I invented the character of Anthony. Everyone else is the property of
Marvel. This story is for intellectual and entertainment purposes only and
not for profit.
Yesterday
Jubilee dropped down on to the couch and began to pull off her roller blades. She was intent of finding the Professor, but after the last time she bladed across the newly polished wooden floors, she had sworn never to do it again under any circumstances.
Even circumstances as strange as these.
Unbeknownst to her however, she was radiating shock, fear and disbelief. Almost immediately, telepaths from all over the mansion began to flock to the downstairs lounge area where Jubilation Lee was lacing up her sneakers.
"Jubilee?" Jean asked timidly, being the first one to arrive.
"I just saw something disturbing." Jubilee confirmed.
"More disturbing than yesterday?" Jean sat down next to her. On any other day it would have been too close. But it was not today.
"It might have been related to yesterday." Jubilee pressed on through the confusion. But it made little sense.
"Did something happen in town? We told you to be careful." Jean didn't mean to sound accusatory but the tone did it's job anyway, and in a moment, Jubilee had risen off the couch and was standing with her back to Jean, looking down to the end of the drive way.
"I didn't make it to town. I didn't make it past the gate."
Jean sat quietly for a moment, perhaps afraid to press the girl further.
"I know that things like yesterday happen. I see them on the news, and as an X-Man I've seen worse intent and worse violence." Jubilee noticed her right hand was shaking and she grabbed it with her left to steady it. Unfortunately, her left hand was shaking too and she had to hug them both to her chest to stop them.
"But yesterday was so close to home?" Jean asked.
"I don't know." Jubilee bit her lip. "But I saw him today."
"Him?" The professor asked as he glided gently and soundlessly in to the room.
"The boy they beat to death outside the gates yesterday." Jubilee looked the Professor in the eye. "I just saw him at the foot of the dive way. On our side of the gate looking out. Only, here's the deal Professor, he wasn't alive. He was a ghost." Jubilee let the words hang there in the cool and quiet room.
The Professors mind raced with plausible explanations and he wrestled with the desire to dismiss this entirely. His deeper and darkest desire was to pluck the memory form every living soul on the planet and carry the burden alone.
"Can you show me where?" Became his only answer.
A moment later Jubilee and Xavier were standing at the end of the driveway. "He was right about here Professor." Jubilee tried to stand in the right spot.
"Come her then Jubilee, and I'll see if I can sense anything." Jubilee stepped aside and Professor Xavier pressed his fingers to his temples.
Suddenly his head shot up and his eyes flew open. His hands dropped from his head and he gasped.
"Professor!" Jubilee reached out and touched him. He felt electric, as though current were running though him, and now it had caught her too.
The current felt colder and colder, but it brought with it images and flashes of events that neither recognized. And when it cleared, Jubilee was alone.
"Professor?" She looked around. But no one was there. Her posters all hung in place and she was alone in her room.
And a voice spoke within her head "Jubilee! Come here, quickly! I'm in the arboretum." And she knew it was the Professor's. "No. Wait. On second thought, meet me at the gate! Now!"
And then the cry went out louder, more all encompassing "To the gate my X- Men! Danger! A young boy!"
And the mansion surged with life and power. Great rippling muscles drove toward the front gate, while the sky became dotted and streaked with mutants on the move. Xavier took three pushes on his chair before Cannonball swept up behind him, took hold of the chair, and then blasted out the double doors and down the driveway.
But it was all for nothing.
Anthony slid through the gate as the crowd surged behind him, making their final push. The mansions internal security system had began closing the gates when it detected the crowd. Anthony hit the driveway hard when he fell, but the fear within him was a powerful motivator. He was up again and flying toward the mansion in no time, despite the fact that the crowd was caught behind the great gates at the front of the property.
"Whoa there." Scott said, catching Anthony by the arm. "What's your name?"
Anthony took three deep breaths and cast his eyes back towards the gate.
Scott dropped to his knees and made the boy face him. "They've stopped. You're safe here. We can protect you. I promise." He had the boy's attention "Now. What's your name?"
"Anthony." He said quietly before adding "Sir."
"Well come inside Anthony. And you can tell me why all those people were chasing you."
Anthony looked up to Scott and with all the shame he could quietly muster he said, "I broke a window sir."
Cyclops felt his back stiffen. This was over a broken window?
The boy then whispered "I did it with my powers." And he was ashamed as he spoke the word 'powers'.
Cyclops turned his attention to the Gate. Jean was speaking and the crowd was dispersing. Wolverine, Ice Man, and Bishop stood relaxed but ready behind her.
Scott turned, and took the boy in to the mansion.
"Well, that was exciting." The professor smiled at the young boy. He beamed in fact. "Good morning Anthony. I am Professor Xavier. This is my school."
"I like your chair." The boy said. "Does it go fast?"
"Indeed, sometimes it does." The Professor smiled thinking of Cannonballs wild ride. Silently giving thanks for the fact that he didn't have any hair to fix after such events.
"We have many other children here." The professor explained. "Would you like to meet them?"
"I would sir." The little boy looked uncomfortable. "But."
"What is it Anthony?" The Professor spoke with well-practiced and soothing tones.
"I'm kind-a hungry." The boy said sheepishly. Just then his stomach groaned as if for dramatic effect.
"Well we can't have that." Xavier said genuinely. "Scott, would you take Anthony to the kitchen, and then maybe out to meet some of the other students? Maybe he would like to visit Ororo's garden, or see the lake?"
For a moment Anthony seemed to forget his hunger, and his worries. It was as if he were visiting a fantasyland, not hiding for his life.
The moment they were gone, Jubilee slipped in to the room. "Professor?" She asked carefully.
"Yes, yes, Jubilee." He smiled and leaned in conspiratorially. "Can you believe this?" He asked, "We're here. Yesterday!"
"But how Professor?" Jubilee shook her head in confusion.
"I don't know. But I think the Why is important." And for the first time Jubilee could see the strain yesterday had placed on Charles Xavier. "He's safe Jubilee. We saved him!"
And somewhere inside her stomach, a dull knife seemed to turn.
Yesterday
Jubilee dropped down on to the couch and began to pull off her roller blades. She was intent of finding the Professor, but after the last time she bladed across the newly polished wooden floors, she had sworn never to do it again under any circumstances.
Even circumstances as strange as these.
Unbeknownst to her however, she was radiating shock, fear and disbelief. Almost immediately, telepaths from all over the mansion began to flock to the downstairs lounge area where Jubilation Lee was lacing up her sneakers.
"Jubilee?" Jean asked timidly, being the first one to arrive.
"I just saw something disturbing." Jubilee confirmed.
"More disturbing than yesterday?" Jean sat down next to her. On any other day it would have been too close. But it was not today.
"It might have been related to yesterday." Jubilee pressed on through the confusion. But it made little sense.
"Did something happen in town? We told you to be careful." Jean didn't mean to sound accusatory but the tone did it's job anyway, and in a moment, Jubilee had risen off the couch and was standing with her back to Jean, looking down to the end of the drive way.
"I didn't make it to town. I didn't make it past the gate."
Jean sat quietly for a moment, perhaps afraid to press the girl further.
"I know that things like yesterday happen. I see them on the news, and as an X-Man I've seen worse intent and worse violence." Jubilee noticed her right hand was shaking and she grabbed it with her left to steady it. Unfortunately, her left hand was shaking too and she had to hug them both to her chest to stop them.
"But yesterday was so close to home?" Jean asked.
"I don't know." Jubilee bit her lip. "But I saw him today."
"Him?" The professor asked as he glided gently and soundlessly in to the room.
"The boy they beat to death outside the gates yesterday." Jubilee looked the Professor in the eye. "I just saw him at the foot of the dive way. On our side of the gate looking out. Only, here's the deal Professor, he wasn't alive. He was a ghost." Jubilee let the words hang there in the cool and quiet room.
The Professors mind raced with plausible explanations and he wrestled with the desire to dismiss this entirely. His deeper and darkest desire was to pluck the memory form every living soul on the planet and carry the burden alone.
"Can you show me where?" Became his only answer.
A moment later Jubilee and Xavier were standing at the end of the driveway. "He was right about here Professor." Jubilee tried to stand in the right spot.
"Come her then Jubilee, and I'll see if I can sense anything." Jubilee stepped aside and Professor Xavier pressed his fingers to his temples.
Suddenly his head shot up and his eyes flew open. His hands dropped from his head and he gasped.
"Professor!" Jubilee reached out and touched him. He felt electric, as though current were running though him, and now it had caught her too.
The current felt colder and colder, but it brought with it images and flashes of events that neither recognized. And when it cleared, Jubilee was alone.
"Professor?" She looked around. But no one was there. Her posters all hung in place and she was alone in her room.
And a voice spoke within her head "Jubilee! Come here, quickly! I'm in the arboretum." And she knew it was the Professor's. "No. Wait. On second thought, meet me at the gate! Now!"
And then the cry went out louder, more all encompassing "To the gate my X- Men! Danger! A young boy!"
And the mansion surged with life and power. Great rippling muscles drove toward the front gate, while the sky became dotted and streaked with mutants on the move. Xavier took three pushes on his chair before Cannonball swept up behind him, took hold of the chair, and then blasted out the double doors and down the driveway.
But it was all for nothing.
Anthony slid through the gate as the crowd surged behind him, making their final push. The mansions internal security system had began closing the gates when it detected the crowd. Anthony hit the driveway hard when he fell, but the fear within him was a powerful motivator. He was up again and flying toward the mansion in no time, despite the fact that the crowd was caught behind the great gates at the front of the property.
"Whoa there." Scott said, catching Anthony by the arm. "What's your name?"
Anthony took three deep breaths and cast his eyes back towards the gate.
Scott dropped to his knees and made the boy face him. "They've stopped. You're safe here. We can protect you. I promise." He had the boy's attention "Now. What's your name?"
"Anthony." He said quietly before adding "Sir."
"Well come inside Anthony. And you can tell me why all those people were chasing you."
Anthony looked up to Scott and with all the shame he could quietly muster he said, "I broke a window sir."
Cyclops felt his back stiffen. This was over a broken window?
The boy then whispered "I did it with my powers." And he was ashamed as he spoke the word 'powers'.
Cyclops turned his attention to the Gate. Jean was speaking and the crowd was dispersing. Wolverine, Ice Man, and Bishop stood relaxed but ready behind her.
Scott turned, and took the boy in to the mansion.
"Well, that was exciting." The professor smiled at the young boy. He beamed in fact. "Good morning Anthony. I am Professor Xavier. This is my school."
"I like your chair." The boy said. "Does it go fast?"
"Indeed, sometimes it does." The Professor smiled thinking of Cannonballs wild ride. Silently giving thanks for the fact that he didn't have any hair to fix after such events.
"We have many other children here." The professor explained. "Would you like to meet them?"
"I would sir." The little boy looked uncomfortable. "But."
"What is it Anthony?" The Professor spoke with well-practiced and soothing tones.
"I'm kind-a hungry." The boy said sheepishly. Just then his stomach groaned as if for dramatic effect.
"Well we can't have that." Xavier said genuinely. "Scott, would you take Anthony to the kitchen, and then maybe out to meet some of the other students? Maybe he would like to visit Ororo's garden, or see the lake?"
For a moment Anthony seemed to forget his hunger, and his worries. It was as if he were visiting a fantasyland, not hiding for his life.
The moment they were gone, Jubilee slipped in to the room. "Professor?" She asked carefully.
"Yes, yes, Jubilee." He smiled and leaned in conspiratorially. "Can you believe this?" He asked, "We're here. Yesterday!"
"But how Professor?" Jubilee shook her head in confusion.
"I don't know. But I think the Why is important." And for the first time Jubilee could see the strain yesterday had placed on Charles Xavier. "He's safe Jubilee. We saved him!"
And somewhere inside her stomach, a dull knife seemed to turn.