Evolution
My idea of the first series… adding some characters of my own.
The major alterations are that Blob, Scott and Jean are 18 and Kitty, Kurt, Rogue, Evan, Lance, Toad and Pietro are 16.
If we take it as read that the original characters were recruited as they were in the series, I'll start with introducing each of my characters.
Chapter 1: Starry, Starry Sight
For they could not love you
But still your love was true
And when no hope was left in sight
On that starry starry night,
You took your life as lovers often do
But I could have told you, Vincent
This world was never meant for
One as beautiful as you.
Vincent, by Don McLean
The Mansion; Bayville
The professor sat, plugged into Cerebro; which had just registered a new Mutant in St Petersburg, Florida. He removed the headgear, calling the X-men one by one with his mind. He waited patiently as they all filed in; patience was one thing he had learnt over his years working with mutants.
"What is it Professor?" asked Jean, calmly
"Cerebro just registered a new mutant, and I think we should get to him before Mystique does… he felt powerful so be careful… his name is Alex Kennedy."
"Alright then." Said Scott "C'mon guys, to the X-jet!" he led the others out, each moaning and groaning about the time it would take to get to Florida. The professor looked at Logan and wheeled towards him.
"We'll need to watch this one… he may be a match even for you, Logan."
"Don't worry 'bout me, Professor, I can handle myself." He growled
"All the same, old friend, I worry." He patted him on the shoulder and wheeled away "You'd better head down, only you can pilot the jet."
Paul James High, St Petersburg, Florida
Alex sat at the back of the class, as he always did. He looked at the world through his shades, pulling out his sketchbook and beginning to draw. His Spanish class was boring and he spoke the language fluently already. Not that he was of Spanish descent; his family was of Irish stock, and proud of it. He, in fact, spoke most of the languages spoken in his Paul James. He could look into someone's eyes and… just know stuff. It started when he was young, just small things, like being better at math, or better at acrobatics. Then he started taking bigger things, like whole languages and martial arts. As that happened his body began to change. He got more muscular, faster… and then his eyes changed. First his pupils grew, and took away his iris, and then it kept growing, eventually eliminating his white. Then the starry pinpricks appeared, making his eyes a cloudless night. That's when he invested in the shades. He continued his sketch, etching in some shading and looking up at the teacher every so often to show he was "Listening". He flourished the end of his sketch and admired it critically. It was a picture of a mountain sunset, all the better for its lack of colour. He packed his bag and waited for the bell, wiping his brow.
DRRRRRRRRING!!!
Alex waited for several moments, avoiding the classroom door rush. He slowly threw his bag over his shoulder and walked through the door. He brushed his long brown hair back and straightened his shades, opening his locker. This was another issue with this weird knowing thing; he sometimes opened other people's lockers by mistake. He wrenched out his car keys and homework and walked to student parking. He got into his powerful muscle car and turned the key in the ignition, looking out the window… straight into the eyes of the school bully, Carl Andrews. Alex vanished for a moment, re-living a lifetime of memories, mostly all of the fights Carl had participated in. he was launched into the present by strong hands heaving him onto the tarmac.
"You got money?" asked Carl in his brutish voice
"Nah, man." Grunted Alex, panting under the weight of the older boy's knee "I got nothing, you know that."
Carl ramped up for a move Alex recognised from his short foray into his memories; he swung a fist sharply at Alex's face. Alex brought his hand up and gripped the attacking fist, bringing his hand around in an arm breaking arc. Carl yelped and rolled off him, holding his broken arm. Alex looked at his hands and leapt into his car, revving the engine and speeding away. He headed north, out of the city to his cousin's cabin. For the first time since his dad died, Alex was scared.
The X-jet, somewhere over Georgia
Wolverine piloted the X-jet south, preferring to do it manually for stress relief. The kids were chatting and joking among themselves, vaguely irritating Logan, though he had bigger fish to fry. Jean got up and sat in the co-pilot seat.
"He's moving north, Logan." She said "The Professor thinks he's scared, so he recommends a light touch." She said, belting herself in.
"You realise I don't do light, don't you?" he said, raising his claws for emphasis.
"Then maybe you should let us do the talking." She laughed and looked out of the cockpit "That's him!" she exclaimed, pointing at some lights on the road, a powerful car roared down the dirt path. "I'll try and see what he's thinking, try to follow close…" she put a finger to her temple and searched his head, her face scrunching as if in pain.
"What is it?" asked Wolverine, bluntly
"His mind is confusing… like he's got more than one… must be his power. Emotions are strong though, fear and hate feature mostly." She gasped "And pain… such immense pain. I'll try and talk to him…"
Alex's car, 50 miles north of St Petersburg
Alex drove and drove, heading the 68 miles to his cousin, Brian's, cabin. He clenched the wheel hard and played his favourite Metallica CD, letting the familiar intro to "One" wash over him. He drummed away to the music, concentrating hard to keep the memories that weren't his contained. He stared at the huge intake sticking out of the hood, letting his peripheral vision handle the quiet, Floridian back-road. The song finished and the CD clicked once and stopped, without even looking he whacked another disc into the player.
Starry, starry night
Paint your palette blue and grey
Look out on a summer's day
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul
Shadows on the hills
Sketch the trees and the daffodils
Catch the breeze and the winter chills
In colours on the snowy linen land
Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen
They did not know how
Perhaps they'll listen now.
The music calmed him, letting him look at the road properly for the first time since his little foray into Carl's memories.
"Alex?" came a voice in his head "Can you hear me?"
Great, now I'm hearing voices in my head… he thought
"No, my name is Jean and I really want to help you, please pull over… I only want to talk. I understand what you're going through." Alex broke and skidded into the side of the road.
"Shit!" he hit the steering wheel and tried the key in the ignition and hit the steering wheel again. "C'mon, babe, don't do this to me…" he opened the door and stepped out into the night, he had no clue where he was, he ripped his shades off and looked around with his starry eyes. The X-jet landed and powered down, the X-men, themselves, filing out.
Wolverine stood at the front of the group, in a lightly disguised combat stance, looking at Alex with interest, he wore baggy ripped jeans over a white t-shirt and black leather jacket, he had long brown hair and several silver earrings going up his left ear. He didn't look particularly tough…
"Leave me alone!!!" he shouted, standing in a blatant combat stance à la Carl.
"We just wanna help ya, kid." Said Wolverine.
"Oh yeah? People who wanna help other people don't stand there like they're waiting for a fight." Shouted Alex
"Look, bub, we can do this the easy way or the hard way!" growled Wolverine, menacingly.
"Wolverine, let me." Said Jean, stepping across the space towards Alex, stopping half way "Alex, it's me, Jean, remember?" he nodded "You can do things you can't explain, right? Things you wish you couldn't?"
"Yeah…"
"What can you do?" she asked tentively.
"I can look into your eyes and know everything, what you know, what you do and your deepest feelings and thoughts… everything." He hung his head and sighed.
"Look into my eyes… I'll prove we mean you no harm." She walked towards him
"You sure?"
"Yeah." She smiled. He covered the rest of the distance, his tall, muscular frame dwarfing her slim figure. He stood by her and looked directly into her green eyes, falling into her memories. He swayed on the spot for several minutes before shaking his head.
"Wow… you really do wanna help… and your eyes are beautiful… like shining emeralds." He chuckled "But how exactly do I get my car to the Xavier Institute?"