Author's note: Sorry it took so long to post. Okay, this chapter is going to get the plot going. I apologize it didn't start earlier. Wow, I feel weird now. I don't have a big author's note like the first two chapters. Maybe I should just make up some stuff to take up space so this author's note isn't so small. But that requires more work, so I guess I'll leave it like so. Hi-ho silver! AWAY!
Boots: What's PR?
skyangle2004: Some of his past will be revealed here and there. Which will include how he got to the X-men.
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Fritz weaved his way through the crowded cafeteria and wandered outside into the bright sunlight. He looked around for some familiar faces and spotted Scott waving his hand over his head. Fritz stumbled past a table of football jocks and almost dropped his food when one of the football players tossed a ball to another. "Watch where your going!" One of the jocks yelled.
"Damn jocks." Fritz thought as he regained his balance. He hurried to the table where all the other X-men were sitting and took a seat at the end.
"Vhat's up man?" Kurt asked around a mouth full of food.
"Nothing much." Fritz slipped his backpack off and slid it under the table.
"How has your first day been so far?" Jean asked sounding like a nagging mother.
"Well, History was fine. But my Biology teacher expects me to write a page on the differences of a deciduous forest and a coniferousforest. I've never heard of either one." Fritz heard Jean start to explain the difference but decided to just continue anyway. "Then in English my teacher wants me to write a professional résumé. I'm 16, what do I need a résumé for!? I finally go a break in Spanish because I don't know any of the words yet." He didn't really feel like eating much so he pushed his tray away.
"See Fritz, you're day is getting better." Scott tried to cheer him up but it wasn't working.
"What classes do you have after lunch?" Kitty asked
"Uh, let's see." Fritz pulled a wrinkled up piece of paper out of his pocked and unfolded it. He squinted a bit trying to make out the smudged writing. "Theatre, then... Calculus." He folded the paper back up and stuffed it in his pocket.
"Calculus?" Evan questioned. "Isn't that like senior math?"
"Actually, I think it's like, advanced senior math," Kitty said.
Fritz looked at his watch, about seven minutes till the bell "Uh-oh, here comes trouble," Rogue said. A second later Fritz's can of cherry coke was snatched off the table.
"What the hell!?" Fritz stood up ready to confront the assailant but was met with a hand on his chest.
"Don't try it man," Pietro said. He took his hand away from Fritz's chest and looked around the table at the other X-men.
"Don't worry, I wasn't drinking that." Fritz said.
Lance waived the can in the air and took another drink. "Good, cause I'm thirsty."
"Quit being such a jerk Lance." Kitty stood up and walked over to him.
"What do you care?" Lance asked angrily.
"He's like, my friend dummy." Kitty grabbed the can and set it on the table.
"And I'm your boyfriend," Lance pointed out.
"Yeah but that doesn't like, give you the right to be an asshole," Kitty put her hands on her hips.
Fritz just stood there watching the two argue. "Why is she sticking up for me; and to her boyfriend? Am I missing something?" Fritz thought.
"So who is he anyway?" Lance asked looking over at Fritz who was still standing.
"He's a new student at the Institute. He moved here from Denver." Kitty started to relax and act like a girlfriend does rather than an enemy.
"You mean a new MUTANT." Lance said like he was the only one who figured it out.
"Duh." Fritz said plainly.
"Whatever, let's go babe." Lance grabbed her hand and walked away forcing Kitty to follow. Kitty turned around and mouthed, "I'm sorry" to the group before she, Lance and Pietro rounded a corner.
"Prick." Fritz sat down and tossed his violated coke into a nearby trashcan.
"Don't worry about him, he's just being Lance." Scott said. "Oh yeah, before I forget, sorry about this morning. I was a little tired. I guess I need to get to bed a little earlier." He extended his hand towards Fritz. "Are we cool?"
"...yeah, we're cool." Fritz shook Scott's hand just as the bell rang.
Fritz tossed his backpack on his bed and kicked off his shoes. He briefly went over his classes in his mind to see if he had any homework. "Oh yeah, Biology and English." He thoughtHe looked down at his backpack just as he heard someone call his name.
"Hey Fritz! You've got a package man!" Fritz heard Evan yell from down stairs.
"I have all day to do homework." Fritz said to himself. He rushed out of his room and down the hall.
"What is if?" Evan was standing over the big box.
Fritz lifted it off the ground and headed back to his room. "My computer. My mom mailed it so I didn't have to take it with me on the plane." He climbed the stairs carefully so he wouldn't trip and trop the heavy box.
He shut the door to his room and set the box on the ground next to his desk. Inside was his pride and joy. I took him years to save up for it, but he had finally built the PC of his dreams. Fritz considered it top of the line, even though he knew it wasn't that good. It was a lime green with a window on the side to view all of his lights and fans. It only took Fritz a matter of minutes to set up and boot the system. But he soon lost track of time when he got online.
Hours later Fritz shut down his computer and looked at the clock on his bed stand. It read 8:23 pm. "Whoa, I think I missed dinner." He said to no one. "I guess that answers my question, no one tells you if your missing dinner. Maybe that's why Kitty told me dinner is at 7:00 every night."
He walked down the hall and towards the kitchen. He passed through the foyer where he found Kitty and Kurt sitting on the couch watching TV. "Are you like, feeling alright?" Kitty asked when she noticed Fritz in the room.
"Fine. Why?" Fritz didn't remember every saying he felt bad.
"You didn't come down for dinner." Kitty sounded a bit worried.
"Oh, right. I lost track of time is all," Fritz said.
"That's good, as long as you're like, feeling fine." Kitty turned back to the TV feeling a bit better.
Fritz wandered into the kitchen and grabbed an apple out of the fridge. He started thinking back to his danger room session, and how he fell from roof to roof, rather than flew. "Maybe I should work on my flight." Fritz thought.
He ran back to his room and changed into his modified uniform. Ororo had fixed the holes where his wings and tail ripped through, and fabricated special holes that would open before this wings or tail ripped it again.
He walked through the foyer and looked over at the couch to find Kitty resting her head on Kurt's shoulder. Fritz slowed his pace as he looked at the two. "You know of coarse Kurt, this means war," he thought angrilyFritzpicked up his pace as he made his way to the danger room.
When he got there, the door was locked. "Damn, too late." He looked at the viewing monitor next to the door. Logan was in there running a simulation. "This could take awhile," he said to himself.
Fritz looked back down the hall. "I guess I could as long as I stay close to the mansion." He thought.
He took the elevator back to the ground floor and went outside. Fritz walked around to the side of the institute and looked up at the roof. "Here we go again," he said aloud.
He mutated and after being forced to the ground from the pain, he stood up and looked back at the roof. Using his sharp talons he climbed the wall slowly. He still wasn't used to this body. After making it to the top he walked to the edge and looked out at the many acres of land.
"Plenty of room to practice." It was easier to start off on a high platform then from the ground. This way he didn't have to fight against gravity as much. Fritz spread his dark wings and after a small delay, he jumped.
Fritz could feel the wind against his skin and the feeling of weightlessness. But it was quickly replaced with pain as he hit the ground hard. "Daaaaaa!" Fritz picked himself up and looked around the grounds to make sure nobody saw him.
He shook of the pain and made his way to the side of the house. Fritz folded his wings over his shoulders and across his chest to form a sort of "cloak" so they were out of his way. He made his way to the top of the institute once again. He spread his wings and jumped. It pretty much went just like the first time, weightlessness followed by pain; and just like the first time, he got up and did it again.
"This is getting old." He said aloud as he got up for the fifth time. His whole body ached and he didn't know how much more he could take. He climbed the side of the institute for the last time and spread his wings one more time. He had some cuts and scrapes here and there as well as some bruises he'd probably have to explain later.
He looked down at the ground and without hesitation, jumped. He fought to stay airborne but began to lose altitude. He flapped his wings wildly as a last attempt to stay in the air and was rewarded when he didn't hit the ground. Instead he balanced out and flew smoothly through the air. "YEAH!" He screamed. "Woo hoo!" He yelled as he turned this way and that, flapping his wings.
He soon got a bit tiered of the constant flapping, so he stretched them out and kept them open. Fritz glided across the institute grounds and decided he had had enough so he slowly drifted to the ground. "Oh yeah, I should probably work on landing too." He muttered before he hit the ground and rolled on his back.
He laid they panting, staring up the giant trees that towered over him. He was startled when he heard clapping coming from behind him. He jumped to his feet and looked in the direction of the clapping. He spotted a tall, slender woman in the shadows.
"Very impressive." The woman said as she moved into the light, it was Mystique. "I've been watching you for some time now, and I've got to say, you're magnificent." She stepped closer only to see Fritz step further away.
"Who are you? Are you a teacher here?" Fritz wondered how many mutants had visible mutations. So far he thought Kurt, Hank, and himself were the only ones. He didn't feel safe around the blue woman though. He didn't know why, after all he had just met her but there was something about her he didn't trust.
"My name is Mystique. I wouldn't say I'm a teacher, more of an advisor." She kept her distance now. She didn't want to scare him off already.
"So you don't live here?" Fritz clacked his beak and tilted his head.
"No. I'm a friend of Xavier's." Mystique sat down on an old tree stump.
"What are you doing out here?" Fritz started to relax a bit but he didn't let his guard down.
"I could ask you the same question." She stood up and started to slowly pace around Fritz.
Fritz suddenly felt embarrassed. He forgot she had seen him fall all those times. "So...what do you want?" He just now realized that Mystique was walking circles around him. Studying him.
"You. Look at you; you're a perfect being. Do you know what the two of us could accomplish if we worked together?" Mystique stopped her pacing in front of Fritz to look him in the face.
"Not exactly." Fritz couldn't think of what she was talking about.
"No matter. You'll know sooner or later." Mystique turned and started walking deeper into the forest.
Fritz wanted to know more about her so he followed. "What do you mean sooner or later?"
"I'm going to offer you a proposition. You can take it or leave it." She kept her pace, looking back every now and then as if someone was following her.
"Okay, shoot." Fritz found it hard to keep up so he picked up the pace.
"Join with me. I'll teach you great things." Mystique sounded like she was selling something.
Fritz stopped where he was. "Join you? What about Xavier?" Mystique hadn't stopped walking so by now she was plenty far ahead. Fritz dropped down on all fours and ran after her. He caught up with her but rather than stand up straight and walk on two feet, he found it easier to keep up with the blue mutant on all fours.
"Ah yes, Xavier. His dream is for mutants to live peacefully with humans." Mystique said the last word with anger laced in it. "He's a fool."
"What's wrong with that? You don't think it can happen?" Fritz stood now as Mystique stopped at the wall of the institute.
"Let me show you something. Come with me." She turned to face Fritz .
"Why, how do I know I can trust you?" Fritz actually was starting to trust her.
"I'm trying to help you." She sounded like a concerned mother.
Fritz stared at his three taloned feet for a while. "Alright. I'm Fritz by the way."
"I know. Like I said, I've been watching you for some time now." Mystique said. This sent chills down Fritz's back. Mystique turned towards the wall and jumped. She grabbed the ledge and pulled her self up and over.
Fritz mutated back to normal and climbed his way over the wall. He held himself at the top while he looked back at the mansion. "No one in sight." He looked down on the other side of the wall and saw Mystique waiting for him in a green convertible. He hopped down and got in the passenger seat.
The two sped down the empty street and headed in the direction of the city. "Where are we going?" Fritz asked, not wanting to go far from the institute.
"Not much further." Mystique kept her eyes on the road.
The two drove down one of the darker and more deserted streets of Manhattan. Fritz couldn't stand the silence so he reached over and turned on the radio. He sat back and snuck a peek a Mystique. When she didn't say or do anything he reached forward again and tuned the radio into a rock station. He finally started to relax as the sound so Godsmack swept through the car. They came to a stop next to an alley and Mystique put the car in park.
"Look down there," Mystique pointed down the alley at a group of four men. Fritz did so and saw three big white guys hitting, kicking, and pushing black man down the alley.
"Someone should help him!" Fritz grabbed the door handle to open the door but Mystique stopped him.
"I wouldn't. They'll do the same to you. Look at them Fritz." The white men now had the black man pinned against a wall and were throwing things like beer bottles and rocks at him. "They do this because his skin is darker. He is different they can't even accept other humans in there society. Do you really think they'd accept you?"
Fritz looked back down the alley. The three big guys were gone but the black man was left in a bloody mess against a wall. Mystique put the car into drive and started down the road again. They came to a small house at the end of the road. Mystique parked the car and got out. Fritz followed her as she walked around to the back of the house. The two ducked under the kitchen window and looked in.
Inside, Fritz could see an young kid about his age and an older man; obviously father and son. "Get out of this house you fucking fag!" The father picked up a lamp and threw it across the room at his son who leaped out of the way. The lamp crashed against the wall and shattered.
"Dad! Please!" The kid yelled but his dad just picked up another object to throw. The older man threw the TV remote at his son, which flew past the kid and smashed through a window.
"I said get out of here! I'm won't have a gay man living in this house." The father yelled again and again he threw something. This time the kid ran out of the room and out the front door.
Mystique gestured for Fritz to follow he back to the car. They ducked around the house and got to the just in time to see the kid turn the corner at the end of the road in a sprint.
"Not even families can accept their own. He is kicked out of his house. Why, because he's gay?" Mystique was finally getting Fritz to understand. She could tell by the way he looked at her. "He is different. Just like you and me. Humans can't accept things that are different. That's why Xavier is a fool."
"So what do we do?" Fritz wanted to help Mystique. He just didn't know how yet.
Mystique led them back to the car. They got in and took off down the street. "We need to help them understand." Mystique finally said.
"How can I help?" Fritz turned the radio down now that he had something to talk about.
"You need to bring Logan to me." Mystique turned the car into an empty warehouse parking lot.
"What happened to trying to help Xavier understand?" Fritz thought the whole point was to convince Xavier that humans couldn't accept mutants.
"Xavier's mind is too powerful to change. Plus, he wouldn't follow you here." Mystique pointed to the old building. "If we can help Wolverine understand though, then he can help us get to the professor."
"Okay. What do you want me to do?" Fritz questioned.
"All you need to do is bring Logan here in two days Mystique said. "I'll take care of the rest."
"Why two days?" Fritz asked.
"I need time to prepare." Mystique put the car into drive and left the warehouse parking lot.
The two sat in silence the rest of the way back to the mansion. Fritz left the radio alone this time because he was thinking about the situation. They arrived at the Institutes front gates and Fritz got out of the convertible.
"Remember Fritz, two days at the warehouse down town." Mystique reminded him as if he was going to forget.
"Don't worry, I remember." Fritz walked towards the gates as Mystique drove off towards the brotherhood house. Fritz entered his personal ID number into the keypad and the gates opened.
Author's note: Sorry this chapter was so long. I wanted to get one of the side plots going and I didn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer. Which brings me to my other point. Please excuse me if the story sounds a bit...jumbled and thrown together. I wrote half of it at home and the other half at school. Also, It's like 1:23 in the morning here and I'm really tired. So if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I would be more than happy to answer them. Please remember to review.