"Stay back before I turn you into ash!" Reina shouts but the professor scoffs, "You can't hurt me so put that thing down before you get hurt".
Undeterred, she shouts a blast of flame but just like he said, she misses, giving the man the chance to kick Reina in the gut and put her in a wrist lock on the ground shouting, "Why have you come here!".
As she screams for him to get off he twists her arm tighter and presses his foot down against her throat while saying to Xavier, "Don't be a hero boy!".
Watching his sister struggle to breathe, Xavier gets down on his knees begging, "Please let her go. and I swear we won't come back here again, I swear!".
"Kill… Him" Reina gasps, her strength fading and her vision turning black as she struggles to break free.
"Please!" Xavier shouts, grabbing on to the man's coat. A portal begins to form above them so he eventually lets Reina go kicking and cursing, "I'm so fucking stupid. You shouldn't have come here! Do you realise what you've done, what this place is!?".
Charging at him Reina scream, "If we knew do you think I'd be a human candle you fucking prick!?" but Xavier holds her back whimpering, "Rey, stop we can't beat him".
Adjusting his clothes the man tells them, "That's right you don't know, I'm sorry, but I can't just let you leave, your new abilities are far too dangerous".
"But we're just kids, our parents will be looking for us!" Xavier shouts and the professor responds, "Children go missing all the time, besides your parents will be in danger if you stay so you're better off here than home".
"It's been two weeks since the incident, nobody has died and we've kept it under control. I only came here because… because I was scared and wanted to fix this" Reina says.
With a heavy sigh the man says, "Sit here and don't touch anything".
Two minutes later, he comes back with a bag of burgers and fries saying, "Here, you might want to eat, we could be here a while".
"Listen this is sweet but three minutes ago you tried to kill me and now you're offering us food, how do we know it's not poisoned, who are you anyway?" Reina asks suspicious of his sudden change in tone.
Grabbing a burger the man explains, "I'm the professor, I told you this before didn't I?" before taking a bite and remarking at the flavour of the meal.
"Professors have names you know" Xavier says, nervously drawing the bag closer to him and his sister.
"Professor Feynman, MIT, I studied nuclear physics and quantum mechanics".
"That's great, did you work here?"
"A long time ago, yes, but all that's in the past now, all I want is to stop what's coming" he says, putting a fry in his mouth.
"What is coming?" Xavier asks and the professor replies, "War".
Standing up Reina shouts, "This guy has clearly lost it, Xavier let's get out of here".
"And how will you do that? " the professor shouts, but they ignore him and take the first open door they see.
Once they're a good distance from him Reina whispers, "Do that thing and get us out of here" and Xavier whispers back, "I can't do it on purpose".
Kneeling down she shakes her brother with tears in her eyes, saying "I don't want to die here, you have to try something!".
"You can create a portal but you don't know where it will go, it could lead directly to a volcano or a random part of space… " the man says, appearing in front of them through a gap in the hallway just as a portal opens behind them.
"Please don't do this" the man begs and after a few seconds of contemplation the portal eventually closes.
Leading them to a small conference room the man says, " Let me show you what this place really is"
Sequence 2
Inside, the professor flips on a switch to reveal a pristine white room housing a table and several chairs neatly arranged in the centre.
He asks them to sit as he sets up a projector to play an old and scratched film with the words, "TRUTH" written haphazardly on its side then turns off the lights.
"Welcome to the Dawsonville Nuclear Test Facility, this introductory film you are about to watch is presented by the U. S. Department of Energy and contains information critical to your safety.
This facility was engineered for the research and development of … "
The film begins to show signs of damage as it shifts to display a haggard looking man in a lab coat and glasses shouting, "Hello? Can anyone hear me? If you can and you are hearing this message the project failed… There were few survivors…God damn it Charles, turn that thing off…".
The film cuts again for several seconds and the man comes back on screen saying, "They say this facility was built to study nuclear aircraft but that is a lie, the real reason we were sent down here was researching exotic matter and its application for displacement over long distances.
The first experiments were successful but things started to change after 5 years. People and objects started disappearing, strange creatures would appear out of nowhere.
We asked the higher ups to stop but they just wanted more data, trapping us inside. Still we persisted until things got out of control… I'm running out of film, I will continue this, if I am still alive… ".
The film finally ends and the professor says, "Now do you understand the danger you've put yourselves in?".
"This still doesn't explain what happened to us, or why you're here"
Switching the projection the professor explains "Your brother, somehow, gained the ability to manipulate quantum fields and create wormholes. This was the technology we tried to implement here but as you are already aware, wormholes can be quite dangerous and unpredictable.
Turning to Xavier he continues, "Your sister on the other hand I have no idea what caused her abilities, I can only speculate that she is releasing fissile material in minute amounts.
The bottom line is you are both going to be stuck this way for the foreseeable future".
"So we're going to be stuck like this forever???" Reina shrieks and the professor responds, "I do not have the ability to cure you, the ones who might have that ability won't cure you because you are useful to them, I hope now you can see the difficult situation we're all in?".
"If you can't cure us, at least show us how to control it so we don't, you know, kill somebody by mistake" Xavier asks.
The man shuts off the projection and tells Xavier, "I want you to think about the chair in front of you, don't think about Reina or anything else, just the chair" and he replies, "Okay… wait how do you know our names? We didn't tell you anything".
Exasperated, the Professor sighs, "You were shouting it all over the place now do what I told you to do!".
Reluctantly Xavier closes his eyes and forms a portal in front of him with the exit facing the chair below. The professor throws a pen and it lands gently on the seat causing him to sigh, "Oh thank goodness"
As the portal fades he tells them "It's getting late, the exit is down the hall through the red door, take the ladder, whenever you are able, come back".
Without wasting time, Xavier and Reina run out of the facility into the fresh air of the forest outside.
"Come on Xavier we need to get home before mom and dad get suspicious", Reina shouts and Xavier shouts back, "I know I know relax".
The two children eventually make it back late in the evening to the chagrin of their parents who were waiting for them outside.
"Where were you!?" Martina shouts and Reina replies sheepishly, "We were taking extra classes mom, sorry we stayed back too late".
With a raised eyebrow Martina asks, "Oh really, what did you learn in these classes?", growing more and more irate and Xavier replies, "We learned about quantum mechanics"
"In the 10th grade?" Thomas asks and Reina nods "Yes papa, it's a very advanced extra curricular ".
"Reina, I'm your mother so don't lie to me. This evening I received a call from your school that you got into a fight, now you come home with bruises on your cheek".
"They started it!" Xavier says but Martina shuts him up, "That boy's wrist is broken, now we have a meeting with his parents. When I told you to stand up for yourself I didn't mean do this".
Fighting back tears, Reina drops her bag and walks away saying, "You don't understand…"
Thomas shouts, "Come back here!" but she locks herself in the room and cries against the door while Xavier bears the brunt of their parent's rage.
Several minutes later, a portal opens and Reina runs up from the ground to hug her brother asking, "Did they hurt you?".
He shakes his head and tells her, "No, but I can't hide this anymore, we have to tell them what happened" but Reina begs him, "No Xavier you can't tell them, they'd only be in more danger".
"I can't do this alone Rey"
Holding him tighter, Reina says, "You won't be alone, I'll always be with you, I promise".
Sequence 3
At school Xavier And Reina sit with their parents in the principal's office to discuss what happened.
"So Miss Gallagher, I'm sure your parents already told you what happened, I just want to know what you have to say for yourself".
"What do you say about the thief who bullied my brother?" she asks, masking her rage through the fakest smile she could give.
Taken aback the principal replies, "We have a zero tolerance for all forms of bullying, but you can't take matters into your own hands. I'll recommend bi-weekly anger management counselling for two months, if you still want to stay in this school that is".
Once outside the principal's office, Martina slaps Reina and takes her out by the collar shouting and screaming while Xavier watches on silently with a heavy lump in his throat. After a few tense moments Thomas takes his son to his class with Reina several minutes later.
They spend the whole day without talking to each other but not leaving each other's side until the last bell rings then Reina says, "Xavier, you'll have to go without me".
He nods in affirmation and makes his way to a secluded area to form a portal which he peers through to get an idea of where it leads but accidentally falls inside slamming hard into the ground.
"Oh, you're here" professor Feynman says, surprised at his early arrival.
Picking Xavier up, he asks, "Where is your sister?".
"She's going through a hard time right now" he says, dusting his clothes and adjusting his hair.
"Well we don't have much time, catch!" he says, throwing a tennis ball directly at Xavier who forms a portal to send it flying upwards to the ceiling.
Catching the ball Feynman says, "That was pretty quick, try and send it to me this time!" before throwing it again.
This time, the portal sends the ball towards the Professor's head, knocking the glasses off his face".
Laughing, he picks up the glasses saying, "Great job, you're right on track, let's head get going, there's something I want to show you". Curious, Xavier follows him there to a storage closet and brings out two special outfits
Giving one to Xavier, he explains "We made these suits to protect us over the course of our tests, they come with their own life support and communication systems. I was 6going to throw them out but I believe you could make better use of them".
"I don't think it will fit" he says, as he tries to put it on but the professor insists "Don't worry, it will. I'm putting a lot of faith in you to do the right thing".
"I appreciate the sentiment but I'm just a boy you met yesterday" Xavier says, trying the suit on.
With a smirk, professor Feynman walks towards the door saying, "You still have so much to learn, now come on there's a lot more research we need to do".
The End?