Futures Change
Chapter 1
Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters, Bayville, New York
Ororo and Logan
The back lawn of Xavier's Institute was full of teenage mutants making the most of the summer heat wave, and the fact that many of them were looking at a long summer vacation with no work. For the adults who were supervising them and trying to prevent too much damage from being done, this was not a good prospect.
"I say we shove 'em all in the Danger Room and let 'em work off their energy in a nice Level 10 simulation, might prevent the damage getting too expensive."
"Logan, they are children what else do you expect them to do in their summer vacation."
"They ain't all children 'Ro, not according to them anyway. They're always complaining we treat 'em like kids when they're adults, so lets give 'em an adult battle simulation. It might protect your garden."
"That will not work with me Logan, let them… Amara, Pyro stop that right now. Do you two know how long those plants took to get like that… Maybe they do need something remove some of that energy. But not a training simulation Logan"
"But 'Ro…"
"No buts… Remy leave Rogue alone, Bobby stop freezing the pool, Sam don't even think about it, Amara stop giving Pyro fire. How many times do I have to tell you leave my garden alone… that does it, put them in the Danger Room before I see how well they all conduct lightening."
"Your wish is my command, although I may have another use for the Popsicle first, I think a certain couple need to cool off a little bit."
"What are Elizabeth and Pietro up to now, or do I not want to know?"
"You don't want to know, believe me."
"That bad?"
"Yup, you know what if you could just create a nice little rain cloud in that direction it might stop Half Pint and the Rock Tumbler getting any ideas, or give the Cajun any more."
"Very well, then you can inform them of the session that you will be giving them. Oh, and Logan, inform Amara and Pyro that I wish to see them once you've finished."
"I like the way you think darlin'"
With that comment a large rain cloud formed over the back lawn, drenching the students currently out there. There was a mad rush towards the Institute in a bid to prevent too great a soaking only to come to an abrupt halt as Logan was standing in the doorway.
"All right kids, joint Danger Room session in 5 minutes so no time to dry off, just get your uniforms on and get down there before I make you all into sushi."
"But Mr Logan, it's like the holidays"
"You can't do this"
"NowayI'mdoingthisIgotbetterthingstodo, bye," this was followed by a gust of wind as both Betsy and Pietro vanished into the house.
The protests gradually got louder and louder until,
"SHUT IT NOW! You now have three minutes to get suited up and into the Danger Room before I start extending the sessions length and increasing the difficulty, those who are very late get the special, extra early morning one on one sessions with me."
That was enough for all the students to start the mad dash to get to the Danger Room in time, no one liked one on one sessions with the Wolverine, especially in his current mood.
"That appeared to be very effective Logan."
"You know me 'Ro, I know exactly how to make 'em squirm"
"Yes, but if you do not leave now how are you going to know if anyone is late."
"You're right, catcha later darlin', gotta go collect a couple of runaways trying to get out of the session."
"Goodbye Logan, and please try to refrain from killing or maiming any of them please"
"I can't make any promises but I'll try"
"That is all I ask"
Betsy, Pietro, Kitty, Lance, Rogue and Remy
In one of the more shaded areas, two couples were enjoying the relative coolness and protection provided by the trees under which they were sitting, enjoying the latest instalment of Rogue vs. Remy.
"Will you just leave me alone Swamp Rat, how many times have ah gotta tell you that."
"At least once more chere, Remy don't give up on getting his belle fille to go out with him"
"Well unless Remy wants to get knocked out, he should leave me ALONE"
"Ah, but getting knocked out would be worth it just for Remy ta get a kiss from ya chere."
"Stupid Swamp Rat" came the reply as Rogue stormed off in the direction of the mansion unaware that they had had an audience.
"Damn, now that that's over what are we gonna do"
"I know Lance, I could like totally drive us somewhere"
"NO" came the emphatic response from the group
"Iain'tgoinganywherenearacarthatprettyKittyisdriving"
"Pietro slow down, I'm sure Kitty isn't that bad of a driver, I mean she managed to get her license didn't she? So she must be safe on the roads."
"No Betts, the instructors are just too scared to fail her anymore, they don't want her coming back. I think she's managed to put nearly all the instructors in Bayville on sick leave, something about nerves or whatever."
"Still she can't be that bad"
"Hello, she is, like, sitting right here. I'm a very safe driver aren't I Lance."
"Is there anyway to answer that without being killed or sounding whipped"
"Lance…"
"You've improved loads Kitty, you're much better than you used to be. Certainly safer than some drivers that I've met."
"Thank you Lance, see you two I'm not that bad"
"Whatever, I'm boredboredbored. What we gonna do"
"You really can't sit still can you, what about if someone were pinning you down so you couldn't move…"
"It would depend who was doing the pinning, if you were offering I'm sure I could be very still, but is this really the place to do this, with an audience as innocent as the pretty Kitty and Lance might get jealous cause we all know he isn't getting any and mmpfff…"
"I swear those two are like always going at it. They're totally perfect for each other, two of the biggest flirts at the Institute who wouldn't know the meaning of a serious relationship. You don't mind that we haven't got that far do you."
"Kitty, I love you, I don't mind waiting. We won't do anything that you don't want. I promise."
"Oh Lance, I love you to. Thank you for understanding and maybe we should put a hose on those two, remind them of where they are."
"I'll get Bobby over in a minute, he'll work better. Can I get a farewell kiss before my death once Pietro realises it was me who ordered his cool down."
"I suppose so."
With that the second make-out session began, neither couple hearing Ororo's shouting, infact noticing nothing of what was going on around them until…
"Oh my God, what the hell is going on. I'm getting soaked."
"Where'd the sun go, we weren't making out that long were we. There wasn't a cloud in the sky when we started."
"I'mgettingwet,Idon'tdowet."
"I think this is Storm's way of like cooling us down"
"Pietro, get us inside now"
"Anything for you Betts"
In a flash of silver, both Betsy and Pietro disappeared, leaving Kitty and Lance to run towards the mansion at a normal pace. Once they arrived at the door they were greeted with Logan's announcement of a surprise Danger Room session to which no one really wanted to attend.
Scott and Jean
Scott and Jean were surveying the damage being caused on the back lawn from the relative safety of one of the balconies in the mansion.
"Sometimes I wonder whether any of that lot will ever grow up. I feel sorry for Ororo and Logan, having to keep an eye on all of them at one," Jean commented.
"I agree. It was bad enough before we were joined by the Brotherhood and Acolytes, I swear some of them are worse than the New Recruits, especially Pyro and Gambit. They're a corrupting influence Amara was never this destructive before meeting Pyro, at least with Bobby their powers kind of cancelled each other out, he could stop the fires and she's melt the ice. And don't get me started on Gambit… or Lance for that matter…"
"Calm down, Scott. They've proven useful before."
"But…"
"No Scott, leave them be. Ororo seems to have it in hand" was Jean's reply as the sky darkened and it began to pour, "and they appear to have a surprise Danger Room session with Logan as punishment judging by the reactions I can sense."
"All of them, maybe I can get into the control room and help Logan run the simulation, maybe put it on a high level, yeah,"
"No revenge Scott, besides I think that's what Logan has in store for them anyway, although I suppose we can go watch, it should provide some entertainment."
With that comment the two left the safety of their balcony to go and help supervise the impromptu Danger Room session.
Amara and Pyro
Amara and Pyro were the subjects of most of the adults present at the Institutes discussions, although they remained completely unaware of this fact. There had been an attraction noticeable between the two since the moment they had been introduced, and the pair were becoming notorious for destroying parts of the property in an attempt to impress the other. Today's victims were the poor plants in the garden.
"I like it here Sheila, they don't get quite as mad as Mags did if I burn stuff, and it gives us something to do together."
"They're used to the destruction, I mean Bobby lives here and he's always pranking people and getting into trouble. There was this one time he stole the X-Jet and nearly crashed it…"
Amara was interrupted by Storms shout, "Amara, Pyro stop that right now do you two know how long those plants took to get like that,"
Neither mutant paid much attention to this request quickly returning to their previous conversation and activity.
"How well do you think this one'll burn 'Mara," Pyro asked, giving her the puppy dog eyes, "me lighters gone missing again. I think Remy stole 'em again 'cause I accidentally burnt some of his stuff the other day. All I'm asking is for one little flame, please Princess, I'll be your slave for life."
"You've already made that promise, but who can resist those eyes, here" Amara replied as her hand flamed up.
"You're the best Sheila, cheers. Yeah, burn" came the response, accompanied by the pyromaniacs insane laughter
"That's a good one for burning, any more?" Amara asked with a giggle.
"Dunno, lets have a look,"
"Amara stop giving Pyro fire how many times do I have to tell you leave my garden alone"
"John, she sounds mad, maybe we should stop. I mean look at the sky, the suns gone. I think she's really pissed."
"It'll be fine, aaaaargh I'm getting' wet. That ain't good. Me fire's going out. Evil weather witch," muttered Pyro, "always spoils my fun, just like when I first met 'er, she put out me fire and fried me lighter pack."
"Lets get inside, now" Amara said dragging Pyro away from the now smoking plants towards the Institute, only to stop as Logan blocked the doorway.
"Danger Room, now. You can play with fire whilst we run a simulation. Oh and 'Ro will see you afterwards, something about replacing the plants you ruined."
"That ain't fair mate, we were just having a laugh."
"Don't worry, everyone else is joining you for the Danger Room session and they'll have clean-up to do too."
"But.."
"The longer you two argue, the longer and harder the session you get, at least yours will be shorter than the rest of theirs" Logan replied looking behind them at the other mutants heading to the mansion, "now go."
With that the two mutants ran indoors and headed to get suited up for the Danger Room, whilst Logan waited to greet the rest of the young mutants.
Tibet
The cloaked figure walked closer to what had previously been the tomb of Apocalypse and touched a point on the wall, revealing a secret part to the cavern.
"My Lord, everything is set for your return. Your adversaries have grown slack with their training and are more concerned with their own lives."
"Excellent, I cannot believe that they thought it would be that easy to defeat me," came a deep booming voice from within the shadows, "It is time to gather to me my new horsemen and for Apocalypse to make his triumphant return, and a tiny bunch of mutants will not stand in my way."
AN:/ I know not every character is mentioned here, I was going to do a section about what Bobby and the others were up to but I ran out ideas and was unsure how to write some of them; it's probably just the main ones that I'll be concentrating on in this story. Thanks for reading and I'll update as soon as possible and apologies for the bad attempt at accents.
AN2:/ (24-11-04) This is now just one long chapter rather than 2 parts hopefully that will make it easier to read