Gifts and Curses
By Todd Fan
Disclaimer: "I LOVE college. I love everything about it. The people, the freedom. This room. This chair. Look at this chair!"
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StupidX – Oh, no fears, I still want to use good 'ol Skylar (I owe it to him for killing his girlfriend) though he'll be appearing in the 10th Chronicle, oh yes indeed.
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Chapter 2 - New Mutants on campus.
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The X-Van pulled up to the steps of the Xavier Institute and Tessa stepped out. Despite now being free from her work with the Hellfire club, Sage still preferred not to stay at the Institute. Instead, she acted as a 'recruiter' traveling around the world, finding mutants who desperately needed the help the Institute had to offer.
"Come on, kids", she said, opening the back door, "welcome to your new home, sweet home"
4 teenage boys climbed out of the van, glancing around in awe of their new surroundings.
"Okay, let's let Chucky give his little welcome speech", grumbled Logan, gesturing to the door, "all yours, Chuck"
"Thank you, Logan", said Xavier wiry as he wheeled past, giving the boys a smile, "hello, and welcome to the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. I am Professor Charles Xavier, your headmaster. This is a place of safety for you all, and I hope that someday you will consider it home and the people within it family"
"…..This is the same speech he gave me when I joined", said Jamie, blinking.
"Ditto", said Paige.
"Kids, it's the speech he gave ME when I joined", said Storm, "…and I don't want to think about how long ago that was".
"I remember that", smirked Logan, "when you were a teenage punk"
He paused for thought.
"You kicked me in the shin"
"You called me 'Spunky'", said Storm with a growl.
Shortpack gave a snort from Hank's shoulder while Hank stifled a chuckle.
"Not one word", warned Storm, "not ONE"
"Ah-HEM", said Xavier, smiling his 'trying to be patient' smile, then looked at the kids, "these will be your tutors for your time here, Logan, Shortpack, Ororo Munroe and Hank McCoy"
Logan gave a grunt, stepping forward.
"And now it's time for the 'bad cop' routine", whispered Paige.
"I heard that, Hayseed", warned Logan, then looked at the newcomers, "okay, Newbies, I'm Logan and I'm here to make your lives a living hell. You will obey my each and every command and you will do it without a grumble, are we clear?"
The boys shuffled around uneasily. One of them, a boy who seemed to be made of pure gold held up a hand.
"Yes….sir?", he tried.
"Good, you're a sharp one, Goldie", said Logan
"...Err my name's Josh", pointed out Josh.
"For the love of all humanity, don't argue with the nickname", called out Paige, "you get one an' it doesn't change"
"Right", said Logan, stalking through the group, pointing at the remaining three boys, "you're Twitchy, you're Misery and you're.."
I'm Jono, replied the teen, telepathically, his who mouth and lower torso covered in a thick coat and scarf, that's my name, bloody well use it
Logan smirked.
"You're Sparky", he said, patting Jono on the shoulder.
The one designated as 'Misery' held up a gloved hand. Most of his skin was covered, and it seemed he liked black.. a lot.
"Can I just got to my room now?", he asked, "I didn't even want to be here in the first place, I just had nowhere else to go"
Xavier sighed, nodding.
"Yes, Kevin, you may go to your room", he glanced behind him, "Storm, can you show Mr. Ford to his room, please?"
"Of course, Charles", said Storm, leading Kevin away.
"See you later, Spunky", called Hank, then winced as thunder started in the sky.
The thunder caused the kid Logan named 'Twitchy' to wince slightly.
"See, told ya he was twitchy", said Logan.
"Logan, this is Karl Lykos", said Xavier.
"Oh, so you're the energy drainer", said Logan, "geez, between you and Misery this place is gonna be a ball. You wait 'till we get Rogue back, it'll be 'don't touch me or I'll kill you' central".
Has anyone else noticed the fairy-man sitting on the hairy guy's shoulder?, asked Jono.
"I'm not a fairy", said Shortpack, then smirked, I'm your telepathy teacher, and you've just made sure your lessons with me are going to be a living hell
"Shortpack", warned Xavier.
"Oh come on, Logan gets to scare the kids and I don't?", protested Shortpack.
"You have to be bigger than a hamster to scare people, Tom Thumb, and you're not", smirked Logan.
"Let's get everyone settled in, shall we?", said Hank, before another argument could commence.
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Meanwhile, the original New recruits were getting settled into new surroundings of their own.
"Aren't you excited?", grinned Warlock, his true image hidden by an image inducer, "our first experience at cool-edge"
The group groaned as the alien looked around campus in sheer wonder and delight.
"College, 'Lock", Tabby corrected, "and the only thing 'exciting' about it is the parties"
"Oh but it is exciting!", said Warlock, "I am finally able to learn in an Earthling environment. I did not get the joys of the school which is high"
"High-School, Warlock", sighed Roberto, "and consider yourself lucky"
"But Warlock is right about something", said Ray, "it'll be nice to have that freedom to do what we like...err, and get a good education"
"Ray, do you even know the classes you're taking?", asked Roberto, arching a brow.
Ray scrunched up his face.
"I want to say 'Computers'...but I can't be sure".
"Ladies and gentleman: Ray Crisp", said Tabby, "taking a degree in something even he doesn't know the name of"
"...Shut up, Tabby", said Ray.
Any further argument was cut off by the sound of a motorbike revving past them. The bike came to a screeching halt, the rider glancing up.
"Hey guys", grinned Rahne, pulling off her helmet.
Rahne had allowed her hair to grow long, decided to put a few random piercings in her ears and fallen in love with the object she was now riding on. The whole 'biker look' had grown on her in the split second she'd bought herself a leather jacket. There had been no going back from that point on. She rolled her eyes at her passenger.
"Sam, the bike has stopped, you can let go now"
Sam had been gripping as tightly as he could to Rahne's waist the whole ride there. It took a few extra minutes before he shakily let go of her and pulled off his own helmet.
"...Land", he whimpered, getting to his feet and backing away from the bike.
"Sam", said Tabby, chuckling and shaking her head, "you travel at enormous speed and you're invulnerable...and yet, you're afraid of that little chopper"
"Hey, when a'hm invulnerable, a'hm travelling on ma'h own steam", said Sam, "a'hm not invulnerable when ma'h girlfriend is doing over a hundred down a freeway playin' 'chicken' with arctic lorries. A'h think a'h have the right to be afraid"
"Whimp", said Rahne, giving him a playful shove as the group headed towards their dorms.
"Hey, look", said Tabby, pointing at a poster, "they're already promoting baseball games"
"UCLA, huh?", said Ray, "Isn't that where Bobby's attending?"
"After what he did? Who cares?", said Roberto with a snort.(1)
Sam set his jaw, choosing not to say anything on the matter. Warlock frowned slightly, any unpleasant or angry thoughts usually worried him. He came from a planet that knew nothing but hatred, so he tried to avoid it on Earth when ether he could. Because of this, he was glad to see his dorm house drop up.
"Well, this is my stop", he said, giving his friends a cheery wave, "see you later, Self-Friends"
"Warlock, ixnay on the alien stuff", said Tabby, "low profile remember?"
"Okay, okay", he said, then sighed, "pretending to be an earthling is hard"
"NASA will be coming to take him away any day now", muttered Ray as the alien vanished inside the building, "oh, here's ours, Sam".
"I'll take ye out on the bike again later, Honey", grinned Rahne, kissing his cheek.
"..Please don't", said Sam with a whimper, as he headed inside, "please?"
"Rahne Sinclair, you are getting more and more evil by the day", said Tabby with a smirk.
"Thank ye", said Rahne with a bow, "I practise every day"
"The fact you two are roommates is very, very frightening", said Roberto pointedly.
"Shut up, rich boy", said Tabby, "be thankful you get your own room"
"Hey, I have to learn how to take over DaCosta Enterprises", said Roberto, then frowned, "whether I want to or not, apparently…… stupid Mom".
"Oh boo hoo", joked Rahne, "my feet are too big for my diamond slippers"
"You ARE getting more evil", muttered Roberto as he walked off.
"Come on, Rahne", grinned Tabby, "lets go stir up our dormitory!"
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Back at the Institute, Imara and Toby were outside, watching Celeste make an idiot of herself.. again. Well, Imara was doing the watching, while Toby listened to her glistening commentary.
"She's climbing on that wall again", commented Imara.
"Shhhh", said Celeste, frowning from where she stood on a little wall, no more than a foot off the ground, "you'll ruin my con-tration"
"That's concentration", corrected Toby.
"Shut up grammar -boy", sniffed Celeste, then cleared her throat, "now, for the very, very, very first time ever, I, Celeste Worthington, am going to fly"
"You said that the last time", said Imara.
"Shhh!", said Celeste, closing her eyes.
With that, Celeste launched herself off the wall, fluttered her wings...and promptly landed on the ground with a splat.
"Did she fly?", asked Toby.
Imara scrunched up her nose.
"Would you call hitting the ground really, really fast 'flying'?"
Toby blinked.
"No"
"...Then no, no she didn't fly", said Imara.
"Oww", said Celeste from the ground, picking herself up with a frown, "I don't get it, Daddy does it easy!".
"Maybe you have to grow into your wings?", tried Toby helpfully, "Daddy said I'd grow into my fangs and I did"
He flashed them a fangy smile, then paused.
"….Did I?. He didn't make it up, did he?"
"No, you grew into them", said Imara, rolling her eyes.
"I know what you just did, you know", snorted Toby, "I can feel your scorn"
"You two are too smart for your own goods", said Celeste, shaking her head at them, "you don't need to know words like that 'till your big kids"
"Nothing like learning early", smiled Imara.
"…You guys need to get more toys", said Celeste, "and less books"
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Warlock grinned as he walked along the corridors, giving a hearty 'hello' to anyone he passed. This earned him a few odd looks, but as far as Warlock was concerned, he was integrating with the students perfectly. He may have lived on the planet for quite a few years now, but there were still some things that were...well, alien to him. He stopped when he finally found the right door, unlocking it with unhidden glee. He stepped inside to find his roommate had already arrived, or so he could judge from the piles of books tossed haphazardly on one of the beds. He closed the door with his foot, putting his suitcase on the empty bed. Right, now was a real test. Living in close quarters with an Earthling who didn't know he was an alien. This would take all the skills he'd acquired since arriving on the planet to achieve.
"Nanu-nanu. Do you come in peace?"
...What the? Warlock blinked, okay, so he hadn't been expecting that. He peered curiously towards the door which led to the bathroom, where the voice had come from.
"Uhhhhh", he said.
A few moments later, a blonde haired guy poked his head around the door, giving him a grin.
"Sorry, couldn't resist", he said, "thought the books would give me off as a geek anyway, so I thought a little more geekyness wouldn't hurt"
"Oh...humour", said Warlock with a nervous laugh, "heh, heh...yes...funny"
The guy grinned, outstretching an arm in Warlock's direction.
"Douglas Ramsey", he said, "but my friends call me Doug. Or rather, if I had friends, Doug is what they would call me"
Warlock smiled, shaking his hand.
"My name is Warlock Munroe", he said, "I am pleased to meet you, Doug"
"Warlock?", asked Doug, arching a brow, "that's an...unusual name"
Warlock smiled and gave a shrug.
"My adoptive father is a hippie".
For some reason, when ether the subject of his unusual name came up, Warlock had found that answer to work quite well. Well, he didn't actually say that Forge had named him, so it wasn't really lying. People just assumed it was so. It seemed to have worked this time as well.
"Ahh", said Doug, nodding, "that must be interesting, having a hippie for a dad"
"Yes, it is", said Warlock.
"So, what are you studying?", asked Doug as he went to his bed, starting to put the books away into a bookshelf.
"Astronomy", said Warlock, then coughed, "I have a...gift for the subject"
Again, not really a lie. He did have a gift for it...it was just the reason why he kept quiet.
"Cool", said Doug, "I'm studying ancient languages myself"
He chuckled.
"You could say I have a 'gift' for that subject", he said, "I work on the college website too, extra credit and you get paid for it. Not a bad deal"
"I will have to remember that", said Warlock.
"That's a odd accent you got there", said Doug, "where're you from?"
Warlock blinked. Okay, think fast, Warlock.
"Umm… it's complicated, kind of a mix of cultures".
"Oh, you've moved around a lot, huh?", said Doug.
"…Yes?", tried Warlock.
"Cool stuff", said Doug, shifting through a pile of DVD's he'd dragged along with him.
"Oooh, I see you have the Red Dwarf collection", said Warlock, "I love that series, it is very humorous". (2)
"Are you kidding, Red Dwarf rocks!", said Doug, then smirked, "you know, Warlock, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship"
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(1) – Yes, another Black Ice reference. Oh, the mystery of it all! You are aware I'll keep doing this to you, right? I'm evil like that.
(2) – Red Dwarf does, indeed rock. It rocks muchly.
Yeah, it's Doug, baby! See, I TOLD you all I'd introduce Doug sometime in the chronicles. I just wanted to build up Warlock's character first. Kevin and Josh are from Academy X. Karl and Jono are from the mainstream X-Comics. Yes, I am aware Karl isn't technically a mutant, but for the sakes of the chronicles, he is. Do review. Until next time….