Disclaimer: If I owned these, would I be writing a FAN-fiction? I own nothing except the plot, an iPod, and the burning desire of a fan.
This is what happens when the Spartans we ended with in Ghosts of Onyx find themselves in separate worlds where magic is real, technology is slow, heroes exist, and the missing could be closer than you think. Based off the characters from the books, games, cartoons, comics, tv series and movies that make up this web of worlds.
5; Part one Ch. 1 "X-citing Circumstances"
Location: Bayville, New York
It had been a couple of weeks since the 'Asteroid M' incident and the X-men had finally gotten back into the normal routine. The day was like any other, a school day. School was a little exciting because the girl's championship soccer game was in a few days, but there was not much else except it was different without Mystique as the principle; the new principle arriving the same day as the Championship.
The young X-men were about half way done with their school day.
"Ah man, this is such a drag." Kurt said to no one in particular as the young mutants re-grouped and walked down the hallway.
"Oh come on Kurt, it isn't that bad." Scott said.
"Scott's right, and besides, after school we get to meet some of the new students that will be joining us at the Institute." Jean said. Kurt's face lit up.
"More mutants!?" He asked happily.
"Yep, the Professor said they'd be arriving today." Scott said with a smile.
"No way, that's so cool!" Evan said.
"Yeah it is, I like can't wait!" said Kitty, her voice full of glee. Rogue was about to agree when the bell rang and the X-men had to split up and get to class.
Charles sat outside at the main entrance of the mansion, waiting for a few of the new mutant students to arrive. Logan stood next to him.
"Nervous Charles?" Logan asked sarcastically.
"A little," Charles admitted.
Ororo stepped out to join them, "Everything's in order Charles," she said.
"Thank you." Charles responded as a car turned onto the large driveway.
"Well," Logan said. "Here it goes."
At last, Kurt thought, the five minute countdown. He did not pay attention to the last part of class; he was too busy thinking of the new mutants to care about whatever the teacher was talking about. Those last five minutes passed as slowly as possible. Five . . . four . . .he counted off last seconds in great anticipation, three . . . two . . .
"Yeah!" He cried out as the bell dismissed the class. He bolted to his locker, put up his stuff, and sprang for Scott's car.
As the young mutants headed back to the mansion, all somehow piled in Scott's car, they talked excitedly about the arrival of the new mutants. They sped up the drive way and pulled right up to the door before clamoring out and heading inside. Logan, Ororo, and Charles were waiting there in the foyer; accompanied by three younger people, obviously the new mutants.
The Professor spoke first: "Ah, perfect timing. I'd like you all to meet Bobby Drake, Sam Guthrie, and Jubilation Lee. They will be staying here with us. In order to have both a safe haven and to get help as their mutant abilities grow."
The young X-men introduced themselves and greeted the new additions to their family. As the entire group was conversing with one another a strange noise echoed from outside and they all fell silent. The sound came again, it was familiar somehow. Logan approached the window; he scanned everything he could see. Then the sound came again, this time Logan remembered where he'd heard it before—it was much like the sound that was emitted from Magneto's metal transport spheres. Something also caught his eye; as for what it was, Logan had no idea.
It was a half-sphere coming up from the ground out on the lawn, purple in color with a mix of black. Lightning struck around its edges and seemed to pulse through it. Logan had never seen anything like it. It stood almost five feet tall.
"Charles, you might wanna look at this." He said over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off the strange . . . whatever it was. As Charles wheeled over to the window the noise echoed out again this time much louder and now it was a constant stream of metallic humming. "Somethin doesn't feel right." Logan said clenching his fist. "We should get down there."
Charles agreed.
Logan raced down the front steps toward the phenomenon, with Charles (Who took a ramped detour) and Ororo in toe. Against the order of Logan and the wishes of both Charles and Ororo; Scott, Jean, Rogue, Kurt, Kitty, Evan, Bobby, Sam, and Jubilation also followed them out to the strange purple phenomenon. The three adults had gotten there a few seconds ahead of everyone else.
"What is it?" Scott asked. Logan turned and scowled at him.
"I thought I told you to stay inside!" He growled. Scott was about to rebuttal with some witty banter but the strange half sphere began to shrink at that moment.
"Back, everyone back!" Logan ordered. The lightning that coursed through the shrinking half sphere reflected light off something inside. It shrunk smaller and smaller and something protruded out on one side. If they had been curious about the object, they did not have to wonder what it was for long; the half sphere kept shrinking before finally disappearing. All that remained from it was a pod like structure. It had a milky silver color to its outside hull.
"One of Magneto's transports?" Scott asked. Logan sniffed and shook his head.
"There's not a trace of Magneto being anywhere near this thing." Logan said. There was a distorted green shadow of something inside the strange pod.
"I'm feeling a presence of some kind; my telepathic connection is clouded by something."
The shadow in the pod moved. "Whoa!" Scott said, putting a hand to his sunglasses. Logan's claws slid out and the other X-men readied themselves as well. Something was alive in there, and Charles had a fairly good idea what it was.
"Wait!" Charles yelled, his hands raised to stop Logan.
TIME: UNKNOWN, LOCATION: UNKNOWN /Spartan-G111 Mission Clock
He slowly resurfaced from his unconsciousness. Ugh, what happened? He thought to himself. He tried to think of the events leading up to the last thing he remembered. Uh . . . let's see . . . we were in the Top Honors Competition with Team Gladius and Team Saber. Saber had sprung a trap that we'd had set, and then O'Wynn got himself "Killed" after he'd moved too soon. What an idiot. He smiled as he visualized O'Wynn twitching from the stun rounds. After that we… we what? He could not remember. He tried to recall but it was all blank. A mechanical voice whispered something. What? All he heard was the beginning of a word. "Recl-" Recl . . . what the Hell does that mean . . . Wait! That thing. That robot. What did it mean? What did it do to me? He asked himself. It was then that he noticed he was encased in a silver- clear pod of some sort. What the Hell? Why am I in this thing? What is this thing? He shook his head, clearing out the last bits of unconsciousness. More importantly, how do I get out?
He looked around for anything that resembled a latch or lever or a release button. No luck. But he did spot his rifle though. A flicker in front of his face confirmed his HUD was back online once again. Okay then, I guess there isn't much that can help me in here now is there. He was about to attempt to make his own exit when something approached the outside of the pod. It was a short shadow. Aaron would've guessed some kind of animal until a shadow that closely resembled a hand was placed on the Pod's outer hull. He moved his hand over the shadow of the hand outside. He had to get out of this thing. He had to find out where he was and who that was out there.
He started testing the hull's strength by pressing on what he assumed was the front of the pod, it budged slightly but not enough. Almost like a hard husk, hmm . . . he thought. He removed his blade and began attempting to slice an opening. He hit the hull with the hilt of his knife and punctured a small hole. That'll work, he thought. With his knife already wedged into the hole, he began to lower the blade and cut a long slit in the body of the pod. Following that put his fingers between the edges and began pushing them apart; he pried open an exit fairly quickly. As soon at the hole was big enough for him to fit through, he grabbed his rifle and climbed out.
Charles approached and put his hand on the pod. There was more movement. Someone was definitely inside it. There was a quick jolt and the tip of a blade protruded from the protective hull and Charles moved back. The blade moved with ease down the length of the pod. Fingers dug into the space between the edges of the fresh cut. Muscles pried the edges further apart making a large hole.
There stood a person, wearing armor of a strange nature. Military green with an eerie touch of gold, futuristically designed yet terrifying. The person hefted a sizable gun, also of futuristic design. They stood there and had a sort of Military stance as they surveyed the area and the group. The person didn't move for a long while.
"Hello, I'm Charles Xavier, and who might you be?" He asked extending his hand for a hand shake. The armored person looked at Charles and then down at his hand. They extended their gauntleted hand and grasped Charles's hand.
"It's nice to meet you Charles Xavier, Sir. I am Petty Officer Third Class Aaron-G111, SPARTAN-III Commando of the UNSC Navy. Would you mind telling me where I am?" The armored man, who called himself Aaron, said. His voice sounded young but strong.
Logan looked at Aaron, brandishing his claws. Aaron tilted his head. He pointed to Logan's claws. "If I may say so, Sir, those are some wickedly awesome blades." Aaron remarked, almost child-like. Logan seemed a little startled by the remark.
"To answer your question, Aaron, you're in Bayville New York." Charles said.
"New York?" Aaron asked a hint of surprise in his tone. "You mean Earth? American New York?"
"Yeah, Earth, American New York." Logan said.
Scott interjected "Why did you ask if it was earth?"
Aaron looked at Scott. "I asked because last time I checked, I was not in a competition on Earth. I was on..." He paused as if he were about to break a rule. "Well it wasn't Earth, far from it, approximately 38 light-years from The Sol System."
Logan raised an eyebrow. "Sol System?" Scott asked. "Earth's solar system, you know 'Sol'?" Aaron said shrugging. He un-polarized his helmet's visor, "Wait, how do you not know any of this?" Aaron asked. His eyes wandered to the other people standing around. "Super powers?" Aaron asked as he looked back down at Charles.
"How about we move this inside," Charles said to everyone. "We obviously have a lot to talk about."
One very long and awkward conversation later, the X-men and Aaron had been well aquatinted; Spartan III and Mutant secrets shared between them. They all sat around in one of the den areas in a sort of semi-circle. The Majority of the discussion was over now, only a few more questions remained.
"Hard to believe all of that, kid." Logan said.
"Indeed it is Logan." The Professor nodded.
"Most puzzling." Ororo added.
Aaron crossed his arms in front of his armored chest. He'd removed his helmet by this time. "How do you think I feel? I'm the one who passed through time." He said, almost sarcastically.
"So what do we do Professor?" Jean asked.
Charles put a hand to his chin in thought.
Over another conversation, this one not nearly as lengthy, they eventually reached a decision. Aaron would stay at the institute until he was able to return to his own time. He was obviously surprised by the compassion and understanding that these people, strangers he had never met before, had shown him. He wondered why but he did not have the chance to ask because he was whisked away to be assigned a room and discuss a few other things.
Soon after this semi-short process the younger mutants gave Aaron, along with the three new mutants, a tour of the entire mansion, training facilities and all. Aaron was quite fascinated by the Danger Room. Nearing the end of the tour, they turned a corner into to a final hallway.
"This hallway has our rooms." Jean said as they walked. They each pointed out their own respective rooms. The group stopped at one of the doors.
"And here's your room, Aaron." Scott said pointing at the door. Aaron opened the door. He paused at the sight.
"Wow," he murmured as he walked into the room. It had all the things a person could want or need, besides the bathroom which was down the hall. As he took in the room he noticed that things were not much different from the rooms of 2552. "Thank you." Aaron said turning back to the young mutant group.
"We're like practically family now; it's totally what families do." Kitty said.
The group left Aaron in his room as they showed Bobby, Sam, and Jubilation their rooms. Aaron took this time to settle into his new living quarters. He put his helmet on the nightstand; he removed all the pieces of his armor so he could be more casual around the others. He had a black jumpsuit underneath his armor which he still had on, seeing as he had no other clothes to wear and nudity was not an acceptable. The young group returned to Aaron's doorway.
"The professor says it's time to eat." Jean said. Aaron wrinkled his forehead in confusion but soon afterward the answer hit him. "Oh right telepathy," he said.
"Believe me; it takes a while to get used to it." Rogue said as they returned back down the hall.
"Nice jumpsuit." Evan said, admiring the fabric.
When they arrived in the dining area they were greeted with wonderful aromas. Aaron was starting to salivate heavily; he had not eaten since... "Well that ain't good." He said under his breath. He remembered eating the morning before the Top Honors Competition but his stomach told him that it had been a long time since he had eaten last. A very loud growl escaped his gut and he blushed as his new found 'Family' looked over at him in surprise.
The meal went by fairly quickly. There were a lot of conversations about topics Aaron knew nothing about, however he listened intently to each story as if it were a lesson's lecture. They all had interesting stories. As Aaron listened, he ate, it was not the kind of meal he was used to but it was still very nice. He saw a few things that he had never seen before and ate them anyway, and they were very satisfying. There were a few questions thrown his way and the answers held some interesting truths. When the meal finished, they all retired to their rooms, a few of them stopping at the bathroom to brush. Aaron entered his room and just stood in the center. He eventually moved to the window to look out at the night sky. Wonder what happened to the others . . .he thought.
He decided, if he did sleep, he would sleep in his black jumpsuit since he did not have an alternative, The Professor had said that they would get him some clothes later the next day. He opened the window and sat on its sill. A slight breeze moved through the air. He was not tired at all; as the hours passed, he watched the moon move through the sky.
At roughly 0335 hours; he checked his armor and weapons. The Professor, Logan, and Ororo disagreed with him about keeping the weapons in his room, but after his explanation they agreed to allow it.
After he had finished, he ventured quietly down the halls to the fitness room. Once there he started his morning routine, with a few changes since the equipment was a bit different from what he used. When he finished, it was 0645 hours. Aaron was now fully awake and ready for the day. He passed a big window in the hall; the sun peeked up over the tree tops and reflected off the water. Beautiful, he thought. He saw birds flying over the trees, basking in the warm morning sunlight. He smelled himself and decided to shower before heading to breakfast. He got to the bathroom and removed his jumpsuit. He figured out the shower controls fairly quickly and after a five minute shower he emerged, squeaky clean. Steam had filled the bathroom. He used a towel to cover his lower half. He arrived back to his room and sniffed the jumpsuit. He decided to hang it out the window to air out for a while. He paced around his room, waiting for his jumpsuit to smell better. He would head down to breakfast but since he had no other clothes he didn't have much for options. After about fifteen minutes of toweled pacing he smelled the jumpsuit again.
Finding the results acceptable he put it on and left for breakfast. After a delicious assortment of twentieth century breakfast items, Aaron headed back to his room. It was a school day according to Scott, so the younger mutants would be gone for most of the day. Aaron wondered if the lessons were similar to the ones he'd had during his training.
After a while it was time for the mutant group to leave for school. Bobby, Sam, and Jubilation had not yet transferred schools so they did not leave with them.
When Ororo took Aaron to get clothes and some other necessities he asked her about school. She found it shocking that he hadn't attended a public school since he was five. He asked her if he could attend, being as this was a chance to learn from a different perspective. She agreed but she did not think it would be possible since he did not have citizenship or proper identification in this era. When they got back they talked to Charles about it to see what they could do. Charles said he would take care of it; he left it at that.
Aaron went to put his new clothes in his room. He tried a few of them on to see how they looked. With satisfaction put the rest back and chose to wear blue jeans and a grey V-neck t-shirt for the day. He got positive feedback on his choice from Bobby, Sam, and Jubilation. With nothing else to do, Aaron went to get familiar with mansion. He spent most of this endeavor in the Danger Room's control center. Reading up on controls and specs, difficulty settings, obstacle options, and mostly Holographic battle scenery. This took several hours. When he had finished he went back to the upper floors of the mansion.
Shortly after; Scott, Jean, Rogue, Kurt, Kitty, and Evan returned from school. They also approved of Aaron's clothing choice.
The professor rolled in and announced that three more mutants would be joining them in the next few hours. With excited responses the younger X-men helped Ororo prepare the extra rooms, chatting the hours by. The professor called them down to be present when the others arrived, as to be a sort of "Welcoming Committee". The X-men stood at the front entrance waiting for their new house mates. They did not have to wait too long before a group of cars turned on to the driveway.