The X Men
The Gifted Ones _

Chapter one: New Beginnings

She had found them on-line. It was probably the dumbest thing she had ever done, but she was there- standing in a dimly lit clearing in the forest. Perhaps a week ago she wouldn't have come, but now her views had changed. She had always thought of them as really cool people, but now that she was one she was scared. "I'm Christine Matthews...I talked to you on-line yesterday..." She called out to the darkness around her. She could feel eyes on her. Her heart was racing and her eyes were tearing up. "Is anyone here?"

"I'm here!" A girl about her age appeared inches in front of her, nose to nose, but completely upside down, floating in the air.

She screamed and went sprawling backwards on her back. A large ball of fire came from her mouth and the stranger shrieked as well, then disappeared only to reappear by her side.

"Oops, sorry!" She reappeared sitting a few inches above the ground next to her, putting out the smoldering hairs on the top of her head as she apologized. "I'm Dementia!" She wore goggles with special lenses to suffice as glasses so they didn't fall off. They were black, as were all her leather cloths. She had little horns at the hairline, centered above her eyes and mid shoulder blade length hair that was green. Her blue eyes looked at the new comer curiously. "Cool power!"

"My name is Tangles...Well my real name is Maggie-Marie Thies, but once you see my power you'll never use my real name again." Another girl stepped out of the shadows. She was 19, 5'6", and had wild curly hair that hung down her back to below her butt. Her eyes were a vivid blue against the navy turtleneck she wore. She was rather round and busty. She wore a blue fatigue print skirt and combat boots. "Dementia is a little hyper, sorry about her welcome. We were just checking to make sure you were one of us. Her real name is Marci Carper."

"Dementia? Tangles?" She tucked her shoulder length brown hair behind her ear. She had a white streak above her right eye.

"You need a call name like the rest of us have. Is the fire your only power?" Dementia poked her questioningly.

"I don't know, it's only been a few days!" Christine shrunk back from her.

Tangles smacked Dementia off before taking Christine by the arm. "Let's go back to the hideout. There will be time for questions later." She led the way, everyone quiet for the walk. The hideout was an old rundown theater behind a shopping center. Inside a black girl with cropped hair and a tall boy with short curly brown hair and blue eyes were lounging on a bench. "Did you two finish your chores?" Tangles asked them.

"Yep...Need food!" The boy grabbed his middle and rolled off the bench. The black girl snickered softly.

"Ok, think we could be a little more subtle there air head?" Dementia grinned, giving him a nudge with her toe. A gust of wind shoved her into the nearest wall. "Ouch!"

"Wind, Cat, go get the others so we can all share our stories with Christine in a little while. I'll start dinner." Tangles shooed them away. "Dementia can show you to the girl's room and you can put up your things. I'll be here if you need me." She walked behind the snack bar and took out a pan. They had a mini fridge and the chili and cheese hot plates to cook on.

"Come on." Dementia hooked her arm in Christine's and dragged her off. She led her through an "employees only" sign and up a flight of stairs. There was a hall that split off in two directions. They went to the right. They entered the projection booth. The movie racks had been moved against a wall and used as a shoe, book, and hat rack. There were many beds on the floor. "This one is empty! I sleep next to you and Clock and Cat sleep on that side. Tangles sleeps down stairs in the break room. The boys are all to the left...all two of them. Wind is mine but Talon is a freebee... Of coarse he is only 13 so you probably don't want him either."

"Ok..." Christine put her things down as her companion droned on. "My things are away..."

"Ok, then let's go!" She tugged Christine back down the steps. When they got down stairs Tangles told them to wash up for dinner and Dementia led the way into the women's bathroom on the far right. "Are you hungry? Tangles is a really good cook."

"Yes, I haven't eaten since breakfast. It smells so good." She dried her hands on a towel. "So how long have you been living here?"

"Well, we'll explain everything while we eat." Dementia smiled mischievously as they left the bathroom and went to the dinning room converted from old gaming arcade in the front left of the building. "You know I feel like we are being watched...oh well!" The arcade had been moved to between the bathrooms years before it closed and the front had kind of been empty except for a few dusty video poker machines that were illegal those days. A door propped on top of some carpentry horses served as a table and miscellaneous items served as chairs. A cable spool was Tangle's seat. Wind was perched on a crate. Cat sat on a bench where Dementia parked herself as soon as she had shoved Christine down on a dented folding chair. A girl she hadn't met yet but assumed to be Clock was sitting on a pair of cinder blocks with a piece of wood between, and a boy she was sure was Talon sat on a roller chair with out the rollers.

They all joined hands and prayed over the meal. Christine was a bit surprised by this. Upon the Amen chaos erupted. A wild scrimmage for dinner rolls broke loose. Tangles, who was to her left, handed her a roll before clearing her throat. "Children, if you can't play nice I'm going to have to separate you." Everyone stopped and sat down quietly. "Now, I'm going to start with myself and we'll go by time. Christine will finish with her story. Ok?"

Everyone nodded, as each ate his or her dinner quietly. "Ok then...I was born with the power to read other people's emotions. I can't read their minds, just understand their feelings. I never really thought about it until I was eleven and I manifested my other power. It is a telekinetic power of manipulating my hair at will. I can grab things and stuff like that. Well, it was scary but I knew I wasn't going to make it go away so I made use of it. A few years later I met up with Dementia..."

"My turn!" Dementia sat down her fork and took a breath. "I was thirteen when I got my horns and green hair but my powers of Dimensional travel and gravity defiance showed up when I was twelve. I thought it was cool, but my parents thought I was turning into a demon or something so I had to run away. That's when Tangles and I teamed up and took this place over. She was fifteen so she knew what to do. And Cat came into the picture soon after that."

Cat looked at Dementia for a moment before beginning. "I met Dementia and Tangles at a town meeting about Mutants. I was just curious about what they had to say at the meeting so I went. Back then I was Erika Smalls...anyway some activist shot up the place. My cat like abilities became apparent then. Trauma of being shot activated my change." Christine noticed Cat's eyes were very cat like and her ears were the slightest bit pointed on the tips. She was dressed in Jeans and a T-shirt.

"That was my eleventh birthday and my mom was called into the hospital. I dragged my best friend with me and we met Cat after surgery. My name was Jed Payne and Wind was Glenn Rockwell." Talon fidgeted. He was thirteen and about 5' tall. He had brown hair and eyes. His skin was dark bronze, and wore tight jeans and a half-buttoned orange shirt. A cross hung around his neck. "She was really nice and we made friends with her. We started hanging out with her and her mutant friends. This year I've started understanding and talking to birds."

"I started controlling wind a few weeks ago." Wind said between bites. He made no move to elaborate.

"My darling isn't good at story time." Dementia reached over and patted him on the top of the head. He turned bright red and slouched down lower on his crate.

"And now that leads us to me, Clock. My real name is Hope Donny-Clark. I've been able to stop time and slow it down and speed it up since two years ago. I kind of had the same move into the old theater idea and met everyone else last year." She had short blond hair and brown eyes. She was about 5'4" and fifteen years old.

"I'm Christine Matthews and I was at school last Thursday and my teacher yelled at me and I got really mad and started breathing fire...for real. I was taken to the hospital but the only thing wrong with me was on a genetic level. I am considered a danger to myself and others so they wanted to lock me up. My mom and dad didn't send me away though and I started trying someplace that could really help me. I found you guys. And this is where I am now." She tucked her hair behind her ear again.

"Scorch!" Clock grinned. "That would be perfect!"

"Isn't that kind of cheesy?" Christine frowned. "Wait, I'm asking people like Clock and Tangles?"

"Hey, what do you mean? They are part of our identity. They express our gifts as well as define who we are outside normal society where we aren't always welcome." Cat spoke softly. "What kind of super hero name is Christine? Scorch is so much better. It kicks butt."

"We aren't super heroes, we are kids." Christine shook her head in denial.

"Why can't we be? We are super, now all we need is to be heroes. We already are super persons." Tangles smiled as Christine thought that over.

"Fine, you can call me Lighter for all I care." She relented.

"Sure thing hot stuff. Now how about you and me talk about something more important?" Talon winked at her.

"Like what? Me walking you to day care in the morning?" She smiled at him coolly.

"That was harsh." Wind looked at Scorch in surprise before giving her the thumbs up. "Nice one!" He then dodged a flying fork.

"Shut up!" Talon grumbled before getting up from the table. "Well, if you change your mind I'll be in my room. Later babe!" He wandered off.

"Poor boy is a legend in his own mind. Too bad for him he never crosses anyone else unless they are mad at him..." Clock sighed. "Well food was great, nice meeting you, now I'm off to work. See you in the morning." She gave everyone a wave as she went out the back door.

That entire day seemed so long ago but it was only two weeks prior to today. Wind had been instructed by Tangles to help Christine develop her powers. They had spent hours in the back in a bare metal room with a few lights exploring her abilities. She had learned how to make a small match sized flames appear on her fingertips and she could throw fireballs as well as breath a torch of flame. If things went awry Wind simply snuffed the flame with his powers. She was surprised that he wasn't her helper as usual. This day she was alone.

She wasn't afraid because she couldn't hurt herself. She played with the fire, juggling balls and bouncing them like beanbag balls. Applause broke her concentration and they all went out instantly. "Sorry, but that was really cool." Talon grinned.

"What are you doing here bird brain?"

"Is that anyway to talk to someone Tangles sent to you?" He placed a hand over his heart trying to look taken back.

"What, she is in the mood for fried chicken?" She teased him, tossing and catching a new ball.

"I came to help you. Sometimes gifts can be combined to make a stronger attack. Dementia and Tangles can become Medusa if they work together (Dementia casts snake illusion and Tangles is her self). Maybe we can create some magic of our own." He smiled.

"Listen Playboy, I don't think this is going to work..."

"Give me a minute! We could maybe create a phoenix if we tried." Well, who was she to argue with him? He was cute if not a little self-assured. Even if he were full of baloney he would entertain her for a while.

"Ok, I'll give you a chance." She nodded to him and he grinned a big happy smile of success. That is when she realized her day was about to get kicked up into the fast lane. He was hyper and talked her through everything before she knew he had started. She was very tired by the time dinner was ready, but they were making progress. Ok, so it was only a parakeet today, but soon they would have a phoenix, she was sure of it! "Alright! Mexican!" She sat down happily.

After blessings they dug into the food. "How are things going for you Scorch?" Tangles gave her a warm smile.

She looked up with lettuce sticking out of her mouth. She gave a thumbs-up while she chewed on her mouth full. "Nom yum nom.." After swallowing she elaborated. "Very cool! Today Talon and I made a firebird... It was small but it was a start! Wind showed me how to juggle and handle my fire as if it were a rubber ball and all kinds of awesome things."

"Good. You haven't had any trouble with spontaneous power bursts?"

"Nope!" She shook her head. She had found her family. Their talents were stronger ties then any blood could ever be...