DISCLAIMER-Generation X, Emma Frost and Banshee belong to Marvel Comics. John and Chas belong to DC/Vertigo Comics. Arcania, Keith and Karen are mine. I think you can figure out what "Dreamer" and "Rake At The Gates Of Hell" are supposed to be. No money being made, don't sue.
NOTES-Please don't archive or use original characters without permission. I'll let you as long as you ask.
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Six AM. In a room that was a royal mess Paige got up cheerfully and turned off her alarm clock. Ev got up less happily, but without much effort. Angelo cursed under his breath and went in search of coffee. M got up and frowned slightly, disliking the hour but refusing to admit it. Jubilee threw a stuffed animal at the blaring alarm clock and reluctantly got up. Keith hadn't set his and was sleeping like the dead. Karen hit the snooze button and burrowed in deeper within the covers. Jono sat up, stared at the door and wondered why he should even bother getting up. Arcania threw her blaring alarm clock against the wall, still fast asleep.
Sean looked over the breakfast table and noticed that four students were missing. "Jubilee, Paige, Angelo, Everett, why don't you go wake up everyone else."
Keith was easy. All Ev had to do was mention food. Angelo began to pound on Jono's door. "Man, Cassidy said wake up and get your ass down to the kitchen."
I am awake and I can think of no reason why I should be in the kitchen.
"True amigo, but I think he wants us to socialize and act like a big happy family."
Then I definitely shouldn't be there. And neither should 'Cania, trust me.
"What do you mean, man?", Skin asked as they walked down the hall. "I thought the two of you were tight."
Hell, 'Cania's been my best mate since we were two years old. The fact remains that she's a Constantine and they win the "evil bastard" prize hands down and tie with the Summers for "most dysfunctional family".
"Man, that ain't possible."
Jubilee knocked on Karen's door loudly. She thought that letting Paige wake up Arcania was a bad idea, but she wasn't going to argue. Husk wasn't one of her favorite people right now. After getting no reply she opened the door, which required picking the lock. "Karen? Kare? Time to get up."
A barely audible mumble came from the tangle of blankets. "Mmph... Five more minutes..."
Farther down the hall Paige pounded at the door and then opened it. "Mr. Cassidy said to wake you up. We have things to do today."
"Piss off." came clearly from underneath the covers.
"Excuse me!"
Arcania proceeded to tell Paige what she could do with herself in some length-- ninety percent of which was physically impossible.
Paige stood with her mouth open and then replied in terms her brother would be surprised she knew.
Everyone but Paige, Arcania and the younger students were in the kitchen Sean smiled politely at the White Queen who was pouring herself a cup of coffee. "And how are you this morning, Emma? You usually don't join us for breakfast."
"No, not usually, but it isn't that unusual either." The elegant blonde sipped at her coffee and sent out a mental tendril to search for the absent students. "Jubilee, go wake up Artie and Leech... It would probably be useless to send someone looking for Penance... We still have to introduce the three of them to the newcomers, however..." An odd expression crossed her face, as if she wanted to grin and was trying to frown to hide it. Which was, truth be told, exactly what she was doing. "If you would excuse me, there is a... situation I should deal with in the girls' dorm." She got up and left the kitchen, Jubilee, Karen and Monet trailing behind her.
The men sat in confusion for a moment, then Jono got up. If this is about what I think it might be I should probably go lend a hand. He filled a large tumbler with cold water and headed after the girls.
They were crowded around the door with their mouths open. Frost was inside trying to calm down Paige and get some reaction from Arcania. She was puzzled-- the day before she had found that Arcania, like her father, was practically unreadable, but now she wasn't getting ANYTHING off of her.
Ms. Frost. The frustrated blonde turned to him, the expression on her face caught between annoyance and amusement. If you'd get Paige out of my way, I think I can help with 'Cania.
Slightly confused, the White Queen nodded and drew Husk out of the way, finally quieting her down.
Jono walked over to the bed, pulled away the covers that obscured Arcania's head and threw the glass of water into her face.
She came awake with a yelp and grabbed onto Jono's throat. "What the--" In a split second she let go of him, her eyes questioning, waiting for an explanation.
Constantine, you are the only person I know that can tell somebody off in your sleep.
Arcania pieced together what had been going on and began to laugh.
Breakfast began finally. With a few exceptions, most noticeably Karen and of course Jono, the meal was devoured almost violently.
After the meal was done and Karen, Keith and Arcania were introduced to Artie and Leech, the three of them were herded to a room in a subbasement. In it were a few computers and a strange looking device that none of the teenagers could identify. Arcania turned to Banshee and Frost and raised an eyebrow.
Cassidy didn't catch the look, but he had been planning on explaining anyway. "This is Shi'ar tech that is a bit similar to the replicaters on Star Trek. We use them to create the unstable molecule material used in..." After a couple moments 'Cania interrupted him.
"Hold up. Uniforms? As in costumes? As in running around in spandex like an idiot. No bloody way in hell." She glared at both of them. "Just out of curiosity, what have you been smoking, Emma? It must be pretty powerful if you think I'm going to dress up like some wanker with a weird fetish..."
There was no telling how long she would have gone on if Emma hadn't interrupted her. "Then you'll be training in your street clothes-- for now."
"Training? What the hell do you mean training? I ain't one of your--"
"Miss Constantine, there isn't going to be any discussion of the matter. Now go report to the gym and Mr. Corsi will evaluate you." Frost sighed. The idea of teaching a Constantine was getting worse and worse. "Now' Karen, Keith, we'll work on getting you your uniforms."
Keith quickly chose a version of the red costume that most of the team wore and split. Karen, on the other hand, looked it over and asked hesitantly, "Do I have to wear that?"
Emma smiled. "Not if you don't want to. Why don't you make your own-- Well have to approve it, of course. Tell us when you're done." After explaining how the Shi'ar machines worked, she left.
Sean stood awkwardly for a moment, then left too.
As soon as she got the hang of it Karen was having the time of her life. Most people assumed that she didn't care about clothes, but the fact of the matter she was simply practical-- and had better things to waste her meager income on. Someone had once said "When I have a little money I buy books. When I have more I buy food." She had forgotten who had said it, but she thought they had their priorities in order.
Her favorite clothes were either elegant or tattered. Either way they weren't anything that could be worn all the time. She was knocking herself out. She designed outrageous costumes-- some of which might have given Psylocke a run for her money. Finally she stopped goofing around and decided on one. At first she had thought about ones that were like something out of the fantasy novels she devoured-- all lace and velvet or chainmail. The one she decided on would have also been from one, but was much more practical. It was a gray wool tunic and breeches, knee high grey leather boots, a grey cloak and a belt with pouches tied to it.
She looked around for an intercom or something. After a while she found a likely looking button and pushed it. "Umm, hello? I'm done..."
I'll be down in a moment.
"Eep!" Hearing Ms. Frost inside her head startled her more than a little bit. 'I know she can do that but it still weirds me out.'
Emma swept into the room, wearing her white training uniform, with Sean trailing after her. "This is it then?" The elegant blonde held up the grey garments and studied them with a critical eye. "I suppose it will do. Are you sure about the cloak though?"
"Very." Hah! They were going to let her wear it. All she needed was a staff, a couple of daggers and a bag of holding and she'd be her D&D character.
"I'm not so sure about it, Emma. It might make it hard to move and that cloak would trip her up, I'm sure. It'll probably get hot too, lass."
Karen broke into a fit of laughter. "It happens to be pretty cold Between." A 'damned' went unsaid in front of cold. She had never been comfortable swearing in front of adults. "And you don't know hot until you've spent a whole day outside in full SCA finery whacking at somebody else with fake weapons on the hottest weekend of August. I can manage."
"Between?" Frost raised an eyebrow at the pride the last was said with.
"When I teleport it's like how the dragons from Anne McCaffery's Pern novels do, so that's what I call it. Besides I'm not very good at physical stuff and fighting. Except for kicking people in the shins, but that's just because I always wear combat boots or Docs."
Sean raised his eyebrow. "What happened to 'whacking at people with fake weapons'?"
"Oh, I always get my a-- butt kicked. It's fun though. And foam, PVC pipes and duct tape don't hurt very much."
"The costume is fine, Banshee. And she does have a point. Until she receives a lot of training she shouldn't be anywhere near a combat situation, and even afterwards her powers are still more covert than overt."
After a bit more blustering Sean gave in. "Fine. I'll gather up the others up and we'll start the training session in fifteen minutes then." The Irishman stormed off, frustrated. He couldn't remember the last time he had won an argument with that woman.
The teens were scattered around the gym. Husk was complaining bitterly about Arcania's lack of costume. Everyone was ignoring her except 'Cania, who was grinning her head off.
"Of course I ain't. You all look like tossers if ya ask me-- 'cept Crane. She just looks like a refugee from a Renn Faire." The young English woman smirked and took out a clove cigarette, but didn't light it. "I really don't understand why you lot keep running around in capes an' such tryin' t' save the world-- Without bothering to find out what the problem is in the first place."
"We know what the problem is, you--"
Arcania interrupted Paige before she could start in earnest. "Bollocks. Do you really think THIS is part of the solution when the basic nature of humanity is to be ignorant, fearful bastards? Or do you think at all? You're just--"
"It's nice to see you're getting along with your classmates so well, Miss Constantine." Emma, Sean and a strange looking girl walked in. "I hope your attitude is better when the regular students come back from break. I'll speak with both of you later." As often, the White Queen of old shone though. "If we may begin anytime soon?"
With a minimal amount of grumbling, the teens gathered into a very loose circle, except for Arcania who remained leaning against the wall. Emma waited a minute to be sure she had everyone's attention. "This is Penance. I told you about her earlier, I believe," she said, addressing the newcomers. "We will begin with a rather standard training exercise today, with the exception that you will be facing off against each other in uneven teams. Karen, Keith, Arcania, you will be working with each other. The other team is the rest of the students. This may seem unfair, but there is a reason for it. You'll be up against a lot of people, and some of them will be much more powerful than you. You're going to have to learn how to outsmart them. There's no time to start like the present and no better way to learn than through experience." She paused and waited for protests. She was rather surprised when none of the newcomers did so. After a moment's reflection she decided that Keith was too mellow and didn't quite grasp the situation, Karen wanted to but was too passive, and Arcania made it quite plain that she simply didn't give a damn.
"Well, let's get this over with, then," 'Cania sighed.
The gym faded out and was replaced by a jungle. The members of Gen X disappeared with swiftness born of lots of practice. The others stood and looked at each other for a moment before noticing that Penance was still there.
"Um... Hi. Do you want to be on our team or something? Oh, I forgot, you don't talk," Karen stammered.
Arcania crouched on the floor in front of Penance, who was sitting. "What's this then?" She reached behind Penance's ear and drew out an apple. The younger girl smiled and her eyes lit up. "Looks like she's on our side now." She stood and started walking. It seemed to Karen that the foliage parted for Arcania and Keith and rushed back together for her. After she had been thwacked in the face several times she stopped and glared at them. Penance had apparently disappeared. "Okay, would you two please explain why the jungle or whatever isn't trying to kill you?"
Keith looked at her and shrugged. "My power is that I can control probabilities. Like the Infinite Probability Drive, 'cept I don't have to figure them out. I guess I do it unconsciously too."
Arcania lit a cigarette. "Magic."
"Right. Shouldn't we be doing something?"
"I guess. The rest of them are over that way. I figured we'd plan or something, even though I still think this is stupid. The kid's following us." The young English woman took a long drag on her fag. "I guess you'll get us in close, Kare-- You're a teleporter too, right-- and distract them. Keith you'll give 'em bad luck... Either of you any good in a fight?"
Crane shrugged and Ross shook his head. "Lovely. I guess the taking them out part is up to me. Well, at least Pete an' Chas taught me how to fight, not me dad. All right then, we may as well start." 'Cania marched off, not looking back. After a minute or so she stopped and crouched by a pond. She looked into and past it, muttering to herself. At first Karen thought she was working a spell, but quickly realized she was just thinking out loud. "OK, there's Jon... Shit, looks like hyper girl there knows what she's doing... the little tart..." She straightened up. "Kare-- How does your teleportation work? I mean, do you have to have been to the place your going and can ya take people with you?"
"I've never tried. And I sort of have to see where I'm going in my mind's eye, if you know what I mean."
"That's simple enough, being as you're a bit sensitive."
"Yah, I'm so sure," the younger girl muttered under her breath, but not with as much conviction as she would have liked to think. Her and her friends had tried stuff like that a few times. They had... Well, most of them didn't say much of anything, but those that had were damned dramatic about it. She hadn't 'felt' a thing and had said so.
Arcania smiled a bit at her reaction, slightly puzzled. "Come 'ere." Karen walked over, rolling her eyes and the two of them stared into the pond. The younger girl's eyes went wide. "Take us there."
"I'm not sure I can! And if I mess up..." Her mind went back to what always happened when someone messed up a teleportation in a science fiction novel. She was growing hysterical. One look into bright, cold, blue eyes, one second to remember who she was talking to, and she snapped out of it. "I'll try..." The worry never left her own eyes. What had she gotten herself into?
Ev whirled around, sensing unfamiliar auras. He turned into Arcania's fist. "Sorry 'bout that, mate."
One out of the game.
Paige turned into metal because she thought she might have heard something. It would feel good to hit something, especially that Constantine girl. Who did she think she was anyway? She became still and then went in for the kill. Paige hit something as solid as the steel she currently was and looked up into Monet's cold brown eyes.
"The point of hitting your own team mates would be?" the Algerian girl said sarcastically.
"Not bad, Ross," 'Cania whispered.
"I didn't do that... At least I don't think I did..."
"Won't it be harder to take on both of them?" Karen hissed into her ear.
Constantine shrugged, stood up and brushed off her trench. "Let's give it a go anyways." She strode out of the undergrowth into the clearing. "Ta. Let's get this over with, hmm?"
M began to fly at her and 'Cania mumbled something under her breath. St. Croix fell to the ground.
"What did you do to her?!" Husk demanded. Despite her autism Monet was one of the most powerful members of the team.
"Nothin' much. She'll come to in an hour or so." A slight smirk touched her features.
Paige's eyes widened. "How?"
"Magic." There were times that one word spoken calmly could do more than a well placed bullet. This wasn't one of them.
Paige lunged forward and Arcania sidestepped easily. "Not going to try your dirty tricks on me then?" Husk hissed.
'Cania snorted in derision. "Anyone that doesn't fight dirty is a fucking idiot. But t' answer yer question I'd rather kick your sorry ass, sunshine."
Paige was a super-hero and had tons of training and experience. Emma was efficient to the point of paranoia when came to training. It wasn't a fair match in the least. For all that, she still tried to act like a 'nice' country girl.
'Cania, on the other hand, had learned the art of fighting dirty from the best and had taken to it like a fish to water. In pubs from her father's friends or belligerents she had managed to annoy, from her cousin and more formally in the halls of London's Thieves Guild. She still dropped in to spar every so often. People had been trying to hurt her dad through her for as long as she could remember. None of them had succeeded yet. Paige didn't stand a chance.
The young American shed her metallic skin. The action was meant to both even out the odds and unsettle her opponent. The former was unnecessary and the later was out of her league.
Arcania started out with an old fashioned right cross, then ducked and rolled away before Paige could react. The 'hit hard, fast' method work better when you added 'hide' to the list. Despite her opponent's training she stuck to street and pub fighting, leaving the fancy stuff she'd learned from Zoe's brother-in-law up her sleeve. Paige managed to get a few good ones in, but she had to work hard for them. Constantine was managing fine herself, but likewise having a bit of difficulty. Brawling was actually rather useless in a situation such as this-- in a pub fight she wouldn't have given a damn how many times she got hit-- but this was different. Thing was, having to dodge made it that much harder to strike. She would have still managed to take Guthrie out-- Eventually.
About five minutes into the proceedings Karen, who had been watching with an odd look on her face, picked up a stout looking fallen branch and clubbed Paige over the head.
Keith stared at her and Arcania raised an eyebrow. "We should probably go so 'Cania can kick everybody else's ass." The young woman said matter of factly. "Besides, I'm sure somebody has heard us by now and we want to sneak up on them, not the other way around, right?"
"Couldn't have put it better myself. It'd be a treat to see her face when she comes to though." Arcania's trademark smirk returned in spades. "Jono told me a bit about everyone's powers yesterday, but you might want to do the planning, Karen me girl."
"Betcha I know more. That Jubilee could talk the ears off a donkey." Crane then almost skipped off, detailing her 'non-evil' plot.
After that things went rather fast. Skin was taken care of with an illusion and quite a bit of bad luck. He ended up tied in a knot around a tree. Penance cornered Chamber and a standoff resulted since neither could do anything without seriously hurting the other. The only one left was Jubilee. 'Cania was on her own with that one.
She was almost able to sneak up on her, but Lee had learned from the masters. Arcania had baby-sat an emigrant member of the New Orleans Thieves Guild's kids and hung out with apprentices in the London Guild. She was all too glad to spin that into an apprenticeship (after all it was just as useful to be overestimated as under), but it really just meant she could pick locks, knew a few tricks, could talk the talk, fake the walk and the Guild usually let it slide 'cause they liked her. Useful and all, but not in this situation.
Jubilee pretended not to notice till the last moment, then sent a paff of 'fireworks' at the other girl. Constantine was just barely able to dodge in time. She dove back into the underbrush and looked at her options. Other than a few spells that worked when they felt like it and a few moves from pub fights and such, everything she knew to get someone down and make them stay there was damned serious. She could put a spell on her, like she had with Mo, but... That would be repeating herself. She stuck her hands into her pockets and thought hard. Her fingers closed around a smallish metal cylinder and she drew it out, grinning. "I'd forgotten about you," she said inaudibly.
She went dead still and sent a bit of synchronicity-- and a small pebble-- a few feet ahead and to the right of her. The Chinese-American girl carefully went to investigate the resulting noise. When she was two feet or so to the left of her Arcania put her hand out a bit, holding on to the cylinder, and pressed a tiny button. It shot out into a full sized staff. Lee began to stumble as it tangled in her feet, then caught herself just as quickly. 'Cania twisted the staff quickly, before Jubilee had fully recovered, and she ended up sprawled face down.
Before the other girl could pick herself up or otherwise react 'Cania had her foot on her neck. "Listen, we could stop wasting all of our time and quit dragging this idiotic thing out, or you could keep fighting an' I can turn you into a newt or something for a while. Your call." She didn't expect that to be the end of it, but it had to be said.
Whatever Jubilation's reaction would have been was cut short when their surroundings disappeared and they were once again in a seemingly standard gymnasium.
"That was rather unexpected." Banshee's Irish brogue came through the door and the man himself soon followed. He cast a glare at 'Cania, but she was already helping Jubilee up.
"Soz about that. No hard feelings right?" The shorter girl gracefully took the hand up.
"Of course not. I'll just have to watch out for you better next time." Jubes grinned from ear to ear. "You're good."
"I should hope not!" Constantine chuckled at the look she got. "Family joke," she explained.
The former X-Man shrugged. "So is that your power then? Turning people into animals, I mean."
"Dear God, no. I'm a magus-- A magician, right? I'm a mutant too, though. An empath. It completely bites."
"Oh." This fazed Jubes just a bit. After a beat. "So you can actually turn people into frogs and stuff?"
"I'm not sure. Probably." 'Cania grinned, shrugged and took out a Silk Cut. "I've never tried."
Lee laughed and looked around a bit. Half the team was out cold, Jono was glaring at Penny, and Angelo was untangling himself. "How did you manage that?!" she asked, a bit awed. For first timers this was amazing.
"Let's see. Asked nicely, sleeping spell, dunno-- Kare and Keith took care of him, right cross from me an' Karen hit her with a big stick." The young magus grinned at Jubilee's shocked expression. "She thought me and Shedding Girl or whatever she calls herself was taking to long and making too much noise. She's surprisingly good at this."
"Hitting people?"
"Strategy, tactics, plotting... Thwacking people, but she's a bit hesitant about it. That was mainly me. Keith's chance powers and my being pretty heavy into synchronicity magic probably didn't hurt either." 'Cania stubbed out her cigarette between her fingers and it disappeared out of sight, stowed who knows where. "I still think this whole deal was daft though."
"Right..." Jubilee rolled her eyes.
The White Queen walked in. "We'll have a run down of the session in ten minutes or so, in the kitchen. Arcania, could I have a word with you?"
"Oh, sorry." She made a gesture and Monet woke up.
"Thank you, but that wasn't what I meant." Emma glanced around. "The rest of you, move it!" The other teens hurried away.
"What." The word fell like a bomb.
"It's about your powers, lass." Banshee put in, voice gentle.
"What of them?" The girl leaned against the wall and shrugged nonchalantly.
"You're blocking them off." Emma said bluntly. "What I can't tell is whether or not it's intentional."
"And?" Another cigarette appeared and was lit with the flare of a Zippo. Her eyes turned cold and hard, reminding Sean of an English spy he had once worked with, down to the color even.
"I hate to be the one to break this to you, but either way that makes you more vulnerable, not less. I've never seen shields as rudimentary as yours dealing with as much power and have the person in question still be sane. I know magic works differently, which is why they haven't blown up in your face. It's only a matter of time before you're up against someone who knows what they're doing, if you make enemies anything like your father does. Even if you don't, I promised your father I would teach you. You'll learn to control your empathy whether you like it or not, so why don't you make it easier on all concerned and not fight us on this." Emma sighed. "Knowing the kind of enemies your father has I can see how you'd think yourself better off without your powers... Hell, anywhere with more than ten people per square mile can be a burden on a budding empath or telepath, let alone London. Just think about it, Arcania. That's all I'm asking."
"I'll do that." Arcania crushed the fag-end of her cig underfoot and walked away.
Continued in part 3 (coming eventually to a computer near you)