The Puppeteer - X-Men

Three

"I'm Raven" the blonde girl replied.

"Hank" the nerdy guy spoke.

"Darwin" the African American guy smiled sweetly.

"Angel" the Hispanic girl smiled softly.

"Sean" the redhead winked.

"Alex" the blonde guy raised his beer.

"Charles said you were the...medic, of sorts" Lily said softly, looking at Hank. "Yeah, why?" he asked. "I've got a few broken ribs" she said nonchalantly and Alex sat up immediately. "What happened?" he asked as Hank came over to her. "Got beat up" she shrugged as Hank crouched down in front of her.

"Let me see" he said quietly and Lily looked around anxiously before taking her jacket off with a wince and lifting up the hem of her shirt, revealing purple bruises along her side. Hank gingerly pressed on her side and she hissed in pain, hitting his hand away. "Sorry" he held his hands up.

"I tell you I have broken ribs and your first move is to press on them? What are you trying to do, break some more?" she snapped and Angel chuckled. "I like her" she smiled at Raven, who nodded. Hank stuttered for a bit before choosing to stay silent, gently pressing in various places. "I don't like the look of that bruising" Hank pulled away and Lily looked down.

"Oh, one sec" she sighed, closing her eyes as she moved the blood around in her body, the purple slowly fading away to her normal skin color. "How did you do that?" Alex asked, a broad smile on his face. "I can control blood" she said and she put her shirt down, leaning back against the chair.

"That's awesome!" Sean exclaimed and Lily raised her eyebrows. "Sure" she muttered as Hank went back to standing where he was. "Oh, I love your tattoo!" Raven grinned, grabbing the girl's arm to look at it. "Thanks, an old friend of mine did it" she smiled at the letters 'L+L' just underneath a small heart on her wrist.

"L+L. I'm guessing you're one of the L's?" Raven asked and Lily smiled sadly. "Yeah, the other L is my friend, Liam. He's the one who did the tattoo about a year and a half ago" Lily sighed as Raven let go of her arm.

Lily stood up and walked around the room, looking through drawers until she finally found what she was looking for: a pack of cigarettes. She quickly grabbed them and shut the drawer, sitting back down on the couch. "Anyone got a lighter?" she asked and Hank looked disgusted as Alex handed her one. "Thanks" she smiled, taking one out and lighting it, taking a long drag of it.

"You mind?" Alex asked, gesturing to the pack and she handed him a cigarette and the lighter. "Any whiskey in here or just beer?" Lily asked and Hank scoffed. "Ignoring you refusal to take care of your lungs while you have broken ribs, you're like, what, eighteen?" Hank raised an eyebrow. "Sixteen. Don't mind if I do" she corrected, grabbing an unopened beer and taking a sip.

"That is illegal! Both drinking and smoking!" Hank fumed and Lily chuckled. "Relax, I've already had a lecture from Charles and Erik" she waved him off, taking another puff. "Aww, lighten up, Bozo. I do both of those things, you never said anything" Alex snickered. "You're underage too?! You three are going to kill yourselves" Hank pointed between Lily, Alex and Sean.

"I fully expect you to march up to my coffin and say 'I told you so' when that happens but I'm still breathing and not mortally wounded so can I smoke in peace?" Lily replied snarkily and Angel laughed. "I give up" Hank adjusted his glasses.

"We should think of code names. We're government agents now, we should have doe names" Raven spoke excitedly. "I wanna be called Mystique" she smiled. "Damn, I wanted to be called Mystique" Sean pouted, making everyone snicker.

"Well, too bad" Raven said as blue scales slipped over her skin, transforming her into Sean. Lily grinned as her eyes went wide with awe. "And I'm way more mysterious than you" Raven said in Sean's voice and everyone clapped. "What about you?" Lily asked Darwin, draining her beer.

"Well, Darwin's already a nickname. And it fits, you know. Adapt to survive and all. Watch" Darwin walked up to the fish tank and stuck his head in. Immediately, gills formed on his neck and everyone clapped again. "Got to hand it to you, that's awesome" Lily laughed.

"Sean?" Raven asked. "I'm going to be Banshee" he said after a moment. "Why exactly do you wanted to be named after a wailing spirit?" Hank asked. "You might want to cover your ears" he said and everyone covered their ears. Sean squatted in front of the table and took a large breath before releasing a high-pitched whistle that shattered the glass.

"Angel?" Lily asked. "Well, my stage name was Angel" she took off her jacket, revealing a short dress. "And it fits" she said and her tattoo emerged from her skin, revealing wings. "You can fly?!" Raven exclaimed. "Yeah. And also" she spat an acid ball towards the statue outside, singeing it.

"Damn" Lily smiled. "Hank, what about you?" Angel asked politely and the man shifted uncomfortably. "How about Bigfoot?" Alex snickered and Lily entered his mind, getting him to stop laughing immediately and she smirked as she exited his mind.

Alex frowned at the girl but she just smiled innocently before focusing on Hank. "You know what they say about guys with big feet. And uh, yours are kinda small" Raven teased and Alex held up his hands as Lily laughed. "Alex, what's your gift, what can you do?" Raven asked and Alex suddenly turned serious.

"It's uh, I just can't do it here" Alex ran his fingers through his hair. "Can you do it out there?" Darwin asked and Alex shrugged weakly. "Come on! Alex, Alex, Alex, Alex, Alex, Alex" everyone started chanting and Alex got up and started walking outside.

"Get back when I tell you to" Alex said seriously and Sean mocked him. "Get back" Alex said and everyone went behind a wall before coming back out again. "Get back" Alex snapped and everyone repeated the action. "Whatever" Alex scoffed. He brought his hands down and large red rings came out of his body. He rotated his hips, sending the rings all around, destroying the statue and Lily watched with a broad smile on her face.

"That's awesome" Lily said. "Alright, Lily, you already said you can control blood which can't really be demonstrated, can it?" Raven chuckled and Lily raised an eyebrow. She walked over to the broken window and picked up a small piece of glass. "Lily!" Hank protested but she ignored him as she pricked her finger, allowing the blood to drop out. as a drop of blood fell from her finger she stopped it and floated it back up in front of her.

She rolled it around her fingers a few times and everyone watched in awe before she dissipated it and she dramatically bowed, wincing slightly. "That's not all I can do, though" she said, sitting back down. "What else can you do?" Sean asked excitedly and she entered his mind.

'Hiya Sean' she spoke inside his mind and he frowned. 'Wait, are you in my head?' he asked silently and she nodded. "You made me stop laughing earlier, didn't you?" Alex said and Lily laughed. "I can control people's thoughts. Make them do something, think something, even remember something" she admitted and Darwin grinned.

"I have the perfect name for you" Darwin said and Lily raised her eyebrows questioningly. "I'm all ears" she smiled. "Marionette" Darwin said and she frowned. "What's-what's that?" she asked, looking between everyone. "You don't know what a Marionette is?" Hank scoffed and Lily looked down. "I didn't go to school" Lily mumbled. "It's like a puppeteer" Raven explained and Lily nodded.

"I like it" she smiled.