Cross 1 – The Beginning
1 – One of a Kind
In a private mansion nestled at the heart of Upstate New York, a man named Charles Xavier was making a startling discovery.
"Now this is very interesting," Xavier said to himself aloud. His mind was already buzzing at the implications of this discovery. He felt like jumping for joy, as he stood at the console of his prototype Cerebro system. He had to tell Erik about it.
Outside the door of Xavier's workshop stood Erik Lehnsherr. He waited calmly, though his dignified manners barely contained his impatient bluster. He was certainly excited about the prospects of locating a new student for the school Xavier was planning to build. Erik was a man of action, and did not appreciate the long wait.
The old wooden door opened and Charles Xavier stood at the frame. He was smiling, clearly very proud of himself, thought Erik.
"So what is it this time, Charles? Have you found another young mutant to convert to our cause?" Erik asked.
Xavier paused. He was excited, but also somewhat unsettled. "I'm not sure. Cerebro has detected something I've never seen before, in Middle America."
Erik cocked an eyebrow. "Is it a mutant or not?"
Xavier started, and then paused in consideration. "Perhaps you'd like to see for yourself."
Xavier led Erik back into the Cerebro room, as Xavier had taken to calling it recently. The room had been a cozy study on one corner of the house before the two men cleared it out in order to build Cerebro. Not that anyone would know this by looking. The device consisted mainly of a platform in the center of the floor surrounded by a row of consoles. The main console connected to a strange helmet which rested on the surface. From there a dizzying network of wires and power cords extended outward, covering the hardwood floors and leading up into the canopy of machinery that was bolted to the ceiling. The walls were obscured by nets of wiring, monitors, and special metal panels. The entire machine was powered by a series of solar panels and monstrous generators which sat right out in the yard next to the house. Both men knew they couldn't keep the machine in that room, but they would move it once it was fully tested.
They stood in the center of the room. Xavier picked up the helmet and put it on. "Erik, the door," he said, realizing that he left it open. Erik focused his senses on the metal in the handle and hinges. The door shut itself, and the lights went out as the Cerebro system came alive. Instantly, a cloud of white pin lights were arranged in the air around them. From the inside, they formed into the shapes of the major continents.
"In Cerebro, humans show up as white lights on in the psychic spectrum," said Xavier. The lights then shifted to a dimmer network of red lights, "and mutants appear as red lights."
"Yes, I remember. So?"
The room shifted once more, this time completely dark. There was only a single light now, a thin spark of bright green light directly in front of them. Both men stared at it.
"What is that?" Erik said quietly.
"It's a mind, Erik. In the last few months since we built it, I'd noticed this as a minor blip, manifesting somewhere in Kansas. I've been able to identify it as a sentient being, but Cerebro doesn't recognize it as being either human or mutant. It has its own color on the psychic spectrum." Xavier explained, very satisfied with his hard work.
"If it's not human or mutant, then what is it?" Erik was starting to feel the excitement.
"As I said, I can't be sure." He turned to his friend with a sly smile. "Would you like to help me find him?"
2 – Nowhere
Erik Lehnsherr stared out a window on the bus, with Charles Xavier sitting next to him, reading a newspaper. He could see nothing but cornfields and barns all the way to the horizon. Erik didn't want to take public transportation, but as Xavier said, there was no way they could have made it to Kansas in the Bentley, and they couldn't afford anything better than an interstate bus. Xavier may have come from a wealthy family, but that money was already being invested in the school. For the sake of their dream, even twenty hours on a bus was a small price to pay.
"Charles, once we start our school, I think we should come up with a better mode of transportation for our students than this." Erik said.
"I'll make note of that, Erik." Xavier quipped. Xavier decided that Erik must be truly aggravated to be complaining like this.
"What are we going to do when we get there, Charles?" Erik asked without turning. "How do we go about finding our little friend? All Cerebro gave us was the city."
"I called some members of the town council, suggested that I might be looking to buy some property. The suggestion of my family fortune coming into their district was enough. They've arranged to have someone give us a small tour. Taking in the local color may give us some clues," Xavier said, smirking slightly.
Erik sat back and sighed. He smelled something he couldn't really identify, and he hoped against hope that they were almost there.
It was another two hours before Erik and Xavier finally arrived. The bus stopped at the edge of town, near a short, squat stationhouse with a single ticket window. The middle-aged woman inside was eating her lunch right at her desk. Xavier gazed at an enormous sign on the other side of the street, painted by the locals. It read:
'Welcome to Smallville: Meteor Capital of the World'
"An odd sign," observed Xavier.
"You'd think, wouldn't you?" Xavier turned to see a police officer. He knew that this man was Chief Parker of the Smallville police department, but he decided to let the man introduce himself. "You're the guys from New York, right? I was asked to show you around. I'm Police Chief Parker, at your service."
"My name is Charles Xavier. This is my colleague, Erik Lehnsherr." He nudged Erik, who was busy staring at an old man about to shoot his cow at point blank. A school bus pulled up to block his view, and he wasn't sure if he should be grateful for himself, or sorry for the children. Chief Parker jerked as a loud shot rang through the air.
"Damn Garrett!" Parker said to himself. "I warned him about that." He turned back towards the two visitors. "I guess you'd like to know a little more about that there sign?"
"It had crossed my mind," Xavier admitted.
"Craziest thing, it was sixteen years back. Without any warning from the state or anything, Smallville was hit by this meteor shower, like nothing I ever seen before. Killed a bunch of people, but we survived. Since then, weird stuff sometimes happens in this area. Two headed animals, man-sized potatoes, three-eyed fish, and so on. One guy even woke up with six fingers. After affects of whatever those meteors were made of. Damn weird." Chief Parker said without missing a beat. It didn't take a psychic to see that he told this story to everyone who came into town.
"Maybe it is a little strange, but mutation is a natural reaction to changes in the environment. It is how we, as a species, adapt and evolve."
"Is that right? What are you, a scientist?"
"We're teachers," Erik said brusquely. "And we will be sure to call on you if we need any more help. Thank you for your time."
Typical New Yorkers, Parker thought to himself. "Alright, you know who to call." Chief Parker walked back to his squad car. Xavier heard Parker's thoughts, but he couldn't really blame him. He turned back to Erik as Parker drove away.
"Was that really necessary Erik?" he asked.
"You were the one who thought talking to the locals would turn up a clue. I think that meteor story explains everything. Maybe the radiation triggered a unique mutation in one of these rednecks."
"Perhaps, but I'm not sure it's that simple, Erik." Xavier stated.
The two men wondered through the center of town for a little while. They took in lunch at a local café called the Talon and asked around about the meteor shower. A few people related some theories and personal experiences. In the middle of his coffee, Xavier stopped suddenly, as he felt a bizarre presence reach his senses. He got up from his seat and followed the signal. Erik was chatting up a girl at the counter named Lana, who talked about the Talon's days as a movie theater before becoming a café. He suddenly noticed Xavier had left the building.
Erik found his friend outside, walking along the roadside.
"What is it Charles? Do you know where you're going?" Erik asked as he caught up with his friend.
Xavier could feel this mind, but more than that, he was drawn to a bizarre ringing in his own ears. Like the song of a crystal. "Yes, Erik. I believe I do."
The wind picked up very suddenly in a rush that caused the dust and the grass to rise in the fields, and quickly settled down.
3 – Contact
The sun had already set on Smallville as Erik Lehnsherr followed Charles Xavier down the long road. They had been walking for hours, and the fact that each house was built a mile apart from their neighbor seemed to heighten that sense of distance to Erik. "One of these days, we need to learn how to fly." He said, partly to Xavier and partly to himself.
Xavier listened to an intricate song in his mind. It drew him like a beacon, and seemed to be intended for a psychic. It was like a symphony of crystals, singing and crying in a forgotten tongue. He wondered if this song was actually meant for him.
Erik could tell that Xavier was on to something, but he could only guess what it was. It was frustrating, sometimes, trying to fathom a man who had access to his own deepest thoughts at all times.
Xavier then strayed from the road and wondered into a corn field. Erik followed as Xavier cut through the maze, and asked him finally "Look, this has gone on long enough. What are you up to here?"
Xavier tried to explain as he continued through the field. "There's some kind of low-grade psychic signal emanating from somewhere in this field. I've been tracking it since we left town. I think it may be some form of beacon, possibly alien in origin."
"Alien? You think our new friend is an alien now?" Erik asked.
"We won't know for sure until we find him." Xavier said. He couldn't be sure of anything, but after all this searching, he had to know.
The two men emerged from the cornfield and found themselves in someone's backyard. It was very much like a Norman Rockwell painting, complete with farmhouse, windmill, and barn. "And I half-expected a military base. I'm actually disappointed." Erik said.
Xavier smiled. "They can't be everywhere. They just don't have enough men to cover the ground." He turned to the barn. He knew he'd find what they were looking for there. "My guess, the meteor shower was the result of an alien incursion gone wrong. The owners of this farm must've found some form of alien technology in their backyard and stowed it away, unaware of what it could do. But that still doesn't explain the alien mind."
They walked towards the barn, wary of any approaching minds. "Perhaps there was a survivor of the crash. They could have taken it in, or, more likely, it could have killed them and hidden away on this farm. We should be very careful." Erik suggested, feeling the metal around him flex slightly in his alertness. The mailbox quivered. The name "Kent" was printed in large, bold letters on its side.
Xavier reached the door, but turned slightly before opening it. "Not everyone is as cynical as you, Erik."
"I prefer to think of myself as a realist, Charles. Now, would you please open that door? I'd like to see why I spent twenty hours on a bus." Erik said. Xavier turned and pulled the doors open.
The barn was hazy, the light from the small windows reflecting off a few metal surfaces. There were bales of hay stacked up in a few places, but it was difficult to see much behind the clutter of farming equipment and broken mowers. "These invaders are a cunning lot, Charles."
Xavier wasn't listening to Erik. He noticed a draped object in the far corner of the barn, behind a wooden divide. He walked in towards it with cautious steps.
Erik noticed the object as Xavier stood before it. He stepped up and looked closely at the tarp. What was this? Erik lifted his arms and lightly grasped the tarp. Xavier did the same and the both looked at each other before they pulled it down together. The cover practically flew off in anticipation of revealing its secret.
It was a large rock, at least on the outside, but it was broken just so the two men could see the shimmering crystal lining of its core. From within, there was a single crystal shard, emanating a bright green glow. Charles reached in and picked it up. This was no doubt the source of the strange signal he was picking up on.
"This rock, this meteor, it's a spaceship. Erik, this is a form of transportation, and this crystal is a piece of advanced alien technology. To think, this has been sitting in a barn for sixteen years!" Xavier exclaimed under his breath.
Erik shared in Xavier's amazement. "But what was it transporting? The interior isn't big enough for a man."
Xavier thought on this, and was struck with a thought. "Not a grown man."
There was a sound from the entrance, like a gun being cocked. Both Erik and Xavier turned their attention to a middle age man aiming a shotgun at them. "Put that down and get out where I can see you." He growled at them, obviously distrustful. Xavier put the crystal back down and they both stepped out.
"Why didn't you sense this man, Charles? You could have closed down his mind before he even looked in our direction," Erik thought, knowing full well that Xavier was listening.
"I'm sorry, Erik," Xavier thought back. "I was a bit distracted by the spaceship, you understand."
"What the hell do you think you're doing here?" the farmer demanded, leveling the gun at Xavier's head.
"Let me handle this," Xavier warned Erik mentally before addressing the farmer. "I apologize, sir, we meant no harm in coming here," he explained, hoping not to resort to force. "My name is Charles Xavier, and this is my colleague, Erik Lehnsherr. We represent a special organization whose purpose…"
"We don't want any, thank you," he shot back. "What were you doing back there?"
"Jonathan? Jonathan, what's going on back there?" a woman's voice called from outside.
"Stay inside, Martha! I've got this," he called back, half turned.
Erik raised his hand and Jonathan Kent was pulled forward as the shotgun flew out of his hands. He stared at the floating gun as it turned itself on him. "You homo sapiens and your guns!" Erik chuckled. Jonathan rose to his feet slowly as the barrel was leveled at his head.
Xavier was more than a little worried by this. "Erik, stop that! This is no way to handle the situation!"
"He would have shot us, Charles!" Erik hissed back.
"We were trespassing, he had every right to threaten us, but we have no right to do this!" Xavier shouted, hoping this could still be resolved peacefully. He didn't want to force Erik to drop the gun, but he knew how angry his old friend could get.
Suddenly the breeze picked up outside and a burst of wind cascaded into the barn, followed by a furious blur. In the space between two seconds, the gun was snatched out of the air and Erik was suddenly pushed off the ground and through the back wall of the barn. After a moment of wild vertigo, he found himself lying on his back outside with a young man standing over him. He couldn't have been more than sixteen or seventeen years old, but he was well-built for his age, with jet black hair and deep blue eyes. Erik could see the rifle in the boy's right hand, bent and crumpled like paper. "Who are you, and why are you threatening my father?!" he demanded.
Erik was in awe. "My God," he whispered to himself.
4 – The Offer
It took some time for Xavier to calm everyone down, but eventually they were invited inside for coffee. They gathered around the kitchen table, the Kents sitting on one end while Xavier and Erik sat on the other. Clark Kent waited outside in the barn. He usually hung around in the barn when he wanted to be by himself, but from there he listened in on every word being spoken.
"We're mutants, Erik and I. For years, our kind has been regarded with nothing but fear and suspicion, and both sides are being driven into a conflict which I fear may someday become an all-out war. But we believe that war can still be avoided through education and cooperation. That is the principle upon which we are founding the Xavier Institute. We developed ways of locating potential students, mostly mutants, and that's how your son came to our attention." Xavier explained. "Perhaps you could fill in the blanks?"
Jonathan thought for a moment before answering. "It was during the meteor shower. We were just on our way home when it hit, and he landed in a field. We'd always wanted a child, you understand, but we weren't capable. We were afraid that people wouldn't understand, so we told everyone that he was ours. It was Martha who decided to name him Clark."
"It was my maiden name. With all the commotion going on at that time, no one pressed the issue. We always knew he might be a little different, but we were just so happy to have him in our lives, I guess it didn't matter," Martha added. Erik was a little startled. He wasn't used to hearing that from a parent.
"We only wanted to protect him. When he started developing these special talents, we just tried to help him learn how to cope. We were always afraid that one day a bunch of men in suits would just show up, flash a badge in our face, and take our boy away," Jonathan said.
"I'm sorry if we gave you that impression, Mr. Kent. We weren't entirely prepared for this ourselves. We meant no harm," Xavier said.
"Incidentally," Erik explained, "I want to apologize for my behavior earlier. I've had some bad experiences involving men with guns."
"Then you shouldn't have gone back there," Jonathan shot back. Xavier's manner set him at ease, but he was still very suspicious of Erik.
"You're right, and we're sorry, but perhaps we can still resolve this," Xavier explained. "Although young Clark is not actually a mutant, we can provide him with an environment where he can learn to use his powers in a positive way. He would be around children his own age, with special abilities of their own, and he would be receiving an education better than that of most public schools. We can handle all the expenses, and if you're not satisfied, he can withdraw whenever he likes."
"I don't know if we can, Professor Xavier," Martha said. "How do we know you won't try to shove him out on TV as a scientific find?"
"I understand your suspicions, but we founded this school as a safe haven for those who are different. You're familiar with the kind of hostility that mutants are forced to endure in this day and age, and you must believe that we would never do anything to jeopardize your son's safety or his anonymity."
Jonathan and Martha discussed it quietly. Xavier knew Clark was listening in, and was hoping that he would be keen on the idea. Erik was feeling very excited about admitting someone as powerful as that boy to the institute, but he was afraid the father would not trust them. Clark was holding the crystal Xavier found in the ship, wondering if the professor knew what it all meant in regards to his origins. His parents had already told him about the spaceship, but neither of them had any idea where it came from. The thought of it still drove him up the wall.
"This is Clark's future we're talking about here. Let's hear what he has to say about it," Martha decided. Clark was out of the barn and at the door when he heard this. Everyone looked up as he entered the house and took his seat at the end of the table.
"Clark, these men…" Jonathan began.
"It's okay, dad, I know. Where is this academy?"
"Westchester, New York." Xavier said.
"Is that in the city?" Clark asked, feeling a little foolish for not knowing.
"No, boy, it's the Salem region. It's not far from the city, though, just running distance for you," Erik explained with a smile.
"What would I be doing there exactly?"
"Just as I said, you'd be continuing your education. We'll also explore the depth of your powers and help you learn to apply them. After that, you can stay on as a teacher yourself or re-enter the world. It's really up to you."
"Do you know where I come from?" Clark asked expectantly.
Xavier took a breath. He knew Clark might ask about that and he had no real answers. "At the moment, no, I don't know. But I am very interested to learn. The truth about your origins may be hidden in that ship, or even in the recesses of your own mind. I won't force anything, this is your choice. Give us a chance, and I promise we can find the answers together."
Clark could feel their eyes on him. He wasn't afraid of being exposed by Xavier, and he might be able to help Clark. "I guess I could give it a try."
To Be Continued.