Hey! I am so terribly sorry it took me so long to update! I've been
having major crisis problems, but I won't go into the boring details. Just
know it involved the Flu, strep throat, and immense homework. This chapter
is dedicated to MoonlightPhoenix3, because she inspired me to begin writing
on this again. I will have another chapter up as soon as possible. (It
also doesn't help that I can only upload new chapters on my grandma's
computer.) Also, if you have submitted a character to me, please tell me
what you would like to have them wear as a Halloween costume. If you
don't, I'll allow Denise, Tabitha, and Kitty to pick for them. While we're
on the subject of OCs, if you have submitted a character and have not
reviewed since the said submission, I will have no choice but to kill them
off or something of the sort. Again please forgive me for not updating
sooner! I love all those who have reviewed, and I hope you keep reviewing!
Please don't have deserted me!! I promise I won't do it again!! Or at
least I'll try not to!!!
The fight scene really sucks, and I'm sorry for that, but I tried to at
least say all the character's names and codenames.
Disclaimer: -Denise walks out.- She doesn't own anything but me. The OCs belong to their respective authors. Later! -She walks away.- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Denise once again awoke during the middle of the night. The same dream plagued her as it did the night she'd stayed with Lance. She hopped out of bed and headed down stairs. After glancing at the clock on the living room wall, she noticed her parents weren't going to wake up for about five more hours. She slipped out the front door, quietly shutting it, and headed down the street. She had no idea where she was going, but she just kept walking until she bumped into someone. She looked up to see Adolf standing in front of her. He offered her his hand and she took it, allowing him to pull her up.
"Hey, thanks for helping me back at school."
"It was no problem. My step father used to hit me. At least he wasn't hitting my mother."
She sighed and changed the subject. "How do you like living in the boarding house?"
"It's alright, I guess. It gets fairly too noisy at times, but I don't mind."
"Is that why you're out?"
"No. I'm an insomniac. I stopped sleeping out of fear that my father would abuse me in my sleep. Or worse, kill me."
Denise's eyes widened in shock. "Oh man! Sorry to bring up bad memories!"
"It's okay. I don't really mind."
"What do you think about humans hating us?" she asked, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.
"I don't really care, but if they mess with me, I can't guarantee they'll live to tell the tale."
She nodded, but didn't say anything. He started walking and she fell into step beside him. She noticed he was looking at the sidewalk so she turned her gaze towards the stars.
"I don't think I could ever kill anybody. I mean, I know there was a possibility having to do that back in Cali, but not here. I couldn't do something like that here."
"You can be too trusting at times."
Denise glanced at him. "Yeah, probably. But only sometimes. Not all the time."
Adolf just nodded and this time, when they fell into a silence while walking, it was a comfortable one.
The next day at school, Duncan was watching Denise like a hawk. He and a few of his buddies had decided that the moment she was alone, they would get revenge on her for what she had done to them. This opportunity came to them at lunch, when Denise left the safe circle of friends and had gone outside to sit under a secluded tree. She had wanted to be alone for a while, to e-mail Drew back in L.A. and tell him how everything was going. After turning her laptop on, she began typing. About halfway through her letter, she sat the laptop down beside her to munch on some Doritos for a few minutes. That's when Duncan's friend jumped down out of the tree she had been under. After smashing her laptop and pinning her to the tree, he whistled for the others. Two more jocks came around the tree to help hold her down. Duncan walked up smiling.
"Now you're little friends aren't here to help ya! How does it feel to be helpless?"
Denise struggled against the three guys, but she couldn't get loose. She tried every defense move she could remember for this kind of assault, but they countered all of them. Her eyes widened when she saw Duncan's fist flying towards her, brass knuckles adorning his own. He hit her in the stomach, causing her to groan in pain. He pulled his hand back to hit her again, when a branch of the tree wrapped around his raised fist and threw him a few feet away from the others. Duncan's friends were so shocked that they didn't notice a girl hiding behind the tree. The branch tapped each boy on the shoulder, causing them to chase after Duncan, who had scrambled to his feet and run off.
"Are you okay?" Darcy asked as she stepped beside Denise, looking the girl over. She disliked seeing anyone other than herself inflict pain on someone, so growing slightly tired from using her powers was worth it in this case.
Denise was holding her stomach, which still hurt from Duncan's punch. "I think I'll be alright." She hissed as she found it was hard to breath. This made it a bit hard to talk. "Thanks, Cee, but you'll probably get in trouble if Kelly finds out. We're not allowed to use our powers in school. We'll get expelled if we're caught using them."
Darcy just gave Denise a small smile as she helped Denise walk towards the cafeteria. Denise smiled back, but cringed shortly after when Lance, Kitty, and surprisingly, Scott surrounded her.
"Oh my gosh! Like, are you okay?" Kitty asked, her blue eyes wide.
"Ran into Duncan and a few of his friends. Cee saved me though. No worries."
"No worries!! Are you insane?! Duncan's probably going to jump you every chance he gets!! Which means you can't go anywhere without telling anybody!" Lance whispered fiercely.
Denise glared at her cousin and was about to yell at him when Scott spoke up.
"Hey, how about I take you to the nurse's office. After she's checked on you, I'll walk you to class and then I'll have Kurt walk you to Alvers' jeep after school. I'll keep a close eye on Duncan, okay?"
Denise smiled. "Scott, you're a lifesaver. Oh, can Cee come with us? And ya walk her to her class, too? I don't want Duncan jumpin' on her for helpin' me, kay?" She glared at Lance. "Hurry up and get ta class!"
Scott smiled and nodded. He walked over to the other side of Denise and helped Darcy walk Denise to the nurse's office. When they got there, the nurse quickly ushered them in.
"Oh my! What happened?"
"Duncan Matthews."
"I guess I'll need to have a talk with him about this."
"Won't do ya much good. He won't listen."
The nurse gave Denise an understanding look. She had been one of the few humans in Bayville that accepted mutants. "I'm going to have to check her over, so why don't you two get to class. Scott, I'll call you when she's good to go. Here are some late passes for the two of you." She handed both Scott and Darcy a pink slip of paper.
Scott nodded before he walked over to the door. He held it open, waiting for Darcy. Darcy glanced at Denise, who nodded for her to go ahead. Darcy headed out the door after waving to Denise. Scott walked out after her, shutting the door behind him.
"So, where are you supposed to be?"
Darcy looked over at him. "English."
He nodded as they continued walking, falling into an uncomfortable silence.
"How do you know Denise?"
"I'm a mutant, like she is. I live at the Xavier Institute, though."
"You're an X-Man?"
Scott frowned at her shocked tone. "Is there something wrong with that?"
"Mystique said you were the enemy. Why are you helping a Brotherhood member?"
"Mystique? So, I'm guessing you're a mutant who joined the Brotherhood." She nodded and he sighed. "I'm helping because I owe Denise big time for some things I said when we first met."
She nodded. "So, what's it like living in that huge mansion?" she asked in a fairly happy voice.
"Hectic. Especially in the morning. You have people running through you and teleporting around you. It's quite an adventure."
Darcy smiled slightly at the thought of someone running through someone else. She looked up as they reached her class. "Thank you for walking with me."
"It's no problem. I'll see you later, I guess."
She watched as Scott walked off towards his class, whistling a bit as he did. She entered the classroom and handed the note to the teacher. He directed her to her assigned seat near the front. As she walked to her seat, she glanced around to see if she knew anyone in this class. She didn't, causing her to become a bit skeptical. She was afraid of humans, to tell the truth, but she was slowly getting used to her new life.
After about thirty minutes, Scott was called back to the nurse's office to walk Denise to her next class. As she entered, she saw Duncan glaring at her from the back of the room. She just smiled before sitting down by Evan. He gave her a questioning look, but she just shook it off. He didn't pressure her into telling him what had happened. The rest of the day flew by rather quickly. As she walked out the doors, Kurt on one side, Darcy on the other, she spotted Duncan across the parking lot, glaring. She turned towards Lance's jeep and the trio made their way over there. Lance glared at Kurt, but thanked him nonetheless for delivering the girls. Kurt turned to walk away as the girls climbed into the jeep, waving to them before disappearing from sight. Lance sped off towards the Brotherhood house.
"Oh, by the way, we're going over to the Institute Halloween weekend, okay?"
Lance looked at his cousin questioningly. "Why?
"To party and have fun. Don't worry, I'll try to get everyone to have fun."
"What about Mystique, yo?"
"Don't worry 'bout her. I've got it covered. Think it should be a costume party?"
Everyone nodded. Denise just grinned, knowing this meant she'd have to call the Institute to let someone know. She sat back and waited for Lance to drop her off at her house. When she got there, she ran straight to her room. She grabbed the phone and dialed the number for the Institute.
"Xavier Institute," Evan answered.
"Hey Evan, can I talk to Scott, please?"
"Sure, hold on a sec. This is Dee, right?"
"Yep," she said in a cheerful voice.
"Alright, I'll go get him."
A few minutes later, the unmistakable voice of Scott came over the phone line. "Hey Denise, what's going on?"
"Didn't I tell ya ta call me Dee? Anyways, let's make that party a costume party and move it to this Saturday. I want to go trick or treating next weekend. Besides, everyone will expect us to have one then."
"Alright, I'll tell everyone. Uh, are you entirely sure about this? We are supposed to be enemies."
"I'll explain at the party, okay? Just make sure everyone's there."
"You got it. See you then."
"'Kay. Later then."
After she hung up, she quickly dialed the boarding house number.
"Hello," Lance answered after three rings.
"Hey Lancey-wancey. Listen, me and Scottie bumped the party to this weekend, okay?"
"Yeah, that's fine. Is it going to be a costume party?"
"Yep, everything's arranged. I gotta go, but I'll talk to you later."
"Okay, bye Dee."
"Buh bye."
She hung up and sighed before she got started on her homework. About an hour later, her father called to her from downstairs, and he sounded very angry. When she reached the bottom of the steps and walked into the living, she froze. There, on the television, the Brotherhood and the X-Men were locked in a heated battle.
"What's this? I thought we were going to put all this mutant nonsense behind us! And then we find out that not only are all of your new little friends mutants, but Lance is too!"
"Daddy! We can't help it if that's who we are! And quite frankly, I like being a mutant!" she exclaimed, her temper getting the better of her. She noted that the ground wasn't shaking and she didn't feel the tug from deep inside telling her that lava was working its way up. "Besides, since I've started hanging around people like myself, I've learned to control my powers a little! And in time, they will fully be under my control!! Haven't you noticed that the house is still standing?!"
"That's not the point!! My daughter will not be a mutant!! If you really want to keep this nonsense up, you can get out of my house!! Your mother and I are going back to California!"
Denise took a step back and heard a gasp from her mother, who walked in to hear the very last part of their conversation. She saw the tears well up in her daughter's eyes and felt the tears within her own. She couldn't bring herself to oppose her husband, though, and Denise turned and ran out the door. Adam Saylors turned and stormed upstairs, getting a head start at packing all of his daughter's belongings. Michelle followed shortly after, but she simply stood in the doorway before gathering the courage to speak.
"I'm leaving her the Cavalier."
Adam looked at his wife in complete shock. She loved her car, so why leave it here? "What are you saying?"
"If I have to leave my daughter, the least I can do is that. I didn't want her to be a mutant anymore than you, but she is. I might have been away for most of her childhood, but she is still my baby girl!!" With that said, she turned and fled to her own room, tears streaming down her cheeks. Adam sighed as he continued packing his daughter's belongings. This was just as hard on him as it was on Denise and Michelle, but he just couldn't deal with the fact that his daughter was a mutie.
Denise ran down the street, faintly aware of the fact that she was heading for the park, which happened to be the very spot the fight on television was taking place. She reached her destination in time to see Mystique fighting with Wolverine. She quickly ducked behind a tree, not wanting the two warring teams to see her with fresh tears streaking down her face. She slid down the tree into a sitting position, bringing her knees up to her chest and resting her folded arms on them. Then she placed her head in her arms and continued to cry silently.
Avalanche was, as usual, facing off against Cyclops. He dodged a blast from Cyclops' optic beam causing it to fly through an intangible Shadowcat and hit Freddy, whom it didn't hurt all that much. Shadowcat and Rogue were busy fending off the few inanimate objects sent their way by Mem. Rogue was hoping to get close to the girl to knock her out for some time, and seeing as Darcy was getting weak due to the usage of her powers, Rogue might get her chance soon. Nightcrawler was dueling with Toad, both trying to stay out of the battle between Jean and Freddy, which resulted in heavy things flying in every direction. James was busy trying to keep the emotionless Adolf from crushing him, adjusting the gravity level around him to protect him from the objects being teleported above his head. Every once in a while, he'd have to dive out of the way, though. Amber was currently trying to use her unique spikes against the Scarlet Witch, but seeing as Wanda had hexed Prism's powers, she wasn't having that much luck. Luckily, a loose spike from Evan flew right past Wanda's head, distracting her long enough for Amber to regain control of her powers and shower Wanda with spikes, shooting some in Rogue and Kitty's direction helping Darcy out unintentionally as she followed Wanda's dodges. Christina, otherwise known as Sonic Boom, was currently sparring against Chameleon. Since Ryka's powers only allowed her to become invisible for a mere minute, she had to relay on the fact that she could see in two directions at once to dodge the golden glowing bombs Christina threw at her. Of course, considering that the bombs shook the ground quite a bit when they hit, she had to regain her balance by going invisible before dodging more bombs. Evan's spikes had only disrupted the fight between Wanda and Amber as he tried to pin Pietro against something to stop the speed demon from taunting him as he always did.
Suddenly, Wolverine stopped fighting against Mystique and sniffed the air. When he caught the familiar scent of a certain walking volcano mixed with salt water, he grimaced. Shoving Mystique back when she came at him once again, he turned towards the fighting teens.
"X-Men! Stop your attacks!"
Both teams immediately stopped their assaults and looked at the temperamental Canadian in bewilderment. Even Mystique stopped her advance.
"What is the meaning of this?!" she exclaimed, but Wolverine paid her no heed.
He turned towards the tree the familiar scent was coming from. "Spunky? I can smell ya, so I know your there! Why don't you come on out?"
The short brunette stepped out from behind the tree, wiping her eyes with her hands, confirming Logan's thoughts. Lance's eyes widened at the tear stained face of his cousin. The three newest X-Men saw this and confusion crossed their features. Why would Logan do something like that for an enemy?
"Denny? What's wrong? Is it about this?" Lance asked, fear lacing the concern in his voice.
Denise shook her head, even though this battle was involved. Looking around as her cousin asked her why she'd been crying, she sent a silent plea to the only person she could.
'Jean, please, help. I can't tell them what happened yet. I know we started off bad, but please.'
At the girl's pleading tone, Jean's expression softened. She asked if Denise could at least tell her, being rewarded by the whole story. Jean immediately felt terrible for Denise.
"Maybe we should let her tell us what happened when she's ready," Jean's voice cut through the silence.
"She's right," Logan said gruffly. He turned towards Mystique. "This battle's over."
Mystique fumed as he turned to walk away. She ran towards him, ready to attack when lava sprouted from a crevice created by Lance earlier and blacked her path. She turned to see a very calm Vesuvius looking at her with lava-like eyes. Understanding the silent warning, Mystique grumbled, transforming into a raven and flying away. Although she believed she could control her team, she did not like the idea of being drenched in above scalding molten lava. Denise redirected the lava back into the crevice. She nodded towards the occupants of the park and then turned to walk away. Jean's voice rang through her head.
'I'll go with you to get your stuff, if you'd like.'
She smiled. 'Thanks Jean. I'll head towards the Institute. See you guys when you get there.'
The two teams dispersed and headed to their respective homes. Lance looked downright concerned, in which he had every right to be. Todd and Freddy shared a look of wariness, for the usually hyperactive, pizza loving girl they knew had suddenly become very glum. Wanda tried to hide the fact that she was curious about Denise's behavior. Ryka and Adolf held their usual emotionless expressions, allowing no one to see what they were feeling. Darcy was staring at the ground as she followed behind Ryka, seemingly deep in thought. Pietro had already zipped pas them and to the boarding house, pulling his cell phone out and shutting the door to his room.
The X-Men simply headed for the Institute, only one of them knowing that Denise would be there when they arrived. Logan knew Denise had sent Jean a silent message, for he had seen her expression changed as she gazed at Denise. He figured he would find out when he reached the Institute. When they arrived, they found Ray, Bobby, Jubilee, Amara, Rahne, Sam, Jamie, and Roberto in the foyer.
"The Professor said to wait here. He's talking to Denise right now," Ray explained.
"Isn't Denise our enemy?" Amber asked.
Scott chuckled nervously. Kitty glared at him.
"She's, like, Lance's cousin. She, like, came to us first. Became good friends with, like, a few of us before realizing Lance, like, lived here. Scott, like, totally blew up on her and she, like, joined them. She's still a friend, though. Right Mr. Logan?"
"Spunky's got a good heart. Said she could prove some of the Brotherhood member do to. That's why we're havin' that party Saturday."
Although Amber didn't trust easily, she figured the girl couldn't be that bad, considering she'd stood up against her boss. A few minutes later, Xavier came into the foyer with Denise following close behind. Everyone looked at them expectantly.
"Denise told me what happened. She wants to tell the Brotherhood members before she tells you all about it, considering her cousin indeed may be the most worried."
The group nodded, although James, Christina, and Amber were still a bit confused as to what was going on. Xavier nodded to Jean, who nodded back and followed Denise outside. When she heard Denise heave a sad sigh, she gave her a confident smile.
"It'll be okay, Dee," she assured. "You're friends will always be behind you."
"Thanks Jean," she replied, giving the redhead a small smile. "I guess I didn't think my parents would do something like this."
"We all deal with something unexpected in our lives."
Denise simply nodded as they climbed into Jean's SUV and headed for her house. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What will happen when they get to Dee's house? How will Denise cope with being disowned by her parents? Who is actually reading this? Anyways, I am open to advice on making this better and things you would like to see in this story. Also, other than Lance, Kitty, Roberto, Todd, and Pietro, I am stumped as to what everyone should dress up as. I'm also thinking of bringing the Acolytes into this during the party. Please, if you have any suggestions as to what the X-Men, Brotherhood, and Acolytes(if you wish for them to be at the party) should wear as a costume, tell me!! I will give credit to all ideas that did not come from my brain. I promise.
Disclaimer: -Denise walks out.- She doesn't own anything but me. The OCs belong to their respective authors. Later! -She walks away.- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Denise once again awoke during the middle of the night. The same dream plagued her as it did the night she'd stayed with Lance. She hopped out of bed and headed down stairs. After glancing at the clock on the living room wall, she noticed her parents weren't going to wake up for about five more hours. She slipped out the front door, quietly shutting it, and headed down the street. She had no idea where she was going, but she just kept walking until she bumped into someone. She looked up to see Adolf standing in front of her. He offered her his hand and she took it, allowing him to pull her up.
"Hey, thanks for helping me back at school."
"It was no problem. My step father used to hit me. At least he wasn't hitting my mother."
She sighed and changed the subject. "How do you like living in the boarding house?"
"It's alright, I guess. It gets fairly too noisy at times, but I don't mind."
"Is that why you're out?"
"No. I'm an insomniac. I stopped sleeping out of fear that my father would abuse me in my sleep. Or worse, kill me."
Denise's eyes widened in shock. "Oh man! Sorry to bring up bad memories!"
"It's okay. I don't really mind."
"What do you think about humans hating us?" she asked, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.
"I don't really care, but if they mess with me, I can't guarantee they'll live to tell the tale."
She nodded, but didn't say anything. He started walking and she fell into step beside him. She noticed he was looking at the sidewalk so she turned her gaze towards the stars.
"I don't think I could ever kill anybody. I mean, I know there was a possibility having to do that back in Cali, but not here. I couldn't do something like that here."
"You can be too trusting at times."
Denise glanced at him. "Yeah, probably. But only sometimes. Not all the time."
Adolf just nodded and this time, when they fell into a silence while walking, it was a comfortable one.
The next day at school, Duncan was watching Denise like a hawk. He and a few of his buddies had decided that the moment she was alone, they would get revenge on her for what she had done to them. This opportunity came to them at lunch, when Denise left the safe circle of friends and had gone outside to sit under a secluded tree. She had wanted to be alone for a while, to e-mail Drew back in L.A. and tell him how everything was going. After turning her laptop on, she began typing. About halfway through her letter, she sat the laptop down beside her to munch on some Doritos for a few minutes. That's when Duncan's friend jumped down out of the tree she had been under. After smashing her laptop and pinning her to the tree, he whistled for the others. Two more jocks came around the tree to help hold her down. Duncan walked up smiling.
"Now you're little friends aren't here to help ya! How does it feel to be helpless?"
Denise struggled against the three guys, but she couldn't get loose. She tried every defense move she could remember for this kind of assault, but they countered all of them. Her eyes widened when she saw Duncan's fist flying towards her, brass knuckles adorning his own. He hit her in the stomach, causing her to groan in pain. He pulled his hand back to hit her again, when a branch of the tree wrapped around his raised fist and threw him a few feet away from the others. Duncan's friends were so shocked that they didn't notice a girl hiding behind the tree. The branch tapped each boy on the shoulder, causing them to chase after Duncan, who had scrambled to his feet and run off.
"Are you okay?" Darcy asked as she stepped beside Denise, looking the girl over. She disliked seeing anyone other than herself inflict pain on someone, so growing slightly tired from using her powers was worth it in this case.
Denise was holding her stomach, which still hurt from Duncan's punch. "I think I'll be alright." She hissed as she found it was hard to breath. This made it a bit hard to talk. "Thanks, Cee, but you'll probably get in trouble if Kelly finds out. We're not allowed to use our powers in school. We'll get expelled if we're caught using them."
Darcy just gave Denise a small smile as she helped Denise walk towards the cafeteria. Denise smiled back, but cringed shortly after when Lance, Kitty, and surprisingly, Scott surrounded her.
"Oh my gosh! Like, are you okay?" Kitty asked, her blue eyes wide.
"Ran into Duncan and a few of his friends. Cee saved me though. No worries."
"No worries!! Are you insane?! Duncan's probably going to jump you every chance he gets!! Which means you can't go anywhere without telling anybody!" Lance whispered fiercely.
Denise glared at her cousin and was about to yell at him when Scott spoke up.
"Hey, how about I take you to the nurse's office. After she's checked on you, I'll walk you to class and then I'll have Kurt walk you to Alvers' jeep after school. I'll keep a close eye on Duncan, okay?"
Denise smiled. "Scott, you're a lifesaver. Oh, can Cee come with us? And ya walk her to her class, too? I don't want Duncan jumpin' on her for helpin' me, kay?" She glared at Lance. "Hurry up and get ta class!"
Scott smiled and nodded. He walked over to the other side of Denise and helped Darcy walk Denise to the nurse's office. When they got there, the nurse quickly ushered them in.
"Oh my! What happened?"
"Duncan Matthews."
"I guess I'll need to have a talk with him about this."
"Won't do ya much good. He won't listen."
The nurse gave Denise an understanding look. She had been one of the few humans in Bayville that accepted mutants. "I'm going to have to check her over, so why don't you two get to class. Scott, I'll call you when she's good to go. Here are some late passes for the two of you." She handed both Scott and Darcy a pink slip of paper.
Scott nodded before he walked over to the door. He held it open, waiting for Darcy. Darcy glanced at Denise, who nodded for her to go ahead. Darcy headed out the door after waving to Denise. Scott walked out after her, shutting the door behind him.
"So, where are you supposed to be?"
Darcy looked over at him. "English."
He nodded as they continued walking, falling into an uncomfortable silence.
"How do you know Denise?"
"I'm a mutant, like she is. I live at the Xavier Institute, though."
"You're an X-Man?"
Scott frowned at her shocked tone. "Is there something wrong with that?"
"Mystique said you were the enemy. Why are you helping a Brotherhood member?"
"Mystique? So, I'm guessing you're a mutant who joined the Brotherhood." She nodded and he sighed. "I'm helping because I owe Denise big time for some things I said when we first met."
She nodded. "So, what's it like living in that huge mansion?" she asked in a fairly happy voice.
"Hectic. Especially in the morning. You have people running through you and teleporting around you. It's quite an adventure."
Darcy smiled slightly at the thought of someone running through someone else. She looked up as they reached her class. "Thank you for walking with me."
"It's no problem. I'll see you later, I guess."
She watched as Scott walked off towards his class, whistling a bit as he did. She entered the classroom and handed the note to the teacher. He directed her to her assigned seat near the front. As she walked to her seat, she glanced around to see if she knew anyone in this class. She didn't, causing her to become a bit skeptical. She was afraid of humans, to tell the truth, but she was slowly getting used to her new life.
After about thirty minutes, Scott was called back to the nurse's office to walk Denise to her next class. As she entered, she saw Duncan glaring at her from the back of the room. She just smiled before sitting down by Evan. He gave her a questioning look, but she just shook it off. He didn't pressure her into telling him what had happened. The rest of the day flew by rather quickly. As she walked out the doors, Kurt on one side, Darcy on the other, she spotted Duncan across the parking lot, glaring. She turned towards Lance's jeep and the trio made their way over there. Lance glared at Kurt, but thanked him nonetheless for delivering the girls. Kurt turned to walk away as the girls climbed into the jeep, waving to them before disappearing from sight. Lance sped off towards the Brotherhood house.
"Oh, by the way, we're going over to the Institute Halloween weekend, okay?"
Lance looked at his cousin questioningly. "Why?
"To party and have fun. Don't worry, I'll try to get everyone to have fun."
"What about Mystique, yo?"
"Don't worry 'bout her. I've got it covered. Think it should be a costume party?"
Everyone nodded. Denise just grinned, knowing this meant she'd have to call the Institute to let someone know. She sat back and waited for Lance to drop her off at her house. When she got there, she ran straight to her room. She grabbed the phone and dialed the number for the Institute.
"Xavier Institute," Evan answered.
"Hey Evan, can I talk to Scott, please?"
"Sure, hold on a sec. This is Dee, right?"
"Yep," she said in a cheerful voice.
"Alright, I'll go get him."
A few minutes later, the unmistakable voice of Scott came over the phone line. "Hey Denise, what's going on?"
"Didn't I tell ya ta call me Dee? Anyways, let's make that party a costume party and move it to this Saturday. I want to go trick or treating next weekend. Besides, everyone will expect us to have one then."
"Alright, I'll tell everyone. Uh, are you entirely sure about this? We are supposed to be enemies."
"I'll explain at the party, okay? Just make sure everyone's there."
"You got it. See you then."
"'Kay. Later then."
After she hung up, she quickly dialed the boarding house number.
"Hello," Lance answered after three rings.
"Hey Lancey-wancey. Listen, me and Scottie bumped the party to this weekend, okay?"
"Yeah, that's fine. Is it going to be a costume party?"
"Yep, everything's arranged. I gotta go, but I'll talk to you later."
"Okay, bye Dee."
"Buh bye."
She hung up and sighed before she got started on her homework. About an hour later, her father called to her from downstairs, and he sounded very angry. When she reached the bottom of the steps and walked into the living, she froze. There, on the television, the Brotherhood and the X-Men were locked in a heated battle.
"What's this? I thought we were going to put all this mutant nonsense behind us! And then we find out that not only are all of your new little friends mutants, but Lance is too!"
"Daddy! We can't help it if that's who we are! And quite frankly, I like being a mutant!" she exclaimed, her temper getting the better of her. She noted that the ground wasn't shaking and she didn't feel the tug from deep inside telling her that lava was working its way up. "Besides, since I've started hanging around people like myself, I've learned to control my powers a little! And in time, they will fully be under my control!! Haven't you noticed that the house is still standing?!"
"That's not the point!! My daughter will not be a mutant!! If you really want to keep this nonsense up, you can get out of my house!! Your mother and I are going back to California!"
Denise took a step back and heard a gasp from her mother, who walked in to hear the very last part of their conversation. She saw the tears well up in her daughter's eyes and felt the tears within her own. She couldn't bring herself to oppose her husband, though, and Denise turned and ran out the door. Adam Saylors turned and stormed upstairs, getting a head start at packing all of his daughter's belongings. Michelle followed shortly after, but she simply stood in the doorway before gathering the courage to speak.
"I'm leaving her the Cavalier."
Adam looked at his wife in complete shock. She loved her car, so why leave it here? "What are you saying?"
"If I have to leave my daughter, the least I can do is that. I didn't want her to be a mutant anymore than you, but she is. I might have been away for most of her childhood, but she is still my baby girl!!" With that said, she turned and fled to her own room, tears streaming down her cheeks. Adam sighed as he continued packing his daughter's belongings. This was just as hard on him as it was on Denise and Michelle, but he just couldn't deal with the fact that his daughter was a mutie.
Denise ran down the street, faintly aware of the fact that she was heading for the park, which happened to be the very spot the fight on television was taking place. She reached her destination in time to see Mystique fighting with Wolverine. She quickly ducked behind a tree, not wanting the two warring teams to see her with fresh tears streaking down her face. She slid down the tree into a sitting position, bringing her knees up to her chest and resting her folded arms on them. Then she placed her head in her arms and continued to cry silently.
Avalanche was, as usual, facing off against Cyclops. He dodged a blast from Cyclops' optic beam causing it to fly through an intangible Shadowcat and hit Freddy, whom it didn't hurt all that much. Shadowcat and Rogue were busy fending off the few inanimate objects sent their way by Mem. Rogue was hoping to get close to the girl to knock her out for some time, and seeing as Darcy was getting weak due to the usage of her powers, Rogue might get her chance soon. Nightcrawler was dueling with Toad, both trying to stay out of the battle between Jean and Freddy, which resulted in heavy things flying in every direction. James was busy trying to keep the emotionless Adolf from crushing him, adjusting the gravity level around him to protect him from the objects being teleported above his head. Every once in a while, he'd have to dive out of the way, though. Amber was currently trying to use her unique spikes against the Scarlet Witch, but seeing as Wanda had hexed Prism's powers, she wasn't having that much luck. Luckily, a loose spike from Evan flew right past Wanda's head, distracting her long enough for Amber to regain control of her powers and shower Wanda with spikes, shooting some in Rogue and Kitty's direction helping Darcy out unintentionally as she followed Wanda's dodges. Christina, otherwise known as Sonic Boom, was currently sparring against Chameleon. Since Ryka's powers only allowed her to become invisible for a mere minute, she had to relay on the fact that she could see in two directions at once to dodge the golden glowing bombs Christina threw at her. Of course, considering that the bombs shook the ground quite a bit when they hit, she had to regain her balance by going invisible before dodging more bombs. Evan's spikes had only disrupted the fight between Wanda and Amber as he tried to pin Pietro against something to stop the speed demon from taunting him as he always did.
Suddenly, Wolverine stopped fighting against Mystique and sniffed the air. When he caught the familiar scent of a certain walking volcano mixed with salt water, he grimaced. Shoving Mystique back when she came at him once again, he turned towards the fighting teens.
"X-Men! Stop your attacks!"
Both teams immediately stopped their assaults and looked at the temperamental Canadian in bewilderment. Even Mystique stopped her advance.
"What is the meaning of this?!" she exclaimed, but Wolverine paid her no heed.
He turned towards the tree the familiar scent was coming from. "Spunky? I can smell ya, so I know your there! Why don't you come on out?"
The short brunette stepped out from behind the tree, wiping her eyes with her hands, confirming Logan's thoughts. Lance's eyes widened at the tear stained face of his cousin. The three newest X-Men saw this and confusion crossed their features. Why would Logan do something like that for an enemy?
"Denny? What's wrong? Is it about this?" Lance asked, fear lacing the concern in his voice.
Denise shook her head, even though this battle was involved. Looking around as her cousin asked her why she'd been crying, she sent a silent plea to the only person she could.
'Jean, please, help. I can't tell them what happened yet. I know we started off bad, but please.'
At the girl's pleading tone, Jean's expression softened. She asked if Denise could at least tell her, being rewarded by the whole story. Jean immediately felt terrible for Denise.
"Maybe we should let her tell us what happened when she's ready," Jean's voice cut through the silence.
"She's right," Logan said gruffly. He turned towards Mystique. "This battle's over."
Mystique fumed as he turned to walk away. She ran towards him, ready to attack when lava sprouted from a crevice created by Lance earlier and blacked her path. She turned to see a very calm Vesuvius looking at her with lava-like eyes. Understanding the silent warning, Mystique grumbled, transforming into a raven and flying away. Although she believed she could control her team, she did not like the idea of being drenched in above scalding molten lava. Denise redirected the lava back into the crevice. She nodded towards the occupants of the park and then turned to walk away. Jean's voice rang through her head.
'I'll go with you to get your stuff, if you'd like.'
She smiled. 'Thanks Jean. I'll head towards the Institute. See you guys when you get there.'
The two teams dispersed and headed to their respective homes. Lance looked downright concerned, in which he had every right to be. Todd and Freddy shared a look of wariness, for the usually hyperactive, pizza loving girl they knew had suddenly become very glum. Wanda tried to hide the fact that she was curious about Denise's behavior. Ryka and Adolf held their usual emotionless expressions, allowing no one to see what they were feeling. Darcy was staring at the ground as she followed behind Ryka, seemingly deep in thought. Pietro had already zipped pas them and to the boarding house, pulling his cell phone out and shutting the door to his room.
The X-Men simply headed for the Institute, only one of them knowing that Denise would be there when they arrived. Logan knew Denise had sent Jean a silent message, for he had seen her expression changed as she gazed at Denise. He figured he would find out when he reached the Institute. When they arrived, they found Ray, Bobby, Jubilee, Amara, Rahne, Sam, Jamie, and Roberto in the foyer.
"The Professor said to wait here. He's talking to Denise right now," Ray explained.
"Isn't Denise our enemy?" Amber asked.
Scott chuckled nervously. Kitty glared at him.
"She's, like, Lance's cousin. She, like, came to us first. Became good friends with, like, a few of us before realizing Lance, like, lived here. Scott, like, totally blew up on her and she, like, joined them. She's still a friend, though. Right Mr. Logan?"
"Spunky's got a good heart. Said she could prove some of the Brotherhood member do to. That's why we're havin' that party Saturday."
Although Amber didn't trust easily, she figured the girl couldn't be that bad, considering she'd stood up against her boss. A few minutes later, Xavier came into the foyer with Denise following close behind. Everyone looked at them expectantly.
"Denise told me what happened. She wants to tell the Brotherhood members before she tells you all about it, considering her cousin indeed may be the most worried."
The group nodded, although James, Christina, and Amber were still a bit confused as to what was going on. Xavier nodded to Jean, who nodded back and followed Denise outside. When she heard Denise heave a sad sigh, she gave her a confident smile.
"It'll be okay, Dee," she assured. "You're friends will always be behind you."
"Thanks Jean," she replied, giving the redhead a small smile. "I guess I didn't think my parents would do something like this."
"We all deal with something unexpected in our lives."
Denise simply nodded as they climbed into Jean's SUV and headed for her house. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What will happen when they get to Dee's house? How will Denise cope with being disowned by her parents? Who is actually reading this? Anyways, I am open to advice on making this better and things you would like to see in this story. Also, other than Lance, Kitty, Roberto, Todd, and Pietro, I am stumped as to what everyone should dress up as. I'm also thinking of bringing the Acolytes into this during the party. Please, if you have any suggestions as to what the X-Men, Brotherhood, and Acolytes(if you wish for them to be at the party) should wear as a costume, tell me!! I will give credit to all ideas that did not come from my brain. I promise.