Date: Saturday, 8th of September, 2004.
Time: 7:26 am.
Location: Bus Station.
"I'll miss you Colleen, I really will" Jim says as he hugs the Chinese girl.
"I'll miss you too buddy" says the eighteen year old Colleen. She's currently wearing a white shirt with a leather jacket on top and a pair of jeans. On her back is a backpack and beside her is a wheeled luggage box. Her sword is strapped horizontally at the back of her waist.
"Come visit me in New York anytime" Colleen says with a smile. The hug breaks and Jim's eyes are a bit watery.
"I promise to" Jim says with a sad tone. They fist bump and Colleen picks up her trunk and gets on the bus to New York.
He's proud of her following her dream of opening a martial arts studio in New York. She'll also be helping the camp in New Jersey. But he's also very sad that he's losing someone he sees as an elder sister.
'There goes another friend' Jim thinks to himself as he watches her climb into the bus and sit down. The door closes as she's the last to get on.
VROOOM.
The bus starts and begins to pull out from the parking lane. Colleen stands up to wave and Jim returns it with one of his own along with a big grin.
'Better for her not to see me sad' Jim adjusts the bag on his back and begins the short walk to FEAST.
On his way he passes by the alley where Karol and him first showed each other their powers. He sighs missing them very much.
'Feels like different times now. Everyday I was doing something mind blowing. Talking with AI's, playing fetch with a dinosaur, building a helmet that can view thoughts. It was all amazing'.
Jim waves at Tom, who is in his pharmacy through the window. The man waves back with a smile on his face. He walks a bit more and crosses the street to stand in front of FEAST.
"Morning John, Morning Blake" Jim says, both men raise their cups of coffee in recognition.
Jim walks in and immediately heads to the medical unit. The medical unit runs a skeleton crew on weekends with two nurses.
"Morning Mrs Ahmed" Jim greets the Middle Eastern woman in her forties.
"Morning Jim, how was your night?" She asks looking up from the newspaper she's reading.
"It was good ma'am, slept like a baby" Jim lies as usual about his nights. He just meditates through the night after studying a bit with the tablet the Runaways left for him. They also left a set of ear pods and a wristwatch.
"Great, you usually don't come here on Saturdays. Bored at Camp?".
"Yeah a bit. Anything for me to help with?".
"Well Martha's in the back taking stock of what we got left. You could help her with that" Mrs Ahmed says.
"Alright I'll join her".
Location: Camp.
Time: 3:27pm.
Jim steps out the bus that brings them back to camp. He immediately heads to the cafeteria as he's a big hungry.
"Jim! Jim!". Jim hears a voice and looks back to see Mr Bakuto walking while holding onto two large brown boxes stacked on each other in his arms. Jim immediately moves to help him. They then begin a walk towards the cafeteria.
"Good afternoon Sensei" Jim says taking a box. It isn't heavy, just a bit large.
"Thanks Jim. I thought I was going to drop it. There's a precious vase from home inside. I get a bit clumsy sometimes" Bakuto says with a smile.
"No problem Sensei. How has your day been?" Jim asks.
"You know the usual, sign a few papers. Make sure the camp is running properly. How bout yours?".
"It was good. After Colleen left I went to help at FEAST". Jim's demeanour changes and becomes a bit melancholic.
'It seems getting Colleen to move first was the best idea. Madame Gao found her that nice building that I bought that'll become her dojo' Bakuto thinks to himself.
'Best time to strike! Now as he's lost one of his emotional attachments, he'll be looking for another'. Bakuto to Jim now is the 'very very nice guy who runs the camp' and Bakuto is looking to change that.
"Great great. And Colleen how was she?" Bakuto asks, his tone a bit sad and filled with care.
"She was doing great. Very strong and brave. I'm happy for her" Jim says in a sad tone. Bakuto gives a sad sigh.
"It's okay to be sad Jim. You know I lost something as well today. Did Colleen tell you I can't have children?". Jim nods at this, remembering how Colleen told him Bakuto is not just a teacher but also a father figure in her life.
"I saw Colleen as a daughter of mine, seeing her leave is like watching my own child leave the house. She's now an adult and I'm proud of her". Jim nods and smiles.
"Yeah, she's a big sister to me as well. Taught me a lot too. Colleen's the best" Jim says just as they reach the doors to the cafeteria.
"That she is. You know I taught her a lot about martial arts. Interested in learning from me" Bakuto says giving Jim a grin.
'Colleen says Sensei is amazing. She even learnt some weapon arts from him. I'm sure I'll become a lot stronger if he trains me'. Jim turns to Bakuto, box in his hands to give his answer.
Date: Thursday, 14th of October, 2004.
Location: Astral Plane
"Nick we shouldn't have! Don't do this! You're a good guy!" In a gloomy world, a nude man and woman are chained to the wall in a cabin. The woman sobs continuously, her body shaking in fear.
A white man wearing a flannel shirt, jeans with rubber gloves and boots raises up a seven inch serrated knife.
'Nicholas Harper, Aged 47, sentenced to death four months ago' Jim thinks to himself as he looks from outside the window. He then looks at the knife in Nick's hand.
'The knife I found in Evidence. The prints on the knife won't hold in court, and apparently he cut them up so bad that the serrations weren't exclusive enough. He also cleaned the blade pretty well'. Jim watches as the man is about to begin torturing them. Usually he won't do anything in favor of training, this time however he plans to test himself.
Every sentient being leaves a small trace of psionic energy everywhere, but when psionic energy is excited, a psionic imprint is made upon an object of focus.
When Jim touches an object that has been imprinted on, he enters a mini world within the astral plane where he can view what caused such an imprint. He's been using these places as a training area for his psionic energy.
It's easier to control psionic energy here, as everything here is a construct of psionic energy and he's indirectly with the astral plane. Jim takes a deep breath as he prepares to attack.
'Okay if anything is going wrong just leave. You've practiced pulling out before. You can do this'. As Nick is about to begin the torture on his wife and best friend that earned him the death penalty, he's hit by an orb of purple energy that sends him flying.
BOOM.
The sound of the energy bomb Jim just threw is loud and realistic. Jim wondered how sounds are formed in the astral plane, but he guessed it's just his perception of it that's forming sounds.
Most of his theories about his psionic and psychometry powers are formed from the Xavier books and information from the Hayes he got. Xavier's books also taught on how to form a mind palace and mental defence. The man apparently wanted people to be better at protecting themselves from telepaths.
'He probably did it thinking it'll endear the humans to himself and mutant kind. Kinda dumb honestly. if I was a normal human, reading that book will scare me. To some it'll be helpful, others would be full of fear' Jim thinks to himself.
He could train in his mindscape now, but he prefers to train in these worlds. The feeling is different. His mental defences are also pretty good now.
'The finality's defence is beginning' Jim watches as two Nicks appear and walk towards him. The finality is a theory he's made after his experience with the first Jim and studying his powers.
Apart from weird things about this world like it's size is very small, mostly spanning the area where imprint happened and the colours are duller, another peculiarity is the fact that these mini worlds are eternally in a time loop. The time loop starts from the beginning of imprint to the end.
The end of the loop is called the finality. His psychometry makes him view the past of the object like a story but once he tries to change that story, the world defends itself and will do all it can to finish its story.
'The real question now is 'what was that tentacle thing?'. Is it possible that there are beings that live within the astral plane? The world of my mom's ring took it as more of a threat than me and it apparently sucked psionic energy from my body'.
The two Nicks charge at him and he kills both as easily as the first. He hears four sets of footsteps as the scene he was watching before replays itself.
"Nick we shouldn't have! Don't do this, You're a good guy!" The best friend shouts making Daniel roll his eyes.
He has become a bit desensitized towards death and torture. He stole eight items from evidence that day and projecting himself into their worlds would change anyone.
First, he tested what would happen if he does nothing. He noticed the time loop effect after the murder weapon was dropped or the imprinter, if the object was owned by the victim was killed.
After that he tried out his psionic energy and discovered the value of training here. Energy control is easier and he recharges quicker. The downside is the hearing of screams constantly as murderers killed and tortured.
'I'm going to have to kill someday, might as well have the stomach to do it' were his thoughts. Two of the murderers got the death penalty and reading on the capital punishment is what sealed his decision.
Four Nicks move towards Jim, he then allows them to hit him wondering what'll happen. He raises his left hand to block the first Nick who is raising his knife.
'A minor injury to my projection should be fine'.
CLANG!
The sound of the serrated knife hitting Jim's hand is loud. The knife doesn't even pierce. Jim's eyes widen in shock and he's still standing still as the second Nick moves to stab him.
CLANG!
The knives don't even pierce his clothes. Jim analyses the feeling of them trying to stab and cut him with his eyes shut.
'Kinda feels like when Gert is trying to bridge into my mind. It seems my mental defense also affects my projections kinda like an armor'.
Jim gets bored at watching the Nicks fail and he creates an energy blade on his right arm. He spins and slices all the Nicks down. Their bodies fall to the floor before they dissipate.
'So they dissipate into psionic energy huh' Jim watches as more Nicks appear. This time they are a bit different. Their eyes glow a dark red. Jim stretches out his hand again to test his defence.
CLANG!
'Feels stronger, but still not enough' Jim slashes through all the Nicks, the best friend and wife sobbing behind him. Jim then feels a change in the world he's in.
'Seems the world is absorbing more psionic energy from the astral plane in order to complete its ending'. Sixteen Nicks appear in the now very large cabin, their red eyes now a bit brighter.
'Let's see how far this goes till whatever that is arrives" Jim says kicking off the ground and flying towards the group.
Yes, that's right. Jim can fly but only in the astral plane. His body here is basically a psionic construct which he can manipulate to his will.
Thirty minutes later, Jim is standing in front of about a hundred Nicks. He's currently holding purple swords in both hands and his clothes having a purple sheen.
'It seems that they are denser now. More energy packed tightly together. Makes them harder to kill'. This is his eighth set of Nicks, now their eyes are bright red.
A few minutes ago, a Nick managed to injure Jim so Jim made the decision to up his defense. The mental shields are like force fields tight to his body. He poured more energy into it and the effect is the purple sheen he has now.
The swords in his hands are psionic constructs. Just right now they failed to fully cut through a Nick so he's about to up their strength.
'Increase and condense, increase and condense' Jim concentrates on adding more power to his swords. The swords seemingly expand and compress becoming a very dark purple.
'Suc-' Jim dodges as he feels a Nick's knife flash past his head. He raises the sword on his left and beheads the Nick before dodging backward to dodge another Nick.
'Guess these guys are in a hurry' He increases his speed and kills a few more Nicks when he feels something change. All the Nicks turn away from him and look westward. A crack appears and a monster comes through.
This time it's cone like but it still has tentacles. Though something happens that fully separates this moment from his previous experience.
Jim watches as the hundred Nicks pounce on the monster and rip it to pieces. His lips form a wry smile.
'Guess it wasn't strong enough. Are there stronger versions of that thing?'. Something happens that surprises Jim though. As the monster dies it releases psionic energy and the world absorbs it growing more powerful. All Nicks eyes turn to him, eyes a little bit brighter.
'As energy beings it does make sense that they feed on energy. Could I do that though?'. A Nick swipes at Jim a bit faster than before. Jim dodges left vanishing his swords, he grabs the Nick's arm and places the Nick in a choke hold. He closes his eyes to feel for something.
'Hmm, I can feel his psionic energy. It's foreign though, somehow similar to when I feel Gert's. The question is, can I manipulate it?' Jim reaches for that Nick's psionic energy and pulls.
'Brilliant. Easier than I expected, but still weird'. Jim looks at the red orb in his hand, the Nick he was holding now gone. A Nick jumps from behind and Jim steps right, dodging the hit as if he has eyes at the back of his head. He throws the ball in his hands at that Nick and watches it explode on its back.
'That isn't just reflex. Since I started fighting, I've begun to have moments where I can feel their attacks coming without seeing it with my two eyes' Jim begins to theorize while dodging more and more attacks getting a feel for it.
'That's it! This is nothing but a mental construct! I'm limiting myself by thinking with physical limitations! I should try to perceive everything as it is'. Jim floats your and closes his eyes focusing on feeling the world around him. At first he sees nothing but black then suddenly from him as the epicenter everything begins to change.
'360 degrees vision' Jim notices. His body to him is now blazing purple. Around him everything is in red, and there are dark red humanoids throwing red blades at him.
'Much Better. Time to try when I'm not in contact' Jim stretches out his right hand and tries to control the knives coming at him from below. Jim watches as the red knives stop mid air. He then sends them back towards the Nicks killing a few.
'Guess I've been looking at this all wrong. Controlling others psionic energy is within my power. It does feel a tad more straining though. What'll happen if I pull someone's psionic energy out of them?'. Jim shivers at the thought when he remembers its a form of life energy he's dealing with.
'Yup, better not try that. Thinking about it, I already do this psionic sensing thing in the real world though. Now if I focus and I'm within three metres of someone, I can sense their energy. I should try to have it on passively' Jim makes a few plans for his future training while dodging more knives.
'I've been here a while, time for the next test. What happens when I eject from this world when it's like this?' Jim immediately cancels his connection to the knife and disappears from that world.
He wakes up in his room, currently sitting in a lotus position on his bed. He looks at the long serrated knife in his hand. The red energy on it seems a bit brighter and denser than before.
'As I thought, the psionic energy surrounding the object is stronger. It seems the effect of the absorption is permanent' Jim stands and walks to his clothes drawer. He turns the drawer around to the back. The back now has a small opening which Jim is using to hide the small items he stole from the police station. Once he's done he turns the drawer again and pushes it to the wall completely.
11:36pm.
It was 11:34 when Jim entered the mini world. Time flows faster there for whatever reason and Jim prefers it that way. Jim sits back on his bed and gets back into position.
'Now let's try that perception thing. Let's call it mind's eye' Jim closes his eyes and tries what he did in the mini world. Similar to that place, from him he begins to feel. Though everywhere is a lot duller than before. There's barely any color.
As the circle expands, it reaches the locker and now Jim can 'see' red lights in the shape of the stolen evidence. Atop him he can see psionic energy in the form of humanoids.
'Must be the guys sleeping above me. The range also seems to be a lot smaller'.
Compared to his form which is currently bright with psionic energy, theirs is dull. Jim then stops focusing to keep the sight going. Sadly for him everything slowly turns dark.
'Seems it'll be hard making this a passive ability'.
Date: Saturday, 23rd of October, 2004.
Location: Woods outside Camp.
Time: 5:37pm.
GRRRRRR.
"Good boy" Jim says rubbing behind the ears of the red wolf laying on his lap. Sometimes he leaves the Camp to try more flashy moves of his, and on one of those occasions he met this wolf.
It was two weeks ago when he found it, now the wolf seems to be about four months old.
Flashback.
THUD.
The sound of seven pound metal weight landing onto the earth. Jim's been practicing his telekinesis. He practices lifting weights till he runs low on mana.
"Next is mind's eye training". He stretches a bit, feeling tired but he knows that'll fade soon. His body will replenish his chi and in a few minutes he'll have more mana again.
'Telekinesis is my most draining technique'. All mana techniques are very draining for Jim. Controlling mana is more taxing on his mind and body than controlling psionic energy. To perform his brand of telekinesis he has to touch the object and cover it with enough mana to move it.
'It's a poor technique honestly. Very flawed with the fact that it makes me use up my body's mana. I'm hoping I can fully learn to control my energy transformation soon'.
From reading the notes from the Hayes (Molly's parents), the brand of telekinesis they discovered is different. The people they tested on transform their psionic energy into psychokinetic energy unknowingly. This type of energy affects the physical.
Jim had always wondered if he could transform his psionic energy naturally into other forms of energy. The Hayes have studied mutants that do it, so does Victor with his technopathic ability. Even the helmet he created can do it.
When he tried to recently he succeeded, though with less control than he expected. Luckily, he was in the woods outside camp or it could've had a worse effect.
'It's just a thing of will and affinity I guess. As Leap told me, there are various mutant abilities. I theorize my ability as psionic energy manipulation, which is the control of basic raw psionic energy.
Through this I can control my mana which is the union of psionic and bio energy. If I will my psionic energy to become psychokinetic energy, I'll lose control of that energy. It's easier to blast it out than to do anything meaningful with it.
Though I'm sure if my mutant power was telekinesis, which would basically grant me psychokinetic energy to control, It would be way easier for me to control. This is probably the same reason why Gert is better than me at telepathy. The Hayes gave her their powers making her a mutate.
The Hayes who are both step-siblings activated their X-gene after various tests done by their mother on them. From the moment they got their powers they could read minds, send thoughts and astral project.
At first I thought I was a telepath after going through Xavier's books but after continued tests I discovered that I got raw power rather than skill set. A psionic energy manipulator in theory should be able to do everything a telepath can do.
In theory also, A telepath can also do everything a psionic energy manipulator can do, even telekinesis. After all telepathy also comes with the sub ability of controlling psionic energy.
Will I ever be able to be as good a telepath as the Hayes?
Probably not.
Will they ever have as much psionic energy at their disposal as I do? Probably not.
I won't give up on transformation though, there's boundless opportunities if I can gain control. Becoming pyrokinetic or photokinetic is entirely possible.
Psionic energy is energy of the mind, of thought, of imagination. It's easy to will my psionic energy to become another form of energy, the problem is controlling that energy. I know it is possible cause I managed to hold the psychokinetic energy I've created for about two seconds, same for the electrokinetic energy.
Well practice makes perfect'.
Jim sits on the mat he brings with him on these trips to the woods and closes his eyes to begin training his mind's eye. He concentrates and starts the ability. Instantly from him as the epicenter, coloured lights begin to spread. Jim focuses on the tree in front of him which has a very dull green glow.
'All life have psionic energy no matter how little'. Jim keeps feeling around him when something enters his twenty meter range of sight. Jim opens his eyes to see a red wolf staring at him.
'Most likely curious, has probably never met a human before. Sadly they are an endangered species'. He saw two at the zoo he went to with Colleen before, along with a few grey wolves.
Jim thinks a moment on what to do as the wolf stalks closer to his bag, probably interested in his lunch box.
He closes his eyes and decides to try communicating with it. He builds the connection first, creating a bridge between their minds. After that he begins to send feelings to the dog. Feelings of familiarity, friendship, happiness all reach the canine which stops its motion and look towards the boy sitting down on a thick mat.
{Come here} Jim mentally beckons the dog to him. The dog stays in its position but bends its head as if gauging Jim.
'Seems I can't override his will, we'll let's try another approach' Jim opens his eyes and slowly gets up. As he stops concentrating the bridge between their minds fall but it seems some effect remains.
The wolf takes a few steps back. Jim reaches into his bag and brings out his lunch box containing some white rice and a boiled egg. He removes the sauce placing it back in his bag and removes an apple from his bag adding it to the plate. He then moves forward slowly and places the plate close to the wolf.
The wolf now staring at the plate looks from the plate to Jim a few times. Jim takes a few steps back and returns from his mat to continue his training. As he does so the canine jumps on the food and wolfs it all down quickly. The wolf then moves closer and looks to him for more. Jim reaches his bag and pulls out another apple.
'A pet could be nice'
Flashback End.
"Jam I need to focus okay, we can play fetch after" Jim says trying to get the dog to stop licking his face. The wolf gives a sad whine and settles down on on Jim's lap. Jim just rolls his eyes.
"Fine, lets play".
Date: Wednesday, 4th of November, 2004.
Location: Camp.
Time: 7:48 pm.
Bakuto watches as Jim goes through the martial arts katas of Kun'Lun. All with a smile on his face. The happy smile on his face masks the truly evil thoughts going through his mind.
'Brilliant! This kid is brilliant! So talented in martial arts' Bakuto thinks to himself watching Jim finish the katas.
'Today is the day. I'll be connecting your body to soul soon Jim, and when I get tired of this body, yours will be next' Bakuto in his head gives an evil laugh as Jim walks up to him.
"How did I do Sensei" Jim asks with a grin.
"You did well Jim, it needs some more practice. You're done for the day, you may go" Bakuto says to the boy with a smile.
"Thanks Sensei, I'll work some more on it" Jim says. He turns away from the man when suddenly his hint ability screams at him to dodge a threat from behind. Jim follows the instinct and twists blocking the chop coming for his neck. Bakuto instantly flips his hands making Jim's follow his motion and stabs a syringe into Jim's chest.
Jim is stunned and looks at his chest with the needle sticking out of it. He then looks to Bakuto who now has a sneer on his face.
"Sen-sei" Jim breathes out as he takes a step back and falls on the floor, his body not responding to his wishes. He tries to crawl when he falls unconscious.
"Get him to the ritual" From the shadows in the room two ninjas step forward and lift Jim up. Together they carry him out of the room with Bakuto in tow.
'Im still impressed he managed to block my strike. What talent!'.
Chapter End.
A/N
Hello guys, I'm feeling a lot better now. This is the Hint chapter 9!!!!! From ten things begin to change for Jim once again and well I got plans for him.
So let's go through the chapter. Colleen leaves the base, it's always been her dream to own a dojo. So she's heading to start the Chikara dojo in New York.
Then we find out that she's left earlier than she would've due to Bakuto's machinations. He wanted to break them up, cause although I didn't feature Colleen much in this story, I believe I gave the idea that she's trained him and helped him out. Jim also talked about being close with her once or twice although he didn't feel safe telling anyone his secrets.
Then we see the psychometry part. Jim testing out his powers and learning more about psionic energy. After which is the scene with the wolf, I kinda plan for it to tag along tho, but who knows. I think it's good for him you know, he's lonely and he's got a pet and companion in Jam.
Anyway the flashback scene I wanted to explain a few things about Jim's powers. As I've said before, Jim isn't an omega level mutant. His psionic energy manipulation is actually Beta level. So don't expect him to just read minds and fuck with the world so easy, his powers are more focused on energy than skill.
Think Charles Xavier vs Psylocke, an alpha level telepath vs an alpha level psionic energy manipulator. Who would win in a telepathy battle? Obviously Charles, same if you put psylocke against Jean Grey in a telekinesis battle. Jean Grey is an alpha level telekinetic. Jean Grey will win.
Psylocke in the comics has also explained using her energy to perform psi skills and create constructs is harder for her than blasts. So the effect is more pronounced for Jim. Psylocke's blades are made from psychokinetic energy, something Jim can create but can't control. So Jim ordinarily won't be stronger than Psylocke.
But that's why I'm writing this right, things will change and Jim will see a lot of improvements due to various factors.
Sorry, chap isn't as long as usual but I decided to end it here.
Thanks for reading.