Xaviers!

The stone-coated and sooty-clothed Drake watched In as a tiny bird of fire flitted about before him. With a sudden flash it exploded back into a Cerberus.

"Damnit! Stay tiny!" he fumed, stomping the ground and sending up and puff of ash. He was keeping the fiery "pet" a manageable size for longer each time, but he was getting frustrated by being relegated to the Danger Room and infirmary until he can either control it or turn it off.

In response, the hellhound blazed brighter.

(open)

"Try to stay calm." Ashlie's voice comes over the intercom. "Heightened emotional states strongly correlate with lessened control and stronger manifestations of powers. It will take some time to get used to different powers than what you're used to. Try to remember the first time you used your wings. New muscles need new muscle memories."

Breathe in. Breathe out.

"I don't plan on remaining this way. I just can't stand being cooped up."

"We're looking into what happened and X-Corp is monitoring a number of people affected for signs of their powers fading, but until we can reconstruct enough of Conduit's machine to actually determine what she did to you there isn't a lot we can do. Your genetic profile is stable. Epigenetics are still being analyzed, but there's a chance that this is not going to revert on it's own."

"A dragon is who I am. Not whatever this is," he said bitterly.

"If I can't be that, if I can't fly, I don't know who I am."

"I understand your plight, I do, but there is a good chance what is keeping you from a larger amount of control, what is keeping you in here for safety reasons, is exactly that disdain. It happens to many mutants when their powers first manifest. You can't control what you're unwilling to engage with."

"Then what do I do? I may have managed it during the fight, but my powers were so much a part of who I am that I don't know how to accept this."

"We do have a counselor on staff, but in the short term, how did you manage during the fight? Adrenaline and stress play a part in it, but it might help to put yourself in that mindset to get a better feel for how to flex your new proverbial muscles."

"I reminded myself I'm still the same on the inside. But that doesn't seem to be working now."

"It's a sensible place to start. Identity is a difficult subject at times even for regular people. And it's not impossible that we'll be able to reverse this, right now focus on reigning it in, not anything too elaborate. Try not to force it, find a natural resting point. Once you don't have to be cooped up in here you'll feel better too." Plus they would eventually need the room for Tereza and Vivienne, but Drake doesn't need that kind of pressure right now.

"The biggest problem is that the natural resting point seems to be big flaming hellhound."

"Okay, perhaps a point requiring some effort instead. Just try to slowly move there instead of forcefully trying to wrench it into shape."

Drake calmed himself and focused on slowly molding the fire like clay. Gradually it began to shrink as he carved bits away and morph into something more preferable. But the changes stalled as his impatience got the better of him.

"Come ooon... be a dragon already," he complained in the way only teenagers can.

"It will get there. Worry about specifics later, let it take a small form you don't have to force so much."

At the risk of stealing a cosmic being's shtick, Drake let it settle into its Greek groove and take the form of a small phoenix. It flapped over and settled on his shoulder. Somehow it didn't set anything he was wearing on fire.

"I guess that'll do," he said, "Well, it's a start anyway."

"Well done. You'll get the hang of it and we have plenty of resources for learning better control, don't hesitate to ask if you could use the help."

"Thanks," he responded, smiling slightly. Well, maybe. It was hard to tell with his rocky exterior.

"How long should I wait before I can leave?"

"Give it twenty minutes and if it stays under control you're okay to take off."

"Awesome."

"But please don't say take off."