Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I making any money from the X-Men
characters. Thank you to Corrinth for the use of her character Dr. Ilehana
Xavier. I do own Blaze, and appreciate authors not using her without
asking.
A/N: Reviews always welcome!
Scene 22
Storm was the last to wake the next morning; she had lain awake for hours after Blaze had left worrying about whether or not to tell her friend what the Professor had done to her memories. Finally she had dozed off still without a conclusion to her qualms. And now she had overslept so long that the other girls were up, washed, dressed, fed and sat in deep discussion in Blaze's room without her. Not that Storm could see them as she went into her en suite bathroom with a towel. But she could feel them, on the edge of her awareness, as if they were stood in the corner of her mind's eye just out of sight. The strange new developments to her powers worried Storm, as they did not seem to worry Blaze too much. She'd had her powers so long, since she was such a small child, and now suddenly they were changing on her. And it wasn't just the occurrence of this telepathy or empathy either. Her power over the weather was growing inside her, fighting to get out all of the time now. It was becoming very hard to remain in control.
Dragging a soft brush through her fine white hair a few times, Storm looked carefully in the mirror. There were bags under her eyes; she looked as though she hadn't slept at all. Sighing she yanked the brush through a particularly tough knot. Without warning, tiny lightning bolts ran over her hair's surface. Frowning at this sudden outburst of her power, Storm pulled the brush away, seeing tiny strands of lightning pull between her hair and the brush. Unnerved she abandoned the brush and patted her now static-y hair back into place with her hands. She hoped Garthen would have answers for them today, Storm really needed to talk to Professor Xavier.
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The Professor sat behind his desk, elbows on the table, and fingers of each hand touching in front of his face. He pursed his lips as he listened to his daughter give her latest report from the infirmary.
"I've had to give Gambit another scan, thanks to Bobby Drake. He's a bit dazed, but otherwise okay. It's a wonder Bobby didn't put him back in a coma, he certainly would have if Logan hadn't arrived just in time..." Xavier didn't need his telepathic powers to understand why Ilehana was so exasperated about the incident that morning. On the one hand, she had worked so hard to get Gambit fit again, as a doctor she felt protective of him. But then again, Ilehana was so compelled by pack-like loyalties; Xavier knew that if she had been in Bobby's position, Gambit would be unlikely to still be breathing. Gambit certainly wasn't making himself any friends around the school at the moment.
"What about Electra?" Charles Xavier changed the subject, then almost wished he hadn't as Ilehana's expression turned dark and disheartened.
"She wont make it." Vixen confirmed. "Her cellular structure is degrading and her electric power levels are off the scale. Her own body can't contain the power she is generating. I don't know how long she's got."
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In his room near the boy's dormitories, Bobby dragged a large holdall sports bag out from under his bed. He'd given up crying, even given up blasting things around the room with his power. The door was frozen shut, his mirror and window shattered at the sudden change in temperature when Bobby had flung angry ice at them too. Shards of glass lay amongst the ice on the carpet, and the cold wind whipped round the room and Bobby like an old friend come to comfort and support him. What was the point in him being here anymore? He had control of his powers like he had never dreamed of when he first arrived at the school. His best friend John had already up and left him without so much as a backwards glance. And now his girlfriend, his confident, his friend Rogue had found somebody else...
It didn't take long to pack what few clothes and trinkets he had. He didn't even bother to put on a coat. What was the point, the cold was his only friend now. Raising a bare hand to the remnants of the window, he smashed out the remaining glass daggers with a fistful of ice. Only then did he climb to sit on the window frame, and with an extended hand create an ice slide all the way down to the ground so far below him. Ducking under the window frame, bag over one shoulder, he planted both feet solidly on the slippery ice and slid gracefully away from the building. It didn't matter where he went. Nobody'd care anyway. Not his Mom, not his Dad, not his brother. Nobody at the school either. Bobby swallowed a sob. He was on his own.
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Finally Storm appeared from her quarters and sat down with Blaze, Tsunami and Gaia. She glanced almost nervously at the other girls, despite Blaze's encouraging smile. Were those vines growing in Gaia's hair? As if to answer her unspoken question, a single clematis-like bud unwound itself from Gaia's sleek brown plait and bloomed soft pink against the chestnut hair. Storm could not help but stare; she'd never seen a power like this before.
Blaze laughed at Storm's expression as the blossom died sullenly as quickly as it had arrived, not betraying that she had been likewise captivated earlier in the day by Gaia's hair decoration. Tsunami smiled too, a small almost shy smile that contradicted her bubbly reaction of the evening before. In a practical tone, Gaia faced Storm to offer an expaination.
"I was just saying to Blaze and Tsunami, I have powers over the earth. I can control its movements, such as earthquakes, landslides and so on... When I was small a landslide nearly crushed my school with thick sludge. I pushed it away, and the school was unharmed. That is when I knew I was a mutant for the first time. But also growing things listen to me, I can speed up or slow down their growth and encourage them in conditions they would not normally like." Gaia smiled, stroking her left plait with long, graceful fingers. "Climbers are my favourites though, such thoughtful plants..."
"Why are you here, at Garthen's house?" Storm asked carefully, not wanting to offend.
"For the same reasons Blaze says the two of you are. We, Tsunami and I, received mysterious rings with cryptic notes. I even tried, as Blaze has, to find out where the rings came from..."
"It was Gaia, an ancient history student, who was in Egypt just before me." Blaze interrupted. "She recognised the runes too, but couldn't break the code."
"But," continued Gaia with a sideways glance for ironic permission from Blaze, "Not long after Garthen contacted me. I agreed to come here for the answers that had eluded me. Tsunami arrived a few days later, but Garthen said he would not continue until all four of us were together."
"But now we are together," finished Tsunami with a wicked grin. "And he has to tell us now, doesn't he?"
"That I do," A voice from the doorframe replied. "And there is no time like the present. Let me tell you girls an ancient legend, passed on by word of mouth since before the great kings of Egypt, from the earliest reaches of the evolution of mankind..."
A/N: Reviews always welcome!
Scene 22
Storm was the last to wake the next morning; she had lain awake for hours after Blaze had left worrying about whether or not to tell her friend what the Professor had done to her memories. Finally she had dozed off still without a conclusion to her qualms. And now she had overslept so long that the other girls were up, washed, dressed, fed and sat in deep discussion in Blaze's room without her. Not that Storm could see them as she went into her en suite bathroom with a towel. But she could feel them, on the edge of her awareness, as if they were stood in the corner of her mind's eye just out of sight. The strange new developments to her powers worried Storm, as they did not seem to worry Blaze too much. She'd had her powers so long, since she was such a small child, and now suddenly they were changing on her. And it wasn't just the occurrence of this telepathy or empathy either. Her power over the weather was growing inside her, fighting to get out all of the time now. It was becoming very hard to remain in control.
Dragging a soft brush through her fine white hair a few times, Storm looked carefully in the mirror. There were bags under her eyes; she looked as though she hadn't slept at all. Sighing she yanked the brush through a particularly tough knot. Without warning, tiny lightning bolts ran over her hair's surface. Frowning at this sudden outburst of her power, Storm pulled the brush away, seeing tiny strands of lightning pull between her hair and the brush. Unnerved she abandoned the brush and patted her now static-y hair back into place with her hands. She hoped Garthen would have answers for them today, Storm really needed to talk to Professor Xavier.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The Professor sat behind his desk, elbows on the table, and fingers of each hand touching in front of his face. He pursed his lips as he listened to his daughter give her latest report from the infirmary.
"I've had to give Gambit another scan, thanks to Bobby Drake. He's a bit dazed, but otherwise okay. It's a wonder Bobby didn't put him back in a coma, he certainly would have if Logan hadn't arrived just in time..." Xavier didn't need his telepathic powers to understand why Ilehana was so exasperated about the incident that morning. On the one hand, she had worked so hard to get Gambit fit again, as a doctor she felt protective of him. But then again, Ilehana was so compelled by pack-like loyalties; Xavier knew that if she had been in Bobby's position, Gambit would be unlikely to still be breathing. Gambit certainly wasn't making himself any friends around the school at the moment.
"What about Electra?" Charles Xavier changed the subject, then almost wished he hadn't as Ilehana's expression turned dark and disheartened.
"She wont make it." Vixen confirmed. "Her cellular structure is degrading and her electric power levels are off the scale. Her own body can't contain the power she is generating. I don't know how long she's got."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In his room near the boy's dormitories, Bobby dragged a large holdall sports bag out from under his bed. He'd given up crying, even given up blasting things around the room with his power. The door was frozen shut, his mirror and window shattered at the sudden change in temperature when Bobby had flung angry ice at them too. Shards of glass lay amongst the ice on the carpet, and the cold wind whipped round the room and Bobby like an old friend come to comfort and support him. What was the point in him being here anymore? He had control of his powers like he had never dreamed of when he first arrived at the school. His best friend John had already up and left him without so much as a backwards glance. And now his girlfriend, his confident, his friend Rogue had found somebody else...
It didn't take long to pack what few clothes and trinkets he had. He didn't even bother to put on a coat. What was the point, the cold was his only friend now. Raising a bare hand to the remnants of the window, he smashed out the remaining glass daggers with a fistful of ice. Only then did he climb to sit on the window frame, and with an extended hand create an ice slide all the way down to the ground so far below him. Ducking under the window frame, bag over one shoulder, he planted both feet solidly on the slippery ice and slid gracefully away from the building. It didn't matter where he went. Nobody'd care anyway. Not his Mom, not his Dad, not his brother. Nobody at the school either. Bobby swallowed a sob. He was on his own.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Finally Storm appeared from her quarters and sat down with Blaze, Tsunami and Gaia. She glanced almost nervously at the other girls, despite Blaze's encouraging smile. Were those vines growing in Gaia's hair? As if to answer her unspoken question, a single clematis-like bud unwound itself from Gaia's sleek brown plait and bloomed soft pink against the chestnut hair. Storm could not help but stare; she'd never seen a power like this before.
Blaze laughed at Storm's expression as the blossom died sullenly as quickly as it had arrived, not betraying that she had been likewise captivated earlier in the day by Gaia's hair decoration. Tsunami smiled too, a small almost shy smile that contradicted her bubbly reaction of the evening before. In a practical tone, Gaia faced Storm to offer an expaination.
"I was just saying to Blaze and Tsunami, I have powers over the earth. I can control its movements, such as earthquakes, landslides and so on... When I was small a landslide nearly crushed my school with thick sludge. I pushed it away, and the school was unharmed. That is when I knew I was a mutant for the first time. But also growing things listen to me, I can speed up or slow down their growth and encourage them in conditions they would not normally like." Gaia smiled, stroking her left plait with long, graceful fingers. "Climbers are my favourites though, such thoughtful plants..."
"Why are you here, at Garthen's house?" Storm asked carefully, not wanting to offend.
"For the same reasons Blaze says the two of you are. We, Tsunami and I, received mysterious rings with cryptic notes. I even tried, as Blaze has, to find out where the rings came from..."
"It was Gaia, an ancient history student, who was in Egypt just before me." Blaze interrupted. "She recognised the runes too, but couldn't break the code."
"But," continued Gaia with a sideways glance for ironic permission from Blaze, "Not long after Garthen contacted me. I agreed to come here for the answers that had eluded me. Tsunami arrived a few days later, but Garthen said he would not continue until all four of us were together."
"But now we are together," finished Tsunami with a wicked grin. "And he has to tell us now, doesn't he?"
"That I do," A voice from the doorframe replied. "And there is no time like the present. Let me tell you girls an ancient legend, passed on by word of mouth since before the great kings of Egypt, from the earliest reaches of the evolution of mankind..."