The Blackbird had landed safely and calmly, to Brie's delight. She got of the jet once the door opened, Spider-Man and her floating luggage following her.
The X-Mansion was surrounded by a vast selection of plants that made it seem like a garden from a movie. Brie felt her heart flutter as Spider-Man and Kitty strolled after Storm. Jean smiled. "Welcome to the Mansion. I've sent your bags to your room. Why don't you come with me?"
Brie nodded and followed her. Jean called after Spider-Man, who told something to Kitty before rejoining Brie. "Gee, thanks for sticking by me." she said sarcastically.
Spider-Man didn't answer.
Briehumph!ed and entered the Mansion. It was decorated with dark wood and interesting furniture that would've appeared in an antique shop. Jean started down a long, marble-floored corridor. "Professor Xavier is in his study." she said. She closed her eyes, sighed, and remained silent for a long period of time. Brie wondered if she needed help. But she reopened her eyes and nodded. "He'll be down here in a bit."
"How'd you--"
"We are telepaths, remember?"
Brie closed her mouth and waited silently in the hall. She looked around when suddenly a blue man with a tail jumped out of thin air, and started for the kitchen. Brie gasped as he turned around and smiled.
"Y-you're blue." she said without thinking.
The blue tailed man laughed and said to Jean: "New kid?"
Jean nodded. "Brie, this is Kurt, but many call him Nightcrawler."
"He's blue." Brie repeated bluntly.
Nightcrawler's grin grew. He nodded and headed down the hall once again.
Brie looked up at Jean. "He was blue!" she shouted. "How is that normal?" then, regretting her words, decided that she had said enough. But she had a feeling that Jean didn't take offense to it. After all, she was new to this world and all its inhabitants. But, as she watched the blue man pass by the corridor, she wondered how he went out in public.
"Hey, Jean." a man said as he made his way down the corridor. He wore the same suit that Jean, Kitty, Storm and Nightcrawler did. He also wore a unique band around his eyes. He stopped as he got closer to the group. "Spider-Man? Since when are you a student here?"
"Scott, this is Brie. Spider-Man brought her to us." She turned to Brie. "Scott, this is Brie Taylor. This is Scott, also known as Cyclops. He was the first student recruited by Professor X."
Brie smiled. "Nice to meet you."
"Likewise. Jean, once you're finished with Xavier, Wolverine wanted to see you."
The name rang a bell. "Wolverine?" Brie asked.
Spider-Man coughed. "Believe me, you wanna hold off on meeting him as long as you can."
Scott smiled, seeming to have enjoyed the little quip, and patted Jean's shoulder as he marched on his way.
Hello, Miss Taylor. said a voice in her head. She did not recognize the man's soft voice, but she screamed in horror.
"Who's there? Get out of my head! Oh my god!" she shrieked.
Jean couldn't help but giggle. First-timers always had the same reaction.
A man in a wheelchair rolled down towards them. The lights shined off his bald head. He had warm eyes and a welcoming smile. He stopped in front of Brie. She recognized his voice as the one that had just been in her head. "Miss Taylor, lovely to have you here. Thank you, Jean." he said, dismissing her. Jean, reluctant at first, headed down the hall to meet Wolverine.
Professor Xavier shook Brie's hand. "You're friend Spider-Man pulled through. I'm very glad to hear from you, Miss Taylor. Jean briefed me on your situation."
Brie ruffled her brow. "How--" and then she remembered how he had spoken to her mentally, and concluded that was the answer. His contagious smile forced her to follow him down to his study, where he had left to meet with Brie. The room smelled of rich mohogoney , and the walls were lined with bookshelves containing many leather-bound editions. He wheeled himself behind his desk and Brie took a chair.
"Miss Taylor, your mutation strikes me as odd. You say it just started happening once a month, but then progressed?"
Brie, biting her lip to prevent herself from shouting that she was not a mutant, just nodded.
Professor Xavier flipped open a book he had on his desk. "I see. And it was, at first, every full moon?"
"Like I was a werewolf." Brie snapped.
Professor Xavier chuckled as he ignored her for several minutes, flipping through the pages of an old, dusty book. Brie tapped her foot loudly, trying to show that she was growing bored. She finally cleared her throat, sending a clear enough message to the Professor.
"What are you reading?"
"The Book Of Werewolves by Sabine Baring-Gould. It's mythology, but it explained a lot to help me better understand your condition."
Brie didn't know where he was going. He continued, "I understand that you are unsure if you are a mutant or not. I apologize, but I can not answer that right away as well. I'll need to study you more, if you don't mind me saying so. Your mutation's habits, its progression, and so on."
"What do you need me to do?" Brie asked.
The Professor rolled himself over to a cabinet, unlocked it with a code, and took out what looked like a very expensive black dog collar. Brie caught on instantly. "Oh, no. No way." she shook her head.
"Miss Taylor, if I may explain?"
"You better if you expect me to wear that."
The Professor laughed. "Of course. I designed this collar especially for you, Miss Taylor." he showed her the tag that had the X-Men symbol that appeared on the battle suits the others wore. "This collar will monitor your behavior habits and all your stats, transmitting them to a machine that will calculate them. It will help me understand your condition much better."
"But there's a catch, isn't there?"
"It would work best if you remained in your...wolf form for a long period of time. Then I could clearly see the different status between your human self and wolf self. Understand?"
Brie groaned. "But, Professor--"
"Please, Brie. Only for a few days."
The shine of his eyes made Brie moan. This man genuinely wanted to help her for no benefit but her own. She should at least give him the chance. Besides, being in her wolf guise wasn't so bad. She could still talk and, if she tried hard enough, walk on two feet.
"Fine. Okay. But I'm having trouble getting myself to change." Brie confessed.
The Professor smiled. "I can help you with that..."
