Stargazer

by The Dark Zodiac

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the X-Men characters. That's all Marvel.

Author Notes: Welcome to my first Ultimate X-Men fic. It stars Colossus and my original character. I hope you all enjoy it! The first chapter is a little heavy with dialogue, but successive chapters are lighter on it. Reviews are much appreciated! Xoxo.

Chapter I: Fire In The Sky

Reeny flicked through the radio stations in her car, wriggling her nose at the lack of anything decent to listen to. Cars whizzed past her filled with her classmates obnoxiously honking their horns, warning pedestrians to avoid the mile radius around them. Just as a decent song crossed the airwaves to her car, the passenger side door swing open and Rhys Sinclair jumped in.

"I can't believe she gave me a C and detention! Me! Detention! I can't remember the last time I had detention! Probably 6th grade."

"Well, you did move her chair before she sat down."

"Hey! It moved by itself. Plus she has no proof."

"I saw that look on your face right before she went to sit."

"Whatever. And that was retaliation for the C."

"Professor Marie isn't that bad."

"Yes she is! She hates it if you have any original ideas not already written down in the damn text book. I hate her. And the harassment will continue, threat of detention looming over my head notwithstanding."

Reeny sped away from the school and left the radio to Rhys. After a few static-filled moments, Reeny finally asked what had been on her mind.

"Have you told your parents yet?"

"Hell no. With all the bad press and sentiment surrounding mutants, I doubt my parents would be pleased to find out their one and only is among their ranks."

"You could tell them and wipe their memory."

"I hate that I didn't think of that. Plus you know I don't like using telepathy unless I have to. But it is a good idea. For now I'm not telling them. What would I do without you, Reeny?"

"I'm not saying your life would be less awesome without me, but whatever."

"I just can't tell them yet. I know they love me and all that stuff, but...I mean...it just wouldn't serve any purpose. I doubt they'd have the same reaction you did."

"You gotta make the couch fly around the house again. That was highly entertaining."

"That's a reaction they definitely will not have."

"Well, here's your house."

"Thanks for the ride, Reeny," Rhys said as she pulled up to the curb and he hopped out.

"No problem, Rhys! See ya tomorrow morning?"

"Absolutely darling. How else am I supposed to get to school? Fly?"

"You're terrible."

They waved goodbye to each other before Reeny sped off and Rhys made his way to the front porch of his house. After fumbling through his messenger bag, he grabbed the house key and let himself in.

"Mom! Dad! I'm home!" he called, but received no response.

Upon investigating the house further, Rhys found a note from his Mom:

Your father burned a hole through
his pants when he tried to iron them.
Be back in a bit. There's food in the fridge
and don't forget to feed Saturn.
Xoxo
Mom

Rhys poked through the fridge and settled on leftover Chinese from last night, but before he could partake of the MSG laden sustenance, a high-pitched whine emanated from the back door. He sighed in frustration.

"Mom and dad couldn't have fed you before they left?" Rhys moaned to Saturn as he grabbed the bag of dog food out from a cabinet. "Damn this bag is heavy...where's the opening...it's new...damn this bag is hard to open...shit."

Dog food everywhere. Rhys took a quick peak out the window to see if anyone was in proximity of said window, no one was, and did something he only did when privacy was guaranteed or while in the presence of Reeny. With little effort, Rhys made each steak shaped piece of dog food gently lift off the floor and land just as gently into the bowl marked Saturn, which then floated to Rhys' hands.

"Um...downside to being a mutie?" he said again to the emptiness of the house as he made his way to the back door. "I see none."

The golden retriever sat obediently as it made that piercing yet endearing whine dogs make when they're in need of something. As the full bowl came into view, a surge of energy ran through Saturn; barking and tail wagging ensued as Rhys opened the door and set the bowl down in front of him.

"Downside to being a mutie and gay? Any more strikes against me and I'm out. No pun intended."

Now that Saturn had been fed, the next pressing matter was that delicious Chinese food sitting on the living room table in front of that vibrant plasma screen TV. Oh how Rhys loved the finer things in life, especially the horoscopes. Especially the star charts. Telekinesis and telepathy were merely parlor tricks compared to Rhys' real power. But without the ability to control that power, or anywhere to even practice really, he was merely a loaded gun waiting to go off again. The stars, the zodiac, the constellations. One day he'd refine his power, but why do today what you can put off for tomorrow? Saturn's barking suddenly broke Rhys out of his reverie.

"I just fed you, Saturn," he moaned as he made his way to the back door, again. "Saturn? What's wrong? Calm down," he said as he slid the door open to pacify the dog.

Saturn continued barking at something behind Rhys and the boy almost had a heart attack when he turned around because what his eyes beheld in their gaze was both shocking and terrifying. An enormous purple and pink robot towered over the house.

"Mutant DNA detected," a robot voice proclaimed. "Proceed with termination."

"No! Saturn, run!"

Saturn did not run, instead choosing to bravely stand with his master in the face of death by a hideously colored giant robot. Rhys felt a click in his body as a beam of energy shot from the robot's hand which, instead of Rhys' body, connected with a dome of transparent, swirling white and black energy. His eyes glowed as the same swirling energy began to expand from his body in swirling tendrils, lifting him from the ground to meet the robot eye to eye. As the robot raised its other hand to release another beam of energy, Rhys felt his body contract; it felt like an explosion starting from his very core and spreading outward, a surge of energy so intense it could've been seen for miles had anyone been looking for an after school rumble in the sky.

Not a remnant of the robot remained save some scorch marks on the roof of the house and when Rhys finally slipped through the air to the ground, he ran his fingers through Saturn's hair before collapsing into the lush grass. The last thing he remembered was a V-shaped shadow hovering over his house and he prayed it wasn't another one of those robots. Damn they were ugly.

"Scott, Jean, Peter, Hank. Bring him to the Mansion. Quickly."

"Yes, Professor."

End Chapter I: Fire In The Sky

R&R please!