Yello Grace and other readers,
Here's more.
*At my home before the Nanite explosion*
“Mom, are we going skiing?” I asked excitedly. She sighs… and nods. “Yes! Who’s coming?” I asked, brimming with joy. “Julie, Mr. and Mrs. Holiday, Rex’s parents,..” she counted off. “REX,” I moaned. “Well, you do know he’s on the national ski team, and I know that deep-" she started. “If I even LIKE him, it’s WAY, WAY, WAY down so deep it’s in my TOES.” I moaned again. “Well, he’s going since his parents are going. And so is Julie, so maybe you’ll be able to fight the hatred.” my mom winked. I wish I had told her that I loved her and I didn’t want to go to the ski trip, even if it was on the craziest mountain in the history of black diamond trails. I’d stay home, I had homework, I’d ask her how it went afterwards and fake wish I had been there. But then what would have happened? Would I still have to join Providence?
I still wonder that to this very day (unless I’m dead) because I wish my mom was alive.
She’s dead as a doornail.
*At Mount Awesome*
“You ready to start crying, Rex?” I chuckle. “I think I can beat YOU after I beat someone from Colorado, home OF the most AMAZING skiers you’ve ever seen, for crying out loud. Speaking of crying, do you want a tissue now, or EXACTLY when I beat you?” snickered Rex. He did firepower until I smacked him over the head.
{I’m innocent, I swear. His head was ballooning to twice its normal size… =)} “Save your tissue for yourself, Rex. Yakami beat the daughter of two very good athletes that use Motoyama products more times than they tell the press that you just have to practice hard, and that’s the base of their success story. Also known as me,” Julie laughed. “Yeah, Rex, stick your tissue up your nose,” I commented. Julie giggled, despite her being older than the both of us (aka for brave stereotypical blonde people that she’s not too awfully mature when it comes to teasing people). “Where’s you’re older brother? He’s fun to race.” I asked. Instantly I knew I touched an accidental nerve, because Rex froze as if Dr. Freeze had gone around with his ray guns. “Just… away. Again. It’s freezing out. Want to get some hot cocoa?”He offered. “I guess. Boy, it is cold. You sure you don’t want any, Julie?” I smiled, choosing to betray my slim body. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure. I’m going to get faster so that I can beat you. Come back quick, and don’t keep Rex too long- he’s my first goal.” Julie grinned. Rex theatrically improved his mild outrage into a growling one (Shhh… don’t tell him, but his acting is downright wah-wah-wahed). I laughed rustily: with my friends, I didn’t have to laugh like a bell like I did with celebrity skiers. Rex and I jumped off the ski lift, and raced to the bottom. Of course, I won. But that was my last skiing victory. Except against myself.
Now, I spend hours skiing in the snow climate. Julie or Six come and try to sit down with me. I just ski. It jogs my memory. It makes me feel so much better. But only as better as I can get, because, face it, if you’re a mutant freak that the media just wants to get one little bitty picture of so they can taint your reputation forever, and your dad is your worst enemy without all of the good parts, you can only get better. That’s rock bottom, right there. Boom.
When I was little, Mom and Dad trained me. I greeted new customers and made them want to stay because of the feel-good family atmosphere. They bought lots of skiing equipment.
Then, when the company got bigger, Mom and Dad picked me as their mascot. It empathized the fact that they were once a mom and pop shop, believe it or not, and I could show off the skis much better than a mountain ram costumed man could(that was my dad’s idea).
So Mom and Dad made me pretty. My figure was perfect, and mushrooms were the best thing to eat with a tall glass of water. But I was skinny enough to be like a model, yet plump enough or body not to be on survival mode, at least not most of the time.
Rex helped me up the steps as I kept thinking, even though I had known how to walk in ski boots since I was four.
All the girls envied me, and all the boys kept staring. I was a very shy person what feels like a lifetime ago, and I didn’t appreciate what I saw as negative attention. I wished they would just stop staring.
Now, they still stare. Just for a different reason- I’m a freak, and everyone thinks freaks are hideous, ugly, inhumane, insane creatures that were alienated by society and Mother Nature. They think that freaks like Rex and me should be in an asylum. I’m pretty, though. Skinny, luscious purple hair, and a kind face. I defy what parents tell their children, “ Be careful that the hideous witch doesn’t get you!..The bogey man is a freak of nature that preys on little children…” And on and on and on.
Rex and I near the hot chocolate machine and toppings. I look up, because I swear I heard an arm rustle against the air vent. A crystal drops to the ground, but it appears I’m the only on that hears it. Rex is still somewhat supporting me, and the people in line haven’t stopped murmuring about ski gossip. Did you hear that the youngest National skier doesn’t have a girlfriend yet? Oh, yeah, he’s standing right next to me. (Rex, shut up.)
I get a little fancy with the toppings, since this’ll be my first bad hot chocolate. I think about how badly my parents will lecture me, what they’ll do if they found out. They never did.
Rex guides me to the cozy couple’s section o the room. “Wait here. I’m going to go show Julie who’s the top dog around here,” he smiles. “Technically, that would be me,” I point out.
He leaves. I’m left alone. Thank goodness they don’t sell or permit alcohol on the skiing grounds or in the lodge, or I’d start to get nervous.
I take a sip of the hot chocolate and feel dizzy. Off-balance. Whatever.
So to strengthen myself, I look out the window and see a streak of blue. Then it’s gone. And suddenly, I get this immense pain in my head. I try to sit down, but not long after I start, I collapse and whack my hot chocolate everywhere. The last thing I remember is this noise, this tremendous noise, as if a sandstorm just passed over.
*At Providence*
I wake up, and the first thing that crosses my mind is, Am I dead? Then I pinch my arm, and it most definitely hurts. I look to my left and there’s nothing. Then I look to my right. And I see Julie.
Let me tell you something right now. I thought I was DEAD, let alone in a glass box like an interesting specimen of bug. Being recorded. Would you have stood there, feeling the walls with your hands, just sitting there, before freaking out, ‘cause you were in a deeper sleep than Sleeping Beauty on sleeping steroids? I think not.
So I flipped. Seriously. “Julie!” I called, “Julie!” Julie turned to Rex’s brother, who she called “Six”. “Julie! Julie, where’s Rex?” I tried desperately. She ignored me. That’s when I went from flipping out to destruction mode. “JULIE!” I screeched. Then I used my fists to try and destroy the shatter-proof glass. Julie turned to me, surprised. Then she pushed a shiny greenish button.
Rex appeared….but with a monkey. “So your traveling partner’s a monkey now? Big improvement from the last one,” I joked. “Yeah…. Do I know you?” he began absentmindedly. “Yakami? Skiing rival? We HATED each other? My parents-They-" I started. “Do you know anything about my parents? Tell me. NOW!” growled Rex. “LET… GO… OF… MY… NECK!!!!!!”I exploded. I kicked his gut really hard, and that loosened him off of my neck. I dodged an amateur punch and gave him one to the jaw that probably at the least knocked a tooth loose. Then I pinned HIM down.
“Listen and LISTEN GOOD! I DON’T know your parents’ names, but I do know your brother’s name! It’s Daniel, and the man you call Six is your brother. Now, tell me what I want to know, or you’re toast, layered with jam and Monkey right here! Where are my parents, what happened to Julie’s little sister, what happened to MY parents, where am I, AND WHAT THE HECK WAS I DOING BEFORE NOW?!? ANSWER ME BEFORE I RIP EVERY PART OF YOU TO ATOMS, AND DON’T SNIVEL ONCE!” I roared. “Leggo or I’ll make you flat as a pancake, girly!” struggled Rex. “You aren’t exactly in the spot to call the shots, BOYO, and being a comedian ain’t gonna help!” I screamed at him. Julie said quietly, “But maybe I can.” I whirled around. “Finally decided to talk to me, have you, Julie? Or did you just come to temporarily torture me?” I snarled.
“Yakami, just shut up. You’ve been in a coma for a week. We tried to wake you up. After Rex came out to ski, there was a Nanite explosion. Some Nanites mutate people and they have no control over their own bodies. Some Nanites are unactivated in other people, like Six. Some specific Nanites allow people to control the Nanites, like you and Rex, but only if that person has undergone testing. Remember that club you were in? High school? 9th grade, and you tried to persuade the rest of your friends to go, but everyone was busy, because they had sports, or they had separate choir? Yeah, while you thought you were learning survival skills, you were getting Nanites inserted. They saw special potential in you. It would be handy for their leader’s cause to have a well-known freak of nature. The rest were taught survival skills. Rex had undergone testing because his mother wanted him to live in the “new” world. My sister is an uncurable Evo, which is what we call people who have active Nanites, but can’t be cured by people like you or Rex. She’s in the holding chambers in the specimen environment. Anyways, next question. Your parents- one of them died. One of them turned into Providence’s main enemy. We’ll have the funeral, but we didn’t recover the body, so we can’t tell you who died. Only if you wish to have the funeral, though. It was your mom or dad,” Julie stopped for an answer. “Yes…funeral…for my parent… That sounds right,” I whispered quietly. Julie nodded. “My name isn’t Julie, at least not to you and Rex. I got my doctorate during the week you were unconscious,” she informed me, and she glared at Rex, daring him to call her by her first name, Julie. “Yes, ma’am,” I saluted her, pulling my arms off of Rex, leaving him free to, well, leave. Instead, he pulled himself up and loitered. “You do know the door’s right there, right?” I asked him, irked. “Yeah. By the way, that was a lucky pin. I wasn’t on guard, because I’m not used to my enemies being conversational before pinning me down,” Rex made an excuse for being a weenie. [Rex, shut up. You were SO a weenie.] Sorry. Back to the story. “Are you ready now?” I asked. “Yes…..” he stretched out the word.
I pinned him down as hard as I could. “Not so lucky now, huh?” I snickered. After I got off of him, HE tried to be conversational. “So, as you already know, I’m Rex…” he prompted. “I’m leaving,” I snarled. “Did I have a girlfriend?” he asked. “No,” I snorted.
“Was I a ladies’ man?”
Did I care? “No.”
“Did the ladies love me?”
“No.”
“Did Dr. White love me?”
“No.”
“Did I play football?”
“No.”
“Did I play rugby?”
“No.”
“Did I play soccer?”
“No.”
“Hockey?”
“No.”
“Chess?”
“No.”
“Swim?”
“No.”
“Ski?”
“Yes.”
“Did you love me?”
Silence on my side.
“Wellllllllllll?”
He knew he had touched a nerve.
“Why would I tell you?”
“Cuz… you LOOVE me?”
He thought it was a game.
“You are an insensitive, meddling, useless boy for anything but defeating Providence’s number one enemy. For Pete’s sake, get your act together and do something other than peruse your past! Help your future! Be productive! Do some honest WORK for once in your life!”
A pause. And then he spoke again.
“You didn’t love me then?”
“Go… do ….. work…..NOW.”
He walked away smiling. “There’s a brief meeting in 5 minutes… not that they’re ever interesting in the SLIGHTEST,” he threw over his shoulder. I touched his forehead, and concentrated. “Okay then. I’m taking the fastest way there. “See you later… Late One,” I cackled. I ran past him to the briefing room, with his mouth dropping lower than I thought it could. Say it with me: Yakami…. Is… GOOD.
Anyways…
So, because I’m so QUIET, I snuck into the briefing room and tapped the general on the shoulder. “What d’you – Oh, you’re the new kid. 4 minutes early, I see,” he commented. “I would have been here earlier, but I only learned about the brief meeting a minute ago, sir,” I saluted and reported. The general smiled. “Respect for seniority, respect for higher rank, early, and polite. I think I’m gonna like you, kid,” he counted off. I blushed, “Thank you for your approval, sir. I’m honored.” The general turned around and started to set up the brief… thing.
*Where are Six and Dr. Holiday?* I wondered to myself. “Um, sir? Permission to speak?” I asked. “Permission granted,” the general waved his hand around as if it wasn’t a huge deal. “Where is everyone?” I questioned. “Oh, ah, since Rex never comes on time and always late, we come on time.
Yeah, that's really everything I got up to now.
Flying up and away,
Lilac
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