This is for Rowena's September Fireplace Challenge. It's the Doppleganger Challenge. Sean meets his counterpart in the Age of Apocalypse time-line.
There were days when Sean Cassidy, formerly of the X-Men, loved his new job training the young mutants at the academy. Some days things just went right. Today was not one of those days. Jubilee was experiencing some issues controlling her powers. She'd fried several appliances starting with the toaster. And then the microwave, two televisions, and her Ipod.
"It's not my fault!" She'd exclaimed, once he'd put out the electrical fire. Sean raised his eyebrow at her, since he'd heard her arguing with Angelo over the last blueberry poptart. His enhanced hearing helped sometimes.
The day had gone downhill from there. Emma had to leave suddenly, claiming an urgent business matter. Jono hadn't been seen all morning, and was most likely moping around his room. Sean made a note to check on him by lunchtime. Paige and Angelo had started sniping at each other, shortly after the unfortunate toaster's demise. Thankfully, Everett was his usual cheerful self, and was busy helping Artie and Leech with a project.
After the fifth 'incident' with Jubilee's powers, Sean decided it was time for her to do some training in the Danger Grotto. It would hopefully help her regain some control, and keep the rest of the electrical equipment safe for a while. He sat down at his desk with a weary sigh. Not even ten, and it already felt like a long day. He turned on his computer, and glanced over some of his paperwork while it booted up. When the internet was available, he began ordering replacement appliances. He finished up, hoping the new ones would last a while.
Suddenly, Sean heard an extremely loud explosion. It sounded like something or someone had blown up the Danger Grotto. Where Jubilee was training. Fuck. He flew out of his office, wondering what his student had done now. He arrived at what used to be their training facility. It looked like a small bomb had gone off, and he called out,
"Jubilee? Are ye all right, lass?" His Irish accent came out very strongly, as it did in times of stress. He was relieved when a disheveled Jubilee found her way over to him. Before he could speak again, she cut in,
"Dude, I totally, like, did not do that!"
"Then what happened, Jubilee?" He questioned her curiously. Jubilee, despite her excuses and exaggerations, was not a liar.
"I was working out over there" As she pointed to an area of the grotto that was now a large mess of fallen trees, some of them charred. "When out of no where, there came a big blue flash. I ducked behind the nearest tree, and boom! One burned up Danger Grotto." Jubilee finished telling her story when the others came up, having heard the explosion. Angelo pointed to a form of a man starting to rise up from the mess.
"If everyone's here, then who's that?" Sean started forward to investigate. They seemed to attract visitors, like moths gathering around flames. Some of the strangers were benign, but they'd had several attacks on the school. Sean's own cousin, Tom had attempted to take over a few times. So naturally, as headmaster, he had to be careful. As he approached, he noticed a few disconcerting details. The newcomer had bright red hair, the same shade as his. The haircut was different, closer to a military style. His build was similar, but quite leaner. The man rubbed his eyes, seemingly confused about his whereabouts,
"What foul trick of Apocalypse is this? Abyss! Ye coward, come out and show yourself!" Sean was taken aback by the voice, it sounded like his. It wasn't just the accent, it was the timbre as well. A little bit rougher, perhaps, but still the same general tone.
"Dude, it's another Banshee!" Sean heard the kids discussing the new arrival in hushed tones behind him. He didn't need to look back to know exactly who was whispering. He shrugged, it wasn't really that surprising. The kids were always curious about things, and often forgot that his powers included a superior sense of hearing. He approached the man cautiously, amazed at just how the man's face resembled the one he saw in the mirror each day. It wasn't a perfect match, but it was damn close. The man finally took notice of Sean, realizing the similarity between them.
"Are ye one of them? One of his horsemen? This has to be a trick!" Sean had heard the stranger's first words, about Apocalypse. But he had never heard of Abyss.
"Nae man, I'm not one of the horsemen. I'm Sean Cassidy, and I am the headmaster of this school. You somehow crashed into our trainin' area."
"That's not possible! I'm Sean Cassidy! Ye must be some imposter, or a mind trick. But Magneto will prevail!" Headmaster Cassidy was stunned by the false Sean's statement. Magneto? He didn't know what to say,
"Um, Mr. Cassidy, sir?" Paige's questioning voice broke into his thoughts. He turned slightly to look at her.
"Yes, lass?" Both men answered in unison. Then they looked at each other, eyebrows raised.
"Oh man, now we've got two Banshees? If another Frosty shows up, I'm outta here!"
"Thank you for those kind words, Jubilation. I'll be sure to keep it in mind." The icy cool tones of Emma Frost, aka the White Queen, surprised the group. The 'oops' expression appeared on Jubilee's face. She obviously hadn't known Emma was walking up behind her. "Now, Sean, really. I can't leave for a day without coming back to a mess." Emma shook her head, as her co-head of the school approached her,
"It's not my fault!" Sean unconsciously echoed Jubilee's words earlier that morning.
"I go into the city for a few hours, and I come back to find chaos. What happened in the kitchen? And the living room?" She closed her eyes for a minute. "Never mind, I'll figure it out once we get this current crisis solved. One of you is enough."