Disclaimer: If you recognize it I don't own it, the Elemental Mutants are OC's and mine
Surprises and Changes
Charles was checking Cerebro when he noticed two new mutant signatures in Miami, Florida.
"Sixteen and twelve" he read "the boy is manifesting early… maybe too early" he thought aloud as he placed the helmet back on its holder. He couldn't help wonder if this boy was prepared for what lay ahead for him.
Maria Joses, Aka Cote, sighed as she watched Anastasia and Emil argue.
"No wonder Scott still marvels at the fact that we get ANYTHING accomplished!" she said
Raiden put a hand on his younger teammate's shoulder
"You will see, they have no problem fighting with each other but God help anyone else that tries to hurt one of them" Raiden said
"What set them off this time?" Nathan asked casually
"Who knows," Raiden shrugged casually
"Maldito" Cote muttered in frustration. This got earned her a disapproving glare from Nathan who knew enough Spanish to know that she had just swore.
"Cote, what have we told you about swearing?" Nathan asked
"We are needed… Oye, we have a mission" Cote said interrupting the feuding elemental mutants
Meanwhile
Gi sighed as she lay on the beach. Her friends had been stunned that Gi had somehow managed to not drown in a situation where she should have drowned and perished.
"Gaia has no idea what happened" Ma-Ti said "she says that the ring's power doesn't provide Gi the ability to breath underwater" Ma-Ti sighed
"If it was not my ring, how could I breathe underwater?" Gi wondered
Before Wheeler could come up with anything witty they all noticed Ma-Ti had frozen in fear with a strange look on his face
"Ma-Ti…" Kwame said
"Who… who are you?" Ma-Ti demanded
"Is he seein' things, there's no one there" Wheeler said
"There is, you just can't see her… she is a ghost" a woman stated
"Then why can Ma-Ti see this mysterious woman?" Linka asked
"Because he is like me, we are commonly known as psychic mediums. My name is Melinda Gordon. Being a psychic medium means that we can see and speak to ghosts, earthbound spirits is what my grandmother called them" Melinda explained then went to help Ma-Ti
"Your other friend also has a gift" a male stated
"Who are you?" Wheeler demanded
"My name is Charles Xavier" the wheelchair bound man replied as Linka scolded Wheeler for his lack of manners, but Charles only smiled, it wasn't like the New Yorker had done anything he didn't expect.
"That actually does get easier" Melinda assured Ma-Ti who seemed unconvinced
"I hope you are right, my friend" Ma-Ti sighed
"I am, I've been doing this since I was younger than you" Melinda said "but you have to remember that some ghosts will have things to resolve, messages that they want to give to the living"
While Melinda was explaining things to Ma-Ti Charles was explaining to the other planeteers what happened with Gi and Ma-Ti to cause the new abilities.
"So why did we see bubbles?" Wheeler asked
"She was holding her breath, Yankee that was from when she breathed out," Linka said glaring at the American teen
"And Ma-Ti can see ghosts because of the same type of mutation that Gi has. So no matter what happened to Gi he would have been able to talk to her" Wheeler concluded
"Yes, but I am sure that would have been a confusing and frightening ordeal for him given the clarity of that water" Kwame stated
"Then let's be glad I can breathe under water" Gi said
"Indeed" Charles said as a brunette girl approached them. She looked to be about their age.
"Zdravstvuy" she said
"You're Russian…" Wheeler said in surprise
"Russian-American, the story is a little complicated, suffice to say I'm a citizen of the United States and Russia" She smiled "my name is Anastasia Grinkova"
"You were born in Russia correct; if you were born in America your last name would most likely be Grinkoff, only in Russian speaking countries would anyone conjugate that name to Grinkova for a girl" Linka said "you just chose not to change it when you came to the states"
"Da, but it is more like my mother chose to keep my last name Grinkova, I was only a baby when we came to the United States, or back to the United States in my mom's case" Anastasia explained
Then a smaller girl came running up looking upset.
"Cote, what's wrong?" Anastasia asked
"Emil is trying to start into a fight" Cote said urgently
"With who, Raiden… Nathan, good luck with that"
"Actually the man calls himself Looten Plunder" Cote said
"Plunder" Wheeler growled
The Planeteers and the X-Men arrived at the X-Jet to see a limo and a strange man there. The man was dressed extravagantly and Anastasia noted that his lapels looked to be lined with tiger fur and she wondered if that was fake or the genuine article. From what she could see of his limo that wasn't the only endangered species' pelts he had illegally acquired.
"Excuse me, Mr. Plunder… is it?"
"Yes, what is it to you?"
"These are my students and this is my jet, I want to know what you want with them"
"Yours, who are you?" Plunder demanded
"My name is Charles Xavier"
The planeteers watched as Plunder's entire demeanor changed instantly.
"You said Emil was trying to start something, but by the look of it Plunder is doing the provoking" Anastasia whispered to her young teammate
"You read him right, as usual" Raiden said
"Yeah, he speaks half-truths and lies"
"We know, Cote" Anastasia said softly "it's all his kind are capable of"
Nathan merely nodded, all the while biting his tongue to keep from saying something that could be construed as stooping to Plunder's level.
Plunder left unsatisfied with the response his proposal got from Charles and the X-Men.
Charles turned to the planeteers
"Planeteers, I would like to invite all five of you to come to my school and attend classes" Charles said his elbows rested on the arms of his chair and his fingers intertwined at the level of his heart.
"You're serious aren't you?" Wheeler said "but what about Gaia?"
"I am sure she will agree that the five of you could benefit from a proper education"
Ma-Ti turned and used his ring to call out to Gaia. Charles then pitched his thoughts to the Earth spirit. He also assured her that they would still be available to respond to eco emergencies.
Gaia looked among the Planeteers and realized as much as she wanted to keep her children close they needed an education and the social experience that they could only get from going to school. Especially Ma-Ti, at his young age he was a sponge soaking up any knowledge available to him. She approved of the idea only on the terms that she could still call on them if needed and that they return to Hope Island every once in a while to spend time with her. They agreed to it willingly.
They arrived at the institute and the Planeteers were shocked by what they saw.
"This place is massive" Wheeler said
"Once you get used to it you'll find that it is really like home" Anastasia said "there are a few of us that live here year round"
"Why would they do that?" Ma-Ti asked
"Because they have nowhere else they can go" Nathan explained as they stood in the entryway
"Oh" Ma-Ti looked kind of sheepish after that statement
Charles watched the team dynamic for a moment to make sure his bedroom arrangement would work before he presented it to the team. He found that they were accepting to the setup that would put Kwame in a room by himself. Wheeler was paired with Ma-Ti for reasons that included his young age relative to the others on campus. Wheeler also figured there were other reasons Charles didn't say, but he didn't ask.
"What about Suchi, you never said anything about him" Ma-Ti said
"He is healthy, clean, and… quite friendly" Charles observed with a slight chuckle as Suchi jumped over to him to investigate his bald head as this was the first time the simian had seen a man with no hair
"I see no reason why he cannot stay with you" Charles smiled as Suchi returned to Ma-Ti, he figured Ma-Ti used the extremely strong psychic bond he had with the simian to call Suchi back to himself.
Charles had Anastasia and Nathan show the planeteers to their rooms after telling them that they could return to Hope Island later to pick up clothes and other necessities.
Charles sighed as he got to his desk.
"All five of them need tested for TB. They are all at risk for Latent TB, some are even at risk for active TB" Charles thought aloud as his resident feline companion Bleu jumped up on the table. Charles petted Bleu gently and then reached for the phone to call a trusted doctor to arrange an appointment to administer and another to come back and read the tests to find out if there were any issues among the planeteers that he needed to be aware of.
To Be Continued…