Opposites are Opposites (John/Sean)

[therealmyth]

Johnny was walking around the grounds, not looking for anything specifically. His boredom was overtaking him and he needed something to do. Most of his friends had graduated at this point; he was pretty much alone. He was ample friendly enough. He made plenty of friends, easy. But for some reason, he had been in a slump. His mood turned potential friends away. He sighed, he couldn't always be happy.

[se]

As much as he hated to admit it, Seán preferred his previous boarding school. It was much larger and had far more students, but at least he didn't feel like he was penned up to keep from escaping. He knew he could walk out the doors and head to town at any moment, but that wasn't the point. He was stuck in this crappy little school until--until what, he graduated? He was a prisoner.

All because of these damn mutant powers which really weren't powers.

Shuffling through the grounds, Seán threw his bag onto the grass near a bed of flowers. It was only a matter of time until he had to step through those doors to find out what lie ahead for him in the school. School for blasted mutants. Prison for mutants. The ground was well done, however, with sprawling gardens to compliment the old multi-story house-like building that was the school. At least there would be plenty of room to get away from the others since the school itself didn't look too big. Seán lowered himself down on a concrete bench near a stone angel. He shifted onto his back, his feet on the bench, and began to pull at a nearby bush. Plucking at the flowers, he threw them to the ground once he had removed their petals from the bushes. When this grew boring, he sat up again, ran a hand through his black and white hair, and looked around the gardens.

Okay, this was going to get boring fast.

He turned his attention to the stone angel. It had its eyes turned across a small bed of flowers. Seán lifted himself to his feet and meandered over. He observed the smooth stone face with the small whethered pockets across its concrete skin. Huh. Ugly little bastard. Seán fished around in his pockets. His fingers brushed against his lighter, but he pulled out a black sharpie and uncapped it. For a moment, he stood before his stone canvas and pondered the situation before touching the tip of the pen against the eye. Carefully he drew a small dot on the center of each eye. He snickered.

He raised the pen from the dilated eyes towards the forehead where he drew a round hole in between the stone brows.

"Should teach you not to do drugs," he muttered lowly so that only he and the angel could hear it.

Seán leaned back to admire his masterpiece before pressing the black marker against the bullet hole and coloring the circle larger.

[therealmyth]

Johnny noticed Seån and raised his right eyebrow. Who was this random individual. His appearance was rather, peculiar. Johnny decided to go ahead and talk to the individual. He walked up to him and asked, "What was the point of that?" Johnny was, in all honesty, being genuine. He wondered what had provoked this individual to do something so random.

[se]

Seán wondered how big he could make the entry wound before it was clear that the head would have exploded rather than leaving a circular hole should a bullet have hit the specific stone individual in front of him. But his ponderings were interrupted when he heard someone's voice behind him. Seán ignored it for a moment as he put the finishing touches on the quarter-sized circle in the center of the statue's forehead.

"The point of what?" he asked innocently as he turned around to find someone around the same age as him standing there. Great, another student. Exactly what Seán wanted to see as he waited to go into the school. He gave the most naive expression he could muster through the rings of eyeliner around his eyes as he stared at the dumb-looking kid in front of him.

[therealmyth]

Johnny sighed. He could tell that this guy wasn't dumb and was aware of what he had been doing, "Being stupid doesn't get my question answered. If you don't want to answer it then don't. Don't waste my time." Johnny was not in a very good mood and was itching to punch this kid. He had enough control to restrain himself. Still, Johnny's eyes were now a mix of a crystalline Ice blue and a piercing gray. Johhny's right fist was clenched, ready to go.

[se]

Seán rolled his eyes. Waste that guy's time? Who was the idiot who decided to come over and strike up a conversation? Seán certainly did not want to sit here and engange in idle chat; perhaps this guy would also like some tea and crumpets to go along with his small talk.

Twising the pen around in his hand, Seán said, "If you don't want to hear my response, then don't ask the question. Dumbass." He turned back to the statue and began to draw a mustache across its upper lip.

[therealmyth]

Johnny smiled, letting his emotions take control. His eyes sparked a pure crystalline Ice blue as his hair became more yellow and spiked up. "Dumbass," asked Johnny as if he didn't know who the individual was referring too. He pointed his hand out at the Statue as a lightning bolt was released, destroying the statue, "I'm gonna kick the crap out of you, idiot." Johnny's body was giving off sparks as his anger intensified. This was going to be fun if anything. "You messed with the wrong dumbass today."

[se]

What the hell? Seán's surprise was uncontainable as he watched the guy transform, zap a statue, and threaten his wellbeing. And what had Seán done?! So is that what this school was like.

The deer-in-the-headlights look disappeared as Seán narrowed his eyes at the idiot. Yeah, that wasn't going to happen, not if Seán could help it. He bit the inside of his cheek and glared at the guy.

"Seriously? Are you all so stupid here that you throw around your powers like that?" he asked. Nothing to defend himself except for a sharpie and a knack for waking the dead at the wrong moment. Awesome. Where was school security when you needed it?

[therealmyth]

Johnny noticed the guy's reaction and suddenly burst out in laughter as he returned to normal, "I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself. It was just too easy. I'm guessing you're not very good people. The name's John Gallagher, by the way. Most people call me Johnny, code name: Volt. I'm sure you've guessed why I'm called Volt." Johnny's smile was wide as he couldn't help but laugh. He had genuinely lost control but the look on the guy's face had brought him back, "You're free to insult me, but realize I'll kick the crap out of you for it. Now you have two options. You can tell me your name and suck up your lousy attitude, or you can keep moping around. Your choice."

[se]

Seán blinked. Well . . . he hadn't really been expecting that. He was used to attending school with bipolar students (they seemed to comprise the majority of the teenage population), but here things were taken to an exteme. "Bipolar" meant "homicidal maniac" . . . and the method of execution varied. Hell, he'd probably be safer in a nuthouse.

"Piss off," he growled. He twirled the pen in his fingers and turned away, bound and determined to find another statue for the sole reason of defacing it for spite. Slouching away, he crossed a small pebbled area with a fountain in the center and found another statue that looked identical to the one he had seen before. He uncapped the pen and began to walk over.

[therealmyth]

Johnny smiled and yelled, "I'm sorry. Did I scare you? You're new aren't you? You come in here as if you're better? As if you're less of a freak than we are? Is that how you feel? Stop complaining and suck it up. We've all had something that brought us here. Most of us came so we wouldn't end up killing those around us. If you're going to complain and mope around as if you're better than everyone else, well than you're going to have some problems.," Johnny shrugged and turned around, "Have fun running away Emo boy."

[se]

Seán knew that it would be easier to keep moving towards the statue, but he was a man of opportunity. And the opportunity to shove someone's face in the dirt was not something he passed up with great ease. He had heard insults slung at him over the years since he became, as his mother would say, "this way," and he had grown jaded to the name calling. A continuation of the conversation, therefore, was not to protect his "name" (which he really didn't have anyway), but to see how far he could dig the needle before this bastard would bleed.

Thus, he came to a stop and looked over his shoulder.

"No, you see your error," he said calmly. He kept his eyes on the strange guy with the lightning powers. "Is not that I think I'm better than you, but I know I'm better than you."

For reasons Seán could not form, this guy was more than a mere irritation. It was . . . well, he couldn't quite put into words what his brain was feeling right now as he glanced towards the shattered remains of the statue.

Go ahead. Play with the electricity.

[therealmyth]

Johnny had started walking back but stopped when he heard those words. A smile came onto his face as his eyes lit up. "Weren't you ever warned not to play with electricity? You can die you now..." Johnny kicked off the ground and released a lightning bolt from his feet, propelling him forward at an incredible speed. He was right beside the strange guy. "You're not scared to die, are you? What's your power then?" Johnny repeated his kick off and dashed across the side, "If you're better than me, prove it. Or are you just talk? Wait...are you scared? Are you scared of a little electricity?" Johnny dashed so that he was right in front of the kid, face to face, "What are you scared of?"

[se]

One lightning bolt Seán could do with. He could pretend he didn't see it, pretend it didn't exist. But the way he kicked around lightning and propelled himself . . . that static buzz in the air . . . the flashes of light. . . .

Seán felt sick. His throat tingled in the tell-tale sign that he was going to vomit, and the vomit burned the back of his throat. No, he had to control himself. He wasn't weak! (He was.) This was his first day here and he was going to get owned by some show-off who didn't know the power of his own electricity. Seán swallowed hard to keep the bile down.

He stumbled backwards to escape the boy, but he didn't run. This wasn't a fight he could win by running. His face was pale and sweat beaded on his upper lip. (Don't show how nervous you are.) He tapped his tongue against the back of his piercing on the inside of his lower lip.

"So you're going to rely on your powers, huh?" he asked. He forced the words out, but despite it, they didn't sound as weak as he had feared. This boosted his confidence, and he said with more conviction, "What do you do, just run around shooting lightning bolts out of your ass all day to intimidate people? If they took away your powers, you'd be dead."

[therealmyth]

Johnny smiled, "You actually managed to speak. You officially have my respect but if you're going to say I rely on my powers, I could beat you with my fists alone, no powers. Are you saying you want to see how good I am without my powers? I could show you right now," he said as he returned back to normal and he suddenly burst out laughing, " You need to relax bro. We're not out to get you. We've all had to suffer that. We're all just trying to figure out who the hell we are, if we get to have some fun on the way, that's just a bonus. This place isn't a prison you know, more like a refuge. Somewhere you go to escape the bullying. Sure, we have douches but most of us are just joking. You probably don't like me but I'll tell you this, you've got my respect. It's obvious that this is a pretty...nerve racking situation. But even then, you managed to give me a strong reply. Say what you want, but you've got my respect."