--Poe Note--

This is an AU fic- Alternate Universe. This means it involves the X- Men characters, but some HUGE plot differences. In this story the setting is the present, the events that have happened in the real world apply. As far as the general public knows, the X-Men are comic book/ cartoon/ movie characters and do not exist in real life. Some of the characters in my other stories will be in here, but you don't need to read them to understand- this is a stand-alone fanfic.

No matter what you feel, I ask that you please review! Flames are greatly appreciated!

Now that I'm done rambling I'd like you to enjoy!

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A Shadow of Flame
by Poe's Raven

I'll admit it- I was weaned on Nightcrawler. No, No! Not that way, you sick-minded person, you! I mean, seriously, I've fallen for him since July 17, 1987- which, might I add, was the day I was smacked in the rear so that I could take my first breath. In other words, my birthday hails from then. A minute after midnight.

I guess it was a bit strange, especially since my parents knew next to nothing about the X-Men. Ever since I could read, I'd trot down the block to the public library and immersed myself in comic book collections. I'd flop in the faded honey-lemon coloured bean bag and read Spiderman, The Green Arrow, and even some old Captain America from the dregs of World War 2. Yet, the thing I cut my eyeteeth on was the one and only Uncanny- Uncanny X-Men, that is. And Excalibur, too. I was hooked. And that's also how I got my name, Ensei.

No, it's not Japanese, Chinese, Swahili, or any of that. In fact, it originally came from English. I remember- I was four, the librarian (you know, the one who always seemed to smell like poodles even though she owned three cats, the one who must have been two hundred and fifty- that librarian) would always sit with me watching me read. I guess it intrigued her that I'd already been visiting the library for some two years prior even to that, and that my book choice was not of the See Spot Run variety. Occasionally I'd have a word that I needed help reading or a translation (though by this point she'd taught me how to use a dictionary) and she'd always be there, helping me and watching.

But that day, Miss Marlene Jade Maycomb, head librarian of the Westfield Public Library (who still works there, even today) handed me a small wrapped floppy gift. It was the first issue of Excalibur, in perfect condition. My very own copy!

Which is your favourite? she'd asked. Kitty Pryde? Captain Britain?

In my four-year-old Chipmunk of a voice I squeaked back, Kurtty Wagner.

Hmm, Nightcrawler? Doesn't he scare you at all? Every time she bent down to speak with me, her glasses would always slip halfway down her nose. To be quite honest, this scared me more than the blue swashbuckling demon in the book, as it always seemed that Miss Maycomb's eyes grew whenever this happened. Grew, and changed hue as well, but it was not until several years later that I finally believed myself that it wasn't my own eyes tricking me.

N.C. doesn't scawe me, Miss May-combe. Not at awl!



Yeah! N.C! Nightcwaler! Cince I like him, I thowt the best thing to do was nick-name him. Then he's my friend.

Heh. Well, you're like him, too. You both are pretty smart, always sneaking up on people who-knows-how, and you both are really sweet under your first impressions.

Den I guess I'm an N.C, too?

Yes, I think so.

Since then, people started calling me N.C. as they overheard the librarian call me by it, then a year later it became Ensei when my kindergarten teacher asked me how to spell it. I was too afraid to tell her where my nickname had originated from, that was Miss Maycomb and my secret only, so I misspelled it on purpose and it's been my name ever since.

When I was in sixth or seventh grade, X-Men Evolution made the TV scene. From the first episode, I fell in love. Especially with that young blue-haired boy from day one. Mr. Wagner made a beautiful appearance in the show- plus i was only three or so years younger than him.

I'll admit I was obsessed with him. In love, even. I guess it was compulsive. None of the guys liked me too much. I always had my nose stuck in some comic, some book, some magazine, some manga. That, plus I was 5'2 and considerably over my height/ weight ratio, as in some sixty pounds over. It never bothered me- even though I had the metabolism of a rock.

Note that I was sixty pounds over and that I had the metabolism of a rock. Not anymore.

It happened during the summer before tenth grade. I was feeling extraordinarily strange. Even though I was gaining ten pounds from a glass of water, my body went on a hunger rampage. I was never full enough. It was embarrassing, and yet nobody could pinpoint the problem at all. Until one night.

July 16, 2003.

For some reason, sleep didn't come easy to me that night. Blind Alley, the episode of X-Men I had just finished watching on the Cartoon Network was still buzzing in my head. I watched the clock tick. 11:17. I was sweating profusely, and I couldn't quite find a comfortable position. Every way I turned seemed to hurt my lower back. It felt like it was stretching- I could hear the sounds of grinding bone and beating heart. the buzzing was no longer from being glued to the screen- I could feel the red hot poker, etching into my skull, reaching out to the cartilage in my ears.

I did finally fall asleep. As I saw the clock click from 12:00 to 12:01, I mumbled a Happy Birthday and fainted from the heat.

--Poe Note--
Sorry the chapter was short. But you start to get the idea behind the story, no? And if you look on CartoonNetwork.com, you'll see that the episode of X-Men Evo playing on July 16 is indeed Blind Alley. Just thought I'd point that out.