1 Prelude: A Scholastic History
As a young man, Charles Xavier discovered he was able to read the minds of other people. For years, he traveled the world, studying genetics. While serving in the military during World War Two, he met Erik Lensherr, and was able to discuss his ideas about meta-humans.
The Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters opened in 1981 with one staff member, Professor Charles Xavier, and five students ranging from 16 to 18 years of age. It remained with a strong scholastic bent for the next two years, until Xavier was believed to be killed. From that point on, the school because more of a training ground for the superhero team the X-Men than anything else, though the scholastic elements remained for years.
In 1991, the team the New Mutants was formed as a continuation of the original concept of the institute as a school for young mutants. This group, however, suffered from numerous changes in leadership and was eventually reconstituted as the team X-Force.
In 1998, an alien race called the Phalanx kidnapped four young mutants, and attempted to kidnap two others, including a young member of the X-Men. The kidnappers attempted to assimilate the mutants into their collective consciousness, but were thwarted by the efforts of the former X-Men Banshee, the prisoner Sabretooth and a patient of Charles Xavier's, Emma Frost, formerly the White Queen of the Hellfire Club and former headmistress of the Massachusetts Academy. The young kidnappees escaped only with the sacrifice of young Blink, who was caught in the backlash of her own mutant power.
Soon afterwards, Xavier tapped Banshee and Frost to reopen her Massachusetts Academy. At one time, this school had served as a training ground for the Hellions, a team of young mutants under the control of the Hellfire Club. In 1997, however, nearly all of the Hellions were killed and the White Queen was placed in a coma which would last nearly a year.
The Massachusetts Academy had originally only seven students led by Banshee and the White Queen. They included the survivors of the Phalanx incident, Chamber, a 19 year old from England, and Penance, a mysterious girl who turned up at their doorstep early on. Later in that year, Refrax (17) and Hex (17) filled out the first class of the new Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. They called themselves Generation X, though they were discouraged from actual combat situations
In the aftermath of the success of the Massachusetts Academy and the Onslaught incident, Xavier decided that the time was right to expand the Xavier Institutes. In 1999, two more Academies were opened, one in New York adjacent to the original school, and one in Connecticut. The school in New York catered to both young and older mutants with abilities that made them a danger to themselves, or to others. This facility would become even more valuable at the end of 2000, when the Muir Island Research Center in Scotland was destroyed.
The Connecticut Academy was an equally ambitious project, serving as a boarding school for students with abilities that were relatively harmless. This school would grow to be the largest of the three, opening their doors to non-mutants who needed homes, and even to entire families, and also the strongest academically, since the classes had to focus far less on development of mutant abilities.
In 1999, a new class entered the Massachusetts Academy. In 2000, there was no new class, but the first death when Synch was killed in a terrorist bombing of the school.
In 2001, a third class entered the Massachusetts Academy. One of the members of this class was Sarah Annabella Worthington, known as Sera or Seraphim, the only child of the X-Man Warren Worthington III, who had spent most of her young life on the Muir Island Research Center. Soon afterward the arrival of this new class, disaster struck in Genosha. An extensive bombing strike by sentinels wiped out about 50 percent of the world's mutant population. Nearly 90 percent of Genosha's population was killed, and many of those surviving flocked to Xavier's care.
This tragedy was swiftly followed by the public "coming out" of Professor Xavier. The logic of this decision was greatly questioned, though it was only later revealed to have been made under duress.
This led to threats against the Massachusetts Academy that placed the students at great risk. After the death of Synch the year before, the X- Men decided to re-integrate the Massachusetts Academy with the original Xavier Institute in New York, while moving the New York Academy to an off shore site and the Connecticut Academy to a large track of land just over the Canadian border.
The Xavier Institute reopened in Westchester with over 150 students, many of them Genoshan refugees.
Our story takes place after the death of Synch and the new class of 2001, but before the attack on Genosha.
As a young man, Charles Xavier discovered he was able to read the minds of other people. For years, he traveled the world, studying genetics. While serving in the military during World War Two, he met Erik Lensherr, and was able to discuss his ideas about meta-humans.
The Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters opened in 1981 with one staff member, Professor Charles Xavier, and five students ranging from 16 to 18 years of age. It remained with a strong scholastic bent for the next two years, until Xavier was believed to be killed. From that point on, the school because more of a training ground for the superhero team the X-Men than anything else, though the scholastic elements remained for years.
In 1991, the team the New Mutants was formed as a continuation of the original concept of the institute as a school for young mutants. This group, however, suffered from numerous changes in leadership and was eventually reconstituted as the team X-Force.
In 1998, an alien race called the Phalanx kidnapped four young mutants, and attempted to kidnap two others, including a young member of the X-Men. The kidnappers attempted to assimilate the mutants into their collective consciousness, but were thwarted by the efforts of the former X-Men Banshee, the prisoner Sabretooth and a patient of Charles Xavier's, Emma Frost, formerly the White Queen of the Hellfire Club and former headmistress of the Massachusetts Academy. The young kidnappees escaped only with the sacrifice of young Blink, who was caught in the backlash of her own mutant power.
Soon afterwards, Xavier tapped Banshee and Frost to reopen her Massachusetts Academy. At one time, this school had served as a training ground for the Hellions, a team of young mutants under the control of the Hellfire Club. In 1997, however, nearly all of the Hellions were killed and the White Queen was placed in a coma which would last nearly a year.
The Massachusetts Academy had originally only seven students led by Banshee and the White Queen. They included the survivors of the Phalanx incident, Chamber, a 19 year old from England, and Penance, a mysterious girl who turned up at their doorstep early on. Later in that year, Refrax (17) and Hex (17) filled out the first class of the new Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. They called themselves Generation X, though they were discouraged from actual combat situations
In the aftermath of the success of the Massachusetts Academy and the Onslaught incident, Xavier decided that the time was right to expand the Xavier Institutes. In 1999, two more Academies were opened, one in New York adjacent to the original school, and one in Connecticut. The school in New York catered to both young and older mutants with abilities that made them a danger to themselves, or to others. This facility would become even more valuable at the end of 2000, when the Muir Island Research Center in Scotland was destroyed.
The Connecticut Academy was an equally ambitious project, serving as a boarding school for students with abilities that were relatively harmless. This school would grow to be the largest of the three, opening their doors to non-mutants who needed homes, and even to entire families, and also the strongest academically, since the classes had to focus far less on development of mutant abilities.
In 1999, a new class entered the Massachusetts Academy. In 2000, there was no new class, but the first death when Synch was killed in a terrorist bombing of the school.
In 2001, a third class entered the Massachusetts Academy. One of the members of this class was Sarah Annabella Worthington, known as Sera or Seraphim, the only child of the X-Man Warren Worthington III, who had spent most of her young life on the Muir Island Research Center. Soon afterward the arrival of this new class, disaster struck in Genosha. An extensive bombing strike by sentinels wiped out about 50 percent of the world's mutant population. Nearly 90 percent of Genosha's population was killed, and many of those surviving flocked to Xavier's care.
This tragedy was swiftly followed by the public "coming out" of Professor Xavier. The logic of this decision was greatly questioned, though it was only later revealed to have been made under duress.
This led to threats against the Massachusetts Academy that placed the students at great risk. After the death of Synch the year before, the X- Men decided to re-integrate the Massachusetts Academy with the original Xavier Institute in New York, while moving the New York Academy to an off shore site and the Connecticut Academy to a large track of land just over the Canadian border.
The Xavier Institute reopened in Westchester with over 150 students, many of them Genoshan refugees.
Our story takes place after the death of Synch and the new class of 2001, but before the attack on Genosha.
