Gifts and Curses
By Todd Fan
Disclaimer: "My hormones don't rage. Oh, sure, they get mad sometimes, but then they just stop speaking to each other"
&&&&
Chapter 6 - Meetings
&&&&&
In the Institute, the next recruits had finally begun to settle in… or what could be termed as 'settling in', anyway. Jono had locked himself in his room, as had Kevin. Karl had opted to go walking around the gardens, avoiding contact with anyone. Josh, being the only one without an anti-social problem, had been snagged by Storm to watch the kids as she went for something she would only call 'an appointment'.
"Now then", said Storm with a smile, pushing Josh towards Imara and Toby, "kids, this is Josh"
"Oooooh", said Imara, then poked Toby, "his skin is gold"
"It is?", grinned Toby, "nifty! Is he King Midas?"
"No, no I'm not", said Josh, rolling his eyes, then looked at them, "so…you're the X-babies, huh?"
"We're not babies!", snorted Imara, "we're five"
"My mistake", chuckled Josh, sitting down, looking up at Storm, "this place is more normal than I thought it was"
"My older brother is an alien", piped up Imara matter-of-factly.
Josh laughed.
"I'm sure we all feel that way at one time or another", he said, "I thought that about my…"
Imara scrunched up her nose.
"No...really"
"Imara", warned Storm, "Remember what happened the LAST time you told someone your brother was an alien?"
"Yes", giggled Imara, "that big scary government man came, and Professor had to wipe his mind"
She smiled.
"That was a fun day"
"Kids", Josh chuckled, "they have such active imaginations"
"Oh, Warlock really is an alien", said Storm, "Technarcian, to be exact. Have fun babysitting"
With that, she walked off, leaving Josh looking confused.
"Aliens", he muttered, "next they'll be telling me there's fire-breathing dragons"
"Then don't ask who Lockheed is".
Josh looked up to see Jason Wyngarde walking into the room, Celeste at his heels.
"I know you", said Josh, narrowing his eyes, "you're Mastermind, you worked for Magneto"
Jason rolled his eyes.
"Hoo boy, I'm never going to live that down, am I?", he looked at Josh pointedly, "and I heard you worked for an anti-mutant gang. People change, kid"
"Yeah", said Celeste, blowing an un-ladylike raspberry, "so leave Grandpa alone, Goldie-Locks"
With that, she skipped off to her friends.
"..Did she just call me Goldie-locks?", asked Josh.
"Trust me, it could have been a lot worse then that", said Jason, "you should have heard what she called the mailman when a package she was expecting was late".
"He deserved it", said Celeste, "besides…I only bit him a little"
"…I think I'm going to go to my room now", said Josh, quickly getting up and walking as fast as he could out of there.
&&&
On campus, the Not-So-New mutants party had begun, with students of varied drunken states filing in and out of the dorm room.
"See?", said Tabby, flinging an arm over Rahne's shoulder, "this is fun, isn't it?"
"I guess", said Rahne, "but if anyone throws up anywhere, you're cleaning it up"
"Hey, no prob…", Tabby trailed off as someone walked in, before squeaking and diving under the table.
Ray blinked, glancing up to where a stunning young woman walked into the room.
"You slept with her and didn't call her back, didn't you?", he asked.
"Yup...and ditto for the guy right behind her", said Tabby, "tell me when they've gone"
"Oh, Tabby!", growled Rahne, plucking her friend up to her feet.
Luckily, neither person noticed Tabby, and were soon gone.
"Man, I miss Dani", said Roberto sadly, "if Dani were here, I wouldn't be going stag!"
"If Dani were here, you two would have been gone already with a sock on your doorknob", pointed out Ray with a smirk.
"Thanks, Ray", said Roberto dryly, "you've made me even more depressed. I'm stuck here being celibate, while my girlfriend is touring the world, because she thinks 'college isn't her thing'".
"At least you have someone", muttered Tabby, glancing up as Warlock entered, dragging a bemused looking Doug after him.
"Hello, Self-friends", he said, "this is Doug, he's my room-ee"
Sam cleared his throat as Doug looked slightly confused.
"He's foreign", said Sam in explanation.
"..Yeah…I gathered", said Doug, then smiled, "I know who you are, I've seen you on the news, X-Men, right?"
"Kinda sorta", said Roberto, then frowned, "why, you got a problem with mutants?"
"Not at all", said Doug, "I'm….errrr… one myself….kinda"
"How can you be 'kinda' a mutant?", asked Ray, arching a brow.
"Well…I errr…" Doug shifted uneasily, "I can translate any language I come across, including computer code"
"Like a Babel fish", grinned Warlock.
"Yeah, I guess", said Doug, "from the book, right?" (1)
Warlock blinked, before giving a nervous laugh.
"Yes….from the book…heh heh"
"Oh almost forgot, here you go, 'Lock", said Tabby, handing the alien a bag, "knock yourself out"
Warlock looked at the bag, then gave a squeak of glee.
"REESES PIECES?", he grinned, "I LOVE these sweet peanut buttery pieces of goodness!" (2)
Being a non-carbon-based-life form, alcohol had no effect on Warlock. Several experiments, however, soon determined Reeses Pieces gave just about the same effect as any booze could. Hence, it was very, very rare they would give the alien the candy, just in case he told any 'drunk stories'… which usually involved tales of other planets and getting almost eaten by something called a 'Kelpequar'.
"He loves that stuff", said Tabby offering Doug a smile, "so… what brings you here, Dougie"
Doug shifted slightly away as Tabby batted her eyelids.
"Err… it's Doug", he said, "and you're not my type"
Tabby frowned for a second, squinting her eyes on him.
"Awwww, poo!", she said, "the only type of guy I can't get"
Ray arched a brow.
"Are you telling me that your gaydar works on gay men as well as women?"
"It's a universal thing", said Tabby with a shrug, pushing Doug into the crowds, "go, mingle, there's a cute guy called 'Jonathan' in there somewhere" (3)
"Err…..thanks?", tried Doug confusedly.
Meanwhile, a well, groomed young man had walked into the room. Their own age, he wore a tailored suit, a long coat and a scarf, his brown-grey hair was long and curled, almost wild, his eyes a strange shade of brown. He carried a walking stick, though it was apparent he didn't need it. On the top was the carved head of a snarling wolf in silver.
"It is a pleasure to meet you", he said with a smile, bowing his head, before taking her hand and kissing it, "I am Hrimhari Stidolph the Fifth, at your service"(4)
Rahne blinked, blushing.
"Please tae meet ye, Hrimhari", she said, "I'm Rahne Sinclair"
Hrimhari gave a dashing smile.
"You can call me Himmy"
Rahne arched a brow, before pulling Sam from where he'd been trying his best to pull the bag of Reeses Pieces out of Warlock's hands before the alien got too much of the damn things.
"This is my boyfriend, Sam", she said, "Sam, meet..err.. Himmy"
Sam blinked questioningly at Rahne, before smiling in his normal friendly manner, shaking Hrimhari's hand.
"Pleasure to meet you", he said, then glanced at Tabby, "why did you give him the forbidden food? You know how he gets"
"How who gets?", asked Himmy, confused.
"Actually, it's not area 51", slurred Warlock, surrounded by other drunken students, "it's area 52. It's where you get your Earth citizenship card and..err..this"
Warlock looked in his 'pockets', or what seemed like pockets in his image inducer, before pulling out an old leaflet. It looked like an old 50's war-time document. A happy cartoon human family were standing outside their house. In the middle of them stood a slug-like alien, waving a happy tentacle in the air. The caption above read 'So you want to be an Earthling. 102 easy steps for species integration'. (5)
"Cool, huh?", he said, "those Men in Black sure are helpful"
"Wow, so you, like, know about crop circles and stuff?", asked one student, lifting his jacket, revealing a T-Shirt with a crop circle image printed on it, "does this, like, give some huge secret to the mysteries of the universe?"
Warlock blinked at the picture of the crop circle.
"Actually, it says 'Portuak Woz Ere'", he said, then squinted, "'Disaster Area rules'".
Warlock gave a nostalgic sigh.
"Ahh, Disaster Area", he said, "I miss plutonium rock" (6)
"Ooookay, that's enough Reeses Pieces for you", said Sam with a laugh, dragging Warlock away, "come on, Warlock, that's enough alien talk"
"He loves Sci-Fi", covered up Ray, "he gets so creative when he gets drunk"
"Awww, but I didn't get to sing the planet-anthem of Remulak" (7)
"ANOTHER time, Warlock", said Sam, dragging the poor alien back to his dorm room.
"Is he okay?", asked Doug, walking over to Rahne, Tabby and Roberto.
"Oh, he's fine", said Tabby, "he'll have one heck of a hangover in the morning, though"
&&&&&&
"Nice kitty….good kitty"
Over at the Brotherhood house, everyone was getting ready for a quickly scheduled meeting between the original Freedom Force and the new. However, on trying to get to the room he shared with Wanda, Pyro had got himself backed into a corner by Ebony, who was growling dangerously.
"St.John, he's just a demon-cat", said Wanda, "he can't hurt you"
"He's out to get me", said Pyro, trying to move, only to have Ebony move with him.
"He's just jealous", said Wanda, picking up the cat and snuggling him, "aren't you Ebony? Yes you are!"
Pyro blinked at her.
"It frightens and confuses me when you talk like that"
Wanda blew a raspberry, putting Ebony on the bed and dragging Pyro out of the room.
"Come on, I heard a chopper land outside a few minutes ago"
"I must have missed that while I was cowering in fear", muttered Pyro.
The pair headed to the living room, where a collection of 5 mutants were waiting. One of them, of Asian descent, stepped forward, giving the assembled Brotherhood a smile.
"Hello, I'm Shan Mahn", she said, "better known as Karma, I'm the team leader of Freedom Force"
She smirked slightly.
"From what Nick tells me, you're our East-side team", she said, "about time, really, we can't cover all of America"
"I thought we were doing a good job", said an Africa-American boy, then sped up to Pietro, "we don't need another speedster, he's probably slower than me anyway"
Pietro twitched.
"Let it go, Pie", said Lance, patting Pietro's shoulder, "just let it go"
"That is Terrell Mason", sighed Karma, nodding at the speedster, then pointed at the others in turn, "these are Ace Starr, Lila Cheney and Kyle Wildfire. "We have newer members, but we thought it best they stay at home. Oh and there's…"
"Well, well, if it isn't the Looserhood"
"YOU", Lance growled the ground beginning to shake.
"Oh, chill-out you walking Richter scale", snapped Bobby as he walked in, shooting a ball of ice which sailed past Lance's head.
"You have a lot of nerve coming here", said Wanda, a hex bolt forming in her hands.
"I came with my team", said Bobby, "no one said I wanted to visit this dump again"
"After your last visit was so 'pleasant'", sneered Todd.
"Hey, just shut up, okay?", said Bobby, "I've just come from Siberia, I'm tired, I'm hungry and I'm jetlagged, don't make my mood any more sour than it already is"
"Deep breaths Bobby", chuckled, Lila, "in and out. In and out".
Bobby blinked at her, before sighing, crossing his arms and going to lean on a wall, muttering under his breath.
"Yeah…well", said Karma, "I see you already know Bobby"
"Kind of hard not to know him", said Pyro.
"Something tells me that this whole inter-team relationship will be a bit… rocky", said Rosemary, "so… you want us to do the whole 'introducing ourselves deal?"
"Already read your files", said Karma, then smirked, "You're a lucky man, St.John"
"Hey, that's my fiancée you're talking….", Wanda paused, "huh?"
"Shan's…", Ace pondered for the right words, "flying the rainbow flag"
Wanda blinked as Karma winked flirtatiously at her.
"Oh", she said, then edged a bit closer to Pyro, "I'm taken"
"Sometimes, there's just no justice in the world", sighed Karma, "come on, guys, we have to head back.. just in case one of the kids destroys something….. again"
The Brotherhood watched as Freedom Force headed towards the chopper in the garden.
"This is gonna get….interesting", commented Todd.
&&&
Over by Dark Hollow, Lorna had flown herself to one of the rocky cliff sides near the reservoir. She'd been left alone for a few hours after her little 'fit'. Of course, she wasn't alone for long.
"Hey"
She sighed, closing her eyes.
"Go away, Alex, I am so not in the mood for your pointless flirting right now"
"I didn't come here to flirt", said Alex, "I came 'cause I was worried about you"
Lorna snorted.
"Yeah, right"
Alex sighed, moving to sit next to her.
"Well, considering you turned Kyle's electric guitar into a little cube of metal, then decimated Dry Creek Road in a storm of magnetic fury….. Yeah, I am worried. I mean, I know you can throw a temper tantrum, but that was a bit out there".
Lorna frowned, resting her chin on her knees.
"I got bad news today", she said simply.
Alex arched a brow.
"How bad?", he asked, "like, 'I'm sorry but your dog has been hit by a truck' bad?"
"No", growled Lorna, "more like, 'Your birth father is actually a megalomaniac super villain' bad".
"Come again?", blinked Alex.
"My father is Magneto", she said, "he sent me a note today. You remember Magneto, right?"
"I wish I could forget", said Alex with a frown, then glanced over to her, "but I can guess why it upsets you"
Lorna frowned, looking ahead at the reservoir.
"I guess I always knew…deep down", she said, "I mean, we share the same powers, my birth parents died in a horrific plane crash"
"Ditto", muttered Alex quietly.
She sighed, closing her eyes.
"But seeing it in writing….it kinda says 'this is it'", she said, "it's not a comforting thought to have him as family"
"It doesn't mean you'll end up like him, though", said Alex, "you're stronger than that, I know you are. So, your father's got a dark slate, you don't have to follow suit. My brother's a rule obeying stick in the mud, but I don't follow him"
He gave her a small smile.
"Wasn't that the point of joining Nightshift anyway?", he asked, "to be able to live as your own person, free from preconceptions?"
"I suppose", she said, then frowned, tilting her head at him, "why do you bother, really? I mean, I've not even given you a hint of interest since I arrived here, It's been years, Alex, why don't you just give it up?"
"Because I love you, Lorna", said Alex simply, shrugging, "I always have done, even if it's not reciprocated. Worrying and caring about you comes with the whole love deal"
Lorna shook her head, floating into the air.
"You should just give it up, I'm not interested", said Lorna, "save yourself the trouble"
Alex sighed, watching her as she vanished back in the direction of Dark Hollow. Damn that Summers genetic inability to give up. He winced suddenly, rubbing his hands. He had gotten used to the arthritic-like pain that came with his powers, but lately..they seemed to be hurting a lot more. And his head pounded more than it had done when his powers first emerged. Oh well, it would pass. With a sigh, he got up and made the long walk back to the town.
&&&&
(1) – The Babel fish is from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. It sat inside a persons ear and..well, it's complicated, read the book.
(2) – This is a reference to E.T, where E.T has a fondness for Reeses Pieces. You know I can't resist a good alien joke.
(3) – I have a gay friend named Jonathan. He gave me my first Tamagotchi when we were kids. Actually, he looks a lot like Evolutions version of Arcade, really, he does. It's frightening.
(4) – In the comics, Hrimhari never actually HAD another name, but considering he's been re-written for the chronicles, I thought I'd give him a bit more. 'Stidolph' is actually an Old English surname which means 'Strong Wolf'.
(5) – I love this image so much, I'm going to draw it, expect it on my DeviantART site soon. It just makes me giggle.
(6) – Disaster Area is the band headed by Hotblack Desatio, in Douglas Adams' 'The Restaurant At the End of the Universe', part of the Hitchhikers series.
(7) – Remulak is the planet the Coneheads were from, though if you asked them, they were from France.
Wow, lots of rainbow pride in this chapter. See, no one can say I'm not an equal opportunities author. Oh yes, and I'm a firm believer that if crop circles are real, they are just alien graffiti. Wow, big chapter today. Do review. Until next time..