"Oh Jamie…" called Roberto as he and Samuel approached the younger boy from behind. Jamie turned around to face them. "Yeah, what?"

Samuel and Roberto smiled mischievously. "You want to become an X-man, right?"

"Of course," the brown-haired boy replied, unsure of what they were getting at.

"Well, if you really want to be an X-man there's little something you have to do first…" Samuel glanced at Roberto, who nodded in agreement.

"Well, tell me!" Jamie said, eagerly. He wanted to be real X-man like the older students.

"Did you hear about the arrival of the Wild Beast?"

"Huh?"

Roberto calmly leaned against the youngest boy, smirking a bit. He was hoping to give the kid a good scare. "The Beast is actually an angry, violent, feral monster."

Jamie swallowed hard. "Well uh, w-what do I have to do to him?"

"Fight him, of course!" Samuel quipped. Then he took Jamie by the shoulders and began pushing him towards the laboratory. "And you can't chicken out… because if you do, you'll have to wash our underpants for a whole month! Won't that be fun?"

Jamie shook his head, feeling nervous. He was a new student here, but only a week he had played a prank on Samuel and Roberto – he filled their gym shoes with peanut butter. So naturally, he figured those two would try to get even. But why did have to be like this? He got even more nervous when the two older boys pushed him up to the closed door of the laboratory.

"Good luck, Jamie. But whatever you do, don't let the Beast eat you."

Jamie's hand trembled as he turned the doorknob, then cautiously stepped inside the lab. Once he was inside, the other boys closed the door hard behind him.

"H-Hello?" Jamie said quietly, throat dry and palms sweaty. "Anybody here?" His eyes darted around the room, searching for any form of dangerous beings.

It was quiet. Too quiet. The boy turned around, starting to slowly walk backwards. It wasn't long before he hit something with his back. He whirled around and gasped.

Standing over him was giant, blue brute of a mutant. He had a pair of glasses perched on his nose, and looked very startled to see Jamie.

Jamie turned to run for his life, but he felt the back of his pants being firmly grabbed. Then he was lifted a few feet in the air. "No, no! Let me go!" he begged and kicked his legs, frantically. "Please! Don't hurt me!"

The Beast held up the kid so that he could look him in the eye. "Ssh… Now, now. Just take it easy, young fella," said the Beast in a soothing tone. He coaxed as gently as could, so he could calm down the boy.

"I won't hurt ya," Beast assured Jamie, still holding him above the ground. Jamie kept up his struggling, but not so violently anymore. He had calmed down a bit.

"Calm down, son… Now just tell me why you're here," Beast spoke gently.

Jamie gulped. He then explained about the bet and what Roberto and Samuel had told him. When he was finished explaining, the Beast shook his head and sighed heavily. Then he put the boy down and told him the whole story about how he came to be the Beast.

"Y-You mean you're not a wild person?" Jamie asked, timidly.

"Well, not really," Beast chuckled. "I'm a gentle beast."

Jamie smiled in relief. Then he suddenly remembered the bet he made with Roberto and Samuel. "Um, Beast… can I ask a favor?"

Meanwhile outside the lab, Roberto and Samuel were impatiently waiting for Jamie to come out. "What's taking so long?" Samuel wondered. Roberto pressed his ear against the door.

"It sure got quiet in there," Roberto said after a moment. "Let's go inside." So the two teens went into the lab – and were surprised to find that all the lights were off. Suddenly, the door slammed shut as if to trap them inside. It was actually Jamie using his powers, but the two older boys had no idea what was happening.

Suddenly, they heard something – a low bear-like growl coming from somewhere in the room.

"W-Who's there?" stammered the two teens, their panic showing. There was no reply. Only more growling. Then all of a sudden… A ground-shaking ROOAARRR! made two nearly jump out of their skin. They shrieked girlishly and dashed out of the lab at top speed.

When Roberto and Samuel were long gone, Jamie turned the lights back on and winked at the blue mutant. "Good one! Those guys will be scared for months!"

A grin crept across Beast's broad face. Then he and Jamie both busted out laughing.

"I'm Hank McCoy. How about you?"

"I'm Jamie," smiled the brown-haired kid. The two chatted for a few minutes, until Jamie decided that he still had to fight with the Beast… just not in a malicious way. The youngster had a better idea.

"Mr. McCoy, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, son. What is it?"

Jamie cleared his throat before asking. "Are you…are you ticklish?"

"T-Ticklish? Me?" Beast giggled nervously. "Well, maybe a little."

Jamie grinned evilly and then used his powers to create three identical duplicates of himself. Then he and the clones pounced on Beast, knocking him down and pinning him to the floor.

"Tickle Time!" sang Jamie, scribbling his fingers on Beast's toned belly. Meanwhile, the clones were busy tickling his armpits, neck, and feet.

Beast laughed hysterically and begged for them to stop. "JAHAHAHAHAHAHAMIE! NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOHOHO! STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAP! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"I told Roberto and Samuel I was going to fight you! But I didn't say how I would do it…" Jamie laughed as he tenderized the blue mutant's upper body, digging into every rib.

"NAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAT THAHAHAHHAHAHAT! OOHOHOOHOHOHOHHOHOHOHOHO! NOHOHOHOT FAHAHAHAIR TEAMING UP WITH ALL OF YOU AT ONCE! AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!"

Jamie's duplicates tickled the science teacher mercilessly. But deep down, the boy was really thankful he had just made a new friend.

The End