Fred walked into the old lab and remembered how Toad found this weird machine that sent stuff to another dimension. Megan was sitting on an old table.
"Fred," she said getting down and pulling her hair behind her ears.
"I heard that you guys are heading back to your careers."
"S-Sort of," she said looking to the side. "I'm...not."
He took a step back. She was staying?
"That's great!" he accidently blurted out.
She smiled and went closer to him.
"I want to get better control of my powers and... be here."
He blushed and started stuttering.
"Wh-What about your career?"
"There'll be time for that after I grow up. I'm not exactly in my thirties and in a mess of trouble."
"Y-Yeah. Or worse. You could be Mr. Finch, who still lives with his parents."
She laughed.
"Its hard to believe a physics teacher could still live there!"
They laughed as they tried to figure out where to go from there.
"Um...so you are staying, right?"
"Yeah."
"Are you going to stay at Xavier's?"
"Yes."
"And-"
She lifted her hands to her face.
"Just kiss me already."
Fred leaned down and kissed her.
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Melanie and Todd were making out on the Brotherhood sofa. Lance was upstairs in his room, on the phone with Kitty, while Pietro was in a makeshift darkroom. Now he was getting more buisness than ever for his secret photos. Lance was going to do chores in exchange for some pictures of Kitty. Then cold hard cash for more.
The front door slammed and a happy Fred walked into the kitchen.
"What's up, Fred," Todd said as Melanie kissed his jaw.
"Nothin'. Just havin' a good day."
Melanie forced Toad to refocus his attention on her.
"Come on. We barely have any time together."
Lance walked down the stairs.
"You're here almost every day!! And if you're not here, the two of you are off somewhere IN MY JEEP!"
"Okay, five times!"
Lance groaned and went to the kitchen.
Melanie groaned and went back to playing with Toad's hair.
"Does that give you any ideas?"
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Lance poured himself a glass of water. Fred was making dinner.
"What's on the menu?"
"Mac and Cheese."
The sound of a jeep starting up caught their attention.
"DAMN IT!" Lance screamed running out of the room. "TOAD!!"
Pietro zoomed into the kitchen.
"How long until that's done?"
"About fifteen minutes."
"Okay...and do you want any pictures? I've already got Lance and Toad."
"N-Nah."
"Okay. I'll be in my room until its done."
Once Pietro was gone, he pulled out his cell phone.
"Hey, Megan?"
"Hi! Hold on."
It sounded like they were in the middle of dinner and she ran out of the room.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to- if you want to go back to dinner-"
"Freddie, its okay. We were done and just sitting around bugging Kitty about her and Lance."
He laughed.
"So what's up?"
"J-Just making dinner."
She giggled.
"You aren't wearing a 'Kiss the Cook' apron, are you?"
He chuckled.
"If I wear one, would you kiss me?"
She smirked as she sat on her bed.
"Wow. I never pictured you for the romantic type."
"I thought of that one quick. What are you doing tomorrow?"
"Um... I don't- aw man!"
"What?"
"We have to take my sisters to the airport! And that means we're going to miss Jean's soccer game too!"
The sound of a door slam interrupted the conversation.
"I-I gotta go."
"All right. Bye."
Fred slipped the phone back into his pocket and looked at an angry Lance holding Toad by the collar.
"Yo, man! You just had to ruin our moment!"
"Making out in my jeep is bad enough but the layer of slime you leave! How does she deal with that?!"
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Melinda, Melanie, and Megan helped their sisters load their stuff into the Tahoe.
"I guess this is sayonara for now."
Maya started crying.
"I'm gonna miss you."
They had one last group hug and hopped into the car.
"So, Melody, you upset that you and Pietro won't be hanging around each other all the time?"
"K-Kind of. It isn't exactly a big deal."
Megan looked over at her blushing sister.
"At least you're going to Paris. That'll be nice!"
"And I'm going to take pictures so I can copy the designs and sell the fakes!"
"That's it! No more hanging around the Brotherhood for you!"
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After Melanie, Melinda, and Megan left the airport, they stopped at a closeby outlet mall.
"Okay. I need shoes like you couldn't imagine!"
"Melinda," Megan said corssing her arms.
"I just need some more comfortable shoes. Something-"
Melanie groaned and put her hands to her head.
"Melanie?"
She started getting visions of the school.
"Students... at the soccer game. Fire. S-Screaming."
Melanie ran out of the store and started her car. Megan and Melinda jumped in the backseat just before Melanie started driving.
"I-I think something's happening at the school."
"You're not making sense. Is it your powers?"
"I think its some kind of mental pictures. Maybe something from Professor Xavier?"
Melanie groaned and pulled over to the side of the road.
"My head hurts."
"Megan, can you drive and I'll watch Melanie?"
"Yeah. I'll try to get to the school fast."
"Just don't break too many laws."
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Megan made it to the school in record time thanks to her outrageous driving. Melanie was still moaning and groaning as she mumbled about fire and the Brotherhood.
"H-Holy-Its on fire!"
The three looked over and saw the Brotherhood fighting the X-men. As soon as they stopped the car, Storm was flying overhead creating a downpour.
Megan carried Melanie on her back as they rushed over to Professor Xavier. When they reached him, they could sense he was using his powers.
"Kurt, what happened?" Melinda said grabbing his arm.
He was carrying a barely consious Toad.
"The Brotherhood tried to rat us out. The Prof is erasing their memories."
The Professor collapsed in his chair. Megan took a still sickly Melanie over to him.
Melanie got out of Megan's hold and put one of her hands on the Professor's head. She could feel the pull of his mental strain and nearly fainted. But she held the link and helped reshape his scattered mind.
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The Brotherhood gathered around Lance's jeep. Pietro and Lance wanted to get out of there but Fred wanted to wait until Toad woke up.
"He can wake up at home," Pietro insisted.
"But he'll freak if he doesn't know what happened."
Toad sat up and groaned.
"My head. Did Blob sit on me?"
He looked over and saw Cyclops carrying Melanie into her Tahoe.
"Sugar Plum!" he yelled trying to get over there.
Fred held him back as the jeep drove off.
"Let me go! What happened? What did you do?"
"We didn't do nothin.' The old man used his powers and wiped himself out. She used her powers to get him better or whatever."
"You sure she's okay though?"
Lance sighed.
"As soon as the X-geeks cool down, you can go over there."
Fred looked back and hoped Megan was okay. He didn't see her but knew she was taking the students into the school for safety.
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Professor Xavier woke up in the infirmary of the Institute. Logan, Scott, and Ororo were surrounding him. He tried to sit up but Logan put him back down.
"Careful, Charles. You threw your brain into overload."
"But it worked," Ororo said. "People believe the fireworks were the cause of the fire."
"What about the broadcast?"
"None of it went out. Seems there was some kind of magnetic interference that took the station off the air."
"Could it be...he's still alive?"
"Magneto? Wouldn't doubt it. He and Mystique are probably gettin' stronger somewhere after what happened at Meteor M."
"At least we have our own secret weapon," Scott said.
"What do you mean?"
Ororo helped Charles into his wheelchair and everyone went outside the mansion. It was late the next night.
Melanie was by the cliff as the moonlight surrounded her. Her eyes were closed as they watched.
Charles watched as she suddenly became Lance and started shaking the edge of the cliff. When a large piece fell off, she became Jean and guided it above herself. In a flash of quick lights, she started becoming all of the X-men and used her powers on the boulder.
"What on earth..."
"She's gotten a pretty good hold of her powers. She's been timing herself and figuring out what the limits of her mimic powers can go."
Melanie stopped and set the now newly shaped boulder on the ground. It was a life-size statute of Professor Xavier, standing up, with the engraving 'The Founder' underneath him.
"So far, it looks like she can do whatever she wants."
Charles stared in deep thought at the girl.
"This is far more advanced than I could have pictured."
"What are you thinking, Professor?"
"I'm thinking... we have a leader for our New Recruits."
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At breakfast, everyone was thrilled the Professor was up and about. Melanie was unaware the Professor, Scott, Ororo, and Logan has seen her work. She had the statute hidden in the forest and planned on giving it to him later.
"Everyone, I have some good news. I have officially sorted out new teams."
The students chatted excitedly. They knew there was going to be a head team and a back up team.
"Our main squad will be lead by Scott and will include Jean, Kurt, Evan, Kitty, Melinda, Megan, and Rogue. Our New Recruits will be led by Melanie and have Bobby, Ray, Tabitha, Rahne, Amara Samuel, Jubilation, Jamie, and Roberto."
"Sweet!"
"Congrads, Melanie!"
Jean stood up.
"But Professor. Is it safe for Melanie to lead a team when she hasn't gotten total control of her powers?"
Melinda stared angrily at Jean.
"Excuse me. Little Miss Teacher's Pet? Aren't you the one who always says we should listen to the Professor? Now when it doesn't put you in the spotlight, you don't like it?"
"Sis, its okay," Melanie said putting her hand on her sister's arm.
Melinda started taking deep breaths.
"No one speaks about you like that."
Kurt wagged his tail happily. Melinda was always so determined to protect her sister.
"I believe my choice is excellent, Jean. Melanie can copy and power and it is not that she is taking the team completely. Ororo and Logan will handle basic training but if they are ever in the field, they will get orders from Burst."
"Wait," Tabitha asked. "Why is your name Burst?"
"At first it was because I thought I could only create bubbles. After I found out I could mimic powers, I figured Burst still worked."
Melanie suddenly groaned and grabbed her head.
"Mel! What's the matter?!"
Logan went over to her.
"She did this after we left the airport. She's the reason we went to the school."
Melanie started changing her form. She was changing from Storm to Kurt to Melinda to Kitty and then went too fast for some of the others to watch. She was turning into people from the X-men, Brotherhood, people from school, and people in the area.
"The boys. T-Train."
She cried out and gripped her hands tight. Her body stayed in her true form but her mind was sending her images.
Professor Xavier went over and tried to put his hands against her head. He could already feel the mental power and could see what she was seeing. It was later that day in Europe. Her younger brothers, Marcello, Myles, Marc, and Mitchell were in a private train. Their hair was spiked and had shirts with their names on them.
The train moves across one of the plains of Croatia to another concert in Hungary. The bodyguards surrounded the boys as the played a game of rummy. The train jerks to the left and sskids off the tracks. Myles and Mitchell hold onto their brothers as the entire train is forced from the tracks and starts spinning.
Professor Xavier breaks the contact and groans.
"The brothers. 180 is in a train crash."
"Melanie, are you-"
"I'm sure, Melinda."
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The Brotherhood was bored. There was nothing good on tv and everyone was pretty tired. They figured going to school today would be boring, especially since everyone would just be talking about the fire.
"This sucks," Fred said eating a large bowl of cereal. "Just put something besides commercials on!"
Lance hit the remote and put on the world news. A woman was standing in front of a train crash as she spoke in a different language. Someone else, a man, was talking.
"In Croatia, the American boy band, 180, were seriously injured in a train crash. Seven people were killed and thirty, including the four brothers, were injured."
"Isn't that the Wilbur brothers?" Pietro said looking closer at the tv.
"Their family includes Martin the 3rd and Melody Wilbur, models preparing for the fall season in Paris, actress Mandy Wilbur, animal trainer Maya Wilbur, cosmetic surgeon Maxwell Wilbur, hiatus stuntwoman Megan Wilbur, and Melinda and Melanie Wilbur."
"Hey! Sugar's got a very important job! Being the finest out of the bunch!"
"Melanie Wilbur is traveling to Croatia as we speak with her brother, Maxwell, to help their brothers."
Toad's mouth fell open.
"My Supar Plum left the country and didn't tell me?!"