Now You See Me...Now You Don't (Damien)

[nightcrawler]

*BAMF* That all too familiar sound followed by a cloud of purple-black smoke announced the sudden entrance of one Kurt Wagner, otherwise known as Nightcrawler. Kurt was always one for a grand entrance, despite his shy social awkwardness, and had found that his teleportation ability to be rather handy in navigating the rather large and maze like mansion. He had appeared in the top corner of the room, in one of the eastern corners, sticking to the wall like some insect, another handy ability his mutant genes allowed him. Unlike his ability to blend into the shadows, rendering him nearly unseen, Kurt's ability to stick to almost virtually any surface was explainable. You see, Kurt's body actually displaced the atoms around him, allowing him to fill in the vacant gap with parts of himself, thus giving him the appearance of actually sticking to the wall, however, this ability only worked on inanimate objects and not on humans.

Dressed in a pair of multi-colored wide bottomed pants, black vest and long black coat, Kurt looked about the room, his bright yellow eyes darting here and there. He was to meet with a young man, one Damien Schwartz, this morning and help him with his own mutant ability, one akin to Kurt's. It seemed the young German boy possessed the ability to teleport, but unlike Kurt, Damien could teleport to anywhere he had any memory and could also teleport objects he could physically see, without touching them. This unique ability fascinated Kurt, whom had to see his destination and had to touch anything he wished to teleport, and he hoped that in some small way, maybe he could expand on his own gift by learning more of Damien's.

Upon seeing that no one was present in the rec room, Kurt fell to the floor below, landing gracefully and expertly with a soft *thud*. Enhanced agility was another gift the little blue elf was graced with, although it wasn't superhuman but still on the level of an Olympic athlete. "Vell then, perhaps a bit of T.V.," Kurt said as he stood from his crouched position and moved toward the couch, grabbing the remote from the table with his tail. "Zank you," he said with a laugh as he dropped the remote into his waiting hand and flopped down onto the couch, turning the large screen television on.

[Damien Schwartz]

"Kurt?" a voice calls out from one of the entrances. It is rather early, but he is wide awake, as per usual. Damien is used to going to bed late, and getting out of it early. In total, he gets about 5 hours of sleep each day, and it is quite enough for him. He is dressed in his usual clothes, consisting out of boots, jeans, a tank top, and a shirt, all black this time. Ironic, considering the meaning of his last name.

He spots his tutor, and walks over to him. "Hello." he says simply as his eyes wander to the TV screen, making mental notes to watch a few programs later on. It is sad that he cannot find any good quality German channels in this country. He had tried finding something earlier, but the only results were two channels which didn't really have a purpose for anything. I'll have to work on that too...

"So...um...where do we start?" the question would have asked itself had it had some sort of self-destructive, automatically triggered mouth, but it didn't, so Damien was its tool. Or something like that. I need to stop thinking like that...

His eyes drift back to Kurt as he awaits an answer, finding it hard to suppress the anxiety he feels. Finally, he will be able to use his gift without much worry about what kind of mistake is going to happen.

[nightcrawler]

Kurt flipped through the channels, each station meriting a stranger and stranger look upon audible *click*. Kurt had never watched too much television, besides, the monastery wasn't exactly wired for cable and such. Kurt's lifestyle consisted mainly of reading, both the bible and some old romance novels consisting of pirates and damsels in distress. The little blue elf was a nut for swashbuckling stuff, eating it up every chance he got, even going as far as to rig the Danger Room to mimic one of his more favorite stories, oh man...that earned him quite the lecture from the Professor that day.

Damien's voice broke through he noise of chaos and decadence of the television and Kurt clicked the set off, dropping the remote beside him on the couch. "Guten morgen Damien," he said as he slowly stood to greet his 'student' for the day. Kurt was very new to this teaching thing and to be honest, he was a bit nervous, "Vell, how about something simple to start out vith, ja?," he asked as he looked around the room, his tail swaying this way and that. Kurt still wasn't sure the full extent of Damien's ability and didn't want to push the boy too hard first thing, no he wanted to see and get a better idea of just what Damien did and to see if he could figure out exactly how the boy teleported the way he did. "How about you teleport to the other side of the room and then we'll go from there," he said turning his head slightly back to Damien, his yellow eyes locking onto the boy, "I vant to see just vat happens vith mein own two eyes," he said with a smile, trying to ease the tension somewhat.

[Damien Schwartz]

Damien nods, looking in the direction he was shown. Teleproting where he can see presents no problem for him- he had done it so many times it comes as second nature. It is teleproting somewhere solely by someone else's description, or their memory that is the real problem. He himself can remember places very well, but most other people do not even pay attention to their surroundings, which causes very murky images to appear in Damien's mind when he absorbs their memories.

So, with a simple snap of his fingers, for he always needs some sudden motion or sound to activate his ability, Damien appears in the other corner of the room, disappearing where he has been just a fraction of a moment before. There are no fancy visual or sound effects, save for a barely audible "blip", and it is as if he exists in both places for the shortest of measurable times, before the Damien at the starting position just disappears, in the blink of an eye, in the same way that the Damien at the end destination appeared.

Turning around once he is there, Damien smiles shortly at Kurt. "I hope you saw what you wanted?" he says, unaware of all the details about his teleportation. All he knows is that he is here now, and there a second from now, where "there" means anywhere he can clearly picture that exists.

[nightcrawler]

Kurt almost missed Damien's entire act, blinking just as Damien disappeared. The sudden departure by the youth caught Kurt very off guard, even if he was ready and a quick but curious look in Damien's new direction showed just how thrown Kurt was. The sound that emitted from Damien's teleportation was almost missed by Kurt, but he remembered it faintly when his mind cleared, smiling and wondering if Damien himself even knew it happened. In his travels, Kurt had encountered a few other teleporters and each one, including himself, all left some sort of audible clue when they used their powers, the most memorable one being a rather green skinned girl who chose her name by the sound that emitted every time she teleported.

"How many times can you do that in succession?," Kurt asked as he glanced back to the spot where Damien had previously been standing just seconds ago before letting his bright yellow eyes fall to the floor in thought. Kurt himself could teleport multiple times in succession, but only by himself as each teleportation seemed to disorientate another and as early tests and suspicions proved, could kill someone if he chose to do so, "And do you have to make some sort of movement yourself every time or can any force of contact trigger it...say contact from another object?," he quickly asked, glancing back up, his curiosity more than peaked at the moment.

[Damien Schwartz]

Damien stops, thinking for a while, trying to figure out a valid, coherent answer to the question. Finally, he decides to answer the questions is reverse order, and slightly combined, which confuses even himself. "Well, I need to make either some sudden sound or move, such as snapping my fingers, clapping my hands, or, lately, even just blinking, although that sometimes causes me a headache. If I make the sudden move, I can teleport as many times as I can stand, without actually making the sound or move again. At about the twelfth teleport, though, I tend to get dizzy and get headaches." he explains, and then turns around so that Kurt can see what he is doing.

He focuses his thoughts on one point, and then snaps his fingers, appearing there in but a fraction of a second, just like the last time. However, he remains there only long enough for him to thing Couch, and he is gone again. And so it happens for several more times, and on his twelfth time, he stops, obviously slightly off balance. As for the effects, the sound that appeared during the first teleport kept getting smaller and smaller, until it was completely gone, or rather inaudible, at around the fifth teleportation. The mirror image that appears after him, however, lasts longer and longer, up to where it lasts a full second when Damien teleports for the twelfth time.

"So...um...did that help?" he asks, closing his eyes to expel the nausea that comes with feeling so dizzy.

[nightcrawler]

Kurt was very intrigued by Damien's show of ability, especially the way the sounds diminished each time and how the after images seemed to linger longer and longer, something which no doubt could be very useful if the boy found himself surrounded and outnumbered. Kurt himself used to have a problem with mulitple teleportations, but after a few years of practice and determination, he was now able to teleport as many times as he needed or as many as his body could physically take without wearing down, just like somebody might while out on a run.

When Damien appeared for the last time, Kurt noticed the waver and nodded just slightly, showing his approval of Damien's ability and the effort he put into it. "I think that vill be enough for now," he said with a faint smile as he nodded toward the couch, an indication for Damien to take a seat and rest, after all, pushing himself until he passed out or worse wasn't going to do any of them any good. "After you rest, I vould like to test something....if I may?," he asked with a tilt of his head and a questioning look, a look much like a child would give when asking about something.

[Damien Schwartz]

He nods gratefully, a smile on his lips nevertheless as he revels at the approval he has been needing for so long. It is the kind of approval a son would get from his parents for gaining top score on a test, and in this case it is dearly missed as his memories trace back to the point where his family found out that he is a mutant, and think it is a sort of disease.

Despite the fact that he is feeling dizzy, and his walk if off-balance, he raises his hand and snaps his fingers, appearing within the next moment on the couch, falling on it from a small way above, dizzier, but not unconscious. This was the first time he has tried thirteen teleports in such quick succession, and the smile on his face makes it apparent that he is happy about managing to actually come on-target, more or less.

"Um, yes, sure, go right ahead...You are, after all, the tutor..." he says, laughing a bit as he wonders if his nausea is caused by his body being moved so many times, or by the actual mutation. "I wonder if I can still teleport other objects, though...I have never tried before. Would it help in determining whether the nausea comes from the strain, or just excess change of scenery?" he decides to consult Kurt before anything else, as he does not want to try getting a glass of water and end up spilling a jug of the same over his mentor's head.

[Bobby Drake]

(( OOC: This thread can probably be archived. ))