Title: XCorps and Xavier's School for the Gifted: East

Chapter: 2 Tips

Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel comics or any of their stuff, however much I wish it. I do, however, own Tips, Others, That Place, Sunny, and Rabbit. Tom belongs to Gabriel. (It's kind of joint custody, but, whatever.)

Summary: Enter: Sunny, Tom, and Rabbit. Three misfit mutants from Xavier's school. They must now take Tips, the stranger from That Place, under their wing. This chapter told from Sunny's PoV. Because I change from first person to third and will continue to do so. -shrug- Sorry, y'all.

Alone. Scared. Out of place. Tips was feeling all of these things, and he didn't have any way to change it. Not without help. He needed to get as far away from the building with the white rooms as possible. Then... nothing. There was nothing he could do, no way to fit into this world. He had to find somewhere, anywhere, to hide. And that was all he could think about.

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"So, this guy can turn invisible?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.

Tom nodded. "Yeah, that's what they're saying. Everyone thinks he must be a mutant. Thing is, he doesn't show up on Cerebro, so says Ms. Frost. Anyway, Sunny..." My stepbrother trailed off, pulling his goggles over his black hair.

"Jeeze, Tom, why you always wear those goggles? I mean it's not like you use them, and they're not too much of a fashion statement, either. You look like a fricken Digimon rerun." He tells me I nag about that all the time. I don't. I swear. It's just the truth, he does look like a Digimon rerun.

"Fuck you. I'm hurt," Tom pouted. Which isn't all that believable, because even though he's my friend and my stepbrother and I love him to death, it doesn't change the fact that he only has two feelings. Neither of those being hurt. One's lust for other teenage boys, and the other's his damn narcissism. Which he insists he isn't, and I swear to god there's no other explaination for his severe lack of modesty. Especially when he's changing from a cat back into a human, which leaves him totally naked. Usually in front of people. Yeah, I don't think there's a person in this school who hasn't seen Tom naked.

"You're hurt, and I'm the president. Anyway, so what's the whole dealio, preferably before we ship out?" I asked, opening the car door. Rabbit was following us, too, unusually quiet. She did that a lot. Follow me'n'Tom, that is, not be quiet. No, she could talk the dickens out of an auctioneer when she wanted to, and then there were times like these, when she was so quiet you couldn't tell she was even there. Well, almost. There was that hat, the one that totally drew attention to itself. No way to ignore that thing.

Tom gave me a sort of a growl, I guess, but decided he might as well fill us in anyway. "Alright, so the gov's tracked him to some hole-in-the-ground and now they want us to come in and get him because they think he's a mutant and don't want to deal." He turned the ignition as he grunted, "Bunch of lazy pricks. And anyway, how do they know Invisofuck's not left already, anyway?" Tom's the only one of use with a license, by the way. He's older than me, and both of us are older than Rabbit. Who, of course, made sure we were all buckled in before letting us leave.

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So we get there. And, of course, true to the usual, things turn out to be worse than even they should be. I mean, really. At least those dumb govs could have told us. Anyway, this kid was tunneled in under this big old building right in the middle of good ole NYC. And it runs out this was a condemned building, so naturally the construction idiots didn't know better than not to blow it up before they got the kid from under this building. So now, not only do we not even know if he's still alive or slowly being crushed by rubble or what, but the entrance to where he snuck into the foundation, formerly this ginormous hole, is now pretty much blocked. I mean, even Rabbit can't fit in there, and that's saying something, because she's just this tiny little thing.

We've got two plans. A is Tom goes in there and coaxes the kid out. Which doesn't have a lot of hope of working, if the govs are right about him, and their opinion is he's some totally paranoid psychotic freak. So there's also B. That one would be Tom getting him to leave and me and Rabs catching him on his way out. Seems easier to me, anyway. Plus, Rabbit, who's one pretty charismatic kid with her little innocent girl charm, got the govs to at least cooperate enough that they helped us put up a barrier.

So Tom turns into a cat. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. That's his power. It's what he does. See, when we were little he could just talk to animals. But there's this whole deal with a psychotic scientist and now he's got cat ears and a cat's tail and he turns into the cutest little calico thing. Which probably doesn't do to much for his manly ego, let me just tell ya that much. He's just so cute and fluffy, which I can't help but constantly remind him. Another stab at his machoness. Anyway, he's the only one who can fit in there, cat-Tom, that is, and so he goes in after the kid. And wouldn't you know what happened next!

Something runs right into Rabbit and barrels her over as the entryway crumbles all up and out comes Tom in his birthday suit, looking confused as all get out, which leaves us bother frantically grabbing until I get ahold of something I can't see. The stuff feels like cloth, but you can't really tell. I mean, I can't see it or anything.

"Look, I'm not gonna fucking hurt you, I swear!" Tom yells, in a way that makes me think he's already said that same exact thing at least twice. Maybe not exactly. Maybe a paraphrase. But he's definitely said it.

Then in my hands appears, seemingly out of nowhere, this scrawny guy with bright blue hair. This kid's at least as tall as me, but with almost nothing to him. He's light as anything, and about as big around as Rabbit. He's got this expression on his face, staring at Tom as if my bro'd just told him he was going to eat the flesh off of his body or something. "Y-you! You're one of the Others! You've come from That Place, haven't you!"

I swear, he said that place. But it was definitely a That Place, like it was a place's name or something. Wierdest thing I've ever heard. And the Others? Where the hell was Nicole Kidman when you needed her?

"The hell kind of place are you talking about?" Tom growled, obviously peeved. "And I'm a mutant, if that's what you mean. What are YOU?"

The kid blinked a few times. "I'm... I'm a... what's a mutant?" he asked. Apparently he figured if Tom didn't know what he was talking about, he must be one of the good guys.

"This kid's nuts," he said, to no one in particular. "Mutant. People who can do special things? Like me, and you, you turn invisible? Where the hell've you been living?"

The kid sniffed. "That Place..." he kind of mumbled. It was wierd, he kept saying it like it was the place's name.

"What place?" Tom growled dangerously, getting really pissed. Oh, yeah, and did I mention he was still butt naked? Not that me or Rabbit cared, but it seemed to make this guy a little less than comfortable.

"It doesn't have a name. My world."

"Oh, Jesus Christ, that's great. Just fucking great! He's not even from this fucking universe!" Tom yelled to just about everybody, with his usual repertoire of bad language. Me'n'Rabbit were used to it, of course. But I guess this kid kind of flinched. Speaking of Rabbit, after that fall she'd kind of disappeared. I don't know where she went, we were so busy with the guy from this "other world."

"Sunny. Hold him. I'll get the phone, ask the people back at the mansion what the hell we're doing with him," Tom snarled, and turned to leave. I swear, that guy forgets he's without clothing. And in the middle of the city! Luckily, he ran right into Rabbit. Or at least into the hand she had held out to stop him. She handed him the phone and then gestured to his clothes.

"For Christ's cake, Tom, put something on. I know you think you're God's gift to humanity and all, but this is ridiculous."

After shooting her a death glare, he pulled on his pants, snatching the cell from her hands.

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So it turns out the kid's coming back with us. We coaxed him into the car, and he seemed to scared of us to want to do anything but oblige. Especially Tom. Apparently he's gonna be staying at the school with us until we find out who he is, what he is, and a way to help him. Scott - even though I should totally be calling him Mr. Summers, which makes him sound a whole lot older than we think he is - says that there was somebody a lot like this kid back in the old X-Men glory days. Which made me laugh when Tom told me, 'cos he's already said that we all remind him of a bunch of the old X-Men and people like them.

Tom himself's pretty pissed about the whole thing, for God knows why. At least, he's steaming like a railroad car, or whatever it is he steams like.

And the kid? We know his name, now. He announced it all important-like and stuff. "Tiranapinus Cyrillus." Which is really hard to say, so lucky for us he's got a nickname, Tips.

So now I guess he's one of us. Sort of. We'll have to see. But it's me, and Rabbit, and Tom, and Tips. Who knows what'll happen? But being a member- because Junior Member is so lame- of the XCorps, is, like, uber exciting.