The Early Years 24 : Mutant

"Take it outside if you're going to start fighting with powers. You know the rules. Lauren, don't electrocute them..." Luthien glanced over at the three kids, though he had to really work at it to not start laughing.

"Oh, no. No more powers..." He glared at Lauren, then over at James. "Besides, that's no fair. I don't have any!" And then he launched himself up at his little brother, tackling James to the ground again with a snicker. "I have to do it the old fashioned way! C'mere, Runt!"

"QUIT calling me a runt!!" James shouted even as his older brother knocked him right to the floor. "I am NOT a runt, I'm almost as tall as Lauren already!"

"You're the youngest of the litter. You're a runt." Matthew snickered, ducking his head to one side to avoid James' swinging arm, and then just reached out and thwapped his little brother in the forehead. It wasn't very hard, he wasn't trying to actually do him any damage, just harass him a little. It's part of the job description of older brothers. You must harass the little brothers from time to time!

He was therefore understandably shocked when his palm connected and James let out a sudden, sharp blood-curdling scream. Matthew blinked and just stared down at him. The boy abruptly stopped fighting back at the same time, though that fact hadn't yet made the connections in Matt's brain.

"Oh, quit it, Jimmy, I ain't hurting you! Sheesh, you're SUCH a little--" Whatever else Matthew was going to say died on his lips when there was a spidery cloud of some kind of black stuff that had appeared between his hand and James' skin. If not for the sudden adrenalin rush that he was getting, Matthew honestly would have thought it was some new aspect of his brother's ability. But the way he was screaming and the complete stillness of the younger boy told him it wasn't.

It was the choking sound that started creeping into James' voice that made him suddenly yank his hand back and backpedal away from his brother. James dropped like a ton of bricks to the floor and didn't get up. And all Matthew could do was stare between his brother and his hand.

Luthien, who had immediately thrown his newspaper to the side when the screaming had started, finally crossed the living room and moved to James' side, looking him over. "There's not too many Kellers without powers, Matthew." he remarked quietly as he turned the youngest of his children over onto his back. "And I think yours just came out. Your eyes are black. Lauren, go get your mother."

"Yessir." Lauren dropped her book and left the room without another word to do as bid.

"But I wasn't trying to hurt him!" Matthew wrapped his arms around his legs and scooted a little further away from his father and brother, just staring at them. "I swear I didn't hit him that hard--"

"It wasn't the rough housing that did it." Luthien said, calmly. "I want you to go look in a mirror, Matthew. Now."

Matt frowned, and started to stand up. "But Jimmy--"

"NOW, Matthew." Luthien repeated, firmly. "I will handle James. Now go do as your told."

"Yessir." Matthew mumbled dourly, and with a long look over his shoulder at his brother - at Luthien lifting the boy up off the floor and heading out of the room with him - he headed out and into the bathroom. He got a look at his eyes, which was shocking enough - they were completely, solidly, black - and then he just stood there, staring down at his hands.

"No, it was just an accident." Matthew could hear his father saying as the man passed by the bathroom with the boy. "bring the car around, Adele. I'm going to take him into the hospital. He's too pale for my liking. Lauren, keep an eye on Matt, but stay clear of his skin for the moment until we've figured out exactly what happened."

Matthew finally pulled his gaze away from his hands and stepped to the bathroom door, frowning, looking down the hallway. "I wasn't trying to hurt him."

"Nobody said you were." Lauren retorted from the other side, leaning up against the hallway. "Nobody accused you of anything, so calm down, will you? We've all gone through this at some point. You were just a little late in doing it, is all."

"Yeah, but none of you managed to--"

"Quit it, Matt. Your eyes are creepy right now." She looked across the hallway at her older brother with open curiosity. "What happened?"

"I don't know! I just bopped his forehead and then it was like a rush of... of... of I don't know! But like I didn't want to pull away..." He frowned, looking at the door as it closed behind his parents.

"I suppose 'oops' is a little too casual for this, h'mm?"

"You suppose?!"

"Nobody's pissed at you, so settle down. They're taking him in anyw--"

"Yeah, I know. I heard it." Matthew pushed off the doorframe and stalked down the hall, past his sister and towards his bedroom. And he kept a good six feet of space between her and him, just looking down at his hands as he walked. "All I did was touch him..."

"Guess you're a mutant after all." Lauren called after him, and moved to follow him without another word.

"Oh, shut up."