Settling In
"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!" Monet shouted. "YOU'RE GIVING LEADERSHIP OF THE HELLIONS TO THIS SEWER FREAK?"
"AT LEAST I AIN'T A CONTROL FREAK!" Evan got in her face.
"NO YOU'RE A FREAK PERIOD!" Monet used her super strength and shoved Evan across the room. She grabbed a chair and threw it at him. "YOU'LL TAKE CHARGE OVER MY DEAD BODY!"
Evan dodged it and shot out some spikes at her. "Oh you wanna play it like that? Bring it on!"
"ENOUGH!" Emma shouted. "I brought Spyke in for his experience and skills. I'm sorry Monet, but quite honestly you've failed nearly every task I've sent you to do. And your performance in the Purist attack was…less than satisfactory."
"I did everything I could and you know it!" Monet snarled. "But if you want to make us the laughingstock of the campus by letting this Morlock be in charge you've got to be out of your mind!"
"What's wrong with the Morlocks?" Evan growled.
"You've got a few hours?" Bevatron quipped. "Besides the fact that they're stinking weak…"
In an instant Bevatron was pinned to the wall by Evan's spykes. Before he could react Evan pointed a spike at this throat. "You were saying?" Evan's eyes narrowed.
"Frost!" Bevatron gasped.
"Don't look at me," Emma folded her arms. "Your mouth got you into this mess. Depend on your mouth getting out of it."
"Some help you are," Monet sneered.
"Hey! I was defending you!" Bevatron snapped.
"No you weren't," Tarot grinned.
"Shut up, witch!" Bevatron snarled.
"Excuse me?" Evan moved his spike closer to Bevatron. "That's no way to talk to a fellow teammate and lady."
"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Bevatron whimpered. "Now get me down!"
"That's as close as you are ever gonna get to a real apology," Tarot explained to Evan as he backed away.
"Is there always this much drama around here?" James asked Empath.
"Well, yes," Empath shrugged.
"Somebody show me where my room is?" James grunted. "As much as I'd love to see this jerk skinned alive Igotta unpack my stuff."
"Uh, Catseye show you," Catseye offered. Both went upstairs.
"Well," Empath clapped his hands together and rubbed them. "Shall we have cake?"
"I've lost my appetite," Monet sneered and stormed out of the room.
"So have I!" Beef grunted after getting Bevatron down.
"My god it's a miracle," Tarot quipped.
Most of the Hellions filed out, leaving Emma, Empath, Tarot, Evan and Doug behind. "Don't take it too personally," Empath said to the others. "They're on a waiting list for a personality transplant."
"Poor, poor Monet. She's so upset," Tarot mused. "I think I'll go watch her squirm." She followed them.
"Well that went better than I expected," Emma sighed.
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A few minutes later Evan was in his new room unpacking. "Don't take it too hard," Doug told him. "Monet's always been a bit stuck up. And the others…Well…"
"Yeah I got the picture," Evan groaned. "And you wanted to be part of this team?"
"Oh I don't know," Empath walked in. "Not all of us are that bad. I take it you're still recovering from our little welcoming party?"
"Some welcome to the team," Evan groaned.
"Yes well Cyper is right," Empath said. "She's needed a lesson for some time. So aside from Monet's hissy fit, how are you doing?"
"I've been in a lot worse," Evan grinned. "If you think Monet has a temper, you should try taking the last donut away from Rogue. Or spying on Jean Grey when she's trying to get ready for a date. Or any of the X-Girls when they're ticked off."
"Sounds like you've seen more combat than any of us," Empath smirked. "Especially when it comes to women."
"You could say I know a thing or two," Evan smirked.
"I'll bet," Empath grinned. "I've heard…Rumors. Is it true what they say…About Morlock Girls?"
"What exactly have you heard?" Evan cocked an eyebrow.
"That they are not as…cold as they appear to be," Empath asked. "Are they?"
"What do you mean?" Doug asked innocently. Then he realized what he meant. "Oh…Oh!"
"So? Are they?" Empath asked.
"Well…" Evan thought a minute. "Let's just say down in the tunnels…It can get cold at night, unless you know how to make friends."
"Do tell," Empath wanted to hear details.
"Maybe later," Evan waved.
"I understand," Empath nodded. "Doug do you mind if I talk to Evan alone for a bit?"
"No I don't mind," Doug nodded. "See you later, Evan." He went out of the room.
Empath closed the door. "I just thought I'd get you up to speed. Warn you about a few things. If you're going to be leading the Hellions, you'd better be prepared."
"That's a funny thing to say. From what I've heard, I thought you wanted to be leader?" Evan asked.
"Are you kidding? Ever hear of the term Poisoned Chalice?" Empath said.
"Not really," Evan folded his arms.
"Quite simply it means that leadership has just as many pitfalls as it does perks," Empath said. "And a lot of members of this team will be more than happy to shove you over the edge. To be honest, I only pretended to want to lead because it drove Monet crazy. Why do you think Frost didn't chose me as leader instead of going to an outsider? I'm perfectly happy to have someone else call the shots thank you very much. It keeps the knives out of my back."
"Thanks for the warning," Evan snorted.
"Well you need someone to get your back," Empath shrugged. "Granted, Ramsey is a decent sort of kid. And Catseye is quite handy; being Frost's adopted daughter. But something tells me you've kind of gone off of cat girls. Am I right?"
Evan looked at Empath. "What do you mean by that?"
"Look, it's common knowledge that you had some…relationships with a certain pair of feline family members," Empath said. "What isn't common knowledge is the fallout of another…liaison if you get my drift. I only know because Frost trusted me with the information."
"What are you getting at?"
"The Massachusetts Academy is not just a place to train mutants to use their powers," Empath told him. "It's a place where the future leaders of the world, the elite learn to take power and control it. And the campus life reflects it. In other words, any kind of scandal would be disastrous. And more than a few people would only be too happy to smash your reputation in order to enhance their own."
"In other words trust no one except you?" Evan gave him a skeptical look.
"Well I think it's safe to say you can trust Doug," Empath said. "Being an empath gives me an edge. And Ms. Frost has a much better edge. But so does Monet. Ms. Frost did put shields on you, right?"
"Yeah," Evan said.
"Good," Empath nodded. "Let me know if they slip in any way. You can't be too careful around Monet."
"You mean she might…?"
"I wouldn't put it past her," Empath snorted. "Watch your back, because neither I nor Frost will be able to all the time." He left the room.
Man, I had no idea it was gonna be like this, Evan thought to himself as he sat on his bed. I may have had my problems with the X-Men, but at least they welcomed me with open arms. Even the Brotherhood treated their own guys better than the Hellions do. Well besides Magneto and Mystique anyway. This is gonna be hard, leading a group of people who hate my guts. But I've got no other choice…
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"I can't believe this!" Monet slammed her fist against a table, breaking it instantly. "It's bad enough Frost replaced me, but to replace me with…That gutter trash!"
The other Hellions were in a lounge café drinking coffee. No other students were there so they had the place to themselves. "Yes and by tomorrow you'll be the laughing stock of the school," Tarot sneered.
"Oh you are just loving this aren't you?" Monet glared at her.
"In a word, absolutely!" Tarot glared back. "Face it, with Spyke in our corner we've got serious firepower! Maybe now we can actually win a battle with the X-Men for a change!"
"Fat chance with Cypher on our team," Beef grunted. "Not only do we get that freak, we get a loser from the Beta team as well!"
"Hey, at least Ramsey looks human, which is more than what I can say for Spyke!" Roulette snapped.
"And comes from a decent background. What do you think about Warpath?" Jetstream asked.
"Too soon to tell for me," Bevatron shrugged. "Seems all right. Got a bit of a chip on his shoulder but don't we all?"
"Trash," Beef snorted. "We don't need any new muscle!"
"Well, since our old muscle is woefully inadequate," Roulette smirked. "I think it might be a nice change of pace."
"Hey! It's one thing if M here gets replaced," Beef made a motion with his thumb at Monet. "But if Frost decides to get new muscle, or maybe new guys…How long you think the rest of us will last?"
"Oh this is just too much," Tarot snickered. "You are all so paranoid it's hilarious. All Frost is doing is making our team stronger and you're all worried that you'll need to be checking the want ads."
"All right what's your problem?" Bevatron asked. "Why are you so happy about this? It's pretty obvious why the Cat is happy he's on the team. And Empath is competing for 'Suck Up of the Year'. So what do you have to be so happy about? Unless you're suddenly into freaks…"
"If that was true I'd have asked you for a date," Tarot sneered. "Simple, Monet's a lousy leader and anybody has got to be better than her!"
"She has a point," Roulette shrugged. "I am getting sick of being upstaged by the X-Morons and the Misfit Freaks."
"Don't get too comfortable with Spyke!" Monet snarled. "This is only a temporary setback. I've only just begun to fight! We'll see who has the last laugh!"
"Well this is some choice," Beef grunted. "I hate to say this but whoever wins we lose!"
"What do you mean by that?" Monet whirled on him.
"What he means is that while Daniels may be…Well, an evolutionary misstep to put it bluntly," Jetstream shrugged. "He seems to get results, which is more than we can say for you."
"He's right," Roulette said. "Face it girlfriend, if you need to be replaced by someone like Daniels…"
"I get the message," Monet's eyes narrowed. "But after tomorrow so will he. If Spyke thinks he can just waltz in here and take what's mine…He's dead wrong. With the emphasis on dead!"