Template:Featured Articles/49-2007
| Icarus: Joshua "Jay" Guthrie is the third Guthrie sibling, just about a year younger than Paige. As a young boy he admired both his older brother and older sister, but when he grew up and they left for Xavier's, the fondness quickly grew to resentment and distrust. He felt abandoned, that the responsibility to work in the mines and help their mother raise the family was thrust upon him without him asking for it. And when his mutation manifested just five months later, it only served to deepen his bitterness, instead of developing a sense of empathy with Sam and Paige.
Jay realized that he was gay at 13, but given his perception of Kentucky values, kept it a secret. He also developed a taste for music at a young age, and his mother bought him his first guitar after his father died. It became the outlet for all his pent up feelings, although he rarely let anyone listen to the songs he wrote. When he was fifteen, he and his only friend at school, Manuelo, along with his friends James and Zach, formed a rock band, performing at town fairs and the local outdoors restaurant, The View. And that was where Josh met Kevin Cabot. When Jay's wings sprouted from his back in January of 2004, instead of hiding them, Manuelo suggested that he show them off during concerts, and pretend that they were prosthetics. Everyone thought that was really cool, and no one asked any questions. The following spring, Kevin went backstage after a performance to introduce himself to Jay, but before he could say anything, saw that his wings were real. Taken aback, Kevin could barely speak before his sister Beth found him and dragged him away. Angrily, she explained to him that Jay was a Guthrie, a filthy mutant, while he was a Cabot. Guthrie and Cabots don’t mix. Jay went into a short bout of mild-depression at learning who Kevin was, but could not stop his feelings. Manuelo, tired of hearing his love-sick talk, finally told Jay to go get his boy. So one night he showed up outside Kevin’s window, who was arguing with his sister. They shared their first kiss, and snuck out to the pond by the Guthrie farm to make love for the first time. Their secret Romeo and Juliet-esque relationship lasted until August of 2004, when the Cabot patriarch started growing curious about where Kevin was going all the time. So one night, he and Kevin's older brothers followed him in secret. When they saw Kevin and Jay kissing passionately by the lake, they jumped out of their hiding place and attacked Jay. One of his brothers held Kevin back, while the other two and Mr. Cabot proceeded to attempt to beat Jay to death. Satisfied when he was unconscious, they left him for dead, with Kevin crying over his body. Kevin was utterly distraught, and he dragged Jay to the nearby lake and drowned them both, feeling that he was unable to live without him. However, that was the moment when Jay's healing factor kicked in. Waking up underneath the water, he swam to shore, taking Kevin's now lifeless body with him. Blaming himself for Kevin's death, he took a wooden stake from a nearby broken sign and tried to kill himself in true Shakespearean fashion. But his healing factor prevented him from dying. Ultimately he gave up and carried Kevin's body home. Outed as gay and as a mutant, Lucinda decided that her third son could only adapt if exposed to a change of scenery. So, against Jay's deepest wishes, she enrolled him in Xavier's for the 2004-05 academic year and sent him past the Mason-Dixon Line. Arriving in September 2004, Jay's first weeks at the school were not happy ones. Feeling betrayed by his mother, who had sent him away from his beloved family, resentful of Sam and Paige for 'abandoning' the family themselves and still grieving over the loss of Kevin, Jay was suspicious, brooding and difficult to approach. He began to slowly warm to his suite mates, as he, Forge and Kyle all arrived within a month of each other, despite initial issues with Kyle caused by their mutations, their very different outlooks on life, and their backgrounds. At one point, these issues led to a physical altercation, with the two beign separated by staff. Over time, Jay began to relax, making some inroads with his relationship with his siblings and beginning to accept his mutancy, to the point he even began performing in public again, with a series of gigs in Salem Center and elsewhere. It was after one of these gigs that history repeated itself for Jay in the worst way possible. Becoming the target for Tommy Jones' hatred of mutants, Jay was again severely beaten, this time almost losing the use of his wings. He saw the beating as some kind of punishment, for being gay or for being a mutant or for being plain dumb, and he refused to disclose to staff what had happened and who was responsible. When Tommy himself appeared at the school, close to death, it was particularly difficult for Jay to deal with, and difficult for those who hadn't known to understand the violence of his reaction. One good thing came of the incident - through the machinations of Catseye, Jay and Kyle found themselves sharing a bed, which led to them beginning a physical relationship, something which deepened as Jay let himself fall in love with the feral. In April 2006, Jay, Forge and Kyle were attacked by a mutant with the power to change the faces and bodies of others. Turned into the demonic-like 'monster' he believed himself to be as a mutant, Jay was forced to re-examine his personal beliefs and finally began to accept being a mutant. Then in June 2006, Kyle got involved with a fight club and was indiscrete with a groupie - when the news eventually reached Jay, he was distraught. The relationship ended and as graduation approached, Jay questioned his future at the school. Upon his graduation in July 2006, Jay decided it was time to seriously pursue his music career and went on tour with the members of the band from home, with whom he had remained in contact. He periodically contacted his friends from the school with news of his progress, however his success was largely exaggerated. In October 2007, broke and disillusioned, he allowed his mother to convince him to return to Xavier's and pursue a college degree. Jay shares an almost identical mutation with Angel. Red birdlike wings sprout from his back, which he can use to fly. His total wingspan is sixteen feet across, and they are strong enough to allow him to carry two-hundred pounds in addition to his own weight. His entire body is adapted for flight: hollow bones made of a strong but light calcium-like mineral, almost zero body fat, and an extraordinary musculature. He has a special thin but strong membrane over his eyes to protect them from the wind when he flies, and a respiratory system that enables him to extract oxygen even at high altitudes. He is able to fly at heights of up to 10,000 feet with little effort, and a maximum of 29,000 feet, at speeds of up to 120 miles per hour for a few hours before needing rest. Jay also has secondary and tertiary mutations. His blood carries a healing factor, which has already proved itself strong enough to revivify him after being beaten nearly to death. His last ability, almost trivial compared to the wings and healing factor, is his voice: he can sing multiple harmonies at once, sounding like a one-man choir. |
