"Beastboy? No... Well maybe. Changeling? Metamorph? Shifter? Ooze? Rubberman! Wild Force? Wolfe? Hmm... This was a lot harder than I thought."

"Why don't you just pick one and get it over with already? It's not like you can't just change it later!"

Apparently coming up with superhero names was a lot more complicated than he originally thought, and it wasn't nearly as fun as Jean thought it would be since they have been sitting in the living room with pen and paper writing down everything they could think of for almost an hour now

Honestly, he was tempted to just call himself Beastboy and call it a day, screw licensing rights, what was Garfield going to do? Cross dimensions and file a copy right complaint?

But then Andrew remembered Hank McCoy, aka Beast, and he was not going to make his debut as the man's son or some shit.

"No way! I mean I guess, but I want something cool like Storm! Gotta make a good first impression, ya know?" Jean rolled over on the couch and stared at him, but gave a huff in defeat and blew her hair out of her face. It was apparently that Andrew wasn't going to budge on this... At least not for another half hour before he called it a day, anyways.

"Urg, fine. How about... Chimera? You like myths and folklore right? Short, sweet, simple, and with a hint of that classy Greek touch."

"Chimera... Chim-Era. Hmm, I like it! Thanks, Red."

Call him a nerd all you want, but there was something just so exciting about taking another important step to being the hero he always wanted to be. He knew it wasn't all fun and games, but racking his brain and stressing out about villains or potential cosmic horrors wouldn't change anything, so he might as well do whatever he could and live in the moment.

He had a roof over his head, made a new best friend, was living with an absolutely breathtaking woman, and a supportive male role model for once in his life. Things were looking good.

Charles mentally called them over to the courtyard along with Ororo. They met up together and as they left the back porch what they saw surprised them. Standing next to Professor Xavier was a rather tall man, perhaps just shy of six-foot, with short and reddish-brown hair and a chiseled chin. The man had a large grin as he watched the trio walk towards him.

He wore a nice and undoubtedly expensive dark blue suit, the jacket hung over his broad shoulders as he pushed his wheelchair-bound friend closer. Andrew's sharp and enhanced eyes didn't fail to notice the F.B.I badge barely sticking out of his back pocket although he managed to keep a poker face.

"So this is the vaulted X-men you've been working so hard on building huh? I must say I'm rather... Impressed with your selection." The man says as he glanced over each of them, only paused briefly at Ororo, or rather her chest. It was only a quick stare that lasted barely half a second, but that half-second might as well have been a full ten minutes to Andrew's piercing eyes.

"Greetings, I am Ororo Munroe, it is a pleasure to meet you." She extended her arm for a handshake, but the man grasped her palm and kissed the back of her hand.

"Frederick Duncan, charmed to meet you."

He already didn't like the other man. It had absolutely nothing to do with how smooth his actions were or the richness in his deep voice. Pretentious prick. He was so not jealous! Storm gave a small giggle at the gesture.

Ok, maybe just a little.

Thankfully Professor X cut through the vague atmosphere by clearing his throat. Andrew was almost tempted to give the man thumbs up but settled for doing his best to suppress his shit-eating grin. Not today, Mr. FBI agent man, not ever on his watch if Andrew had anything to say about it.

Petty thoughts aside he quickly refocused on what the professor was saying.

"Yes, Frederick here and I are old acquaintances. He has been helping me with my cause, and recently we have found another potential recruit. One Scott Summers, and I was hoping that you two would follow me along for the trip. It'd probably help him feel at ease with others of his age around. What do you two say?"

Andrew was all for it. Truthfully he didn't really like Scott from the few comics and animated series he had seen, dude seemed like a major asshole, but hey real life would surely be different and it wasn't smart to just go around assuming things. Besides the chance to meet another superhero always made him excited and a bit giddy, and he could tell from Jean's eyes she felt just as excited as he was.

Although whether that was from the idea of another potential friend, or the awesome giant sleek white jet popping out of the courtyard was debatable. Seriously how much cash did the professor have lying around to hide something like this?! The grounds of the courtyard shook slightly before the ground separated into two and opened up to reveal the thing sitting on a rising platform.

A loud and long whistling came from Frederick as he stared openly at the scene.

"That's a nice ride ya got there, Charles. Mind me taking the wheels for this trip?"

"Be my guest, although that's reserved for a trip later on to Canada."

"... Never mind."

The unwelcomed man, in Andrew's mind at least, soon bid goodbye as he had to return to his job. Ororo was tasked by Professor Xavier to accompany us to Manhattan where the young mutant was located. The boy was currently a danger to everyone, including himself as his new and highly destructive powers were just newly awakened and out of control.

Well, at least it would be relatively easy to find Scott, after all, how hard could it be to track down a kid with explosive deathrays for eyeballs? It helped that the professor somehow managed to narrow down the area for them greatly.

----------------------------------------

Scott considered himself a rather brave boy in his humble opinion. He wasn't scared of the dark or bedtime monsters like the other kids, he never backed down from bullies or bigger kids, and he rarely ever cried.

Not even when his family's plane caught on fire during their vacation trip. Not even when his parents gave parachutes to him and his little brother Alex, leaving them with no time to get their own before they were consumed by the flames. Not even when he woke up from his coma, his long stay in the hospital, being shuffled from foster home to foster home.

Especially not when everyone tried to tell him his brother was dead. They didn't know what they were talking about, the bunch of liars that they were. There was no way Alex didn't make it! They jumped out together, and Scott’s parachute even caught fire midway leading him to fall and hit his head in the first place, and if he was fine then surely his brother was as well! Scott wouldn't give up looking for him.

He refused- not now, not ever!

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

He had ran away from his foster parents again, taking to the street to look for Alex. Everything would be fine as soon as he found him. It was fine. Alex was fine. Scott was fine.

At least, he was until now, before a sudden burning pain knocked the breath out of him so intensely he collapsed to his knees. His hands clutched his eyes to ensure they didn't burst like he felt they were about too the entire time. Until it felt like liquid fire was flowing through his veins and a pounding headache had him shouting so loudly that someone had called an ambulance and they rushed him to the hospital for emergency treatment.

Until the doctor opened his eyes to check them.

Until a terrible red beam consumed everything within his vision and burned a hole clean through the ceiling of the building. It was chaos, screams filled the air as debris fell like rainfall, and all of a sudden everything was just too much for him to handle. So he ran and for the first time since he acknowledged the death of his parents he cried.

Crimson leaked from his eyelids and dyed everything red the entire time and he quickly learned to keep his eyes shut as he stumbled about the alleys of Manhattan. He was scared and more importantly he was dangerous. People around him tended to die and it was all his fault.

How many people did this make now?

His parents sacrificing themselves for him. His lost little brother who couldn't depend on his useless brother. The countless patients and doctors who dedicated their lives to saving others' only to ironically have their own snuffed out by a stupid kid, a freak accident with emphasis on freak.

Honestly, he wanted to die and contemplated just walking in front of a car, it just hurt so much that he felt like he couldn't breathe. Life seemed so bleak and hopeless, but the lingering unlikely hope of finding his brother again made him hesitate.

He stood at the sidewalk, using his ears to lead him to his target, and soon enough he found a large street with plenty of speeding cars.

"Scott... Scott. Scott?"

He heard someone call his name. It sounded young and soft, yet oh so distant that he could barely hear it over the sound of passing cars. A Hallucination? A dream? It must be Alex. Yes, Alex was calling him to join him, just another step or two and he could finally end his suffering and meet up with his family again.

His mind made up, he took a deep breath to steel his nerve, yet he only managed to get one step before he felt a hand grabbing his shoulders and pulling him roughly back.

"Woah, you alright there, Scott? Haven't anyone ever told ya about checking both sides before crossing?"

A childish laugh with only the faintest hint of masculinity. He made sure to screw his eyes shut just in case any death rays would escape from them. He didn't think he had it in him to stand knowing he caused another death. He almost flinched and opened his eyes when he sensed a hand suddenly imposing itself in front of his face.

It only took a moment for him to realize the other boy was offering him a hand to get up.

He reflexive reached out for it before slapping it away. His hands were shaking uncontrollably, a heady cocktail of emotions stirring up inside of me. Equal parts of fear, relief, and anger. Anger at himself for being a coward, and anger at the lost opportunity to see everyone again.

"Shut up, I didn't ask for your help! Just leave me alone-"

His emotional turmoil and sudden outburst of rage were a mistake because it stimulated his powers like nothing else and it felt as if there was a tidal wave, a tremendous build-up of thunderous pressure, behind his eyes. Like a cracked dam it was ready to burst at any moment. He sat with his head between his legs hoping to contain the imminent explosion and prevent any more casualty. It'll be fine if he only blew himself up.

"Run." Scott's muffled voice came out from beneath his arms.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I said run! Go! Get out of here! Hurry, before its too late!"

At least this way only he would have to die, and that was what he wanted... Wasn't it?

"You're not really making sense, Scott, why would I run? What would I even be running from? Also, it's really very rude to avoid looking at someone you're talking to, ya know?"

This... Idiot! Here Scott was trying to sacrifice himself to save him, and the stupid asshole was just now crouching next to him to get a better look at his face.

"What's wrong? Does your stomach hurt? Or are you hungry? Chin up, I know a really good burger joint just down the street, so how about you come with me and we'll get you something to eat, eh? I also have something important to talk to you about."

Scott was so busy trying to hold in his powers and trying not to freak out about the imminent explosion that he barely heard what Andrew was saying, so he was understandably taken by surprise when the other boy tilted his face up. So surprised actually that his eyes snapped wide open, and twin beams of destruction flowed out like a leaky faucet, converging right on the other boy's face.

He felt his tears renew themselves but they were quickly evaporated into crimson steam from the intense red energy emitting from his eyes.

He shouted in horror, screaming his throat hoarse while using all his might to close his eyes once more, but the lids just wouldn't shut and his hands were merely knocked away.

Once you opened Pandora's box, it was oh so difficult to close.

After minutes of herculean effort, he managed to tilt his head towards the sky, watching as the red streak parted the clouds above him before slowly thinning and disappearing. He felt as he if had just attempted to sprint an entire marathon, but once his vision cleared and he quickly covered his eyes with shaking hands and scrambled towards the other boy.

In a distant part of his mind, he knew there was no way in hell the other boy had survived having taken what was basically a bazooka to the face like that, but he still had to do- to do what he didn't know, just that he had to do something! It wouldn't be right of him to run away again without at least trying.

"So, did you manage to get it all out of your system yet?"

A cocky grin was on his face, smoke and steam rising off him as if a cloud had somehow formed at ground level. Ironically, Summer was his least favorite season of all in spite of his last name. It was always unbearably hot, people were disgusting and smelled, and sweating was gross. That was not to mention the traumatic experience that orphaned him.

But now, regardless of the fact that the heat was intense and Scott felt like he just stuck his face in an oven, he had never felt happier. Against all expectations, the other boy was perfectly fine! Heck, even his clothes seemed immaculate!

While Scott was busy wiping away his new tears of relief, Andrew had texted Ororo and Jean and was internally sweating a bucket full.

What the shit, I could've died form that!

Guns and knives literally couldn't do jack shit to him for all intents and purposes, his body was extraordinarily tough and because he wasn't actually fully human he could reabsorb any missing pieces or patch up any holes. He could literally pick up a chopped off arm and stick it back on or turn it into biomass and reform it within seconds if he had too.

Heck, he could walk off getting hit by a truck or even pulverized into a meaty paste or ooze and be none the worst for wear as long as his overall mass was still there.

Getting blasted by laser beams of dooms were apparently not on his list of immunities sadly. Thankfully Scott didn't manage to get a clear look in his panic with his vision so consumed in red, but his head had actually been caved in and almost blown off his neck!

Worst of all was the fact that rather than simple blunt force trauma it actually burned away at his body and destroyed the Biomass, breaking it down into char or turning it into ashes, something he couldn't quite recover and recycle and unlike Wolverine or the other people with super regeneration he still had to follow the fundamental rules of Science.

Energy and matter can not be created nor destroyed.

All the matter and biomass had to come from somewhere after all.

He can't believe a little kid managed to knock him off his feet and almost blow off his head. His body may be small and the size of a child, but it was incredible dense. Andrew’s weight was around 500-600 pounds last time he checked, and with how much he eats on a daily basis it was probably a good deal more now.

Well, more like 400 now if he was lucky, he was under fire for a good 5 minutes after all. Nothing quite as quick as amputation and mutilation for fast weight lost evidently.

"Y-you're alright! Thank God, I thought I killed you- I'm so sorry, no, are you alright? Wait. How are you alright?!"

The younger boy patted Him down and checked over him, a small peek confirmed that his laser beams seemed to have run out of juice for now and he quickly looked over Andrew. Not so near-death experience aside, it was quite endearing and cute having someone worry over him like this, but there were things to do so he cut it short.

"Easy there, Scott, I'm fine, see?" He made a show of flexing his rather slender biceps with a confident smirk.

"...Wait-a-minute, how did you know my name?"

"Well, that's... a very good question!" Oh boy, how to make himself not sound like a creepy stalker? "and I'm sure you have plenty more such as why your eyes suddenly became death rays. This is quite understandable really, and I can answer all your questions, but first let's get out of here before anyone like the police comes. Also, I have to meet up with my friends, so... How about that burger?"

Thankfully there were no pedestrians and they were both long gone before the local authorities arrived.