Heroes & Roses (X-ray and Vav)

Chapter 6: The Labs

After breakfast I follow Geoff and the rest of the gang, minus Griffon, down a hallway that was near the entrance of the kitchen. At the end there was an elevator that I had never seen before. Jack pushes the down button and a few moments later the elevator doors open and everyone crowds into the elevator shaft. It was squished but we all managed to get in, refusing to take two trips down. I got squished between Lindsay and Gavin. Lindsay looked as if she could care less, but Gavin still refused to look directly at me.

After a short elevator trip, the doors open and we walk out a level lower then before. Everyone but me looked like they knew what they were doing, because once everyone stepped out they all scattered to different locations. When they said labs I expected needles and saws, but it all looked very cool. There was glass cells lined in various places around the mostly white room. The only color was on some buttons on the control boards in front of glass rooms. I look around a bit before walking over to Geoff, who looked to be preparing something on the board of a glass room, inside the room was Lindsay. She looked nervous, standing on the left side of the transparent chamber. Soon everyone gathered round, watching her intensely. Geoff pressed a red button and began talking.

"Alright, you ready?" She bounced around a bit before nodding.

"What's happening?" No one answered, so I again look at what's going on behind the glass. A unexpected gray wall shot up from the ground in the glass room that now separated Lindsay from the right side of the room. She took a deep breath before closing her eyes, and concentrating. There were small flashes of light now emitting from Lindsay's hand's. She looked at the wall, got in a tripod stance and held her hands up. She gave a small grunt before an invisible force shot from her hands and toward the wall, causing the solid concrete wall to explode and shatter, hitting the glass walls, however the glass was completely unaffected. I jump backwards with a small leap, letting out a small

"Wow!", However everyone else simply smiled, looking impressed. Geoff unlocked the glass door, letting Lindsay out. She looks at me and smiles.

"Invisibility. I've been practicing with force fields and invisible blasts," She looked utterly happy as she walked over and patted Michael on the shoulder. "Your up!" Mogar took a deep breath before walking over and into the glass, having Geoff close the door behind him.

"Your doing weapons today," Michael nodded and prepared himself for what was coming up. For Michael, his test was much faster paced than Lindsay's. weapons dropped from the ceiling, ones that I had never seen before and some that I had. With each weapon dropped there was a holographic enemy to kill with the weapon dropped. It only ended when a shield fell from the ceiling and Michael missed the drop, allowing a hostile hologram to grab him from behind. Geoff nodded, impressed. Geoff pressed the button and informed Michael that he got forty-seven enemy's before getting taken down.

"Five more then last week," He added. Michael allowed Geoff to open the door and let him out before allowing Jack to walk in. I noticed that after each test, anything from the last test disappeared, almost like the floor was sucking up any evidence.

Jack's test was much harder and obviously more dangerous then the tests I've seen so far. Two machine guns descended from the ceiling, both facing Jack.

"Alright, you sure you're ready, Jack?" From the tone of Geoff's voice, I could tell he was nervous about this test. Jack nodded quickly. He was the face of clarity in times of stress, he looked like he could care less that guns were facing strait toward him. "The guns will run for two minutes, starting.... Now!" Geoff pressed a small red button, causing the guns to shoot. Jack's job was to reflect and stop the bullets for two minutes, and I swear they were the most stressful two minutes I've ever had. I look to Gavin, but the way he snapped his head quickly toward Jack showed that he was already looking at me before I caught him doing so. Why the hell is he acting so strange? I look back to Jack, who still had thirty seconds left. Bullets flew straight toward the glass, still without damaging it. That was some strong fucking glass. Jack's time was up, and after it was over, he looked absolutely exhausted.

Next up was Gavin, who looked rather nervous. I give him a encouraging smile as he made his way into the glass chamber. There was now three tennis ball dispensers lined up on the right side of the room as Gavin stood on the left. Gavin stood straight up, trying to look confident in his abilities, however I didn't see how tennis matched his skills.

"You know what to do?" Geoff asked, Gavin nodded. "Alright, slow-mo in three.... Two... One.... Start!" Geoff pressed the small red button again, making each tennis ball dispenser dispense at different times and in various places. I felt bad, the first few balls hit Gavin with full force, but after that, it changed. The balls were still dispensing, with the same speed, but now Gavin was dodging them, even dodging the ones that haven't dispensed yet. I assume this test was to test Gavin's reflexes, because as of this moment he had the best reflexes I've ever seen. A few minutes later, Gavin walk out, looking triumphant. Geoff patted him on the back and smiled.

"Good job, Gav!" He smiled back and walked over to me, apparently forgetting the fact that he was trying to ignore me.

"I'm learning to slow down time, not in actuality, but I can use my mind to trick myself into seeing everything in slow-mo if I needed to. that was my first actual test on it," Geoff turns to face the group.

"That just leaves me to test. Gavin, you control it, and Ray, you need to come with me, I'm going to need you," Gavin went swiftly to the control board, giving me a quick glance. Very confused, I follow Geoff into the glass room. The door automatically shuts behind me. I assumed the room was sound-proof, since we never heard what was happening inside the room with the other tests. Geoff looked at me now with an eager look.

"Ok, now you know I can stop powers or absorb them right? Well now I'm going to try and absorb yours, and see what you can do," Just like this morning, I go to protest that I don't have powers, but he stops me before I can say anything.

"Don't argue. I know you have something special, and Michael seems to think he saw you put two holes in some Knights hands using just your eyes, and I trust him. We're just going to see, that's all," I take a deep breath and give a small nod. The thought of me having anything that makes me special, especially powers, seemed like a far fetched thought. Putting holes in a knights hand? If I could do that I don't think I would have gotten my ass kicked in. Geoff rubbed his hands together, preparing. He nodded to Gavin to get ready, even though Gavin didn't need to do anything, I think he was there to make sure nothing went wrong. The look on Gavin's face made me feel like he was more stressed as me at this little experiment.

"Alright," I hear Gav's voice say, "In three, two, one.... Now!"

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Thanks for reading everyone, I hope your enjoying it! Let me know what I can improve or just leave me a note in the comments! Next chapter we finally learn what Ray can do!

**Chapter 7: X-Ray, coming soon!!**