It had been five minutes since I landed, and the bald guy's words were still echoing in my head.
"Welcome home."
The man was crazy! There must have been as much in his head as there was on it… I give them hell and all I get is 'welcome home'? No slap on the wrist, warning or anything?
I'm disappointed… If I want to be kicked out of here I guess I'll have to try harder. As I started to lay the groundwork for another devious plan, Jean raised her eyebrow and stared pointedly at me. Damn. My plans for world domination will just have to wait until I get far enough away from the telepath.
'Don't even joke about that, Marlee.'
'Get out of my head then! Invasion of privacy much?'
She sighed in my head then I was left with my own thoughts. Before I could enjoy them, the creepy bald man cleared his throat bringing everyone's attention back to him.
He smiled that eerie grin and finally continued with his "lecture"
"As I was saying…Welcome, to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters…to your new home. I am Professor Charles Xavier, founder of this school and a mentor of sorts." He smiled at me, and I got the feeling there was more to what he was saying than what I understood.
"Now, I know you already know the group who brought you here, but now seems as good a time as ever to get the formal introductions out of the way," he slightly inclined his head at Scott. "Scott Summers, also known as Cyclops, for obvious reasons. He is one of the senior most instructors here at the institute, he deals with most of the physical training and usage of powers."
Scott nodded at me. Physical training, eh? He didn't seem buff enough to be a physical trainer… Once more, before I could fully enjoy my train of thought, Professor Xavier was continuing on.
"Jean Grey-Summers, also known as Phoenix. Another senior mentor, and she will be more than happy to help you with any questions you have about the school. Jean is similar to myself in that she helps out with mental control and abilities."
Seeing I didn't understand the connection between the two of them, he elaborated. "Jean and I both have psychic abilities. The ability to read minds with the exception of Jean who can also move objects with her mind. "Oh."
He smiled. "Ororo Munroe, the deputy headmistress of the Institute, if you will. She oversees a lot of the day-to-day tasks, more of which you will understand later on, I'm sure. Ororo also goes by Storm, she has the power to control the weather."
"Like me…" I remarked softly, not expecting anyone to hear.
"Yes, a lot like you," Xavier commented, pensively. "Lastly, Robert – Bobby – Drake," Xavier corrected himself. "Also goes by Iceman, this is his fifth year here at the institute. Recently graduated and studying accounting."
"Wait a minute – Accounting?" Would it be an understatement to say I was floored? "You want to be an accountant?" I would have lost it right there, and started rolling on the floor in laughter if the mood hadn't been so wrong for it. My outburst did manage to bring a small smile to both Mrs. Summers' and Miss Munroe's faces, Professor Xavier waited until I was recovered and Robert just glared.
"Why is that so hard to believe?" he asked defensively.
"Considering I would have pegged you as a rodeo clown…" I muttered.
Bobby turned away from us and ignored me.
"Now, that we have that out of the way, if you will follow me to my office I will further explain the rules of the mansion."
The warmth that filled me at finding out Bobby's strange career choice left me instantly. I felt like a pin had been taken to my balloon. Rules… Just what I always wanted. Hopefully they wouldn't be too fun-sucking…
Professor Xavier wheeled himself around and out the door, expecting me to follow without being told. I did so, feeling like a puppy. Bobby, Scotter and Mrs. Summers must have had more important things to do, because they left the room out another door. Leaving me and Miss Munroe to follow the humming wheelchair out of the hanger and down a wide metal hallway. I had to take quick, long strides to keep up with the chair - that man must have turbo working for him. It was really very hard to keep up…though Miss Munroe didn't seem to have a problem. Maybe I was just out of shape… Course it could have also been that I was distracted looking at the labels of each of the doors we came across. I got the impression they were all for storage, as there wasn't anything interesting written on them. After passing each one, I would have to jog to catch up to the pair of them.
Eventually we reached my saviour – the elevator.
I breathed a sigh of relief, and then squished myself in after Miss Munroe. I took my post in the back left corner, as far away from them as I could manage in an enclosed space. They raised a silent eyebrow at me – on Xavier this worked to a strange effect – but said nothing. I didn't offer a response. I prefer to enjoy the fun of elevators my own way, thank you very much.
We went up at least two floors and then there was more walking. At least now we were in a more inhabited section, with hardwood floors, paintings on the wall and doors leading to the laundry room and a workout room. My feet were starting to get sore… In a mansion full of mutants you'd think that one of them could have the power to make the floor move, for the benefit of the lazy. Or at least the initiative to install moving floors or something, because not everyone has a turbo wheelchair.
Hmmm… sounds like a power ranger…
Xavier covered up a quiet cough.
We finally reached his office - which was basically right in front of the main doors! Well it was behind the main staircase but that's beside the point. My point was that we could have come in the front doors instead of traversing a huge metal hallway. Would've been a lot more scenic.
He opened the door and motioned us in.
My first thought was – 'Wow, swanky.' I was impressed with the shape of this room, not a skid mark on the perfect hardwood floors. Everything gave off the air of someone who was extremely cultured; there was a chessboard set up in front of the window, a large bookcase with various tomes… novels, an old fashioned globe in the corner… everything looked gorgeous, and expensive. I tried my best not to touch anything.
"Have a seat," he motioned towards some cushiony-looking burgundy seats that were in front of his very nice and antique looking desk. Miss Munroe sat down beside me and gave me an encouraging smile.
The Professor cleared his throat and began.
"As you already know Marlee, I am Professor Charles Xavier - the founder of this school," I recalled him mentioning this downstairs and nodded. "You will be staying here to train and to learn to control and properly use your special abilities, which is if I'm not mistaken, a combination of atmospheric controllization and electrokinesis?"
Speak English please? I had no idea what he was saying. "If you mean can I make it storm then… yeah?"
"That was what I was referring to." So… now I have some cool words longer than two syllables that I can use for what I can do… sweet!
"Your ability has much in common with that of Miss Munroe," he motioned his hand towards her, "as you already know. However, she can control all aspects of the weather – which is quite useful around here I must say – as opposed to yours which seems to only concerns the aspects involved in a thunderstorm."
"So," he continued, getting back on track, "Miss Munroe, or Ororo as she will no doubt prefer for you to address her as, will be your mentor and main teacher." He paused, "From the staggered expression on your face I gather you did not understand the last part. As well as attending regular schooling at the high school you will be taking special classes here as well."
I gave a half enthusiastic smile. 'Right on…' I thought wryly, 'more stress… that's just what I need.'
"So, now for the rules of the mansion." Professor Xavier began, steepling his fingers below his chin. I could tell this was the part he had had rehearsed after a few years of telling this to every new student who came through the doors. My suspicions were confirmed when he started to sound as if her were reciting it off some card. I did my best to listen, but you know rules and me, they seem to go through one ear and then out the other, often in less time than it took for someone to recite them to me.
"The surrounding woods are out of bounds, as well as the most of downstairs unless you are accompanied by a supervisor or on a training exercise. Downstairs you may go see Dr. Hank in his lab. It is expected that the males and females of the house will not go co-ed or anything of the sort. If you misbehave you will be punished and expected to work off your punishment by doing extra duties around the mansion. And be on time for classes, it is to your benefit to do so and you will be expected to make decent marks in both schools…"
I felt like a boulder had been dropped on my shoulders. And at the same time, my attention began slipping away. The Professor was talking about laundry… I inwardly was reflecting on the 'decent marks' thing… What did he mean by 'decent' exactly? Like passing? Or in a certain percentage? 'Cause that might be a problem.
"The first week will be difficult, but I know you can handle the transition. If you have any problems, please don't hesitate in asking. That is what we are here for. We will make an effort to welcome you here and I hope you make an effort to get to know everyone."
I nodded, and tried to swallow the large lump in my throat. I heard what he hadn't said. He wanted me to try and fit in…
"So Ororo, are you ready to show Marlee around?"
As was expected she smiled and stood up and said, "of course." She walked towards the carved, wooden double doors and turned back, waiting for me to follow. Slowly I stood from the chair and looked at the Professor. A bundle of emotions made their presence known in the gut of my stomach. The foremost of them made me feel that walking out those doors was something significant. I just didn't know what it was. The uneasy feeling followed me as I walked to where Miss Munroe was waiting.
'I know this isn't your home, Marlee,' the professor's voice said, entering my head and echoing gently in my mind as he straightened a few papers scattered over his desk. I stared at him, not really glaring but making it known to him that the mental conference was making me uncomfortable. 'And I will not try and convince you of it. All I ask is that you give us a chance to make this your new home. A new beginning for you.'
The feeling swelled, and then started to dissipate.
'A new beginning?' I thought, that didn't sound… so bad. At least he recognized that I wouldn't see this place as a new home. Not yet at least.
"I will see you later, Marlee," the professor smiled.
"Thank you, Professor," I replied quietly and shut the door.
"Where first?" I asked, looking around. Miss Munroe stood at the foot of the staircases. The view from the front windows was spectacular. The foyer had huge windows that let in, it seemed, the entire countryside. It was awesome. The staircases were huge and ornate, I ran a finger along the railing, noting that, however decorated the place was, you could still see the signs of many years of being lived in.
"Over here, Marlee." She led me into a fairly large, well-lit room with a sturdy but well-used wooden table with many wooden chairs set all around being the center of attention.
"A-a-afternoon, Miss Munroe," a boy not much older then me nodded at the white-haired woman and proceeded to walk at a very fast pace towards the door, clutching a bag of chips underneath one arm.
"Andrew," the boy stopped in his tracks, and turned to face Miss Munroe, who was looking at him with an eyebrow raised, "why aren't you in school?"
"Well you see Miss Munroe," Andrew began nervously, and started inching his way closer to the door. "I am… sick! Yes, sick… so sick in fact that I just couldn't go into school today… and… and risk in… infecting other kids."
"Mmhmm, so then why are you sneaking off with junk food then?"
"It's… for someone else?" With that, he made a mad dash out the door his bag of chips held tightly in his grasp.
She shook her head at his actions and swept an arm around the room, "this is the Informal dining room. Generally the instructors cook breakfasts on weekdays, and supper duty is shared around. On the weekends, you have to fend for yourself – except on Sunday evening, where everyone eats together here. It's a tradition Professor Xavier enforces, so there is no getting out of it." I took another glance around, admiring the art and noting the scuffs, burn marks and water-stains underneath the top layer of shine.
'At least our places have something in common.'
Miss Munroe led me into another room. And it was huge! And I mean REALLY damn big. There were sofas and comfy chairs everywhere. A very large new looking television sat right in the center of the main wall. Shelves and shelves of DVDs, videos and games took up the greater part of a huge bookcase. With only a little section set away for a few books. Misplaced text books for the most part. Wooden side tables were strategically placed, for snacking and schoolwork, she supposed.
She could tell that I was impressed, if at nothing else but the size of the television. "After the last television… broke… Professor Xavier finally allowed the children to pick out the largest one they could find. This is the living room, as you can tell it is one of our more popular rooms, particularly on Friday nights and Sunday afternoons, when there is often a particularly violent struggle over who has control of the VCR remote."
"Movie nights?"
"Yes."
"I see. Who usually wins?"
"Myself, Bobby or Miss Rogue."
"I've been hearing a lot about Rogue… When do I get to meet her?"
"Eventually, child. Miss Rogue is out now, but should be back at the mansion any day now."
"What about everyone else?" I asked as she led me into what couldn't be anything other than the main dining room. "When do I get to meet them?"
"I believe Xavier has something planned so that everyone may get to know one another. A dinner I believe." I nodded and she continued in her narrative. "This is our formal dining room. We used this room on special occasions – such as Christmas and Thanksgiving – or if Professor Xavier has important people visiting the school." You could tell the place wasn't used nearly as often as the other rooms. It didn't have the 'lived-in' feeling, but that didn't take away from its simplistic beauty. Keeping with the style of the foyer, the informal dining room and Professor Xavier's office, the room had an old-fashioned design theme. Old fashioned – HUGE – table, antique chairs, wall hangings, a family crest hanging over a fireplace and not to mention a gorgeous chandelier that sparkled intricately as the light hit it.
"Wow."
The next room was my room of choice. The kitchen.
"You can usually find whatever you need in here, grocery shopping is one of the main chores of living here. I advise you not to touch the chunky monkey ice cream, it is Miss Rogue's and she will be very displeased if you eat it." I scoffed and grinned. "I would also caution you not to eat the chocolate ripple."
"Why? Who's is that? Bobby's? Scott's?"
"Mine."
"Oh."
She laughed at the look on my face, and then, thinking about what I must have looked like, I laughed too.
We then went back in front of Professor Xavier's office. "As you already know, this is where Professor Xavier has his office, but behind that are his personal chambers, and here," she gestured to another room farther down, "is his personal study. You should not go in any of these rooms unless instructed."
And then the last room down stairs was the first door she had opened for me in at least fifteen minutes. "This is the library, we have books for everything your mind can come up with. And all reference material you might need for classes as well." My jaw dropped. There had be thousands of books in here. I had never been much of a reader but I was willing to change if I got to come in here all the time. It was pretty near a public library – and a lot better than the school library I had had at home… "If you can't find what you need in a book here, there is a book storage room in the basement and internet connections in the bedrooms."
"Sweet."
"Shall we go upstairs then?" she asked.
I nodded, "why not?"
So up the main staircase we went…and up…and up…and up we climbed. It was one big staircase let me tell you. When we finally reached our destination I was out of breath.
"Isn't there an elevator?" I asked innocently.
She chuckled, "You will just have to get used to climbing these everyday."
In front of the set of stairs we had just come up was yet another set "we're not going up those ones are we?"
"No, up there is only my room and the conservatory."
"What's a conservatory?"
"A greenhouse, child."
"I see. It must be beautiful."
"If you don't mind climbing more stairs, I would be pleased to show it to you."
"Thanks," I replied, "not today though…"
The first room we explored on the second floor was filled with different games. Board games, a pinball machine, pool table, dart board, air hockey… and various other games. There was another television set up against the wall, far smaller than the one gracing the wall downstairs, with a few young teens gathered around it, playing some sort of racing game. They were a few years younger than I was, by the looks of them and they were so caught up in their games that they didn't seem to notice our entrance.
"This is the play room."
Well thank you captain obvious…
Upon hearing Miss Munroe's voice, one of the kids put the game on pause – to cries of alarm from the other three and called out a greeting to her. The other's quickly followed suit, but had the game unpaused and were racing again just as quickly. Miss Munroe smiled at them fondly before we continued on.
We continued forward, "Down this hall are the male living quarters."
Needless to say we did not continue our adventure down there. From the strange odour wafting down the hall, I was happy for the detour. Instead she opened up a door a few feet down the hall, "This is the workshop, you can do school work, mutant work, work out, hold study meetings, whatever you need." I took a quick glance around and it looked fairly calm until I saw spikes flying out from everywhere in the reflection of one of the framed paintings. Then I just got plain ol' freaked out.
'She DID say mutant work…' I told myself, trying to get over what I just saw.
It wasn't easy.
The next room was the "laundry room."
I had never seen a mess that big since I was little and decided that I was going to run away. I had somehow packed all of my clothes and toys together in a half dozen shopping bags. It had been going fine, until the bags split. Leaving a mess that only came close to the chaos here. There were dirty t-shirts, jeans, sweaters and boxers all over the place and in various stages of cleanliness.
"Just finishing up a little laundry," a certain blonde haired cross dresser grinned from his position on top of one of the dryers. I should have known he would be behind this mess.
"I see that Bobby," Miss Munroe stated, "You will be cleaning up after yourself."
"Of course, Ororo," Bobby grinned, "don't I always?" From the look on her face, I knew the answer. While they bantered back and forth good naturedly, I took in the size of the place. It wasn't near as big as the living room or the dining room, but for a laundry room, the place was still impressive. I counted eight heavy duty washers and the same number of dryers. Laundry day here must be hellish… Especially if you were the one stuck on duty. Couldn't wait for that happy day… Turning back to Bobby and Miss Munroe I surveyed the mess he had left on the floor.
"Is that just yours?" I asked him, he nodded, though he didn't look me in the eye. Still peeved from the accountant comment after I had first met Professor Xavier I supposed. "You are such a girl."
"What's that supposed to mean!" he demanded.
I replied calmly, pointing at the mound of debris in front of my foot. "Most guys I know don't own half that many clothes…" Miss Munroe hid a chuckle by pretending to cough quietly.
"I-" he started to say, but I noticed something in the pile of clothes closest to the washer that I was distracted and didn't hear his witty retort (if he had come up with one at all.)
Digging around with my toe – I was so NOT going to actually touch his boxers, clean or not – I found something that most definitely did not belong. Uncovering it with a snicker I looked up at Bobby, who was watching me warily. I brought the light pink shirt to the top of the pile, and watched Miss Munroe's expression intently.
"Oh Roberta… I thought I told you pink wasn't your color!"
"Bobby!"
"I was giving it back, Ororo! I was going to wash it first!" he screamed, ducking behind a washer.
"Why did you have it in the first place?"
"Uh…" that was my cue.
I guess Roberta was wise enough not to tell Miss Munroe, Scotter or Mrs Summers about his fashion shoot. Though, I guess even he didn't know about the fashion shoot part… he had been sleeping…
"Come on Miss Munroe, let's leave Roberta… Bobby! Bobby to his laundry…"
Miss Munroe looked around at the mess, glared at Bobby who was still cowering behind the washer, grabbed her top and continued down the hall, with me following behind, hoping she wouldn't ask more about the incident.
Though the look on both their faces had been worth it…
"These are the female living quarters. Bathrooms and showers are in here," she pointed to a door on my left. "Towels are in the closet across the hall," she gestured again.
I liked the girls' side much better than the guys. There was no rank smell coming from down it for one thing, and it looked a lot cleaner too. There were a fair number of rooms, some, from the space between the doors, were larger than others, but I took that to mean that they held various numbers of people. When I asked Miss Munroe about it she said that most of the rooms were singles, though the younger students had two or four people in a room.
"To help them get over homesickness," she explained.
We walked by many rooms, some with some questionable sounds coming from them. Varying from loud music to screams of rage.
"Wow, someone seems to be a mood," I laughed, nervously I'll admit.
She looked at me, "you had better not let Hotshot hear you say that…"
"Who's Hotshot?"
"She's a student, about your age, she's been here for around a year now."
"She always this loud?"
Miss Munroe simply smiled at me, knowing something I didn't.
That was about the time where two girls came flying out of the room. One sparking from the hands and the other's head was… on fire? I opened my mouth to say something, but closed it immediately. That must be Hotshot, living up to her nickname.
"Natalie! I'm going to kill you!"
"Hailey, calm down… it was just a joke!"
"He's never going to talk to me now!"
"No big loss…"
Hailey shrieked again and threw herself at Natalie, who was laughing unrestrainedly.
"Marlee, meet Hotshot and Livewire," Miss Munroe said simply. The two girls, hearing their names called, ceased in their struggles and stared at Miss Munroe, both of them sighing dramatically, as if a great injustice had befallen on them.
"Do you have to call us by code names all the time Ororo?" they glared at her jokingly. They both waved at me genially and introduced themselves.
"Hey there, I'm Natalie."
"I'm Hailey."
I didn't let on that I had already figured out who was who from the fit they had taken in the middle of the hallway.
"Marlee, nice to meet you."
"Ditto. See ya around!"
"Bye!"
"See ya Stormie…" Natalie shot over her shoulder as they continued down the hall.
I stood, watching them leave, kind of alarmed.
"They are not always so…"
"Weird?"
"For lack of a better word… yes," Miss Munroe smiled, "there are many other girls here your age, but the pair of them are not so bad after talking to them a couple of times."
I remained unconvinced. But I supposed they couldn't have been that bad. Better than Pearl anyway. I grinned fondly. I hadn't thought of Pearl for the longest time it seemed. I wondered how she was getting along without me… Maybe she had found someone else to follow around and worship…
I feel for them, whoever it was.
"Here we are," we stopped in front of a white door.
"Nice door," I remarked casually, looking at her strangely. I knew what I hoped it was, but was milking the situation for all that I could.
"This will be your room Marlee."
"I'm in a room by myself, right?"
"Yes, luckily for you, one of the older students had recently moved out. If she hadn't we would have had to have you bunk with Livewire – Natalie," she corrected herself.
"I'm glad," I said, "not that I don't like the sound of her or anything, I'm just not sued to sharing a room with anyone." She nodded in understanding and turned the doorknob. She looked down at me, uncertainly, "keep in mind we still need to go shopping for it. You have all the furnishings – a bed and a desk. Someone will be taking you shopping within the week.
She opened the door. I was so excited. Who cares if I had to fix it up a bit, to make it more to my liking, at least I had a room! And it didn't sound too bad. Hopefully it came with a computer, because I wanted to make full use of the internet connection she had mentioned.
The door opened and I entered. Full of ideas and mentally thinking about the posters I had brought with me and where to hang them… It was going to be awesome.
I was blind.
Completely blinded.
My face fell.
It was the most horrible thing in the world!
It was a monstrosity!
I couldn't believe it!
I stumbled back and withheld a cry of pain.
It burned my eyes…
It was… it was… bright… pink!