Chapter 2- New Acquaintances

The door burst open with the urgency of a hospital emergency room. Taylor set down eight large suitcases on the floor of his new school issued room on the top floor of the mansion. "I…had to ask….for a view." Taking deep breaths between each word, he regretted not packing light. "And…of course…why would…there be an elevator." Ororo had decided that since he now knew about his mutation, and because he was now a team member, that he should stay and take classes at the Academy to help him master his skills. Taylor had agreed and started to move. His condo, which he loved very much was sold to a newlywed couple for a decent price. The money went into Taylor's private account and what items he couldn't bring with him, he put in storage or sold. Now he regretted not selling more stuff. Turning around, he closed the bleak wooden door of his new confines. This move was going to be a major change. He loved living alone, but here he was a member of a collective of people, of mutants. "Don't be such a drama queen, Taylor." He had to admit, it was a nice room. There was a large four poster bed in the middle of the far wall, accented by a cliché set of windows on each side. There was a dresser across from the bathroom, both to the side of the bed, and a large mirror was crudely tacked on the door behind him. The curtains were a hideous olive color with small yellow-orange flur-de-lis imprints on the edges. This fate also condemned the bed; its comforter was practically strangling its restful appeal. The bland wallpaper, the worn burbur carpet, the pale cherry wood furniture, the old-fashioned pink bathroom, and the dead plant in the corner of the room, all gave Taylor the impression that no one had occupied the room for quite a while. He decided to ignore the sad state of the room for the moment, as he silently unpacked his stuff. Once everything was freakishly organized and put where Taylor thought it should go he surveyed the room again. "Now, what to do about the room…" Taylor thought for a while and didn't have a clue as to how to make this frog into a prince. As he glanced around the room, he noticed a small hitch in the application of the wall-covering. This, being the only wall without anything like a door or window, was where the dresser was located, and it looked as if something should be there. Trudging through the sea of suitcases, he made his way to the crack and gently pulled on the loose piece of paper. With a gentleness of a mother towards her baby, he tore the paper from the wall, revealing a quite interesting surprise. Underneath this mask of cream, he found a beautiful mural. When he pulled the piece, it acted as if it was a mummy unraveling, and the whole wall of paper was removed. The mural was a scene from The Phantom of the Opera; a dark river accompanied by a boat with a lovely young woman and a masked Phantom, heading towards his lair. The second half of the mural was the final scene of the play, when the woman and her lover were leaving the Phantom's lair, together. This just happened to be Taylor favorite play, and its beauty made it look to be professionally done. "If this was underneath, then I wonder…." He ran to the next wall, where the bed was located, and began to thoroughly rip and slash away at the paper. Taylor ripped through the entire room, leaving a trail of paper shreds behind him. While not as exciting as the first discovery, the other three walls were equally as beautiful. Behind the bed, acting as a painted headboard, was an elegant drawing of the poster from the opening of Phantom set into a traditional opera marquis. Above each window was another drawing of a poster in a marquis, the left had a poster for the Phantom's opera in the play, Don Juan Triumphant, and the right held a poster for Hannibal. The wall with the door to the hallway and the bathroom had lovely ornate borders around the doors and at the wall-ceiling intersect. "This is gorgeous. Whoever painted these has amazing talent." He began to gather the paper into a trash bag, and realized how much of a change that made. It gave the room a darker more private feel, the wood in the furniture also looked darker and rustic. He took the sorry excuses for curtains down, and put up plain black, contributing to the darkness. Setting up all his other decorations, it came to actually look like the Phantom's cavern lair. Taylor surveyed the final product. "Much better." "Interesting touch." The voice from behind him startled him a bit, since he didn't hear the door open. "Thanks, I'm new here. The name's…" Taylor jumped when he turned around; he wasn't expecting to see what he did. Taylor turned around to see a demon. With short dark blue fur covering his body, pointy ears, a black devil's tail, yellow piercing cat-like eyes and only three appendages on each hand and foot, he could easily have frightened anyone. He was wearing gloves on his hands and feet and had a tight partial black leather jumpsuit, complete with X-men logo, on, but it made no difference in Taylor's reaction. "Are you alright?" Though he didn't mean to, Taylor suddenly realized he had been staring, like it was a train wreck you just couldn't turn away from. "Oh, sorry" "Tis' all right mien freund, growing up looking like this, I've heard it all." This…creature seemed very kind, his thickly accented German voice came off sweetly, despite his evil look. Taylor, trying to be polite after he had already messed up, held out his hand. "I'm Taylor." "Kurt Wagner, but in the Munich circus I was known as the incredible Nightcrawler. I heard from Professor Xavier that you are a new team member. I am, what you would call, the welcoming committee." He smiled displaying a bright white row of sharp fang-like teeth. "Oh, thanks. I'm sorry for reacting the way I did." "Tis' alright, I did sneak up on you, so it was partly my fault. Well, I must take my leave, but I wanted to tell you that if you need anything just yell, I'm only a Bamf away." "A Bamf?" Smiling, Kurt's body disappeared suddenly, leaving behind a large black and purple cloud of smoke that smelt of brimstone. "Um…sorry again… bye. I guess that was a Bamf." Taylor couldn't help but feel bad for Kurt. Taylor had seen a lot of things, but even he was startled by Kurt's appearance. "Kurt likes to make flashy entrances and exits, me…I prefer the door." Taylor wasn't sure where the voice came from this time, but was made aware when a young girl walked right through the closed door. Finally seeing a familiar face, Taylor gave the girl a large hug. The girl was slightly tanned, with gorgeous short red hair, that didn't go past the lobe of her ear. Wearing a pair of tight low-cut jeans, and a slim-fitting tank-top, one could tell she was a teenager. Kitty Pryde was her name. She was a fun and spunky girl who always knew how to have a good time. Taylor had known Kitty since he was five. His mother would bring Kitty over to their house to play and hang out, but he had never suspected that she was a mutant. They were best friends, Hunter was his best male friend, and she was his female best friend, his quote "fag-hag". There were things that he would never tell Hunter, but he could tell Kitty. "Hey Taylor. How are you?" "Um…hi Kitty. I'm good, I'm also now a mutant, but somehow I think you already knew that, since you just…um what did you just do?" "It's called phasing, I can change the density of my body, to allow me to walk through different forms of matter. Didn't know I could do that huh?" She smiled. She reached down into the small pocket of her tight jeans and turned up a small piece of paper. She handed the scribbled-on note to Taylor, who unfolded it. "This'll help. It's a list. The team and their mutations. I didn't include all of the students here, but you'll get to know them eventually, this may come in handier if you go on a mission with someone you don't know yet." "Thanks." "No problem, sweetie." The small piece of paper held a list of scratchy names and powers.

Jean- Telekinesis and Telepathy (Scott's girl.)

Kurt- Teleportation and Cat-like Agility. (Really religious.)

Scott- Uncontrollable Optic Laser Blasts (long story)

Warren- Flight due to natural wings. (He's awesome!)

Logan- Healing abilities and Adamantium claws.(Kind of scares me.)

Professor X- Telepathy (He's really nice.)

Ororo(mom!)- Weather Control. (Your mom's really cool!)

Bobby- Organic control of Ice(He's cool, lol!)

John- Organic control of Fire (He's so cute!)

Kitty(me!)- Able to "Phase out" (Loads of fun! She's sooo sexy! Lol)

Theresa- Manipulation of sound waves. (She's a screamer. )

Rogue- Able to absorb other mutants powers. (Scary!)

Hunter(BF!)- Organic control of Metal. (Ka-ching! Lol)

Jubilee- Creates blinding fireworks. (Special Effects!)

Taylor(you!)- Telepathy, Telekinesis, and Weather Control.(You have too many. )

Taylor knew some of them but many of the names were new. He was about to meet more, though. As he glanced at the list, two more girls walked in. Taylor immediately looked up and got two very different vibes from each of these girls. The first walked in with the confidence of a thousand men, the long brown wavy hair flowing in the breeze created by her stride, added to her courageous appeal. Her tight fitting green miniskirt and haltertop, accentuated her fit figure, and showed off her "assets". Her deep blue eyes seemed to hold many mysteries, but also showed Taylor that no one will ever figure then out. The second girl seemed to be a loner. With a slight slouch, she acted as if afraid of others. She donned a long black trench coat, a black scarf, and black gloves, basically covering her entire body. Her hair also caught Taylor's attention, it was shoulder length, black, with a prominent ghost-white streak coming down over her pale face. The young girl seemed to avoid Taylor's gaze. "This is Theresa" Kitty motioned to the first guest. "And this is Rogue." While Rogue took no action in greeting Taylor, Theresa seemed all too eager to shake his hand. "Hi, nice to meet you. The name's Theresa Cassidy, or Siren if we ever go on a mish together." "Um…nice grip." Taylor's hand, which Theresa still held, was turning a pale shade of purple. She let go and her entire demeanor changed. She suddenly seemed silly, a bit embarrassed and almost shy. "Oh….I. hehe…um…sorry, got to go to class, c'mon Kit." She grabbed Kitty and Rogue and pulled them from Taylor's doorway into the quiet hall. "Taylor!" Kitty turned and, phasing, escaped from Theresa's grasp. "I'll meet you guys at class." Theresa shot a glance of slight anger towards Kitty, but it bounced off her friend's light attitude. "Sorry, she's very pushy when she wants to be. Mine and Rogue's room is down the hall and Theresa's is on the adjacent corridor. We have classes everyday, except of course on weekends, holidays, and any mission days."

"That's cool."

"Yeah,. Well I do need to get to class Scott gets really upset if people are late, so don't be late to his class, if you can help it."

"Ok, I won't. Kitty….wait."

"Yeah?"

"What's life like here?"

"Like, the academy?"

"Yeah."

"It's great, much better than our old schools. You don't have to worry about anyone thinking bad about you cause we're all the same. We're all mutants. And unlike evil mutants we want to make peace with the rest of humanity, not destroy it."

Taylor smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem, see you later." She ran out of the room. "Oh…and Taylor!" He leaned out of the doorway, hovering at an angle, acting as non-chalant as he could about using his powers. "Yeah." "Nice room." The sarcasm in her voice made him realize that his room was now kind-of over the top. Taylor closed his door and sat on his bed. He would fix it eventually, but right now a little over-stimulation was healthy for everyone here at the mansion. There was another knock on the door. Now what? "Who is it?" Taylor said annoyingly. "It's me." He recognized the voice, it was his mom. He got up and let her in. "Sorry about the 'tude." "That's quite alright, moving can be very stressful…" She looked around at his room. "I won't ask." Taylor laughed. "Thanks, What's up?" He asked.

"Well, I came to see how you were doing. But from the look of your room I guess the answer's fine."

"Yeah, I did a little redecorating."

"Well, good. I saw Kitty leave, you've been having visitors?"

"Yes, too many. First Kurt then Kitty, Theresa and Rogue."

"Ok, well I'll let you get settled in some more, you don't have classes for another two days, but first I need to tell you a few rules."

"Rules?"

"Yes rules."

"Ok." Taylor's voice mimicked a angry child, pouting.

"First, don't leave the academy grounds without one of us, as in the adults."

"I'm an adult."

"You know what I mean."

"Ok, I won't leave."

"Second, no one that isn't a student or part of the faculty is allowed to enter the mansion. Meaning no parties." She stared at him.

"What! It was one measly party."

"Measly? You caught the neighbors house on fire!"

"I put it out, and apologized."

"I know but still, no one. Understand?"

"Yeah, no one, gotcha."

"Ok, third, and this is my personal rule for you, don't go down to the beach."

"But it's not outside the grounds, I thought you said I could go anywhere on the academy grounds?"

"Well you can, except there."

"Why?"

"Because we don't have any surveillance down there." He could tell his mom was lying.

"What's the real reason?"

"Can you just obey me for once?."

"But…."

"Taylor please…" She stopped.

"I won't go down to the beach."

"Thank you."

She gave him a kiss and, criticizing some of the décor, left. Once he couldn't hear her footsteps he went to his window, opened it and looked down towards the water. "Mom, I love you, but you are an awful liar." Thinking about his mom's plea to obey he turned around and smiled. "I'm not about to start obeying now, not when I have super powers, I have to go down to the beach."

As night fell on the mansion, the whole of the activity of the mansion began to stop. Taylor found It began to get very late. Taylor decided that maybe he should get to bed, he starts classes the next day. Taylor took a shower, changed, and got in bed. He fell asleep almost immediately. Then, almost as fast as he went to sleep, he began to dream. He was seeing memories of his past, memories of the night his father died. It was very clear, almost real.

It was a cloudy night. Taylor and his father were coming home from a baseball game. Yankees vs. Cardinals, Taylor remembered it well. They were driving down one of Manhattan's many streets. Suddenly the car turned and began moving down a dark alley. Taylor could see the fear in his father's eyes. Something was terribly wrong. Then the car stopped. Taylor's father, Caimen, turned to him. "Run Son, Get out of the car and run as fast as you can." Taylor couldn't grasp the severity of the situation, at the time. "But I thought we were getting ice cream." Caimen jumped out of the car and ran to Taylor's door, he opened it. He grabbed Taylor's wrist and pulled him from the car as it flew up and crashed into a brick wall. "Taylor, listen to me, I want you to run. Run home to your mother and tell her "He's out." Can you do that?"

"Okay, but Daddy…aren't you coming with me?"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Taylor just go."

His father turned to see a tall shadowy figure floating above the ground. "Taylor go..." His father was cut of as a metal beam had just wrapped itself around his neck. "No, I think the boy should stay." The man was talking. "I always need more members in the Brotherhood." Taylor saw his father struggling to say something. Taylor ran over to his father. "Daddy, I'm scared." Fighting to get air his father spoke the last words Taylor ever heard from him. "Be strong Taylor, fight for what you love...Goodbye, son, I love you." At that moment the metal beam literally ripped the head off of Taylor's father. Young Taylor, now realizing what happened began to cry hysterically. As tears tore their way from Taylor's eyes, he began to inch closer to the stranger. "No stay away, I don't like you. You hurt my daddy." And he began to scream at the top of his lungs. Suddenly he was grabbed by someone and pulled to the ground. Whoever or whatever held him began to soar away from the stranger at an amazing speed and height. Taylor looked back at the man who had just rescued him from his tormentor. He was no older than thirteen, with a look of protective innocence. Smiling at the now safe Taylor, he continued to carry Taylor away from the harsh madness of the world. The stranger was gentle with long blond hair, that fluttered gently in the breeze, and enormous satin-white angel wings. The last sound Taylor remembered of that night was the loud roar of a motorcycle as the final gift from his attacker reached them. It missed. Soon after, Taylor fell asleep, still crying over his loss but once again feeling safe in this wonderful boy's arms.

The loud roar of a motorcycle woke Taylor. His breathing was heavy and his body was drenched in sweat. A single tear rolled down Taylor's cheek, he had never felt as safe or as grateful to anyone as he had in the arms of that strange boy. Taylor deeply wished that he had known who that stranger was. As he got up to see what was going on, the thoughts of being held like that filled his head. He walked over to the window and, throwing back the curtains and opening the pane, glanced out towards the garage. The lights were bright and the doors were open as someone was working. "Who would be crazy enough to work on a bike now?" As he focused on the figure, his mind began to wander. Whoever this was had an amazing body. Taylor was almost entranced, watching the figures' strong muscles flex and move with the grace of a dancer. The figure brought his head out from under the bike. It was Logan. "Oh…um…well that explains it." This added to the awkwardness of the moment. Logan was much older than him, and had been like a father figure to him. His body was even more accentuated by the tight pair of jeans and tight, white, oil soaked muscle-shirt he was wearing. Taylor "knew" that Logan could sense him. Taylor watched as Logan slowly took off the shirt. Taylor could see Logan's muscles move and flex as he made adjustments to the bike, almost egging him on to watch. Snapping out of the trance, Taylor couldn't believe it, he actually was entranced by Logan. Taylor quickly closed the curtain. Trying to get the image of Logan shirtless and sweating out of his head he remembered about the beach. "Well, I guess now is as good a time as any." So, quickly throwing on some dark clothes, he snuck out into the hall. The entire floor was asleep, and Taylor could have easily heard a pin drop. So, the noise that echoed through the hall when he stepped on a rickety old floor-board sounded like a train wreck, in the midst of the silence. He froze dead in his tracks. Wait! What am I doing? Remembering that he now had amazing preternatural abilities, he flew up a few inches and started hovering towards the stairwell. Much better. Once he reached the staircase, he gently glided from level to level until, he was faced with the main hall. The lights were off in the hall but Taylor could see the alarm system was on and ready. Judging by the powers of the teachers here, Taylor figured that the alarms would probably trigger some horrifying disaster, so as gently as possible he raised his hand and sent a small bolt of electricity through it, to disarm it. It worked. He began to fly freely to the back door, picking up speed. However, when he passed the kitchen, which was on the most direct route to the back grounds, he heard some strange noises. He stopped, and floating down to the floor at the kitchen door, he pressed his ear to the keyhole and listened. The noises coming from that room were strong and passionate. Taylor knew the sounds of love when he heard them, but the odd thing was that he could only hear two men. Entranced by the action taking place behind the door, almost wishing he could join them, Taylor waited and continued to listen. The sounds grew louder and frenzied, the scents of musk and sweat filled Taylor's nostrils and willed him away, but he stayed, he wanted to know the men behind the door. He listened more carefully and, as the lust increased and the pleasure-full moaning grew, that's when he heard it. One of the mystery men had said Scott. Taylor acknowledged the possibility that it could have been a fluke on the part of one of the lovers, but when he heard it again he was convinced. Someone had said Scott, someone with a distinctively German accent. As quiet as he was when he entered the hall, Taylor slowly backed away from the kitchen door, leaving the lovers to finish their ritual.

Once he was outside he flew as fast as he could till he could see the specks of the sand swirling in the cool water. He immediately landed and began to walk, at a slow and constantly relaxing pace. Taylor was desperately trying to get the mental images he was generating out of his head as he continued walking, without much luck. Taylor was surprised, he had always thought of Mr. Summers…well Scott, as a tight-ass. The irony was not lost on Taylor; he began to laugh at his own wit. "I guess I should ask Kurt about it…" Strolling further down the beach, feeling the wind in his hair, the sand under his shoes, Taylor felt calm, at peace. The beach was very peaceful at night. As he walked he noticed a small slanted wooden shack about thirty feet from the shore, but he decided to avoid it. Taylor sat down on the beach and spread his arms open on the sand, thinking about all the events of the night. With the rythym of the night, and the breeze coming from the water it was not long until Taylor fell into a deep peaceful, dream-less sleep.

It was probably the best sleep Taylor had gotten in a long time. Turning away from the sun, he curled up with the soft blanket that he now held in his arms. Immediately Taylor shot up. He had fallen asleep outside, and now lay in a soft comfortable bed in a rather homey room. No bigger than a hotel room, the place had a single bed; a small kitchenette, complete with fridge and hot-plate; an obvious bathroom door, leading to a white tiled room; a small two-person dinning table, set for a breakfast for two; and a door leading somewhere else, probably outside. Being in a strange room made Taylor kind of freak out. Also realizing that he was now clad only in his boxers and an undershirt, Taylor began to really question where he was. Glancing around, he saw his clothes lying on a small dresser. A creak from the bathroom door caught his attention. Not moving much, but being prepared for the worst, Taylor was surprised to see a man, no older than his early 20's, walk into the room. "Well, I see you awake." Taylor looked at him, he was hot. Moving up from the towel, the stranger's chest was perfect. Smooth and tanned, his six-pack glistened from the water. Continuing up with his firm pectorals, his arms were long and resembled a warrior's. As he moved up the defined collarbone and long sinewy neck, Taylor arrived at the man's face. His long chestnut hair was messy from the shower and hung down recklessly, but at that instant he pulled it back to reveal the treasure beneath. Strong cheekbones, a beautiful jaw-line, fair skin, and crimson eyes, added to his appeal. His jaw had some slight stubble, giving him a ruggedly handsome look. He had a certain sexy air about him that made you want to go weak in the knees. He had a distinctive accent, if only Taylor knew where it originated from. "Are you gonna say sometin'?" Snapping out of his trance, Taylor immediately held out his hand. "Oh, sorry, Um…I'm Taylor. Taylor Monroe." "Nice to meet ya, Taylor. Remy LeBeau, but everyone calls me Gambit." Gambit's handshake was firm and soft, but also still wet from his shower. "Sorry 'bout de' water." "Hehe, It's ok." He was acting like Theresa did, when they first met, it was a sad sight. The Cajun walked over to one of the chairs and sat down, the towel riding up, but not far enough for Taylor to see anything. "Care for some breakfast?" "Sure." Slowly rising from his comfortable cocoon, Taylor trudged over to the table and sat down. "Eggs?" "Um…sure." Taylor wasn't really sure who Gambit was or why he was pampering Taylor, but he was cute so Taylor went with it. He also took the liberty to begin the real conversation. "Mind if I ask where your accent is from? Like, where did you live…before here?" He poured Taylor some orange juice from a small carton, and proceeded with the story. "Gambit was born in Louisiana, New Orleans to be exact. Started out as a thief an' ended up a master in a guild. Married even. Got tired a' that, moved up 'ere and when he found out Gambit was a mutant, Prof X asked me to join, said yes…'ere we are." Taylor knew that there was more to the story, but he would take whatever the mysterious Gambit would give him. "Can I ask why you brought me in here, and took my clothes of?" Suddenly Gambit's face changed to one of worry. He acted like he was afraid Taylor would be mad. "Well, Gambit 'tink dat you would be more comfortable in a bed, and in well…uh…less clothes?" He laughed, and Gambit breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, thank you. I appreciate you taking the time to do this for me." "Don worry, mon ami. Gambit don' mind." Breakfast lasted for about thirty minutes, with plenty of small talk and bonding. Taylor told Gambit about his life before the mansion, being normal. He even shared with Gambit, the story of his father. "Dat sounds like…nevamind, Gambit talkin' crazy." "Do you always refer to yourself in third person?" This question seemed to upset him. "You don' like it?" The face that Gambit gave Taylor screamed, Say Yes! "Keep it, it's cute." He flashed a bright set of pearly white teeth, that Taylor had missed before. "Tanks." "No problem, um…can I get dressed now?" Gambit laughed. "If ya want." Gambit continued to eat, and dry himself at the same time, never catching the glances Taylor gave him, as he moved. Taylor picked up his clothes from the dresser and proceeded into the bathroom, thinking about his new friend, and hoping to develop it into something more.

As Taylor and his new Cajun friend walked towards the manor, Taylot couldn't help but feel drawn to him. He had changed as well, now donning a long brown duster, "Well, I had a really great time. Thank you." He inched closer to Gambit with every word. "Well, Gambit did to, mon ami." Seemingly avoiding a good-bye kiss, Gambit turned around swiftly and started walking towards his shack. Damn, so close. As a disappointed Taylor watched his new eye candy walk away, he was surprised to see a large shadowy blur jump from the dunes and tackle Gambit. Taylor jumped back. The creature stood up and Taylor saw the horror of the creature's face. Mangled facial features, tortured eyes, twisted snout, and pale yellow parchment-skin, riddled the creatures face. His body was unnaturally strong and large, and his claws and taloned feet made Taylor step away from him. Receiving a strange human vibe from the creature, Taylor tried to make 'contact.' "Um…Can I help you?" The creature's growls and grunting swipes, directed towards Taylor's face, told Taylor that he wasn't getting through. "Can we talk about this, I mean…" The creature let out a high pitch terrifying howl, causing Taylor's spine to tingle. "I can see you're a man of few words." Backing up slowly, Taylor decide that he might need to take a more offensive approach. He conjured some fog, as his hair stood out and eyes went white, to confuse it. The fog was tremendously thick and the creatures angry howling alerted Taylor that it had done it's job. "Well, he's pissed." Gathering more power, Taylor flew up out of the fog to search for his missing friend. Through the fog Taylor could see a blurry shadow lying still on the ground. "Got you, buddy." Flying into the fog, spreading it thin around his destination, Taylor found out that it wasn't his Cajun companion. The creature hurled itself at Taylor, knocking the breath out of him and him out of the air. With it's claws, it pinned him to the ground. This thing was very strong and Taylor could barely breathe under the pressure of the creature's bloodied hands. Apparently the creature had killed before, Taylor could sense it. Not wanting to be next, Taylor began to concentrate again. A dark cloud came over head as static electricity filled Taylor's white wind-blown hair. A giant bolt of lightning shot down through the sky, striking the creature squarely in the back. Shocked unconscious by the blast, Taylor pushed the creature off of him. "Gambit?" Taylor ran to where his friend had fallen, frantically searching for him. "Gambit? Where are you?" He stopped. A low growl alerted his attention to the water. With a powerful leap, the creature jumped up, regained its balance, and took a fighting stance. "So, you want more?" Taylor smiled, but, taking too much time, the creature swiped at his arm, cutting him above the elbow. "Shit!" Jumping back and using his telekinesis, Taylor held the creature in place, lifting him above the sand. Taylor jumped up and held himself midair and, Matrix style, kicked the creature into the water. Flying back into the surf, the creature sunk down under the water. "Take that you freak!" Congratulating himself, Taylor turned to begin the search for his still missing friend. He slid down behind a neighboring dune and landed on top of Gambit. He looked a little bruised and cut, but over all he was alright. "Hey, Gambit. Are you ok?" "Gambit fine, homme." "Well, I don't think we need to worry about that creature, for a while at least." "Gambit impressed. You' strong." Being on top of Gambit brought back memories of his long awaited good-bye kiss. As Taylor leaned into Gambit's strong body, he was thrust up into the air and thrown down, as the creature pounced on top of him. I wish he would stop that! As he wrestled with the creature, Taylor saw a small object flash and explode violently on the creature's back. It cried out in pain as blood dripped on to Taylor's face, it had been hit hard. Ignoring Taylor for the moment, the creature slashed at Gambit. That's when Gambit kicked into over-drive. Taylor had never seen anybody fight as fast as Gambit did. With quick thrusts and lightning-fast hits, Gambit attacked the creature, leaving his mark. The rage grew in the creature, and his rage overcame Gambit's skill. Slicing into Gambit's abdomen, one last time, the creature grabbed him and threw him aside. It regained its composure turned towards Taylor. Taylor was still recovering from the first blow he had received, and didn't have time to react when the creature jumped on him. As saliva and mud fell onto Taylor, a series of growls and grunts gave him the impression that the creature was trying to speak to him. "Sorry dude, I don't understand you." It growled in anger, apparently upset at Taylor's response. The creature wrapped it's large hands around Taylor's neck and began to close off his windpipe. Taylor could barely breathe, and with each struggle the creature tightened his grip. In one last effort Taylor reached up and touched the creature's face, blasting it with as powerful a mental attack as he could manage. Immediately, it stopped choking Taylor as a blank expression went across its face. Taylor should have let go. As Taylor began to recover from the momentary lack of air, a sudden surge of memories and data rushed into Taylor's mind. Taylor saw things that he's only seen in nightmares. This creature was a mutant experiment gone terribly wrong. This man was once a leading geneticist who had been working for a secret government agency in Canada and eventually for Magneto. From what Taylor could gather, he was the doctor that headed all mutant experimentation done in the past 20 years, he was the expert. He was the lead doctor that coated Logan's skeleton with adamantium. Taylor saw all the horrific details of each experiment. Unfortunately, after the experimentation, the doctor felt guilty about experimenting on mutants so he used his knowledge to slowly transform himself into this horrible creature. For years he had been traveling around, a mindless killing machine, going from town to town trying to find who he used to be. As Taylor tried to comprehend the event that had just occurred, the creature sat there, his mind drained accidentally by Taylor, who now possessed its entire mental capacity. Taylor was in control enough to see Gambit push the creature off of him. "You Ok, homme?" Taylor was shaking violently and breathing heavy. Gambit held out his hand to help Taylor up. When he didn't take the hand willingly, Gambit grabbed Taylor and lifted him up, into his arms. "Whas' wrong?" "I…I…I…didn't mean to…" He was stuttering rubbish that Gambit didn't understand, and was still shaking. "Do what? Gambit don' tink' you lookin' to good." Using both hands, he held Taylor in front of him and looked deep into his eyes. Even Gambit couldn't help but be frightened; he could see Taylor's fear. He knew that whatever Taylor saw was really freaking him out. "Gambit tink" we should get you inside, mon ami." Taylor didn't say anything, he lay in Gambit's arms, terrified. Lifting him higher and starting towards the school, Gambit held tightly on to Taylor, trying to convey safety. He couldn't feel anything but the mind of the creature, however, Taylor, subconsciously, held on tightly to Gambit's duster. The Cajun began to run, hoping Professor Xavier could help Taylor, the younger man's mind still flashing horrifying images of mutant procedures.

The mansion was no longer the quite mausoleum it was when Taylor left. When they entered the mansion Gambit yelled and screamed at the students to move, and reaching the kitchen set down Taylor in a chair. "Stay ere' Gambit gonna get Jean and the Professor." Gambit figured that no one would care to be in the kitchen at this time, so, leaving Taylor in his altered state, he went to find Professor Xavier. Gambit ran out of the room into the crowded hall. This was passing period and the students were in a frenzy to reach their next class. Pushing younger students aside, the Cajun made his way to Professor Xavier's office. Gambit pounded on the door for several seconds before Dr. Jean Grey opened it to him. One of Professor Xavier's first student, Jean was red-headed psionic with iron-clad willpower and an affinity towards leadership and power. Tall and slander, with light skin and deep meaningful blue eyes, Jean was something to look at. Her beauty was intelligence and her mind was equally as strong, second in power only to Professor Xavier. She gave a strong presence to any room. "Gambit, how can we help you?" Professor Xavier casually moved towards Gambit. "Is Taylor, sometin's wrong." Jean felt a twinge in his voice, a mix between fear and worry, over the younger man's health. It was sweet. Not wasting any time, Professor Xavier quickly scanned the frantic man's mind, to get a grasp on the situation. He turned to Jean and with a look of worry and determination uttered two words to Jean, that spoke tomes. "Move them." Immediately, unbeknownst to most of the students, Jean harnessed her amazing telekinetic abilities and pushed every student in the hall to the side, making a clear pathway for them. They ran from the office, directly into the kitchen. Jean ran in first followed by Professor Xavier and Gambit. Taylor was not in the place where Gambit had left him. Huddling in the corner, above the refrigerator, Taylor had barricaded himself from the world. A fence of static electricity surrounded him, and most of the kitchen utensils were currently floating around the room. "Gambit tol' you. He's scared o' sometin'." "Something is definetly wrong." Jean reached her hand out to try to touch Taylor, to examine him, but she couldn't. The field of lightning was too strong, even for her. When Jean reached out her arm he jumped back and changed his entire expression, his eyes staying blank. "Taylor…can you hear me? What's wrong?" "Stay away from me! I won't let you touch me!" Taylor raised his hands as his eyes drastically went white. "Jean!" Lunging towards her just in the nick of time, Gambit pushed Jean out of Taylor's line of fire as a huge jolt of electricity left his hand and shot into the cabinets behind her, annihilating the once mahogany covered plastic shelves. "Hurry, get out." Professor Xavier brought them both out from the kitchen into the now empty hall, classes had started again. "Memories." "What?" Both of them were puzzled by Professor Xavier's response. "He's seeing memories. His mind is not his own, it is currently filled with someone else's."

"Who's?"

"I'm not sure, but the memories are of Logan's procedure."

"What procedure?"

"The one that laced his body in adamantium."

"You mean…the mutant experimentation?"

"Yes."

"Oh my god. Is that why he attacked me? Did he think that I was one…of them?"

"Yes, I believe so."

"Gambit." Jean turned to the now confused Cajun. "What happened outside?"

"Well, e' was out dere' and fell asleep, so's Gambit take 'im inside, let him rest. Then, once he wake up, we outside, sometin' attack us. Taylor touched the creature and e' started actin' like dis'…" Before he could finish the entire story, Professor Xavier interrupted. "It's alright, I searched your mind earlier, I know what caused this."

"What?"

"Well, It's not very common, but in the hands of an inexperienced telepath a lethal mind blast can turn sour. The mind of the other person gets pushed into the telepath's mind, changing them for a while. Taylor is one of those inexperienced telepaths, and now he is living the memories of the procedure."

"Then whatever attacked him must have had something to do with the experiments." "I think he was the doctor who presided over them." Jean was hoping he would not tell her that. What Taylor must be feeling, must be awful. It is. With a new confidence, Jean re-entered the room, ready to help Taylor. As they re-entered the kitchen, they found it almost completely demolished, and they found Taylor huddling in one corner on the opposite side of the room. Jean. I know Professor. Professor Xavier handed Jean a small syringe and she began to prep it. "Was' that gonna do? It ain't gonna hurt im' is it?" "No, it will merely sedate him for a while, until we can clear the images out." "Ok, just don't hurt im." Jean smiled at the worry that Gambit was showing over Taylor. "I won't." Using her telekinesis she gently flew the medicine over to Taylor and, as quickly and efficiently as possible, administered it to him. Taylor fell asleep soon after, still shaking over all that he had seen, but now resting in the arms of the obviously love-struck Cajun.