to win a war • alex summers

chapter two

TEDDY HAD INTRODUCED HIMSELF TO THE OTHERS, AND VISE VERSA. Now they were all in a room, sitting on the furniture. They sat in a demi circle, around a table. Teddy had personally taken a quick liking to a boy named Alex Summers, and decided he would sit beside him on a kitchen chair, the front of his body facing the back of the chair.

"We should think of code names. We're government agents now. We should have secret code names. I want to be called Mystique." Raven said.

"Damn! I wanted to be called Mystique." Sean protested, earning a laugh from everyone else.

"Well, tough. I called it." Raven said. In the blink of an eye, she turned herself into him.

"Whoa!" They all exclaimed, jumping back.

"And I'm way more mysterious than you." Raven-Sean said. The group clapped. "Darwin, what about you?" She asked after becoming herself once more.

"Well, uh, Darwin's already a nickname, and, you know, sort of fits. Adapt to survive and all. Check this out." Darwin said, then stood up and made his way over to the fish tank. He put his head in it, and grew gills. That earned him cheering and laughing. He thanked everyone as they clapped. "What about you?" He asked, pointing at Sean.

"I'm going to be... Banshee." The ginger said.

"Why do you want to be named after a wailing spirit?" Hank questioned.

"You might wanna cover your ears." Sean said as he stood up. Everyone did as he said, putting their hands above their ears. He took a deep breath, and then whistled, and the glass window shattered.

Teddy burst out laughing, the others following suit. "That's amazing!" The brunette exclaimed. "You're all making me seem so lame." He joked. He wasn't normally in this kind of mood, but he felt this was a special occasion. He felt almost at home with these people.

"Your turn." Sean said, gesturing at Angel.

"My, uh, stage name is Angel." She said as she stood up, and took her jacket off. Sean whistled. "Kind of fits." She said, and the tattoos on her back turn into wings.

"You can fly?" Raven asked, impressed.

"Uh-huh." Angel confirmed. "And, um.." She turned towards the open window and spat out a fireball, burning the top of the statue's head. The group once again laughed in amazement.

"I'm turned on and disgusted." Darwin commented.

"What's your name?" Angel asked Hank as she put her jacket back on.

"How 'bout Big Foot." Alex joked. Teddy slapped his arm, but was concealing a smile. Despite the comment being a bit rude, it was still a little funny. Or maybe his sense of humour was fucked up. Maybe both, he didn't know.

"Well, you know what they say about guys with big feet. And uh, yours are kind of small." Raven shot back.

This time, Teddy laughed out loud, letting out an "Oooh!" along with the rest of the group. Alex didn't look too bothered, but he did send the man beside him an offended glare for his loud exclamation.

"Alex, what is your gift? What can you do?" Darwin asked.

Alex was suddenly nervous. "Uh, it's not, um... Um, I just can't do it. I can't do it in here." He stuttered.

"Can you do it out there?" Darwin continued.

"Why don't you just do it out there?" Raven added.

"Come on." Angel said.

"Come on!" Sean repeated.

"You got this, Alex!" Teddy encouraged, patting his back. And before you ask, no, he didn't use his charmspeak to convince him. He wasn't (that) cruel! He knew very well when not to use his abilities.

"Alex! Alex! Alex!" Everyone cheered. Despite his initial hesitation, he got up. He handed his drink over to Teddy and made his way outside, stepping out of the broken window.

"Get down when I tell you." Alex said sternly as he walked outside, the others standing up to get a closer look.

Sean repeated what he said mockingly, but was still as excited as the rest of them. The all stood at the window, peering out like in every spy movie.

"Get back." Alex ordered. The group did, for about a second, then went right back to staring. He was quick to notice. "Get back!" This time, no one moved. "Whatever." Alex mumbled, and moments later, he had red rings circling around his body. He launched them towards the statue, ultimately destroying it, and setting it on fire.

The others were more than impressed. They clapped excitedly and cheered for him. Alex came back inside, and everyone looked at Teddy.

"What can you do?" Alex questioned, taking back his drink when it was offered.

Teddy smirked. He wasn't a mutant like the rest of them, but he did like to think he had some pretty cool abilities. "Well... there's two things." He started. "I can talk people into anything, for one." He noticed some disbelieving looks. So, he turned to Alex once more. "Get me a drink?" Without a word, Alex turned to get one, and quickly returned. As soon as the beverage was in the shorter boy's hands, he blinked, and looked around.

"What just happened?" Alex questioned, quickly noticing the drink in his new friend's hand. "When did you get that?"

The others clapped, impressed. Was everyone super powerful here? Yes. There was no way Shaw could win, right?

"And the other thing?" Darwin questioned, an eyebrow raised.

Teddy winked. "You'll have to wait and see, my friend."

"Let's call you-" Raven started, only to be cut off.

"Teddy?" Teddy suggested.

"No. How about Glamour?"

The brunette shrugged. It was the best it was going to get, really. "Yeah, alright." He agreed.