I was lead into a spherical metal room with nine other people, each completely different from the other. There was Logan, whom I knew the best and yet knew nothing about, and Swirl and Ray. The couple I saw in the hallway was there, but my knowledge of people ended there. But there was one person who caught my eye. There was a dark figure in a maroon cloak standing next to wide-eyed girl with blonde and green hair. I couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl, but I knew there was something mysterious about this...figure.
"Welcome everyone," said a dark-skinned woman with thick wispy white hair, "to combat training. Here we will simulate actual dangers you will face in the world."
I looked around to see if anyone was as tense as I was. But everyone seemed to be used to this. I was pretty sure this simulation was nothing like my training for S.H.E.I.L.D.
"Let's begin," smiled the woman. Just as her sentence finished, the spherical room was transformed to a red, rocky desert. I instinctively reached for my gun at my left thigh, but only felt the stretchy fabric of my workout pants. Then I realized I didn't need I gun for my weapon; here I was free to use my mutation however I pleased. I closed my eyes and tried to sense if there was any water near.
But my train of thought was interrupted by the sound of crashing metal. I opened my eyes to see five giant metal robots separating the ten of us into groups of two. I looked to my side and my body tensed when I realized I had to partner up with Logan.
"What are these things?" I asked.
"Sentinels," he answers, not taking his eyes off the robots. "They were made for the sole purpose of killing mutants."
"Great," I muttered, putting up my fists. One robot charged and tried to throw a punch, but the metal was stronger than I thought. As I nursed my knuckles, the sentinels face seemed to open up and glow hot and red. Before I could summon any water, a flash of silver slashed the robots face. I stood gaping as Logan stood atop the dead robot, four large knives sticking out of his knuckles. He turned back to face me and noticed me staring. For some reason, I smiled at him.
"Rhodie, behind you!" he shouted.
Almost instinctively, I turned around and put my hands up. The robot was blasted with four tons of water I must have retrived from the depths of the ground. I kept blasting the robot until Logan put his hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see a rusted robot, frozen in it's position.
"Amazing work, Miss Rhodes," said the woman who introduced the course.
"Rhodie," I corrected, after realizing everyone's eyes were on me.
The woman put her arm on my shoulder. "Well Rhodie, I'm Storm. Welcome to the X-men."
"The X-men?" I asked. I looked around at the nine other people who were in the simulation and noticed everyone else's robots were dead. Was this the team Professor X was talking about?
"We're a group of mutants," said a teenage girl with wavy brown hair. "We kind of save the world."
"Like mutant vigilante?" I inquired. Logan smirked.
Storm turned off the simulation and we were all left in the spherical room. "We can discuss your role in the X-men later," she smiled. "Right now, I'm sure Swirl and Ray would love to give you a tour around the school." I swear I heard Swirl groan, but Ray gave her a swift elbow to the ribs. "Okay everyone," continued Storm, "dinner is in an hour!"
No sooner had Storm excused everyone than Ray put his shoulder around me like we have been friends for ages. "You're lucky you were put with the two most well-informed mutants in the school."
"Yes she is," chimed Swirl. "No one knows the dirt in this school like us."
"I'm not really one for gossip-" I said.
"Let's start," said Swirl, giving me a firm shove in the back.
"The school was founded by Professor X a really long time ago. At the time it was just him and three other mutants looking for a safe place from the professor's nemesis, Magneto."
I never would have thought of Ray's explanation to be anywhere near normal, before today.
"But the professor was the only one that actually stuck around," added Swirl. "His first real students were Storm, a guy named Scott Summers, and a woman named Jean Grey." Swirl and Ray's heads seem to fall when Jean's name was mentioned, hinting at a major catastrophe.
"What happened to them?" I asked.
"A couple years ago, Jean died trying to save the X-men from a flood," answered Ray, slowly. "Scott was her boyfriend, but there was definitely some chemistry between her and Logan. Both of them haven't been the same since then." My heart seemed to tense when Ray mentioned Jean and Logan. I don't know why; after all, I was still undoubtedly in love with Loki, even from here.
"I'm so sorry," I said.
"She was a telepath, like the professor, but she specialized more in moving objects with her mind than playing with other people's thoughts," continued Ray. "Scott could shoot lasers from his eyes. But he couldn't control it, so he had to where these ruby glasses to keep it contained." He chuckled," in a way we're pretty similar."
Swirl noticed my confusion. "Ray's mutation is X-ray vision," she explained. "But he, like Summers, can't control it."
"That's why I wear these," he said, pointing to his sunglasses. "For some reason, wearing X-ray glasses cancels out my mutation. To me, it's almost like I'm wearing actual glasses."
"Interesting," I commented. "What's your mutation, Swirl?"
"I call it rapid circular acceleration," answered Swirl, lazily. "Basically, I can spin really fast. But it doesn't affect my focus, so when I start spinning, I'm deadly with a knife."
"Wow, I had no idea mutations varied so much," I said.
"If you think we're weird," said Swirl, "you know the girl in the simulation with the white streak in her hair?" I nodded. "Her name's Rogue. Whenever she has physical contact with anyone, her mutation borrows their life force. So for mutants, she takes their powers."
Ray added in. "And her boyfriend, Bobby, can control ice like you control water!"
They seemed to be getting more excited as they talked about each new person. Apparently, the brown haired girl in the simulation's name was Kitty Pryde and she could walk through walls. Storm could summon storms, which wasn't very difficult to figure out. The wide eyed girl who was in the simulation's name was Reptilia, and she has reptilian attributes.
"I had no idea this school was so interesting," I said, amazed. My thoughts immediately flashed to the cloaked figure in the simulation. "What about the person in the cloak?"
Ray and Swirl looked at each other, and I knew they knew exactly who I was talking about.
"Her name's Baylynn Hampton," answered Ray, tentatively. "Not much is known about her except that she goes by Decibelle."
I wrinkled my nose, "That's a weird name, what's her mutation?"
Swirl took a breath. "I don't like to talk about her because she's a major weirdo. She's real reserved and it's mainly because of her mutation. People don't trust her."
"Well, what is it?"
Ray and Swirl exchanged looks again. Finally Ray spoke, "she can imitate people's voices."
A shiver went up my spine. "That is creepy."
"Stay away from her," advised Swirl. She checked the watch on her hand, and her eyes widened. "Ah, girl you probably want some alone time before dinner. Come find us, and you'll have a seat to call your own!" She smiled and her and Ray turned to leave.
"Wait, Swirl!" I called.
She turned to Ray, "I'll be a minute." As Ray departed, Swirl took a spot on my bed. "You have a crush don't you?" she asked bluntly.
"No!" I answered quickly. "No I have a guy back home."
"Than what's up?"
My eyes lowered. "What do you know about Logan?"
One of Swirl's eyebrows raised slyly but she didn't question it. "He just kinda showed up one day, like you. He's a major player, lookin' at every woman who was within sixth feet. But then he met Jean and it was obvious to everyone that he fell hard. He hasn't been the same since she's been gone." Swirl shrugged. "I don't know much about his back story except for the fact that his whole body is filled with a super-rare metal called Adamantium."
"Is that he has those knifes that come out of his knuckles?"
Swirl nodded. "I heard that before he under-went the operation that made him more metal than man, those knives were bones."
"That's disgusting," I grimaced.
"Yea," agreed Swirl. "But anyways, what's your story."
I blinked, taken aback. "You want to hear my story?"
"Totally. You seem like a person that's seen a lot of weird things, but you're still a little confused by this whole mutant thing."
I breathed in. "Well, alright." And I explained to Swirl my life's story. I told her all about New Mexico and how I went to Asgard with Loki. I explained in the lightest of terms the trouble this caused with my ex-fiance, James Sumner, when he found out. She raised an eyebrow when I started to describe Steve and our friendship. As I told Swirl all of my life's happening, I couldn't help but feel a burden had been lifted. There had been so much security at S.H.E.I.L.D. that I couldn't talk about my feelings to anyone, except Steve occasionally. I realized I hadn't ever told my life story to anyone before and, by the expression of Swirl's face, I remembered why.
"So, let me get this straight," she said, collecting her thoughts. "You were in love with a boring secret agent, but then you went to outer space and fell in love with an alien prince. And then you fought that same alien prince alongside a super hero, that you had also fallen in love with."
"I never said I fell in love with Steve!" I exclaimed. Swirl made a face that said Uh-huh, sure you didn't.
"Your love life is deserving of a TV show," she smiled, playfully.
I sighed, "I know. And I'll never get to see Loki or Steve ever again."
Swirl grabbed my shoulders. "Look, we may be different, but we are not on security lock down. I'm sure the professor would be more than happy to grant you a leave of absence if you wanted to go see them."
"It's not just that. Loki only visits me when he can, and right now, he's in Asgardian prison," I explained. "Steve on the other hand. He snitched on me, ratted me out for my mutation. It's going to be a while before I can forgive him."
She gave me a sympathetic smile. "Why don't we go to dinner? Ray's probably wondering where we are."
