But Love Is Overrated Anyways

Chapter 4: But It Was Too Strong

Dan had gotten his powers earlier than most.

It wasn't a big event really, just little things he started to notice. How his skin was always cold. How whenever he took a hot shower, he always ran out of hot water faster than anyone else in his family. Sometimes, he's wake up and realize his bedspread was covered with a fine layer of frost.

He didn't know what to do. His powers developed when he was nearing the end of his year 10 in school (9th grade), and he was already a target. He wasn't bullied that badly, just some names here and there; some twats wanting to make themselves feel better by picking on him, teasing him about his family income, his accent, and their suspections of his sexuality. This was still before the War on Mutants began, and though no one necessarily hated Mutants, they weren't encouraged. People didn't see it as superpowers. They saw it as a distraction, something unfair, and laws were already in place as of then requiring that Mutants didn't use their powers for personal gain. They had to try and blend in.

So that's what Dan did. But it was hard when the air around him was always significantly colder, and whenever he stood from one of the metal desks it was always so cold you could get stuck to it if you weren't careful. And his powers only grew.

Once the teachers found out what had been going on, the sent a note home to Dan's parents, who were furious. He'd somehow managed to keep it from them for a while, which may have just made it worse. They said that he needed to control his powers and stop showing off; he needed to warm up.

But he literally couldn't. Dan's powers were not something he had control over. The cold radiated around him, sometimes the power seemed to hum with electricity, waiting to be used, waiting to get out. And the more Dan tried to surpress it, the more his very life force seemed to drain into it, fueling it until his power was more alive than he was.

And soon, everyone knew. He had to switch schools to a more accepting one, where they gave him his own desk in the corner of the class, where no one had to sit next to him or talk to him, and everyone could try and pretend to ignore the constant lingering chill from that side of the room. To make it even worse, the teacher requested that the temperature be turned way up to try and act in opposition to it, which only made droplets of condensation form on Dan's schoolwork. He turned in smudged, damp assignments he'd worked incredibly hard on, and the teacher would scowl and give him a B without even reading them. B after B after B, because the teacher didn't want to have to deal with him.

Dan ended up leaving school and finishing year 13 online, in the comfort of his bedroom. And as soon as he was done, he was offered a decent paying job where he could continue working on his computer all day, which he took.

Eventually he moved out, and though his family didn't cry, he could tell they were upset. But not that he was going. They were upset that they gave birth to a Mutt, and that all of Dan's potential was ruined because or this power, this curse, that he refused to control.

It was simply too strong. The cold took over everything, statting with the ability to feel warm, and ending with his life. And he would've began truly hating his powers and himself, if that wasn't when the War On Mutants began. Because then he found someone else to hate. Humans.