PROLOGUE
"You're kidding me."
"No. It's true."
"C'mon, Chuck. This is just a big joke, right?"
"Not at all."
"Very funny Charles. Joke's over already!"
Professor Xavier stared intensely at Logan and shook his head a final time.
Logan grunted and threw up his hands in frustration. "Fine. You're not kidding. But why Chuck?"
"The same reason why we are all here, Logan." Xavier replied. "We're going to help these children to master their powers and fit in with their peers."
Logan was still skeptical. "I know that, but isn't this bringing it a little too far?"
"What's bringing what a little too far, Wolverine?"
The two adults turned to see their finely nurtured team of X-Men walk in. "Sorry we're late, Professor. Are we interrupting something?"
"No. You're just in time. Sit down."
Once the team was settled, Xavier broke the news to them. "Just last Saturday, I managed to locate the position of three very young mutants. I was just telling Logan about my plan to bring them to the mansion."
One raised his hand for an inquiry. "So where are these kids?"
"The Bayville Orphanage. Scott and Jean will drive over in the SUV to pick them up later."
"The orphanage? Are you saying.....?"
"Yup." Logan grunted. "Chuck's adopting them."
There was a moment of shocked silence.
Scott forced out a small laugh. "You're kidding me."
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"So he wasn't kidding."
All this new information was a little too much for Scott's cerebellum. "I agree with Logan. Isn't this bringing it a little too far?"
"The Professor says this is the fastest way to bring them in."
"Yeah, but also the riskiest." Scott flipped through the papers that he had been given. "You realize how different adoption is from ordinary recruitment. We can't just send them back where they came from or push them elsewhere if we can't handle them. They're gonna be stuck with us for good."
"Which is exactly why we must do our best to accept them, and in turn have them accept us." Jean turned at the corner. "Can you read me their names while you're going through that paper? Gotta be ready when we meet them."
Scott flipped a couple of pages. "Okay, here it is. Chang Letian. 8 years old. Hanagata Zantos. 6 years old. Bane Albright. 5 years old."
Jean nodded as she pulled up in the parking lot. "All right. Let's do this."
The attendant at the counter greeted them with a smile. "Good evening. May I help you."
"Yeah." Jean handed her the documents. "We're here to pick up three children."
The attendant took the paper, read it, and her eyes widened. "These three?"
When the answer was an affirmative nod, she gave them a piteous look through her horn-rimmed glasses. "I wish you the best of luck with them."
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"Okay you three. Out."
"What?"
"Like, why Matron?"
"Yeah. What did I - I mean, what did we do?"
"Enough. Now hustle! You've been adopted by this......Caviar person."
"Caviar?!" Chang screwed his face in disgust.
Zantos giggled. "Our new Dad's named after fish eggs?!"
"That's none of your business. Let's go!" The stout woman turned back to Bane, the smallest and youngest of the three, as he ran to his bunk. "Now what are you doing?"
"I've gotta, y'know, get Sidus!" The boy tugged out a mass of sleek black fur that was almost as big as him. With great determination burning in his gray eyes, Bane carried the bundle out of the room and down the hallway. The matron sighed heavily as she ushered them to the main office. Standing beside the attendant were two tall people, a woman with long red hair and a guy with short brown hair and sunglasses.
Bane's burden quivered, and a pair of brown eyes appeared. There was a tiny growl as it broke free from the boy's grasp and charged across the room.
"Sidus! No! Get back here!"
Too late was the command issued as puppy teeth connected with cloth.
The women and children winced as the man screamed bloody murder, the small black animal dangling from the seat of his pants like a fish on a hook.
Zantos grinned and held up his hand to Chang. "That's gotta be the best first impression we've made this year!" Chang shared the high-five, grinning as well.
The attendant hissed air from between her teeth. "It looks like you're going to need more luck than I can give you."
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Sorry if I screwed up the orphanage part, but I've never been to one.
Sorry also for how pathetically short this first chapter is. I'll try to make the next chapters longer.
I've categorized this story as General so far, cos' I don't know what category it should go under. Give me a hand by including your opinion in your review.
Until next time, this is Howling WereWolf signing off.
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