I do not own Dragonball Z, X-Men Evolution, Justice League, or Teen Titans

Chapter 07: Arguments

Kitty Pryde walked back into Xavier's office to haul yet another bag of destroyed mansion to the dumpster. She was helping rebuild the wall that Caliwone had destroyed the other day just like in the old days with everyone else. The Saiyan had not been seen since that day, but the lack of mass killings or destroyed cities was a sign that he had gone into seclusion in order to clear up his own thoughts. Xavier had explained to the students more or less the situation and cautioned everyone not to panic.

The exact explanation, at least as far as the professor knew and was relayed only to the senior members of the X-Men, was that Caliwone had made contact with a dead Saiyan and presumably had found out the truth about his people's fate. To what extent that fate was, Xavier did not know.

Kitty shuddered. If she had found out that way that all of her friends and family were dead, she wouldn't know what she would do with herself. She refocused on her mission at hand, dragging her thoughts of those horrifying images away as she bent down to pick up some more debris.

"Alright, people," Beast said, walking into the room. "Let's clean this place up like only mutants can."

With a raised of her hand, Jean levitated a few of the bigger pieces of debris in the air. With a flourish, Bobby flash-froze the pieces with an icy blast. With an electrified surge, Berserker shattered the ice into pieces, which Robert reshaped with his solar energy into a cube shaped solid while the ice melted and evaporated. Beast walked over and picked up the box and headed out, shaking his head.

Kitty smiled. This job reminded her of when Mystique had blown up the Institute many years ago. She phased through the floor to the main floor then through a few walls to reach the dumpster. As she loaded up her contribution, the main gates to the Institute opened and three trucks drove in, dripping water as they came to a stop.

"Must be nice," one man said as he hopped out of the driver's seat, "having a weather witch living with you."

"Sure makes working conditions more habitable," Kitty said with a smile, looking out beyond the gates where an angry thunderstorm flashed and thundered in anger just outside the mansion's reach.

"I sure appreciate that today," the man said, walking toward the back of his truck.

Kitty headed back inside, deciding to make a stop on the roof to visit Storm. Wind was sweeping around her as she used her powers to keep the angry thunderclouds away. Her white glazed eyes that almost always accompanied the use of her powers turned to gaze on Kitty as she phased up through the roof. "Avoiding clean-up duty again, Kitty?"

Kitty shrugged only a little guiltily. "The builders are here so there's not much left to do anyway."

Ororo smiled and winked, an oddly strange experience with her eyes still white. "Quite a temper he has, doesn't he?"

Kitty nodded but she felt no resentment towards him. "He didn't hurt anyone when he could have. That shows that he may be changing, which is why he's here to begin with, right?" She sat next Ororo, who redirected the wind away from her to allow them to have a real conversation.

"Perhaps. I'm still worried, though. He has been gone for almost three days. In the state of mind he must be in right now, I fear he may just lose control."

"Well, at least nothing on the TV reports that yet," Kitty joked.

Ororo smiled. "What a way to enjoy your first week back to the Institute."

"To be honest, I kind of missed the hustle and bustle of things yet to be understood."

"So when do you start your new promoted position within S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Ororo asked. Despite the few run-ins with the organization, S.H.I.E.L.D. had generally been an ally of the X-Men, including helping them with that break in to area 51.

"Just under a month," Kitty said, laying on her back and crossing her arms beneath her head. "One glorious month to just sit back and relax."

The words had barely left her lips when a loud bang rattle the roof, followed a short second later by Cannonball flying up through it. "Cannonball, you dummy. What do you think you're doing?" came Bobby's voice, followed by boos and razzes from Bobby's little girl fan club.

"Peace and quiet," Kitty said. "I can't wait."

Caliwone stood on the rock cliff, unmoving as his inner storm raged above him. The only dry spot on the cliff was the rock beneath his feet. Rain streaked down his cheeks, matting his black hair down around his face. Lightning split the sky with a rumbling thunder fast on its heels. The steady sound of pattering rain was the only thing to be heard other than thunder. No birds cried; or at least, not loud enough to be heard. Not even the wind could be heard that well.

Caliwone wouldn't have cared if it did. His mind was turned inward, trying to define his own existence. A decision that has taken nearly three days so far. The storm that had coalesced around him had been a welcome change and very possibly spared these wretched humans a death count. The storm, violent though it was, soothed him and calmed his upset mental state. What that unknown Saiyan had told him, wild as it may have seemed at first blush, was possible and explained many things about his predicament.

Even the Justice League had told him the same thing, but at the time he had thought it mere propaganda, a ploy to keep him in control. When Shayera and Flash had gone out on a mission to find out about the Saiyan people, Shayera had discovered a great time lapse from an event he had personally participated and led. Even the Martian's forced interrogation of his mind had revealed a time gap, although J'onn could not determine how much time was missing in Caliwone's memory.

Caliwone closed his eyes as the rain continued to fall on his face. What do I do? Do I stay on this planet or leave and find my own answers? Even if he did decide to leave, how would he be able to and where would he go? The galaxy was far different than it was six thousand years ago, if this Saiyan had been accurate.

Caliwone lowered his head. Well, there was no use sitting here. He may be a Saiyan, the last of his kind, but even he needed to eat. He forced movement into his legs, an experience like trying to bend old glue. He managed to get the blood in his body circulating again, the dry patch of earth beneath his feet covered instantly by rain. His aura appeared around him with no flare or brilliance, and then he headed for the Xavier Institute, flying below the clouds to stay in the rain.

As he drew closer to the mansion, he became aware of the clear space of clouds around the Institute's grounds where no rain troubled them. With a grimace, Caliwone continued in. His normal spot on the roof was currently being taken up by two women. It was Ororo the weather witch and that Kitty Pryde girl. He landed on the other side of the roof of the two. With a nod toward Ororo, he walked to the roof access door and into the mansion.

All the students Caliwone past went silent as he walked by, including that Neena Thurman girl, still carrying her guns and the replacement rubber bullets. Even Jean, digging in the medical cabinet, paused as he went by. Caliwone made his way to the food preservation room and opened the cooling compartment. It was stacked full of foods of all kinds, but Caliwone had no idea how to prepare any of its contents. He sighed, too distracted to be upset, and closed the door.

"Anything I can help ya with, kid?" came Logan's voice. Caliwone turned and looked at Logan, for once with no challenge or hostility. That was not lost on Logan. "Come with me, kid. We'll get you somethin' to eat."

By now, most of the students were huddled by the door into the kitchen to watch Caliwone silently, wondering if he would blow something else up. Logan turned and walked down a hall and out through the front door. Caliwone hesitated only a moment before following.

Logan and Caliwone loaded into the X-Van and they headed off. Caliwone stared out the window as the rain hit the van and they traveled through the streets of Bayville. "How are you handling it?" Logan asked. Caliwone did not answer, just continued to look at the buildings passing by. "Look, Charles told me what might have happened and believe me kid, I know what you're going through."

"You do not," Caliwone said quietly. "As long as your race lives, you cannot know."

"Kid, it's not as bad as you think." Logan ran a hand through his hair. "Let me show you something." Logan held out his hand. As Caliwone watched, Logan closed his fist and extended his claws. Logan glanced over at Caliwone to make sure her was paying attention then retracted the blades. The skin that had been split by the emergence of the blades healed in a matter of seconds where as normal humans would take weeks.

"My powers are regeneration. I may look in my forties but I have actually lived over a hundred years. I've seen friends die and I have had to move on. So do you. Yes, everyone you knew is dead, but you have to be strong and make new friends, create a new family."

Logan drove through a McDonalds drive through, not really wanting to risk going inside to get the food. Caliwone gave Logan a cocked eyebrow. "What's good?"

"Big Mac's alright. People over exaggerate on how good it is, though. Double Quarter pounder is my favorite."

"I'll have that, then," Caliwone said. He had no idea what he had just ordered but Logan seemed to recommend it.

"Drink?"

"Uh," Caliwone said, not really understanding.

"I'll just get you a coke," Logan said, half smiling. He finished order, picked it up at the next window and started driving again. "Like I was saying, you need to move on."

Caliwone grunted, unable to respond, as his mouth was half full with McDonalds. It wasn't too bad, actually. The combination of flavors was a unique musical on his tongue, full of tastes he had never experienced.

Logan smiled slightly again and waited for an answer.

"The difference between your situation and mine is that I am alone in the universe. You are surrounded by humans. I am surrounded by aliens who hate and fear me."

"That was a decision you made when you attacked this world," Logan said pointedly.

"I didn't expect that I would be living among you humans." Caliwone took another giant bite from his McDonalds burger.

"Well, maybe from here on in, you will live your life with the expectation to not cause fear," Logan said looking out his own driver's side window. "Look, I'm not the most sociable guy around, but maybe you could start this new concept at the Institute. Believe it or not, Caliwone, Charles and Ororo, they are pullin' for you to succeed. So am I."

Caliwone, who had now moved onto his french fries, didn't say anything. They returned to the Institute's daylight and cloudless skies. The two exited the car and walked back to the Institute. "Why don't you join me in my class tomorrow? I could use a good assistance for this once."

Caliwone jerked and came to a dead stop. "What did you say this was?" Caliwone asked holding up his coke.

Logan looked back and laughed, a gruff sound. "That's called a coke. It's an Earth drink. Like it?"

Caliwone licked his lips once. "Not sure. What time is this training session tomorrow?"

"Ten o'clock in the morning," he answered.

"Very well. I will try this idea of yours. I just hope that it is worth my effort." Caliwone lifted off the grounds. "Uh, thanks for the food, I guess." He flew over to the roof and landed back on the roof on the far side of Ororo. That other girl was gone so he settled down to finish his coke and force a more sociable attitude upon himself.

"I see Logan took you out for some McDonalds," Ororo said. Caliwone turned his head to look at her, straw in mouth and slurping the last of the drink. "Have you made a decision?"

Caliwone's eyes narrowed out of reflex at her for prying into his business, but then he realized that if he was going to try to be more sociable, he might as well start now. "No," he said turning back to his view of the backyard. "But until I do, I can try to live in peace."

Ororo smiled. "I'm sure you will find that kind of life very rewarding."

Caliwone was almost successful in restraining a snort of contempt. "Who would have thought I would become one of Kal-El's little band of do-gooders?" Caliwone said, a sour note coloring his tone. "I have defined my existence by my strength alone. What kind of value does that have now?"

"You can't define an entire existence on something so simple," Ororo said. "You'll just have to find something more."

Caliwone said nothing. Everyone thought it was so simple and he was so stupid for not being able to grasp this way of thinking. But he had been raised in an entirely different culture. There, he was in a status immediately under royalty. How was he supposed to just give that up?

Ororo let Caliwone fall back into silence. After a moment, he asked, "Could you let the rain fall here again? I really like the rain." She nodded and split her attention to create a small thunderstorm that mirrored the one covering Bayville. Caliwone lifted his head and closed his eyes as rain poured down.

"Today's lesson," Logan said, addressing the class as Caliwone stood a few feet back, "is assault and defense." The group groaned slightly. "Caliwone will be assisting during this session." The groan became more pronounced. Logan smiled. "Don't worry, you will actually be targeting him," Logan said indicating Caliwone over his shoulder. Caliwone stiffened slightly. "You will start in groups of two trying to hit him, the rest of you will observe how a master adapts to attacks and dodges them. Watch carefully because Caliwone will be testing you afterwards." Logan gave Caliwone a wink over his shoulder.

Caliwone glanced around the group. He remembered from the introductions what kind of powers they had. Some of the members of the group were more experienced, but the only real threat here was Neena Thurman. They locked eyes for a moment.

"Alright. Caliwone, step over here." Caliwone walked over to the large wall that that had been set up for this activity. The wall was maybe ten feet wide and twenty feet tall. On the ground was painted out a box extending forward from the wall about three feet then across and back to the wall. Caliwone stepped into the box with his back to the wall.

"Jubilee and Berserker, you're up first." The two stepped up to the first line maybe twenty feet away. "Remember, anything goes. All you have to do is hit him. Caliwone, keep your movements to human level and for now, stay on the ground." He got a nod from both parties. "Go."

Caliwone unwrapped his tail from around his waist. His vision naturally expanded to take in his surroundings and restrictions, his mind stretching out to sense his opponents. He could feel their energies rising to a peek just as they attacked. Berserker launched a lightning bolt from his palms that lanced out. Too bad for him that it didn't move at lightning speed.

Caliwone ducked the first bolt then spun clockwise to side step the second blast. Firecrackers mixed with lightning bolts as Caliwone easily ducked, dodged, jumped, and sidestepped the attacks. "Oooo's" and "Aaaah's" were present, even a few disappointed gasps at some close calls.

After a few minutes, the group changed out to Alex Summers and Bobby. The challenge for Caliwone was a little more difficult, but the result was the same. The next group was Sunspot and Neena Thurman. Neena loaded in a specialized clip for this lesson, basically paintballs that would fly accurately. Sunspot powered up and they were ready.

Sunspot was the first to fire, which Caliwone simply sidestepped, determined to keep his attention on Neena. Sunspot fired again and Caliwone jumped, knowing that Neena would take that opportunity to attack. She did. With a crack like thunder, a plastic coated bullet hissed out at him from the 29-inch barrel sniper rifle. But Caliwone used his energy to force his body sideways and to the ground. Red paint splattered the wall as the bullet missed. Sunspot's blast forced Caliwone to high-step over the low blast and curve his body to dodge the bullet. He then ducked and leaned back to avoid two more bullets.

Neena pulled the trigger as fast as she could six more times to empty her clip. Caliwone skillfully dodged them all. Being up against a rifle that fired bullets at 2,800 feet per second entitled Caliwone to bump up his own speed.

Neena hit the clip release that dropped the clip from the rifle. Before the clip hit the ground, Neena had pulled out another clip and had it locked into place. She immediately started firing again. Sunspot, not able to get a good shot in, simply powered down and stepped back. Caliwone vanished to avoid another bullet. Slowly, Caliwone drew closer to Neena's stationary position until he was a mere three feet away. Neena dropped the clip again to replace it and Caliwone rushed in and grabbed the barrel of her sniper and pointed it away.

There was a quiet gasp from the crowd as Neena paused in her movement and looked into Caliwone's eyes, admitting defeat. Caliwone released the weapon and walked over to Logan.

"Very good," Logan said. "Caliwone, would you describe how you avoid attacks?"

Caliwone glanced at Logan, but this wasn't his first time teaching. "You need to learn how to read your opponent, both on the offense and defense. Every person has a pattern; you just need to figure out your opponents before your opponent figures out yours."

"That's easy for you to say," Bobby spoke up. "You're an alien."

"Neena Thurman is human and she can do it," Caliwone said. "Her aim is spot on every time. The only reason she can't hit me is because I can react and move faster than her bullet at even mid range."

"So you expect us to move at super human speeds?" Bobby asked.

"Look, I was asked to explain the way I fight. Take it or leave it. Just remember that I will be firing at you next," Caliwone said with a sly grin. A fearful silence fell. Caliwone looked over at Logan and sighed. "That was a joke," he said awkwardly.

Kitty Pryde phased through the roof to find Caliwone sitting alone in his usual solitude. She walked over and sat down next to him, keeping at least an arm length away to give both him a little space and her a little warning should he attack. "I saw your little training session with Logan this morning," she said, looking out over the backyard. The builders were gone, done with the project of rebuilding the back of the study. The project had been helped along with a few trained mutants but even still, it had been completed in record time.

Caliwone said nothing, apparently preferring solitude after today's stressfulness of actually being kind for one whole day. Shadowcat watched him out of the corner of her eyes, trying to figure out how best to handle him. Xavier had said that Caliwone needed someone to keep him connected with humanity. Now more than ever it seemed. She swallowed, knowing what she was about to do was probably dangerous.

Caliwone closed his eyes and breathed deep. When he opened his eyes again, Kitty Pryde was in front of him, not two feet from his face as she stared into his face. Caliwone jerked back slightly, not expecting that. "What do you think you are doing?"

"I need to know something," Kitty said, not moving. Caliwone reached out to push her away but his hand passed through her stomach as if she was a ghost. "I know that you are going through a tough time right now, but I need to know what your plans are, as they affect the rest of us."

"And if I decide to kill you all, what would you do about it?"

"Grab a hold of you and phase you down to the Earth's core," she said with a serious face. "Or far enough that you would be permanently stuck and die due to lack of oxygen." Caliwone's lip twitched in a near smile and cocked an eyebrow. "I understand you had a sister. What would she do in this situation?"

"Destroy you all," Caliwone answered. His mind flashed back to the vision he had had during the Doomsday fight. He looked away. "She would want me to make my race proud."

"So then do that," Kitty said, standing up. "Represent your extinct race by causing more death. Speaking of which, why did your race do what they did?"

Caliwone paused in his thinking. "To generate money that would allow us to travel to other planets so we could fight."

"So then, you have no real reason to attack anyone," Kitty said looking down on Caliwone. Caliwone sent a withering look up at Kitty, but she was right. He had no reason. Kitty smiled and turned to walk away. "Good. Have a good night, Cal."

She disappeared through the roof. Caliwone let out an irritated sigh. Here was another one who no doubt would insist on calling him Cal.

To be continued...

I've been waiting for Caliwone and Logan to get some one on one time for a while now. Yay!

Has Caliwone found another close friend or will it turn out to be something more? Make sure to send your REVIEWS.

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