Disclaimer: All copyrights and tradmarks are property of their owners. Christopher Sanders and Travis Sky are mine and are not to be used without my permission. Feel free to archive my work, but I'd like to get e-mail telling me where to go to find it. I'm not making any money off this so no one can sue me. Feedback is encouraged at [email protected]

A lone man in a black leather duster walks the mall. He seems oblivious to the warm spring weather, an Indiana Jones-type hat hiding his face. He looks over the railing of the second floor at the food court, his sad expression hidden by the shadows cast by his hat. That's me there. I'm Christopher Sanders, Chris to my friends, and I'm a mutant.

Now, before you jump to conclusions, I'm not hiding because I'm a freak, I'm hiding because of my power..love at a glance. Call it what you will.. mutie charisma.. mutant chick magnetism.. whatever. All I know is that since I turned 17, I have to hide from ladies everywhere I go.

It all happened a week after my 17th birthday. I was in the mall, the video store to be more specific, when it happened. A burning pain in my body, it felt like my insides were melting. A few people asked if I was ok and I said yes, being macho as usual. Then it stopped, no pain, and I could stand again. I checked my pulse, heartbeat, checked for missing organs, the works..I was fine..or so I thought. Then a babe, maybe a year older then me, sees me and without warning, walks up and kisses me. It wasn't an 'I like you' kiss, it was full of passion and longing, and I didn't even know her. I pulled away and she started kissing my neck. If that wasn't bad enough, another one joined in from behind me. When my friend Travis Sky finally freed me, I had about 6 or 7 women all over me and I was missing my shirt. But I wasn't safe, not by far. Once we had left the video store, the ladies proceeded to chase us, well..me at least, so we ran. They chased us through the mall until we jumped into my Travis's car and drove off.

It was on the ride home that Travis told me what happened. Turns out that the pain I went through was my power manifesting, or so he said. When I asked him how he knew that and he told me he was a mutant too, able to detect other mutant's manifestations. I must admit, I was in shock for a few moments there. This was Travis Sky, captain of the cross-country team, and it turns out he's a mutant? I wasn't one to talk since I was a mutant as well, but it was still a shock. When I finally came out of it, I realized something. "Great." I said, "So that's gonna happen everytime my power kicks in?" Travis shook his head. "Worse, your power is still on. Until you can turn it off, it will happen a lot."

So here I am, 21 years old, and it keeps happening. I have a little control now, for the good that does me. I barely got out of restaurant with half my clothes once. I wipe my brow and make the mistake of removing my hat. I don't realize this until it's too late and now I'm running for my life. Again. Heaven help me.

Another Portal - Back to the Void