Chaotic Boredom: She's caught up, yay! It will be tastefully done, although expect lots of humor in the process. Paige actually did have mutant abilities originally. In the Generation X comic's series, Paige Guthrie, A.K.A. Husk, was one of the two physical heavy hitters. Jonothan's (And yes, that is the spelling) codename is Chamber, and he was also a GenX-er. Remember that Pyro jumped ship to the Brotherhood? And he will show up in the near future, I intend to have the Brotherhood make their return soon (In style!) Big fight, I know, and Kyle definitely is ticked off at Magneto. Amanda isn't even close to done yet; she's going to have a lot more to say. And the Rahne/Sam... Well, that was just intended to be a bit of sick humor, there's more interesting developments for them in the near future.
ANNOUNCEMENT: I would like to introduce my new Co-Author as of this chapter... Animeluvr, say hi to the nice readers. ::HI!::
Announcement 2: I have edited this chapter, so that it has been split into two pieces. I believed the first version was of poor quality, and could not stand having posted it. Therefore, expect the second part of the original chapter 30 up soon.
AN: Amanda may seem to know a lot about the Institute, but, hey, if she's been dating Kurt for any good length of time, you would expect that, since she knows about him.
Chapter 30: Monument Hopping
The group woke up the morning after their road trip almost two hours before the rest of the party. Grumbling, the group found that they could not fall back into the embrace of sleep, so they sleepily went through their morning routines. Finishing that, they walked into the lobby of the hotel to wait for their class to wake up.
Upon arriving in the lobby, they found that their Civics teacher was also an early riser, as he was already present in the lobby.
"You're awake? Isn't this a little early for teenagers?"
Kyle chuckled, "At the institute, we usually get up early."
"Ah," said Mr. Nallik, "Well, I guess your all probably hungry. Let's go grab some breakfast while we wait for the slow pokes."
The group nodded, and walked out to some of the some seven cars that had been rented to them by a mysterious benefactor. (AN: *CoughXavierCough*) After a quick discussion, they clambered into the vehicles, and then drove to the restaurant at which they were going to have breakfast.
Upon arrival, they grabbed a table, and sat down. As they waited for their waitress, Mr. Nallik decided to get to know his students better.
"So," He began, "I saw that battle on T.V. Mind telling me about it?"
The X-Men traded looks, and Amanda sighed. "Come on, guys. He's possibly the only teacher in school who's not treating you like pond scum! Don't you think he should know?"
Kyle turned to look at her, his sightless eyes hidden behind his sunglasses. "It's not knowledge easily divulged, as you well know."
Amanda sighed, more forcefully this time, and turned to Mr. Nallik, "If they tell you, do you promise not to tell anyone?"
Mr. Nallik smiled, "Ms. Sefton, I've got secrets from 'Nam that I still haven't told anyone to this day."
She turned to the others, all of whom were carefully considering this. "Well," stated Kyle, "I guess that's proof enough."
The others nodded, and gave murmurs of agreement. Kyle leaned forward, "What we are about to tell you is knowledge that, outside of the families of those at the institute, close friends of the Professor, and the Acolytes, about a dozen people know."
Mr. Nallik nodded, realizing that this was truly information that was not to be lightly divulged.
"I'm going to guess that you know that the Xavier institute is a school for mutants. How much do you know about the X-Men?"
Mr. Nallik nodded smiled, "That they're a group of well-trained mutant combatants, if their performance against that Sentinel was anything to go by. That they've been around Bayville for a while, and have been at the root of some of the strange occurrences in the area, or at least related to them."
Kurt grinned slightly, "Zen you know more zen about ninety-five percent of the people trying to figure us out."
Mr. Nallik raised an eyebrow critically, "Your the X-Men?" he asked, his voice low.
Kitty nodded, "Everyone here except, like, Amanda and you is, like, a member of the X-Men."
Bobby picked up, "The reason we're up so early is that we normally would have been training at this point in the morning."
Kyle chuckled, "I'm sure you're all so depressed that you missed out on a rousing round of Shadow Stalker."
Amara laughed, "Yeah, so depressed. Like we all want to get creamed by you and Mr. Logan."
Mr. Nallik tilted his head. "Shadow Stalker?"
Amanda smiled.
"Remember that photo the congress had of a room containing a massive
saw-blade?"
"Yes."
"That was their training room. Also affectionately known as the Danger Room, it contains holographic image inducers that allow it to simulate any kind of scenario. Each scenario has a codename, and a specific objective."
Tabby picked it up, "Shadow Stalker is one where Kyle, Sensei, and/or Mr. Wolvie go into a simulated forest, and we have to get them before they get us."
Kyle chuckled, "Usually, we get them."
Mr. Nallik looked at him, "Three of you against all of
them?"
Kyle nodded, "It's a limited-powers scenario. You have to fight with your hands and feet, but you can move using your powers. The problem with them getting us is that I've trained in hand-to-hand since I was five. Sensei, my father, was, and still is, my teacher. He also teaches all the X-Men, and has trained in our style for more than thirty years. Mr. Logan, also known as Wolvie, or Wolverine, has at least as much skill as Sensei, and more combat experience than any five of us together. Any combo of the three of us is pretty much guaranteed to win a Shadow Stalker."
Mr. Nallik nodded, "So you all train in all kinds of terrain for all kinds of missions?"
Rahne nodded, "Aye, 'nd tha' battle they caught on the T.V. that ye' be talkin' aboot. Tha othar mutants were the Acolytes."
"Acolytes?"
Jubilee picked it up. "Well, some of them anyways. They're Magneto's answer to the X-Men."
"Magneto?"
Peter spoke, "The man flying in the air, with the cape. He is a megalomaniac, comrade, who believes that peace between we mutants and you humans, can be achieved only through force."
"Meaning?"
Tabby took over, "Peace by starting a war, then, when the
mutants win, we're accepted because we're feared."
Before the conversation, which had only taken about ten minutes, could continue, their Waitress arrived.
"Hey guys! What are you doing here?"
Amara sat ramrod straight at the sound of that voice.
"I'm Sandy, and I'll be your server, again!"
"Goodie," said Kyle, not at all thrilled, now that she knew he couldn't see.
She smiled, as she stood behind Kyle at their table.
"What'll you all have to drink?"
The drinks ordered ranged from Coffee to soda to juice, and as Sandy left, she made sure to brush her hand across Kyle's neck, causing him to cringe.
"How did she follow us?" Tabby asked, confused.
Mr. Nallik looked at them, his eyes questioning.
"She was our waitress at the dinner we ate at yesterday, she was flirting with Kyle the whole time, never suspecting the reason he didn't react was that he was blind." Bobby explained, his face showing a little bit of disdain for the skank that was their waitress.
Nodding, Mr. Nallik moved the discussion to the original topic. "So, this Magneto guy wants to start a war?"
The X-Men nodded, and Mr. Nallik sighed. "Heavy."
Kyle laughed, "And that's just what our days off are like."
The X-Men laughed, as Mr. Nallik looked at them oddly.
Amanda shook her head, and took pity on their poor
teacher. "That battle took place on
their day off, they didn't even have a training session that day, nearly
un-heard of."
Sandy came back with the drinks, and, much to Kyle and Amara's chagrin, walked all the way around the table to stand behind him, so that when she gave the far side's occupant's their drinks, she pressed against his back. Kyle ignored the whole thing stoically. However, once she was gone, he turned to Tabby.
"Hey, Boomer. Think you could pull a bit of your magic?"
Tabby grinned, "I think I can manage that." Watching the girl carefully, she saw her walking their way with a tray of food. When she passed them, Tabby threw her tray a little present. Kyle shivered in obvious disgust as she brushed against him, and, not five seconds later, the boom-ball exploded in the tray, spraying food all over their waitress.
"She deserved that." Said Amara, her face condescending.
"For trying to take your man?" Asked Kitty teasingly.
"NO!" Said Amara, blushing deeply. Then she remembered the Truth or Dare game, and what Kyle had said. Looking quickly at the blind martial artist, she saw that his face was a stoic mask. What have I done?
The group ate their food in relative silence, as the tension from Kyle and Amara so thick it was almost tangible. Finally, Kyle shook his head, put his fork down, placed his napkin next to the plate, and stood up. Grabbing his cane, he left the building. Amara watched him go, and then, shooting the rest of the team a glance, put her napkin down and followed him.
(AN Long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away
Woman's Voice: Han! Get up here NOW!
Man's voice: What's Up Leia?
Leia: That!
Han: What's a giant rabbit doing in space? And why does it have the words Amyle, Rahm, and Piotabby written on it?
That's correct! The F.F.N. (Fan fic net) Fluff has gone so far, it's reached the New Republic!)
Amara walked out slowly, every step carrying the grace that was characteristic of a princess. She found Kyle sitting on a bench looking out over the Plutonic river. As she came around beside him, she took a moment to look at the young man before her. His hair, tied back in it's signature warrior's braid, was swaying gently with the wind blowing from across the river. The few loose strands danced in the wind, clinging to his hard features. His sightless eyes peered into the distance behind the sunglasses he wore, and his face was slightly streaked with tears.
She sat down on the bench next to the young man, and spoke.
"I'm sorry."
Kyle jumped, he hadn't been paying attention, so he didn't know she was there. "What for? I understand that you don't return my feelings."
She cut him off, "That's the thing... I do return them. It's just that..."
He spoke both their thoughts, "Your a princess, and my social status in comparison is dismal."
She giggled. "But how did you know that was the problem."
"Because, that was my problem too."
She turned to look at him, as he continued.
"Had it not been for that, I would have ended this flirtatious game of cat-and-mouse long ago. However, there was that, so I didn't. I guess we can end it now, though."
Amara grinned, "I have a better idea."
A few minutes later, the two walked back into the restaurant, and Kyle and Amara both settled into their chairs, across the table from one another.
"So," said Kitty, "Did you two sort everything out?"
Kyle smiled ever so slightly. "Everything is in order."
Lance shook his head. He smiled at Kitty, and said, "No one's dodged that question since Carol and Jake."
She glared over at Lance, recalling the time she had tried to hook up the two, only to find that they had already been hooked up for a good three months.
The team began eating, conversation ringing through the group. Finally, they left, leaving the written tip of Try to flirt with him again, and it will be more than just some food that goes Boom!
The group returned to the hotel, and, when their classmates arrived, were all divided into one of three different buses. Each bus was taking a different route, and all of them would rendezvous at the reflecting pool. The X-Men were all placed into the same bus, and they quickly left for the Lincoln Memorial.
Upon arrival at the building, the teacher gave them what he called a 'canned lecture,' and then let them loose on the Memorial.
The X-girls smiled as they entered the gift shop. There wasn't much, but they didn't care, it was shopping time.
The cashier watched helplessly as a whirlwind beset itself on the shop he had JUST STRAIGHTENED OUT! Once the girls had made their purchases and left, the cashier realized that it would take him the better part of two hours to straighten up the room.
As the girls walked out of the room, they found the guys watching a mime. Well, most of them were watching a mime. Kyle was apparently trying to meditate standing up.
As the girls joined the guys, the mime went into a very good impression of a wolf. Rahne giggled, as she watched. Then he did an impression of a human cannonball, then of a pair of scissors. Next was a man in a box, and then of a man in a nutshell. Finally, the group watched as he did a frighteningly realistic impression of Wolverine, although he was going for a bear. At this point, the teacher collected them, and they headed towards the bus. As they left, the mime mysteriously vanished into thin air.
