Ororo knelt down and smiled encouragingly at the terrified kids. "We won't hurt you. Everything is going to be all right. We just want to help you." She said loud enough for them to hear. The small one grasped her teddy bear even tighter. She looked at the bigger one for advice. They waited a few moments, as if making a silent decision. Still holding her teddy bear, the littlest one inched closer to Ororo. When nothing bad happened, she took a few more steps. Three yards away, with nothing disastrous, no screaming or yelling whatsoever, became two, then one, then only a few inches away, she looked up into Ororo's kind face. She stifled a gasp of surprise as she surveyed the small hooded individual. She put her hand on the child's shoulder and felt a shudder run through her tiny frame. "Everything is going to be all right." Ororo said firmly. The child seemed to relax at that, but Ororo wasn't fooled. The poor thing was still very scared. The bigger one looked at Jean. She thought she heard some sniffles, but that could've been her imagination as he started walking towards her hesitantly. He froze as he heard the creak of Professor X's wheels on the carpet. "Hello there. Welcome to the School For Gifted Youngsters. This place is for people like you, who have strange gifts and don't know what to do with them. Please follow me into my office." Prof. X said with a hint of pride in his voice. The diminutive duo slowly followed him.
Once in his office, Professor X turned around and looked at the still-mysterious figures. "You can take off your hood now. This is a safe place." He said softly. They hesitated for a second, fingers-or at least the oversized sleeves covering their fingers, grasping the edge of the hood. "It's all right." Ororo said encouragingly. Taking a deep breath, they threw off their jacket, exposing what they hide from the world at large. There was a sharp intake of a breath as others beheld a sight known to only a few.
Still short, identical twins stood in front of them. A girl and boy looking exactly like Nightcrawler, from the bright yellow eyes to the forked tail, to the pointy ears to blue fuzz, one would be shocked at such a picture. They immediately stared at their two toes in embarrassment, and perhaps shame. "Who are you?" Ororo asked calmly. Two sets of yellow eyes glanced in her direction. "Ich heisse Erica. Ein ich heiss Erick." They said after some dawdling. Jean sighed. "I'll go and get Kurt." Then she walked quickly out of the door.
"Kurt!" she called out into the kitchen. The elf was still cleaning his abandoned dirty dishes. "Huh? Vhat is it?" he asked. "Time for your break. The professor needs your help with, ah, the interrogation going on in his office." She said finally. All she got was a nearly invisible arched brow from Kurt. "Vhat is going on here?" Jean sighed again. "Look, can you just come into the professor's office? It'll explain itself there. Cummon, I'll help you finish the dishes if you go." Kurt didn't need to be asked twice about that incredible offer. "Deal." He said, holding out a soggy blue hand. Jean rolled her eyes and shook her hands with his. "Vhat are we waiting for?" He asked. Jean grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him out of the kitchen with a surprising amount of force for a girl like her.
"OK, whatever you do, don't scream or yell or anything like that. They hate really loud noises." Jean informed Kurt before walking through the doorway. He had only enough time to give her a weird look before he saw what she meant. "Mien Gott..." he breathed. The littler versions of him could only stare in amazement. Their mouths opened, forming small o's of astonishment. He suddenly felt the need to sit down. Kurt slid weakly into the chair closest to him. 'Kurt, we need your assistance in translating for them.' Prof. X's voice cut through the tension. "Hmm..ja—er, sure." He said casually. Then he turned to look at the twins. "Guten Tag! Wie heiBen sie?" They gave him a long look before replying. "Ich heisse Erica." The girl said stuffily.
"Ich heisse Erick!" The boy said tiredly. {So you are Erica..} Kurt pointed at the girl. She nodded. {And you are Erick. Right?} he pointed at the boy. "Ja." The boy said. Kurt turned to Professor X. "Their names are..." he pointed at the small girl who had her arms crossed over her chest. "Erica and this is.." he pointed at the somewhat taller boy with a long skinny neck, a big round head, and wild frizzy bluish-black hair that seemed to sick out in all directions. "Erick." He finished. "Do they speak English?" Ororo asked. "Sprechen sie englisch?"
"Vielleicht." (maybe)
"Ja oder Nein?!"
"::Sigh:: Ja..."
"Anglisch es 'ard. Deutsch es easy." Erick said sadly. Professor X silently gave a sigh of relief. "Jean, Kurt, can you show them the guest rooms? Ororo and I need to talk." He turned to look back at Erick and Erica, but there was only two empty spots where they stood. They reappeared in a puff of smoke. Jean wrinkled her nose as she expected a stench worse than brimstone. Instead, she got an exotic scent of incense and burning. Erick and Erica were back and had a knapsack slung across their shoulders. Kurt opened his mouth to say something, then shut it. The deafening sound of a crash sounded through the room. "I'M GOING TO GET YOU FOR THIS!!!" Jubilee screeched from somewhere nearby. Everyone winced.
Kurt started ushering the twins towards the doorway. Jean poked her head through. The hall was quiet. "OK, the coast is clear." She said cheerfully. Walking through a couple of hallways, the teenagers breathed a sigh of relief as nothing unfortunate happened. Loud thumping was heard in the hall. Kurt cringed as he recognized the unforgettable sound of Tabitha clomping down the corridor. She screeched to a halt once she nearly ran into the others. "Hey, Blue! What's up?" She asked excitedly. The twins couldn't help but stare at her. Tabitha, also known as Boom-Boom, had that effect on most people. "Unglaublich!" said Erick. Tabitha glanced at who had spoken. For a split second there was silence, then she burst into a squeal of laughter and picked up Erick. "OHHHMYGOSH! HE'S SOOOOCUTE AND FUZZY!" she exclaimed with happiness and hugged him tightly. The rest looked just as amazed as Erica, who backed up and took refuge behind Jean. Erick wiggled in protest as he tried to escape her bear-hug. "Uh.....Boom-boom...he can't breathe." Kurt said hesitantly. Tabitha looked at him, then roughly dropped Erick on the floor. "Right. Bye, Kurt Junior!" She called, walking through another door. Erick was panting hard after that encounter. He'd rather face Wolverine anytime than be with that girl for five seconds in the same room. "You OK?" Jean asked. Erick nodded, too tired to talk. Kurt chuckled and walked down the hall. A few more hallways later, they finally made it to the spare bedrooms.