Prologue
"Alex, hunny, after all of this, we've decided we have no idea how to show you how to control your new abilities," my mother choked back tears. His father sat next to his mother, the father also, choking back tears; he was as proficient at it though.
Searching for the right words and the right combination, "We love you and all that. But, we...we think it would be better if you went to a new school," his father added.
"Are we talking about Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters? I know that Scott guy had come here and talked to you guys," although, they didn't know about the scars that lied underneath his shirt's sleeves, "A guy in a wheelchair, I can't remember his name. But, anyways, he came to talk Central last week. He said he was in charge of the school."
"Thank God," his mother signed, her eyes drying up; tear-ducts closing.
"You understand we just don't know how to prepare you for life now that you are a mutant," my father out a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
Alex Pierce had led a relatively normal life. It started three weeks ago. He had woken up as someone else. Apparently it was a girl he had been having a wet dream about. I'll tell you,, he absolutely freaked out. At one point, he even looked down and obviously saw that his precious jewels were gone. H had previously tried to kill himself, an antidepressant that made him...sick. The end result was that of spending three and a half days in an adolescent psychiatric ward. That was an interesting experience for the both of us.
He had also lost his grandfather who he was really close to. But, everybody knew it was his time to go; He. wanted is soul. Even I was surprised that He let Alex's mother resurrect his grandfather. I guess that was to help them all make amends. I 'm glad I had gotten the attention of that Ms. Cathrine Pride. But, enough about that, you guys want to find out what happened to Alex Pierce, or as his friends will have call him, Chameleon.
Chapter One: Goodbye Little Town, Hello Westchester
The rain proved to be unrelenting through the day. When Donny had finished packing for the trip to the Institute. When he had looked up how long the trip would be, he sighed at the fact of the ten hour trip he had ahead of him. Though, he was excited to be starting the second half of his high school career at one of the most popular —or depending on who you ask— infamous schools in the country. Even if he wanted to change it, he had to face the fact: he is a mutant. When he found out, he tried to kill himself.
"I can't live like this anymore," He looked down from the main bridge of the Maumee river. Tears streaked down his eyes. As the cars drove by; the average man unconcerned with this random teenager. Then a yellow Fiat pulls off to the side of the bridge. A girl, about Alex's age, who appeared to b in her early twenties, jumped out. She proceeded to have ran over to Alex.
"Hey dude! What do ya' think you're doing? Are you ok," she arrives at the railing of the bridge and she notices the flood of tears rolling down his face.
Constantly repositioning his feet, he chokes out, "Wh...what do you want?"
"Hey...," she puts a hand out to his and squeezes, "My name's Kitty. Do you...wanna' talk? Actually," her brow furrows, "I've been through a lot too in the past few years. And trust me, nothing is worth jumping off of a bridge," he hand moves to his shoulder.
Shaking, he steps back over the railing and collapses on the side of the road, breaking down in tears, "O...o...o...ok," he starts to bawl buckets. Overflowing, Niagara Falls, tars roll down his face. He begins to shake and rasps of despair escape from his body.
"You know what, a friend of mine can help," she exclaims, "His name is Scott. But, first, you have to calm down...You're in shock." She takes off her heavy jacket used to shield her from the cold, "By the way, what's your name?"
"Uhh...my...m...m...my name's Alex," he grabs the jacket and hugs it tight.
Alex kept thinking; 'I want this all to end, I want it all to end, I want it all to end...all the pain.' He lost his grandfather, almost lost his mother, and tried to kill himself two years ago. It was an antidepressant's affects that went awry; too heavy of a dose. "What will happen now,' he thought to himself as the tears ran down his face. He was scared to death. He wanted to fall asleep and never wake up. He wanted to.
A man named Scott Summers had come to pick up Alex. Alex's bags had been packed and loaded into the back of a red corvette. He gave his parents a final goodbye hug. They had tears in their eyes although they were happy tears. Scott was a teacher at the Institute; he runs trading simulations in the Danger Room. The Danger Room is a physical training room that has elements of shape shifting and virtual reality technology.
"Hey kid, are you ready? We've got to get going," he checked his watch. The time read: 9:00 a.m.
"Yep, I'm ready," Alex took in a deep breath; about to begin a new in his life.
The early morning March sun reflected off of his ruby red sunglasses, "All right. Mr. and Mrs. Pierce, he's in good hands."
The two proceeded into the corvette. Alex took the passenger side with the roof closed to shield its passengers from the March morning sun. The inside of the car was retro but it seemed as if everything was brand new. But then it was evident where there had been worn down parts. The gearshift was tarnished with scuff marks. Also, you could see where the steering wheel was held onto most often.
Attached to the mirror were two pictures. The first of a a beautiful red-head sitting next to Scott on a park bench. The second was of a group of people; some would say mutants in uniform; or costume. Some were floating in the air. One was older, muscular, and covered in blue fur. A younger guy with a tail, blue fur, and dark blue-ish/black fur. Another guy, who looked like a younger Scott wore a yellow visor. The visor sported a ruby-red glass piece. "Oh...thos people, in the picture, you'll meet them soon," he smiles with nostalgia.
"How long of a drive is this going to be? I'm wondering if I should've used the bathroom before we left," he laughs; he thought breaking the ice with humor would clear the awkwardness in the air.
"Oh! I didn't tell you? We're not driving. It's about a twenty minute drive to that little airport right," he grins.
Sitting in the yellow Fiat belonging to Kitty, "So, why where you gonna' jump? If you don't mind me asking."
"I...I...don't even know how to explain it," he began, "It was a couple of week ago. It started a couple of weeks ago," his body shakes, "It was a Saturday and I had been home alone for a few hours. I had to go to the bathroom. But, when I looked in the mirror, I was a girl. A girl I was thinking about asking out. I freaked out so much, I passed out for a couple of minutes."
"Wow...well, look, you...," her eyes searching for the right choice of words, "Don't have to be afraid anymore. You and me...we're kinda' the same. We're mutants. You know what mutants are, right?"
Alex had stopped crying, "Yeah, people at school call mutants freaks."
Kitty growls...or utters what seems to be an —attempt at a growl, "I hate people like that! I am —definitely taking you to see Scott, "she turns around a corner, "The Professor has sent Scott and I out to find four new mutants Cerebro picked up. The Professor had sensed their —your— X-Gene activate. But now, I guess we're lookin' for three now!"
It turned out they wouldn't be driving anywhere. But, they would be flying to, it had been revealed they would be flying to Westchester, New York. The plane was an extremely modified Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. (This plane preceded the RS-150 Blackbird. It's massive length was 107 feet long and, told by Scott, has a maximum speed of Mach 4.2. "Hey, I have someone else here, to pilot the X-Jet," he drives the car into the opening ramp of the X-Jet. (That's what the X-Men call the Blackbird; not very original.)
"The guy piloting the X-Jet is Henry McCoy. He's one of our teachers at the Institute. But, fair warning: he's a bit furry so don't freak out," he laughs.
Alex gets out of the car and looks around, "This looks...awesome," Alex substitutes his words.
"You mean badass, huh," Scott sits down in one of the chairs of the X-Jet
"Uh...," he scratches his head, smiling, "Yeah."
Alex took a seat in a chair in front of three empty ones. Scott had gone to strap his car onto the floor of the X-Jet after talking to the main in one of the two pilots' seats. Alex noticed that the man sitting in the pilot's seat to the left was different. The man's hands were more like blue, clawed, and fury mittens. The man turned around, setting the headphones he was wearing on top of the main console. He offered a friendly smile —and a mouth full of sharp, menacing, teeth.
"Hello young man, my name is Dr. Henry McCoy. But you can call me Mr. McCoy," he puts his big hand for a handshake.
Alex shakes his hand steadily, "Its nice to meet you Mr McCoy. I was told there are three other people coming."
"You are absolutely correct! Ms. Writland, Mr. Vitalé, and Mr. Genesis are filing out some final paperworks. Then we will depart for the Institute," he grins, "I love meeting new students!"
"That's cool," Alex tries not to stare at Mr. McCoy.
"I know it is hard to not stare. But if you have any questions, please ask," he turns around and flips a few switches on a sizable control panel.
Donny had decided not to ask him any questions, but to just take everything in. The vast size of the X-Jet, the blue and furry pilot, Mr. McCoy, his new mutant powers, and how he's starting a life at a new school. His inner thoughts were dissipated by the other three teenagers who had walked up to the X-Jet and up the open ramp. The first was a girl with bright blue eyes and a hot pink streak in her hair.
The girl had headphones around her neck and was wearing a green camouflage jacket. She had a blue backpack that was worn but in good shape. She wore a Led Zeppelin t-shirt which was somewhat visible underneath her jacket. It generously hugged her chest —and waist. The jeans she wore showed some wear around the ankles being followed by green converse sneakers. Her features were that of a mouse-like nose, a small petite mouth and hair a little over shoulder length.
Her build was almost hour-glass like. It seemed as if someone pinched her waist to the perfect point to compliment her angel face with her mousy nose and her bright, beautiful eyes. She sat down in the chair behind Alex, full of energy. It looked as if she has been crying because her eyes were slightly blood-shot. She lifted her headphones to her ears. As she did, you could hear some kind of thrash metal music. When they clamped down over her ears the ambient music ceased.
The next guy had a New York hat and, slightly askew to the right. He was wearing a zipped up leather jacket and a worn but, fairly new pair of jeans. He seemed to be younger but closed off. He subconsciously covered up a rainbow-colored wrist-band. His reserved demeanor coupling with the covered up wristband, Alex thought; maybe he's...still in the closet? Alex questioned yet states that. Maybe he should ask. The kid had been looking at him for the last minute or so. When Alex locked eyes, he quickly looked away.
The last kid who seemed taller and older than the other three new students walked up wearing a Star Wars t-shirt. He had a huge grin wrapping around his mouth. (Wait! No emotional baggage...so it seems.) Anyway...he had a square jaw and sunglasses that completed his crew-cut hair-cut. As he got closer, his height was obvious; he was at least six foot tall. The t-shirt showed off his chiseled chest; he carried the demeanor of a nerd. But, of a nerd not to be screwed with. He sat down in the chair furthest behind Alex.
"So, you can shape-shift? That's pretty cool," Kitty offered to Donny as encouragement. He pulled down on the long-sleeved sweater he was wearing.
"Yeah...I...I don't know how cool it is," he continues to look out the window. He had told his mother he would be hanging out with some friends today: a lie.
"You don't have to be afraid dude. The first time my X-Gene activated, I fell through all two floors of my house into my basement. My sheets got stuck in the ceiling of the basement," she alluded loudly.
Opening up a little, "I had...morphed into a girl I was thinking about asking out," he said sheepishly.
"That must've been sooo weird," she laughed even louder.
"It was...really weird," his cheeks turn a light shade of red, along with Kitty's.
"Hey, we're going to meet Scott at a McDonalds, ok? I was on my way there to meet him anyway," she adjusts her grip on the steering wheel.
"I am kind of hungry," Alex subsequently feels his stomach growl, "I never ate breakfast."
In times of crisis, it is people like Kitty Pryde, Shadow-Cat, X-Men that society depends on. Those who have powers strive to resolve issues without even using any abilities. But if a life is on the line, they will do everything to save that life. While there may be heroes like the Avengers out, saving the world, after the defeat of Apocalypse, mutants were revealed to the world. Even though Bruce Banner may transform into a rampaging green monster, a mutant will be attacked while at school; lest he be outed. But places like Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters is a safe haven.
End Chapter One.
