Disclaimer: Real quick, I do not own the X-Men. I do however own the Warriors and the characters mentioned in the group, excluding Mr. Robaldi, and Hans. Who are based off of characters in a movie I saw a few years ago, and the song is from that same movie. Don't sue me. I have absolutely no money.

Author's Note: I'm beginning to think that no one is even reading this anymore, there haven't been any reviews since chapter 3. So if you read this, please review it, I'm getting tired of begging. I might be a little slower in my updates now, I've been updating it pretty much every single day, I might be made to cut back on that, so don't worry if I don't update as often as I have been, I'll still be working on the story.

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Chapter 6: Deliveries

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Rogue and Scott walked along the streets of New York City with Joe in the lead, carrying a big red sack full of presents, it was early Christmas morning, and the streets were the quietest that they ever were in this city. A few cars here and there, but nothing major going on. "So where exactly are we headed?" Scott asked as they walked.

"Well the closest to here is Central Park. So we're going there first." Joe answered as they turned the corner, and central park came into view.

"Who lives in Central Park?" Rogue asked curiously, wondering if someone actually lived there, or if that was just where they were meeting someone.

"A guy by the name of Michael Wulf. His mutation is rather... complicated. You'd have to see it to believe it." Joe said as they got nearer to the park.

"Perhaps we shouldn't talk about this out here." Scott said, looking around. Even though there was hardly anyone around, and no one with in hearing distance of them. Seriously, who would be walking outside at eight o'clock Christmas morning? No one, if anyone was out they were in their cars, but Scott was still uptight about the whole thing.

"We can talk about it once we get into the park then if you want." Joe said as they crossed the street, entering the park.

"Where does this Michael live?" Rogue asked as she walked a little quicker to catch up to Joe.

"See that thick clump of trees just over there?" Joe asked pointing. "He lives in there." Joe said as they entered the park, and started down a path towards where Joe had pointed.

"That group of evergreen trees?" Scott asked as he too quickened his pace to keep up with Joe.

"Yup. That's it." Joe said with a nod as he continued to walk.

The morning was peaceful, and this silent moment in the conversation gave Rogue a chance to listen to the sounds of the park. Mostly she heard cars, but there were some birds singing, and things of that nature.

"Yo Mike!" Joe called out as they entered the grove of trees; Rogue snapped out of her daydream, she hadn't even realized that they'd arrived yet. "You here?" Joe asked.

"Of course I'm here. Where else would I be?" Asked a deep voice from behind a few other pine trees.

Rogue and Scott maneuvered through the trees after Joe, and were soon met face to face with Mike. At first Rogue held back a scream, he was intimidating, but Scott just looked at him in wonder. There he was, looking like something out of a fantasy book, a huge, seven foot tall at least, human like tree. His skin was like bark, his hair was like Ivy, not to mention that he had ivy growing all over him, but none of it was in the ground, and his hands and feet were more like roots than hands and feet. He was quite long limbed and smiled at them as they came up to him. "And who is this?" He asked with the same deep voice he had used before.

"Michael, this is Scott. And this is Rogue." Joe said gesturing to each of them. "Scott and Rogue, this, is Michael." Joe said with a slight smile. "We came to give you your Christmas present, since you couldn't make it to the party last night." Joe explained as he opened the red sack and looked into it, fishing around for a moment. "Here ya go..." He pulled out a small little pouch like thing, wrapped in green wrapping.

"Why thank you." He said as Rogue watched in horror and amazement as some of the ivy growing all over him formed into a vine, and took the package delicately, and brought it back to Michael. It was as if the vine had a mind of it's own, but followed Mike's orders. He opened the wrapping with his long stiff fingers and opened the bag. "Oh bless my soul..." He said looking into the bag. He pulled out a few packets of something and showed them to Rogue, Scott, and Joe. "Seeds! Now I can start my garden come springtime." He said delighted. "Thank you very much." He said with a nod as he stood up straight, and another vine sprouting from Mike's back dug up some earth, and set the bag with the seeds in it in the ground. "They will be safe there until spring." He said with a slight smile, if he could smile at all.

"You're quite welcome, and Merry Christmas!" Joe said with a nod. "Now, I'm sorry to come and go like this, but we must be off, I need to deliver these other gifts right away."

The tree-like thing nodded. "Of course! Merry Christmas! Come back soon I hope." He said with a smile. "And it was nice to meet you both." He said to Scott and Rogue as they began to follow Joe out of the large clump of trees.

After they had walked a bit in silence away from the park Scott was the first to speak. "That was... Amazing. How does he stay hidden?" Scott asked referring to Mike.

Joe laughed. "I was wondering when you'd start with the questions." He said with a smile as he turned slightly to see Scott. "Well it's quite simple for him to hide really, if he stands still, with his arms raised up, he looks just like a tree."

"What does he eat? How old is he?" Rogue asked both questions right after each other, also obviously curious about this fellow.

"Well he doesn't eat. At least not in the way we think of it. You see Thomas ran an exam on him, Michael there, he's... well he's a plant. He absorbs rays from the sun as plants do, and turns it into food. And he absorbs nutrients and water from the soil and air." Joe explained. "And as for his age... Well, I think he told Jessica that he was Seventeen."

"Seventeen?" Scott asked skeptically. "He doesn't look seventeen. He doesn't even sound seventeen."

Joe shrugged. "We figured that his voice and height were side effects of his mutation." He answered.

"That was... That was weird. I've never met a mutant like that." Scott confessed.

Joe laughed. "Neither did I until a few weeks ago. He's technically the newest edition to the group; I'm the one that found him. You see these guys that wanted my money were chasing me through the park. Well I didn't actually have any money on me, but they didn't believe me. When they pulled guns, I ran." Rogue's facial expression turned to one of shock and Scott's to one of understanding as he continued. "Well lucky for me I crossed paths with Michael, and he, ya see, he hates machines and guns and things. So these guys are running after me, and all of a sudden these four vines come out of nowhere, and take their guns, and then the vines turn on them, scared them off." He shrugged. "Then I saw Mike, and I got to admit, I screamed the first time I saw him, if you ever saw him angry like he was at those guys, you'd scream too. At first he ran, but I caught up to him, which I tell ya, wasn't easy, he's got them long legs, and sure he moves slowly, but he covers a lot of ground." He paused and took a breath. "Finally, I caught up to him, apologized, thanked him, and then I got him to join the community, you know that whole deal. He stays here, where he likes to be, and then we come and hang with him."

"That's an amazing story." Scott confessed.

"Yeah, but now it's over. Cause we're here." Joe said as he stopped walking, and turned towards a large building. A sign just above the front door read 'Robaldi Music Center.'

"Who lives here?" Rogue asked as she followed Joe and Scott up the stairs, through the doors, and into the building.

"Ari Robaldi." Joe answered as they came into the front room. "Let's see..." He rang the bell, and not a moment later a man dressed neatly in a nice suit but without a suit coat came from the hall. "Merry Christmas Hans. Is Mr. Robaldi in?"

"Yes sir. He's in his private quarters at the top floor, but I must insist that you not disturb him." The man answered politely. "You know how he likes his privacy."

Joe nodded. "We'll only be a minute, I know the way, you don't need to announce us, and he knows me, he'll be happy to see me I think." Joe said as they started towards the back stair. Hans sighed and turned back into the hallway as Scott and Rogue just followed Joe.

"You must have some really odd characters in this community of yours." Rogue commented as they started up the stairs.

"Oh, not really. Mr. Robaldi is just very private, you'll see why. I must warn you though, he is scarred on his right side, you must not draw attention to it, or act shocked because of it, that will anger him." Joe said as they continued up the stairs, lugging the red sack all the way, careful not to damage any presents.

Finally they made it to the top of the stairs, it was a penthouse type deal, and no one ever really came this far up, and there was an electronic key slot next to the door. Joe pulled a card out of his wallet, and swiped it through, and the door unlocked. Joe opened it. Inside was a large carpeted room, looking like the foyer of an opera house, or a theater, with large wooden doors to the right of them leading into what would be the theater, or the main room. Inside the main room was a fireplace, the only light in the room was given from it's flames, and a single chair, though eloquently decorated; it looked like a private study type of room. Next to the study was a room with a piano, and already wonderful music had reached their ears. Mr. Robaldi was at the piano with his back to them playing fiercely, his hands moving up and down the keys, playing it with excellent skill. And then, the most beautiful thing Scott and Rogue had ever heard began to happen. Mr. Robaldi was singing. His voice was heavenly, the likes of which was never heard on this earth by them before, it sounded like something out of a dream, and the notes sung matched with the notes played on the piano perfectly.

"We've heard the tale since we were young,

Heard the songs that have been sung,

About an evil spell...

Someone beautiful is cursed,

We feel sad through every verse,

Till a kiss and all is well!"

The entire group was stunned to silence by the beauty of the song and the music until Joe, unknowingly; let the red sack drop from his hand, falling to the floor. Suddenly the woven words and notes that were hanging in the air vanished, the feelings of pleasantness gone, as Mr. Robaldi stopped playing, and spun around and up, grabbing a cane as he did so to stand. "Who is there?" He called out coming into the light of the fireplace. Rogue would have shrunken back and gasped, if Joe had not warned her not to do such a thing. The right side of his face was horribly scarred; it was barely recognizable as human, whereas the left was smooth and beautiful, as if he had once been a prince out of a fairy tale. Something was wrong with his entire right side in fact, as his right hand held a cane and he used it to walk, still limping. "Who is there?" He called again, and Joe answered.

"I'm sorry Mr. Robaldi, it's me, Joe." Joe said snapping out of his daze. "We came to bring you your Christmas present since you couldn't make it to the party last night.

"Who is, 'we'?" He asked angrily, and Rogue felt as if this figure half shrouded in darkness were about to lunge at them, and kill them all.

"Oh... Mr. Robaldi, this is Scott and Rogue." Joe said as politely as he could. "They came with me to bring you your gift since they're new to the group and Thomas thought it would be good for them to meet some of those that they didn't last night."

"Well Thomas was wrong, leave the gift and get out!" The man shouted as he turned his back on them, and walked back into the smaller room.

Joe did as he was told, placing the package wrapped in snowman wrapping paper on the chair next to the fire place, and leaving, motioning for Rogue and Scott to follow. Scott began to, but then realized that Rogue had not yet followed them, she was still in a dazed like expression, staring off after Mr. Robaldi. He quickly grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her towards the door, shaking her out of her daze and she followed.

They didn't talk again until they were down the stairs, out the door, and well on their way to their next stop. Even then they seemed reluctant to break the silence. "That was even more strange than meeting Michael." Scott said.

"Ah think... Ah don't know... It was strange... But it was wonderful." Rogue said with a slight smile. "Ah mean, did you hear him playing that piano, and his voice? It was lahke he was an angel."

"He didn't act like an angel when he found out we where there." Scott countered, as if this was a debate.

"That's just Mr. Robaldi, once you get to know him, he really is quite nice, I know that's hard to believe, but he only acted that way because he didn't know you two, and he never likes to be interrupted that much." Joe said trying to explain the best he could.

"Why is he in the warriors, is his mutation all those scars?" Rogue asked slightly curious.

Joe shook his head. "No, he has never told us, but we think that his mutation is actually his voice, and his music. The scars he won't tell us where he got them from."

"Ah see... His voice was wonderful... Ah want to go back, just to listen for a while... Can we?" Rogue asked hopefully.

"No. Trust me, if he started singing again we'd be there until he stopped singing and found us. That's the trick of his mutation, I don't know exactly what it is, but something about his voice lures you to him, it's like he's hideous on the outside, but truly beautiful and wonderful on the inside." Joe shrugged. "I don't know. I hope he liked his Christmas gift."

"He didn't seem wonderful on the inside to me, he seemed... Like a beast, just like a Beast, you know from that Disney movie, really horribly angry." Scott said still not getting where they coming from thinking that the man was wonderful.

"From what Ah remember, that Beast got that Belle to fall in love with him." Rogue said with a slight smirk. "So he couldn't have been all bad underneath. Neither can Mr. Robaldi."

Joe nodded. "He's a complicated man. He never wholly opens up to anyone, but he really is quite wonderful, he does some great things with his money and such, and helps people as much as he can, he just likes his privacy... For obvious reasons." Joe said as he stopped suddenly. Just in front of an apartment building. "This is our second to last stop." He said with a slight nod. He went up and rang the bell on one of the room, a teen's voice from the intercom replied.

"Yeah. Who's there?"

"Come on Nathan. It's me. Joe. I brought your Christmas present from the party last night since you didn't come." Joe answered into the intercom.

"All right. I'll be right down. Hold on a sec." The voice replied.

Rogue and Scott waited patiently at the bottom of the stars, as Joe waited by the door. Finally a minute or two after the whole intercom conversation a boy about Rogue's age appeared in the doorway. Dressed from head to toe in Gothic clothing. Rings and piercing all over his body, a black T-shirt with long sleeve fish net type shirt over that. Rings all over his fingers, some baggy cargo shorts with chains all over them, held up by a belt with a skull as the buckle. The boy had dark skin, and was wearing black lipstick and nail polish. It was hard to tell that he was even a guy. He had a spiked dog collar on, with spike bracelets on each wrist. "Yeah?" He asked looking at Joe, and glancing at Scott and Rogue.

"Here. We brought you your present." Joe said digging through the bag, and producing a box wrapped in black wrapping paper.

Nathan took the box, and it was then Rogue noticed on his right ring finger was a ring different from the others, it had a skull on it, and the eyes in the skull were glowing red. "Thanks." He said and opened it there, in front of them. "Cool. More rings." His face always held this blank expression; it was like he wasn't truly enthusiastic or happy to see them at all. He put a few on his fingers, but then kept the rest in the box.

"Yeah... Well... Uh... Merry Christmas." Joe said with a nod and a smile as he headed back down the stairs.

"Yeah, whatever." And the door was shut again and Nathan was headed back upstairs.

"Okay, so onto the last stop." Joe said with a smile as he past Rogue and Scott and started walking again.

"I see that a lot of different kinds people make up this group." Scott said with a slight smile as they followed behind Joe.

"Yeah. Nathan there, he's extremely different from most of us kids. You saw that ring right? The ring with the glowing eyes?" Joe asked looking back to see Rogue and Scott.

"Yeah, Ah saw it, he had some nice rings and stuff there." Rogue said as they continued walking.

"Well that's something from Thomas, that he made especially for him there. You see Nathan's skin produces these chemical toxins, than when they come in contact with organic tissue... well, they destroy it. Vaporize it." Joe started to explain.

"So that's his mutation?" Scott asked.

"Yup. That's his mutation. He kills anything organic that he comes into contact with." Joe nodded.

"Wow... harsh." Rogue said looking back towards the apartment buildings where Nathan was.

"Well that's why Thomas developed that ring. It's a... Well I don't know what it is exactly but what it does is cancel out Nathan's X-Gene, and thus it cancels out his power." Joe explained as best as he could. "So as long as he wears the ring, he's fine, but he still is all depressed and Goth like and stuff all the time."

"And what's wrong with that? Ah happen to like Gothic stuff, and Ah thought he looked kind of cool with it all." Rogue said with a slight blush coming to her cheeks, which Scott noticed. "He looked kinda cute."

"I wouldn't." Joe warned. "He swore never to have that kind of a relationship after he lost his last girlfriend."

"That's a shame." Scott said not really sadly, but almost relieved. "How'd he lose his last girlfriend, did she dump him because he was a mutant or something?"

"No..." Joe hesitated. "She died."

"Oh... How'd that happen?" Rogue asked still not putting the obvious pieces into place.

"She kissed him." Was Joe's simple and stunning answer, and both Rogue and Scott were silent for a good long time.

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Coming soon... Chapter 7: Hospitals and Professors