Here's another relatively long one! Actually, most of them are pretty long from here on in, so…
MetaChi, did you remember what you wanted to borrow? And yes, long reviews are good! *Nods* Very good…
Hmm…well then, UberNekoChan, I'll just have to stage my hostile takeover of the world's television megaliths sooner than I planned then…*Wanders off to plan*
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It didn't take them long to arrive back at the Institute, and Janella seemed even more amazed when they landed it in the underground hangar.
"Like it?" Ororo asked.
"Oh yeah," Janella breathed reverently.
"You can leave your things in the jet," Ororo said, shutting the jet down fully and unbuckling her harness. "We can come back for them later, after introductions." Janella nodded, and all four disembarked from the jet. Jean informed the Professor that they were coming, and by the time the led the girl into his office, all of the adult members of the time were assembled there, as well as most of the older students. Unexpectedly, Janella held back when they entered the room.
"Was is wrong?" Kurt asked, noticing the new recruit wasn't following them.
"There's so many people," Janella said in a sort of awestruck voice. "I don't like…so many people. Especially when I don't know them." She shuddered slightly.
"Don't vorry," Kurt said, trying to urge her into the room. "Ve've all gone through zis at von point or another." Janella nodded and, taking a deep breath, stepped into the room.
She looked into the eyes of the man directly opposite her, across the room, and suddenly felt very at ease, though she also felt as if the man were looking through her. Ignoring the people sitting in chairs or standing on each side of the room, she walked right up to the desk, before stopping and bowing once. The man behind the desk nodded in return.
"Greetings, Janella," he said. "I'm Charles Xavier, the proprietor of this school. I'm pleased that you've chosen to attend."
"I'm pleased to have been given the privilege of attending," she said in return, smiling and receiving one in return. Xavier gestured behind her, and she turned around.
"I'd like you to meet my X-Men," he said. "You were told of them correct?" Janella didn't know it at the moment, but he choosing to ask her aloud instead of simply peeking in her mind, or asking Jean or Ororo, was an honor. Janella nodded once again.
"That I have," she said. "That I have."
"Well, then, allow me to introduce you them. Or rather, allow them to introduce themselves." The first person to approach was a tall, thin young man wearing ruby red sunglasses. He held out his hand, and she took it and shook.
"My name's Scott Summers," he said, "but my codename is Cyclops."
"Cyclops?" she questioned. He nodded.
" I can shoot these beams from my eyes," he said gesturing to his glasses. "An 'optic blast,' as the Professor calls it." Janella nodded as another girl moved forward and Scott stepped back.
"Hi!" she said brightly. "I'm, like, Kitty Pryde, and I can phase through things." Janella nodded.
"Neat!" Janella said, shaking her hand also. She was introduced to Evan and Rogue also, though the latter opted not to shake hands and explained why, even though she did have gloves on. She was then introduced to the two other adult members of the team, Hank McCoy and Logan. Though the appearance of the former dazed her for a moment, it barely showed, and Professor X's approval of her rose another notch. She then introduced herself to them.
"My name's Janella Baduini, and I have the ability to shapeshift," she said. The statement drew more than a few startled gasps, and she looked around bewilderedly for a moment before shrugging. "Um…I come from a fairly stable if odd family in New Jersey. I have two stepmothers and a stepbrother, Reno. The whole thing is a little confusing, though, and I'd appreciate if you didn't ask." The others nodded, respecting her request for privacy in this aspect. Most of them had some facet or another of their past that they didn't share, so it was perfectly all right for her to have one too.
The Professor cast his mind about the room, very barely tapping the edges of the consciousnesses there, and decided to have Kurt show her around. He dismissed the others, keeping Kurt and Janella behind.
"Kurt, do you think you could help Janella here get settled, and maybe help her find her way around?" he asked, tilting his head towards the boy. Kurt nodded, and the Professor told him which room was to be hers.
"Now, I'd just like to tell you that though you have a room to yourself now, as soon as we get a new recruit, she'll probably move in with you." Janella nodded once.
"I'm truly fine with that," she said, smiling her acceptance. The Professor dismissed them both, and Kurt led her back to the jet. He opted to walk, so she could begin to familiarize herself with the mansion. On the way, they made small talk.
"So…" Janella said, taking the initiative. "Where do you come from? I don't mean to sound brash or anything, but I noticed you had an accent…" He smiled.
"I'm from Germany," he said. She nodded.
"Cool! I figured it was European, but wasn't really sure where…" She glanced up to see if she had offended him, but he didn't appear so, so she relaxed. Conversation, surface though it was, came easily between the two, which really surprised her. She was always reserved around those she didn't know, and this odd easiness almost made her uneasy. Almost. By the time the reached the jet, she knew a little bit about his humorous personality, and he knew of her extensive love of anything paranormal, which was one of the reasons she delighted so in her abilities. The hatch to the jet was open, and the climbed in and began to remove her items. She glanced sideways at him, and something about his posture, the way he held himself, tickled something in her mind. It had been annoying her since she first saw him, but she couldn't place it. It was odd.
"They call you Nightcrawler," she said casually, "but there has to be a reason other than that you can teleport. I don't know why, but that doesn't really seem enough to inspire the name of Nightcrawler." Kurt blushed slightly, though she couldn't see it, and made up his mind to show her now, early on. He had waited with some of the other new students, with quite unpleasant results.
"Vell," he said slowly, "zere iz something else…" She looked up, interest plainly written on her face. He held up his wrist to show her his watch. "I vear an image inducer, to hide zis." He pressed the button, and the hologram disappeared, revealing his true, blue self. She regarded him for a moment before her eyes opened wide, her mouth forming an 'O' of astonishment.
"Edhel-luin," she murmured under her breath, almost reverently.
"Was?" he asked, nose wrinkled in confusion.
"Blue elf," she said in the same tone of voice. "It's Elvish for blue elf! Wow…that's so cool!"
"Do you really think so?" he asked.
"Yes, I do," she stated, crossing her arms and leaning back. Her eyes brightened. "And a tail too! Man I wish I had a natural form as cool as that."
"No, you don't" he told her, bending to pick up one of her bags. "It's…an annoyance." The way he said it indicated to her that it was much more than an annoyance, but she didn't say anything. He looked around in dismay. "Ach! Ve're going to have to make more zan von trip!" She laughed.
"No we won't!" she informed him. "Let's just get it out of the plane." Transferring the cargo didn't take more than a few moments, but Kurt crossed his arms.
"I still don't see how zis von't take more zan von trip," he told her.
"Watch," she said. Instantly, she began to change. Her arms and legs became those of the black dragon he had seen at her home, only lacking the fourth opposable digit. A tail grew, but it wasn't as long, and obviously very stiff. She bent forward as her spine's position in relation to her hips changed, and her neck grew longer, flexing into an 'S' curve. It wasn't nearly as long as the dragon's neck. Her head stretched out forward once again, and filled with sharp, backwards pointing teeth. A pair of ridges grew over her eyes, which once again became yellow, this time framing black pupils like those of cats. A few feather-like spines sprouted from the back of her head. Before now, the scales had all been visible, but there was no color. Now, a wave of yellow passed from the tip pf her snout to her tail tip, augmented by brown stripes across her back vertically and limbs horizontally. She cocked her head and regarded him with one eye. The shift was complete, and she was nearly fifteen feet long.
~My raptor morph,~ she informed him, her mind transmitting to his in a way he thought only telepaths possible of. ~Big enough to carry everything!~ Her tail swung slowly from side to side.
"Um…how exactly are ve going to keep ze things on?" he asked. She raised her head, mouth slightly open, and then lowered it again. Her tail stopped moving.
~I don't know,~ she admitted ~I hadn't really thought of it.~ She thought on the problem for a moment, then looked at him hopefully. ~Maybe you could ride on me and hold the things on.~ Kurt gaped at her.
"Ride…?" he said. "You…?" She shrugged, the gesture out of place on the similarly out of place body.
~I wouldn't mind if you don't,~ she said. She flexed her hind legs. ~I'm strong enough.~ He shrugged as well.
"Okay, then," he said. She immediately crouched low to the ground and tugged the strap of the black hand bag around her neck. At her direction, Kurt also slid the chest over and she clutched it in her clawed forearms. She sidled over to the pile of stuff and crouched again. Kurt hesitantly straddled her back, toes barely touching the ground, and pulled her suitcase, backpack, duffel bag and computer bag onto her. She flinched slightly, but he resettled the things so they were easiest for him to hold and most comfortable on her back. He kept one hand free to hold on, and she carefully stood.
~You okay up there?~ she asked.
"Ja," he replied, one hand resting on her back. She set off in a smooth yet purposeful stride, and he directed her through the halls. They passed up out of the lower levels and into the ones above ground. Their path took them past the rec room, whose door was open. A gaggle of the younger X-Men in training were in there, watching TV, and the few who noticed her stared. She eyed them back and was gone.
~Who were they?~ she asked Kurt.
"Younger students," he explained. "Who haven't yet managed to become actual X-Men." The raptor head nodded, and they continued on their way.
After they dropped her things in her room, Kurt took her around the mansion, showing her the most important spots.
"I'm never going to remember any of this," she complained to him. "I have the worst memory!"
"Zen I'll be sue to help you remember," he said. "So vill any of the others. Don't vorry about it!" She smiled gratefully at him.
"Thanks in advance," she said.
"It vill be no problem," he said. "Now, I'll show you vhere ze kitchen is. I'm hungry!"
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So then…review! Please please please!! And I leave you saying, "I bid you, ado!"
((My sister made me put that….))
Oh yeah, disclaimer thing: I don't blah blah blah, you know what I'm going to say. Oh, Janella's mine. Yeah. Bye!