I do not own X-Men Evolution or Tokyo Ghoul. They belong to their respective owners.
Enjoy!
"I need a what?"
"A codename. Everyone else has one. The professor and I think it's time you got one."
Eli frowned. "How come he didn't tell me about that?"
"We were busy trying to figure out the best way to classify your powers. We still are, actually," Scott explained. The two of them were currently walking through the mansion's halls, ready to make their way to school. They stopped at one of the bathrooms, at which Scott knocked on the door.
"Hurry up Jean! We don't want to be late."
"Just give me a minute."
"You've had several Jean. We've got to get going."
"I'm almost done."
"Hey, you want me to blast this door down or-"
Scott took his hand away from his glasses once Jean opened the door. She smiled at Scott before playfully flicking his chin.
"We going out, or what?"
Eli, not wanting to state the obvious or get involved, just walked behind the three of them. if they weren't going to say anything, then neither was he.
"We're going out professor," Scott called out as the three of them made their way down the stairs.
"Just a moment you three. There is someone I'd like you to meet."
Eli raised a brow. "I've only been here a few days. He already found a new mutant?"
"Looks like it. Come on," Scott said as he led the three of them to the room the professor was sitting in. Another person was standing beside him, wearing a heavy gray trenchcoat.
"This is Kurt Wagner. He arrived here late last night."
"Hey, Kurt. I'm Scott. This is Jean and Eli," Scott introduced as he held out his hand.
Jean waved at the new guy while Eli nodded. Kurt, in response, simply backed away. He seemed scared for some reason.
"Kurt, it's alright. You are among friends here."
Reluctantly, Kurt held out his hand to shake. His blue-furred, three-fingered hand. Scott and Jean backed away a bit, while Eli's eyes widened by a bit.
"Ahem," the professor took the attention back to himself. "I was just telling Kurt how I set up this school for gifted youngsters. Youngsters whose gifts are not always under control."
The way the professor was looking at Scott made it clear that he knew what happened last night. Eli was just glad he wasn't the one to blame.
"So, you know what happened last night?"
"It is hard not to notice. The incident was on all the news channels."
"Professor, come on. I'm packing a bazooka behind each eyeball. What do you want from me?"
"Control Scott. You need to learn to control your power. It's why you are here. It's why you are all here."
Xavier turned to a confused Kurt. "Scott's eyes emit an optic blast beam. A rather powerful one."
"Cool," Kurt said as he took off the hood. Eli was slightly surprised to see more blue skin, blue hair, yellow eyes, and pointy ears. But given that his own power was tentacles that came out of his back, it didn't take long for him to get used to seeing him.
"What about you Kurt?" Jean asked. "What's the gift that bought you here?"
*BAMF*
Instead of answering, Kurt disappeared in a flash of light and puff of smoke. He reappeared only a moment later a few feet away.
"Maybe," Kurt said smugly.
"Cool," Scott and Jean both said.
Instead of joining them, Eli caught a sniff of the air. "Why does it smell like sulfur?"
Xavier coughed again to once again get everyone's attention. "Ororo and I will work on getting Kurt situated today. For the rest of you, I suggest you get going to school. You don't want to be late."
"Right. Come on, guys. I can drive us there fastest."
Scott ran ahead to start up his car. Leaving Eli and Jean behind.
"He always has to be ahead, doesn't he?" Eli noticed.
"You're not wrong," Jean agreed.
The two of them walked to the entrance to catch up with Scott. Leaving the professor and Kurt behind.
"Follow me, Kurt. I have a few things I want you to see."
Bayville...
School for Eli was the same as it was yesterday. Classes that weren't really all that interesting. No one wanted to talk to him, and vice versa. So he just stayed quiet through his classes and waited for lunch. That was when he saw people he would talk to.
"Hi, Scott."
"Hey, Eli. How's your second day going?"
"About as interesting as the first. Though I still haven't seen anything explode."
Scott frowned. "Let's hope you don't. Let me just grab my lunch and we can..."
Whatever Scott was going to say was cut off when some new guy leaned over on Scott's locker. The same dirty-looking weirdo from yesterday. A weirdo that proceeded to jump on top of the lockers.
"Hey Summers. New kid. What's up?"
Scott took a second to look around while Eli raised a brow at the lack of a name.
"That's quite a jump," Scott said.
"It is, ain't it? Surprised you can see it through those rubies on your face. Let me help."
Without warning, the weirdo's tongue shot out of his mouth and took hold of Scott's glasses.
"Hey!"
"What are you doing?"
"What's matter Summers? Afraid to, ha, open your eyes?"
"We both know what will happen if he does," Eli said. "Just give him back his glasses before he blows us all up."
He shrugged. "You got it."
Using his tongue again, he threw the glasses back in Scott's hands. Instead of just handing them to him like a normal person.
"You see that? We all got something in common."
"I don't see the similarity," Eli deadpanned.
"Sure you do. See, we ain't like other people," the frog guy said as he jumped off the lockers and landed on the floor. "Sure, I haven't seen what new kid here can do, but I'm guessing we're all different from everyone else."
"Your point being?"Scott asked.
"I just want to talk. Get to know each other better. Maybe do lunch?"
Eli and Scott both shared a look.
"We'll think about it," Scott said. Eli nodded to show agreement.
"Sure, you guys think about it. I got other stuff to do," mystery weirdo said as he started hopping away. This time, he went right out the window.
"We're not actually going to hang out with him, right?"
"If I was in charge, not a chance," Scott said. "But it's the professor's choice. I'll call him in a sec."
"That's good. But we both know he's up to something, right?"
"Definitely. We'll just have to wait and see what he does."
That night...
"Hold up, his name is actually Tolansky?"
"Yeah. I talked to the professor earlier. He showed up on Cerebro, which just confirms him being a mutant. His name is Todd Tolansky."
Eli shook his head as he absorbed the information. "And here I thought that it was a terrible coincidence that he looked like a frog. You think his parents had foresight powers?"
"Wouldn't be surprising," Scott admitted.
Right now, the two of them were inside the locker rooms changing into their X-Men uniforms. They had a practice run to do in the Danger Room today, alongside Kurt. Speaking of whom...
"Hey, Eli. Do you think you could go and find Kurt? He should be here by now."
Eli looked at Scott as they both finished putting on their uniforms. They both noticed that their new tailed housemate hadn't shown up yet.
"Yeah. Let me go find him. I'll be right back."
Eli left the locker room and went out into the larger mansion, his uniform still on. He started by checking the hallways and what he thought was Kurt's new room, but he didn't find anyone there. He checked the kitchen and the bathrooms, but he still didn't find anyone. Not finding anyone there, he went out onto the main door of the mansion.
"Kurt? You here?"
"Get over here you furry little-"
Surprised, Eli looked at the ceiling. He saw a puff of smoke before a smelly guy in green landed on top of him.
"The little blue-" Tolansky cut off when he saw who he landed on top of. "You the new guy? And you live here?"
"Uh, yeah?" Eli was just now recognizing the froggy boy, and he was incredibly confused as to what was going on. "What are you doing here? And what are you wearing?"
"You're judging me over my outfit? Looked in a mirror lately?"
"Hey, at least what I'm wearing could look like a uniform. You look like your audition to be a frog prince."
Tolansky frowned. "You helped me out, so I'm giving you one chance. Take that back and we won't have any issues."
"And why would I do that? You're the one that jumped on me. And why are you even here?" Eli pointed out. "No one invited you. So this is technically a break-in."
'You're standing on thin ice here, man. Get outta this before I leap over you. The same way I did with the fuzzy boy."
Eli frowned. "Kurt? What did you do to him?"
"I made the elf run away. And I won't give you the same chance!"
Without warning, Tolansky jumped. He leaped fast and high enough to quickly disappear from Eli's sight. And while Eli couldn't see him, he felt a pair of feet hit him in the back, knocking him down.
"Ugh!" Eli fell on the front down the stairs, hitting his chin on the wooden ground. It didn't hurt too much, surprisingly.
"Tell you what newbie. Do me two favors. One, call me toad. Second, point me towards what I came here for, and I'll leave you with just that little chin scratch."
Eli quickly lifted himself off of the ground. "What are you even here for? I'm not going to tell you where we keep the money," especially since Eli didn't know that himself.
"I'm not here for that. I'm here for the computer."
It took Eli a moment to realize what Toad was talking about. Then he remembered the professor explaining how he had even found out he was a mutant, and where to find him.
"I don't know where it is. I've only been here a few days."
Toad raised a brow. "Are you seriously telling the guy who's attacking you that you don't have what he wants? Almost sounds like you want me to hurt you."
Before Eli could get a chance to respond, Toad jumped again. This time he sprang directly in front of Eli. He used his legs to kick Eli directly in the stomach. Eli felt the air knocked out of him as he fell on his back.
"Don't worry newbie. I'll just hurt you bad enough to keep you quiet."
Toad jumped again. But Eli was not willing to take another hit.
He turned his body around, now with his hands and knees on the ground. He felt a familiar warmth course through his spine. He felt the explosion of heat as the tendrils exploded out of the base of his back.
Toad's eyes widened in the air. "What the-?!"
He didn't get many words out before the tendrils wrapped around him, trapping him in their grip. They then crashed his body against the wall, keeping him contained.
"What are these things? Some kind of blood tentacles?"
"I don't need to tell you that," Eli said, even though he had referred to them like that too.
"See? He's there!"
"Eli?"
Eli looked up to see Kurt and Scott at the top of the stairs. They both looked worried as they stared down at him. And Toad.
"Eli, what's going on? Kurt didn't say much."
Eli started by shrugging his shoulders. "I found this guy while looking for Kurt. He said he came here looking for a computer. Think we should turn him in for B&E?"
"Dude, come on. Don't do that to me," Toad complained. He was still struggling to get out of the tendrils grip. "Just let me go and I'll go. You won't see me again."
Eli just raised a brow. "Really? You honestly expect me to believe that after everything you've said up until now? What happened to all those promises about hurting me?"
"I take it all back. Just let me go man!"
Eli turned to Scott. "You feel like calling the cops? Cause he's starting to annoy me."
"What?! Come on, man!"
"What's my name?" Eli asked suddenly. "If you can remember what my name is, I might consider letting you go."
Toad just looked flabbergasted. "What?"
"Not even close. What's my name?"
"Ugh, why does that even matter? Just let me go!"
"You switched your goals the instant you lost. If you want me to trust you to actually keep your word and leave, prove that you can at least pay attention. What's my name? Scott and Kurt both called it out. What was it?"
"It's... uh... it's..."
"Eli, let him go," Scott said, putting his hand on Eli's shoulder. "This isn't how we do things."
"What? Scott, it's not like I'm hurting him. I'm just holding him in place."
"Just let him go, Eli. He said he was going to leave, so he'll leave," Scott said as he turned to Toad. His visor was starting to glow slightly. "Right, Tolanksy?"
"I- 'll swear on my mom's grave if that's what you want. Just let me go!"
"Eli?"
Sighing, the teen decided to do as he was asked. He mentally asked the tendrils to pull back and unwrap Toad. But they didn't. Which made Eli frown.
"Let him go."
Rattling, the tendrils refused to loosen their grip. If anything they seemed to be swirling tighter around Toad.
"I said let him go. I don't want you to crush him."
"Crush me? Hold up man, I didn't do anything man! Let me go!"
"Shut up frog! I'm trying!"
"Eli, what's going on?" Scott looked concerned for everyone.
"I'm telling them to let go. They're not listening."
"You have to control them then. Don't ask. Make them release him."
"Give me a sec. I'm trying."
He really was trying. Eli narrowed his eyes as he mentally focused himself on doing nothing but getting the tendrils to obey him.
"I'm not in danger. He's not a threat," he mentally projected at them. They were fighting him harder than they had before. "He jumped on me once, and he hasn't been able to hurt me since. And he's a coward. There's no threat here. Now let. Him. Go."
They finally listened. Somewhat. They lessened their grip on Toad. Enough for him to be able to slip out of their grip and land on the ground.
"Ha! You showed him. Good one man!"
Eli turned to see Kurt smiling at him. He wasn't sure how to feel about that yet.
"That's it! I'm out of here!"
"That is not necessary Mr. Tolansky."
Every pair of eyes turned to see the professor entering the room. Ororo was standing right beside him.
"Mr. Tolansky, it is clear by your abilities that you possess the mutant x-gene. And my school was created specifically to help people like yourself adapt to their abilities. You are more than welcome to stay here and learn if you desire."
Tolansky sneered. "Stay here and deal with fuzzy boy and the tentacle monster? Nah-ah, I'm out of here."
Toad turned to jump out of the nearest window. But before he left, he turned around one last time. Looking directly at Eli.
"Ptooey."
He sent a loogy directly towards Eli. A slimy, disgusting piece of droll that hit him square in the forehead.
"Ah! Hey!"
Toad crashed out of the window the exact second Eli got hit. He tore through the wood and glass, making a mess as he escaped.
"Get back here!" Eli yelled. "you're not getting away with that!"
"Eli, stop! He's out!" Scott yelled with a hand stretched out.
But Scott wasn't fast enough to grab him. Eli quickly ran to the broken window. He wasn't going to hurt the frog kid too much, just enough to make sure he didn't want to come back.
But once he looked outside, he was shocked to see a man already in front of Toad, blocking his way.
"Out of my way man. Don't make me-"
*SNIKT*
Suddenly, three razor-sharp silver claws shot out of the man's knuckles on both hands. Using one set of claws, the man lifted the cowboy hat on his head slightly, making his dark eyes visible.
"Before you do what, bub?"
"That's enough Logan," the professor said from his the other window. "We do not wish to harm anyone. Let him go."
Sighing, the man named Logan retracted the claws on his hand. He then stepped aside, letting Toad hop past him. He wasted no time in getting away from the mansion.
"It is very nice to see you again Logan," the professor said warmly.
"Yeah. I came once I got your call. What's this about you wanting me to help train a kid?"
"That would be him."
Eli, who honestly had no idea what was going on, could only look between both the professor and Logan.
"What?"
"It's quite simple Eli," the professor said. "I found you a tutor."
Nightcrawler is now a part of the school and the team. And Logan is back home too. I'm looking forward to their interactions with Eli. Especially Logan's.
One question for you guys. Do you have any ideas as to what Eli's mutant could be? I know the story is called Tendrils, and Eli could use that as a codename. Ghoul is an option I considered before realizing it might not fit. Another idea I was working with was Striker, but I don't think that would work either. Do you guys have any ideas or preferences for a codename? I'd be happy to hear them.
One more thing before I go. I was talking with a friend recently. This story came up, and then the subject of pairings emerged. After talking with this friend, I have two roads I could take in regards to Eli's love interest. I could stick to the popular plan and have Eli with Laura (X-23), and have another OC (one who is similar to Eli but will remain secret) gets with Kitty Pryde. Since I never liked Lance, I have no problem leaving him single.
Another route my friend directed me to was having Eli get with Kitty and then having the new OC I mentioned become involved with Laura. Since Kitty was one of my first fictional crushes, I also have no problems with this route.
I could go with either of these routes. Just let me know which one you guy would prefer.
Anyway, please leave reviews on the story. They help me know whether or not you guys are enjoying the story, and how I can improve going forward.
I will see you all next time.
Bye!