Five Years Later...
The gates to the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters opened up, allowing a sleek red convertible to pull into the parking lot. Five years was a long time, and a lot had changed, but some things never did. Scott absolutely refused to give up his pride and joy, and parked it proudly alongside the other cars in the garage.
But some things did change, and no where was this more evident than the Xavier Institute. Scott and Jean had decided to keep the name, and let it forever be a legacy of Charles and his work. The Mansion itself was unchanged, through a great deal of its inner rooms had been re-worked. The Institute had grown in the past few years, and now was easily the size of Bayville University, further downtown in the city. It had to be bigger...
... for the students.
Using some of Xavier's (now their own) personal funds, Scott and Jean had expanded east into what was previously real estate area. Most of the tenants had abandoned the buildings, fearful of living so close to mutants, and it was sold with little fuss. Jean and Scott had, with some aid from the Confidential Construction Company, leveled the buildings and knocked them all flat, building from scratch the two new ones that were currently standing there, just inside the wall that marked the edge of the Institute.
A girl's dorm and boy's dorm.
Housing all their new students in the Mansion itself would very difficult, particularly given the added addition of a nursery in what had previously been Jean's room (she'd moved in with Scott after they'd been married). Teenagers and little kids were not a good combination, and so the classes were held in the rooms on the sub-levels, along with the Danger Room and the hangar.
Scott passed by the main doors of the Institute, stepping inside. Inside, the Institute had changed little, the halls were the same, covered in semi-valuable paintings and statues, many of which were artful forgeries (just in case a mutant's powers went on the blip). It was a busy time of the day, a busy time of the season. Fall. A time of classes and griping from the students. As Professor Xavier had before them, Jean and Scott encouraged the students to attend classes at Bayville High to interact with their non-mutant peers. They did not force them to... but they did subtly encourage them with the alternative of spending their weekdays in the Danger Room... with Sarah.
Fall it may have been, but it still felt like summer, and the heat was unseasonably powerful. Scott decided to stop by the kitchen for some water. His throat felt like the Sahara desert.
He spotted Kurt there, and Amanda as well, sharing a quiet conversation between afternoon courses. They taught at the Institute as teachers for those few mutants who had to be home-schooled. Kurt taught Philosophy, Amanda taught Mathematics. They were married now, at least five years now without incident. They even had a kid now, named Bluebelle, who was no doubt in the nursery now with Rachel, giving Ororo no end of grief no doubt. The kid definitely took after her father. Scott was lucky, at least Rachel took more after her mother.
"Any trouble?" asked Kurt idly, as Scott grabbed the water and downed it.
"Nothing. False alarm, it seems... just some latent mutants. I gave them the number, but I doubt any of 'em will manifest any powers."
"They have no idea how lucky they are," remarked Kurt. Scott nodded in agreement.
"Any word from the happy couple on vacation?"
"What, sister Rogue and Gambit? Nada. They all but dropped off the face of the earth," he replied.
"Must've wanted some privacy," remarked Amanda knowingly.
"Well at least they won't be here corrupting the kids," remarked Kurt in an off-handed manner. He'd made it pretty clear he'd never really cared for his sister's husband, but he took care to only voice his opinion when neither was around. At least he made her happy.
"Ororo still dealing with the kids?" asked Scott.
"For another..." Amanda checked her watch. "Half hour or so, then Kurt and I take Bluebelle off her hands. Why?"
"Figured I can drop in on her early, take Rachel and meet up with Jean for some family time."
"Good idea," remarked Kurt. "Jean could use some downtime. She's mega stressed with all the school stuff starting up again."
"Alright thanks, you two enjoy your break," said Scott, tossing his now empty water bottle into the recycling and heading down one of the Institute halls to find the nursery.
"Better steer clear of the pool, I hear the newbies were planning to commandeer it for a full scale water war once classes let out...!" shouted Kurt over his shoulder, making Scott laugh. But he did make note of it. Best to stay clear of the teens. Mutant teens did indeed tend to get very rowdy, and right now all he wanted was some quiet time with Jean.
Scott passed by what had previously (wow, it seemed like a lifetime ago) been Evan's room, idly peering in as he heard Bobby continuing with his lecture to a small group of very bored mutant teenagers. The only official residents of the Mansion now were the Summers family, the LeBeau's, Sarah Howlett and Ororo Munroe, who was Rachel's caretaker when her parents were busy (as well as the little tyke's godmother). Most of the older students had moved on and found new homes. Those who stayed behind to teach at the Institute tended to live a short while away in the city itself, like Kurt and Amanda did. Bobby was sharing an apartment with his fiancée, a hydro-kinetic mutant by the name of Darcy Harper. She worked as a lifeguard on the beaches.
Roberto and Ray, both still single (though not complaining in the least) lived as roommates in up town Bayville, and worked at the Institute as teachers. Roberto taught physical education (which was anything short of Danger Room practice) and Ray specialized in computers. Jubilee taught at the Institute world culture and history, but she rarely stayed around long. She was in-between things at the moment, unable to find work or a proper place to live, and more often than not wound up crashing with Roberto and Ray.
Rogue and Remy, who also lived at the Institute, worked as teachers for the very highly valued virtue of self-restraint. Something which both of them were experts on. Their children, Adrienne and Charles LeBeau (named after the deceased Professor) stayed in the nursery under the care of Ororo.
Sarah lived at the Institute, working as a teacher and general guardian of its population, much as her sire had before his departure. She taught in the Danger Room how to survive and harness mutant powers to their fullness. Under the watchful eyes of Scott and Jean to make sure things didn't get too out of hand.
As Scott walked past the classroom towards the nursery, he idly wondered how the rest of the old team were doing, scattered across the world as they were.
Spyke was doing his rounds, checking the Morlocks sentries. Their numbers had swelled in the past year or so, and now they had almost three dozen members. As such, whenever they had to go topside for food, they were getting spotted more and more often. Thus, the sentries had been set up to give an early warning off non-mutant intruders. Calliban would alert them if mutants got within' half a mile of the Alley. Most humans were getting slightly more sympathetic to the deformed Morlocks, but Spyke and his second-in-command, Callisto, felt it wasn't yet time for the Morlocks to return to the surface. Not yet.
Spyke paused as he passed by Scaleface, giving her a nod and ignoring the salute she tossed his way. He had told her countless times he hated it when they did that. He was their leader now sure, but he was still just a mutant, same as they were. No better no worse.
It was getting late though, and as Spyke watched the next batch of sentries were heading out to replace the current ones. He'd set up the system himself, utilizing mutants with the best suited abilities or with little else to do, and carved the schedule in stone (literally, using a flaming spike, into the wall). But for Spyke it was late, and he turned his steps back to the Alley, to get some rest.
Callisto greeted him as he found their private quarters (privacy for the Morlocks being as thick as a makeshift tent wall) and laying down beside her, smiling at her. She smiled back, drawing over one of his hands to press against her swollen belly. She was heavy with child, at least seven months along (as near as either of them could tell... time didn't mean much in the monotone Morlock tunnels). Now they were counting the days, awaiting the emergence of their first child. Spyke could not have been happier.
Moira MacTaggert sighed, closing the door behind her. It was another bad day for Kevin, and they'd made very little progress. Days like this never failed to put her in a foul mood.
"Coffee?" came a cheerful voice to her right.
"Thank you Hank," she said, accepting the cup and sipping the black, sweet mixture. Just the way she liked it. "How did I ever get on without you?"
"I dare say not very well," he replied, glancing at the now sealed door. "Bad day?"
"Worst I've seen yet... and we were making such progress too," she replied, as she walked to the lab, and he knuckled on along after her. Hank worked full-time with her as a researcher, having earned his doctor's degree a few years prior.
"Oh by the way, our benefactor Mr. Worthington is outside," remarked Hank. "He said he'd like to speak to you... something about your requests for additional funding."
"Oh very well," she said, finishing off her coffee. "Go stall him for a bit, I need to freshen myself up first."
"Indeed," he said, heading off to go find Warren and tell him about the delay. He doubted the winged businessman would like it. He had so little patience these days, always on the move, always working. All the joy had gone out of his life when he'd learned of his parents death. Poor fellow. To walk as an angel on earth, without knowing the joy of heaven.
How poetic.
Beast passed by the science lab, noting at a glance that Dr. Patronete and Dr. Risman were busy at work, still trying to unravel the mysteries of the mutant gene. They'd likely finish in another three or four years, at the rate they were going. Still, with the human gene cracked, a blueprint was made, and it couldn't be much harder than that.
The only really hard part was dealing with mutants themselves.
Rural life really was the simple life, thought Rahne.
Here, alone on the Guthrie farm smack in the middle of Kentucky, Rahne could begin to forget the fast cars, fast talking and fast everything of city life. How anyone could stand it and not go crazy was totally beyond her. Here, on the farm at least, one could sit and hear themselves think.
Sam sat nearby, resting after an exhausting day of work on the farm. He tossed a smile over her way, and she smiled back. They'd been married for only a week or so now, but they could not have been happier. Rahne had been all too eagerly accepted into the Guthrie clan, even though she and Sam were given their space. Newlywed privileges and all that. Technically, Sam didn't even have to be working this morning, but he'd done it anyway to clear away some dead trees (using his mutation) and save his cousins some of the trouble.
Rahne smiled, sitting down beside her new husband and hugging him tightly, her auburn hair loose and unbound. The sun was setting, and soon it'd be time to head inside and cook dinner. Sam couldn't cook any better than Kitty could, and they both knew it. The Scottish wolfgirl knew that, and was alright with that, was alright with the peaceful life of a housewife. At least she had someone who loved her dearly.
Piotr Rasputin leaned back against the far wall, standing behind his business partner. Of the two, he was the brawn, not the brains. He wasn't paid to think or to talk.
That was Jamie's job.
"Listen, I know you two were recommended by the Construction Company," remarked the individual with which they were meeting. "But you're just two men, and you say you can do the job in a third of the time as your competitors? Demolition and construction? You must be out of your minds."
"Oh our timetables are accurate," replied Jamie smugly. "The question is whether you'd rather hire us before someone else does."
The business man took another look at the papers, at the time-table scheduled by this little brown-haired young man... couldn't have been more than twenty-one... and his big, hulking business partner. Just two of 'em in the whole team, and they thought that, with a bare minimum of construction gear and no demolition gear, they could get this job done? Madness. Madness... or...
"You two... wouldn't happen to be mutants would you?" he asked, somewhat nervously. On the whole, mutant hatred and tension was dying down, but it was still something important he had to know.
"Does it matter, as long as we get the job done?" asked Jamie casually.
"I like your attitude. Alright," he said, signing the paper. "Keep to the time-table and you'll get paid what you've asked for. You know where the lot is I want torn down, and I'll have my secretary e-mail you the blueprints. Think you can handle it?"
"Heck no," replied Jamie, standing up and shaking the businessman's hand. "I -know- we can handle it."
Kitty sighed, tugging off her glasses and placing them on the table before her. Bills had never seemed so annoying to pay until they'd moved to DC. Then again, things like protection from international threats were rather welcome, so she'd put up with it.
Lance was away on business, working on his job as a member of Freedom Force, the reborn Brotherhood. How ironic, once they'd been utter delinquents, now they were the personification of government enforcement. Specifically made to handle the capture of unruly mutants. The X-Men did much the same job but they, thought Kitty with a smirk, did not receive a check from the government every month.
It wasn't anything fancy, just a two-room apartment, one for them of course, one for little Dominic. Now a little three year old, he had already mastered crawling and walking, and was babbling away in the way only cute little babies could. Kitty Alvers felt nothing but pride for him, and the boy's father Lance felt the same way. Even if he wasn't around often to show it, he made up for it with the time he was around. He wasn't neglectful.
Now their worst difficulty was keeping the presence of Lockheed secret from the landlady, who had a strict 'No Pets' policy in their building.
Todd smiled, cooing at the little bundle of joy in his lovely wife's arms. Little Tonya was only six months old, and frightfully small, but both her parents loved her as much as they did one another. Looking back on their blissful marriage, Wanda wondered idly why she hadn't seen this side of Todd earlier. Despite his lack of book smarts and good hygiene (she was working on that, and making some progress) he had some wisdom that Wanda, for all her power, did not possess, and he had a loving heart, which he'd given to her. She'd nearly broken it once or twice when they'd been young... but now she treasured it.
And there was little Tonya Tolenski, the living, breathing symbol of their love. She'd grown into a fine young woman some day.
And thanks to the work the Scarlet Witch and the Toad were doing as part of Freedom Force, it'd be a better world when she did finally grow up.
A whoosh of air filled the SHIELD headquarters, causing files to fly up into the air and employees to scramble for cover. All but one, that was. Crystal barely raised her head as a silver and white blur solidified just behind her, skidding to a hard stop.
"Behave you, I've got another hour before I'm off, then I'm all yours," she stated idly, not even glancing over her shoulder. She knew who was there. No one else moved that fast.
"Awww come on," he pleaded, wrapping his arms around her neck and kissing her earlobe playfully. She swatted his hands away. "Time always seems extra slow whenever I'm waiting for you to get off work."
"So take a few laps around the world," she remarked, placing a file away in the desk before her.
"You're no fun," he said, pouting. She smirked. Attractive he was, charming he was, but such a child always. Speedster or no speedster.
"Alright. Half an hour. Not one second earlier," said Crystal, sorting through her papers a little faster than before. To be done on time. She had a flawless record on her SHIELD profile, and she didn't want it messed up by the latest influence into her life.
"Knew you couldn't resist Quicksilver," said the speed-demon, kissing her cheek and zipping off to go wait for her, trying to find a way to preoccupy himself, no doubt. Not for the first time, she was glad she was an orphan.
It would've been funny though, to see how her parents would've reacted to meeting her fiancée.
"Read 'em and weep ladies! Full house! More power to Pyro!" shouted the red-head, giving a small victory dance before giving his partner in crime, the human Blob, a high-five. Fred then had to help John back up to his feet.
Across the table, Arcade and Forge grunted in disgust, tossing down their cards. John always had more luck with texas hold 'em than they did. The cards liked him for some unfathomable reason. Probably because nobody else did. Well, except his readers. John was well known among the book community as a writer of gothic romance. Under an alias, of course.
Pyro and Blob were part of Freedom Force, the mutants that went out and promoted justice and disarmed hostile situations no one else could. However, Arcade and Forge were their tech team, the brains and the equipment behind the impressive might of the Freedom Force mutants. They had a game of cards every Friday night a week, provided they weren't on duty. And even then, half the time, John showed up with a deck of cards and high stakes.
David smiled, nodding to the chauffer as he slipped out of the long black limousine, stepping up into the Legacy corporation building. The doorman tipped his hat to David, who nodded dimly. Five years later and he still felt nervous about all of this. Running one of the biggest companies in the world.
Lucas's empire had indeed been vast, and since David and he were essentially the same person, genetically at least, David had been accepted as the rightful head of the Legacy board with little fuss. A few legal documents had his named changed back to David Xavier, and with the rest of the Circle gone (except one) he was more or less in total control of the company. Naturally he'd been overwhelmed at first... but over the years he'd managed to take care of things rather smoothly.
The Legacy company was now a legitimate organization, honesty and integrity behind every deal he made. They had more than enough money to allow for morals, and they still were the cutting edge of genetics technology.
Emma nodded to David as he slipped into his office. Out of a need to keep someone experienced around to assist him, David had been forced to keep the infamous White Queen present on the board of the Legacy company, though he made it clear from day one he wouldn't tolerate any sort of under-the-table, behind-his-back, back-alley dealings. Everything would remain legit now. That... and he would be keeping an eye on her. So would the X-Men. They couldn't officially pin anything on her (not wishing to draw undue attention to existence of the Circle and cause further panic) but they did keep a very close eye on her as well.
Emma however, was a changed woman. And a loyal subordinate to the rising David Xavier and his Legacy company.
Nova Roma was a changing society these days. The return of the Royal Princess was the most notable sign of this. That and the fact that she had returned with someone from the outside world.
Amara Aquilla had returned to find her lands in a state of chaos following the death of her father, the King of Nova Roma. Quick to re-assert herself into power, she'd fixed what damage she could before making it official that she was now reigning Queen of Nova Roma. Amara had been forced, according to her father's wishes (carried out in his will), to marry a rather witless nobleman for political reasons, but she bore him no love, and he was well aware of it. He kept his slimy hands to himself...
... if he didn't, Amara's Royal Consort likely would've blown them off with a time-bomb.
Tabitha Aquilla-Smith had been accepted by the Nova Roman's with little protest, not only as Amara's Royal Consort, but also as her chief Advisor on the Modern World. With Tabby's help and a little assistance from the Institute, they were slowly modernizing Nova Roma. A few things at a time, radios and telephones were the start, but in a few years they'd be easily the equal of a smaller city in America.
Things were good.
Sarah had left the Institute early, canceling the scheduled Danger Room session to allow the kids some more free time to do their homework and relax. Despite claims of the new recruits to the contrary, she was not a slave-driver. At least, not compared to how bad Logan would've treated them.
But Logan had only been hard on the students to prepare them for the dangerous world that awaited them, sometimes forgetting what it'd once been like to be a kid, to be innocent, to be without scars. He hadn't had any on his body, but he'd had plenty on his soul and on his mind. His memories were lost, and he'd gone looking for answers, promising he'd be back. He had yet to fulfill that promise.
Sarah was nearly his polar opposite, having been born into darkness and raised by death and killing, yet now, having come to the Institute and experienced the innocent life of a teenager, she could more easily relate to the kids.
Didn't mean she cut them much slack though.
Sarah's destination today was lookout point, where she could have a clear, unobstructed view of Bayville and the surrounding land and water, and enjoy the peace and quiet of the natural settings. She smiled, leaning back on her motorcycle and let the wind rustle her long, thick brown hair.
She half-expected Logan to show up, to try and sneak up on her, for her to catch him, for them to carry on something like a conversation…
… but he didn't. He was gone.
Sarah sighed softly, staring out at the horizon. Wherever he was, she hoped he'd found something that could put his troubled mind to rest.
Class ended at the Xavier Institute at exactly four thirty pm, and the students were dismissed by Bobby to go do as they pleased. Which, in this sweltering early fall heat, meant swimming in the olympic-size pool in the backyard.
The first to arrive was, unsurprisingly, little Gabi Jorgensohn, a white-haired tiny wisp of a girl with a black lock coming down in front of her eyes. She was from Winzeldorf, Germany, and had nearly been burned at the stake when she'd discovered her mutant power. That of time-freezing, which had earned her the nickname of Blink. She'd been rescued by those at the Institute (notably Scott and Kurt) and brought back to America to learn how to harness her powers. Able to halt time had its advantages, she'd decided. She could suit up and be by the pool before anyone left their seats back in the classroom.
Following after Gabi came a blonde-haired boy and girl, whom even at a glance anyone could've told were brother and sister from their similar features. The boy had silver eyes and a quiet smile on his face, with dyed black hair on his blonde locks. He was slim and muscular, but seemed more comfortably in the shade of a nearby tree, reading a book, than swimming in the pool. His name was Day Jackson, codenamed Misery, able to sense and alter human emotions.
His sister, a stunning beauty with pink-tipped blonde hair and a wide smile, was clad in a pink one-piece bathing suit and headed for the edge of the pool. Then, the grass on the ground seemed to lift her up and almost toss her into the water as she dove in, graceful as a swan. Her name was Rosaline, Rosie for short, and her power of the plant kingdom had earned her the nickname of Willow.
Following behind the Jackson twins was the blue-haired visage of Madison James, who dived in after Rosie, following her to the loveseat as the two of them cooled off and chatted. Or rather, Rosie chatted, Maddy just nodded or shook her head as appropriate. Covered in scars, the result of an unfortunate childhood, Madison was mute from a particularly bad slash across her throat, which had severed her vocal cords. Now she was unable to communicate save with telepathy, and that was very limited. Her ability was to manipulate other people's bodies... almost like a puppet-master. She was called Masque.
Jono joined them next, as quiet as Madison, his voice also lost to him, though from his mutation. His body was carefully covered and wrapped in bandages beneath his dark clothes, all the way up to his nose. This was because his body, stretching from his mouth all the way down to his stomach, was pure psionic energy, which he could manipulate to give off powerful blasts of energy. He was called Chamber and, like Madison, communicated via telepathy.
Seeing the pool was already starting to fill up, the Braddock siblings had elected to do some swords practice on the terrace instead. Brian, the bigger of the two, was slender and muscular with a great broadsword in his hands and a pair of bright blue eyes under a shock of blonde hair. His sister Betsy was a lithe thing with dark violet locks of hair and a pair of equally blue eyes, holding before her a slim but deadly katana. His name was Captain Britain, hers was Psylocke.
Dorian sat upstairs, listening to his headphones, ignoring everyone downstairs. His roommate, Artie, was sick, sleeping in the bed next to his. A pink-skinned individual who's body was deformed like some sort of sci-fi alien with an enlarged head, Arthur Maddicks was none-the-less a kind soul and Dorian's best friend. Dorian's power of canceling out energy, plus his family name, had managed to get him tagged with the nickname Leech. Artie had yet to earn a codename, his powers were a sort of low-level telepathy similar to Jean's. Ironic how the oldest of the New Recruits and the youngest had become roommates. They had so very little in common. And yet, because of their appearance... they had everything in common.
The remaining of the new students were in the living room, watching the tv and arguing over the remote, tossing it from hand to hand as quickly as they got it. Angelo snagged it out of the air by stretching out his hand into a sort of net, but Illyana 'ported over and snatched it out of his hand in mid-air, tossing it to Paige, who caught it effortlessly. Kaden Moore tossed a peanut from the bowl he'd been eating them from, knocking the remote out of her hands to land in Theresa's, who snatched it up and immediately switched channels to something she and her roommate, Allison Blaire, could both enjoy. MTV.
Sickened, Kaden Moore, known more commonly by his alias of Longshot, griped and trudged out of the room to find the rec room and practice darts. Angelo Espinoza, known as Skin, and Everett Thomas, called Synch, followed after him for some use of the pool table, leaving the girls in privacy by the big-screen tv.
"I wish I could sing like that," remarked Theresa, pointing up at the screen to the image of a popular teen singer.
"Someday you will, you and I, we'll be top of the charts," replied Allison. "Don't you fret Siryn."
"Thanks Dazzler."
Illyana sighed, also uninterested in the MTV station and headed upstairs to write a letter to her big brother Piotr. He hadn't sent an e-mail in some time, actually. A quick 'port and she was in the room she shared with Paige, idly grimacing as she noticed yet another tiny flake of skin on the floor. Honestly, why couldn't Husk ever find the time to clean up after herself? thought Magik.
Bobby Drake closed and locked the door behind him, dropping his bookbag on the chair by the door. It contained all of the students homework, and he knew he'd be rather busy later that night working to correct them all. Sometimes he wondered at the unfairness of it all. Why couldn't he have gotten Logan's old job instead of Hank's? How come Sarah got to have all the fun?
Giving a sigh, Bobby's nose picked up the scent of… was that… oh yes it was, he thought with a smirk. Darcy's home cooking. Bobby allowed his nose to guide him unerringly to the kitchen, where he saw his hydro-kinetic fiancée.
She was standing by the oven, stirring a pot and idly tossing in spices and ingredients that she and Bobby loved oh-so-much. Her back was to him, her long brown hair flowing down her shoulders to mid-back, the one blue strand not visible, it tended to dangle in front of her crystal-blue eyes. And, Bobby saw to his delight, she hadn't changed out of her red lifeguard swimsuit yet. She'd just wrapped a white t-shirt around it, and she was still dripping wet.
Darcy gave a faint squeal as Bobby's arms wrapped around her midsection and he drew her away from the stove, pressing her small body against his as he kissed the back of her neck.
"Mmmm… afternoon dear," she murmured, barely able to form a coherent sentence. Something about Bobby always rendered her puddy in his hands.
"Nice to see you too… did you shower yet? You still got sand in your hair," he said teasingly.
"No, I did not," she replied, her voice equally playful as she tried to turn around in his embrace. He wasn't about to let her. "I was making supper, since I know you've got so much to do with those bratty little mutants kids."
"Not as bratty as a certain New Recruit I had to train back in the day…" he said, teasing her even more.
"Alright fine, I'll go take a shower… turn off the stove."
"You turn it off, my hands are… busy," he replied. And indeed they were.
Giggling, Darcy reverted to her liquid form and slipped out of Bobby's hands, making a dash for the bathroom before he could say anything. Chuckling, he turned off the stove and moved dinner over to an unlit burner. No sense in letting it go to waste, after all. They'd be hungry… once they got done showering. Bobby shrugged off his shirt and went after her, catching her in the shower.
Though judging from the giggling and squealing coming from the bathroom, which later dissolved into moans and gasps of estacsy… it was going to be some time before they were done showering.
Scott found Ororo and his baby girl Rachel with no problem, taking them off the weather-witches hands as he climbed the stairs to the room he shared with Jean. The day was wearing on, and the sun was setting. It was so peaceful. Jean sat on the bed, staring out at nothing, and Scott gently sat down beside her, Rachel in his lap. She was snoring softly, and Jean couldn't help but think how cute she looked.
"Welcome home," she said softly.
Author's Notes:
Siddown! This story ain't over yet! I still got one more chapter coming after this, showing yet another glimpse into the future! A glimpse past this one! Ooooooh! Okay, let's see, hmmm... Piotr's new job was, of course, inspired by his first appearance in TAS. Crystal was Pietro's wife in the comics, though in the comics she was some sort of super-powered being, here she's a regular human. Pyro a writer of gothic romance, never going to happen you say? Guess again. You guessed it, X-Men comics. Let's see, the new new recruits. Gabi (Blink) is an OC from the works of Scribbler entitled 'Listen what the man said' and 'Learning to Fly.' Day (Misery), Rosaline (Willow) and Madison (Masque) come from the talented Comet-hime's masterpiece 'Triangle.' All the other new new recruits are canon characters from the comics, though Longshot's name was made up and his origins altered (if someone so much as mentions Mojo I swear heads will roll). Illyana's magic has been downgraded and replaced with a mutation, giving her the ability to teleport in a manner similar to Nightcrawler (I swear I heard somewhere in the comics she could teleport in addition to being a sorceress). Next time, the next and final glimpse into the future, before I close the book on X-Men Evolution and move on to other genres to write about.
ViciousAssassin: I'm not very good at speeches either. I'm sure that could've been done a helluva lot better. And yeah, I do enjoy deviating from the norm to try and trick the readers and surprise them. Its my hobby. The Morlocks were mostly there because of Spyke, yes, but think of this… most of them have heard of Spyke's stories about the Institute, so they know about Xavier and what he dreamed of, fought for, and ultimately died for. Who wouldn't go, given the chance, to that man's funeral? I did forget to mention the scene with Kurt in-depth (not wanting to exclude other characters) but no holo-watch. He's finally put it away. And you've seen how I forgot Storm, but I intentionally left her out of the speech. My new profile? Oh yeah, I'm moving out of the Marvel universe and into the DC one. Hope to keep you on as a reviewer.
Todd fan: While Xavier's passing on (kinda-sorta) was indeed very sad and dramatic, I couldn't help but be just a tiny bit sickened by how each and every character broke into tears during his last speech. Even WOLVERINE of all people. Fox overdid it a bit. Evo would do it better, if they ever got the chance. But glad you liked, and hope you enjoy the upcoming scenes of the slightly less sad future of the mutants.
Star-of-Chaos: You and me both. Predictable stories quickly loose my interest and have me reaching for a barf bag. Remy's out of prison, released on parole for good behavior and back into the story, though too late to be of any help. Except to console his cherie, of course. How things will go? You will see. You will all see! Muwahahahaha.
Risty: Xavier had more friends than he might of realized. And yeah its sad he'll never see his dream come to pass, but I think he kinda knew that from all his talks with Magneto. Plus, he did build the school, after all. It you can't do something in your lifetime, pass it along to others. He was a very shrewd fellow. Ah well.
Oceanbang: I figured that the death of Xavier would be one of the few things that could really unite the entire mutant community (as well as a large number of the non-mutant community). Well, one of the few things that wasn't an end-of-the-world type scenario. What's in store? Well clearly you've just seen what's in store… but there's more! Oh yes there's much, much more! Glad you liked my explanation for Wolverine's leaving and Sarah's replacing him.
Nessie6: I prefer Evo, but to each their own. And believe me, I do like how the Brotherhood have gotten a better role than being stupid villains and trouble-makers like back in TAS. But they're still no X-Men. Well you came close to crying, so it must've been good, at least. I take that as a compliment, and I'll read up on that story so I can find out what I did wrong for next time. Oh come on, you know Jean and Scott would've eventually done that. Its not exactly like they have many other career options. And yeah, I think I know what you mean by 'good' villains showing up to pay their respects. And I know that, and you know that, but I doubt Scott ever will. He's not the brightest apple in the barrel, but we love him anyway.
Pixie Stix Addict: I was trying to be subtle about his passing to keep people guessing until the funeral chapter. Of course the students were depressed, half of them were in tears, clinging to their significant others during the funeral. And I know the shot of which you refer, but that wasn't -future- shot so much as -near future- shot. Consider that they looked the same, down the uniforms, yet the X-Men were shown older and with new ones. Not deal with angsty backstories? Logan's gone but Sarah's still here, and she even remembers what the hell happened to her! Muwahahaha!
Lyranfan: You are reviewer number 200! Congratulations! streamers and confetti. Okay then. Glad you liked the funeral and the nature of it. As you put it yourself, the dream going on without the initial dreamer. And also the Will, I did have to spend a fair while thinking about that. Actually I had a lot more involved but ultimately settled for that one segment (mostly 'cause I don't know such legal things).
Ray1: Who says I'm done? I'm just moving past XME, I'm still gonna write fanfiction until I die or my fingers fall off (and if they do, maybe I can spontaneously develop TK and keep going). Right now I'm moving on to JL. Thanks for the compliments though, since when I started out I had no intention of creating a Saga, I just kept getting requests for sequels. Blame the readers, its all their fault.
Rogue14: I did say major character, didn't I? Ha, better I surprised all of you. Well okay, a few figured it out, so many just most of you. But still, surprises are good. I'm writing, I'm writing! You write too! I haven't seen you update in ages and its frickin' summer!