Disclaimer: Does this really need to be said? I don't own X-men or anything else I may mention in this fic. Everything goes to their respective owners, including the OCs. I only own one of them...but I'm not telling you who.
Author's Note: Hello and welcome to the first chapter of True Origins! For those of you who participated in my little project (and you know who you are), Exalt! Your OC is definitely part of the story. In fact, you can even say this is your story. Woah, way too much FFX there. Anyways, if any of you out there are feeling down because you missed your chance, let it be known that I do cameo appearances... so you may get in-even if you aren't one of the main characters. Give me your OCs via email (not review! Fanfiction will smite me if you do!)and your character may appear in the next update!
Another side note: this takes place after "Turn of the Rogue" but before "Spykecam" in season one. Also, I'd like to thank a couple people for making this possible. First and foremost, I'd like to thank Cinder and her brown beta pen of justice. Next is Caffeine Junkie...without her, none of the first chapter would've ever gotten done. And last but definitely NOT least is A-Rog! Thanks for the encouragement! Oh, and these aren't all the characters. There will be new characters in up-coming chapters. Okay now, on with the show!
Prologue- A Time for Change: Part One
A couple minutes past dawn found Alex asleep under a heavily vandalized bridge. Piles of yellowed newspapers, old greasy McDonald's bags, torn out pages of various magazines, and empty beer cans were strewn all over the place. Ever since his arrival in the relatively small town of Bayville, he'd been working at one of the many McDonalds branches trying to earn enough money to survive. Minimum wage didn't pay much, but it was better than nothing and those free hamburgers did appeal to him...for about a week. After that, he didn't want to see another hamburger for as long as he lived.
But now he didn't have to worry about ever seeing a hamburger or a paycheck now that he had no job. Since the day he was laid off, he'd been living in various places; with the Morlocks, under bridges, in other people's garages...of course there was always the Xavier Institute. But since he lacked the courage required to just walk up and knock on the front door, he remained a homeless runaway who now slept under a bridge down by the river. Saturday Night Live didn't seem as funny as it did before.
The sun's bright light pierced the shadows of the quickly retreating darkness and in the process managed to wake Alex up.
"Mmm..." He mumbled as he rolled over on some newspapers and covered his head with a dirty, stained, pillow. But since now the pillow was on his head instead of under his head, he was forced to use the soil as a replacement. His futile attempt to block out the annoying sunlight was short-lived.
"Shit..." He sweared under his breath.
He had wanted to sleep in this morning. Damn Rush Limbaugh! He'd sleep past eleven if he wanted to! There was absolutely nothing to stop him. He didn't go to school anymore...he didn't have anywhere to go or anyone to see. Nothing could stop him...except maybe the sun.
Standing up, he walked out from under the bridge to greet the new day with a large frown.
"Damn sun."
The sun was slowly rising above the tree tops, its golden light filtering through the leaves. Alex felt the light's warmth on his face and sighed. Another day in unemployment. He picked up a small rock and threw it into the river in some attempt to relieve his frustration. If only he could find a job...
He has already gone through all the classifieds in all the newspapers he could get his hands on. He had gone through a couple of job interviews, but apparently they were looking for someone with at least a high school diploma or a G.E.D. And his worn out, dirty clothes didn't help much either.
Alex stared out at the river and threw another rock into the water.
Whoosh
A sudden icy gust blew past Alex making him cling to his black button-up shirt for warmth. However, his shirt wasn't being very helpful. Fall was approaching quickly and he was still wearing shorts and thin cotton T-shirts. But then it wasn't like he had a walk-in closet full of designer clothes, so he'd just have to be happy with what he had and wait until he got a job...unless he didn't turn into a human popsicle first.
The wind started to pick up and the temperature was dropping rapidly. Alex turned to return to his temporary home under the bridge when a page from a random newspaper flew smack into his face. He grabbed it and was just about to crumple it into a small paper wad when something on it caught his eye.
'Wanted: experienced guitarists.'
He checked the date and found that it was only three days old. A smile formed across his face. Maybe he'd get those winter clothes after all...
"...Lennie is often referred to as an animal in Steinbeck's novel."
Phoebe sat in the far back of the classroom contemplating her plan of attack. It was three against one and she was running out of ammo. The odds were against her but she wasn't about to be outclassed by some snot-nosed up-starts. She ducked as several small projectiles flew past her head. Phoebe frowned as her opponents snickered at her.
They won't be laughing for long! She thought self-confidently. Not after all the welts I'm gonna give these ass-whipes!
"In chapter one alone he's referred to as a bear, a horse, and a terrier."
She reached deep into one of her pants pockets and pulled out an old beige rubber band. Stretching the rubber band back so it was taunt, she aimed at her target, who currently had his back turned to her.
Sssst
Just as she was about to let the rubber band go she felt something graze against her cheek.
Oh crap...
She quickly ducked under her desk as a volley of air projectiles flew past her.
"And here we all thought you were the Rubber band War Queen!"
A chorus of snickers quickly proceeded the comment and just added to Phoebe's agitation. The equivalent to setting off several hydrogen bombs at once.
"Rubber band Queen my ass!"
Once again she stretched the old rubber band back and aimed at the snickering boys.
"Miss. Night! What was Steinbeck trying to tell his readers!"
Startled by the sudden change of volume in her English teacher's voice, she let the rubber band go. It sailed through the air, missed it's target, and managed to hit an unsuspecting blue haired student in the face.
"Miss.Night, I've had just about enough of-"
"I'm so sorry I'm late!"
The whole class turned around to see a rather short teenage girl standing near the entrance of the doorway.
"I got lost..."
"Oh, you must be the new student." The teacher replied as he looked through the attendance list "...Jamie Robinson?"
The girl nodded.
"Good. Now all we need is Miss. Morgan to make a perfect attendance. Jamie, you can sit in the empty seat in the back."
The class watched as the new-comer took her respective seat in the back and then their attention snapped back to Phoebe, who was currently wishing she could disappear through the floor.
"Well Miss. Night, do you have an answer?"
"Erm...uh, well...I-"
Phoebe was suddenly interrupted by the very distinctive and annoying ring of the fire alarm.
"This is not a test. Teachers, please escort your class to the nearest exit and line up in your..."
The rest of what the voice on the intercom said was drowned out by the sudden explosion of chatter among the students. In a matter of seconds the classroom became a chaotic mess. Most of the boys screamed and shouted in mock panic while the girls began to talk noisily in their own little groups. Obviously the fact that some part of the school was on fire hadn't registered yet. The poor teacher had to yell several times to get the class attention and even then some weren't listening...among them was the self-proclaimed "Rubber band War Queen" and her best friend, Hope Brooks.
"What's going on!"
"...Well, obviously something's on fire."
Hope frowned and then said, "Yeah, I know, but you know what I mean."
"I dunno. Maybe Cloud blew something up in Chemistry again."
The once populated hallways of Bayville High were now desolate and empty. The only evidence that they had once been bustling with activity was some trash and a few torn up editions of the school newspaper that littered the dirty tile floors. She smiled inwardly at her accomplishment while walking down one of the many hallways.
Idiots didn't even bother to see if there was a fire before evacuating.
Half way down the said hall she came across an abandoned copy of the Bayville Bee, the school newspaper. She picked it up and her eyes narrowed as she read the first pages' headline: Jean Grey, Shinning New Hope For Bayville Soccer Team
Jean Grey. Little Miss. Perfect. She was popular and was always surrounded by her friends. She was athletic and on the A honor roll. She was pretty. She had this annoying sense of morality that made her want to vomit and now this. Now she was "Bayville's Shinning New Hope". She stood there glaring at the headline picture in disgust...and perhaps a little jealousy. There, Jean Grey was in mid-kick, a determined look on her face.
Suddenly the continents of a nearby trashcan ignited in flame.
"Fuck..."
She looked down at the edition of the Bayville Bee she held in her hand and then to the trashcan of hellfire. With spite, she threw it into the flames and watched it disintegrate.
At least there's a fire now.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Open Damnit!"
Three teenage boys surrounded a metal cash register in the small, musty high school bookstore.
"I thought you said you had the key, yo."
"Well I don't, okay!"
"Hey, no need to get all PMS on us Lauren-I mean Lance."
The tallest of the three whirled around and faced the skinny white haired boy who dared to address him as a girl.
"What was that Maximoff!"
"I said, no need to get all PMS on us Lauren."
"Lauren" or Lance threw a punch at his insulter only to miss.
"What's the matter Grungy? Too fast for you?"
Before the skinny boy could get throttled, the bookstore's door swung open. Startled, the three boys quickly turned to see a tan slender girl leaning against the doorway.
"Oh, it only you. We thought it was someone important."
"Where've you been, yo? You're late!"
Ignoring the first comment, she walked over to the cash register and said, "I didn't know I was expected to come. This is just a Brotherhood thing, remember? You said it yourself, 'no girls allowed'."
"We don't need your help." Lance replied, pushing the girl out of his way. "I can break this bitch open myself!"
"...Whatever."
A couple minutes passed and all Lance managed to do was hurt his hands from punching the register.
"That's it!"
He picked up the cash register and was about to throw it across the room when his grip on it slipped...
"Fuck!"
The heavy metal box fell on his foot making Lance do "The Dance of Pain" while everyone, with the exception of the girl, laughed at him.
"Pathetic..." The girl muttered as she rolled her eyes.
The antics would've gone on for a while longer if it weren't for a voice heard outside the store.
"Yeah Mike, I thought I heard some noise down here..."
"Shit!" said the smallest of the hour hellions.
"What the fuck are we gonna do!"
"Alexia!" Lance exclaimed "Put the register in Todd's backpack!"
"I thought you didn't need my help." The girl replied sarcastically.
"Why my backpack!"
"Shut up!"
The footsteps stopped for a minute or two and then continued to echo down the hallway.
"C'mon!"
Stuffing the cash register in Todd's sorry excuse for a backpack, Lance looked out the door to see if the coast was clear. The hallway was completely empty. Not a soul in sight.
"Grab your asses and let's get outta here!"
By the time the fire engines had arrived it was pretty much obvious to the school staff that there was not big fire in the first place. Well, except if you count one odd trash can, but even that was extinguished by now. Still, the fire department insisted upon an inspection. So while the valiant and slightly pissed off fire men searched for imaginary fires, the students and staff sat down to lunch on the lawn in front of the school.
"I wonder what it is today?" Hope asked prodding her sandwich
"Well...it looks like roast beef," Phoebe replied "But I'm not completely sure."
Hope grimaced at the thought of the mystery meat and then wondered if the cafeteria ladies were also the people who made the eating challenges for Fear Factor. "I'm not hungry anymore..."
"Hey Hope, isn't that the new girl?" Phoebe asked, pointing to a girl sitting alone some distance off.
"Yeah, I think she is. Her name was...Jennie? Right?"
"I dunno."
"She looks kinda sad. Let's go cheer her up!" Hope exclaimed
"Let's not."
"Oh C'mon! Let's not go through the whole "I'm suspicious about new people" thing again!"
"I'm not suspicious, I'm just being cautious!"
Hope rolled her eyes "Do you remember how you acted around Cloud when he first came to the mansion? Do you remember the Danger Room sessions!"
"It's not my fault! He was in my way!"
"And he still wont talk to you!"
Phoebe crossed her arms in front her chest and looked away.
"Well, if you change you mind, I'll be sitting over there with Jen...the new girl."
With that, Hope stood up and left her best friend there to pout for as long as she wanted-and that would probably be awhile.
"Hey."
She leaned against a metal bike rack, a half eaten peach in one hand and a crumpled up wad of paper in the other.
"Did you see that..."
"Oh yeah! I read..."
She silently observed the utter pandemonium that was lunch time break, picking up bits and pieces of conversations here and there.
"Isn't it great?"
"Yeah, she definitely..."
"Hey."
And it seemed that every conversation she eavesdropped in had something to do with "Bayville's Shinning New Hope".
"Jean's so cool!"
"She's nice too."
"I heard the team might win the championships."
"Well with Jean playing they might as well hand over the cup."
Jean "Little Miss Perfect" Grey. Boys worshipped the ground she walked on and girls wanted to be like her. Everyone in Bayville High seemed to be tripping over themselves to bow down to her.
"I wish I was..."
"Hey!"
They wouldn't be so eager to bow down to her if they knew what she was...
"Hey!"
A freak. A demon. A mutant.
"Alexia!"
"WHAT!" She yelled angrily, turning towards the annoying twit-who happened to be Fred. "What is it!"
"Hey, what's that?" He asked, looking at the wad of paper in her hand
"Detention slip-"
"Got one too."
Yeah, 'cause you were too busy feeding your fat ass...
"Yeah, I bet you do..." Alexia mumbled
"Did you read that article about Je-"
"Is there a point to this conversation or did you just come over here to annoy me? What do you want?"
"Uhh...are you gonna finish eating that?" He asked pointing to the half eaten peach.
That was the last straw. Alexia's composure exploded into ashes-along with the peach in her hand. The remains of the once ripe juicy fruit fell through her fingers and slowly drifted towards the ground. She then proceeded to stomp off, leaving Fred there to stare dejectedly at the ashes of what would've been (could've been, should've been) part of his lunch.
She sat underneath the vivid leafy canopy of a tall maple tree reading quietly...an anomaly that rivaled the solar eclipse. But Lillian Braun had just published a new book and Jim Qwilleran was calling to her.
It was late October, and Moose County, four hundred miles north of everywhere, was in danger of being wiped off the map.
Her first visit to Moose County had been a couple years ago (although to her it seemed a blur considering all that had happened within the succession of the last months) and ever since then she was a loyal fan. Koko and Yum-Yum was her drug of choice and Lillian Braun was her main supplier. Now don't get the wrong idea, she wasn't a druggie. She'd never done drugs before. Ever. And she didn't plan to. It would've been easy to get them though; with her wealthy parents she could've bought anything. But when she read that brilliant author's writing it was like she was sucked right into the story. So in a way it was like being on hallucinogens-only without the nasty side-effects.
In the grip of a record-breaking drought, towns and farms and forests could be reduced to ashes overnight given a single spark and a high wind.
Well...in her case, there was one side-effect. Withdrawal. And so, to feed her obsession, she re-read the books and wrote fanfiction.
Volunteer firefighters were on round-the-clock alert, and the congregations of fourteen churches prayed for snow.
So imagine her excitement when she found out that Lillian had published another book after what seemed like years of waiting (but in reality it was only five or six months). She practically ran to the local bookstore and got so worked up that she forgot that her money was in her pocket which resulted in a embarrassing panic attack at the cashier's counter.
And there she sat, eyes glued to the pages of her book, completely oblivious to the world around her-
"Hey."
which is why she jumped when she heard a voice speak to her. She looked up to see a girl maybe two or three inches taller than her. The girl sat down next to her, smiled warmly, and extended her hand.
"My name's Hope."
"Jamie." She replied happily, shaking Hope's hand
"What're you reading?"
She picked up the book off her lap and held it up so Hope could see the cover. "The Cat Who! It's part of a book series by Lillian Braun!"
"I've never heard of-"
"Oh, you mean that dumb cat-cozy mystery series? I've heard of it."
The two girls turned around to see (yet another) girl wearing a long black trench coat. She leaned her shoulder against the smooth bark of the tree and said "So you're the new-"
"It's NOT dumb!"
"Of course no-"
"Phoebe!"
"What! I'm just-"
Ka-boom!
"What the fuck!"
The three girls whirled around to see what the hell had happened. They that some distance away, a large crowd was quickly gathering around one of the lunch benches despite a few teachers efforts to break it up.
"...It's her." The sarcastic (trench coat) girl said in a venomous tone pointing to a blonde a ways off who seemed very eager to get away from the crowd.
"Her who?" Jamie asked, more than a little confused "Huh?"
"Well..." Hope said attempting to break the awkward silence. She glanced back at her best friend and noticed that she was still glaring at the mysterious 'her', seething hatred (or what looked like it) burning bright in her neon purple eyes. "Um...Pheb-"
"Watch out!"
Lady luck had obviously smiled on Hope because she was spared the pain and torture of eradicating such a tense moment. A soccer ball did it for her instead. It soared through the air and landed smack dab in Phoebe's head. The poor girl stumbled backwards and then fell to the ground twitching slightly. At first Hope considered helping her friend back up but decided that it was best to leave her down there. Even though Phebes had a problem with new people, it gave her no right to give Jamie the third degree.
"Hey! Heey!"
Three boys, one whose hair was reminisce to McHammer's, ran up to the group of girls.
"Are you al..." All of them stopped and stared at Phoebe (who was still on the ground twitching) and then looked at each other.
"Crap..."
Very slowly they began to step backwards, suddenly very intent on leaving for reasons unknown. And just as they were about to hightail it out of there an incensed sounding voice stopped them dead in their tracks.
"Just WHERE do you think you're all going!"
A visible shiver of fear ran through the group of misfortunates as they turned to see the monster that was sure to gobble them up. But instead of a fire breathing dragon or an eighteen headed hell hound, they saw a monster far worse. A monster so frightening that it would've sent Jason Voorhees screaming back to Camp Crystal Lake and into his lake. They saw a very pissed looking Phoebe Night.
"Who kicked THIS in my HEAD!" She yelled as she pointed to the soccer ball that was laying innocently on the grass.
Silence. For some reason the sound of crickets chirping could be heard in the background-even though it was nowhere near night time.
"Well!"
"Evan did it!"
"It's Cloud's fault!"
"It was all Ethan!"
Jamie and Hope had to suppress (or at least try) a mass amount of giggles as they watched dumb, dumber, and dumberer point to each other accusingly.
"You have five seconds to tell me who it was..." Phoebe threatened as she began to pull off one of her gloves "or else I'll-"
"It was Evan!" Cloud and Ethan yelled simultaneously pointing at Phoebe's supposed offender for emphasis.
For a minute, poor Evan was at a loss for words having just been falsely accused of something he didn't do. He just stood where he was with a classic "Deer in the Headlights" look and then, as if by delayed reaction, he ran. Not one to let it's prey get away, the "monster" charged after him with the soccer ball held in it's hands.
"...I-Is she always like that?" Jamie asked hesitantly as she watched Evan run for his life.
"Pretty much..." Cloud replied while shaking his head.
"Does Anyone know what happened over there?" Hope asked, pointing to the now empty lunch bench.
"Jean Grey's lunch...blew up in her face."
"Blew up?"
"Yeah, just exploded."
"Lunches don't just explode."
"Hey, that's what I saw so don't shoot me." Cloud said, a hint of aggravation in his voice "Anyways, it isn't like this is something new..."
"You're right. I should be used to stuff like this but...ever since she came, Phoebe's been flipping out over th-"
"If you ask me, Phebes is a raging psycho on birthcon-"
"I didn't ask you." Hope retorted as she glared at him icily. He, in turn, just shrugged "I still think sh-"
"Hey! Hey look!"
A couple feet away Ethan was doing a handstand (obviously showing off his superior masculinity)while Jamie clapped.
"Big showoff..."
"You're going to fall and crack your head open and I'm going to laugh and say I told you so!" Hope exclaimed and then smiled as a new, more sardonic thought entered her mind "Then again, there's not alot up there to damage in the first place..."
"Hey!-Ahh!"
Unfortunately the shrill ring of the lunch bell broke Ethan's focus and he fell flat on his back. Luckily, there was no severe head trauma or brain hemorrhages, but it still hurt.
"Are you okay!"
"Oh he's alright!" Hope said as she walked over to Ethan and offered her hand to help him up.
"I don't need your help!" He scowled as he stood up and brushed off his clothes. With that, Ethan stomped off in a huff.
Cloud shook his head "I'll see you later, okay?"
"Yeah."
Hope watched as he, along with many others, made a mass exodus from the lawn back into the school. She then turned to Jamie, who was picking up her cat book.
"I'm sorry about Ethan and Phoebe... They're just like that sometimes, especially with new people. But they're really nice once you get to know them." Hope explained "Hey! Why don't you come to the concert with us! It'll be fun, I promise!"
"Concert?" Jamie asked excitedly "There's a concert?"
"Yeah, it's tonight at the fairgrounds. Meet us there at eight and we can all sneak in together!"
"Why can't we just buy tickets at the gate?"
"They're all sold out and we didn't buy any tickets in advance. But it doesn't matter, it'll be more fun sneaking in. It'll be like a Mission Impossible!"
"Okay! Tonight at eight at the fairgrounds, got it!"
"Well, I'll see you there!"
Jamie smiled and waved at her new found friend and then realized that, she too, had class.
Suddenly, life seemed to take on a brighter and more positive hue since he had found that newspaper ad. Everything seemed happier and more alive. Where there was trash, he saw treasure just waiting to be found. Where there were drunks passed out in the back alley of the Green Door bar, he saw...well, okay not everything was happy-rainbow-flowers but hell, Mr. Hagen (the grumpy old butcher who owned and managed his own meat store) seemed less angry and that was good enough for him! And so he walked blithe (Yes, I did use a Thesaurus) and carefree down the sidewalk holding his guitar and the newspaper ad while wearing his invisible rose-colored glasses of unfounded optimism.
He looked down and re-read the address printed at the bottom of the advertisement and then to the building in front of him: Aladdin Bail Bonds.
That's the LAST thing I need!
After much walking and of directions like a disoriented tourist, he found that the place he was looking for was a block and a half away from where he currently was. Ten minutes later, he found the place he was looking for. It was a small yellow and brown house that rented the rooms out to various businesses and looked as if it hadn't been painted in awhile because the paint was beginning to chip. It had a small wooden porch painted over in a dull brown color. To tell the truth it didn't look welcoming. It seemed an aura of creepiness surrounded it- or that's what it seemed to Alex. Despite all this; despite the cracked paint, the lack of light in the windows, and it's over-all unkept appearance-what'd he do? That's right! He walked right in! For NOTHING can defeat the rose-colored glasses of unfounded optimism!
The freaky meter leaped up by a couple points and steadily increased as he stepped in (what looked like) a small waiting room. A few old editions of some travel magazine were piled on top of a dusty wooded coffee table. Around this coffee table were eggshell colored couches, the only keeping them clean and white were their clear plastic covers. He looked around in the semi-darkness searching of some sign of life when he was that the light in one office down the hall was turned on. So he marched happily down that hall, fully confident that he would get the job. As he got closer to the office he heard voices. Two of them in fact. One was deep and gruff and probably belonged to a man-at least that's what Alex assumed. That being the case, it could've belonged to a women-he just hoped it didn't. The other voice was of a higher pitch than the other and possessed a faint accent that he couldn't place. And both of these voices seemed to be arguing over something. Of course Alex, being too high-strung on the prospect of a job (Let's not forget the paycheck) opened the door and walked right in.
He had been right; inside the office was a squat middle-aged man who was missing most of his hair. The little hair his did have was combed over the gaping bald spot and made Donald Trump's hair look fashionable. The other person was a girl in her early teens who looked so pale it was as if she'd never been out in the sun before. But both of them, no matter how different they were, shared one common feature- they both looked pissed and suddenly Alex became aware that his timing was slightly off.
"This is a privet meeting in session here! Didn't you see the sign? Please leave." Said ( Mr. Clean...otherwise known as) the balding man motioning with his hands to go away.
Alex looked at the door and sure enough there was the sign. Funny, he hadn't noticed it before. "B-but I'm here for the job!"
"Job! What are you talking about?"
He held up the newspaper in his hands "The one in the newspaper! You said you needed 'experienced guitarists'."
"Sorry, we have all the guitarists we need. Anyways, we don't hire bums." The squat man said as he tried to push poor Alex out the door
"No! W-wait! Listen!"
Alex picked up his guitar and struck a few chords and soon he began playing a song while singing. The other two people held their ears and cringed in pain as the screeching this boy called music echoed throughout the room.
"Okay! Okay. Just stop singing!" Yelled the man "You have talent with that guitar of yours...but you seem to be lacking in the singing department. Since I'm feeling generous today, I'll hire you-just don't sing. Ever."
Upon hearing that he was hired Alex did his happy dance and silently thanked whatever God or gods he prayed to for his success. "Thank you! Thank you! You won't be disappointed- I promise!"
"Yeah, yeah. The performance is tonight at eight at the fairgrounds but be there a couple hours before that. We're gonna do a quick run-through before the concert. And...go cut your hair or do something. Make yourself at least look presentable!"
"Thank you again! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Okay! Just. Go."
With that, the man pushed Alex out the door and slammed it closed. He waited until he was absolutely sure the bum he just hired (for some reason) was out of hearing range, he turned back to face the teen.
"One hundred, and that's my final offer!"
"A hundred seventy five."
"One twenty five!"
"One fifty three!"
"One fifty! Take it or leave it!"
The young girl sighed and accepted her defeat. "Fine, one fifty."
"Good. And you understand the terms of this deal?"
She nodded and then said "I'm to...dispose of them. Just one question? Who are these X-men?"
