"Weirdos." That was all Nathan could say after the incident with these so-called "X-men". As he walked home, the thoughts of his fight with Mystique plagued his mind. Why were these people after him? What made him, a poor high school dropout from Chicago, so special? He stopped in front of his house, the windows were boarded up and the porch was riddled with bullet holes from the occasional gang war. He lifted up the welcome mat, now stained from years of neglect, and picked up the house key. A few roaches scurried around the sidewalk and cling onto the key. He shook the bugs off, as usual, and walked inside to his home. The familiar aroma of gunpowder and crack residue filled his nostrils as he stepped into his kitchen. He set his coat on a chair, revealing his well-formed muscles underneath his shirt, and let out a loud yell. "Hey Ma, I'm home!"
He listened for his mother's high-pitched reply, but there was no answer. He tried again, this time yelling up the stairs. "Hey Ma, where are you?" Still he received no answer. He ran up the stairs and checked the rooms of his brothers and sisters, but found no one. He went back into the kitchen and looked for a note from one of his family members, but the one he found was written handwriting he had never seen before:
IF YOU WISH TO SEE YOUR FAMILY AGAIN, COME TO THE INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT AT MIDNIGHT, ALONE.
-Mystique
A feeling of hatred filled Nathan as he clenched the paper in his hand. It wasn't bad enough that the mutants were after him, they now had to kidnap his family so they could blackmail him into joining their cause. Then he remembered the X-men. Both groups wanted to recruit him into their ranks, but Xavier's group seemed more interested in helping him than adding him to their group. Normally he would have dismissed acts of kindness like this as a means of getting something in return, but his options were limited so he reached into his pocket and started tapping the button that Xavier gave him.
Meanwhile in the hotel, Kitty lied back in her bed and breathed a sigh of content. Her eyes were off into space as she thought of Nathan. Jean walked into the room and looked at Kitty's expression. "Hey, what's up?"
"That Nathan guy is cute." Kitty said with a blush.
Jean giggled. "Yeah, he is. But he's still got to choose to join us, Kat. Let's not get our hopes up."
Kitty rolled over and hugged herself. "I can still dream, can't I?"
Suddenly Jean's suitcase began to emit a loud noise. She opened it up and noticed that her communicator was picking up another signal. She closed the case and looked back at Kitty. "I think your dream might just come true after all."
After donning their uniforms, Jean and Kitty followed the signal back to Nathan's house. Kitty immediately recoiled in shock at the conditions that Nathan had to live in. "People actually live in places like this?" Her feeling for Nathan suddenly increased as she realized that she could make his world better. Jean walked up to the door and gave it a tap, jumping back as it opened on its own from the weak hinges. The two walked inside and saw him sitting at his kitchen table with a crumpled piece of paper in his hand. Jean reached out her hand and spoke. "Nathan?"
Nathan didn't say a word; he just handed her the paper. After reading it she looked at Nathan. "I'm s-"
Nathan cut her off. "If you can help me get them back, I'll do whatever you want."
Jean put her hand on Nathan's shoulder and he gave her a cold look. She quickly withdrew her hand and spoke. "We'll do all that we can. Where is the Industrial District?"
Kitty jumped in, "Three blocks from here, we went there for a field trip once."
Nathan nodded and grabbed a handgun from a cabinet. Jean looked at the gun and took a step back. "What are you doing?"
"I'm gonna waste those motherfuckers. That's what I'm doing." said Nathan.
Jean put her hand on the gun and gently moved in to the table. "Please don't."
Nathan freed the gun from her hand and placed it in his pocket. "Lady, I don't have any special powers, at least none that I can control. If I'm gonna take these guys on, I'm bringing a damn gun, all right!"
Jean shook her head and started walking for the door. Nathan held the door open for Kitty without any special gestures of kindness or affection, just out of habit. Kitty couldn't help but smile at his random act of chivalry, a trait that should have been absent in a man like him. Nathan chambered a round into his pistol and they all got in the car. They first stopped at the hotel and consulted the professor. He looked at Nathan and smiled. "Ah, I see you've changed your mind."
"Get this, Xavier, I'm not doing this because I want to join you, I'm doing this to get those bastards back for kidnapping my family."
"Yes, well I have informed the other X-men of your situation and Scott and Logan will be here shortly." Xavier looked at Nathan again. "I understand that you were an excellent student before you quit school, Nathan. Might I ask why you left?"
"After my dad died we needed money. I went out and got a job so we could pay the bills. I can't pay the bills with good grades, now can I?" Nathan said smugly.
"No, of course not. Still, I would like to resume your academic career if you choose to join us." Xavier said.
Nathan looked surprised. "I just said I'd do anything you want. Why are you giving me a choice?"
"As we said earlier, it has to be your decision to join us." Xavier said again.
Nathan paused. "I...Look, I'm not gonna change my mind just because you're giving me an option."
"Then that will be your decision and we'll respect it. All we ask is that you give us a chance." Xavier said. Nathan stood silent. Maybe these people weren't so bad after all, maybe he had been wrong about their intentions. He shrugged it off though and waited quietly for these other X-men to arrive.
Later...
"What are you doing?" Kitty asked as she sat down next to Nathan.
"Nothing, just thinking." He pulled out his gun as he talked and began to disassemble it. Kitty watched as he expertly checked the mechanisms and put it all back together. She looked at him again. "Why don't you want to join us?"
"I don't know, I just never really liked the idea of joining a group of circus freaks." He looked at her face and saw a look of hurt on it. "Sorry." He said again.
"It's not all that bad living with us." She said. "They're actually really nice people. We don't look any different from everybody else, well with the exception of Kurt, but he's not a bad guy. Hey, it's better than what you've been living in."
Nathan stared at her and she immediately backpedaled. "I-I, like, didn't mean..."
Normally he would have gotten upset, but he saw the look on Kitty's face and turned back to his work. "You don't know me, so don't assume that your life is better. I'm perfectly fine here and I have no reason to leave."
Kitty spoke again, "All I'm saying is that you won't have to do all those things that you were forced into here. You can be happy."
Nathan slammed down his gun and turned to Kitty. "Maybe I like not having a silver spoon in my mouth. Maybe I'm happy actually working to better myself. Don't fucking tell me that I can be happier some place else! You're not my family and that place isn't my home!"
Kitty stumbled back and almost broke into tears. Nathan looked at her and knew that she was hurt, but he didn't know what to do. He got up to leave but was drawn back by something. She sniffled and looked up at him, almost on the verge of breaking down. Soon the guilt became overwhelming and he inched towards her. She picked up on it quickly and threw herself into his arms. He held her close and slowly ran his hand down her hair. "I'm sorry."
She sniffled and looked up at him. He lowered his head to meet hers right before Jean walked in the door. "They're here."
Logan and Scott stood outside the hotel and watched Nathan come down the stairs. Xavier met them and introduced the two men to Nathan. "This is Scott and Logan." Nathan paused to shake their hands. He was surprised by Logan's handshake, almost as if he had brass knuckles on under his skin. Scott turned to the professor. "What's the plan of attack?"
The group assembled in the hotel room. Logan spoke, "We'll meet outside the District and send Nathan in alone. Kitty and Scott will take positions to cover Nathan during the ambush while Jean and I help free the hostages. Any questions?"
"Yeah, what if you guys get caught. Hell, then you can kiss my family goodbye." Nathan commented.
Logan turned to Nathan. "That's why we do it real quiet like so we *don't* get caught."
Nathan scowled at Logan and Xavier spoke, "Once we get in our main priority is to protect Nathan's family. You will surely encounter Mystique and the others so it is imperative that they do not get caught in the fighting."
"You can count on us, Nathan." Scott said in his usual upbeat tone. Nathan found his attitude particularly annoying and he merely nodded politely.
At midnight everyone took his or her positions along the area and Nathan went in. He walked further and further into the cluster of buildings until a voice commanded him to stop. He turned around and saw Mystique emerge from the shadows. "We meet again, Nathan."
"Where are they?" Nathan snapped.
"Over there," Mystique pointed to three people tied up in front of a building. "Now, hand me your gun and they can go free." Nathan reluctantly obeyed and placed the gun in her hands.
"Good boy. Now come with me." She beckoned him forward with her index finger, slowly walking to a black limousine parked in the middle of the district. Toad, with his grimy hands, untied the hostages. The people started running away and Nathan ducked. Mystique looked confused right before Scott's optic blast blew her back. She lied there dazed for a moment and yelled, "Avalanche, destroy them!"
From the shadows Avalanche jumped out and shook the earth near the hostages. They all fell down and became encased in a wall of concrete. The weak supports on the warehouse couldn't hold the strain any longer and the building collapsed on the hostages. Nathan was shocked, but his surprise was overcome by rage as he dashed for the fallen pistol and frantically shot Avalanche where he stood. Several shots were fired, breaking his kneecap and piercing his left lung. With jets of blood he fell to the ground, wounded but still alive. Nathan turned his rage over to Toad, shooting right through the mutant's tongue as he tried to grab the weapon. Toad fell back; holding his mouth as leapt away. Nathan fired until every shot was exhausted, but to no avail. Scott and Kitty entered the fray. Scott fired at Toad and Mystique and Kitty passed through the rubble trying to save Nathan's family. A few moments passed before she came out with a sorrowful look on her face and shook her head. "Nathan, I'm sorry."
Nathan clenched his fists until they were white with rage. He ran over to where he had left Avalanche, but he was gone and so was the limousine. He walked a few steps before he fell to his knees and shouted into the air, "NOOOOOOOO!"
Logan and Jean entered a second later and saw Nathan kneeling there. He looked back at the other mutants and closed his eyes, letting a single tear fall. Slowly he got up and looked at the X-men. "I'm going with you. There's nothing for me here now, just a run down house and some bad memories. Just promise me one thing," He paused. "Promise me that we'll get those bastards for what they did."
Logan stepped forward. "We will, kid. We will."
The End
He listened for his mother's high-pitched reply, but there was no answer. He tried again, this time yelling up the stairs. "Hey Ma, where are you?" Still he received no answer. He ran up the stairs and checked the rooms of his brothers and sisters, but found no one. He went back into the kitchen and looked for a note from one of his family members, but the one he found was written handwriting he had never seen before:
IF YOU WISH TO SEE YOUR FAMILY AGAIN, COME TO THE INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT AT MIDNIGHT, ALONE.
-Mystique
A feeling of hatred filled Nathan as he clenched the paper in his hand. It wasn't bad enough that the mutants were after him, they now had to kidnap his family so they could blackmail him into joining their cause. Then he remembered the X-men. Both groups wanted to recruit him into their ranks, but Xavier's group seemed more interested in helping him than adding him to their group. Normally he would have dismissed acts of kindness like this as a means of getting something in return, but his options were limited so he reached into his pocket and started tapping the button that Xavier gave him.
Meanwhile in the hotel, Kitty lied back in her bed and breathed a sigh of content. Her eyes were off into space as she thought of Nathan. Jean walked into the room and looked at Kitty's expression. "Hey, what's up?"
"That Nathan guy is cute." Kitty said with a blush.
Jean giggled. "Yeah, he is. But he's still got to choose to join us, Kat. Let's not get our hopes up."
Kitty rolled over and hugged herself. "I can still dream, can't I?"
Suddenly Jean's suitcase began to emit a loud noise. She opened it up and noticed that her communicator was picking up another signal. She closed the case and looked back at Kitty. "I think your dream might just come true after all."
After donning their uniforms, Jean and Kitty followed the signal back to Nathan's house. Kitty immediately recoiled in shock at the conditions that Nathan had to live in. "People actually live in places like this?" Her feeling for Nathan suddenly increased as she realized that she could make his world better. Jean walked up to the door and gave it a tap, jumping back as it opened on its own from the weak hinges. The two walked inside and saw him sitting at his kitchen table with a crumpled piece of paper in his hand. Jean reached out her hand and spoke. "Nathan?"
Nathan didn't say a word; he just handed her the paper. After reading it she looked at Nathan. "I'm s-"
Nathan cut her off. "If you can help me get them back, I'll do whatever you want."
Jean put her hand on Nathan's shoulder and he gave her a cold look. She quickly withdrew her hand and spoke. "We'll do all that we can. Where is the Industrial District?"
Kitty jumped in, "Three blocks from here, we went there for a field trip once."
Nathan nodded and grabbed a handgun from a cabinet. Jean looked at the gun and took a step back. "What are you doing?"
"I'm gonna waste those motherfuckers. That's what I'm doing." said Nathan.
Jean put her hand on the gun and gently moved in to the table. "Please don't."
Nathan freed the gun from her hand and placed it in his pocket. "Lady, I don't have any special powers, at least none that I can control. If I'm gonna take these guys on, I'm bringing a damn gun, all right!"
Jean shook her head and started walking for the door. Nathan held the door open for Kitty without any special gestures of kindness or affection, just out of habit. Kitty couldn't help but smile at his random act of chivalry, a trait that should have been absent in a man like him. Nathan chambered a round into his pistol and they all got in the car. They first stopped at the hotel and consulted the professor. He looked at Nathan and smiled. "Ah, I see you've changed your mind."
"Get this, Xavier, I'm not doing this because I want to join you, I'm doing this to get those bastards back for kidnapping my family."
"Yes, well I have informed the other X-men of your situation and Scott and Logan will be here shortly." Xavier looked at Nathan again. "I understand that you were an excellent student before you quit school, Nathan. Might I ask why you left?"
"After my dad died we needed money. I went out and got a job so we could pay the bills. I can't pay the bills with good grades, now can I?" Nathan said smugly.
"No, of course not. Still, I would like to resume your academic career if you choose to join us." Xavier said.
Nathan looked surprised. "I just said I'd do anything you want. Why are you giving me a choice?"
"As we said earlier, it has to be your decision to join us." Xavier said again.
Nathan paused. "I...Look, I'm not gonna change my mind just because you're giving me an option."
"Then that will be your decision and we'll respect it. All we ask is that you give us a chance." Xavier said. Nathan stood silent. Maybe these people weren't so bad after all, maybe he had been wrong about their intentions. He shrugged it off though and waited quietly for these other X-men to arrive.
Later...
"What are you doing?" Kitty asked as she sat down next to Nathan.
"Nothing, just thinking." He pulled out his gun as he talked and began to disassemble it. Kitty watched as he expertly checked the mechanisms and put it all back together. She looked at him again. "Why don't you want to join us?"
"I don't know, I just never really liked the idea of joining a group of circus freaks." He looked at her face and saw a look of hurt on it. "Sorry." He said again.
"It's not all that bad living with us." She said. "They're actually really nice people. We don't look any different from everybody else, well with the exception of Kurt, but he's not a bad guy. Hey, it's better than what you've been living in."
Nathan stared at her and she immediately backpedaled. "I-I, like, didn't mean..."
Normally he would have gotten upset, but he saw the look on Kitty's face and turned back to his work. "You don't know me, so don't assume that your life is better. I'm perfectly fine here and I have no reason to leave."
Kitty spoke again, "All I'm saying is that you won't have to do all those things that you were forced into here. You can be happy."
Nathan slammed down his gun and turned to Kitty. "Maybe I like not having a silver spoon in my mouth. Maybe I'm happy actually working to better myself. Don't fucking tell me that I can be happier some place else! You're not my family and that place isn't my home!"
Kitty stumbled back and almost broke into tears. Nathan looked at her and knew that she was hurt, but he didn't know what to do. He got up to leave but was drawn back by something. She sniffled and looked up at him, almost on the verge of breaking down. Soon the guilt became overwhelming and he inched towards her. She picked up on it quickly and threw herself into his arms. He held her close and slowly ran his hand down her hair. "I'm sorry."
She sniffled and looked up at him. He lowered his head to meet hers right before Jean walked in the door. "They're here."
Logan and Scott stood outside the hotel and watched Nathan come down the stairs. Xavier met them and introduced the two men to Nathan. "This is Scott and Logan." Nathan paused to shake their hands. He was surprised by Logan's handshake, almost as if he had brass knuckles on under his skin. Scott turned to the professor. "What's the plan of attack?"
The group assembled in the hotel room. Logan spoke, "We'll meet outside the District and send Nathan in alone. Kitty and Scott will take positions to cover Nathan during the ambush while Jean and I help free the hostages. Any questions?"
"Yeah, what if you guys get caught. Hell, then you can kiss my family goodbye." Nathan commented.
Logan turned to Nathan. "That's why we do it real quiet like so we *don't* get caught."
Nathan scowled at Logan and Xavier spoke, "Once we get in our main priority is to protect Nathan's family. You will surely encounter Mystique and the others so it is imperative that they do not get caught in the fighting."
"You can count on us, Nathan." Scott said in his usual upbeat tone. Nathan found his attitude particularly annoying and he merely nodded politely.
At midnight everyone took his or her positions along the area and Nathan went in. He walked further and further into the cluster of buildings until a voice commanded him to stop. He turned around and saw Mystique emerge from the shadows. "We meet again, Nathan."
"Where are they?" Nathan snapped.
"Over there," Mystique pointed to three people tied up in front of a building. "Now, hand me your gun and they can go free." Nathan reluctantly obeyed and placed the gun in her hands.
"Good boy. Now come with me." She beckoned him forward with her index finger, slowly walking to a black limousine parked in the middle of the district. Toad, with his grimy hands, untied the hostages. The people started running away and Nathan ducked. Mystique looked confused right before Scott's optic blast blew her back. She lied there dazed for a moment and yelled, "Avalanche, destroy them!"
From the shadows Avalanche jumped out and shook the earth near the hostages. They all fell down and became encased in a wall of concrete. The weak supports on the warehouse couldn't hold the strain any longer and the building collapsed on the hostages. Nathan was shocked, but his surprise was overcome by rage as he dashed for the fallen pistol and frantically shot Avalanche where he stood. Several shots were fired, breaking his kneecap and piercing his left lung. With jets of blood he fell to the ground, wounded but still alive. Nathan turned his rage over to Toad, shooting right through the mutant's tongue as he tried to grab the weapon. Toad fell back; holding his mouth as leapt away. Nathan fired until every shot was exhausted, but to no avail. Scott and Kitty entered the fray. Scott fired at Toad and Mystique and Kitty passed through the rubble trying to save Nathan's family. A few moments passed before she came out with a sorrowful look on her face and shook her head. "Nathan, I'm sorry."
Nathan clenched his fists until they were white with rage. He ran over to where he had left Avalanche, but he was gone and so was the limousine. He walked a few steps before he fell to his knees and shouted into the air, "NOOOOOOOO!"
Logan and Jean entered a second later and saw Nathan kneeling there. He looked back at the other mutants and closed his eyes, letting a single tear fall. Slowly he got up and looked at the X-men. "I'm going with you. There's nothing for me here now, just a run down house and some bad memories. Just promise me one thing," He paused. "Promise me that we'll get those bastards for what they did."
Logan stepped forward. "We will, kid. We will."
The End