Author's Note: Okay. Since everyone's been asking for longer chapters, I'm giving you longer chapters. Each and every chapter will be just about as long as the last one, give or take a little bit. You guys like the change?
Flapjack101: Thanks. I'll do my best to keep up the good work.
Way to Evil: Legend of the Dragon might take a while to update. I've been working on it though.
Mark C: Everyone is getting along nicely, but some relationships are begin to strain a bit, so you can never be completely sure what'll happen. And thank you for your long reviews. Seriously, I love them. They're really, really helpful and encouraging. I'm glad to see that my long absence with my broken hand hasn't made me loose too many readers.
Kimi Kaida: I'm sorry it's taking me so long to post these. I'm busy in RL during the summer months, and I've been away from home for the past few weeks. I hope this was fast enough for you.
Jp3711nc: Thanks. I really appreciate the words of encouragement.
Chapter 21: Consequences
Logan walked into the living room where Ororo, James, and Rebecca were sitting and talking with each other. A young twenty-something man followed not far behind him. "Hey Rebecca. Looks like you got company. Some guy blabbing about a god of war?"
Rebecca looked up rather quickly and jumped as she saw the young man behind Logan. "Ares!" She squealed with delight as they both embraced. You could tell they were brother and sister, they were both dressed like biker's, leather vests, t-shirts, jeans, boots, and of course gloves. Spiked leather seemed to be in style again.
"Becca!" He yelled giving her a hug. "This machine in my apartment told me you were getting married!" He said looking over Rebecca to James who was now standing next to the couch. "I'm guessing this is the unlucky groom?"
"No. I'm the lucky one." James said with a slight smirk.
"Good answer." Rebecca looked to James and then looked back to her brother with a disapproving glare.
"I was just kidding." Ares said apologizing.
"Logan, Ororo, I'd like you to meet my brother, Ares Mathias Holden." Rebecca said gesturing to her brother.
"Call me Mat. Most people do. Only Becca here calls me Ares." Ares said with a nod.
"Now I get the god of war thing." Logan said with a slight smirk.
Ororo smiled. "It's nice to meet you Mat."
"And Ares this is Mrs. Munroe and Logan." Rebecca said as she gestured to each of them as she said their names.
"You can call me Ororo." Storm said with a slight smile.
"Nice to meet you both." Ares said with a nod.
"So what are you doing here anyway?" Rebecca asked looking to him.
"Well you said you were getting married, so I thought that reason enough to try and track you down. Tracked you here. Google is amazing." He laughed.
"How long do you plan on staying?" Rebecca asked curiously.
"I don't know. A few days maybe, then I figure I'll head back down to Jersey and then come up for the wedding." He smirked. "Still can't believe you're getting hitched."
"Why is it so hard to believe?" Rebecca asked mockingly offended.
"It's not… I'm just happy for you." He said and looked to James. "For you both that is. Congrats man. I hope you realized you bagged quite a catch."
James nodded. "You bet I did." He said putting his arm around Rebecca. "Ain't a finer fish in the sea."
Ororo smiled. "How sweet." She said glancing to Logan who was rolling his eyes.
Logan smirked, he couldn't take much more of this. "Will you be staying here or…?" He asked looking to Ares.
"Well I haven't planned that far ahead yet. I guess I could stay here or find a hotel somewhere." Ares answered with a shrug.
Rebecca smiled. "He'll stay here." She said determined. "Come on, I'll show you the kitchen, and we have some talking to do." She smiled.
"Do I have a choice?" He asked quite seriously.
"No." She smiled. "James you can stay here if you want."
"I understand." James said as he sat back down.
Rebecca grabbed Ares' arm and brushed past Logan and headed down the hall towards the kitchen.
James smirked as Logan came into the living room a bit. "So… Is he a mutant?"
"Yeah." James answered. "He and Rebecca aren't terribly close. Not like me and…" He stopped. "But they are family, it's a little complicated. But he isn't gonna sell you out or anything. He's got a good heart."
"What's his mutation?" Ororo asked sitting back down on the couch.
"It's a little complicated to explain…" James started. "To be honest I have no idea how to explain it even in it's simplest. You'd have to see it."
"Yeah well I'll look forward to that." Logan said shaking his head a bit. "I'm going to bed." And with that he left, leaving only James and Ororo in the living room.
"I think I'll stop reading for now." Ororo said before she left as well. She was tired and it was nearing 12:30.
"I wonder where Will and the rest of them are… Curfew is past." James said to himself as he turned on the television.
Later
As the warriors returned to the Institute they entered it warily. They were roughly an hour past curfew, and they knew that James wasn't going to let them off the hook. He never did. They're only hope was that he was asleep. But that hope seemed to be unfounded, there sitting on the couch in the living room was James, reading a book.
"Hey guys. Back a little late aren't you?" James asked looking over to Will, John, Grace, Rogue, Elise, and Amara. "Where's Joe? I thought he went with you."
"He did." John nodded. "But he ran up to his room. He was pretty tired."
"I see." James nodded as he stood up. "You realize you're an hour late right? You want to try and give me a reason?"
"We lost track of time." Will said with a shrug. "It won't happen again."
"You know these aren't my rules right? I mean if it were up to me you'd be allowed out 'till noon if you wanted. Mess up your own lives and learn the hard way if you want." James said shaking his head.
Will smiled. "I know."
"So where were you?" James asked again.
"We went out for dinner." Will answered.
"Yeah? Where?" James asked curiously.
"Rocco's Pizza Place." Will answered.
"Oh that's a great place." James said. "I didn't realize they had such dirty floors."
Will was confused for a second, until he looked at his own clothes and some of the others' clothes. Dirt was everywhere from the shockwave from Avalanche. Especially on their pants, and Grace had some green slime on her shirt.
"You've got less then a minute to tell me the truth. Or I'll get one of those powerful telepaths in here, and you can try and lie your way past them." James said grimly. "Any of you care to tell me the truth?"
John was the first to speak up. "We got into a fight."
"With each other? With Joe?" James asked for clarification.
"With the Brotherhood." Elise answered.
"Mind telling me why you went and fought them when I told you not to?" James asked looking particularly to Will.
"We had to." Will said. "They kept asking for it, and they started something at the movies."
"I'm sure that seemed like a good reason at the time. But it didn't sound very well thought out right then." James answered, surprisingly calm. "Rogue and Amara I can't speak for, but Will, John, Grace, Elise, and even Joe if he had any part in this, are all grounded."
"Grounded? But-." Will started but James cut him off.
"Grounded." James nodded. "You go to school, and you come here, no T.V., no computers, no phone for you girls, and no outings or parties for two weeks. And the next time you feel like getting into a fight, come and see me."
"But that's so unfair!" Will argued.
"Yes it is. But if I let Logan give you a punishment it'd be fair. It'd be justice for you. But I'm sure you don't want that." James threatened. "Do you? Cause I can go wake him up."
"No." Will said sourly.
"Now get to bed all of you. I'll talk to the professor in the morning. If you want it I'm making breakfast tomorrow before Becca and I leave for church. Stop by the kitchen." James offered as the young teens trudged off towards their respective rooms.
VVVV
Will made it back to his room slowly, and carefully opened the door. Quietly as he could he crept over to his bed. His roommate, Nightcrawler, seemed to be off to sleep, his clothes everywhere and his tail swishing across the sheets. "He's always so hard to see in the shadows." Will said shaking his head.
"Vhat?" Kurt asked sitting up a bit.
"Sorry I didn't mean to wake you." Will apologized as he took off his shirt and threw it into the hamper.
"It's okay. I vas awake anyvay, I'm having trouble getting to sleep for some reason." Kurt said shaking his head.
"Oh. Try listening to some music. Usually helps John. Warm Milk helps me. Shoulder rub helps Elise, but if you want that last one I suggest you go find some girl to give you one." Will said with a slight smirk as he took off his jeans and put on his pajama pants.
"Milk sounds nice." Kurt said. "I think I'll pop into z'he kitchen and grab a glass."
"Go ahead." Will said with a nod, but before he finished his sentence he was cut off by the sound of a bamf, and a cloud of smoke remained on Kurt's bed.
VVVV
"So you and Sarah-." Rebecca was cut off as a large BAMFing sound came on the table right next to her and Ares.
"Sorry." Kurt said as he got off the table and Rebecca and Ares waved away the smoke. "I just vanted some milk."
"It's okay." Rebecca said coughing a bit.
"Who's z'his guy?" Kurt asked as his tail opened the fridge and got out the milk gallon.
"Kurt this is my brother Mat. Mat, this is Kurt." Rebecca said making the introductions.
"Nice to meet you Kurt." Mat said with a slight smile. "Interesting abilities you got there."
"Thank you. It's nice to meet you too. I take it you are a also a mutant." Kurt said with a slight nod as he got a glass out of the cabinet.
"Aye. Roulette some call me. I'll show you my powers later if I get the chance." Mat answered with a small smile.
"Sure z'hing." Kurt smiled as he poured his glass of milk. "I'll be leaving you two alone now. Good night."
"Good night Kurt." Rebecca said with a smile just before Kurt bamfed back into his room.
Elsewhere
A man dressed in a raggedy coat and a hat with a whole in sat besides a pile of trash, a homeless man, something unfortunately common in the world today. His fingerless gloves completed the illusion of poverty as he rubbed his frozen cold hands together.
"Castel?" A young looking Asian man dressed in a business suit asked as he looked down towards the can the man had sitting next to him.
"Aye." The homeless man answered, in a surprisingly strong voice.
"I believe we have business to discuss." The young man said with a slight smirk.
"Indeed we do." The homeless man smiled.
"Where would you like to meet?" The businessman asked.
"There's a pizza place across the street. Should do nicely." The homeless man said as he came to his feet.
New York City
"He's moved from here recently." One man said to another as he exited the Cyber Hub. "Mr. Walkner claims he's gone to a school in Bayville. A small suburbia in Massachusetts, somewhere near Boston."
"Are you serious Fenris?" The other asked as they began walking.
"Yeah." Fenris answered with a nod.
The two were obviously brothers; they looked somewhat alike, both with black hair. Fenris had long shoulder-length black hair, with jeans, a t-shirt, and boots. He was taller by about three inches, and broader in build with more muscles. The other had short but fluffy black hair, a trench coat that covered his jeans and t-shirt, and boots. He was shorter and skinnier than Fenris, but both looked rather… intimidating.
"You think he knows anything about Leif?" The other asked looking over to his brother.
"He might. We have to find him, and find out." Fenris answered. "I wonder if he's been in touch with anyone else from the Mystyks."
"Possibly." The other said with a nod.
Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters that Next Morning"Good morning." Michael said to Nathan as the two met in the hall. "It's Sunday. Are you going out with the professor again?"
Nathan nodded. "Yeah."
"Where do you two go anyway?" Mike asked curiously.
"I can't say. And you probably already know." Nathan answered.
"Don't worry about it. Even if I did know I'm sure I wouldn't understand." Mike said with a nod.
"You going to church with James and Rebecca?" Nathan asked.
"Not this week. I'm having… a bit of a headache." Michael answered.
"What about the rest of them?" Nathan asked.
"The guys are all asleep, and the only one from the X-Men that sometimes goes with was Kurt. But that was when Jessica went too." Michael answered.
Nathan was silent for a moment.
"I agree." Michael nodded.
"What?" Nathan asked looking to him with a pierced brow raised.
"Oh. Sorry." Michael said a bit sheepishly. "I thought you said that out loud. Everything's getting so mixed up."
"Maybe you should go take a nap." Nathan suggested.
Michael shook his head. "It won't work. I'm starting to pick up other people's dreams. I get less rest standing wide awake."
"You're getting worse? I thought Jean was working with you." Nathan asked.
"She was. Is." Michael corrected himself. "But… It's not exactly helping." He explained. "I don't know what to do."
"Talk to the professor." Nathan said. "He'll help you. He's like… the most powerful telepath in the world. Or at least that's what Thomas said."
"Yeah…" Michael paused. "It looks like I'm going to have to."
Kitchen
"Hey Kurt. Want some breakfast?" Spike asked as he held out a rather large box of cereal. Kurt had just entered the kitchen through the door and Spike was already sitting at the table as the morning sun shone onto the table through the window.
Kurt took it with his tail. "Ja." He said as he got a bowl from the cabinet. "Vhat's up?" He asked sitting down.
"This place is dead this morning." Spike answered.
"Ja. Vill is, or at least vas, still asleep." Kurt said as he ate some of his cereal.
"Word is some of them got home after curfew last night. All in trouble." Spike said with a shrug.
"I vonder vhat happened." Kurt said somewhat thoughtfully.
Elsewhere
"Welcome gentlemen. I'm sure you're curious as to why you're all gathered here." The voice came from a man shrouded in shadows, but the setting was easy enough to determine. It was morning outside, sure enough, but the only light in this room came from a single ceiling lamp above the table. Gathered around the table were many a person that looked important, and one that did not.
"Actually. We all know why we're gathered here. So why don't you just tell us what it is you want us to do? In detail." The one that looked out of place said.
"Relax Mr. Castel. First I want to introduce you all to those gathered around you." The one at the head of the table, the one shrouded in shadows, said with a slight smirk.
There were eight of them there. Three on each side of the table, one at the foot, and one at the head, the one at the head was shrouded in shadows, and the one at the foot looked like a homeless man in the midst of business men. "To your right Mr. Castel is Mr. Kazama, Mr. Byrd, and Jean-Luc."
He paused. "To your left is Mr. Lucard, then a man known only as Thanatos, and of course Mr. Namuras. And you will address me as Necros."
"So what are we waiting for?" Mr. Castel asked impatiently.
"They are gathering. We must wait until the gathering is complete. Then we begin the slaughter." Necros answered.
"What do you mean, 'they are gathering'? Who are they?" Mr. Lucard asked as he leaned into the light. His hat blocked the light, but all one could see of him was his skeleton. He was a walking talking skeleton, who wore a suit.
"The Warriors, the X-men, the brotherhood, and a few others that have begun to gather, Roulette, Lycan, Anthro. We take out the reserves first. Then we take out the ones in New York, and then take any other stragglers in this country." Necros answered.
"Problem." The one named Thanatos said as he stood up. "The one called Wolverine can't die."
"Then we imprison him." Necros said with a smirk. "I didn't work for that fool that calls himself 'magneto' for nothing." He paused and took a rather dramatic breath. "Now go, the time to strike will be soon, and I will give the signal."
The Gardens of the Xavier Institute
The professor and Ororo were out walking in the gardens, the wintertime lingered, and the chill breeze blew against the professor's blanket as Ororo pushed the wheelchair. The trees were still bare, and the flowers were not yet growing. Ororo smiled, this garden was beautiful, even in the winter.
"I think that even the new students have adjusted well now. They all seem to be settling down, and have recovered from the incident involving Jessica." The professor commented.
"I agree." Ororo said with a smile. "Though a few of them are having more trouble adjusting than others."
"I assume you're talking about Nathan?" The professor asked.
"Actually no. I was referring to Will and John." Ororo answered. "Will doesn't socialize much with those who aren't in the warriors, he tends to stick with people he already knows. And John seems to just keep to himself, or he socializes, but only in his brother's shadow."
"I hadn't noticed." The professor said thoughtfully. "What do you think of young Michael?"
"Well I know not to call him young Michael. He's much older than he looks. But I think he's fitting in well. With you and Jean helping him he should be able to control his powers in no time, and he and Jean seem to be getting along just like two peas in a pod." Ororo said with a smile.
"What of the girls?" The professor asked. "I haven't seen them do much socializing."
"Well Megan sticks with Scott when she can, or so I've noticed, and the other girls just tend to stick together, but that's how girls usually are." Ororo said with a slight smile. "They seem to blend with the other girls here, like kitty, and Rayne, just fine."
"I think you should take Kitty, Rayne, Rogue, Jean, Danielle, Grace, Elise, and Megan on a small field trip." The professor said with a slight smile as the two stopped at a small area in the gardens with a bench.
"Where to?" Ororo asked.
But she never got her answer. Nathan came out from the door. "I'm ready when you are professor." Nathan said with a slight nod.
"Okay." The professor said with a smirk. "We'll talk later Ororo." He said with a nod. "Logan is waiting for Nathan and I with the car out front."
Inside
"Where'd you hear that?" Joe asked as he and Rogue walked past the kitchen, wandering the halls together on their way to the library.
"Kitty told me." She answered.
"Well if Will stole Elise from John it's a story neither of them have told me." He said with a shrug. "They were closer to Chris though, and he probably told Kitty."
"You've got a brain after all." Rogue said sarcastically.
Joe smirked. "Hey Rogue…" He said pausing in his steps. "I was wondering…"
Rogue stopped and looked at him in the hall as she waited for him to finish what he was saying, though she could already guess what he was going to ask. And she didn't want him to ask it.
"Would you like to maybe, go out sometime, you and me, go and see a movie, maybe have some dinner?" Joe asked looking her directly in the eyes.
"Ah…" She paused. "Ah don't see the point in dating someone Ah can't touch…" She said a little weakly.
"Um… Hello." He said raising up his gloved hands in front of his face. "I can't touch either. And I didn't ask for a kiss, just for a dinner, and a movie. Think of it this way, you get good food, entertainment, all without having to pay a dime." He said with a slight laugh.
"Ah… Don't know…" Rogue said looking down; she had to break eye contact with him. "Let me think about it."
"Cool. Take as long as you like." Joe answered.
Rogue and Kitty's RoomDear Kitty,
Hey, how're things going there at the institute? Things are fine here so far. I found out my Uncle actually cleaned up his life a bit before he died. He must've struck it big. He owns this huge farm. The people in town here are okay. But I think some are better than others. There's this really weird kid, Clark, that seems to be suspicious of me, kind of… strange. I hope you're feeling okay. How're things with Lance?
I had a little incident just after I got here. I had to use my powers to help somebody. Things got a little complicated with rumors after that, but I think if I just stay in my human form for a while things will die down. I ran into some old friends from London while here, it really is a small world after all, it seems they knew about Xavier's Institute. I told them to say hi for me if they come there.
I hope everything's going okay, and I'll talk to you later.
Your friend,
Christian Van Hart
Kitty read the email on her laptop sitting in her room with a slight smile on her face as she began to type a response. This was the first time she'd heard from Chris since he'd left, and she was glad that he was finally settled enough that he could write.
Dear Chris,
Things are going fine here lately. No big fights or anything that I know of. Though the boys stayed out past curfew last night, so they might be in some trouble. I'm glad you're having a good time down there; I was starting to get worried when we hadn't heard from you. Things are going fine with Lance. I haven't talked to him in a while. He's been kind of distant since that fight with you.
I hope everything clears up for you down there and you can come back soon. The warriors really miss you. And I miss talking to you. How big is your Uncle's farm? Did he have any horses or cows on it? I heard there were a few tornadoes down that way on the weather channel (Ororo was watching it) I hope you're all okay down there.
Write back soon.
Love,
Kitty
She had barely finished typing her response before Rogue came almost rushing into the room. "Are you okay? You look like a ghost…" Kitty paused.
"Joe… Just asked me out." Rogue answered looking up.
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The End
Coming Soon... Chapter 22: The Gathering