It had been too quiet. He knew it, he had felt in his gut, but he had decided just this once to attribute it to his new surroundings. So many odd things had been happening around him, in this new environment with things he had never experienced, so he tried to give this uneasy stillness the benefit of the doubt. Never again. He had been sauntering back to his dorm room, ready to settle in for the night with Kai, when he heard it. The quiet night air was suddenly shattered by a piercing, deafening scream, causing the small boy to clutch at his ears viciously, ducking behind a nearby brick wall. The sound was relentless, and his hands did virtually nothing to muffle the sound. Finally, the shrill shriek began to recede, and the boy - now ducking, having been physically forced down by the sound - began to rise. He let out a shaky breath, eyes now darkened with suspicion. It was an odd thing - not comforting, but familiar, as his hyper-vigilance kicked into overdrive, feet quiet and eyes shifting.
He realized something wasn’t right as soon as the ringing in his head started. He tried to rub his hands together quietly next to his ear, then a couple of small snaps with his fingers. He couldn’t hear any of it, just that godawful ringing. His heart rate began to rise as the sole sound started to become painful. He put full focus into increasing his hearing now, shutting his eyes tight as he attempted to ignore his other senses for this moment. He applied mental pressure to his eardrums and cochleas. It was something he had taught himself when he wanted to drown out the sounds on the streets when he was sleeping under bridges and in city streets. But this time, he forced the pressure inwards, his brain running a current into his ears. He could feel sound begin to come back as he simultaneously tried to block out the ringing.
Both attempts were only mildly successful; whoever had let out the inhumane screech was powerful. He could hear now, but only muffled noises, and the ringing was no longer painful, but was still highly disruptive. Still, he could at least function. His nerves morphed with a certain resignation, growing determined to just get this to stop. He wrapped his cold fingers around the corner of the brick wall, peering around the edge just enough to catch a group of hostile mutants yards away on the other side, huddled up slightly, speaking in hushed, urgent whispers.
It was now or never. Not moving from his spot, he lowered his head slightly, focusing every bit of his energy on the men. He felt that familiar, radiating energy rush through him, ripping through every limb, both draining and exhilarating. His control over it still wasn’t great, but he had no other option at this point. He was a cornered animal, one that was always quick to strike. He could feel the energy flow into his skull, not so much a tangible feeling as a metaphysical one, difficult to explain to someone without mental powers. He felt the energy gather in his fingertips and behind his eyes, and that’s when he let it unleash.
His glare was what slammed them backwards, while his hands lifted to guide them. It was messy and quick, but it got the job done. Two of the men were flung into nearby trees (one of them being knocked unconscious), and one was thrown into the brick wall like a rag doll, and Theo would hear a couple crunches of bone. The final one, though, simply stood, eyes now hazy as he began to bleed... first from his nose, then his ears, and finally his eyes. Finally, he dropped to the ground, eyes still open, but unseeing. It was then that he could feel the blood begin to drip from his own nose because of the exertion, and he wiped a bit away with the back of his hand.
Theo felt a small shiver run down his spine, staring at the body until something else grabbed his attention: the sole conscious man - one of the ones who hit the trees - had spotted him. The man lifted himself off the ground, revenge drenching his eyes. Theo ducked behind the wall, realizing there weren’t too many other places to go. He felt the energy drained out of him from that mental assault - his mental stamina wasn’t great yet because of the lack of training. He would be okay in a couple minutes, but he knew he didn’t have that long. He stumbled slightly, catching himself on the wall as he tried in vain to will himself to recover more quickly. The feeling of blood continuing to drip down his philtrum all but ignored.
