Thanks for the reviews!

And now for Chapter 4! This is actually the set-up for an ongoing plot in the story. It was actually a plotline that I wanted to run in the Guild, but we did a restart of the roleplay before I had a chance.

Chapter 4: Enrollment

"What have we here? A lady out on a night like this... Things can happen..."

"Back off. I'm not interested."

"I don't think you quite heard me."

The faint "SNIK" of a switchblade echoed through the night.

"Get away from me!" the woman screamed

The sound of a chase could be heard. A lighter tread followed by a heavier one, and then the noise of a struggle.

"Let me go, you bastard!"

Raze could have walked away. He could have turned a blind eye, and continued on his way. He has a knife, half of his mind rationalized. Of course, that was the half he rarely listened to. I've got more than a knife, he told that half of his brain.

"Leave her alone," he said, approaching the scuffle.

"Well, well. What's the little kid going to do about it? Little kid going to cry to mommy?" the aggressor said, pointing the knife in the direction of the woman. There were tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. She was clearly afraid for her life.

Raze curled his arm in front of him, clenching and unclenching his fist; a slight cracking from the knuckles could be heard. "Let her go," he said, narrowing his yellow eyes at the man. He pooped his neck to each side.

"Oooh, little boy's actin' all heroic! I'm shaking in my boots. Now run along kid, 'fore I decide to come after you too," the man replied, getting irritated.

"I warned you, didn't I?" Raze said, grinning. He pulled off his gloves, and stared straight into the man's eyes. There was a low "fwoosh", and his arms burst into flame.

"What the hell are you!" the man exclaimed, fear replacing the anger in his eyes.

"I'm your worst nightmare," Raze growled. Thank you, Bruce Wayne, he thought to himself.

The man swung his knife at Raze, but missed by a yard. Raze retaliated by grabbing the man's arm. The man howled in pain, and the smell of burning flesh filled the air. Raze let go of the arm, and backhanded the man across the face, knocking him on his back.

"Now get out of here. Or I'll burn a lot more than your arm," Raze said, glaring at the man with his eerie yellow eyes. The man didn't say anything. He just turned around and fled.

Silently, the flames on Raze's arms vanished. He was lucky. This was one of those times when it was easy to put out the fire. "Are you alright?" he said, turning to the lady. The lady looked at him in fear, and backs up a few steps. "Hey, it's alright. I'm not going to hurt you," he says, pulling his gloves back on. "Th-thank you," the woman says quietly, a bit of fear still in her voice. "You're welcome. You should get home. Have some tea. It'll calm the nerves," Raze says to the rattled woman. "Don't mind me asking, but do you need me to walk you there?"

"Y-yes, I'd like that, thank you," she replies.

In the darkness, Raze didn't notice the woman smiling a slightly fanged smile, or the brief flash of bright yellow in her eyes.

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The next day...

Raze stood outside the mansion that housed the Xavier's complex. He had a single of suitcase with him, and there was a small device resembling a PDA attached to his belt. The security system had let him in, but he still had to wait for someone to actually come to the door. He rang the doorbell once more, before sitting down on his suitcases and sighing to himself.

No sooner did he do this than the door opened, and he was being addressed by a brown-haired girl wearing a bright pink sweater and a pair of jeans. "Hi, you must be the new kid. Raze, right? Come on, I'll show you to the Professor's room," Kitty said, grabbing Raze by his arm and dragging him along. He was barely able to hang on to his suitcase as he was pulled up the stairs, and down a hallway to stop in front of a large oak door. "Well, this is the professor's room. Go on in!" Kitty said, waiting outside.

Someone needs to switch to decaf, Raze thought to himself.

Don't mind Kitty. She is excitable around new students, said a voice from nowhere.

"What the-!" Raze exclaimed, looking around for the source of the voice. He hadn't so much heard it as felt it. It was hard to explain. "Did you hear that?" he said to Kitty. "Hear what? Oh, that was probably the Professor," she replied.

I apologize if I startled you. I am Professor Charles Xavier. Please, come in, explained the voice. The wooden doors opened, revealing a large study, with an oaken desk at the far end. Raze walked in, and approached the desk. "Hello Raze. Have a seat," Professor Xavier said, turning his chair around to face the new student. The red-haired boy sat down in one of the chairs near the desk, and looked around idly at the massive shelves of books in the room.

"This is probably a bit overwhelming for you, correct? Don't worry. I daresay you'll get used to it. I trust that your aunt Raven told you a bit about this school before she dropped you off?" Xavier said.

"Yeah, a little. She told me that you guys would teach me how to use my powers properly," Raze responded, scratching the back of his head.

"Well, that's not all that is done here. There is also a wide variety of courses offered for our more motivated students," the Professor explained. He opened one of the drawers of the desk and pulled out several sheets of paper stapled together. He moved around to the other side of the desk to hand them directly to Raze, who realized that the Professor was in a wheelchair. "These are the outlines of the classes offered here. Please, feel free to ask me or any of the other teachers about them," he explained, handing the sheets to Raze. "No, I think I'm good for now. Thank you," Raze said.

"Very well. Kitty will show you to your room, where you can drop off your things. Afterwards, you should probably head out back and introduce yourself to the other students. I'm sure that they'll be happy to meet you," Xavier said, smiling kindly.

Raze nodded, and headed out the door, where Kitty was waiting. "Let's go, I'll show you where you'll be staying," she said, once again grabbing him by the arm.

"This is the boys' wing. The girls' wing is down the hall. Just so you don't get lost on the way to the bathroom or something," Kitty explained once they'd arrived at Raze's room. "And this is where you're room is. Go on in, I'll see you outside," she said. She smiled, and then ran off, phasing through a wall.

Raze stepped through his door, and set his suitcase down by the foot of the bed. "Nice place," he muttered, looking around the room. It had a decent sized bed, a good sized closet, and a desk near the window. He opened his suitcase, and immediately set his new laptop, a "going away" present from his aunt, on the desk, plugging it into the wall socket. He placed his shades over his eyes, and wandered around until he found the back door.

His jaw dropped when he saw the sheer size of the school grounds. It was massive, bigger than anything he'd ever seen. He was pretty sure that one could easily fit the Bayville High football stadium in the yard, and still have room left over. Several people stared and pointed, mostly chattering about the new kid, exchanging theories about what his powers were, and why he was always wearing those gloves. A group of kids playing basketball stopped, and one of them walked over to greet Raze. "You're the new kid, right? Name's Bobby. Pleased to meet you," he said, extending his hand. Raze made sure his gloves were on properly, and accepted the handshake. Of course, this was before he noticed the layer of ice forming around his hand. "Folks call me Iceman. What's your power?" he asked.

Raze seemed reluctant at first, but soon realized that this was a place where he didn't have to worry about his powers as much. He removed the glove that wasn't frozen, and allowed his hand to flare up. He quickly melted the ice on his other hand, and pulled his glove back on. "My other hand and both of my lowers legs do the same thing," Raze explained.

"Cool," Bobby said, chuckling at his own wit. "Hey, you want to join in?" he asked, motioning to the basketball court. "Sure," Raze said, forgetting his inhibitions about being near people, at least for the time being.

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Meanwhile...

A woman sat in front of a bank of monitors, reviewing footage from several different cameras, and readouts from various sources. One of them seemed to be satellite footage of a certain school in upstate New York.

"Ma'am?" the woman called to another person behind her.

A red haired, blue-skinned woman walked towards the bank of monitors.

"He's in," the first woman said.

"Excellent," the blue-skinned woman said, grinning a fanged smile.

Can you guess who Raze is really working for now? I think it's pretty obvious. As is the identity of his "aunt". I left several obvious hints.

When I write this particular character, I usually play "Sympathy for the Devil" by the Rolling Stones. It seems to fit my version of this character perfectly.

Anyways, keep up the reviews!

Until next time,

Stay Snazzy!