The Cure of Mankind

Flick.

Snitch.

"Could you cut that out, John?"

Bobby glared daggers at me from across the room. I sneered back.

"Not used to being in trouble, Iceman? Is it making you a little tense?"

Bobby rose from his seat, giving me a death stare. I flicked my lighter open again, prepared to retaliate if he wanted to continue our little spat.

"Boys! That's enough!"

I tore my gaze away from Bobby's looking at the person who had just walked into the room. It was Scott.

"The professor will see you now, John," he said stiffly.

I shoved my hands (and my lighter) deep into my pockets, giving Bobby a resentful glare as I walked through the door Scott was holding open for me.

The professor was seated behind a large desk, watching me closely. I pulled up a chair as Scott left the room and shut the door.

"Mr. Summers will be speaking with Bobby while I talk to you," the professor informed me. I nodded, avoiding eye contact.

"Now, John, could you please explain to me why you and Bobby engaged in this little spat?"

"You're a telepath," I said resentfully. "You don't need me to tell you that."

The professor sighed. "Yes, John. I am fully aware of my abilities. I was simply hoping that if you said it aloud, it would help you realize how foolish it was."

"It wasn't foolish!" I yelled. "No mutant should want to take that cure!"

"I was under the impression that Mr. Drake didn't want to take the cure."

"He doesn't," I said mutinously. "His little girlfriend does. He went all righteous on me when I said that any mutant who wanted the cure was pathetic."

The professor massaged his temples. "And you don't think you could've worded that staement a little more carefully?"

"No. There's no point in sugarcoating it."

The professor looked me in the eye. "You're an X-Man, John. We have to support each other, even if we disagree with each other."

"Yeah, well, I never chose to be an X-Man," I muttered.

The professor sighed again. Apparently I was being especially infuriating. I didn't care.

"We're getting nowhere, John. You might as well leave."

I stood up quickly, not bothering to push the chair back up to the desk. When I had exited, Bobby was waiting on the other side of the door.

"Look, man, I just wanna apologize-" he started. I glared at him, making sure to brush shoulders as I walked past.

"Hey, John!" he called behind me, but I ignored him. I stormed back to my bedroom, the only place in this whole freaking mansion where someone wouldn't be talking about a cure.

I flopped on my bed, mind spinning. Xavier was right- as long as I was an X-Man, people would expect me to back up everyone's stupid desicions. My mind flickered back to something someone had said to me a long time ago...

You are a god among insects. Never let anyone tell you different.

I bet Magneto wasn't going to sit around and let people hunt us down and "cure" us...