Standard disclaimer: all I own out of the X-Men universe, which is the intellectual property of Marvel, is the characters created by me. The TCP concept (Tales of Common People – non superhero mutants living in the MU) I used in here belongs in turn to Phil Foster and currently deceased Kielle. Winterwarrior was a beta for the series. The series is a twin one to my "They Never Discovered Their Powers" one. It deals with the life stories of the owners of the X-Gene who, unlike the characters of the previous one, did discover their powers but the circumstances of the manifestation of their powers were specific – invariably having something to do either with the personality of the mutant or with the circumstances in which the power was manifested. Similar to the former series, the idea for the catalysts of mutations, that dawned on me, started from the thread of mine on the Marvel board, in which me and the other posters pondered the factors which could contribute to the manifestation of one's powers, as in many a case, the Marvel mutants' kind of powers depended on their mental state or the life threatening situation they found themselves in, at the moment of their discovering their powers. The ideas for the stories come from that thread.

If Sunneva Jakobsdottir was ever taken to a psychologist, they would give the teen the label of a psychopath. But even if they ever managed to get her to open up the darkest nooks of her heart before them, she would never be taken to one in the first place. Her parents were way too poor to care about taking their numerous progeny to doctors they didn't need, and too simple minded to ever discover that there was indeed something wrong with their daughter – she mastered the art of masking very well. She had practiced it since childhood, since she was old enough to realize her difference to other kids. And that it was something that should be hidden.

As a child, she didn't realize what it was that made her different – until she reached some age, even the very fact of this difference was something she was only subconsciously aware of – but when she was eight or nine, she caught this word from movies she watched and found it to be fitting. A psychopath. Yes, that's what she was. It was this which made her insusceptible to the world of emotions all but her seemed to experience. Like when her family's dog died of old age when the girl was spending a week in Reykjavik with her uncle. Her siblings cried out oceans of tears over their dead pet but the only feeling Sunneva felt was intensive disappointment that because of her absence, she couldn't participate in the dog's burial. It would have been interesting. Or when the same uncle died when she was eight. She liked him but didn't feel anything – but for happiness that something interesting happened at last. It was fascinating – everybody was crying so hard. Sunneva always liked observing people experiencing strong emotions; however she didn't share them with them herself. Uncle was unmarried and childless which in practice meant that the whole family could take from his flat anything they needed. The girl took some items that previously belonged to him, that she found useful. These were way more important to her than her relative's life.

She didn't really feel anything but for mild shock, which soon left her, after her own sister's death in a car accident three years later either. Hekla was actually one of her less favorite siblings – very taciturn, interested only in books and not devoting too much time to her – and so much older than she was; they didn't have too much common ground – but she should, at least, have felt something more than relief that there was some more free room in their small house, made thanks to her death. And that maybe she could get her earrings now.

Not that her sister's jewelry was expensive and she had a lot of it; you can't afford expensive things when you live as one of ten – yes, ladies and gentlemen, you have heard well – as much as ten siblings in the small Seltjarnarnes near Reykjavik, where everybody knows you as a person from this large, poor family. Well, your family can't be otherwise than very poor, when all your parents earn has to be divided between you: Hekla, Sandra, Hrefna (with cardiac defect demanding special medication), Hildur and Kamilla (allergic to pollen and asthmatic) and brothers – Kjartan, Ari, Jakob Jr. and little Anton who has celiac disease and needs special food.

Sunneva hated her siblings. There were so many of them! Actually none of them did anything bad to her; their sole fault consisted in their being so numerous. All the kids at school made fun of Sunneva because of this or, to be more precise, because of her ugly, second hand clothes. She couldn't afford to buy something better and it was all her parents' fault! Her stupid, irresponsible parents. All those slobs were good at was reproducing. Couldn't they have just two, or at best, three children, like everyone else? Well, to be honest, the malicious remarks after some time weren't heard by Sunneva anymore; they stopped when her schoolmates found out that the girl, though short and skinny, could be really aggressive. One boy from their class lost his front tooth, another one, who was always calling the girl "pauper" discovered that someone destroyed his school textbooks, on which some unknown hand wrote vulgar words. Yes, the girl knew how to take revenge. At school and at home, where in turn she bullied her younger siblings. Just because there were so many of them. It was a good enough reason for her. Ari's composition torn off from his copybook and flushed down the toilet. Hiding Hrefna's medicines (maybe this ill cripple would die without them, it would be great). Informing Kjartan's best friend that she overheard him say bad stuff on the said friend. Informing little Hildur she wasn't their parents' real child – that she was found by them in a litter – she was just six and very naïve. A cockroach in Sandra's soup.

But the people the girl liked to pester most were her schoolmates. Not only those who tried bullying her, just anonymous students whom the teen liked to accuse before teachers of the most unbelievable things. And they believed her. Young Sunneva was so hurt by fate as it was – from a poor family and stuff, and let's not forget that her sister died – the poor girl must still be heartbroken because of it – everything worked to her advantage. Sunneva wasn't a type of intellectual; she was actually quite ordinary when it comes to intelligence, not an idiot but not a mastermind of evil either, but she was a real genius when we are talking about inventing ways of hurting others.

It was so at least, until she turned 14. Until the day of the brawl that broke out between her and her classmate in the school close. At least this time it was that other girl who provoked her. And it was this girl who regretted this very, very much. In fact, she regretted it for the next several hours, when she was lying in a hospital bed, writhing with horrible pain with seemed to penetrate every cell of her body. The teen felt like dying – she actually wanted to die, so bad the pain was. In spite of the painkillers which the doctors gave her, which didn't help at all. And when she came out of the hospital, she was very grateful to Providence for getting away with it. And the very first thing she did after coming out of hospital was apologized to Sunneva.

The aforementioned only smiled at the look of her repenting enemy. She was in a way too good mood to keep a grudge. The mood which was caused by this sudden awareness which out of a sudden flew down on her in the middle of the brawl, that from now on the days of her inventing new ways of hurting others were over. She would never do it anymore. Never ever. It was the last day of her racking her brains over making up the methods of making life unbearable for people.

Now there was the only one method she was going to use. She understood it in the middle of the brawl when, out of a sudden, she did it for the first time in her life. The newly found ability to make people experience a horrible pain of the whole body was certainly something wonderful.