10 DNA Strands - Blood, Forward-dated to just after 6 am

[kid_apocalypse]

[Evan had awoken, like most mornings, at 6 am. Almost immediately he could tell something was off. His hands were stained a dark red color, as though he'd washed his hands in blood, though he couldn't remember doing anything the previous day that might have caused that. It's not until he gets out bed and strolls over to the bathroom that it really registers in his head what's going on. On his chest is a symbol he knows all too well, and his waist is adorned with a large letter A. Worst of all, the mocking nickname Quentin gave him was scrawled across his forehead in big letters, broadcasting to all that he was "KID APOCALYPSE". It's almost more than he can bear, and he staggers out of the bathroom, his emotions welling up beyond his control.]

No...it's not....this is not who I am!

[Thinking quickly, he runs back to the bathroom to try and scrub it off, but no matter how much soap and water he applies, no matter how hard he scrubs, the stains won't come off.]

God...I'm...I'm not...NO!!!

[Anyone on the third floor just now will hear a loud explosion come from the room marked "Evan Sabahnur", and his door will fly off of it's hinges a few moments later, and what was an ordinary castle room will have been reduced to a blackened husk, with Evan at it's center, his journal laying open in front of him. Try to approach him, and you'll find yourself buffeted by an invisible force coming from Evan himself, though he has no control over it. For now he's just gonna sit here and sob, his tears falling large and wet on the journal's pages.]

Comments

[spongetastic]

Evan....? What happened?

[kid_apocalypse]

[Sorry Peter, Evan's a little preoccupied right now, though if he listeneds carefully, Peter might hear a whisper of "I'm not....I'm not...I'm not..." repeated over and over, like a mantra, between sobs. Should Peter make his way up to Evan's room, he'll find him sitting in the center, his knees pulled close to his chest, with Evan rocking himself back and forth, his eyes distant.]

[spongetastic]

Evan? Evan, answer me! Keep in control until I get there, all right?

[gonna run up to your room, boy]

[kid_apocalypse]

[He's trying, he really is, but once he loses it, it's hard to get it back. He takes a deep, shuddering breath, trying to get himself in control.]

I...I lost my temper. I'm sorry.

[By this point, the windows in Evan's room have blown out, and the air is swirling around unnaturally as he curls in even tighter.]

[spongetastic]

[Peter lets out a sigh when he sees the state of Evan's room. He crosses over and puts his hand on the top of Evan's head]

You have to be more careful, Evan. If you lose control like that again you can do much worse than blowing out your windows. I know you don't mean to do that, but it's dangerous. Someone can get hurt.

[kid_apocalypse]

[Evan looks up, his eyes shining with tears, the words "KID APOCALYPSE" written across his forehead in red.]

I...I know. I couldn't help it. I...they won't wash off...no matter how hard I try.

[He holds up his hands, which are stained red with what looks like blood, same as Peter's.]

[spongetastic]

[at the moment blood is only on his fingers. Soon it's going to be everywhere. It's a gradual thing, building up with all the regrets he has about everything]

It's the castle, Evan. It'll go away in time.

[kid_apocalypse]

I just...I've been trying so hard to be better, to be everything Uncle Cluster thought I could be, but...I couldn't even save him.

[He lowers his knees so he's sitting cross-legged, revealing the scarab-like marking on his chest, and the Scarlet Letter A on his waist.]

It's...it's like the castle's saying that this's all I'll ever be.

[spongetastic]

It's wrong. Understand me? You are better than this. You're a good kid, Evan.

[even as he speaks a line starts to cut across Peter's forehead. Blood starts to slowly trickle down his face]

[kid_apocalypse]

[Evan closes his eyes, and takes a shuddering breath, trying to calm himself. The wind calms, and when he opens his eyes, the glow has left them.]

It's not fair. I'm not so naive as to think that we don't all have things we regret, but...why this?

[spongetastic]

I don't know. I-- [he pauses, as the blood has gotten down to his eyebrows and is now dripping into his eyes. He lifts a hand to wipe it off]

What the hell?

[kid_apocalypse]

[For the first time since all of this started, Evan stops sobbing, and looks up at Peter.]

Peter, are...you okay?

[spongetastic]

I... I don't know. I just started bleeding for no reason. I should heal if I get hurt... Something's wrong here.

[kid_apocalypse]

Maybe it's this...whatever it is, that the castle's doing. Throwing everything we regret back in our faces. I don't hardly bleed or get hurt either, 'cept that one time when I had to fight Archangel, but here I am, all of my shame bleeding out for the world to see.

[spongetastic]

Yeah... yeah. Maybe you're right. [he glances down at his hands, which are now bloody up to his wrists]

[kid_apocalypse]

[He sighs, thinking.]

Have I ever told you about what I'd been doing before I came here? I'd been...kidnapped, while I was on a field trip for school. It was this group calling themselves "The Brotherhood". They...were trying to push me, get me to use the full extent of my powers, to become Apocalypse.

[He takes a breath.]

They'd even captured my uncle Cluster, and my friend Wade. They did everything they could to try and make me mad. There was this man...I think they called him Skinlessman, who'd killed Uncle Cluster, and taunted me with his corpse, said he'd bring him back for me if I spared him. He crushed Uncle Cluster's heart right in front of me.

I...I came really close. I...I almost became Apocalypse that day. It's...something I regret to this day. That I wasn't strong enough to save him. It's...it's his blood on my hands, reminding me that I'm still not strong enough.

[He clenches a fist.]

I'm gonna do everything I can to get strong enough. To be worthy of his sacrifice. I don't know what's in your past that you regret, but I know that you've helped me, that you're here for me now. That's all that matters to me.

[Here, have an Evan giving you a hug right now, because he's pretty sure you need it.]

[spongetastic]

[even as Evan is speaking, the blood is spreading up Peter's arms. He lets Evan talk without interruption. Peter isn't sure he can be so open about his own regrets, but he really admires this kid for putting it all out there.

When he's hugged he hesitates; he doesn't want to get more blood on the kid. But his empathy is too strong to just do nothing, so eventually Peter does hug him]

[kid_apocalypse]

[Considering that Evan's own hands are stained with blood, and he's wearing the nickname he hates more than anything on his forehead, a little blood doesn't scare him.]

Thank you, Peter. I...feel a little better now. I...think I'm back in control.

[spongetastic]

You're welcome. Listen, maybe you should stay in the TARDIS or the Danger Room until this is over. Just to be safe.

[kid_apocalypse]

[Evan nods, totally getting where Peter's coming from.]

That...might not be a bad idea. I mean...just in case I...lose it again. I don't want anyone to get hurt. That's the one real bad thing about my powers, heh.

[spongetastic]

Mine too. I exploded once, you know. Literally.

[kid_apocalypse]

[Surprised look is surprised. You've been holding out on him, bro.]

Wow, really? Was it as...intense for you, as it felt for me? I've...only done this one other time, and...that was because someone insulted Kansas. Kinda stupid, looking back on it.

[spongetastic]

It was painful, like my body was being boiled from the inside... And then I was breaking apart. But it all happened within a few minutes.

[kid_apocalypse]

For me it just felt like...you know that feeling you get right before you sneeze? It was like that, but I was cold inside, too, like all the warmth had been sucked right out of me. Weird, isn't it?

[spongetastic]

Not that weird. It's different for everyone, I guess.

[kid_apocalypse]

One of my teachers back home, Doctor McCoy says that, since the structure of my body is so malleable, I don't feel pain the same way a lot of people do, because I unconsciously disperse it through my body. I guess it's like that when I use my powers, too. Any negative side-effects I might have get dispersed through the rest of me, so I don't feel it

[spongetastic]

Possibly. I don't feel pain as much anymore, either. It's a little disturbing.

[patching_up]

E... Evan?

[Hearing the despair in his voice deeply worries 5, and his voice is small and anxious. He reiterates his friend's name a second time after a moment, this time louder.]

Evan?!

[kid_apocalypse]

[Sorry 5, Evan's a little preoccupied to actively respond, though 5 might hear whispers of "I'm not...I'm not...I'm not..." repeated over and over, like a mantra. The paper of the journal might smell a bit singed, as Evan pretty much went nuclear when he shouted.]

[patching_up]

E-Evan, are you there? What's wrong?

[He waits for an answer for a few moments, only hearing the whispered, detached words spoken over and over again. He's quick to freak out, gripping the journal and nearly shouting into it with a voice that sounds tearful.]

Please, s-say something! Evan...!!

[kid_apocalypse]

I...the stains...this blood. It wasn't my fault.

I'm...I'm not a monster, an Apocalypse.

[Then he finally notices who's talking to him.]

Sorry, 5. I'm just...these stains. It's...hard. Hard to think.

[patching_up]

No, of course you're not! You're a good person, w-why would you ever think otherwise?

[He sounds as though he's calming down a little; his worst fears are quelled at the sound of Evan's voice speaking to him directly.]

Please, don't say things like that...

[kid_apocalypse]

[He takes a shuddering breath.]

You don't know...I...someone...my uncle Cluster...was...he was killed...right in front of me. I...I couldn't save him.

[patching_up]

[Oh.]

You--

[5 wants to tell Evan that it isn't his fault. Because it isn't. But the same kind of thing... has been haunting him, too. Letting someone die, someone he cared about, and not being able to stop it.]

--weren't the one to kill him, though. If you couldn't do anything, then...

[He's trying hard to keep calm and reassure him, but his voice is cracking terribly.]

[kid_apocalypse]

But...but I could have. I'm strong enough...I could have saved him. I should have saved him. I just...I don't want to hurt anyone.

[patching_up]

Evan...

[He sighs.]

That doesn't make it your fault. You wanted to help... you care. Y-you can't do anything now, anyway, so...

Please don't blame yourself.

[kid_apocalypse]

I know, I just...having these marks all over me...all they do is remind me of everything I've done wrong...all the things I regret in my life. All the things I'd change if I could.

[patching_up]

... it's not just you, you know. Everyone... regrets something. Even me.

[He goes quiet for a moment. Helping Evan pull himself together is difficult, when 5 is lost in his own sorrows.]

I-it'll be okay. They have to go away eventually...

[asseenontv]

Evan! Are you alright?

[Stupid question, 'Star]

[kid_apocalypse]

I'm not...I'm not him....

[The page in the journal might crackle and curl a bit, as the heat from Evan's out-of-control powers swirls around him. A few blood-tinged tears fall of the page, blotching it with the dull red that covers the various parts of Evan that it does.]

[asseenontv]

[Firmly-]
You are not. I have known you both, and you are not him, no more than I am any of my genetic predecessors.

[kid_apocalypse]

I just...the castle. It's like...it's saying this's all I'll ever be. That Fantomex's death meant nothing.

[asseenontv]

The castle tells us a lot of things. Not all of them are truths.

Is this too late

[wizard_redfive]

Evan?!

[Ah, crud, that wasn’t a good sound. Without much thought to her own stains, Dairine rushes off to find her mutant buddy. Please don’t have burned down the lobby again.]

Not at all. Still working on catching up, and these two need more CR anyway =3

[kid_apocalypse]

Dairine? I...I don't want anyone to see me. Not...not like this. I...I couldn't control it.

[He's sitting in the middle of his room, curled into a tight ball, the floor around him charred like he was at the epicenter of a nuclear blast, the air around him swirling uncontrollably, as his own psychokinetic potential leaks out of him unbidden.]

Oh good :)

[wizard_redfive]

[Alas, too late. Dairine has already worked her way up to his floor. Finding the room isn't too difficult with the door off its hinges. She steps into the doorway, assessing the damages, her own stains quite visible: a blood stain on her arm and a dark stain over her heart. Harder to spot were the dots of blood slowly forming one at a time on her back.

Realizing that the damage is superficial and no one was hurt, Dairine breathes easier.]

Don't worry about it, Evan. I don't mind.

[kid_apocalypse]

[He looks up at Dairine, the words on his forehead standing out in sharp relief against the gray of his skin, and it's fairly obvious that he's been crying, being reminded of so many painful things all at once.]

I just...I'm so...[He can't even find the words. Embarassed? Yes. Angry? Yes. Ashamed? Without a doubt. It was like the castle was taking everything Evan hated about himself, and sticking a neon sign to it for all the world to see.] I've...I've tried so hard to be more than this. More than the monster who's blood runs in my veins... [He sighs.]