Chapter 1
The day you turn 18 is a special day here at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. See, while you have to go to normal school classes as a kid, once you become a legal adult, you're allowed to spend that time perfecting your skills with your "special talents." Elan turned 18 about 5 months ago, and I have barely seen him since. He has to get up much earlier than I do, and by the time I come back after classes and some one-on-one training in the evenings, he's usually dead asleep. I don't know what they have him doing in these fancy new lessons, but it sure takes it out of him. We've talked a little bit, but for the most part, our schedules are too different. On weekends, Xavier or Logan takes him and the other adults out on special 'field trips' that all the students know are actually missions, but we aren't allowed to talk about it. Of course, now that I'm turning 18 myself, I should be seeing a lot more of my best friend.
I sit down to eat my breakfast (scrambled eggs and bacon) and hear a familiar voice. Clark, meet me in my office when you finish your breakfast. I smile, my time has come. Today is my 18th birthday, so, like every student before me, Xavier is going to offer me a chance to train with the X-Men. As much as I love the chef's amazing eggs and nice crispy bacon, I scarf that food down as quickly as I can, excited for what is to come. I burn my tongue on some of th e bacon, but I'm too happy to care. I am a pretty slow eater but in a record 10 minutes, I've finished my breakfast and am pushing out my chair to go see Xavier.
On the way to his office, I begin to get nervous. What if I'm not good enough? What if he thinks I'm not ready? Has he ever not offered a student a spot if they want it? I know many students say no and chose to pursue higher education at universities, but I've never heard whether any kids don't even get offered the chance. I don't walk quite as quickly or eagerly anymore.
When I get to his door, I don't even have to knock. "Come in Clark." I hear him call. With a small push from me, the door cracks open and I slip in. "Please, close it behind you." I follow his instructions and glance around as I step towards a seat. Elan is standing at the edge of the room and I smile a little, more comfortable with my friend here.
"I assume you know why you're here. I know all you students let rumors run rampant, and in this case, they're mostly correct." Xavier says to me with a smile. I laugh and nod in response. "Normally, these meetings are conducted entirely in private, however, I have a special proposition for you and Elan. Typically, when one of you becomes of age, you will get private lessons and hone your skills at your own pace, which is what Elan has been doing for the past 5 months. When the extent of your powers is more fully understood, then we pair you with one person or a team with complimentary powers. However, you and Elan already have a strong bond and your powers fit so perfectly together that if you chose to join us, I would like to begin your training sessions together immediately."
I smile, very excited about the possibilities. "I would love to, sir. Being able to do something productive, to make a difference with my ability, that would be amazing."
"Very well then. Since you've already had breakfast, we can begin right away if you both would like."
I look at Elan who is smiling back at me, the eagerness in his eyes evident. I notice that he is in comfortable workout clothes, and I wonder if I am dressed properly for whatever training we are about to do. All the training I had been allowed to do so far has been simply learning to control my shifting into my dragon form as well as some simple, not very intense defensive training. I shift my eyes back to Xavier, about to ask the question, and I see the sweat pants he has just placed on the desk.
"Alright, let's do it." I say as I pick up the pants. With that, I let Elan and Xavier lead the way. We walk down the halls and I have no idea where we are going. Eventually, Xavier stops at a section of the wall, just a big blank section. I can't say I am surprised when he reveals an elevator behind the wood paneling; with all the other weird stuff that goes on here I figured there were also plenty of rooms I was unaware of. The three of us smush into the elevator and begin the descent into new territory. Well. New for me. Elan's been working here for 5 months. This is all familiar to him by now.
When we reach our destination floor, I'm amazed. There is an entirely different feel to this part of the mansion. Instead of the classic elegant style above ground, this floor is a concrete structure built for a purpose. Modern electronic doors and bare walls decorate the path to where we end up: a large open room that was easily two floors tall and filled with absolutely… nothing. I turned to Xavier curiously, wondering what kind of training we're going to be doing.
"Well Clark, from what I've been hearing, you've kept your powers pretty well secret. I think before Elan can train with you, you gotta show him what you got." He smiles. I smile back, excited to show off what I can do. As I hit puberty and my growth spurt, so did my dragon form, and at 8 feet tall at the shoulder, I simply take up too much space to shapeshift most of the time. Not to mention that I shift back naked which makes practicing more difficult. But since Xavier found me naked and Elan is my best friend, I don't worry about them.
I walk into the center of the big room. Xavier and Elan follow and close the door, Xavier stopping Elan from approaching any closer. I get undressed and set the sweatpants Xavier gave me to the side as I let my reptilian form take shape. Within seconds, I am standing well taller than them, my strong form taking up more space in the room than I expected. Elan has a huge smile on his face and he slowly comes closer, admiring the dark iridescent scales. He reaches out and touches my chest. I look down at him and smile, making a rough noise to get his attention. I face away from him down to the other end of the hall, crouch down so I'm more at his height, and I blow out the fire that I recently mastered.
I glance back down as I blow and I didn't think it was possible, but Elan's smile gets even bigger. He reaches out towards my mouth and begins to shape the fire, directing some of the flames into swirls and balls. I try to blow less fire so he can control more of it, but I'm simply too big and he hasn't had enough practice with this yet. Xavier clears his throat to get our attention. I cease the fire and we turn to face him again.
"As you can probably now figure out, we all think you'd be great partners because of the nature of your friendship and the compatibility and possibilities with your powers. In fact, if you guys also agree, we were thinking about getting a harness made for you, Clark, that would allow Elan to control your fire from your back. Of course, we still need to fine tune your abilities, Elan."
Elan and I nod. Elan speaks what I am thinking. "I'd love that! I couldn't think of a better partner than Clark." I nod at Elan, sure Xavier can hear the agreement I am thinking. A woman then walks in that I don't recognize, but Elan greets her, so she must be one of the X-Men.
She comes over to me. "Hey Clark, we haven't met before, but I'm Sarah. I've got quite a gift with making clothes, so I'm gonna try my hand at a saddle for you guys. I'm just going to measure you, ok?" I watch as she takes out a measuring tape, reaching around my neck, then my chest, and then measuring parts of my shoulders and back. While she's doing that, Elan walks around me, investigating. He's got such an interest in my dragon form, I guess because it's quite an unusual power, from what I've heard. Plus I went from being a short guy to this huge fire-breathing reptile, which I'm sure is a shock.
Once Sarah is done, she says thank you and leaves. Xavier says to me "Why don't you turn back human, so we can talk?" I walk myself over to the sweatpants and collapse back into my human form, quickly pulling on the sweatpants so I'm decent. I gather up my other clothes and walk with Xavier, who is now going to another room, this one with seating. It looks a lot like the small classrooms upstairs. Xavier rolls to a desk and motions for Clark and I to sit, so we do.
"As excited as I know we all are about focusing your powers and practicing, you need to learn more about how we work here too, what our goals are. We need to tell you about our past and current concerns, our history. And right now, the biggest concern is an anti-mutant organization that has popped up. They've been doing some serious digging and we're concerned that they might be close to finding out information about our school. We have people setting up security and alarms in case they find out too much, but we want all of our x-men to know about this threat. If there is something you can do to help, I will assign you to do it, but for now, you need to work on honing your skills."
Elan leans forward, upset. "Wait wait wait. They might be finding information about the school? What are they planning to do? I have to do something to help! We have to stop them!"
Xavier has a stern look on his face. "I know you want to help, but its important that you train. You aren't ready to help yet. You and Clark need to train, get used to working together. I'm sorry, I know you want to help."