Welcome to Gaia! ::

Blade smiled once more.
"It's nice to meet you too, Rogue." The young woman greeted her as she had been taught once she knew the name of someone. "I don't see why not." Blade agreed when Rogue asked her if she could join.

David pulled into the parking lot and found out where his friends were, and he also devised a plan, revving his engine, he sped down the lane until he saw what he was looking for, there were a bunch of open parking spaces next to there car. Once he was close enough, he hit the brake and the e-brake, while turning hard at the same time, the result was his car doing a complete fishtail and ending up perfectly in the space right next to Victoria and the others. He then got out of his car and walked up to them, "hey guys." He was so nonchalant about it, you would never have figured he just did a complicate stunt maneuver perfectly if you didn't see it for yourself.

"I was outside the manison by chance when my powers started to act up again. I had just gotten to Bayville and was exploring." Blade smiled as she shrugged. "Guess you could say I got a little lost." She laughed at herself before continuing. "Anyways, that's when a girl named Sara came out and I went in to meet Professor Xavier." Blade looked over at Ellen. "Ellen just got here this morning."

{Joint Post between me and Onion! Just to push the plot along! The fun starts shortly!}

"Eh?" Morgan said, noticing that his pocket had begun vibrating. "Who could-?" he wondered, removing the cell phone from his pocket, and checking the caller ID. Hm. It's McCoy. Must have finished that analysis, he thought to himself. "I'll be right back guys," he said, striding off and making sure he was out of earshot. Only then did he flip open the phone and speak into the receiver.

"What'd you find out?" Morgan asked, keeping his voice low. He was curious, but didn't want the others to find out about any of this.

"This is absolutely remarkable. That black ooze actually is a living being. I've never seen anything quite like it, but it exhibits the qualities of a symbiont," McCoy replied.

"And that means...?"

"It means that it requires a host to survive for long periods of time. Wherever you found this thing, it probably wouldn't have survived much longer. Unlike a parasite, however, a symbiont does not harm the host, and often both parties benefit from this union. However, I've must urge you to get rid of it, at least until I have more time to study it's effects," McCoy answered.

"What?! No way! You said it yourself, "a symbiont does not harm the host." And then you said that the host and the symbiont both benefit! Why the hell should I get rid of this thing? It hasn't harmed me in any way! In fact, I feel better than I've ever been!" Morgan replied, his tone changing from curiosity to an angry whisper.

"Morgan, the one thing I did notice about this organism is that it forms a nigh-inseparable bond with it's host. And it forms this bond aggressively. In the sample I tested, it fused itself completely to the cellular structure of the tissue samples I introduced it to in a matter of minutes! I don't know how long it would take for a full sized human, but I urge you to remove it before it can permanently bond itself to you!" McCoy urged, explaining his discovery to Morgan.

"And why is that a bad thing? Nothing you've told me so far has shown me that it's anything bad! From what you've told me, a symbiotic relationship with something is a very good thing! Give me one good reason to get rid of it!"

"Morgan, I haven't had time to study the full effects, but just from these results, it seems to pass on some of those aggressive traits to the host! If it completely bonds with you, there's no telling what might happen! I'm just saying this for your own goo-"

"No, you're saying this because you think that anything you don't understand is automatically dangerous," Morgan said, cutting him off. "Full effects? I've had this thing attached to me for two days. If there were any full effects, I probably would've noticed them. So far, the only thing I've noticed is that I'm feeling incredible, and that I never have to do laundry again," he added, angrily.

"Oh my, it's already started to affect you, hasn't it? You've never been this hostile before."

"You're right. I've never been this hostile because you've never told me to give up the best thing that's ever happened to me. But you know what? I'm not going to listen to any more of this," Morgan said, and promptly shut the phone.



Although it was completely by chance, Victoria was lucky enough to be standing just to one side of Morgan when his cell-phone went off as he flipped it out to check the caller ID. Curiosity just so happened to get the better of her as well, meaning she could barely restrain herself from peaking discreetly over his shoulder to take a look for herself. McCoy, it said, and her dark eyebrows instantly rose to reflect her interest. She could only assume he was calling Morgan in regards to the black thing she had sweet-talked him into having the Doc examine. And...as Morgan politely excused himself from their group to take this call in a slightly more secluded area, she was sure of it. It was also at this moment in time she knew she just had to listen in for herself.

"Why don't you head along," said Victoria quickly to Sara, once Morgan had made his retreat. "There's an old friend I want to chat with for a second. I'll meet up with you in a bit. Kay?"

Waving off the blond with a timeless smile, Victoria let herself fade into the crowd a few paces before making a bee-line to where Morgan had disappeared off to. Since amping up his hushed conversation was just a little too risky in this conversation, she had to settle for the old fashioned 'snoop' approach. Leaning comfortably against a wall within a five-foot radius of where Morgan stood, the female closed her eyes so that she could better concentrate on the task, or rather, conversation, at hand.

It was perfect. Sara could not see her, and neither could Morgan, yet she was able to hear his rather serious toned cell-phone conversation with Dr. McCoy as clear as if she was standing close beside either one of them.


As he slipped the phone back into his pocket, Morgan let out an angry sigh. This "symbiont" hasn't hurt me, or anyone else for that matter. It hasn't seemed to really do anything other than be clothing. So, what the hell reason does he have for me to get rid of it?! All he did was give me more reasons to keep it! he thought to himself, trying to rationalize his earlier actions. If someone asked him to, say, give up his laboratory, he'd probably get defensive too. So why should he be surprised that I got angry at him?

He raised a hand to his temple, obviously frustrated with the whole situation. He turned to rejoin the group, but he had taken barely three steps when he noticed Victoria leaning rather nonchalantly against a nearby wall. From where she was standing, he could already figure that something was up. "Were you eavesdropping on me?!" he said accusingly.


"Yes," admitted Victoria, without a moment's hesitation as Morgan hastily finished up his conversation and rounded the corner. "Yes, I was."

Since she went through great pains to hide herself, Victoria had expected Morgan to catch her mid-eavesdrop like this, but to be completely honest, she had hoped that he would. After listening in on the whole of Morgan and Dr. McCoy's conversation, she felt the need to step in and talk to him, at the very least, before he went and did something incredibly stupid.

"I think Dr. McCoy is right," she stated firmly, but in a private tone as she stepped away from the wall and approached Morgan. "I think you should get rid of that, that thing and fast."


"Oh, you do, huh? Can you give me one good reason why? Or are you just going to be parroting what McCoy said, since you were listening ever-so-intently," he said, obviously angry that she'd eavesdropped on him like that, and still smoldering from his conversation with McCoy.


"No!" snapped Victoria, matching the anger and frustration in Morgan's voice almost instantly as she rounded on him. Her voice was still hushed for the most part, but some people were starting to notice. Most continued to walk by and pay them no mind, others lingered at a distance to see how this soap-opera would unfold.

"I am not. Parroting. Anyone!," she continued. "I am simply a human being, who, surprisingly enough, cares about your well-being. But seriously, you need a reason? Huh? Fine, I'll give you a reason."

"Do you remember where we happened to be when we found that thing? A military base, no? Do you know the kind of things the military does and what kind of tests they do and especially to and for people like you and me? That thing could be killing you as we speak and you wouldn't even know it."

"Thanks for the concern, but come on. That's a bit of a stretch, isn't it? Not even McCoy was worried about it killing me, and he's the one with the lab and testing equipment," Morgan shot back, struggling to keep his voice hushed. From his point of view, it seemed that the one person with the most insight into what this thing did was Morgan himself. He was the one wearing it, he was the one who got tossed into the stuff back at that military base, not Victoria, not McCoy, not anybody other than him.

"If it was killing me, don't you think it'd have done a bit more damage than turn into a fresh pair of clothing? I'm just saying, but things that kill you are usually a bit more conspicuous than that. You know, because killing you isn't exactly subtle," he added, feeling his temper rise another notch. He was getting close to the breaking point, and he could feel that rather clearly.

"You know what? I'm ending this conversation, before I my patience snaps and I do something rash," Morgan said, taking a deep breath, and turning to walk away before things could get worse. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this angry, and he hated it. It made him feel like he was barely in control of his actions.


Looking directly into Morgan's eyes the entire time, at his last rebuttal, Victoria finally crossed the line between being concerned to down-right frustrated. The situation was even worse then she had anticipated. Just a few minutes ago, she would have guessed Morgan would have been reluctant or possibly stubborn to hear what she or McCoy had to say but, no...he had just crossed the line into flat-out denial.

"Oh, wake up Morgan!" she growled, rolling her eyes as she went to block his path with the whole of her petite frame. As far as she was concerned, if he was not going to hear her out, then she would just make him hear her out.

"Are you even listening to what you're saying?! Of course McCoy is worried about this thing possibly killing you. Why else would he recommend that you ditch the suit until he can give it his complete okay?!"


"I've been patient until this point, but my patience has reached its end. I already said that this conversation is over. Now get out of my way before I really lose my temper," Morgan replied, his voice terrifyingly calm. The calm before a storm. Without another word, he stepped around her, and attempted to continue on his way.

"This conversation is not over, not until you hear me out! Morgan? Morgan!!" Victoria shouted at him, grabbing his right arm as he brushed past her.

Morgan's eyes narrowed as he felt the small hand gripping his arm. "I said, Stay out of my way!" he growled, spinning on his heel, and shoving the right arm into Victoria's petite frame. A combination of rage and frustration caused him to put more force than he intended into the blow, and it sent Victoria sprawling to the floor.

She landed hard on her behind,and sat there stunned for a few seconds. During that time, she just stared at Morgan, a complex mixture of emotions registering in her gaze, a few standing out from the rest: Anger, surprise, and betrayal.

Morgan looked back at her with a shocked gaze of his own, one of anger, confusion, realization at what he'd done visible in his face. With an almost apologetic look, he turned on his heel and put as much distance between that spot and himself as he could, leaving Victoria to stare at his back as she got to her feet and brushed herself off, a hurt expression on her face.

"Stubborn. b*****d," Victoria spat under her breath, after recovering from the shock of what had just happened and scrambling to her feet. Carefully dusting any debris off her rear, she stared, or rather glared at Morgan's retreating figure just as Sara came back into the picture. Apparently, the blond had only seen part of the scene, the last part which involved her being shoved to the ground by someone she had thought was her friend. Huffing away the urge to cuss uncontrolably, Victoria settled for simply nodding her head to say that she was alright.

"I guess," she muttered, with a light shrug. "As for what happened...I'll tell you in a bit. We've got to get out of here first."

Immediantly grabbing Sara's arm, the shorter of the two girls turned on her heel and quickly lead Sara away from where they were currently standing and back toward the car. Her and Morgan's rather heated arguement had started to gather a decent crowd, and after the last bit of it, well, that crowd had almost doubled in size. Not wanting to be questioned concerning this by anyone save for Sara, she made her exit and the crowd muttered curiously among themselves for a few moments after.

One of the members of this crowd that found this scene to be especially entertaining, was a tall, rail-thin, blond at the very back of the group. Although she was 100% sure that they had no picked up on it, she had been following this particular collection of mutant teens ever since they left the X-Mansion earlier that day. The male, Morgan Onasi, was of particular interest to her, especially since his run in with this symbiot, and she had simply been waiting for the best moment to approach him.

And this is most certaintly is!, she thought to herself, and quickly stepped away from the group and in the direction of the exit. She would give the boy some time to steam into a state of complete vulnerability, which would make her task that much easier. In the meantime, she needed to get home and inform her team, the Brotherhood of Mutants that it was time to suit up and head out. If all went well with Morgan, she had a job for all of them, and wasting precous time was just not her style...

Rogue nodded at everyone's responses, as she finished her breakfast. "Don't worry too much about the shenanigans, as you call them. They actually don't happen as often as you'd think. It's usually, school and homework, and trainin', with the occasional mission thrown in. Things have been a bit crazy lately. Hopefully, they'll settle down and we'll get to have ourselves a nice, relatively normal summer break." She'd said relatively normal, because it's never quite "normal" when you're living with a house full of mutants, but sometimes it could get close.

******

When no one really answered her question about the movies, Laura sighed and stood against the wall. She waited to see what everyone would do. Maybe Mystique would return early and she could get on with this new mission. The quicker it was done, the quicker she could get back to her hunting.

Rogue gave the girl a small smile. "Don't worry. You have all summer to learn how to get them under control."

Rogue sighed happily at the thought of the whole summer ahead of her. No teachers, or homework, or idiots like Lance bothering her. It was gonna be nice.