"Help me! Can somebody help me please?!"
Her throat burned as she cried out, running around the corner of brick building, coming face to face with stone as she rested her forehead against the rough, scratchy surface. Her legs felt like lead strapped down with tons of metal, and then magnetized to the concrete. The sweat going down her neck felt cold as north-eastern winds blew by, allowing her to notice how damp the back of her shirt and legs were. She turned around and pressed her back against the wall, lowering herself to the ground, careful of any glass shards or other sharp pieces of trash that could cut into her bare legs. In her hand she felt the knitted material that made up her hat, and in the other a camera.
"Hey, Mutie~ Where'd ya go?" "Yeah, we were just about to have some fun!" The shouts of the mob, made up of men and women that looked to work honest jobs and had loving families, echoed throughout the quite Bayville city streets. Perhaps it was that, the idea of such honest looking people being capable of such atrocious, ignorant actions, that made Roxanne Harper's stomach churn, and made her hair stand on end. The idea that they could say such slurs and threats didn't make the teen want to think of what they would do if they found her. She tried to slow her loud, panting breath as she heard the heavy boots and clicks of heels.
"Hey, I think she's over here!" "Let's get her!" Roxanne ran a hand through her hair as she saw the soft glow of headlights and flashlights. She took a deep breath and pressed herself against the wall, hiding her face in her hat.
"Go away.. please do away.." She looked up to hear the metal screech of the fire escape come down, cursing herself.
"She's over there!" The murmur crescendoed into a roar of hate and vehemence as she got up and sprinted, rounding the at the other end of the alley way. She held her hat and her camera close to her chest as she looked up at a lamppost, closing her eyes and clenching her fists as she ran toward it,
"C'mon… c'mon!" The car pulled to a screeching stop as the angry citizens looked around, some swearing they could hear a faint 'Alright!' echo into the night.
"It appears a new mutant has been detected." The professor looked up to face the other residents of the mansion as he entered the dining room,not before turning to a woman with mocha-colored skin and strikingly white hair."Logan, Ororo, I'm sure you and the others don't mind finding this new ally, do you?"
"Vhat? But ve just started dinner professor!" A boy with blue fur and even bluer hair whined, looking as if he was just about to dig into his food.
"Relax, Kurt. Dinner will still be here when we get back." A taller brunette with sunglasses across from him smiled, he and the red-haired woman beside him standing up,
"Don't worry professor, we'll find them." Another girl piped up, looking between the two men, her ponytail swishing, "Say, where exactly is the new recruit?"
"Cerebro said she was at Howard and Pine Park." The weather witch, Ororo Monroe, headed back into the room with Cerebro, following Charles and the other students towing behind.
"Another girl? Aw man, I hope she's not all 'Omg no way he said that? No way no way no wayyy.'" A boy the same skin tone as Ororo with blonde hair said to Kurt, raising his voice a few octaves to add emphasis. The blue boy laughed, seeing the disgruntled look they got from the brunette with the pontyail.
"Oh relax, Kitty, you're not like zhat… some of zhe time." Kitty's face went from a smile to a scowl, glaring at the two, "Yeah well at least she's not a boy who skateboards down the halls or sheds all over!"
"Hey!" "It's not my fault it's getting varmer! Besides, chicks dig zhe fur." A taller girl, clad in a black mini skirt with a green sheer top and a black bralette rolled her eyes, walking past them.
Ororo and Scott stood beside Jean as she and professor were looking at the coordinate grid, the tall red-head looking to her fellow X-Men, "She's with the Brotherhood now…"
Scott frowned, adjusting his glasses, "We better hurry then." The group ran out to change, with Charles wheeling himself out at a normal pace.
"Yes, but how did she get to the Brotherhood so quickly?" He glanced back at the map before exiting the room.
"Aw, c'mon babe! Just gimme one- Hey wha's goin' on with the TV?" Todd Tolanski, also known as Toad, looked over at the electronic as a girl with short black hair swatted at him with a magazine, glaring daggers.
"Maybe it's just out again." She settled back onto her spot on the couch, flipping through the pages of different fashion trends and gossip. Wanada Maximoff wasn't big on the latest trends, but even she had to admire when seasonal jackets were coming in, especially ones similar to the trench coat she wore, which was beginning to wear and tear. Not that she didn't like the holes and worn-out look, but soon the poor fabric might fall apart.
"I dunno… it's all- woah!" Todd shouted for the other housemates of the Brotherhood's home as he saw a thing, no, a girl, fly through their Tv.
"Uh… sorry! I don't really know the controls yet.." Roxanne chuckled, sitting on her knees with her hat and camera still in her arms. She stood up and brushed her knees off, looking around.
"Say.. wasn't this place on the news?" She heard footsteps and turned to see three more boys, well… two and what looked like a goliath of a highschooler.
"Say… don't I know you from somewhere?" She asked, looking between the group of teens.
"Who are you?" "Yeah, you've sure got a lot of guts to mess with the Brotherhood!" "Especially during tv hour!" The largest boy whined, stomping his foot. The red-head jumped, watching as the rafters shook a little.
"Boy, talk about bringing the house down.. The Brotherhood? Hey! You guys were on the Tv the other day!"
"And you just came through ours!" "What?!" The brunette and white-haired boy, what Roxanne knew as Avalanche and Quicksilver, turned to face Toad, who was perched on the arm of the couch by the Scarlet Witch
"Yeah! She just.. phom! Right through the Tv! Say, you a mutant?" The intruder looked over to the Tv, watching as the picture went from black and white static to a clear, color screen.
"Well…I wouldn't call it a 'phom'.. more like.. 'zeww' and I guess. I came here to meet a Professor Xavier, but I'm sure you guys've already met him, huh?" She gulped, noticing the glares she was getting from Quicksilver, and a look of disgust from Avalanche.
"So, you're one of those X-men losers, huh? Guess we'll have to teach them to keep better care of their newbies." Lance's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he held his arms out, causing the floor to shake and Roxanne to fall back over, not before being picked up by Pietro and rushed out the door at his super-sonic speed.
"Woah…" She groaned, holding her head. She felt a strong grip on her arm and shook it off, "You could've just asked me to leave y'know! I mean c'mon, I just went through your Tv, no 'Are you okay?' 'Do you need anything to drink?'?" She joked, turned to face the speedster.
"Sorry Missy, we aren't hospitable to X-Losers." "I'm not even an X-Men..er.. X-Girl yet! Talk about over-reacting."
"So what are you doing coming through our Tv huh? You're lucky we don't make you pay for damages or anything."
"Like I said, I don't have exact control of.. well.. whatever it is I do." Pietro looked over at her, raising an eyebrow, "Which is?" He wasn't going to get that question answered, at least, not until much later, as the winds around them picked up and a jet began to descend to the lawn of the Boarding House.
"Back off, Pietro!" Scott and Kurt jumped from the jet, the German porting them down to safe ground, as Jean used her psychic powers to bring Kitty and Evan down with her. The shorter red-head looked in awe at the heroes, clad in their infamous uniforms and standing in a well known group formation.
"Wow! The X-Men, here to get lil' ole' me? Color me special!" She grinned and waved, earning odd looks from both faction leaders.
"You mean you're not in danger or anyzhing?" Kurt stared at the girl, scratching the side of his head, "I zhought zhis vas an emergency…"
"I guess you could say it is, I'm starving! And these people are so not hospitable!" Roxanne pointed at Pietro, sticking his tongue out at him. He scowled, "You better watch it! You're on Brotherhood turf, and we're not afraid to wipe the floor with you." He gawked as she walked over to Storm and Logan, who had calmly walked out of the jet after it landed. he could hear the other housemates run outside, clad in their villainous uniforms.
"Are you Miss Monroe? I'm really sorry about all this…" She looked up to face a warm smile from the weather witch, a gloved hand being placed on her shoulder.
"That's quite alright, why don't we head back to the mansion? It seems you and Nightcrawler could go for dinner." After a tensious stare off between the X-Men and the Brotherhood, Scott turned around and headed back to the jet, with Kitty, Evan, Jean and Kurt in tow. Rogue was standing beside Logan at the base of the Jet's small set of stairs, the wind whipping their hair around. Rogue tried to control her wild hairdo, while Logan just shrugged and boarded, Roxanne and Storm behind him.
"For once, it's a easy recruit mission, huh?" Hank McCoy, a large blue man with a head of long, blue hair and a pair of glasses atop his nose looked over his shoulder at the passengers, giving Roxanne a smile. She smiled back, taking a seat at the back of the jet. Logan nodded and took his seat across from Storm, who sat in front of Rogue with Kitty and Evan sitting behind her, respectively. Scott sat behind Logan, who sat in front of Jean, and Kurt behind her. He ported to his seat, buckling in. He turned around when he heard coughing from behind, "Sorry, I didn't see you zhere…" He frowned, embarrassed. The overall-clad girl shrugged, "No biggie, just give a girl a warning, 'kay?" She laughed, hearing his stomache growl, "I guess you're hungry too huh?"
"No kidding! I felt like my stomach vas about it eat itself!" Hank chuckled, hearing the conversation from the back of jet, "Don't worry Kurt, we'll be home shortly." Roxanne shared a sigh of relief with her new blue friend as she slipped her beanie on over her ears.
Kitty and Even turned to face the new recruit and Kurt, Kitty phasing over to sit beside Evan to get a better view of her, "Say, what's your name? I'm Evan, and this is Kitty, and the blue dude's Kurt. Auntie O's the lady in the front, Logan is the grump, Rogue is behind Logan, and 's riding shotgun."
"I'm Roxanne. Roxanne Harper, and it's nice to meet you guys. You can call me Roxxie." Kitty grinned, "Are you thinking of staying at the mansion?" Roxanne nodded, "I hope too. When I saw you guys on Tv, I wanted to learn more about using my powers, for good." She looked over to see Scott and Jean smiling at her, "You've come to the right place. I'm Jean Grey, and this is Scott Summers."
"Nice to meet you both." The jet soon made it back to the mansion, where Professor Xavier awaited them in the hanger. Everyone got off the jet, Roxanne chatting Kitty, Kurt and Evan about various teenage things, while the older members of the group walked over to the Headmaster.
"Mission accomplished, Professor." Scott grinned, gesturing to Roxanne. She looked up at met the older man's eyes, walking over.
"H-hello, you must be Professor Xavier."
"Yes, and you must be the new student. That is, if you choose to be. Here at the Xavier Institute we don't force mutants to join our side, the decisions they make are theirs." She nodded in understanding, allowing him to continue.
"Cerebro detected you at Howard and Pine Park, and then you were suddenly with the Brotherhood. By the looks of things,it doesn't appear that they tried to kidnap you, could you shed some light on this mystery?"
"Maybe she's got powers like Kurt!" Kitty thought aloud, wrapping one arm over the blue demon and another over the short girl's shoulders.
"Vhat? Really?" "W-well, not exactly…" Roxanne started, following the faculty members back to the dining hall.
"I'm not sure why, but sometimes I can like… go through eletronics. Like, I was at Howard and Pine, right? And then these group of anti-mutant jerks started chasing me, and I was able to travel through the lamppost to the Brotherhood's TV…" She giggled as she recounted the scene, hearing Evan and Kurt laugh behind her.
"Talk about channel surfing, so you're like Berserker huh?" Roxanne turned to Evan and then back to Charles, "If you don't mind me asking, whose Berzerker?"
"Ah, yes. Berzerker is another mutant here, his abilities grant him electrokinesis, although I've never seen him move through electrical appliances. He is out however, at a classmate's birthday party, but he should arrive back in the morning." The professor couldn't help but chuckle, "At least, I would like to think so." That earned a laugh from the rest of the group, with the exception of Logan, who just smirked.
"Kids'll be kids, Charles." Logan made a turn and went back to his room to change, as did the others, Kitty who phased through a door and Kurt who ported into his room.
"I suppose we can wait for them while they get ready to resume dinner. Come, Roxanne." The redhead looked around at the decor in awe, "You're home is beautiful, like something out of a magazine…" They passed by a mirror and she was able to get a good look at herself, after everything that happened. Her short red hair was tucked under her beanie, a knitted, mustard color creation she made while following a tutorial in a craft book. Purple lips looked back at her with a small smile, with her glasses lenses glaring a little under the light. Her overalls were a medium denim wash, with little knicks in the leg parts of her shorts, with a black on white polka dot long sleeve shirt. she had the sleeves down, since it was a little chilly out, with her legs covered in goosebumps and her maroon thankfully not dirtied by the trash she had ran through in the alleyway.
"By chance, do you parents know you're out? Afterall, it is rather late, and they might be worried about you." Roxanne looked over to the man in the wheelchair, her reflection giving her a farewell as she took one of the seats without a plate of food in front of them.
"Well, sorta. I'm visiting a friend really, and while we were out walking around the park she mentioned the Institute, and how there's a group of people using their abilities to help. Her parents know I'm here, sorry about not visiting during your working hours." She gave him a sheepish smile and the professor shook his head.
"No, it's quite alright. Afterall, our job is to help people, and to help new mutants like you control their abilities. I was just wondering if they would mind you staying for dinner, so you can get a better feel of living with the other students."
"They should be fine with it, as long as I call them and let them know. I'm gonna learn to use my powers, whether they like it or not." Charles couldn't help but smile at the young girl's determination. "My dear, I believe tenacity like that will have you accompanying the others on missions in no time.
"You mean she's staying?" "Vunderbar!" Roxanne couldn't help but smile and laugh as Kitty and Kurt came back down, speaking so fast she could barely keep up with what they were saying.
"Woah woah, easy guys." Scott came in with Jean and Evan, the skateboarder sitting down.
"Yeah, you two might just scare her off." Roxanne looked over to see the quiet girl from before, with the auburn bob and the two streaks of white. She smiled when she sat next to her, "Say, I really like your hair." Rogue looked over to her, noticing how short the girl was. She looked like she stood at about 5'1 or 5'2, and the overalls made her look like a gradeschooler. She looked away shyly, "Thanks, I like your earrings." Roxanne blinked before reaching up to feel the pair of thunderbolt earrings that hung from her earlobes, "Thanks! I forgot I had these on."
"How? Zhey're like hanging from your ears!" "Kurt, you'll never understand earrings."
Roxanne grinned mischievously, "Unless he gets his pierced." The table laughed as the elf covered his ears, bamfing away to the other side of the dining hall.
"Nuh-uh! No vay! Nobody pierces the fuzzy one's ears!"
"Bye guys! Thanks for driving me home, Scott!" She waved as the red and white sports car drove off into the Bayville night, back to the mansion where madness ensued. Roxanne turned back to face the front door and walked in, seeing her friend sprawled out on the carpeted living room while her parents sat on the couch.
"Yo Rox! What did they say?" A girl with long blonde hair and big blue eyes grinned, wearing a pair of high waisted jeans with an orange crop top and various bangles and necklaces.
"I'm joining the X-Men, tomorrow I'm going to spend the day with them to get a feel of it all." She walked over and sat next to her friend, not before giving her parents hugs and greeting them. The girl squealed and hugged her, "Imagine, you, a superhero!"
"There's a lot more to it than just heroism."
"...Cute guys to rescue? Key to the city? Hero discounts?" The two teens shared a laugh, Marina turning the channel to their favorite crime show.
"I guess those could be bonuses, but no. I'll be able to finally control my powers, be able to start a new chapter, y'know?"
A few minutes later, the girls were ready to go to bed. Mariana was sitting on her bed while Roxanne was laying on the bunk above her, "G'night, Mari."
"Sweet Dreams, Roxxie!" The lights went off and darkness slowly crept into the room, being held back by the streetlamps outside Marina's window, giving the curtains a soft blue hue. Roxanne tucked her glasses underneath her pillow, staring up at the ceiling. "Roxanne Harper, X-Men." She smiled, reaching up to pick at one of the stars, feeling the adhesive glue catch under her fingernail.
"But you can call me Roxxie."