John punched in the code that opened the front gates, and he walked up the
long driveway to the mansion. He felt relieved and breathed in, lilac and
juniper scented the air of the walk.
Wait.
There was something else in the air. Something a bit familiar...and none too pleasing to the nose. Charred wood. John walked a little faster towards the school. He heard some sounds ahead, voices. John jogged the rest of the way up the driveway.
"Whoa!"
The mansion was in near ruins. Most of the windows were broken, the front door ripped off the hinges, and from what John could see it looked like several sections of the school had been burnt.
John's brows furrowed together and his chest swelled with anger. He brought out his Zippo lighter, ready to torch whoever had done damage to the school. He heard the voices again, and stalked toward them.
The voices grew louder as he went around a side of the house.
"Hey, who the hell do you think-oh, it's just you."
He found several of Xavier's students and teachers gathered about in what used to be the backyard, but even that was nearly destroyed.
"John!" Peter was nearest to him and ran up to greet him.
"Hey man, long time no see, huh?" John greeted him back.
"John, what happened to you?"
"I got a ride with Magneto and Mystique, crashed with them for a while until the riots calmed down," John gestured to the house, "What happened here? Looks like a twister hit."
"That's not much of a stretch to say, we came back and were greeted with a lynch mob-"Peter began.
Kitty approached them.
"John, did you say you stayed with Magneto and Mystique?" she asked loudly.
Several other students turned their attention from Scott and Ororoe to listen to what John had to say.
"Well, yeah, I mean it was either go with them or drown."
"What were they like?" asked Kitty.
The pair had always been a hot topic of conversation, Rogue had been pestered almost non-stop after the ordeal she went through at the Statue of Liberty.
John shrugged, "They were cool, I wasn't alone with them though. Magneto's kids came to stay-"
"Magneto has kids?!"
"Yeah, twins-"
"How old are they?"
"About our age-"
"Alright, that's enough." Ororoe declared as she put an end to John's interrogation. "This is no time to ask about things like that. We've got a school to repair."
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
John, despite everything from his recent past that proved otherwise, was a team player. He could take orders and didn't mind hard work. He had pitched in with the rest of the students of Xavier's to rebuild their school.
Xavier's was more than just a school, it was the supposed 'safe haven' from the often brutal real world. It was also the only actual home some of them had ever known. John had had a family, he'd had a real home once.
John's is not the same old, "my-parents-disowned-me-when-they-found-out-I- was-a-mutant" story. John had been on his own even before he realized what he was. Adults, he had found, could be just as careless and irresponsible as any other teenager, and twice as stupid.
His parents had stormed off after one of their famous earth-shattering fights with him, perhaps about a fight he had had at school, though for the life of him he couldn't remember, and left John alone in the house for a few hours. He felt so angry he could barely see straight, and stole his father's lighter and began playing with it in the kitchen.
H e remembered how mad he was, and how the flame seemed to jump out and catch the curtains. He remembers that he only pulled back from the flames out of reflex, not because they actually burned him. He let the house burn, he wanted nothing more to do with his parents, so he let them believe whatever they wanted to believe after they came back to find their house in ashes.
He didn't care, because on that night, he knew what he was. John was a mutant, a being above such petty things as parents that didn't understand him and didn't want him. As a mutant, he was made for greater things.
He just wasn't sure what they were yet, but he was determined to find out.
Wait.
There was something else in the air. Something a bit familiar...and none too pleasing to the nose. Charred wood. John walked a little faster towards the school. He heard some sounds ahead, voices. John jogged the rest of the way up the driveway.
"Whoa!"
The mansion was in near ruins. Most of the windows were broken, the front door ripped off the hinges, and from what John could see it looked like several sections of the school had been burnt.
John's brows furrowed together and his chest swelled with anger. He brought out his Zippo lighter, ready to torch whoever had done damage to the school. He heard the voices again, and stalked toward them.
The voices grew louder as he went around a side of the house.
"Hey, who the hell do you think-oh, it's just you."
He found several of Xavier's students and teachers gathered about in what used to be the backyard, but even that was nearly destroyed.
"John!" Peter was nearest to him and ran up to greet him.
"Hey man, long time no see, huh?" John greeted him back.
"John, what happened to you?"
"I got a ride with Magneto and Mystique, crashed with them for a while until the riots calmed down," John gestured to the house, "What happened here? Looks like a twister hit."
"That's not much of a stretch to say, we came back and were greeted with a lynch mob-"Peter began.
Kitty approached them.
"John, did you say you stayed with Magneto and Mystique?" she asked loudly.
Several other students turned their attention from Scott and Ororoe to listen to what John had to say.
"Well, yeah, I mean it was either go with them or drown."
"What were they like?" asked Kitty.
The pair had always been a hot topic of conversation, Rogue had been pestered almost non-stop after the ordeal she went through at the Statue of Liberty.
John shrugged, "They were cool, I wasn't alone with them though. Magneto's kids came to stay-"
"Magneto has kids?!"
"Yeah, twins-"
"How old are they?"
"About our age-"
"Alright, that's enough." Ororoe declared as she put an end to John's interrogation. "This is no time to ask about things like that. We've got a school to repair."
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
John, despite everything from his recent past that proved otherwise, was a team player. He could take orders and didn't mind hard work. He had pitched in with the rest of the students of Xavier's to rebuild their school.
Xavier's was more than just a school, it was the supposed 'safe haven' from the often brutal real world. It was also the only actual home some of them had ever known. John had had a family, he'd had a real home once.
John's is not the same old, "my-parents-disowned-me-when-they-found-out-I- was-a-mutant" story. John had been on his own even before he realized what he was. Adults, he had found, could be just as careless and irresponsible as any other teenager, and twice as stupid.
His parents had stormed off after one of their famous earth-shattering fights with him, perhaps about a fight he had had at school, though for the life of him he couldn't remember, and left John alone in the house for a few hours. He felt so angry he could barely see straight, and stole his father's lighter and began playing with it in the kitchen.
H e remembered how mad he was, and how the flame seemed to jump out and catch the curtains. He remembers that he only pulled back from the flames out of reflex, not because they actually burned him. He let the house burn, he wanted nothing more to do with his parents, so he let them believe whatever they wanted to believe after they came back to find their house in ashes.
He didn't care, because on that night, he knew what he was. John was a mutant, a being above such petty things as parents that didn't understand him and didn't want him. As a mutant, he was made for greater things.
He just wasn't sure what they were yet, but he was determined to find out.