Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men: Evolution. Currently I only own Jesse.
Review responses at the bottom. I'll also admit to reading some various writing guides while writing the last ten or so pages of this story. Lemme know if you can notice any improvement.
"Talking"
"talking over phone"
'thinking'
'telepathy'
This chapter was re-edited on 6/11/05.
-
A week had passed since Jesse had started school back up. With Scott and Jean's help he had caught up in his studies and was now at the level he was supposed to be. Classes, particularly history, were coming easier to him now. At times he figured that some memories from his family were seeping through the barriers, giving him the knowledge, but he was minding less and less. He was still saddened by it, but he was enjoying life at the Institute. Rogue, or Marie as she allowed him to call her by her real name when it was just the two of them, joined him in helping to sort out those memories. She had more experience with it than even Professor Xavier, since she had lived it. She was able to give Jesse keen insight on how to mentally, and emotionally, deal with the oncoming problem, and in turn was able to help bolster her own emotional support.
So far Jesse had had little contact with the members of the Brotherhood except for Lance, or Avalanche as he was sometimes called, who hung out with Kitty a lot at school. The two of them got on well, and he seemed to be an okay guy, if a bit rebellious. He had only seen Fred Dukes, or Blob, from a distance (which wasn't that hard), and had only smelled Todd Tolansky, or Toad (which also wasn't that hard). Pietro, or Quicksilver, he had yet to meet and Pietro's sister Wanda, or Scarlet Witch, he tried to avoid after some advice from Rogue. The Acolytes, Magneto's direct henchmen who answered only to him, had yet to show themselves again. They had not been seen since the battle with Apocalypse.
Jesse's training was progressing smoothly. He was now training in using a sword. Logan was training him in using various double-edged swords, though he preferred a late Norm-style sword. Three days after he began his training with a sword, a package arrived in the mail for Jesse, though it had no return address. It was a Norman-style sword made out of adamantium. The hand guard was basic, extending just far enough to do its job. The blade had no frills, and seemed far lighter than it should have been from what Logan said. However, it was perfectly balanced for Jesse. Uncannily balanced.
"You're getting good with that," Logan comments as he parries another of Jesse's strikes with his own sword. He was ideal for sword training. Not only did Logan's accelerated healing ability minimize risk, his adamantium skeleton made it so that it would be extremely hard to deliver a fatal blow by accident, even when facing a sword made of adamantium. Logan's bones themselves were coated with the stuff, and as far as anyone knew adamantium was the strongest metal around. It also meant that it would be very difficult for him to lose even a finger, much less a limb.
"I have a good teacher," Jesse replies as he thrusts, aiming for Logan's heart. Logan parries again, this time moving in and kneeing Jesse in the gut. The younger mutant doubles over as the air leaves his lungs. He stumbles back, trying to stay on guard. Logan moves in swiftly, delivering a sharp series of precision strikes that Jesse fails to block as Logan sends his sword flying.
"And you're dead," Logan says evenly as he rests the tip of his sword against Jesse's neck, "you're getting better, Specs. You lasted five full minutes this time."
"Yeah, but I'll never be able to beat you," Jesse sighs as Logan sheathes his sword.
"Listen Specs, I've had decades of experience at this," Logan explains, "you've only been training for a week. You got some natural talent, real natural talent, and with some good hard work you could be really good."
"Yeah, just too bad that you can't make a life out of being a swordsman these days," Jesse jokes, "I mean, its not like you're teaching me to use a foil where I could be an Olympic fencer. Not that I could, being a mutant. My powers could theoretically give me an unfair advantage."
Logan nods in understanding. Jesse had yet to decide what he wanted to do with his life, and worried about it often. "Don't worry Specs. You'll find something eventually. Just give it time. If nothing else you could always stick around here to teach."
"Yeah, I guess I could," Jesse agrees, "though I can't see myself as a teacher, ever. It would be nice though. To have a purpose beyond mastering my gifts."
"Know what ya mean," Logan remarks as Jesse goes to retrieve his sword, "I can't really remember a lot of my past, thanks to those bastards who gave me these claws."
"Well, even if you can't remember your origins, its not like you don't have a home here," Jesse says as he sheathes his sword, "am I right?"
Logan chuckles. "Yeah, you're right kid. This is a good place. I'm glad Charles asked me to come and help teach."
"What were you doing before you came to the Institute?" Jesse asks. He had asked Scott, Kurt, and Rogue this question, but none of them knew a thing. They barely knew anything about Logan. Kitty perhaps knew the most about him.
"Just drifting," Logan answers, surprising Jesse, "I'd go where I wanted. I usually did manual labor, such as working on the docks of seaports."
Jesse nods. "Doesn't sound like a bad way of life, if you can't decide on anything else."
Logan nods in agreement. "I'd probably still be doing that if Charles hadn't contacted me."
The rest of the day passed easily. Jesse had already swung into the groove of life in Bayville, and he was becoming cheerful. He was happy now. His life was more exciting, unlike it had been back home, and he had more friends now than he had ever had in his entire life.
"So things are going well?" It was Friday and Jesse was talking to Locke over the phone.
"Yeah man, things are going great," Jesse replies, "my training is going splendidly. Jean thinks that a few more weeks and we might be able to progress into exploring what I can do with my telepathy."
"That's good, right?" Locke asks.
"Jean says its unexpected, but good," Jesse answers, "I have a good grasp on how to control my powers. With even just a little training, most mutants can manage some fairly moderate control over their powers, depending on their own mental strength and the strength of their powers."
"And since your powers rely on mental strength," Jesse could hear the grin in Locke's voice.
"I'm coming across as a bit of a natural," Jesse finishes, "I have to focus, but it appears that I can do a lot if I put my mind to it."
"Like the saying goes, you can do anything if you just put your mind to it," Locke chuckles, "only in your case that can be taken literally."
"More than you know man," Jesse says, "when Jean first started helping me with my telekinesis, I somehow saw the very bonds that held the beach ball together. All I had to do was apply a little pressure and I could have taken it apart at the molecular level."
The line was silent for a moment before Locke continued. "That sounds dangerous. You sure you're doing fine?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Jesse says to assure his friend, "Jean and Professor Xavier tell me that I'm coming along nicely. Come Christmas they say that I should be safe under my own power and they'll remove the barriers they have in place."
"Well then, it sounds like you're happy where you are," Locke says.
"Yeah, I think I am," Jesse says, "Scott and Kurt are great, and Rogue's awesome."
"What's this?" Locke teases, "Jesse Atalas, becoming friends with a girl?"
Jesse blushes faintly. "Oh hush you! It's not like that. Rogue and I, we just have a lot in common."
Jesse's voice softens. "Her power, she takes in a part of the person she touches. It stays with her forever. She can lessen the influence each piece has on her, but its always there. Like me, she has parts of the minds of others in her, including many people she cares about."
"Hey man, I was just teasing," Locke says apologetically, "I meant nothing by it. So, have you called your mom yet?"
Jesse sighs. "No. Too scared."
"Of her reaction? Dude, you gotta call her. Does she even know that her mother has passed away?"
"Yeah, she knows Grandma's dead, but she couldn't make it for the funeral," Jesse replies.
"Well man, you're gonna have to talk to her sometime," Locke says, "the sooner the better."
"Yeah, but I just can't tell her something like this over the phone," Jesse says, "it has to be in person. Come Christmas I'll be allowed to go and visit her. I'll tell her then."
"When are you coming to visit us?" Locke asks.
"In two weeks," Jesse replies, "the Professor is finalizing the papers to gain custody of me and it's my birthday too so I'll be able to visit everyone."
"Great! We'll see you then. Everyone here misses you."
"That's a surprise," Jesse chuckles.
"Come on, man, even if you didn't get a long with a lot of the people in the youth group we're still your friends," Locke admonishes, "even Katie misses you."
"Katie misses me?" Jesse scoffs, "she misses throwing things at me! Oh well. Listen man, I gotta go. Its time for my next session with Logan and Jean."
"Okay man. Good luck. Take care."
"Same to you Locke." With that, Jesse hangs up the phone and goes out for his training session with Jean and Logan. Today they were going to explore his strange ability to see the very molecular bonds that held a few items together, and see what he could do to them.
Seeing the very bonds that held all matter together, as it turned out, was rather easy for Jesse to do. It was almost second nature for him. However, he couldn't apply the fine amount of pressure needed to do anything to the bonds. If too much was applied, then the damage created could be catastrophic. Not enough, then at the least the bonds would be weakened. If weakened enough then over time they could dissolve at the worst possible moment. So they had opted to wait until he had better mastery over his telekinesis before trying anything.
That night as Jesse slept, he dreamed uneasily. He saw people fighting and dying. He saw a veritable monster of a man, most likely a mutant, in purple armor with an "A" embossed on the belt. He could see the dead bodies of various X-Men and other students of the Institute lying dead at that same mutant's feet. Beside the large mutant stood another mutant in armor with some kind of energy weapon attached to one of his arms. He saw a much older version of himself, fighting alongside a man with long brown hair with white locks at the top of his forehead. The both of them were battered and bloody, exhausted from battle. They both rushed their two adversaries one last time only for Jesse himself to be cut down by a blast from the mutant with the energy weapon.
Jesse awakens with a start. What was that? The memories of the dream were quickly fading from his mind. Was that the future? Or was it just a nightmare. He slowly goes back to sleep, but once again his dreams are filled with death and ruin. All that he can remember when he wakes up is an all-encompassing green light.
The next day, which was fortunately a Saturday, Jesse felt miserable during the morning. He had slept restlessly, his nightmares keeping him from fully appreciating the seven hours of asleep he had gotten. Even the Professor and Jean hadn't been able to help him sort out what he had dreamed, or even see what he had seen. Because of this, they told him that it was probably just a dream. His second dream, the one he had when he went back to sleep, they could discern absolutely nothing from it, as not even Jesse remembered anything from it.
The day was bright and sunny, a wonderful day to tell the truth. Jesse was out with Scott, Kurt, Jean, and Rogue on a trip to one of the nearby beaches for a day out. The Professor had okayed the trip, in fact he had encouraged it. Jean and Jesse had been working hard at training Jesse to use his powers and Professor Xavier felt that they deserved a break.
So they went to the beach. Jesse had never been to one before in his life, so he was looking forward to it. Kurt and Rogue were slightly anxious. The last time they had gone to a beach the Brotherhood had attacked them. That was just before the Asteroid M debacle, which was over a year ago. Of course, their worries didn't dampen Jesse's excitement at all. He was looking forward to getting in a water war with Jean, both of them using telekinesis to splash the other. Of course, Jean would also have Scott to help her but Jesse had the support of Kurt and Rogue.
As they pull up to the beach, they find it empty, which suited them just find. Everyone had already changed into their swimsuits since there wasn't a place for them to change. Kurt quickly places a hand on Scott and Jean's shoulder.
"Kurt?" Scott asks.
"Kurt, don't you dare!" Jean yells before he teleports the three of them ten feet above the water a decent distance out. The three of them begin to fall but Kurt just teleports back to the beach, leaving Scott and Jean to hit the water with a large splash.
Scott and Jean come up spluttering, the both of them glaring at the blue-furred mutant. The glare intensifies when they see Jesse and Kurt high-five one another.
"That's it, they are so dead," Jean splutters, coughing up water.
"Let's get out of the water first," Scott suggests, "then we can get them."
"Ya'll do know that Scott and Jean are gonna get their revenge, don't ya?" Rogue asks the two boys.
"Ja, ve know," Kurt responds.
"But we did it anyway," Jesse chuckles.
Rogue shakes her head. She grins evilly. "Ah'm gonna enjoy watching this."
"Um, Kurt," Jesse says worriedly, "how much of a vindictive streak would you say Jean has?"
Kurt blinks and gulps. "Maybe that wasn't such a good idea."
"Ya think?" Jesse asks as he spots Scott and Jean pulling themselves out of the surf.
"Do you think ve could run fast enough?" Kurt asks.
"Doubt it," Jesse replies, "and Scott's our ride home. I don't fancy teleporting repeatedly to get back."
Kurt nods in agreement. The two friends sigh and await their punishment.
later-
Jesse and Kurt actually got off lightly, since it had been in fun. They just had to wash the X-jet and X-Van every day for the next week. After they unloaded the car of their beach supplies they all dove out into the surf. Jesse and Jean developed a game with their telekinesis of seeing how large a sphere of water they could maintain. Of course, they were keeping the spheres away from their friends, but it was still fun. After about an hour of doing this, Jesse grins and levitates some water up above Jean, dropping it down on her. She lets out a cry of protest before getting a dangerous glint in her eyes. The next thing Jesse knew he was splashed on all sides by water.
"Okay, this is war!" Jesse calls out before pushing a small wave directly at Jean. Jean gasps as the wave sends her under for a few moments. She comes up spluttering.
"Scott!" Jean calls out. Scott, seeing what Jesse and Jean were doing, hurries off into the water to help his girlfriend in the water war. Kurt and Rogue exchange grins before barreling into the water to help Jesse. Before long the five of them are engaged in a fierce water fight, with only Jesse and Jean using their powers.
Getting a fit of inspiration, Jesse begins to focus his telekinesis underwater. Jean could feel him trying something, but she couldn't figure out what. Her questions are answered a moment later when the water around her practically explodes, columns of water rushing upwards from all around her and Scott. A split second later the columns tilt over towards them and the water comes crashing down, sending Jean and Scott under. They come up spluttering, looking at Jesse in disbelief.
"Well, I guess I really do have some good control already," Jesse muses. Kurt nods in agreement.
Later, the fivesome were packing their things back up. Jean was talking animatedly with Jesse about his strength in telekinesis. She wasn't sure if he had a lot of power in his telekinesis or if some of his other powers were boosting it, but it would be interesting to explore.
As they are about to get in the car a golden yellow beam rips into the ground in front of it. The four X-Men and the New Mutant turn to face the direction of where the blast had come from. Standing there is a group of four people, two men and two women, in red and white costumes (think what Omega Red wears if you can). One man had black hair streaked with blue done in a military cut. He was rough looking. His eyes were a crimson color that seemed to glow as he stared at Jesse and the others. On the chest of his uniform is a white dot encircled in black. He stood to be about 6' 3".
The two women were nearly identical with long black hair. One woman had different colored eyes, her left eye being a molten red and her right eye being an icy blue. On the chest of her uniform was a icy blue dot the same color as her right eye encircled by a red ring the same color as her left eye. The other woman had golden yellow eyes that were glowing with power, the same power that had struck the ground in front of the car. On the chest of her uniform was a yellow sunburst pattern. They both stood to be about 5' 4".
The other man was a lot shorter. He stood at about 4' 2" and was stockily built. His black hair was cropped short in a military fashion. Black eyes gazed upon the five teens as a shimmering blue field aura surrounds him. On the chest of his uniform is a solid blue circle.
"Who are you?" Scott demands.
"We're Musu," the tall man responds, "you can call me Hakai."
"Dual Blast," says the woman with the different-colored eyes.
"Solari," says the other woman, obviously Dual Blast's twin.
"Just call me Blaster," the short man cackles.
"Whaddya want?" Jesse asks cautiously.
"We're here to test you," Hakai replies, "you had best defend yourselves at the peak of your abilities."
With that, Hakai pushes his right arm towards them. A swirl of whiteness forms in front of his hands before shooting forth. The mutant teens leap out of the way as the concussion blast hits where Jesse had just been standing. Scott rolls to a kneeling position and clicks the button on his visor, which he was wearing today because it was easier in the water than his normal glasses. The ruby red beam lances out at Hakai but is intercepted by a golden yellow beam from Solari. Solari grins predatorily.
"You'll have to do better than that, Cyclops," she says before firing another blast from her eyes at Scott, who counters with an optic blast of his own.
Meanwhile, Kurt is using his agility to avoid molten red beams from Dual Blast's left eye. Wherever the beams strike leaves behind melted sand, leaving Kurt to resolve that he would NOT get hit by one of them. He is taken by surprise by an icy blue beam from Dual Blast's right eye, but Kurt's reflexes save him. The beam hits the water, freezing a fair portion of it. Kurt gulps.
"Vhy me?" he moans as he backflips to avoid another molten red beam.
Rogue, meanwhile, is cartwheeling to avoid blue energy blasts from Blaster. The short mutant grins viciously as he sends rapidfire blasts at the young mutant, alternating between eyes as she does so.
Jesse and Jean, on the other hand, are trying to avoid concussion blasts from Hakai. Using their telekinesis the two of them form a near-impenetrable barrier around themselves, but the strength of Hakai's blasts is wearing them down fast, especially Jesse.
"Jean, d'ya think you can knock him out?" Jesse grunts as a concussive blast drives him back three feet.
"No, I can't," Jean replies, "already tried.
"Then can ya hold him off on your own for a bit?" Jesse asks, "I got an idea!"
Jean gives the go-ahead. Jesse focuses his telekinesis on the sand beneath Hakai while Jean maintains a telekinetic shield. The sand was reasonably packed, but it was still loose. A sudden push causes the ground to shift underneath Hakai and his allies. Kurt takes this opportunity to teleport behind Dual Blast and sweep her off her feet. Dual Blast goes down, but not for long.
Scott, in the meantime, manages to score a direct hit on Solari, knocking her out. He quickly turns his attention to Blaster, sending a few quick optic blasts his way as he moves to help Rogue. Blaster ducks to avoid Scott's optic blasts, but isn't able to dodge the kick to the chest from Rogue. He stumbles back but recovers quickly, promptly catching Rogue square in the chest with an energy blast, sending her flying and landing on the ground with a thud.
Scott reacts in a bad way. He fires a powerful optic blast as Blaster, releasing the beam's full power. Blaster unleashes one of his own energy blasts, but Scott's optic blast easily overpowers it, slamming into Blaster and sending him flying. He lands several yards away from where his feet left the ground. He digs a furrow in the sand as he skids to a stop. He's definitely out for a little while.
Meanwhile, Jesse has managed to get in close to Hakai, too close for him to properly use his concussion blasts. Jesse delivers a quick one-two combination to Hakai's gut, but Hakai just drives his fist into Jesse's gut, knocking the wind out of the younger mutant. Hakai is about to deliver a backhand that would shatter Jesse's jawbone but he's knocked away by an optic blast from Scott. Hakai looks around to see that Blaster and Solari are down.
"Dual Blast, fall back!" he orders, "we're outnumbered! Grab Solari and go!"
Dual Blast runs and picks up Solari while Hakai drapes Blaster over his shoulder. He turns to face the younger mutants.
"This isn't over," he promises. With that, he hits his insignia and the four mutants disappear in a flash of purple-tinged light.
"Man, who were they?" Jesse wheezes.
"I have no idea," Scott admits.
"Whoever zey are, zey are tough!" Kurt says, "that Dual Blast nearly fried and froze me!"
"No kidding," Jesse says as he helps Rogue to her feet, "you okay?"
"Ah'm fine," Rogue says, "man, that Blaster guy packs a punch! Just as much punch as you Scott."
"We'll have to ask the Professor if he knows anything," Jean says, "perhaps Cerebro picked something up."
"If nothing else we can warn the others," Jesse says.
later-
"This is a most distressing," Professor Xavier muses, "Cerebro detected no mutant activity, not even your own powers."
The four X-Men exchange glances. Jesse hadn't been informed of the full significance of Cerebro yet so he didn't know that this was a most unexpected development.
"So you have no idea who these mutants are, Professor?" Jesse asks.
"That is correct, Jesse," Professor Xavier replies, "but I feel that we will see them again in the future."
"Here's hoping that we don't," Jesse says wryly. The others nod in agreement. Those four mutants were strong, and well-trained. And they had powers that were honed for battle. It was sheer luck that they had been driven off with no injuries for the five of them.
"Go and get some rest," Professor Xavier says, "Jesse, Jean, I would like to speak with the two of you."
Rogue, Scott, and Kurt left the Professor's study, leaving Jesse and Jean to talk with him.
"I understand that you showed a marked improvement in your telekinesis today, Jesse," Professor Xavier comments.
Jesse nods. "Yessir. It came easier to me. A lot easier than it did yesterday."
"Have you tried anything else?" Professor Xavier asks.
"To tell the truth sir, the only other ability I've really used besides telekinesis I hope to never use again," Jesse replies grimly. The Professor and Jean nod their understanding. Jesse was still uncomfortable with some of his abilities, particularly his mind-altering abilities.
"Jesse, it is possible that your powers have grown in strength while you have been here," Professor Xavier says.
"Professor, Scott told me what happened with Jean when her powers grew," Jesse says, "if my powers have grown, why hasn't that happened to me?"
"Jesse, the powers that both you and Jean have are much stronger in Jean," Professor Xavier replies, "you also have several mental wards placed on your mind, inhibiting your powers. When they are removed, that is once you have gained control over them, you might have a few problems for a while before you adjust.
Jesse sighs. Right when he thought he had things figured out something threw him for a loop. Life was never easy.
That night, Professor Xavier was sitting in his study ruminating about the day's events. How had Jesse really been able to do what he had done? Everything he had said about his powers mutating further had been a lie. Some outside force had increased the strength of Jean's powers, but Xavier wasn't sure if the same or a different force had done the same to Jesse. Or perhaps Jesse's telekinetic powers were stronger than they had thought.. Whatever the reason, it had come at a fortuitous time.
They couldn't be sure that this new team of mutants hadn't had something to do with it. Logan had already checked the site of the battle but since the tide had come in he hadn't been able to identify any scents. It looked like they would have to wait for the Musu team to make the next move.
A few days later Jesse finally had a confrontation with the Brotherhood. He, Rogue, Kurt, and Scott were at the mall when Fred, Todd, Pietro, and Lance walked up.
"Well well well, looks like you geeks have picked someone else up," Lance jeers, "he even looks the part of a geek."
"Why don't you go and mind your own business, Alvers?" Scott demands.
"Yeah-I-mean-he-looks-even-wimpier-than-you-do-Summers," Pietro says. It takes Jesse a moment to realize what the speedster had said.
"Do you always talk like that?" Jesse asks.
"Whats-it-to-ya?" Pietro demands haughtily.
"Well, for one thing, how the heck do we know what you're saying?" Jesse inquires.
"So, what-does-it-matter?" Pietro demands.
"Just thought maybe you'd want to take others into consideration," Jesse replies stiffly.
"Now-why-would-I-do-that?" Pietro demands, "after-all-it's-not-my-fault-you're-all-so-slow."
"Hey man, what?" Todd demands. Even after knowing Pietro for years he still couldn't understand him when he spoke that fast. And poor Fred just looked completely lost.
Pietro sighs. This was what he got for having such slow friends. "I said, now why would I do that?"
"Oh," Todd says, then he makes out what the rest of what Pietro said was. "Hey!"
"And you're friends with him why?" Jesse asks the other members of the Brotherhood.
"Hey, he's more fun to be around than you geeks!" Todd snaps.
"At least we bathe regularly," Jesse replies coolly.
"Hey, I can't help it!" Todd snaps back, "it's a glandular problem!"
"There's a gland that keep you from bathing?" Jesse asks. Rogue and Kurt snort in amusement, while Scott looks torn between humor and stopping this.
"C'mon guys, we don't need to take this," Todd says, "we'll get you geeks later."
With that, the members of the Brotherhood walk off.
"Are they always like that?" Jesse asks.
"Yeah, they're real pains," Rogue says.
"And you used to live with them?" Jesse chuckles, "my sympathies for having to put up with the smell and ego's for so long."
Rogue grins. "Thanks. It wasn't easy. Fred wasn't too bad. He's sweet when he doesn't lose his temper."
"The problem is, he has a problem with people making fun of him," Scott comments, "I will admit though, the only one of them who doesn't have a lot of good qualities is Pietro. The others, well, they would actually be welcome at the mansion if they wanted to come. In fact, Todd and Fred were all offered places at the Institute but things just went wrong. Lance stayed for a while but we were all too on edge with him being there."
"They've been brainwashed by the propaganda given to them by, what was her name, Mystique, haven't they?" Jesse suggests. Kurt, Scott and Rogue think for a moment, then nod in agreement. It would certainly fit with how Mystique and Magneto worked. The Brotherhood, each member of them, had been duped by Mystique and Magneto. Except for Pietro, who was Magneto's son, the members of the Brotherhood were all misled. Pietro was nominally in charge of the Brotherhood and supposedly had something of a junior position in the Acolytes, like the New Mutants were to the X-Men. In short, Pietro was the Brotherhood's liaison to the Acolytes and vice versa.
"Yes they have," Scott answers sadly, "but they have made their own choices."
"As have we," Jesse agrees, "we want to just co-exist, without prejudice."
Scott, Kurt, and Rogue nod in agreement. The three of them were firm believers in Professor Xavier's dream, and Jesse's own ideals were parallel to the Professor's. More than ever since the emergence of his powers he just wanted to live in peace. But because of the common views on mutants if it was revealed that he was one then he might never get it.
"Let's get back to the Institute," Scott suggests, "you have a Danger Room simulation with the other New Mutants in an hour and a half Jesse."
Jesse grimaces. He didn't mind the rest of the New Mutants, but he really disliked the Danger Room. Logan had told him that now that his powers were more developed he could work with the others. Mostly though he was just working on his team coordination since his telekinesis wasn't sketchy in abrupt situations. Jean and the Professor had assured him though that he would get better with practice.
Three weeks have passed since Jesse moved to Bayville, a month since his powers activated. His training sessions with Jean and Logan were going well and now he was beginning to practice his telepathy. He had learned how to gleam surface thoughts easily and now he occasionally found himself responding to unspoken words.
Though he was now avoided when he was cooking almost as much as Kitty was. His food was more edible than hers, but unless he was following specific directions then he generally made a mess of things. Such as giving Logan such a bad case of food poisoning that he was stuck in bed for two days. Kurt and Tabitha were trying to figure out a way to feed some of Jesse's cooking to Fred to see if the Blob could handle it.
Now Jesse was going through a kata in one of the more secluded parts of the mansion's front yard. He was veiled by a small copse of trees. As he finishes the kata he suddenly feels the faint presence of another mind. A psionic mind.
"Is that you Jean?" Jesse calls out.
"Nope," an unfamiliar female voice replies. Jesse looks around for the source of the voice.
"Whose there?" he demands.
"My my, not much for patience, are you?" the stranger asks. Jesse realizes that he's hearing this person with his ears and his mind.
"Ah, so you figured it out," the stranger laughs, "glad you're not dense."
Jesse zeroes his mind on the source of the mental voice.
"Oh poo, you found me," the stranger says, the smirk evident in her voice. She steps out from behind a tree. Her outfit reminded Jesse of the ones that the members of Musu wore only it was solid white with a golden bird emblem on the chest. She had strawberry blonde hair that was in the same style as Jean's. Her blue-gray eyes seemed to have a mischievous glint, but Jesse couldn't be sure. Especially since mischievous in this case might result in his death.
"Another member of Musu?" Jesse asks curiously. The girl laughs.
"Why, yes I am," she replies, "you may call me Starbird."
"Code names only eh?" Jesse asks wryly, "tell me, why are you attacking me?"
"Well, for one thing, we don't like what gets away from us, and you did," Starbird replies, "we were going to recruit you but Xavier acted faster than we expected. Though you did activate sooner than expected as well."
"Activate?" Jesse blinks, "what do you mean!"
"Well, we knew that your powers would soon manifest, but we decided to be lenient and wait for them to come out, then recruit you," Starbird replies neutrally, "their sudden burst was unforeseen and most unfortunate."
"Unfortunate!" Jesse snaps, "you call turning my family into mental vegetables and killing my grandmother 'unfortunate!"
Starbird smirks. "My, don't we have a temper. You didn't used to be this way, Jesse."
"I would ask you how you knew my name, but since you appear to have been watching me before my powers came forth I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Jesse says angrily.
Starbird doesn't lose her smirk. "Oh no, I know your name for other reasons. What those are, maybe I'll tell you if you can beat me?"
"Beat you?" Jesse manages before having to duck from a sphere of telekinesis that shreds a tree branch just behind him. "Are you mad? That could have killed me!"
"Perhaps that's the idea," Starbird replies before throwing another sphere of telekinesis, but this one Jesse manages to block with a telekinetic barrier. With a gesture she lifts up several rocks and send them careening towards Jesse. Jesse's barrier continues to hold, but he knows he can't manage much more. In desperation, he tries sending out a mental call but he cannot feel any other mind. Its like that was a barrier around him that kept him from sensing anything through it.
"Surprised?" Starbird asks, "well, I couldn't have you calling the X-Men, could I? Don't worry, I am alone, and I'm sure I can handle you by myself."
"I think you may be mistaken, toots," Jesse replies as he grasps onto the soil just below Starbird and gives it a yank with his telekinesis. Not expecting something like this, having instead expecting him to attack her directly, Starbird falls gracelessly to the ground.
Not wasting a second, Jesse runs. He had to get past whatever barrier Starbird had erected and call for help. He wasn't a fighter. Not yet at least, from what Logan was saying. And Starbird definitely appeared to be planning on killing him.
But luck was not with him. Jesse runs smack dab into the barrier, a shimmering opaque wall of white light that reached up into the air and curved over the trees.
"Dang it!" Jesse growls, "I'm trapped!"
"Indeed you are!" Starbird calls out as she lobs another telekinetic sphere at Jesse that sparks against the shield when he dodges it. Starbird levitates dozens of small rocks and sends them flying at Jesse, but he diverts them with his own telekinesis, sending them uselessly against the barrier.
"You know there's no point in dragging this out," Starbird states, "tell ya what. Give up and come peacefully and I promise you'll live."
"And where would you be taking me?" Jesse asks.
"To your new home," Starbird replies, "we'll teach you how to really use your powers."
"At the cost of what?" Jesse asks, "friends? My morals? My sense of self?"
"We'll be your new friends," Starbird replies with a sultry smirk, "I in particular would like to be your friend again."
"Again?" Jesse blinks, "we know each other?"
"Some time ago," Starbird replies, "so, are you in?"
"While I would like to know how I knew you, I'm happy where I am," Jesse answers, "so I guess I'll have to politely decline your invitation."
"Very well then," Starbird sighs, "guess I'll just have to make it so that Xavier can't use you against us."
With that, Starbird raises her right arm, hand open and outstretched towards Jesse. Jesse begins to feel a slight tightening around his heart. She was using her telekinesis to crush his heart! And she was apparently going to do it slowly to give him a chance to change his mind.
"If you come with me, I can promise that you'll live," Starbird says calmly.
"Bite me," Jesse snaps as he sends a telekinetic spike at Starbird. She releases her grip on Jesse's heart to raise a shield. This gives Jesse a moment's reprieve to think of something else.
He doesn't. Starbird renews her assault on his heart, this time sparking some of his pain centers to keep him from attempting another telekinesis spike.
Inside his mind, Jesse can feel things falling apart. He was panicking. Things were beginning to go dark. He could feel the tenuous control he had over his partially freed telekinesis begin to lapse.
At the moment Jesse passes out, Kurt teleports in with Scott.
"Vhat are you doing to him!"
"Oopsie," Starbird says coyly, "forgot there was a teleporter here. Guess I'll have to come for dear Jesse later."
"I don't think so," Scott says adamantly, "release him!"
"I already have," Starbird replies, "he's still alive, though you might want to get him to a doctor. He's on the verge of cardiac arrest."
"How did you do this?" Scott demands.
Starbird laughs mirthlessly. "Why, like this!"
With that, Starbird levitates Scott and throws him into a tree. Scott's glasses fall off and an optic blast slams into Starbird, slamming her into a tree. Starbird rubs her head, fighting off the dizziness.
"I think I'd better get going," she says groggily. She taps the golden bird pattern on her uniform and disappears in a shimmer of white light. The luminescent dome disappears with her.
"You alright?" Kurt asks as Scott gets up.
"I'll be fine," Scott replies as he secures his glasses, "how's Jesse?"
"I zhink he vill be alright, but ve should get him to Beast," Kurt replies. Kurt grabs the both of them after he and Scott lift Jesse off the ground and he teleports them to the medical area of the Institute.
Later that day Jesse woke back up feeling pain in his chest.
"Easy Jesse, stay still," Hank McCoy orders. He runs a scanner over Jesse's chest, checking his heart.
"ooo what happened?" Jesse asks groggily.
"That girl, whoever she was, tried to crush your heart," Hank replies, "she had ample opportunity to do so, but she didn't."
"She wanted to get me to join them," Jesse says softly, "they were watching me from before my powers manifested. They KNEW my powers would manifest, and were waiting for it to happen."
"Jesse, calm down," Hank says soothingly, "you mustn't get worked up. Your heart just went through a great strain and it won't be up to par for a while."
Jesse sighs and adjusts himself, getting a bit more comfortable in the rough hospital bed.
"How much longer will I be here?" Jesse asks.
"A few days, perhaps," Hank assures him, "its Friday so you have the weekend and Monday you and Charles will be heading back to your home to finalize the legalities of your new guardianship."
Jesse nods. "So I have three, four days? Will that be enough?"
Hank nods. "You might want to try and take it easy for a while. I will tell Logan that you are not to train in the Danger Room, but other than that your training can go along smoothly."
Jesse nods in reluctant acceptance. Right now the Danger Room did little for his powers except slowly but surely enable him to bring them forth at a moments notice. He was getting more out of his training with Logan and Jean than the Danger Room.
a few days later-
Sunday Jesse found himself playing chess with Professor Xavier in his study. Xavier was an accomplished chess player while Jesse was relatively a novice. But he did enjoy playing. Locke had been teaching him how to play back home and Xavier was helping him learn. He said that chess was a good way to work the mind and Jesse had to agree. The day after being attacked by Starbird Jesse mostly stayed either in his room or in one of the living rooms watching cartoons with Jamie. Besides Scott, Kurt, and Rogue and his mentor/student relationship with Logan, Jesse seemed to bond with Jamie the most, and that was something no one could explain. The two of them had even pulled a prank or two on Bobby, much to the ice mutant's chagrin. Though he did find the pranks funny, even if he was the victim. His hair was still pink, but Jesse assured him that with another wash it would be back to normal.
"Knight takes Rook," Jesse says, moving the pieces appropriately with his telekinesis. It was Jesse who had thought to try the entire game using telekinesis. Even the pieces that had been taken out of the game were suspended mid-air over their heads. He was trying to focus his telepathy, but using it and his telekinesis at the same time was too much work at the moment.
"Excellent move Jesse," Professor Xavier comments telepathically. His own telekinetic powers were not that much, to tell the truth, but this was more an exercise for Jesse. He was using his telepathy to 'talk' to Jesse to help open his mind to his own telepathic powers while Jesse used his telekinesis to move the pieces.
"Thanks Professor," Jesse manages to respond, the chess pieces wavering slightly as he used his telepathy to 'talk' to the Professor.
"Are you adjusting well to the Institute?" Professor Xavier asks telepathically as he moves a Pawn to take Jesse's last Knight.
"Yes sir," Jesse replies vocally, "its nice here, and Scott, Kurt, and Rogue are great."
"Indeed," the Professor responds, "I'm glad that you find it enjoyable here. You know, your seventeenth birthday is on Tuesday. Will you be joining your friends in your former home to celebrate while we are there to finalize custody?"
"If I can," Jesse replies, "Rook takes Pawn. It's nice talking to Locke on the phone but I miss everyone else. I may not have been close to them, but I get a bit homesick you know?"
Professor Xavier nods his understanding. Scott, Ray (Berserker), Rogue, and Tabitha were the only ones who never got homesick because they each had a new home here at the Institute.
"And you miss your family?" Xavier asks softly, cutting off his telepathy for the time being.
"Its strange, but I do," Jesse replies, startling Xavier. Seeing the Professor's confused look, Jesse elaborates. "I was never close to a lot of my family. Heck, I'm already closer to Scott, Rogue, and Kurt than I was to most of my family save my aunt. I'm closer to Jamie than I was to any of my younger cousins."
Professor Xavier nods sadly. He knew that Jesse hadn't been on the best of terms with his family, and now that he felt responsible for their current conditions. Jesse was a good person who had had something very unfortunate happen to him. It was times like this though that made Xavier glad that there were places like the Institute.
"I'm glad I came here," Jesse continues, making the Professor wonder if Jesse had 'heard' his thoughts, "everyone is nice. I feel more at home here than I did back in Tennessee. And Kurt, Rogue, and Scott are great. Locke was the only person I've ever been as friendly with as I am with them."
Professor Xavier nods his understanding. He had seen how close Jesse, Kurt, Scott, and Rogue had become. It was heartening to see, especially since Rogue was smiling more. She had never smiled much, because of the burden her powers gave her, but after her traumatic episodes with her powers and then being used by Mesmero to release Apocalypse only Kurt had been able to get her to give even the smallest of smiles. Now she would smile and even laugh.
Scott had been less uptight as well. True, dating Jean had loosened him up greatly but now he was friendly and open. Nightcrawler too was happier than he had been since he had been forced to stop dating Amanda Sefton due to her parents had forbidden her to see him. He was still hurting, but he was better now.
Jesse himself had changed since he had first come to the mansion. Unsure of himself, scared of his powers, and horrified at what he had done, his adjustment had been hard. Moving to a new state, amidst total strangers. But he had bonded with Scott, Kurt, and Rogue. The four of them were well nigh inseparable. Much like Xavier recalled Scott and Jean being when they were younger after Jean first came to the Institute, before she began to become popular.
But a few stray thoughts worried him. In the visions he had gotten from Apocalypse before he had vanished into the flow of time, most of the X-Men were visible but Jesse was nowhere to be seen. Some of the Acolytes, such as Colossus and Gambit, had been present but not Jesse. What this meant, Xavier could only guess. Hopefully it did not mean anything sinister.
Turning his attention back to the game, Xavier moves his Queen. "Checkmate."
Jesse stares at the board for a moment, then sets all of the pieces back down as he moves them all into their starting positions. "Good game Professor. Shall we go again?"
Professor Xavier smiles. No matter what the challenges lay in the future for him, the X-Men, and Jesse, they would face it as a team, and as friends.
-
AdvertisementSpiderX
StoryID: 1898532/1/
Author: Agent-G
Summary: Spider-Man, X-Men: Evolution crossover. After their meeting with Warren, Rogue and Scott have another encounter while in New York.
My opinion: A brilliant story. I'm a huge fan of Spider-Man, in fact he's my favorite Marvel Comics character next to Wolverine (and even then it's a tight race) and, as my own story shows, I love X-Men: Evolution. The story is long, in fact its nearly finished and has 49 chapters, plus an Epilogue, and an upcoming sequel. This is a work of genius and I encourage you to read it if you haven't already. This story has a lot of the traditional X-Men: Evolution pairings such as Lance/Kitty, Scott/Jean, Kurt/Amanda (that normal girl he's seeing), but also one I'd never even consider: Rogue/Peter(Spider-Man).
I also got the idea for using telekinesis to try and crush Jesse's heart from the fic 'Family Affairs' by Agent-G.
Daniel Lynx: Jesse and Rogue? I dunno. I was planning on waiting until the sequel to pair Jesse up with anyone, but I think you've given me an idea. As for the rest of Jesse's powers, the realm of the mind is virtually limitless. grins If you look over the short list of powers that have been attributed to Jesse, you'll see that the only reason he can be considered a strong mutant because he has such a varied amount of psionic abilities. Most any psionic ability you can think of, Jesse has a weak, and I do mean weak, version of it. He will have one power that is above-average in strength, but I have yet to decide what it is. I might see if I can actually make one up.
I admit to being a Lance/Kitty fan, though don't expect a lot of fluff or anything like that. I'm going with about what they showed on the show (not that good a romance writer, but I know I can write some darn good sweet and tender moments). I am traditionally a Rogue/Gambit fan, but with a few fics I've read lately I'm more open-minded.
Also I was thinking of bringing Spider-Man into this in some fashion, though not as a student or anything. Trying to figure out how I want to bring him in and in what way. I'm leaning towards the movie version.
Sword info comes from http/ www. aiusa. com/medsword/vmframe.html
Voting: Hey, I was wondering what you think Jesse's strongest power should be. I did a little research in other Marvel characters and it turns out he has powers very similar to Frankling Richards, the son of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four. I thought he could just alter reality, but it seems that his psionic powers are so strong he can literally bend reality to his will. Jesse won't be nearly that strong (Franklin can do all that and he's only 5 or so, with mental blocks stopping most of his powers!), but he will be similar. Most of his powers will be slightly below average in strength, though they will support one another to get 125 out of what he can do with each ability (making them all about normal strength), but one power will be above average strength. Mind, these are what he'll be able to do with that one power once he's fully trained, and he probably won't achieve the level described in this fic.
The choices are:
1. Telepathy (can penetrate any mental barrier and will even be able to help Logan sort his memories)
2. Telekinesis (basically, he can shred matter with a thought by severing molecular bonds and create virtually solid barriers that can stop most anything short of a missile)
3. Psionic bolts (can gather free energy floating around in the air and chuck it out in concussive blasts with relative ease. If you're a fan of Dragon Ball Z, think Vegeta. This will give him slightly enhanced telekinesis as well)
4. Astral projection (his astral projected body will be able to interact physically if this is the one)
5. Memory altering/mind control (basically, think Mastermind with what he did to Wanda and Mesmero with what he did to the X-Men and Gambit)
6. Astral plane (basically he's one heck of a badass on the astral plane, where the powers of the mind are the ONLY powers viable, plus the mystic arts. He can pull others to the astral plane whether they could get there on their own or not including non-psionics and pull others from it. He can also completely transform his body into an astral form, making him sortof like a ghost, or maybe a poltergeist)
7. Sight (can see into the future, the past, and the present with the utmost clarity, or at least as much clarity as you can get with the future; will also have a danger sense like Spider-Man's, only it works for anyone in his immediate vicinity that he feels responsible for)
I am leaning towards one or two of the abilities personally, but I'd like reader input. Anyway, I hope everyone who reads this will review.