Chapter 36
The call
At the Institute
A few days had passed since the X-men foiled Magneto's plans, and everything they did in the past few months seemed to just consume their lives.
After all they've been through. Encounters with the Brotherhood. Traveling to the Underworld. And all the other crazy adventures they had. It seemed that they would finally catch a break from all that and school as well. They had the whole summer ahead of them to relax and enjoy themselves.
Dean right now was finishing his workout before he went to the beach with his friends. Even though it was summer, Dean could never allow himself to slack off. Plus he would use every chance he could get to get stronger, so he can beat Daken.
After Dean finished his workout he made his way upstairs. Right as he was about to enter his room he hears Kurt call him.
"Hey Dean!" Kurt called out.
Dean followed the sound of his voice and it led him to Kurt standing over one of the phones, "What is it?" Dean asked.
"Someone's one the phone asking for you" Kurt said handing him the phone.
"Ok" Dean took the phone and put it to his ear, "Hello?"
"Ah Dean, it's good to finally get in touch with you" he heard a familiar voice.
"Sensei?" Dean asked. That sounded like Dan Inosanto.
"It's time" Mr. Inosanto said.
Dean understood completely, "When should I leave?" he asked.
"As soon as possible" Mr. Inosanto said.
"Then I'll see you soon" Dean said before hanging up the phone.
"Who was it?" Kurt asked.
Dean was caught in his own thoughts and didn't pay attention to Kurt.
"Hello Dean? What's going on?" Kurt asked trying to get his attention.
"I'm leaving" Dean said flat out.
"To go where?" Kurt asked.
"California, Dan Inosanto is ready for me. I need to make a phone call." Dean walked away and dialed a number on his cell phone.
Kurt was sort of speechless. Was he leaving for good?
A couple of days later everyone had noticed Dean had begun to start spending more time alone away from everyone. Something that is unlike him. But nobody could figure out why, not even Jean had gotten a chance to get an answer out of him.
Kurt was in the kitchen eating a snack and watching TV when Scott, Rogue, and Kitty walk in.
"Hey Kurt!" Scott greeted his friend.
"Hey" Kurt says back sounding downbeat playing with his food.
"Like what's up?" Kitty asked him having picked up on his down beat tone.
"Yeah why tha long face?" Rogue asked.
"Dean" he says simply.
"What about him?" Scott asked curiously.
"You mean you don't know" Kurt said somewhat surprised, had he been the only one Dean told.
"Know what?" Scott asked him.
Kurt breaks the possibly sad news to his friends, "Dean might be leaving"
"What?!" Rogue almost screams. No, no. He can't be leaving. He wouldn't do that. She won't believe it.
"Why would he be leaving?" Scott asked utterly perplexed. Dean seemed perfectly happy the other day, he fit in here. He's a part of the group now so it didn't make sense to Scott.
Kurt told them what Dean had said when he finished his call.
"The guy that trained him for a week is calling him back?" Kitty asked to be clear.
"Ya, and for who knows how long" Kurt said.
"We should at least consult the Professor so he knows" Scott said.
Dean was walking back to the mansion from a long walk he took to think things over, he had felt like being alone and walking.
He was going to leave in a couple of days, there was no doubt about that, he is just sad that he won't get to spend the summer at the Institute. Come to think of it this was going to be the first summer he didn't spend in Europe for a long time. But the trip is worth it, once Dean finishes his training all he'll have to focus on is his physical attributes.
Dean sighed. How did everything in his life change so quickly? He's lucky that he was able to adapt to this sort of life pretty quickly. The mutant thing, then the half-blood thing. Well to be fair the whole half-blood thing brought tons of baggage with it. But still, he would have never thought he would one day end up like this. Dean can only wonder where this road might lead him one day, maybe becoming a world known hero. Nah, that seems too cliché for Dean.
He revisits the spot where a few months ago he found his gauntlets.
'Have you come for guidance?' He hears Zeus's voice in his head.
"Well…..not exactly" Dean spoke out loud, "More like a request"
'Which is?' Zeus asked.
"Do you think you can hold up on the challenges thing until after I'm done with my training?" Dean asked.
'I believe it would be more suitable for you to finish your training first, that way you can be at your best' Zeus said.
Dean smiled, "Thank you" he walked away.
He enters through the front doors to find Jean siting on the stairs for some reason.
"Finally!" She said somewhat exasperated as she moves over to Dean, takes him by the arm and starts leading him, "Where have you been?" she asked him sounding a little annoyed.
"Um, walking home" he lamely responds not sure what is going on. He can't be that late can he?
Dean looks at Jean trying to read her face so he doesn't really pay attention to where she is leading him until they walk into the lounge where he finds everyone. Now he really has no idea what is going on. "Hey guys, what's going on?" he asked.
"I've been told you plan to leave Dean, is this true?" Charles asked.
"Yeah, why? Is that a problem?" Dean asked.
"Goodness no, you may leave whenever you wish, as long as I know." Charles said.
"Well I do plan to leave, within the week. And I don't know when I'm coming back" Dean said. He needs to do this, especially with Daken constantly reminding him of how much he's behind.
"But what about summah vacation?" Rogue asked.
"Look, there will be other years, this won't be the last summer" Dean said.
"But—"Jean was interrupted.
"Look it's the kids decision, case closed" Logan said.
"I'm gonna go" Dean said.
"As long as this doesn't interfere with your schooling" Charles said.
"I'll do my best to finish before school" Dean assured him.
The doorbell rang all of a sudden.
"Now who could that be?" Charles said rolling to the door.
They all followed.
Dean opened the door and let Forge in.
"Forge, I was not expecting you" Charles said.
"Well that's because Dean here called me" Forge said.
"I asked him to come here to help me with something" Dean said.
"Help you with what?" Logan asked curiously.
"You'll see" Dean said with a grin.
At the Hideout
Tim, Billy, and Jon were playing a friendly game of pool, or at least they were trying to. Lilith wanted to watch them squabble.
"YOU'RE GOING TO MISS THIS!" Billy said trying to distract Tim from making the red "3" ball.
Tim simply ignored Billy and made the shot. The white ball bounced off of the borders 3 times avoiding the other balls and knocked the red "3" ball in the corner hole.
"DANMIT!" Billy shouted.
"I'm telling you, it's all about where you hit the ball" Tim said with a smile.
"I still think it's about the power" Jon said aiming his rod and accidentally hitting the white ball with too much force resulting in it flying off the table and landing in a wall.
"Oh come on already!" Jon complained.
Billy grabbed the ball and removed it from the wall which left a ball-sized gap right next to 6 other similar marks on the wall.
"I can't play pool with you anymore" Billy complained as he passed Tim the white ball "It's no fun losing all the time"
Tim caught the white ball and put it back on the pool table and aimed his rod, "It's not my fault I'm so good at it" he hit the white ball which knocked the 3 remaining balls in different holes one after the other.
"You see what I mean?! That's so stupid" Billy pouted.
Lilith couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Billy getting his ass kicked in pool.
"It's not funny!" Billy yelled at her.
Lilith laughed harder, "It totally is"
Tim chalked his rod, "Hey Lilith why don't you play a little?" he asked.
"Me, play with you?" she asked before laughing, "I wouldn't want to embarrass you in front of everyone" she said in a cocky tone.
"Oh really?" Tim eyed her carefully, "Well I'm calling your bluff. I think you're scared to face me." He said with a grin.
Lilith replied with her own grin, "Alright tough guy, show me what you got then" she grabbed a rod.
"I'll even let you break since I'm nice" Tim said setting up the triangle of balls.
"Big mistake on your part" she said aiming her rod, "Now watch carefully" she hit the white ball which knocked into the triangle of balls with amazing precision. Every ball went in a hole and even the black "8" ball went in last to secure her victory. She blew the tip of her rod like it was a gun, "Bang-bang"
All three boy teens were dumbstruck at what just happened.
Jon and Billy start laughing their asses off.
"She beat you with one move dude!" Billy said laughing.
"So much for being good!" Jon said also laughing.
Tim would have accepted the fact that Lilith is better than him honorably but with the way John and Billy are acting he can't help but feel extremely pissed.
"Hey what did I miss?" Dean asked walking in wondering what all the laughing is about.
"Nothing" Tim said looking pissed as hell, "Nothing at all"
"Nothing as in you just got your ass handed to you by a girl" Lilith said making fun of him and making Billy and Jon laugh even more.
"You know what, I'm not even going to bother" Dean said taking a seat.
Seeing Lilith spend time with the guys still seemed foreign to him, it would take some getting used to. She finally decided to stay with them over a week ago, it seemed that she just couldn't stay away from this place, although for what exact reason none of them know for sure. All they know for now is that she's here to stay.
"So what brings you here, Achilles?" Lilith said slightly teasing Dean.
Dean ignores her attempt to get a reaction out of him, "Well I came to stop by and tell you my plans for the immediate future." Dean said.
"Which are?" Tim asked.
"I'm leaving tomorrow" Dean said flat out.
Billy was drinking a can of beer and spit it out from surprise, "Wait what?"
"Where are you going?" Lilith asked.
"I'm going to California, to finish my training." Dean said. Dean went through the details of his past visit there and filled in any information that they were missing.
"Oh so that's why." Jon said finally getting it, "Don't you think you know enough fighting styles already?" he asked.
"I'll never stop wanting to learn more, but I feel it necessary to at least know my favorite one" Dean said.
"How long will you be gone?" Tim asked.
"I have no idea, as long as it takes" Dean said meaning every word.
"Aw great, this is where it starts" Billy said, "First he goes, then somebody else leaves, and then we split up and we're back to the old boring life of before" Billy sounded paranoid.
Dean chuckled, "Relax Billy, I'll come back as soon as I'm done" he reassured him.
"Aw man and I was looking forward to the summer, it would have been so fun too" Jon pouted.
"I'm sure there will be other ones" Dean said.
"I think it's good that you're going" Lilith said surprising them, "You should do it, and don't let anyone stop you"
Dean smiled, "Thank you. Finally someone who supports me"
Dean takes a second to speak to Lilith privately.
"So what do you need?" she asked.
"I need you to continue training them while I'm gone" Dean said referring to Jon, Tim, and Billy.
"But I don't know most of those styles that you're teaching them though" Lilith brought up a good point.
"All you need to do is make sure they don't slack off. And maybe you can teach them how to properly fight with weapons." Dean suggested.
Lilith made a face to make it look like she was thinking about it. "Sure, sounds like fun" she said bumping his shoulder.
"Thanks a lot" Dean said fist bumping her.
After spending the rest of the day with his half-blood friends Dean returned home a bit late. The next day he was up and about bright and early getting his things ready for his trip. He remembered that he'd asked Forge for a favor and decided to inspect his progress.
Dean went downstairs into a room specifically designed for 'creation', Forge already seemed quite fond of the room.
He found him toying and tinkering with a couple of gadgets and other things until he stopped, "It's finished" he simply said.
"Well then what do ya got for me?" Dean said walking towards him.
Forge sat up from his workstation and showed Dean a black mechanical belt of some sort, "It's a personal gravity device" Forge said, "You put one on and adjust the dial and it'll create a personal gravity field around you. It has the same effect on the individual of being in a gravity chamber but is fully portable."
"How durable is it?" Dean asked.
"I used the strongest metals we had in the institute on them so they will stand up to a lot of damage but do try and prevent anyone crushing this thing cause I won't be making a trip to California to give you another one." Forge said.
Dean laughed, "Ok. This will be great. How high up does it go?" he asked.
"This one is just the prototype and it will only go up to 10 because I don't want you going crazy with this thing." Forge said.
Dean eyes him carefully, "I know when to stop ya know"
Forge smiled, "But I'm sure I'll be able to improve on the gravity technology to make them go higher in time."
"Well eventually I hope to go higher than 10, but that's in the future. For now let's test it." Dean said putting it on.
Dean adjusted it to 5x earth's normal gravity and waited. A few seconds later Dean felt the difference but due to his training he didn't seem affected.
"Does it work?" Forge asked questioning his own device.
"Yeah it works fine" Dean said moving around the room.
"It doesn't look like it works" Forge said.
"Well that's because I've been using 5x earth's normal gravity quite often" Dean said nonchalantly.
Forge looked at him with an amazed look, "You know, you are something else"
Dean laughed, "Thanks, I've been told so. Do I need to change the batteries every so often?" Dean asked.
"Oh no you won't need to bother with that. I've installed mini solar panels on it so the battery can recharge while you use it" Forge said pointing to the black squares on the belt. "Handy right?"
"Very" Dean said truly impressed, "I owe you one"
"You owe me two" Forge said reminding him the first time he built him the gravity simulator.
"I won't forget" Dean said genuinely. He turned off the belt and took it off, "Well I better finish getting ready, see ya later" Dean said walking out.
A couple of hours later Dean stood outside the mansion with a book bag slipped over his shoulder. He was saying his goodbyes to everyone.
It was Jean's turn to say her goodbye. "I'll miss you being around" she said.
"I know you will" Dean said giving her a small kiss on her lips. That seemed to get a small but unnoticed reaction out of Scott and Rogue.
And somehow Rogue was the last to say her goodbye, "Good luck wonder boy" she said using her nickname for him.
"I don't need luck" he winked at her.
"Is that all ya takin with ya?" she asked referring to his small book bag.
"I only took what I needed" Dean said.
"Then ah guess you're off" Rogue said.
Dean got on his bike and started it up, "I will be back, I promise" he said with a smile to them all right before driving off.
Authors note: And so ends Season 1, but don't worry Dean's journey isn't finished. To be continued...