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

[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.]

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[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?

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?

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

Peter, are...you okay?

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

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.

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

[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.]

[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]

[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.

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

[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.

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

[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.

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.

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?

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

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

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

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

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