First Steps Towards Friendship

Arcade was completely freaked out by the sight of the strange scaled mutant in front of him. "What do you want?" Arcade choked.

"You are alone aren't you?" Xi asked.

"So?" Arcade tried to be brave. "I don't belong here! I'm not a freak like you!"

"There are no other freaks like me," Xi told him. "All the others are dead."

"What?" Arcade was taken aback.

"I was created in a lab with several others," Xi explained. "We were created to be assassins. Weapons. We rebelled. I was the only one that survived."

"Oh…" Arcade didn't know how to respond to this.

"I know what it is like to be alone and abandoned," Xi explained. "To have people turn on you. To feel totally hopeless and alone. To be different than everyone else."

"Yeah but you're still a mutant like the others," Arcade pointed out.

"There is a difference," Xi told him. "I was created without a gender. I am neither male nor female."

"So you're…?" Arcade raised his eyebrows.

"Yes," Xi nodded. "Although everyone uses the male pronouns to describe me, I am not like them at all."

Arcade thought for a second. It never occurred to him that even among mutants there would be those so strange they would be considered even more of a freak than the others would. "So I guess not all mutants are the same am I right?"

Xi nodded. "You're afraid of us aren't you?"

"Well…yeah!" Arcade said. "Can you blame me?"

"I used to fear humans a long time ago," Xi said. "Because what they did to me. Can you blame me?"

"Yeah but not all humans are like that."

"And not all mutants are like the X-Men," Xi pointed out.

"Sounds like a cliché to me," Arcade remarked.

"But he does have a point," Lance said as the Misfit boys walked in.

"Oh man I'm gonna get beat up aren't I?" Arcade gulped.

"Nah we save that for the third day you're here," Pietro remarked.

"Look I'm gonna be straight up with you," Lance said. "Most of us have been used a lot by humans. We're not all that crazy about the majority of them but we've learned that there are a lot of good ones out there. But it's hard for us to trust just anyone. I gotta know this; do you really hate mutants? I mean besides the X-Men?"

"Well…" Arcade thought. "In general…I don't really think so. I mean, hate isn't the right word for how I feel. I mean, I knew a guy who was bit by a pit bull once but he loved his own dog. That didn't come out right."

"Well it is an apt description," Xi said.

"I don't really know any other kinds of mutants except what I see on TV," Arcade shrugged. "And the X-Men."

"Oh man we really are in trouble," Todd shook his head.

"I guess you hate me because of what I did to the X-Men huh?" Arcade asked.

"Not really no," Lance told him.

"Actually the fact that you really gave it to the X-Men gives you quite a few points in our book," Pietro remarked. "Let's just say we're not on the best of terms with them lately."

"Gee I can't imagine why," Arcade said sarcastically. "Stuck up jerks."

"You got that right," Lance growled.

"Think because they have all these powers and money they know everything," Arcade grumbled. "Won't even consider anyone else's opinions."

"Welcome to our world," Todd said.

"Stupid Xavier," Arcade grumbled. "Thinks he's the lord of the universe or something…"

"Hey I'm liking this guy more and more already," Fred grinned.

"AND IT'S THEIR FAULT CEREBRO'S DEAD!" He shouted.

"What?" Pietro made a face.

"They killed her…" Arcade started to sob.

"Her?" Lance blinked.

"If they'd only listened to me she'd still be alive! Why oh why did she have to die?" Arcade howled. "You believe me right? You believe that Cerebro was alive?"

"Yes," Fred said simply. "Yes we do." He looked at the others and mouthed the word 'cuckoo'.

"I miss her so much!" Arcade cried.

"Arcade let's take some nice deep cleansing breaths now shall we?" Todd asked, patting Arcade on the back. "There…there…"

Lance and Pietro cautiously made their way out of the room. Althea and Wanda were outside. "So did you talk to him?" Althea asked. She heard Arcade crying. "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" Pietro protested. "He's crying over his dead girlfriend!"

"You mean Cerebro?" Wanda blinked.

"For some reason he thinks Cerebro was in love with him," Lance remarked. "I knew the guy didn't have much of a social life but geeze…"

"Okay now I get why he's here," Pietro sighed. "He's nuts."

"So are the rest of us," Lance said.

"You have a point," Pietro said. "You know he might fit in here better than I thought."