They weren't allowed to go to prom. The reasoning from the principal was the fact that they had constantly been causing disturbances with their mutant status. "It's such a bummer that you don't get to go to prom this year." Kitty says lounging on her bed. They had seen Bobby and Kurt running around with boxes full of stuff earlier in the evening. "I mean, you only have prom once in your life, right?"
"It's just a dance." Alex says reasonably, but she would be lying if she said that she hadn't been looking forward to the dance. Her parents had gone to an event together that involved corsages and boutonnieres, they called it their prom. "And you can go with Lance in a couple of years." The couple hadn't really been talking too much lately, but their feelings for each other were still strong, so there was still hope for them.
Kitty just gives her a look that says otherwise, but Alex still held onto her hope. "So what are you and Scott going to do on the big night? I know Jean is flying out to see her family before graduation. We could go see a movie."
Alex shrugs. Prom was something that children not only look forward to, but parents as well. It's alike a rite of passage into adulthood, that your teenage years have been as complete as they should be. Parents wait eager for the day where their young teenager would become a fine young adult, and they move into their adulthood with someone important at their side. "I actually should be packing for Egypt." Egypt was rearing its head just around the corner and the closer the day came, the more mixed her feelings became.
"We'll still be here when you get back." Kitty says reassuringly. Either of them really knew how to feel about the event, so they chose to ignore it for the time being. "Do you want me to drive you back home? I'm getting better at it!"
Alex had seen Kitty drive before, if it weren't for her fazing ability, she'd probably be dead, along with the poor chaperone that got roped into driving with her. "No thanks, I think I'll ask Scott." They part ways in the hallway, the mansion had become sort of a second home for Alex in the past year. It was still huge, but kind of homey after you got used to it and all the people who lived there. "Hey Scott, could you possibly give me a ride home?"
Despite their relationship, it was still kind of weird asking Scott for such a request. "Yeah, sure," he carefully shuts the door behind him and leads her towards the garage. Scott and the other guys were definitely up to something in the living room area. Kurt had deliberately appeared in front of her before she could enter the room. "I actually have a favor to ask you."
"Ok," it wasn't like Scott to ask her for favors. Usually, if something bad were to happen, he'd call and warn her not to go out that day. Or he'd call to tell her he'd pick her up at a certain time to go spend the afternoon together. "What is it?"
"You make sure you have internet in Egypt?" Alex heart falls a little, she had been expecting something more serious than this silly request, but she found it amusing nonetheless.
Alex nods. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure I can work something out in the middle of the desert." She pecks him gently on the cheek and walks to her house. Her parents had made it a habit to watch them through the curtains; they were getting good at it too.
"Charles Xavier invited us over for dinner on Saturday." Her mom says casually when Alex enters her house. Her parents had assumed their 'we weren't spying on you' pose which included reading the newspaper and scrolling aimlessly down a webpage. "It's a formal event so I pulled out a dress for you to wear."
Alex climbs the stairs two at a time to see what kind of abomination her mother had pulled out of her closet and it was surprising to see a relatively normal dress sitting on her bed. "I suppose it's the end of the year good-bye party."
Strange things were happening within her social group, which meant strange things were happening at the Institute and in her own home. Besides the odd behavior on Scott's part the night before, her mother had pulled Alex away from her lunch in order to do her hair. "Stop moving your head, Alexandria." Her mother roughly forces Alex's head to face straight ahead again.
"Why are we getting ready so early? The party doesn't start for five hours." Alex watches her mom curl her way through Alex's hair, creating easy waves of soft hair. As if her parents couldn't get weirder, her father was oddly ironing out his tux, the same tux that he wore only for special occasions. "Ok, there is something obviously going on."
"What are you talking about?" Alex's mom laughs; her father just gives her a look that reads 'just go along if you don't want to get hurt'. "Now, come over here so I can do your makeup."
In between applying the makeup and fixing her hair, Alex finally got into her dress. It was a faint beige and pink color with a single shoulder strap that came just below her knees. It had little tiny cloth flowers and sparkling beads all over it. It was a beautiful dress.
Her parents met her down stairs in their formal wear, her dad as his perfect creaseless tux, and her mother's wine red full length dress. The three of them pile into their family car and make the drive to the Xavier Institute in relative silence. Alex was carefully keeping a suspicious eye on her parents. Something was definitely up.
"I'm so glad you're here!" Kitty exclaims, totally flushed with excitement and keeping down what could only be the biggest secret ever. She also wore a very nice dress, a blue one the same color blue as her x-men uniform. "You can leave your jackets here, and follow me to the party." She had the slightest gittiness in her step as they neared the living room which Scott had tried to keep Alex away from.
He was so nervous, more nervous than the idea of failing the Professor and everyone who believed in him, more nervous than meeting Alex's parents for the first time, even more nervous than leading the x-men in their first mission. Yes, Scott was so nervous that his soul was practically shaking like a leaf. He would be hopping from one foot to the other if it weren't for the sounds of feet coming his way. "Scott, what is all of this about?"
Scott finally glances up at Alex, and it's really embarrassing how fast his mouth dries up. "Well, why don't I just show you?" He pushes the door to the room open, watching Alex's eyes widen in shock. He had managed to employee all the x-kids to help him prepare the room and even managed to convince Alex's parents to help. The only thing left was for her to agree to it. "I thought that since I couldn't take you to prom, I would bring prom to you."
"It's beautiful." She steps into the room, red and gold streamers hung in arches around the ceiling, then even had dozens of red and gold balloons scattered around the floor. "You guys did this all by yourself?" they even got a disco ball to reflect rainbow colored lights around.
"We're mutants after all, what did you expect?" Scott says proudly. Though, getting everyone to work together was a bit of a hassle, not to mention the fact that he had to bribe a few of them. "So I guess I should put this on you then?" he holds a rose corsage that was the same color as her dress.
He had to thank his lucky stars that Alex's parents were supportive of his plan. The flowers matched her dress perfectly. "But I don't have a boutonniere for you."
"Don't worry about it, dear." Her father says walking a same colored single flower to his daughter. They really did their part in making Scott's plan work out. "Now, put it on him and smile for the camera."
Alex nervously clips it onto his lapel and they both turn just in time for the cameras. There were quite a few, one for the Quincy family, and then a few others for Kurt, Kitty, and all the others who wanted to be a part of the magic moment. They got a few good ones before everyone started to butt in.
They had a couple of guys only pictures, and then girls only pictures. And then things started to get out of hand. "You really didn't have to do this." Alex says once the minicrisis was over.
"I wanted to." Scott replies as the Professor ushers everyone out to the dinning room for their own little dinner party. At least Scott could count on another hour or two before the kids came back. The last one out pushes a button on the stereo to play a soft waltz. "Can I have this dance?"
"Of course," She puts a small hand in his and his other hand goes to her waist as he leads her slowly around the large room. He kept watching their feet to make sure he doesn't accidently crush Alex's toes because of his terrible dancing ability. "I can't believe you still remember how to waltz." Dancing without loud fast paced music was becoming a lost art. She kicks off her white heels while their dinner arrives via Mr. McCoy.
Scott realized that this is the first time they ever had dinner all to themselves without the distractions of other conversations. "I actually can't believe your dad agreed to let me do this." He nearly had a heart attack when Mr. Quincy picked up the phone when he called to talk about the plan. The only other option that was worse would be if Alex picked up the phone. "He's almost as intimidating over the phone as he is in real life."
"Well, that's how he gets the airlines to move us up from business class all the time." Alex admits digging into the food in a very unladylike manner, who needed prom anyways? "We're going to leave the day of graduation you know."
"Yeah, I heard." Mr. Quincy might have mentioned that this night would probably be Alex's last really good memory of Bayville for a while. The next couple of weeks are no doubt going to be filled with tears, picture taking, and spending as much time with everyone before they leave. "It's no big deal though. I mean, who wants to sit through speeches and then calling the names of the entire senior class?"
Alex glances over as Mr. McCoy comes back with dessert, blueberry cobbler. "Doesn't this bring back memories?" If it weren't for blueberry cobbler, their relationship would probably be still at the handholding stage where Scott is too afraid to meet her parents. "Did you plan this?"
Scott shakes his head, not even he, the great leader of the x-men could have thought about these tiny details, especially with all the other little things that had to be done for this night. "I'll probably have to thank Kitty and Kurt later." Something he was personally not looking forward to.
The other dinner party would be ending soon; even the Professor couldn't hold all those kids back for long. "Come on, one more dance." Alex says walking around the table after downing her cobbler in practically two seconds. There was only a soft classical piece on the stereo now, leaving the two of them to just sway in each other's presence.
The heat radiating from Alex's body, and the smell of her hair were amongst his favorite things. It was odd how much he liked the way she smells, not that he would ever tell anyone that. But she smelled kind of like home? Like cinnamon, apple pie, and honey all rolled into one. They carefully step back from each other was the clear sounds of running feet close in on the door. "It's time for a real party!" One of the x-kids say and the music changes to something faster and upbeat.
"Did you enjoy your lover's night?" Kitty asks in her usual teasing manner bumping in between Scott and Alex. She had such a noncovert way of being nosy. It was now more of a dance party rather than a prom, but it just might have been his old fashioned views of dancing and his general dislike for that type of music. Sure he would listen to it, but not all the time.
"Yeah, it was great." Alex says as she is pulled away to actually join the dance party like the other kids her age. She casts Kitty a suspicious eye. "Did you know about this?" She waves a hand at the elaborate decorations; it was a massive room after all.
Kitty shakes her head. "I had to pull it out of Kurt."
"We're really going to miss her." The Professor says wheeling up to Scott as he stands away from the dancing teenagers. It didn't take telepathy to know what Scott was thinking at the moment and he was glad that the Professor was the only one to see Scott's depressed face. "She has become quite a member of our group." A total understatement in Scott' mind.
It was probably the food, they always brought food over when the mansion was still under construction, or maybe it was the undying curiosity from her parents that made each of them feels special. Mr. Quincy would play games with them, mutant baseball, dodge ball, volleyball. And Mrs. Quincy would puff up proudly like a mother hen when they told them about their accomplishments. It was kind of hard to not see them in their lives.
Which was why most of them, if not all of them went to see her off early the day of the senior graduation. The morning was hectic as all mornings were at the Institute, but there was a sense of urgency, and as they neared the airport, everyone had a sudden somber moment. The Quincys were still in line for their tickets, Mr. Quincy noticing their approach before the others did.
"Why are you all here?" Alex asks when she rushes over to them. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying herself to sleep the night before, and she was sure her tears would spill over the more she stayed with them. "Don't you have a graduation to be getting to?" That question was directed at Scott who was the group-appointed leader.
"Well, we had to see you off first." Scott says before being forcefully shoved aside by her closest friends, Kitty and Kurt, the former one already in tears. They had a massive hugging party.
Alex is practically being passed around like a prized pet. She gets yanked into Kitty's arms every few people before being pulled into another bonecrushing hug from someone else. Scott is only slightly embarrassed by his friends. The international airport was in one of the main cities near Bayville, which involved almost an hour drive from the mansion. Therefore, they weren't recognized as mutants and kicked out for being a terror to the airlines.
She finally gets around to hugging Jean, Ororo, and the Professor. "Thanks for seeing me off, Scott." She has to stand on her tippy toes in order to loop her arms around his neck. His arms naturally wined their way around her tiny petite waist and he buries his face in her hair. "Email me whenever you want, I'll snag some internet somehow."
He snickers at the last comment and reluctantly lets her go. For some reason he was flashing back to his first crush on Jean and how he jealously got into arguments with Duncan if only to get the attention of the red-head. He had been more than slightly crushed when Jean had chosen Duncan instead of Scott. That heart crushing feeling, it was happening all over again, only worse. So much worse. "Does this mean we're breaking up?" He just had to ask it, whether it was true or not.
"I hope we aren't." She replies already walking backwards to her parents, who were watching the tearful exchange by the security check point. She always could easily remove any of his insecurities, another aspect of her that he would no doubt miss. "I'll be back in a year you know. It's not like its forever."
Forever may have been a long time in his head, but the idea of facing the most powerful mutant to ever walk the earth did well to keep his mind off the forever idea. Which she had assured wouldn't be so; he just had to wait a whole year. "We're having a hard time pinpointing his existence outside of ancient Egypt." Beast says as they once again came to a dead end in their research.
"Egypt? Alex is in Egypt right now." Scott says realizing the one good thing that came out of this. "I could call her and see if she knows anything about this Apocalypse guy." The Professor nods and Scott is practically skipping to his room.
There's always the off chance that Alex won't pick up and that their connection will be spotty at best, but it's worth a shot, right? "Hello? This is Conrad Quincy's daughter, how can I help you?" She sounded tired, more than usual.
It was a lack of planning on his part that he had forgotten about the time zone changes. "Um, it's Scott? Did I call at a bad time?" And the fact that she has to say that she's her father's daughter is also kind of strange in his eyes.
"Oh Scott, hi!" She says seeming to perk up a bit. "Sorry about that, there's just this weird angry rival of my father's. Having a life crisis already?" How long has it been since she left? No more than a week.
"Well, you could say that. What can you tell me about Apocalypse, Beast traced him back to ancient Egypt, but that's about it?" Scott says settling on his bed, pretending for a moment that things were a few weeks ago. On the other end of the line Alex is scrambling around, rustling through papers, and other things.
"I think I know who you're talking about." Alex finally says excitedly. "The locals told me these stories and they mention the name Apocalypse. In the stories his name was En Sabah Nur, he ruled in Giza about 5,000 years ago. Sound like the right person?"
Scott nods writing the name on the back of a random piece of homework he never turned in. "Do you know where his tomb might be? Or where he died, anything like that?"
"Uh, Giza? I really don't know, there are a lot of pyramids here, oh, and the Great Sphinx, but none of them mention anything about En Sabah Nur or Apocalypse." Alex says trailing off. "I'll ask around."
"Thanks, I'll call you soon." Scott puts his phone away and rushes back to the Professor with their first actual lead. Ok, so maybe it was nice that his girlfriend was in Egypt when the most powerful mutant in the world hails from Egypt and might actually be coming back alive.
En Sabah Nur seemed to generate better results than his other name, but they lost him in Giza like Alex had told them. "Do you think we could meet up with her, she could show us the way." Kitty says getting sidetracked from saving the world. She was going through some sort of withdrawal symptoms and had weird mood swings. "I mean, she's in Giza right now!"
The Professor probably knows that Kitty actually wants to do, but he agrees anyways. Which was why they had to make a detoured stop at camp the Quincy's were residing in for the moment, her parents seemed to still trust them enough to let their daughter travel with them on their x-jet. "Oh yeah, I know where this place is. It's the Great Sphinx." Alex says after hearing the description of their destination. "But it's never been opened before."
"I believe the entrance is housed underneath the Sphinx somewhere." The Professor says as they land at the Sphinx with no way to get inside. "Does that sound about right?"
Alex nods looking at the archeological dig plans her parents were going to be a part of in the coming weeks. "They think that there should be a passageway somewhere under here." She draws a circle in the sand. "Kitty, you should start here, there should be stairs if we're correct. You should find some sort of lever, push it and then get out of there. Oh, and be careful."
"I'll let you know what I find." She replies diving into the sand. They hear a slight gasp and a loud dull falling sound. "I think I found something, some stairs." There is a loud rumbling coming from beneath their feet.
The ground in between the Sphinx's paws open like a great schism. The stone blocks shift and move to form a long stair case that went deep beneath the sands. "I want you to stay in the x-jet." The Professor says pointedly towards Alex. "Who knows what could be down there."
"Of course, no mutant powers and all." Alex says hanging back a bit from the stairs, but when the Professor doesn't make a move towards the stairs, she shuffles back towards the jet.
As amazing as a private jet is, it gets boring after a while, and by a while, Alex meant a couple hours. And in those couple of hours, she just sat there and worried. It all started when the door at the bottom of the stairs closed up, and then these statues coming alive or at least that's what Alex assumed was happening through the radio. "Hello? Shadowcat? Are you there? Can anyone hear me?" It's Mr. McCoy.
"I'm here." Alex says perking up from her lounging position practicing her ancient Egyptian. They must have gotten separated and lost all their radios. "But you probably already knew that."
"Actually, we have something that you might be able to help us with." The Professor says telepathically. "There are some hieroglyphics in this room. What can you make of it?"
And then it was like she was transported into the exact room the Professor was in, staring at the same wall that he was looking at. "It's a story, about En Sabah Nur." It was his tomb so it should have his history written somewhere on the walls. "A lot of the locals know it. They say that there once was a baby, abandoned in the desert for his gray skin and blue lips. A sand bandit, Ball, found him and saw the strength in the baby's eyes and named him En Sabah Nur or The First One.
"Around the same time a Pharaoh, Ramma-Tut, fell from the stars in some technology that he used to rule over the people. Word of En Sabah Nur's incredible strength soon reached the pharaoh's ears. Ramma-Tut feared the power of warrior and he ordered his army to kill En Sabah Nur.
"During the fight, Ball died and en Sabah Nur became enraged his mutant abilities appeared and vowed to get revenge on Ramma-Tut. He changed his name to Apocalypse because no one could stand against his incredible strength, but by the time he got to the pharaoh's palace, Ramma-Tut had fled, leaving his technology called the Eye of Ages. Apocalypse learned how to use the vessel and decided to use it to reform the world in his own image."
"Mutants." The Professor says in the midst of the story, Alex had almost forgotten that she was still telepathically linked to the man. "He was going to change all non-mutants into mutants."
Alex had so many questions to ask him but he mentally urged her to continue the story. "Well, the Eye was powered by his own body, but when he activated it, it sucked away at his life force. And in that moment, his trusted advisors betrayed him and trapped him in the Eye because they feared this new world that Apocalypse wanted to create. They then hid him in the highest reaches of the Earth, behind three doors, hoping that he would never rise to walk the Earth again."
The hieroglyphics end and connection breaks. This obviously is not the news that the Professor was hoping the get through coming to Giza. "Alex, are you there?" Alex literally falls out of her chair at the sudden noise. She had dozed off to the soft lull of silence.
"Scott? Is that you?" Alex asks still drowsy. "What time is it?" From the amount of light coming in from the windows, it was well into the morning. Something must have happened in the Sphinx or they just left without taking their jet. "Did something happen?"
"Sort of, listen, Magneto is going to be using the Sphinx as a base, and we're going to head back to Bayville." Scott whispers, Kitty and Kurt were probably trying to eavesdrop as hard as possible on him right now. "Sorry about dragging you out there."
Alex stretches her stiff shoulders. "Don't worry about it. I'll tell my parents that the whole thing with the Sphinx is a bad idea and you guys can continue you're elusive search for Apocalypse." She could walk back to the camp site, but that could take ages, might as well wait for the metal controlling mutant, Magneto. "So, the world isn't going to end soon?"
"Can't be too sure about that." Scott says sounding more depressed than he has in a while. Or at least, since she left for Egypt, Flying around, trying to stop a terrifying mutant from awakening was not his idea of a grand reunion. "But once we save the world, I promise we can do whatever you want to do."
"I guess you can accompany me to my senior prom." Alex says after a while. She would spend her junior year in Egypt, and then try to catch up with the rest of her classmates when she returned from Egypt. "Unless that's too much trouble for you."
"No trouble at all."