SEASON TWO
Episode 1: The Loss of a Hero
"Okay Johnny, pay attention."
"Hwa?" Johnny looked up from his gameboy. He was sitting in the back of the X-Jet, bored as he could possibly be. His father and Kurt were taking him out on an easy mission to see if he was ready to be a leader of the Beta Team. It had been nearly a year since he lost his memory, he was a year older, and still they had to test him.
"This is going to be a simple mission, just the three of us versus Quicksilver, okay?" Scott said. "We just want to test your skills and all of your new training."
"Yeah, sure, okay," he said, waving him off and getting back to his video game. He was so absorbed in it that he didn't notice his father walking over to him after handing the controls to Kurt. Scott pulled the game out of his hands. "Hey! What's the big idea??"
"You see? That's exactly what I'm talking about." Scott folded his arms. "You have to be aware of your surroundings. That's the only way you can lead a team."
"Hey, if I did it before I lost my memory, I can do it now, right?" Johnny shrugged and grinned. "No big deal, I've been training for a year. I can handle it!"
"We'll see in a moment," he said sternly. "We're there."
As the three mutants stepped off of the jet, Kurt looked around. The trees that surrounded them covered them in a green-tinted sunshine. "I hear him already," he said, grinning. "Moron."
"Never take the enemy lightly Johnny," Scott said, glaring at Kurt. "Nightcrawler, scout the area."
Kurt saluted him sarcastically. "Yessir, Cyclops sir!" he shouted as he teleported.
"God, what an idiot," Scott groaned.
"So when do we fight this creep?" Johnny looked around and shrugged. "I don't see him anywhere."
"In a moment, son," he said. "Wait for Nightcrawler to get back."
...
Five-year-old Johnny Summers reached out and touched the stove, immediately pulling it away and yelping in intense pain. "Mommy," he cried. "Daddy, ouch!"
Scott rushed in. "Johnny, what is it?"
"The stove bit me," Johnny sobbed, holding his hand protectively to his chest. "It hurts. Make it stop hurting."
"Here, we just run some cold water over it," Scott picked him up and sat him on the counter. He took Johnny's hand and put it under the faucet, turning on the cold water. Johnny felt immediate relief and sighed.
"Thanks daddy..."
"The stove didn't bite you, kiddo," he said. "It was just hot. You have to be careful, and always check something out before you go and touch it, okay? If you had put your hand a few inches away from the stove, you would have felt the heat radiating off of it."
Johnny nodded. "Check it, then touch it. Got it."
"That's my boy," Scott smiled and ruffled Johnny's hair, getting him off of the counter and walking out. Johnny watched him go, holding his wrist and grinning.
That's my boy.
...
"That's my boy."
Johnny sighed and sat on a log. "Now what did I do?"
"You're being patient, waiting for Nightcrawler to scout out the area." Scott smiled. "That's what a stealth member is for. Always let the stealth member go out first, and when he comes back you can formulate a plan."
"But what if you just wanna PUNCH somethin'?" Johnny said anxiously. "And what if your team doesn't HAVE a stealth member?"
"Then you improvise."
Johnny grinned. "Improvise? Now THAT sounds like fun!"
Nightcrawler telelported back into the clearing. "All clear. I saw him about a mile from here though, heading right this way."
Scott glared at him. "That's what you call 'all clear'?"
"Oh come on, Quicksilver's a pushover," Kurt laughed.
"Don't say that in front of Johnny," Scott growled. "Now come on. We have to retrieve those plans."
"Can I run ahead?" Johnny begged. "Please?"
"No, stick with your team," Scott said sternly.
...
Ten years old. "This is your new teammate."
Johnny folded his arms, staring across the danger room at boring old Ben. "HIM? THIS is my new teammate?"
Scott smiled at him. "Now, be friendly. Ben has a lot he can teach you about being on a real team."
The eleven-year-old winked at him. "Think you can beat me?" he asked in his scratchy voice, glasses glinting. "I've been on a REAL team, and you only just got your powers."
"That doesn't mean I can't beat you!" Johnny clenched his fists. "You're not better than me."
"On the contrary..."
"Boys, boys," Scott said, holding up his hands. "Be nice. You're a team now, the two of you and Eevee Taylor."
Both boys looked at him. "EEVEE TAYLOR? Blech!!"
Scott laughed. "Maybe you two aren't so different after all."
...
Johnny stood behind Scott as he looked out into the clearing. Kurt crept back into the brush and looked at them. "There he is," Kurt said, pointing out the clearly visible silver-haired mutant. "Maybe he should dye his hair camouflage."
"Shut up," Scott said. "Stop goofing off, we see him."
"Let's kick his butt," Johnny cackled quietly.
"No, wait for my--"
"Yahoo!" Kurt leaped out of their hiding place as Pietro spotted them. "Hello my speedy friend, what's cooking?"
"You are," Pietro laughed, folding his arms.
"Ooooo, good one, got any more in your empty head?"
"Kurt," Scott growled. "You idiot."
"If he jumped out, can I jump out?' Johnny looked up at Scott hopefully.
"Might as well," Scott said dully, adjusting his visor and stepped out.
...
"Guys, if you don't stop fighting, we'll never get anywhere!"
"Shut up, I don't listen to GIRLS," Johnny shouted, sticking his tongue out. Ben sighed and shook his head in despair. His first new teammates and they were acting like babies. They would never defeat Magneto like this.
"Maybe you should listen to girls!" Eevee snapped. "Science proves that men only use half of their brain."
"So what, you girls use none of yours."
"Be quiet you two," Ben scolded. "Now listen up. Three robots are going to walk out of that door. Got it?"
"Got it," Eevee nodded enthusiastically.
"Huh, this is gunna be easy." Johnny powered up his telekineses and prepared for a real fight.
...
Johnny was just turning around to congratulate himself. Pietro had gone down easy, like all the others in the Danger room. He wondered sometimes why the bad guys even bothered to try. Smiling, he was shocked as Kurt cried out and Scott leaped in front of Johnny.
The noise was deafening, and a dull ringing filled his ears. He screamed and could not hear. Flash, he thought. A sonic blast. He was just barely remembering what one of those sonic blast could do when his father collapsed in front of him, uniform tattered and eyes glazed over and staring at the sky.
"It's a trap," Kurt screamed as Ironhawk flew down and help Pietro up. Flash laughed at them as he stepped out of the trees.
"Daddy," Johnny shrieked, dropping to his knees. "Daddy! Wake up!"
"Johnny," he whispered. "Run."
"Dad," Johnny sobbed. "Come on, you're coming with us."
Kurt grabbed his shoulder. "Johnny, we have to go, we're outnumbered."
"But dad--!"
"I'm not going to make it, kiddo," Scott breathed. "Run. Run as fast as you can."
...
Eleven years old. "As fast as I can?"
"Yes, Johnny, all the way around the track twenty times at full speed," Scott said, hooking up the timer that Forge had built. "This thing is going to track your speed. Don't take it off."
Johnny nodded happily. "Great, now when Ben asks how I'm better, I can give him an actual number."
"Enough," Jean laughed. "Seriously, are you two always fighting?"
"Yup," Johnny said, preparing for his run. "And it's gunna stay that way, too."
"Alright, get ready," Scott said, looking at his watch. "On your mark, get set..."
...
"Go!"
Kurt yanked on his arm and Johnny was shocked out of his memory, looking up and jumping to his feet. "Go," Kurt repeated, pushing Johnny away from Scott. Johnny wiped his nose on his hand and bolted. As fast as I can, he thought. Dad told me to go as fast as I can.
Wind blasted past his face, burning his skin, drying his tear-drenched cheeks. Dad is going to be okay, he assured himself. He was always okay. He always came back from his missions. He was going to be just fine.
He made it to the jet almost as Nightcrawler appeared there in a cloud of sulfur, Scott over his shoulder. Kurt pushed Johnny to the back of the blackbird and sat in the pilot's seat. He didn't say a word as he took off, trying his best not to look at the copilot seat where he had dropped Scott.
"Is he gonna to be okay?" Johnny asked meekly after a few moments of silence.
"I don't know," Kurt whispered. "I hope so."
...
"You can't stay in here, Johnny," Hank said, taking his shoulders and steering him out of the infirmary. "I'll do my best."
"Just tell me he'll be okay," Johnny begged. Hank flinched as the teen looked at him pleadingly. No young face should ever look like that, the old doctor thought to himself.
"I'll do my best," he repeated. "Go sit in the waiting room."
Kurt looked at him as he returned. "Well, Henry? Can you help him?"
Henry McCoy looked sadly from Scott's bed to Kurt's despair-filled eyes. He slowly shook his head.
Johnny, watching from the doorway, barely felt the single tear fall from his cheek. It splashed onto the linoleum tile floor, soundless.
NEXT: To Pay Respects