Ron and Naddie talked the entire lunch period, both of them ignoring their
food (which was very unusual for Ron to do). Naddie explained her powers to
Ron as best she could considering she still didn't completely understand
how they work. Ron listened with great interest, interrupting only
occasionally with a question or one of his characteristic witty comments.
When the bell rang, they reluctantly parted and went to their separate
classes.
Naddie's last class was chorus, something she always looked forward to. She thought the class sang fairly well overall, but they certainly weren't the best. One particular song they were practicing today had an extremely difficult rhythm, and the class was having trouble with it. Naddie had gotten it after just a few tries, but almost everyone else was still stumbling. She sighed in frustration, wondering if they would have to cut the song if they couldn't get it right before the concert. About halfway through the period, their teacher received a call and had to leave for a minute.
"Alright, I want you to keep practicing while I'm gone. Is there anyone here who can keep a decent beat?" he asked, looking around. Naddie raised her hand tentatively, but quickly tried to put it down when she realized she was the only one raising her hand. Too late, the teacher had already spotted her and called her down to the front of the room.
"Naddie!" he said. "If you don't mind, just try and help these guys stay on beat, ok? Just run through the song until I get back. I'll only be a moment." He patted her on the back and rushed out of the room, leaving Naddie standing at the front of the class, wondering how she got there.
"Ok, uh, let's see," Naddie began, her voice quavering slightly at suddenly being put in the position of substitute teacher. "Let's start at measure 31, that's where we have trouble." She clapped her hands to count off the beat and sang with the rest of the class. As usual, they all stumbled over the rhythm. Naddie sighed, suddenly feeling very sympathetic towards teachers.
"Come on, try again. This time, I'll keep the beat. If you get lost, just listen to me," she said, her shyness momentarily forgotten. They began to sing. Naddie clapped her hands in rhythm. A few students still sang off the beat, but when they got to the most difficult part, everyone was singing together. Naddie stared around the room, so amazed at the change she had to remind herself to keep clapping her hands. The teacher walked back into the room then, stopping when he realized what was happening. He, too stared in wonder at his class, suddenly transformed from a room full of students into a true choir. When they finished the song, he turned to Naddie.
"What was that? How did you do that?" he asked, dumbfounded.
"I really don't know!" Naddie said, but as soon as she said it, she realized it must have been her powers at work. She walked back to her seat with a huge grin on her face and feeling very proud of herself. She stood straighter and sang louder after that, knowing they were going to sound great at the concert in a few weeks.
------------------------------------------
The next afternoon, everyone hurried to finish their homework before Logan's training session. There was a rumor going around the mansion that this session was going to be especially harsh and they wouldn't feel like doing much of anything afterwards. After some prodding from the other X- Men, Naddie agreed to make sure they had enough time to finish, though she knew she would be scolded if Logan found out. She ended up overshooting it and giving them far too much time, so that everyone finished their homework and ended up bored.
"Aw man," Evan whined as he watched a fly buzzing lazily around his head. "I'm sooo bored! Come on, Naddie, can't you just, you know, give time a little nudge so we can get that training session over with?" Naddie was about to tell Evan "no," but Jean did it for her.
"Evan, no. We've already messed things up as it is. If we try it again, who knows what will happen," she said. Naddie felt guilty at this. Jean had purposefully said "we," but Naddie knew Jean had been talking about her. Had she really messed things up that bad? Her feeling must have shown on her face, because Kurt noticed and leaned over to talk to her.
"Don't worry," he said. "It's totally natural to want to experiment with your powers, but Jean's right, you need more training before you can use your powers so casually."
"Woa, that sounds strange coming from you," Naddie teased.
"I know, I know," Kurt said laughing. "I think I've been hanging around Scott too long, he's starting to rub off on me!" They both laughed and continued to talk together, trying to pass the time that Naddie had stretched for them.
------------------------------------------
"Ok, people, let's get started," Wolverine said, coming into the kitchen where everyone still sat. It surprised him that they were already in uniform and ready to go. Scott led the way to the Danger Room, where the X- Men stood anxiously waiting for whatever Wolverine had planned for them.
A simulation started a moment later. It seemed simple enough at first-- snake-like mechanical arms coming from the walls trying to grab them and a few spider robots with guns. The robots were easy enough- they didn't have very good aim and one good hit usually brought one down. Kitty phased through several at once, shorting them out with ease. She complained loudly that this was too easy and began using some of them like soccer balls, just for fun. Meanwhile, Evan was having a blast pinning the robots to the wall with spikes and then watching them squirm. Jean held off about a dozen mechanical spiders with her telekinesis while dodging the metal arms still coming from the walls, and Scott was offing his robots the old-fashioned way-- blast them to bits.
When the team finished off at least fifty or so of the spider robots and gotten rid of the mechanical arms, they looked around the room expectantly. Before they had time to wonder, doors opened on all sides of the room and more spider machines came out. These were almost three times as big as the last ones, and they obviously had better aim. Ron was caught off-guard and almost got trampled by one, but he swung his leg around and knocked the spider onto its back. It lay on the ground kicking and squirming. Ron couldn't help but laugh at this.
Kim was having a blast. She considered the Danger Room to be "fun," which made everyone else, even Logan, wonder about her sanity. Now she was in her element- bashing bad guys, with style! Kim was being pursued by one of the machines, so she headed straight for another, jumping at the last second so that the two collided with each other.
"Hey, watch out!" Naddie laughed, rolling away from the explosion caused by the robots Kim had just gotten finished with. She leapt back onto her feet just in time to come face-to-face with one of the spiders. She had to use her powers to avoid the thing's attack and still have time to hit it.
This batch of spiders was more difficult to defeat than the last, but they finally did, just in time to have EVEN MORE come at them. This time, the smaller and the larger spiders came at once, and there were at least a hundred of them.
"Aww man! What's with this?" Rogue complained when she saw the new army of spiders coming towards them.
"I don't know, but you better watch out behind you!" Kurt warned. Rogue turned just in time to dodge one of the larger spider's attacks, then she kicked it square in the side, disabling it.
"Alone, these things are nothing, but there's so many of them!" Jean cried to Scott over the noise of the battle.
"They're trying to wear us down! I think this is Wolverine's new endurance simulation we've been hearing about!" Scott replied. Cyclops was right, and Wolverine's simulation was working just as it was supposed to. Everyone was starting to get tired. Naddie was the only one who knew how long they had been in there fighting, and she didn't dare tell anyone else, fearing it might discourage them.
The number of spider-robots was steadily decreasing, along with the team's energy and patience. Finally, there were only about a dozen machines left, most of them the larger kind. Cyclops fired a blast at one. Usually, this would have destroyed it in one hit, but he was now so weak he had to have help. Jean flung the spider into the wall with her telekinesis. Luckily, this defeated the already-weakened spider. Spyke picked off the two remaining small spiders, while Kurt worked on another large one. Another came at Kitty, who was still sitting on the floor where she had been thrown a minute before, too exhausted to get up. She simply phased and the spider passed right through her, shorting itself out. At last, all the mechanical spiders lay defeated on the ground, bits of metal were everywhere. The X- Men tried to stay alert, wearily wondering if there was still more, but Wolverine's voice came over the intercom.
"Alright everyone, that was great. Come out here and let me talk to ya." They dragged themselves out into the hall, where Logan met them.
"What did ya think of that?" He asked, grinning.
"It was cruel and unusual punishment if you ask me!" Rogue said. Logan just laughed.
"Don't be silly, it's good fer ya! That was only the demo version, you know. The real endurance sim is this weekend."
"What?!"
"Just kidding," Logan chuckled.
------------------------------------------
Later that evening, everyone was sitting around after dinner talking. Xavier called Naddie's attention.
"You have been considering whether or not you want to stay here, correct?" he asked her gently. She nodded. "It's alright, you still don't have to decide quite yet, I was just wondering, perhaps you would like to choose your codename now?" Naddie was startled by this. She hadn't even thought about a codename. The professor read her mind. "I know this is probably the last thing you would think about at a time like this, I just thought it might make you feel more like part of the team if you had a codename."
"Yes, you're right, I think it would," Naddie said smiling. She thought for a moment, then looked at the professor. She noticed everyone in the room was staring at her, anxiously waiting her decision. Apparently, they had all heard the conversation. Naddie paused.
"Call me. Metronome."
))) big smiley :) I knew Naddie's codename from the moment I decided she was going to be a mutant in this alternate ending, and I have been waiting (impatiently) to introduce it. So here it is at last! World, meet Metronome! Lol, sorry, I'm easily amused.
Crystalgreen and Nova, so you like the line "tennis balls bounce"? lol. So do I! just a little bit of funny cuteness. :)
Sarah Crysala, I didn't mean for Ron's reaction to Naddie being a mutant to be mean or anything. He was sad because when he found out she was a mutant, he knew that meant she would probably stay in this dimension, and he might never see her again. He wasn't mad at Naddie, just the situation. But everything's all peachy now, everyone's happy again. :)
Everyone else, thanks for reading, hope you enjoy it! Please review on you way out so I can feed my little review monsters. (((
Naddie's last class was chorus, something she always looked forward to. She thought the class sang fairly well overall, but they certainly weren't the best. One particular song they were practicing today had an extremely difficult rhythm, and the class was having trouble with it. Naddie had gotten it after just a few tries, but almost everyone else was still stumbling. She sighed in frustration, wondering if they would have to cut the song if they couldn't get it right before the concert. About halfway through the period, their teacher received a call and had to leave for a minute.
"Alright, I want you to keep practicing while I'm gone. Is there anyone here who can keep a decent beat?" he asked, looking around. Naddie raised her hand tentatively, but quickly tried to put it down when she realized she was the only one raising her hand. Too late, the teacher had already spotted her and called her down to the front of the room.
"Naddie!" he said. "If you don't mind, just try and help these guys stay on beat, ok? Just run through the song until I get back. I'll only be a moment." He patted her on the back and rushed out of the room, leaving Naddie standing at the front of the class, wondering how she got there.
"Ok, uh, let's see," Naddie began, her voice quavering slightly at suddenly being put in the position of substitute teacher. "Let's start at measure 31, that's where we have trouble." She clapped her hands to count off the beat and sang with the rest of the class. As usual, they all stumbled over the rhythm. Naddie sighed, suddenly feeling very sympathetic towards teachers.
"Come on, try again. This time, I'll keep the beat. If you get lost, just listen to me," she said, her shyness momentarily forgotten. They began to sing. Naddie clapped her hands in rhythm. A few students still sang off the beat, but when they got to the most difficult part, everyone was singing together. Naddie stared around the room, so amazed at the change she had to remind herself to keep clapping her hands. The teacher walked back into the room then, stopping when he realized what was happening. He, too stared in wonder at his class, suddenly transformed from a room full of students into a true choir. When they finished the song, he turned to Naddie.
"What was that? How did you do that?" he asked, dumbfounded.
"I really don't know!" Naddie said, but as soon as she said it, she realized it must have been her powers at work. She walked back to her seat with a huge grin on her face and feeling very proud of herself. She stood straighter and sang louder after that, knowing they were going to sound great at the concert in a few weeks.
------------------------------------------
The next afternoon, everyone hurried to finish their homework before Logan's training session. There was a rumor going around the mansion that this session was going to be especially harsh and they wouldn't feel like doing much of anything afterwards. After some prodding from the other X- Men, Naddie agreed to make sure they had enough time to finish, though she knew she would be scolded if Logan found out. She ended up overshooting it and giving them far too much time, so that everyone finished their homework and ended up bored.
"Aw man," Evan whined as he watched a fly buzzing lazily around his head. "I'm sooo bored! Come on, Naddie, can't you just, you know, give time a little nudge so we can get that training session over with?" Naddie was about to tell Evan "no," but Jean did it for her.
"Evan, no. We've already messed things up as it is. If we try it again, who knows what will happen," she said. Naddie felt guilty at this. Jean had purposefully said "we," but Naddie knew Jean had been talking about her. Had she really messed things up that bad? Her feeling must have shown on her face, because Kurt noticed and leaned over to talk to her.
"Don't worry," he said. "It's totally natural to want to experiment with your powers, but Jean's right, you need more training before you can use your powers so casually."
"Woa, that sounds strange coming from you," Naddie teased.
"I know, I know," Kurt said laughing. "I think I've been hanging around Scott too long, he's starting to rub off on me!" They both laughed and continued to talk together, trying to pass the time that Naddie had stretched for them.
------------------------------------------
"Ok, people, let's get started," Wolverine said, coming into the kitchen where everyone still sat. It surprised him that they were already in uniform and ready to go. Scott led the way to the Danger Room, where the X- Men stood anxiously waiting for whatever Wolverine had planned for them.
A simulation started a moment later. It seemed simple enough at first-- snake-like mechanical arms coming from the walls trying to grab them and a few spider robots with guns. The robots were easy enough- they didn't have very good aim and one good hit usually brought one down. Kitty phased through several at once, shorting them out with ease. She complained loudly that this was too easy and began using some of them like soccer balls, just for fun. Meanwhile, Evan was having a blast pinning the robots to the wall with spikes and then watching them squirm. Jean held off about a dozen mechanical spiders with her telekinesis while dodging the metal arms still coming from the walls, and Scott was offing his robots the old-fashioned way-- blast them to bits.
When the team finished off at least fifty or so of the spider robots and gotten rid of the mechanical arms, they looked around the room expectantly. Before they had time to wonder, doors opened on all sides of the room and more spider machines came out. These were almost three times as big as the last ones, and they obviously had better aim. Ron was caught off-guard and almost got trampled by one, but he swung his leg around and knocked the spider onto its back. It lay on the ground kicking and squirming. Ron couldn't help but laugh at this.
Kim was having a blast. She considered the Danger Room to be "fun," which made everyone else, even Logan, wonder about her sanity. Now she was in her element- bashing bad guys, with style! Kim was being pursued by one of the machines, so she headed straight for another, jumping at the last second so that the two collided with each other.
"Hey, watch out!" Naddie laughed, rolling away from the explosion caused by the robots Kim had just gotten finished with. She leapt back onto her feet just in time to come face-to-face with one of the spiders. She had to use her powers to avoid the thing's attack and still have time to hit it.
This batch of spiders was more difficult to defeat than the last, but they finally did, just in time to have EVEN MORE come at them. This time, the smaller and the larger spiders came at once, and there were at least a hundred of them.
"Aww man! What's with this?" Rogue complained when she saw the new army of spiders coming towards them.
"I don't know, but you better watch out behind you!" Kurt warned. Rogue turned just in time to dodge one of the larger spider's attacks, then she kicked it square in the side, disabling it.
"Alone, these things are nothing, but there's so many of them!" Jean cried to Scott over the noise of the battle.
"They're trying to wear us down! I think this is Wolverine's new endurance simulation we've been hearing about!" Scott replied. Cyclops was right, and Wolverine's simulation was working just as it was supposed to. Everyone was starting to get tired. Naddie was the only one who knew how long they had been in there fighting, and she didn't dare tell anyone else, fearing it might discourage them.
The number of spider-robots was steadily decreasing, along with the team's energy and patience. Finally, there were only about a dozen machines left, most of them the larger kind. Cyclops fired a blast at one. Usually, this would have destroyed it in one hit, but he was now so weak he had to have help. Jean flung the spider into the wall with her telekinesis. Luckily, this defeated the already-weakened spider. Spyke picked off the two remaining small spiders, while Kurt worked on another large one. Another came at Kitty, who was still sitting on the floor where she had been thrown a minute before, too exhausted to get up. She simply phased and the spider passed right through her, shorting itself out. At last, all the mechanical spiders lay defeated on the ground, bits of metal were everywhere. The X- Men tried to stay alert, wearily wondering if there was still more, but Wolverine's voice came over the intercom.
"Alright everyone, that was great. Come out here and let me talk to ya." They dragged themselves out into the hall, where Logan met them.
"What did ya think of that?" He asked, grinning.
"It was cruel and unusual punishment if you ask me!" Rogue said. Logan just laughed.
"Don't be silly, it's good fer ya! That was only the demo version, you know. The real endurance sim is this weekend."
"What?!"
"Just kidding," Logan chuckled.
------------------------------------------
Later that evening, everyone was sitting around after dinner talking. Xavier called Naddie's attention.
"You have been considering whether or not you want to stay here, correct?" he asked her gently. She nodded. "It's alright, you still don't have to decide quite yet, I was just wondering, perhaps you would like to choose your codename now?" Naddie was startled by this. She hadn't even thought about a codename. The professor read her mind. "I know this is probably the last thing you would think about at a time like this, I just thought it might make you feel more like part of the team if you had a codename."
"Yes, you're right, I think it would," Naddie said smiling. She thought for a moment, then looked at the professor. She noticed everyone in the room was staring at her, anxiously waiting her decision. Apparently, they had all heard the conversation. Naddie paused.
"Call me. Metronome."
))) big smiley :) I knew Naddie's codename from the moment I decided she was going to be a mutant in this alternate ending, and I have been waiting (impatiently) to introduce it. So here it is at last! World, meet Metronome! Lol, sorry, I'm easily amused.
Crystalgreen and Nova, so you like the line "tennis balls bounce"? lol. So do I! just a little bit of funny cuteness. :)
Sarah Crysala, I didn't mean for Ron's reaction to Naddie being a mutant to be mean or anything. He was sad because when he found out she was a mutant, he knew that meant she would probably stay in this dimension, and he might never see her again. He wasn't mad at Naddie, just the situation. But everything's all peachy now, everyone's happy again. :)
Everyone else, thanks for reading, hope you enjoy it! Please review on you way out so I can feed my little review monsters. (((