explosive

All was quiet in the library as Astra read her book silently, eyes moving this way and that as she read from line to line. She sensed the person approaching her, she just continued to ignore them until their presence made it absolutely impossible to ignore any longer. Not removing her eyes from the page, she absently questioned, “What are you doing here?”

Margot’s head whirled around, eyes wide and jaw slack. She’d relapsed—not nearly as devastatingly as the last time she’d used her power to induce pain (or rather, her power had used her) but she had brought today’s victim to his knees. She needed a quiet place to cool down, where no one would ask too many questions and at the same time, she wouldn’t be alone with her thoughts. The library was perfect. Although, she seemed to have chosen the wrong person to hover around. “Uh,” she said, glancing back at the window. “The view?”

                      Jericho blinked at her, like she’d just sprouted a second head            and started talking in an alien language. Eventually he shrugged;                                        (“Whatever. Just get on with it then.”)

Laughter burst from Margot’s smile—weirding Jericho out was almost too much fun. Almost. She tried opening the lid, but it wouldn’t budge no matter how much force she put into it. “Could you?” she asked, holding the jar out to him.

       Jericho looked from his roommate to the moth fluttering around in a jar.                       (”Did they seal all the windows down there shut?”)

Margot smiled, shaking her head. “The roof feels more...I don’t know, ceremonial?” 

There was great distance between them, but it was for a good reason. Both women were capable of destruction and it didn’t help that their emotions were on the rise. Looking at the remaining individuals in the training room, Demetria’s gaze turned cold as she yelled, “Everyone OUT!” The girl was practically having a tantrum in the middle of a session and in no way was Demetria going to have an audience as she attempted to get Margot’s mentality and control set. Things were clearly getting personal and it may have helped if it were just the two of them in the room. She’s been doing this for years and this wasn’t the first time she’d experienced a mutate like this. 

Once everyone left the premise, the older woman began walking towards the blonde with purpose. Heels hitting the ground loud and hard, there was a slight tremor beneath them as it shook with each step she took—a sign that her enhanced strength was seeping through. Her gaze was serious as she rapidly fired out a response. “First off, you can cry, you can yell, you can whine and throw a fucking tantrum all you want—but it won’t change who you are and what you’re doing. Second, I’m your trainer—Head Trainer…You’re not calling the shots, so don’t tell me what you want and don’t want to do. You have a choice, but not the freedom to ignore what you are.” Coming to a halt, she immediately crossed her arms and continued with, “Third, wipe your fucking tears, take a deep breath and get your shit together. Plus, let me ask you this: do you think everyone here is perfect? Do you think we’re harmless? That we just so happen to be good people with super powers and we’re doing just fine?!? NO, we’re not! You’re not the only one who’s been a threat to everyone—We all are.” Dropping her arms to her side, she immediately took a deep breath to calm herself down, before stating in a firm tone: “But the reason why I’m here, why we’re all here is to change that. Get that piece of vital information through your head. Those six people faced their demise, you can’t change that anymore and as much as that sucks, you have no choice, but to move forward from here.”

Margot’s blood went cold as Demetria ordered everyone else out. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t speak and she couldn’t even cry during the spiel. Demetria was scary and she was also right. It was easy for Margot to get stuck in her own head, forgetting that she wasn't alone in this anymore. They all had their demons and she wasn't the only one who had hurt others. "Okay," she said, wiping her eyes. "Okay, I'm sorry." If Margot wasn't still teetering on the edge of a breakdown, she might have smiled. Sure, Demetria was a little unorthodox, but she had made it stop before Margot could spiral out of control. Even if it was only inside this room, for a moment, it was something. This could be a safe place.

“How then? How do you move forward after something like that?”

( “Of all the places around here I figured I’d be alone for more than five minute,           the roof was my best bet. – I guess I thought wrong.”)

“Well, Mr. Grumpy Pants, you can blame this guy,” she said, a furry moth zipping around inside the mason jar she held. “I found Alfie here in the library.”

“No!” Frustrated tears welled in Margot’s eyes, blurring her vision. Demetria was easily the most intimidating person she’d ever met, but in that moment, she didn’t care. She wiped her eyes and squared her shoulders, fixing a hard stare on the head trainer.

“No, I don’t want to fight or be strong. I ruined six lives. Before they even began. They should still be out there being better, becoming more than a bunch of high school bullies. I took that away from them. They’re going to spend the rest of their lives in a hospital because I broke their minds.” She started pulling at her hair in a desperate attempt to relieve the tension rapidly building inside her. Having finally overpowered her, the tears fell freely down hot cheeks. “I just need you to teach me how to make it stop. Can you do that? Please?”

this is margot and she’s low key a sad, lonely disaster. self-loathing ON POINT

her power is pain manipulation. she’s pretty awful at controlling it, particularly when she’s upset/angry. she tries to avoid confrontation and people in general bc she doesn’t want to hurt (more of) them. also sensing other people’s pain on top of feeling her own gets draining fast.

she doesn’t really want to be in the program but she’s all “i deserve to be here” and “people aren’t safe if i’m out there” etc. tbh she does really need this place.....

at the same time she resents nonmutates A LOT for how they’ve treated mutates