Where Angels Fear to Tread
Part Sixteen
Reunion
Disclaimer: I'm a poor college student. If I owned either of these worlds, I'd be a rich college student! Of course, that's an oxymoron. Rich college student! HAHAHAHA!
StarRise: They're feeding me bad cafeteria food. Why do you think it takes so long to put out new chapters? The food alone kills off my muses.
Fuzzyness: Someone else must have mentioned Mystique's name, because it's fixed, but thanks for telling me anyway. My spelling does leave some things to be desired. As for Amanda, she's showing up in a few chapters.
elf-princess4: I'm in college. Life is busy. I'm sorry! I do my best to update, it's just really hard.
ShogunZX: Okay, I'll give you that I like Xavier in the regular X-Men, but this is based on X-Men evolution, when he is training teenagers. When they were all adults, it was a lot different, and I feel that this is how people would react if this happened in X-Men Evolution, not the original world of the X-Men. And I know that aliens are the norm in Marvel comics, but not in the Evolution series. They haven't met them before. And besides, this is AU! Creative liscense here, come on! Give me a break!
Without further ado. . .
ENJOY!
Kurt stared around the back yard for what seemed to be the millionth time, nervously biting his nails and making sure everything was ready for the arrival of the Z-Senshi. He was worried about what they would think of him, and so he was taking his nerves out on making sure the party would run smoothly. He wasn't wearing the holo-watch that day, and had made sure to dress neatly in a blood coloured gi and white belt.
"You're worrying over nothing," Trunks pointed out, rolling his eyes at one of his best friends. He was dressed in a royal blue gi with a red belt. "I mean, it's not like they're going to blame you for anything, and none of them are going to comment on your clothes or anything. I mean, look at what Goku wears!"
They both turned to look at Goten, dressed like his father in the orange "Son" gi with the black belt. Gohan was dressed in an indigo gi with a red belt, having long since decided that his father was colour blind, and so was Goten. "Good point," Kurt had to agree.
"Of course I'm right," Trunks told him smugly. "I'm ALWAYS right!"
"I must have forgotten than part," Kurt grumbled, rolling his eyes. "It must have been shoved violently out of the way by the, 'Yeah, right,' thought that was following it."
Trunks pouted at him for a moment, then shrugged slightly. "Whatever."
Kurt forced back a laugh and shook his head. "You'll live."
"Is this the party?" A soft voice asked from behind. Kurt turned with a smile.
"Hello, Rogue," He said softly, hugging her carefully, mindful not to touch her bare skin.
Trunks raised an eyebrow and looked her over. She was short, just a little taller than Videl, though thinner, with chin length auburn hair with two thick white streaks framing her face. Grey eyes watched him carefully, not fully trusting, but not turning him away either. "Hello. I'm Trunks Briefs."
"Hello. I'm Marie. But everyone calls me Rogue." The girl smiled. "The rest of the Brotherhood are around, and we saw some of the X-Men pulling in too."
"Okassan said she'd let you all off with one warning, and then she was bringing out her frying pan," Kurt replied, shrugging. Then to Trunks he asked, "Where's Goten?"
"I have no idea. He saw Rogue and took off. I'm assuming SOMEONE has a crush?" Trunks smirked, and Rogue blushed slightly. She had seen Goten vaguely in passing, but wasn't entirely sure who he was.
"I'd imagine." The conversation had continued without her, and she shook her head to clear it when Goten came in for a landing. Her heart nearly stopped. He was so graceful and powerful and absolutely beautiful. Then she sighed. She knew they could never be together, moreso since she could never be touched. She chewed her lip. He was even cuter than Scott!
"Hello, Marie," Goten smiled, holding out several flowers.
"Hi, Goten." Rogue smiled slightly, pink staining her cheeks. Kurt and Trunks exchanged looks and laughed. This was too funny! A flash went off and another laugh--Gohan's this time--caught their attention.
"Black mail!" He crowed, and took off with the camera. Goten never noticed, and Trunks and Kurt decided that if he didn't protest that he didn't really mind. And not only that, both of them knew fully well that they would lose in a fight with Gohan, and he was going to give them copies of the picture anyway.
"What are YOU doing here?" Kurt winced at the sound of Scott's voice.
"They are guests, rather like yourself, and you WILL call truce here or I WILL kill you. Do we all understand this? Yes? Good." Videl's voice was the next thing heard, and then she had herded them all into the backyard. They were only waiting for the Z-senshi and then it was time to party!
Goku brought everyone moments later, and the party was well underway within an hour. Food was devoured as though the Saiya-Jins had not eaten in more than a month, and Fred was watching them in awe. "How do you stay so skinny?"
"We have very high metabolisms--that is, we burn the food we eat quickly, turning in into energy very fast--so we're constantly hungry. Sometimes we work around it, but after about three days without food, we're pretty screwed." Gohan replied. Fred nodded, dawning finally crossing his mind. He was having a conversation that he understood!
What few knew besides the brotherhood was that Fred was far from stupid, but no one ever bothered to explain anything to him, so he tended to need more clarification that most of his other classmates. Which made them tease him, which caused him to not ask, and, therefore, not understand. Gohan, unlike most of his other teachers, and nearly all of his classmates, had not treated him as though he was stupid, just continued on as though it was normal to explain everything to someone.
"Are you done with that? Thanks--ITAI!" Goten had just tried to swipe something off of Gohan's plate, and just received a viscous stab with Gohan's fork.
"You really should know better," Trunks told his friend, who simply pouted. Kurt grinned, and Rogue shook her head. The more she was around the three of them, the more she wondered if they were smoking something.
Logan, meanwhile, had finally met both Vegita and Piccolo. "Hey, bub," He glanced up at the big green. . . man in front of him.
"Piccolo," The man replied in a half grunt. The blue haired woman nearby that had introduce herself to him as Bulma rolled her eyes.
"He's not all the vocal," She sighed, shaking her head. "In fact, he's only here because Gohan asked, I bet. Of course, it has nothing to do with Kurt."
"Of course not." Piccolo agreed. Vegita, who was nearby, rolled his eyes as well.
"Oh please, green man, we both know that you love that kid as much as you love Gohan. You aren't fooling anyone."
Piccolo glared at him, but couldn't stop the tiny smile that graced his face when he saw Kurt, Goten, and Trunks wrestling around in the grass. Rogue was watching them and shaking her head, and Pan was cheering her older brother on. Logan nodded slightly to himself, realizing that, even if Piccolo would never admit it, that he had as much a soft spot for Kurt as Vegita--who had a fairly large one and they both knew it.
He didn't have time to make another comment on the matter as Goku and Gohan had decided, for lack of other things to do, that they were going to spar. And Logan had never seen anything quite like it. There were times when the two just disappeared altogether, at least to him. The others, including Kurt, were all still cheering like they could see the two in the middle of the lawn, eyes following the movement of nothing as they screamed.
"What's going on?" Logan asked Vegita, mistakenly thinking him the less prickly of the two.
The short man humphed and Piccolo sighed. "Goku and Gohan are sparring."
"Yeah, but they aren't there!"
"Of course they are you stupid human," Vegita snapped. "They are simply going to fast for your puny eyes to follow."
"That's not possible." Logan snapped, feeling more than a little offended at the slur. "And you're a human to, you know."
"No, I am the Prince of the Saiya-Jins," Vegita snorted. Bulma shot him a Look, and he glared at her for a moment, and when she glared in reply, he backed off more than a little. Logan raised an eyebrow, and probably would have commented, except that Piccolo shook his head.
"So you are called the Z-Senshi?" Professor Xavier asked Krillian as he watched Goku and Gohan spar.
"Yes." The short man replied absently. "Gohan told me about the school you run. That's abominable."
"There is no one else."
"We're here, aren't we? He also told me that Kurt told him that you refused to let him call us in."
"He said he was calling the best fighters around! Hurcule is far to busy to--"
Krillian lost his battle with his laughter. "Hu--hurcule? He woul--wouldn't c-call Hurcule if he was th-the last m-m-man alive!" Tears streamed down his face at the thought of Kurt actually calling the man that kicked him out of his house for simply being a mutant. "He h-hates Hurcule!"
"What?" Xavier sounded more than a little affronted.
"Hurcule is Videl's father. They met when Kurt was seven, and Hurcule kicked Kurt out of his house because of the way he looked. They haven't spoken to him ever since, they said he'd have to give Kurt a formal apology first and he refused, and Kurt has hated him since then."
Xavier frowned. "Don't tell the other students, please? They nearly hero worship him."
"They have a right to know the truth," Krillian frowned. "You can't allow them to be adults in some ways and children in others. They need to be all or nothing, since you obviously have a thing against them growing up naturally."
"I wanted them to be able to defend themselves," Xavier finally snapped. "I know that when all this gets out, it's going to blow sky high, and they will be under attack! I want them safe!"
Tears filled Krillian's eyes as he turned away, muttering, "That's what we wanted for Gohan, too."
Professor Xavier gave him an odd look, then shrugged and turned back to the fight. Gohan, it seemed, was winning. Then, everything went up a notch. Their black hair turned gold, their black eyes aquamarine. Blue lightning crackled around their bodies, and then their hair grew long. To their waists. "What--?"
"It's about time!" Krillian shouted. "That was getting boring! I vote for a free-for-all!"
The rest of the Z-senshi cheered, and raced towards the chaos that had soon formed around Gohan and Goku. Several teams were made, it seemed to Xavier, and the fight got even MORE violent. Or, what little of the fight he could see was. Gohan and Piccolo appeared to have teamed up, and so had Goku and Vegita, and he noted that Kurt, Goten, and Trunks were all on another team, until Pan decided she wanted to join. Another little girl, this one with blue hair, sat on the sidelines, cheering for Pan.
"What's going on?" Xavier asked, heading towards the women sitting nearby.
"They're having a free for all," Bulma sighed. "We're going to have a hell of a time cleaning up after this."
Chichi laughed and shook her head. "You're just upset because we weren't invited to join in!"
"Maybe YOU are," Bulma told her friend rudely. "I, on the other hand, am annoyed that they didn't warn me first so that I could have the first-aid kit handy."
Chichi giggled slightly, shaking her head, and went back to watching while Xavier turned to the blue haired genius. "So this is. . . normal? I mean, Gohan told me that it was horrible for me to allow my students to fight, but he is allowing his children to do the same."
"Gohan trains his children to fight because he really does have enemies," Bulma explained. "That is, I will admit, our fault, as well as our mistake. Gohan's angry because he thinks that you're doing the same thing we did, and he wants to keep the mistake we made from happening a second time."
"He's been on and off of the battle field since he was four. Only, I had not wanted him to fight, ever, like his father. It turned out to be in his blood, he had power he had to learn to control, but it was. . . difficult. Piccolo kidnaped him when he was six to teach him to fight for when the Saiya-Jins came to earth a year later. Then he had to go to a different planet to get his friends back. And he fought Cell, watched his father die, the works. His life had been hard, and he didn't want that for any of your children." Chichi wrung her hands. "It's not you. He thinks you are a great person, running your school as you do. He called us the other day, just after he found Kurt, and told us about it. He just doesn't want those children to have to fight."
"I didn't want it either. They have to learn to use their powers, so I opened a school to help teach them, so they didn't have to hide them. I also wanted to teach them to help and get along with humans that didn't have special powers. But then Magnito showed up. He wanted to rule the non-mutants. So the X-Men began to fight him. Because they didn't want it. Then Kurt showed up, talking about things we'd never heard of before, and a father he hadn't seen in years. We thought it was a fantasy, one that he wanted desperately to be true because I know his foster family didn't treat him very well. Then Gohan showed up and it all turned out to be true."
Bulma sighed. "Well, Gohan was going to hang around for at least a year. Maybe he can help, if you tell him what you told us. He really does want what's best for everyone, and the only was that can happen here is if he helps you, so he can keep them safe."
"You'll help me, then?"
"However I can," Bulma agreed. "I think Gohan will too, when you tell him what you're really trying to do. Right now he thinks you're just trying to put those kids in danger."
"I see," Xavier sighed. Chichi put a hand on the man's shoulder.
"We all make mistakes," Chichi told him gently. "And we all have to find a way to atone for them. Sometimes we spend our whole life trying, like Vegita and Piccolo are, and sometimes we spend our life trying to make sure we don't have things to atone for, like Gohan does."
The fighting was dying down by now, Gohan and Goku having won, and were cheering loudly. Lance and Scott, who had ended up on a team, had just shaken hands, before remembering they didn't like each other and jerking away.
"Ya aren't so bad," Rogue smiled. "The X-Men, I mean."
"You aren't so bad yourself," Kurt grinned. "The Brotherhood, I mean."
"I've got more food!" Chichi called, bringing the Saiya-Jins running like a pack of wolfhounds. The humans laughed as they dug in, licking their lips hungrily.
"Gotta hand it to ya, blue boy," Lance told Kurt as the groups began to leave, "You ain't so bad after all." Goku and the group in Japan had gone first, and then the X-Men had left, leaving only the brotherhood.
"Then why are we always fighting?" Kurt asked, tilting his head back. "I mean, we aren't so different, and wouldn't it be easier on us all if we stopped? All it's doing is getting in the way."
"I--never thought of it," Lance shrugged. "And you don't get us anyway."
The blue mutant shrugged slightly. "If you say so. But you have to remember that we all have things in out pasts that we'd rather forget. So, in the end, we're more alike than anyone would guess. And Otousan already wants to get you out of that dump Mystique's got you living in. He doesn't like the fact that you're in school and working two jobs."
"He shouldn't try to butt into my life!" Lance hissed, clearly angry. "What right does he have to play the hero and then act all humble about the attention? All he's going to do is gloat like Mystique did, and be treated like the hero when we live in shambles and I still have to work two jobs just to feed everyone--"
"I would never." Gohan's deep voice entered the conversation sounding annoyed. "If I took you in, it would not be to treat you however the person you live with now is. I would never do that. I did not do it to Kurt, I would not do it to you."
"Yeah, 'cept Kurt's your son--"
"I'm adopted, Lance." Kurt frowned at him. "Gohan adopted me when I was seven. I don't know who my real parents are, and before that, I was abandoned after a circus performance on the steps of someone's house. I nearly died. I was three or four at the time. I spent the next few years in the orphanage, teased and bullied, before I met Gohan. he was the only person I ever met that didn't treat me like a freak."
"Someone actually adopted you, freak?" Lance bit out. He was hurt that someone wanted a mutant that looked like a monster, but no one had wanted him, a child that looked perfectly normal.
"Stop." Gohan put a hand on Lance's shoulder, and refused to let go when Lance tried to twist away. "It won't help. All that will do is make you angry and upset Kurt."
"How do you know? I bet you never lost anything in your life! You have the prefect family, the perfect life, everything is prefect! And all I ever get is the bad stuff! There's nothing good about anything I've gone through!"
"Are you sure about that?" Gohan raised an eyebrow. "You've met Marie, Todd, Fred, and Pietro. You also met Kitty, who I believe you have a slight crush on? Not only that, you met some new friends tonight. There is always something good in everything, Lance, but you have to find it.
"As for my life, I've lived through quite a bit. I've been on battlefields since I was four, and fighting on them since I was six. I've seen a lot of death and destruction, some of it by my hand, some of it by someone else's. I have killed people, and I have seen others die. My life has hardly been perfect, Lance, but I was lucky enough to have my family to help me. I'm not that much older than you are, you know. Eleven years, maybe."
Lance frowned at him, then turned away. "You have no idea what it's like to be responsible for people."
"I'm a father, Lance," Gohan replied gently. "I do know what it's like to be responsible for people. And not only am I a father, I'm a teacher. Do you know how frightening it is to be in a chemistry lab, trying to keep your students safe when there's chemicals in there that, should they mix, could blow the school to kingdom come?"
Lance knew that he was losing the point, and he also knew there was nothing he could do to win it. He turned back for a moment to stare at Gohan, then turned away again, biting his lip. Gohan either saw or heard it, and he wrapped his arm around the youth. Lance stiffened for a moment, as though he had never had anyone do such an action to him, then leaned slightly into Gohan, relaxing slightly.
Gohan knew that he had not fully gained Lance's trust, but it was a start. Kurt went towards Lance, and put a hand on the other's arm. "He means it, you know," Kurt murmured softly. "And he really does want what's best for you."
"So did everyone else that sent me into foster care," Lance muttered.
"But he doesn't want to send you to foster care, Lance. He wants to be your teacher, your friend, your parent." Kurt smiled slightly. "That's just what he and Videl do. He's got an orphanage that Bulma helped fund, and they're really careful who they send their kids to, and they make sure to stay in contact with them. And besides--well, maybe I shouldn't share that."
"No, it's okay. Videl and I Saiya-Man one and two," Gohan shrugged. "We've not been since we've moved here, but we were in Japan. Otousan's been taking care of it."
"You left Ojiisan Goku to handle it?" Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Otousan, what were you thinking?"
Gohan shrugged. "It's not the first time he's done it, Kurt. Have some faith in your Ojiisan, hey? Besides, I've got Vegita there to help out."
"You're Saiya-Man?" Lance stared at him. "How? Saiya-Man can shoot beams and stuff from his hands, and he can fly, and--and--that stuff!"
"Yes, I know." Gohan smiled, his eyes crinkling slightly. "It's okay, I understand that I don't look much like a fighter. But I am, I promise. And Lance? I am going to help you. You need it, whether or not you think so. You're burning out, Lance." Gohan's voice was gentle. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. I've done it too. Come on, let's pack you some stuff to eat later. Videl will be happy to do so."
Lance didn't look at him, but he nodded his thanks, then turned to look at Kurt. "You're lucky, you know. A dad that went halfway around the world just to find you."
Kurt grinned at Gohan, then looked at Goten and Trunks--Goten was still flirting with Rogue--and nodded. "I know. And I'm thankful for it every day."
Lance followed Gohan back to the house to get the promised food--he wasn't going to turn down good home-cooked food even if he felt a little insulted--and tell Gohan he wasn't a charity case. He spectactularly lost that argument because Gohan agreed with him, then stuffed his arms with food anyway.
"That went well," Videl sighed after everyone left. "No one fought when they weren't supposed to be, we only had one all-out war," She turned to glare at Goten who was cause of said war because he tried to steal food from Vegita, and then smiled, "and we didn't kill each other."
"That makes the day," Gohan muttered, as the rest of the crew laughed. "I think, though, it is time for bed. I'm tired."
"You should be after Otousan and Vegita-san kicked your ass," Goten smirked. Gohan smacked him slightly, then picked him up and threw him over his shoulder like he did when Goten was little.
"Bed," Videl agreed. "I want sleep too. Now go."
Grumbling, the older three marched up to bed while Gohan and Videl carried Pan. "I think today was a success," Gohan muttered.
"Me too," Videl agreed with a yawn. "And I learned something from the Professor. I'll tell you in the morning."
They dropped Pan off in bed, and then went to sleep themselves. Videl cuddled up to Gohan, and smiled sleepily at him, muttering something about a good day, and Gohan nodded and dropped off to sleep wondering what his mate had found out from Professor Xavier.
(Author's Notes) Hey, I hope you all like this, it was fun to write, and I'm sorry it's so late. By the way, I've got a challenge out in my Bio I'd like you to look at and spread the word for, as well as a reply to a flame giving you s'mores, so go check that out and get your s'more, please.
Review for me? puppy look Please?
Lady Foeseeker
Part Sixteen
Reunion
Disclaimer: I'm a poor college student. If I owned either of these worlds, I'd be a rich college student! Of course, that's an oxymoron. Rich college student! HAHAHAHA!
StarRise: They're feeding me bad cafeteria food. Why do you think it takes so long to put out new chapters? The food alone kills off my muses.
Fuzzyness: Someone else must have mentioned Mystique's name, because it's fixed, but thanks for telling me anyway. My spelling does leave some things to be desired. As for Amanda, she's showing up in a few chapters.
elf-princess4: I'm in college. Life is busy. I'm sorry! I do my best to update, it's just really hard.
ShogunZX: Okay, I'll give you that I like Xavier in the regular X-Men, but this is based on X-Men evolution, when he is training teenagers. When they were all adults, it was a lot different, and I feel that this is how people would react if this happened in X-Men Evolution, not the original world of the X-Men. And I know that aliens are the norm in Marvel comics, but not in the Evolution series. They haven't met them before. And besides, this is AU! Creative liscense here, come on! Give me a break!
Without further ado. . .
ENJOY!
Kurt stared around the back yard for what seemed to be the millionth time, nervously biting his nails and making sure everything was ready for the arrival of the Z-Senshi. He was worried about what they would think of him, and so he was taking his nerves out on making sure the party would run smoothly. He wasn't wearing the holo-watch that day, and had made sure to dress neatly in a blood coloured gi and white belt.
"You're worrying over nothing," Trunks pointed out, rolling his eyes at one of his best friends. He was dressed in a royal blue gi with a red belt. "I mean, it's not like they're going to blame you for anything, and none of them are going to comment on your clothes or anything. I mean, look at what Goku wears!"
They both turned to look at Goten, dressed like his father in the orange "Son" gi with the black belt. Gohan was dressed in an indigo gi with a red belt, having long since decided that his father was colour blind, and so was Goten. "Good point," Kurt had to agree.
"Of course I'm right," Trunks told him smugly. "I'm ALWAYS right!"
"I must have forgotten than part," Kurt grumbled, rolling his eyes. "It must have been shoved violently out of the way by the, 'Yeah, right,' thought that was following it."
Trunks pouted at him for a moment, then shrugged slightly. "Whatever."
Kurt forced back a laugh and shook his head. "You'll live."
"Is this the party?" A soft voice asked from behind. Kurt turned with a smile.
"Hello, Rogue," He said softly, hugging her carefully, mindful not to touch her bare skin.
Trunks raised an eyebrow and looked her over. She was short, just a little taller than Videl, though thinner, with chin length auburn hair with two thick white streaks framing her face. Grey eyes watched him carefully, not fully trusting, but not turning him away either. "Hello. I'm Trunks Briefs."
"Hello. I'm Marie. But everyone calls me Rogue." The girl smiled. "The rest of the Brotherhood are around, and we saw some of the X-Men pulling in too."
"Okassan said she'd let you all off with one warning, and then she was bringing out her frying pan," Kurt replied, shrugging. Then to Trunks he asked, "Where's Goten?"
"I have no idea. He saw Rogue and took off. I'm assuming SOMEONE has a crush?" Trunks smirked, and Rogue blushed slightly. She had seen Goten vaguely in passing, but wasn't entirely sure who he was.
"I'd imagine." The conversation had continued without her, and she shook her head to clear it when Goten came in for a landing. Her heart nearly stopped. He was so graceful and powerful and absolutely beautiful. Then she sighed. She knew they could never be together, moreso since she could never be touched. She chewed her lip. He was even cuter than Scott!
"Hello, Marie," Goten smiled, holding out several flowers.
"Hi, Goten." Rogue smiled slightly, pink staining her cheeks. Kurt and Trunks exchanged looks and laughed. This was too funny! A flash went off and another laugh--Gohan's this time--caught their attention.
"Black mail!" He crowed, and took off with the camera. Goten never noticed, and Trunks and Kurt decided that if he didn't protest that he didn't really mind. And not only that, both of them knew fully well that they would lose in a fight with Gohan, and he was going to give them copies of the picture anyway.
"What are YOU doing here?" Kurt winced at the sound of Scott's voice.
"They are guests, rather like yourself, and you WILL call truce here or I WILL kill you. Do we all understand this? Yes? Good." Videl's voice was the next thing heard, and then she had herded them all into the backyard. They were only waiting for the Z-senshi and then it was time to party!
Goku brought everyone moments later, and the party was well underway within an hour. Food was devoured as though the Saiya-Jins had not eaten in more than a month, and Fred was watching them in awe. "How do you stay so skinny?"
"We have very high metabolisms--that is, we burn the food we eat quickly, turning in into energy very fast--so we're constantly hungry. Sometimes we work around it, but after about three days without food, we're pretty screwed." Gohan replied. Fred nodded, dawning finally crossing his mind. He was having a conversation that he understood!
What few knew besides the brotherhood was that Fred was far from stupid, but no one ever bothered to explain anything to him, so he tended to need more clarification that most of his other classmates. Which made them tease him, which caused him to not ask, and, therefore, not understand. Gohan, unlike most of his other teachers, and nearly all of his classmates, had not treated him as though he was stupid, just continued on as though it was normal to explain everything to someone.
"Are you done with that? Thanks--ITAI!" Goten had just tried to swipe something off of Gohan's plate, and just received a viscous stab with Gohan's fork.
"You really should know better," Trunks told his friend, who simply pouted. Kurt grinned, and Rogue shook her head. The more she was around the three of them, the more she wondered if they were smoking something.
Logan, meanwhile, had finally met both Vegita and Piccolo. "Hey, bub," He glanced up at the big green. . . man in front of him.
"Piccolo," The man replied in a half grunt. The blue haired woman nearby that had introduce herself to him as Bulma rolled her eyes.
"He's not all the vocal," She sighed, shaking her head. "In fact, he's only here because Gohan asked, I bet. Of course, it has nothing to do with Kurt."
"Of course not." Piccolo agreed. Vegita, who was nearby, rolled his eyes as well.
"Oh please, green man, we both know that you love that kid as much as you love Gohan. You aren't fooling anyone."
Piccolo glared at him, but couldn't stop the tiny smile that graced his face when he saw Kurt, Goten, and Trunks wrestling around in the grass. Rogue was watching them and shaking her head, and Pan was cheering her older brother on. Logan nodded slightly to himself, realizing that, even if Piccolo would never admit it, that he had as much a soft spot for Kurt as Vegita--who had a fairly large one and they both knew it.
He didn't have time to make another comment on the matter as Goku and Gohan had decided, for lack of other things to do, that they were going to spar. And Logan had never seen anything quite like it. There were times when the two just disappeared altogether, at least to him. The others, including Kurt, were all still cheering like they could see the two in the middle of the lawn, eyes following the movement of nothing as they screamed.
"What's going on?" Logan asked Vegita, mistakenly thinking him the less prickly of the two.
The short man humphed and Piccolo sighed. "Goku and Gohan are sparring."
"Yeah, but they aren't there!"
"Of course they are you stupid human," Vegita snapped. "They are simply going to fast for your puny eyes to follow."
"That's not possible." Logan snapped, feeling more than a little offended at the slur. "And you're a human to, you know."
"No, I am the Prince of the Saiya-Jins," Vegita snorted. Bulma shot him a Look, and he glared at her for a moment, and when she glared in reply, he backed off more than a little. Logan raised an eyebrow, and probably would have commented, except that Piccolo shook his head.
"So you are called the Z-Senshi?" Professor Xavier asked Krillian as he watched Goku and Gohan spar.
"Yes." The short man replied absently. "Gohan told me about the school you run. That's abominable."
"There is no one else."
"We're here, aren't we? He also told me that Kurt told him that you refused to let him call us in."
"He said he was calling the best fighters around! Hurcule is far to busy to--"
Krillian lost his battle with his laughter. "Hu--hurcule? He woul--wouldn't c-call Hurcule if he was th-the last m-m-man alive!" Tears streamed down his face at the thought of Kurt actually calling the man that kicked him out of his house for simply being a mutant. "He h-hates Hurcule!"
"What?" Xavier sounded more than a little affronted.
"Hurcule is Videl's father. They met when Kurt was seven, and Hurcule kicked Kurt out of his house because of the way he looked. They haven't spoken to him ever since, they said he'd have to give Kurt a formal apology first and he refused, and Kurt has hated him since then."
Xavier frowned. "Don't tell the other students, please? They nearly hero worship him."
"They have a right to know the truth," Krillian frowned. "You can't allow them to be adults in some ways and children in others. They need to be all or nothing, since you obviously have a thing against them growing up naturally."
"I wanted them to be able to defend themselves," Xavier finally snapped. "I know that when all this gets out, it's going to blow sky high, and they will be under attack! I want them safe!"
Tears filled Krillian's eyes as he turned away, muttering, "That's what we wanted for Gohan, too."
Professor Xavier gave him an odd look, then shrugged and turned back to the fight. Gohan, it seemed, was winning. Then, everything went up a notch. Their black hair turned gold, their black eyes aquamarine. Blue lightning crackled around their bodies, and then their hair grew long. To their waists. "What--?"
"It's about time!" Krillian shouted. "That was getting boring! I vote for a free-for-all!"
The rest of the Z-senshi cheered, and raced towards the chaos that had soon formed around Gohan and Goku. Several teams were made, it seemed to Xavier, and the fight got even MORE violent. Or, what little of the fight he could see was. Gohan and Piccolo appeared to have teamed up, and so had Goku and Vegita, and he noted that Kurt, Goten, and Trunks were all on another team, until Pan decided she wanted to join. Another little girl, this one with blue hair, sat on the sidelines, cheering for Pan.
"What's going on?" Xavier asked, heading towards the women sitting nearby.
"They're having a free for all," Bulma sighed. "We're going to have a hell of a time cleaning up after this."
Chichi laughed and shook her head. "You're just upset because we weren't invited to join in!"
"Maybe YOU are," Bulma told her friend rudely. "I, on the other hand, am annoyed that they didn't warn me first so that I could have the first-aid kit handy."
Chichi giggled slightly, shaking her head, and went back to watching while Xavier turned to the blue haired genius. "So this is. . . normal? I mean, Gohan told me that it was horrible for me to allow my students to fight, but he is allowing his children to do the same."
"Gohan trains his children to fight because he really does have enemies," Bulma explained. "That is, I will admit, our fault, as well as our mistake. Gohan's angry because he thinks that you're doing the same thing we did, and he wants to keep the mistake we made from happening a second time."
"He's been on and off of the battle field since he was four. Only, I had not wanted him to fight, ever, like his father. It turned out to be in his blood, he had power he had to learn to control, but it was. . . difficult. Piccolo kidnaped him when he was six to teach him to fight for when the Saiya-Jins came to earth a year later. Then he had to go to a different planet to get his friends back. And he fought Cell, watched his father die, the works. His life had been hard, and he didn't want that for any of your children." Chichi wrung her hands. "It's not you. He thinks you are a great person, running your school as you do. He called us the other day, just after he found Kurt, and told us about it. He just doesn't want those children to have to fight."
"I didn't want it either. They have to learn to use their powers, so I opened a school to help teach them, so they didn't have to hide them. I also wanted to teach them to help and get along with humans that didn't have special powers. But then Magnito showed up. He wanted to rule the non-mutants. So the X-Men began to fight him. Because they didn't want it. Then Kurt showed up, talking about things we'd never heard of before, and a father he hadn't seen in years. We thought it was a fantasy, one that he wanted desperately to be true because I know his foster family didn't treat him very well. Then Gohan showed up and it all turned out to be true."
Bulma sighed. "Well, Gohan was going to hang around for at least a year. Maybe he can help, if you tell him what you told us. He really does want what's best for everyone, and the only was that can happen here is if he helps you, so he can keep them safe."
"You'll help me, then?"
"However I can," Bulma agreed. "I think Gohan will too, when you tell him what you're really trying to do. Right now he thinks you're just trying to put those kids in danger."
"I see," Xavier sighed. Chichi put a hand on the man's shoulder.
"We all make mistakes," Chichi told him gently. "And we all have to find a way to atone for them. Sometimes we spend our whole life trying, like Vegita and Piccolo are, and sometimes we spend our life trying to make sure we don't have things to atone for, like Gohan does."
The fighting was dying down by now, Gohan and Goku having won, and were cheering loudly. Lance and Scott, who had ended up on a team, had just shaken hands, before remembering they didn't like each other and jerking away.
"Ya aren't so bad," Rogue smiled. "The X-Men, I mean."
"You aren't so bad yourself," Kurt grinned. "The Brotherhood, I mean."
"I've got more food!" Chichi called, bringing the Saiya-Jins running like a pack of wolfhounds. The humans laughed as they dug in, licking their lips hungrily.
"Gotta hand it to ya, blue boy," Lance told Kurt as the groups began to leave, "You ain't so bad after all." Goku and the group in Japan had gone first, and then the X-Men had left, leaving only the brotherhood.
"Then why are we always fighting?" Kurt asked, tilting his head back. "I mean, we aren't so different, and wouldn't it be easier on us all if we stopped? All it's doing is getting in the way."
"I--never thought of it," Lance shrugged. "And you don't get us anyway."
The blue mutant shrugged slightly. "If you say so. But you have to remember that we all have things in out pasts that we'd rather forget. So, in the end, we're more alike than anyone would guess. And Otousan already wants to get you out of that dump Mystique's got you living in. He doesn't like the fact that you're in school and working two jobs."
"He shouldn't try to butt into my life!" Lance hissed, clearly angry. "What right does he have to play the hero and then act all humble about the attention? All he's going to do is gloat like Mystique did, and be treated like the hero when we live in shambles and I still have to work two jobs just to feed everyone--"
"I would never." Gohan's deep voice entered the conversation sounding annoyed. "If I took you in, it would not be to treat you however the person you live with now is. I would never do that. I did not do it to Kurt, I would not do it to you."
"Yeah, 'cept Kurt's your son--"
"I'm adopted, Lance." Kurt frowned at him. "Gohan adopted me when I was seven. I don't know who my real parents are, and before that, I was abandoned after a circus performance on the steps of someone's house. I nearly died. I was three or four at the time. I spent the next few years in the orphanage, teased and bullied, before I met Gohan. he was the only person I ever met that didn't treat me like a freak."
"Someone actually adopted you, freak?" Lance bit out. He was hurt that someone wanted a mutant that looked like a monster, but no one had wanted him, a child that looked perfectly normal.
"Stop." Gohan put a hand on Lance's shoulder, and refused to let go when Lance tried to twist away. "It won't help. All that will do is make you angry and upset Kurt."
"How do you know? I bet you never lost anything in your life! You have the prefect family, the perfect life, everything is prefect! And all I ever get is the bad stuff! There's nothing good about anything I've gone through!"
"Are you sure about that?" Gohan raised an eyebrow. "You've met Marie, Todd, Fred, and Pietro. You also met Kitty, who I believe you have a slight crush on? Not only that, you met some new friends tonight. There is always something good in everything, Lance, but you have to find it.
"As for my life, I've lived through quite a bit. I've been on battlefields since I was four, and fighting on them since I was six. I've seen a lot of death and destruction, some of it by my hand, some of it by someone else's. I have killed people, and I have seen others die. My life has hardly been perfect, Lance, but I was lucky enough to have my family to help me. I'm not that much older than you are, you know. Eleven years, maybe."
Lance frowned at him, then turned away. "You have no idea what it's like to be responsible for people."
"I'm a father, Lance," Gohan replied gently. "I do know what it's like to be responsible for people. And not only am I a father, I'm a teacher. Do you know how frightening it is to be in a chemistry lab, trying to keep your students safe when there's chemicals in there that, should they mix, could blow the school to kingdom come?"
Lance knew that he was losing the point, and he also knew there was nothing he could do to win it. He turned back for a moment to stare at Gohan, then turned away again, biting his lip. Gohan either saw or heard it, and he wrapped his arm around the youth. Lance stiffened for a moment, as though he had never had anyone do such an action to him, then leaned slightly into Gohan, relaxing slightly.
Gohan knew that he had not fully gained Lance's trust, but it was a start. Kurt went towards Lance, and put a hand on the other's arm. "He means it, you know," Kurt murmured softly. "And he really does want what's best for you."
"So did everyone else that sent me into foster care," Lance muttered.
"But he doesn't want to send you to foster care, Lance. He wants to be your teacher, your friend, your parent." Kurt smiled slightly. "That's just what he and Videl do. He's got an orphanage that Bulma helped fund, and they're really careful who they send their kids to, and they make sure to stay in contact with them. And besides--well, maybe I shouldn't share that."
"No, it's okay. Videl and I Saiya-Man one and two," Gohan shrugged. "We've not been since we've moved here, but we were in Japan. Otousan's been taking care of it."
"You left Ojiisan Goku to handle it?" Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Otousan, what were you thinking?"
Gohan shrugged. "It's not the first time he's done it, Kurt. Have some faith in your Ojiisan, hey? Besides, I've got Vegita there to help out."
"You're Saiya-Man?" Lance stared at him. "How? Saiya-Man can shoot beams and stuff from his hands, and he can fly, and--and--that stuff!"
"Yes, I know." Gohan smiled, his eyes crinkling slightly. "It's okay, I understand that I don't look much like a fighter. But I am, I promise. And Lance? I am going to help you. You need it, whether or not you think so. You're burning out, Lance." Gohan's voice was gentle. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. I've done it too. Come on, let's pack you some stuff to eat later. Videl will be happy to do so."
Lance didn't look at him, but he nodded his thanks, then turned to look at Kurt. "You're lucky, you know. A dad that went halfway around the world just to find you."
Kurt grinned at Gohan, then looked at Goten and Trunks--Goten was still flirting with Rogue--and nodded. "I know. And I'm thankful for it every day."
Lance followed Gohan back to the house to get the promised food--he wasn't going to turn down good home-cooked food even if he felt a little insulted--and tell Gohan he wasn't a charity case. He spectactularly lost that argument because Gohan agreed with him, then stuffed his arms with food anyway.
"That went well," Videl sighed after everyone left. "No one fought when they weren't supposed to be, we only had one all-out war," She turned to glare at Goten who was cause of said war because he tried to steal food from Vegita, and then smiled, "and we didn't kill each other."
"That makes the day," Gohan muttered, as the rest of the crew laughed. "I think, though, it is time for bed. I'm tired."
"You should be after Otousan and Vegita-san kicked your ass," Goten smirked. Gohan smacked him slightly, then picked him up and threw him over his shoulder like he did when Goten was little.
"Bed," Videl agreed. "I want sleep too. Now go."
Grumbling, the older three marched up to bed while Gohan and Videl carried Pan. "I think today was a success," Gohan muttered.
"Me too," Videl agreed with a yawn. "And I learned something from the Professor. I'll tell you in the morning."
They dropped Pan off in bed, and then went to sleep themselves. Videl cuddled up to Gohan, and smiled sleepily at him, muttering something about a good day, and Gohan nodded and dropped off to sleep wondering what his mate had found out from Professor Xavier.
(Author's Notes) Hey, I hope you all like this, it was fun to write, and I'm sorry it's so late. By the way, I've got a challenge out in my Bio I'd like you to look at and spread the word for, as well as a reply to a flame giving you s'mores, so go check that out and get your s'more, please.
Review for me? puppy look Please?
Lady Foeseeker