escaped miraculously unscathed. He could do nothing about the car or the shooters. He had no idea how to get them out of this mess. But he could do one thing: his job. He could make sure Eva didn’t die.
To his shame, he’d frozen at first. The moment the cops had arrived, years of conditioning had taken over, and he did as his ma had taught him when he was young. He took his hands out of his pockets and kept them visible, stood still and waited for instructions, and kept his expression open and polite regardless of the weapons trained on him.
“They’ll be looking for an excuse to see you as a thug, Christopher,” she’d said. “So don’t you give them one.”
So he’d stood there, trying to show the cops how unthreatening he was, and they’d started shooting anyway. He’d watched it in shock and horror, a cry stuck in his throat, knowing all the while that he needed to help – in fact, it was his job to help – but he was too afraid to do it. Because he’d grown up knowing that he couldn’t afford to give anyone the excuse to put a bullet in him, and now he had even more reason to be cautious, because he was a young Black mutant in America.
Liberty & Justice for All Page 4