Howdy, you all! KSimonT-X is back with more fiction for all you loyal fans, readers, writers, and reviewers out there. I'm so glad you all are enjoying this piece of work. As I said before, this fic is a redone version of an old one that had some major glitches in it, and to be honest, I scinerely believe that this version is better. Before I introduce you to my next chapter, here are words for those kind enough to review my work.
Agent-G: You're right, there are alot of things in the series that they never really showed or explained that well, Kurt and Amanda, Mesmero's seeing the X-kids, and how Memerso got under Apocolypse's control to name a few. I am hoping to explain away some of those things in this fic. Yeah, Irene never contacting Rogue is confusing. I always assumed that Mystique kept Irene informed about Rogue. Rogue's early life could have been better explained in my opinion.Thank you for that comment on my insight on Mystique! I am going to do sort of an indepth view of alot of characters in this fic, both in the X-Men and their enemies. But there will be a lot of characters in this fic! You'll see what I mean real soon!
Nettlez: I'm glad you like this. The suspense is just what I intended. More chapters will be up with a continuation of this new mutant's journey.So stay tuned and let the tension build!
Silvia Ammons: I think that after reading your review that you're a Jean/Scott fan! I'm glad of that, cause I am too! That part of Rogue was something I really thought hard on about doing. This story will focus a lot on Rogue, but on a lot of people as well. This fic will include alot of characters that are not original, but not in the series as well! You'll see what I mean in later chapters. Logan is never really a guy for fun, but when he's around these X-kids it can really bring out the good person in him (wink). Your reviews are so warming and encouraing!
Whylime: I love to hear from you! I was hoping people would appreciate my in depth dive into Rogue's childhood and past. This is going to be a major Rogue fic as well as an OC fic. But there is going to be lots more than that on the side! I'm goign to be redoing a lot fo the second half of the series, and bring in some more teams, villains, and characters! This fic will be packed to the brim with stuff! Later days!
Kool-Wolf: Welcome to my fic, new reader!I see you like this story! I'm update soon!
Also, take time to look at my other fic "In the Eye of the Enemy." If you like alternate universes or stories about what took place after the series, you make like it!
Now, on with the story!
Chapter 4
Moonriver Falls, Washington
The X-Men's jet, the SR-77 Blackbird, was filled with pilots and passengers to the brim. All the seats, both in the cockpit and the passenger's area, were occupied, save a few in the back for extras in case the need arose. But tonight, as the X-Men prepared for a long flight to Washington, all their thoughts revolved around the possibility that perhaps a new person would be flying back to the mansion if all went well. But that, of course, was yet to be seen.
Logan and Ororo sat in the cockpit of the state-of-that-art X-Jet, Xavier beside them at the specially designed consol for him to use in his wheelchair. At Xavier's console, the floor had special locks at the floor where Xavier could latch his wheelchair to the floor to prevent it from wheeling and spinning out of control when the Blackbird was in combat conditions. All the other seats had multiple seatbelts as well, for when an aircraft had as much speed, maneuverability, firepower, steal capability, and resilience as the X-Jet, one had to be sure to have all the safety gear needed to stay put.
At the rear of the front cabin of the plane, the six students sat side by side. Scott with Jean, Kurt with Kitty, and Rogue with Evan. All of them were in their casual civilian attire. No fancy dress-ups. No uniforms. Just plain old everyday clothes that suited each of their own personal likes in style.
"Everybody buckled in?" asked Logan, who sat in the pilot's chair in the cockpit of the Blackbird. All the preps were completed and every system was go. No kinks or glitches in the flight path or anything of the sort. Everything was green-light-go ready.
"Ready," everyone in the back answered simultaneously.
"We're set for takeoff, Logan," said Ororo, "I'm opening the cliff hanger doors now."
At the far end of the runway built into the cliffs behind the mansion, a massive titanium steel alloy door creaked and yawned wide. Water from the waterfall that was normally in front of the door, which was hidden under rack from the cliff itself, parted like a curtain and the path was clear.
The Blackbird turned on the revolving platform it rested on while not in use. After turning a full 180 degrees, the nose of the jet was facing the opening. "Here we go," said Logan, "Fasten yer seatbelts."
Logan placed a strong hand on the propulsion control and pulled back. At the same instant, the Blackbird's engines fired up and started to move towards the opening and the open air space beyond.
As the X-Jet moved, it accelerated, moving faster and faster until it was traveling at speeds in excess of 140 miles per hour. Less than five seconds later, it was out in the air and sailing over the open waters of the sea.
"Everything is looking good, Logan," said Xavier, "Steady."
"Relax, Chuck," Logan smirked with a wolfish smile, "I got everything under control."
Logan's words didn't exactly comfort Evan. "Just as long as you don't crash, Logan."
"What is with ya and flyin', Porcupine?" asked Rogue with a tinge of exasperation, "Ya worry about that every time we go up."
Scott had to agree. Evan had always seemed like the kind of kid who loved a good air-born maneuver, or at least the kind that was preformed on a skateboard. But flying in a steel bird with muscles of steel alloy and engines spouting noise and fire, he seemed a little restless. "Aren't you the kid who always does the wild air acrobatics on the skateboard?" asked Scott.
"On my skateboard I have control. In this here jet I just get to ride while another person is in control."
It suddenly dawned on Scott why Evan felt like a cowboy on his skateboard. Control. That was the key ingredient to high attitude Evan Daniels. As the youngest of the senior X-Men, Evan was still a rebellious teenager with an appetite for adventure and action, which had gotten him into trouble more than once in the past. Especially when that caused him to fall behind in school and training. If there was one thing rebellious teens craved, it was control.
"When yer with the X-Men, Porcupine, you gotta have a little faith in yer instructor," said Logan, "Besides, I haven't been hurt too bad in a crash before." Even as Logan said those words, it could make anyone who knew Logan uneasy. Logan could walk away from almost any crash a plane could throw at him, unlike almost every other person who didn't posses an indestructible adamantium skeleton and mutant healing factor that could heal almost any kind of injury.
Ororo and Xavier carefully monitored the Blackbird's elevation monitors and radar systems. Most everything was going perfectly. One of the things that made the Blackbird more reliable that most other aircraft was that it almost never malfunctioned or short-circuited all by itself. With weekly checks and system upgrades, it was kept in prime condition almost 24/7.
"Ororo?" asked Kitty.
Ororo turned to face Kitty. "Yes?"
"Should we really be taking the Blackbird to Washington? I mean, I've heard there's a lot of airplane traffic there at night."
Ororo was about to answer, but Logan beat her to it. "Not to worry, Half-Pint," he said, "This baby won't be seen by anything. I guarantee it."
"How do ya figure zhat?" asked Kurt.
Logan didn't respond immediately at first. Instead he looked over to Professor Xavier. "Hey, Charles," said Logan, "Shall we give the X-Jet's new gizmo a little test in actual flight?"
Everyone's ears perked at the mention of a new 'gizmo' on the jet. Xavier, on the other hand, only smiled. "I think that would be a fine idea, Logan," the professor responded. He then turned to Ororo. "Ororo, bring the cloaking device online."
"Cloaking device engage," Ororo said as she entered a series of commands into her console. The words "cloaking device" made everyone's eyes look out the windows at the exterior hull of the plane. Just as they did, the black metal hull became sheathed in a heat wave like effect, like it was surrounded by almost invisible water. Then as the field became active, the outside of the blackbird vanished from view entirely, leaving no trace at all that it was even present.
"Vhoa, cool," said Kurt as he watched the X-Jet disappear.
Scott turned to the front. "You never told us this thing had a cloaking device, Professor."
"Well, Scott, me and Hank didn't install it until just two days ago. All spring, I have been thinking of ways to improve the Blackbird's battle and stealth capabilities. This was one of the first things I thought of," said Xavier, smiling at his students.
"Makes the Blackbird invisible to the naked eye, radar, X-ray, and infrared and thermal imaging," said Logan, "So no airport or anything will even know we're up here."
The X-Men SR-77 Blackbird Jet, in normal terms, was a state-of-the-art aircraft designed by Professor Xavier himself with only the finest technology had to offer. An absolute brilliant creation and design of superior speed, maneuverability, range, firepower, resilience, stealth, and tracking capability to all known fighter and attack jets, it was generally a battle/stealth/tracking aircraft designed for extreme combat and for tracking down things that could elude other, more commonly used, tracking equipment and devices. But Xavier always had gone by the notion that no matter how good or advanced something got, there was always room for improvement. His take on the Blackbird was no exception to that. Whenever he thought of something that could improve the Blackbird's performance. Cloaking technology was the latest in Blackbird upgrades.
"So Scott," said Jean, placing her hand over Scott's gently, "Penny for your thoughts?"
Scott looked at Jean. The phrase "penny for your thoughts" coming from a telepath? He almost laughed. "I was just thinking about how to convince this Simon Peter Valley to join us. As team leader, I might have to do the most convincing."
"Just play it as it comes along, Scott," Jean smiled, "you'll do just fine."
There went Jean again. Being both the girl of his dreams and being the conscience that he himself could never have by inner forces.
Scott began to wonder if he was really what a leader should be. In his personal opinion, a leader had to have the best understanding of things of anyone on the team he led, and the most confidence to do the right thing the right way, even though Scott knew from first-hand experience that even leaders could make mistakes. But then again, Scott realized that was probably his perfectionist characteristic kicking in.
"I know how you feel, Scott," said Jean, "We just need to do this like we've done with every other person we've tried to recruit."
"I just fell a little uptight about this new guy, Jean. What if he doesn't agree to come with us willingly?"
"Well, the least we can do is give him the benefit of the doubt."
Scott was lost in his thoughts again. His thoughts were sort of revealing to him just how certain he liked to be in situation like this. Normally, Scott could stand being uncertain to some degree in most situations. Honestly, he knew that most of the time certainty was almost unreal. I guess I'm more of a perfectionist that I thought, Scott told himself.
Kitty suddenly jumped in. "Why are you so pessimistic, Scott?" she asked, "I think getting him to join us will be a piece of cake."
Almost on cue, Kurt jumped in as well. "Vell, Kitty, vhat are you going to do? Plead to him vith your puppy dog eyes?" Kitty's innocent looks were almost legendary in the X-Men. Most of them agreed that Kitty had the cutest pair of puppy dog eyes any of them had ever seen. Even Scott had to admit that even he had trouble saying no to Kitty when she gave them that look. Pretty much the only people could fight that off were the Professor and Logan.
Kitty gave Kurt a betrayed look, mockingly. "Hey, it worked before."
"Not on me, Half-Pint," Logan said from the front, a sneer in his voice. Mr. Logan was famous for his blurry and rigid character, which made him not the best person to convince with innocence.
Scott took over again. "Look, Kitty," he said to the petite brunette, "Let's just approach this guy like normal civilized human beings. We treat him honestly and to the point and it's as simple as that."
Kitty looked back to Scott, seeing her own reflection in Scott's ruby quartz glasses. She was about to say something but then thought better of it.
"Man it must be cool to have powers like his," said Evan, who was drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair.
Rogue looked at the young skateboarding mutant. Evan had a knack for seeing things as "cool" in almost any situation. "Ah don't know, Porcupine," she said, shaking her head, "He might not like his powers. Ah know ah didn't."
Evan looked surprised. "What's to hate, Rogue?" he asked, "He's practically the master of energy, a so-called energy extremist. I bet he's a dude with a "high and mighty" attitude." That last sentence was said with real distaste. And the others could easily guess why. Evan was thinking of Pietro Maximoff, whose super speed had boosted his ego so high that you couldn't get to the top of it even if you had space shuttle at your disposal. Mutants with high and mighty attitudes was one of the things that the X-Men hated the most, even though there were plenty of other things they hated more.
Rogue merely sighed at that. Maybe Evan was right in his assessment. This Simon Peter Valley had a fair amount of abilities. She knew it was more than possible for someone with that to become high and mighty in their self-proclaiming. Magneto was a real good example of that. So was Xavier's half-brother Juggernaut. Pride in the power. Arrogance in the awesome ability. No sense of equality or reason at all.
Rogue suddenly halted on that thought. They didn't know Simon Valley. Maybe he had good sense. Maybe he wasn't arrogant. But of course there was no way of knowing for he was a stranger to them. As much a stranger as Rogue had once been to them.
That again made Rogue's thoughts shift to something else. Stranger like herself. Rogue still considered herself a stranger to people. And in a way she was. Her powers made her isolated, a danger to approach or touch. Maybe Simon would become less of a stranger than she was.
Rogue could almost picture the new guy at the institute partying with the guys and creating havoc with his powers as Bobby, Ray, and Roberto were famous for. And what's more, he could touch skin to skin unlike her. Rogue suddenly felt the sadness of not being able to touch anyone skin to skin. The scene where Jean and Scott had kissed at the pool party just a while ago. The love, the passion, the emotion, the pain, and helplessness to do anything about it.
Rouge had been assured by many of the students that someday she could control her powers, but right now it seemed she never could. In the past she had tried to feel any sort of connection to her powers, trying to block it with her mind or will power. But nothing had worked. She felt that she could never touch a person ever. She could never know love or the feel of a kiss or skin rub. The greatest of joys were what her powers denied her. But if she couldn't control her mutant abilities, what could she do about it?
Moonriver Falls looked as busy as ever. He was out for his walks again. This time, he would be out for hours on end.
Simon was feeling rather restless tonight. He couldn't relax at home with a book, sitting still made his very muscles spasm, and the inside of his house suddenly seemed like a force field. He guessed that nothing was going to help him relax unless he took his nightly walks through the city. And this walk was definitely going to be a very, very long one.
The shops and stores Simon passed were all open, for in this part of town, most of them were open until midnight. The sidewalks were crowded with night shoppers, the streets were crammed to the brim with cars and trucks, and there was no sign of it letting up any time soon.
As he walked, Simon wondered why he was feeling so restless tonight. He just couldn't place his finger on it. He hadn't drunk any soda or coffee all day and his last high sugar take-in had been over seven hours ago at lunchtime. But right now he felt almost as energized as he felt when in his armored form. Well, not that energized, but much more than usual.
Any reason for him feeling like this was uncertain. Why couldn't he understand it? Almost all his life Simon had prided himself in knowing himself inside out and outside in. But when he had first fired those purple lightning bolts years ago, all that pride had pretty much evaporated like water on a stove burner.
He had come to accept the fact that he would never truly understand his powers of the effects they had on him. But he did wish that he could gets some answers somewhere somehow and know what was going on.
As Simon continued on his walk, he suddenly got a feeling that something big was going to happen tonight. Like he was going to see something that was going to change his life forever. At that thought, Simon stopped walked. Was he actually thinking straight? How could he feel that? Nothing interesting had happened to him all day. No sign had been made that something was coming to him.
He stood still for a minute or so leaning against a lamppost. He shook his head. No, he thought, nothing is after me at all. Simon suddenly realized he was standing still. He legs and joints were practically crying out for him to continue walking.
His feel brought Simon out of his confusion with his sudden feeling of dread. His powers were finally taking a toll on him. He was becoming paranoid. It was the best that could describe his always feeling the need to look over his shoulder to see if anyone was after him.
I must be gong crazy, he thought to himself. He started walking down the street again towards the section of town that was on the shore of Lake Nantuck, the shore of which Moonriver Falls was located on.
Despite his walking for the past hour, Simon was feeling more alive than ever. As he pressed on, Simon felt that he was going to be out a long time tonight.
Professor Charles Xavier looked at the map on the screen in front of him in the Blackbird's cockpit. It showed geological formations and roadmaps on the same picture, highway numbers and the names of towns and cities beside their designated locations, which were shown as red indicator dots on the map. The borderlines of states were to be seen as well, their lines bold and sharp on the screen. The X-Jet's location was indicated by a flashing blue dot on the screen, which was currently over a large evergreen forest located where the state of Idaho met Washington on that borderline.
The X-Jet had left New York over an hour ago and their destination was now only fifteen minutes away from their current position. Xavier had planed out their landing coordinates carefully and was entering the exact longitude and latitude for the landing site.
The landing location was located in the forests surrounding Moonriver Falls where there was really not a lot of traffic or campers. Once the Blackbird was secured in that location, the cloaking device would be online for as long as the X-Men were away from it. Xavier and the rest of his party would take the X-Van, currently sitting in a bay on the underside of the blackbird, and then use that to locate Simon Valley's house and then it would be straight forward from there.
"We're approaching the Washington State border," said Ororo, "We should be nearing the landing coordinates within fifteen minutes."
"Have any airports or military bases picked up our location, Logan?" asked Xavier.
Logan looked at the screen on the console in front of him. "No, Chuck, no one knows we're here. It's like we're a simple air current."
Meanwhile at the back, Xavier could still hear his students conversing with one another and discussing ways of how to persuade the new recruit to join them at the Institute. He could sense their feelings as well in addition.
He could sense that Scott was uneasy about recruiting someone with not an easy trust in people. To be perfectly honest, this did not surprise Xavier at all. Since Scott had been the first X-Man he had recruited, he had spent the most time with him and knew him the best of almost all his X-Men. In fact, recruiting was perhaps not the best word for Scott's closeness to Xavier. Xavier Knew all about Scott's hard times at that orphanage he had spent the first several years of his life at; being picked on by the older kids, and also the sternness and authority of the orphanage staff. That and being without parents and without his younger brother for as long as ten years could make anyone feel afraid to trust anyone.
Xavier suddenly wondered on Simon Valley's reason for not being able to trust others easily. Xavier had learned of that quality of Simon Valley's personality by going through public records and the like with Cerebro's newly installed hardware that allowed it to access any database, record file, family, personal, and medical history, and current status documents of anyone in the country. But from what he had found, he couldn't tell what caused Simon Valley to act in that way. Xavier knew right from that thought that he would have to know the reason for that eventually if Simon was going to adjust to the X-Man lifestyle if he agreed to join, but he wouldn't pry for it.
Most of the emotions that Xavier picked up from the back seats were of excitement and ideas and conversing of what he may be like. Kurt and Kitty seemed especially excited to see this new mutant, while Evan was sort of wondering of what possible high-and-mighty attitude he may have due to his remarkable mutant abilities. If anything at all, the professor hoped that if Simon Valley joined the Institute, he could get along well enough with his students and faculty.
The thoughts were still running through Xavier's mind as he turned back to the console in front of him. He pressed a blipping button to the right of the screen and the computer map of the state boarder disappeared and a two-sided display replaced it. On the left-hand side was a street and road map of Moonriver Falls, a flashing line following a major highway from a location not shown on the screen and going through a plotted out route to where the line ended on a large red dot where Simon Valley's home was located.
On the right-hand side were several images of mechanical overlays of the X-Jet and the X-Van located in the holding bay. Certain flashing sections of the images indicated that they were being programmed and set to activate and deactivate according to certain commands. The Blackbird's cloaking system was being programmed to immediately activate after it was turned on from a mechanism in the X-Van and the X-Van's files and newly installed tracking computers which allowed it to follow and track the signatures of mutant powers or to scan for mutant brainwave patterns that were downloaded from Cerebro's findings, were being programmed to look for the unique distinctive patterns of Simon Valley's mutant power. With all this new hardware and system upgrades, finding mutants would be made a fair amount easier. This new technology would help narrow the searching area, but it still could not pinpoint the exact location of a target.
"Charles," said Ororo, "We are nearing the landing site."
Ororo's statement made everyone in the back look out the window. They were over a large evergreen forest, the trees and mountains stretching for miles around. There were, however, several stretches of major highways that stretched over the forest landscape. Far below them, was a fairly large clearing in the trees, which the students could easy guess was their site of landing.
"Are we going to land in that clearing, Professor?" asked Jean.
"Yes, Jean. We can't risk exposing the Blackbird by landing in the city. We're going to set down here and go in by means of the X-van. That way we won't seem suspicious."
As Xavier spoke, the X-Jet lowered itself closer and closer to the ground. Finally, within a few minutes, it had landed.
Xavier tapped in a series of commands on his console and the engines died down. A series of commands later, the cloaking system was turned off, the systems were shut down, and the X-Van had been lowered to the ground on the moveable platform it rested on.
"Okay," said Xavier as he turned around in his wheelchair around, "Let's get to work." If anyonewanted to object to Xavier's orders, no would dare. But then again, no one really wanted to object.
If Moonriver Falls had ever seemed more like a nighttime type of city, Simon could not remember when or how. The moonlight made all the city below shimmer like glass, the people seemed to have a glow of energy to them that they didn't have in the day, and the rate of pedestrians and cars going over the sidewalks and streets seemed to have grown to triple its number in the past hour alone. Nighttime was a time of activity in Moonriver Falls, perhaps more of an activity time than in daylight. Simon's observations and his feeling like he had just been pumped with a storage tank-sized amount of adrenaline only justified that assumption
Simon was still on his long walk through the city, but his restlessness had not diminished. Not even a little. He still felt like he could walk all night without tiring, which was not something he would really try to do. But if he did want to do that, he probably would. With that type of unneeded energy and not knowing how to get rid of it, Simon could guess he really wouldn't have the type of night's sleep that came from being tired enough to just crash. Usually Simon enjoyed having energy like the type he was having now, but this time he wasn't. He couldn't place his finger on the reason. Maybe it was because he didn't know the reason.
Maybe I should find more intensive types of exercise, Simon thought to himself as he continued on his walk.
Simon was walking down a busy street that was several blocks away from Moonriver Falls Harbor. Sometimes, Simon would walk right over to the harbor and watch the late-night ships come an go for a while before continuing on. Tonight he decided he would not make so much as a halt until he was positive he was getting rid of his pent up anxiety.
The thought of anxiety really made his mind tick to work out why he was feeling that. Simon's loner-type of life had made him feel anxious on many occasions, for not knowing exactly what to expect from others. As his mother had often said to him, you are anxious if you don't know others or know how to interact. Simon couldn't deny that even if he wanted to. His mother was a physiatrist, by thunder, and how could a nineteen-year-old soon-to-be high school senior who knew almost squat about mental health argue with an expert in that field? Simple question, simple answer. He couldn't.
Simon had often thought of trying to change, but his over-cautious nature of keeping his powers in check and out of sight made him decide not to every single time. He knew no way of how he could be with the norm of the population without the possibility of his powers slipping. His powers were under control a lot of the time, but only because he was always alert and on the look out for trouble. No matter how much he tried to feel in control, he just couldn't. Training himself just didn't cut it. But if he couldn't train himself on how to manage his bizarre powers, what could? It wasn't like he could just walk into an institution that specialized in helping those with eerie powers and ask for a training program. Coming up with that totally crazy idea made Simon chuckle at himself.
Simon came across a bench on the street to relax for a second, if he even could relax. He sat down to gather his thoughts. He stayed there for about ten minutes. However, he couldn't relax. His muscles just ached with the urge to run. Run. Maybe he should try that.
Simon eventually got moving again and walked more and more for what seemed like over an hour. He came to less crowded part of town that was still near the harbor, but it still had some people who were out and about.
Since Moonriver Falls was a large city, there were some new sights to see in this part of downtown. Nothing really that original though. A city was a city was a city. It took a large amount of unexpectedness to surprise Simon Peter Valley.
As Simon came to a sparsely populated street, which he found somewhat unusual regarding all the activity he had seen over the past few hours, he saw a young woman in a sharp leather outfit walking some distance in front of him. Normally, Simon would have continued on with his business without so much as a second thought on the person or their business there. But this time was different, as he saw a taller man in a black leather jacket and leather trousers grab the woman by the shoulders and pull her into an alley nearby. One second was all it took for it to happen, but Simon's sharp green eyes saw the whole thing and translated it into optic signals that made the adrenaline-producing control centers of his brain go haywire.
Another thug picking on those smaller than him. Typical of street bullies and muggers.
Simon considered for a moment just continuing on, but then realized that if he did, he would have to pass by the snatcher and the woman, and if he did that, at least one of them would see him. If the woman saw him, she would probably would call out for help. If the gangster saw him, he would likely try to knock him out or worse, for he wouldn't want any interruptions or witnesses.
Simon looked around for a cop or anyone who had seen the snatch, but no else on the street seemed to have noticed it. In that second of logic, his decision was complete.
He took a minute to consider his options. There was a fair chance of taking out the guy with hand-to-hand confrontation, but Simon disregarded that option. The guy was probably armed with a weapon. A gun or knife possibly. Hands and feet were not really a fair match to those tools.
He needed a better means of aid. Something that would allow him to have an advantage over the thug even if weapons were involved. And he thought of one just as quickly as he made that judgment.
Simon slipped into a nearby alley that was closer than the one the woman had been pulled into.
The forest roads leading from where the X-Jet lay cloaked and invisible had changed. No more were they large wide roads, nor were the towering evergreen trees covering Washington's vast mountain landscape on the both sides abundant any more. The forests had given way to less dense communities of vegetation, which had then diminished into less and less dense plant ecosystems until finally it was the cityscape of Moonriver Falls.
Xavier, Logan, Ororo and the X-Men all traveled together in the X-Van, moving along busy and crowded city streets and past shops that were open and brimming with late-night shoppers. Here and there were some homeless people dressed in the tattered rags that some unknown source of old and useless clothing had to offer and there were also those with a gothic air to them, dressed in leather jackets and hairdos that made human skulls look like something thought up in a comic book. But as the X-Men traveled in their van, not dressed in uniform or displaying any of their gifts, they easily passed as ordinary traveling civilians.
"This place doesn't look too different from Bayville," said Jean, "I kind of like it here." She took in the scenery as it passed.
"Ja, but vould you vant to live here?" asked Kurt.
Jean laughed at that statement. "No, but I like comparing other towns to Bayville," she responded.
"This looks more like New York to me," said Evan, "But without, you know, the 'Big Apple' sense to it."
Scott took a look at the city. Evan wasn't too far off in his assessment. But neither was Jean. Moonriver Falls looked like a nice mountain city. It wasn't as large as most other major cities, but it was much more massive that most towns as well. The scenery he observed was not as crowded as New York City was at this time of night. Pretty much every city he knew of had their own individual nightlife levels.
"Are we searching for him right now, Professor," asked Kitty from the back seat of the van.
Xavier was up at the front with Logan and Ororo, facing the windshield, so Kitty couldn't see his face. "Not quite, Kitty," he responded, "We're going to Simon Valley's home first. That's where he is most likely to be right now. Besides, we must let his family know of what our intentions are just like him."
"Where does he live?" asked Scott.
"According to Cerebro, he lives outside city limits with his mother and father. It's kind of out of the way of city life."
"Ah sure wouldn't want to live in this here city," said Rouge. Rogue never really liked crowded public places, cities in particular. "Ah don't blame 'em for living outside the limits."
Jean was thinking more on how they would approach Simon Valley and his family on the subject of going to Bayville and joining the Institute. In Jean's estimation it was very likely, almost certain, that his family knew about his powers. Jean's family knew, for it was for that reason why they turned to Professor Xavier for help in the first place. Being so young then hand having telepathic and telekinetic powers had proved to be rather taxing on Jean. Looking on that, Jean sort of wondered how she could have ever gotten by without Xavier's help. Maybe Simon Valley would feel the same way.
But just as quickly, those thoughts were demolished by what she remembered Xavier telling them about Simon Valley's powers. According to Xavier, Simon had great control over his powers, which logically suggested that perhaps Simon wouldn't need that much help in the field of control. But that thought again gave her another thought. His powers probably were in a control a lot of the time, but it was more than fair to say that he wasn't used to using in extreme combat conditions like the danger room. Soon Jean's thoughts were so filled to the brim with scenarios and possibilities that she simply decided to let it go.
The X-Van continued on toward the Valley Residence. The X-Van, like the X-Jet, was more than a simple vehicle. It had an assortment of weapons and special built-in mechanisms that gave it more than an edge on the road. It had missile launchers, flamethrowers, and many other things as well. But with its carefully painted and designed exterior, it simply looked like a very fancy minivan to anyone who didn't know the true nature of its capabilities. It would have the anonymity of the X-Men themselves, as Logan would say.
Finally, over twenty minutes later, Logan, who was driving the van, pulled onto Golden Tree Road, the street that led up to Simon Valley's house. They had passed a variety of scenery on their way. They had gone past trucker bases, warehouses, city streets surrounded by buildings and stores, malls filled with shoppers, restaurants and snack bars. But the neighborhood they were in right now had the air of a friendly peaceful suburb. Here the houses were large, clean, and worked with fine architecture and well-keep lawns and gardens. Most suburbs the X-Men had seen were somewhat less of an image of pure good living. It was clear that the people who lived here either were retired with plenty of prize for it or had high level, high paying jobs that wielded enough money that some could be spent on providing pleasantries in addition to supplying basic needs.
"This is a nice neighborhood," said Scott.
"It's kina like mah home town," said Rogue, "But the houses were not as fancy as this."
Kitty nodded in agreement. "I don't think I've ever seen a neighborhood like this."
Xavier looked through the windshield and out at the houses ahead. He knew what he was looking for. "Where is the house we are looking for, Charles?" asked Ororo.
"I'll know it when I see it, Ororo," Xavier responded, "It should be coming up on the right." The professor looked for signs of the house where Simon Valley lived. He knew what it looked like from the files he had obtained from his research. These houses they were passing were similar to the one where the Valleys lived in but they were too small. Mr. and Mrs. Valley were two of Moonriver Falls' highest earning citizens, and so they had built a house that was luxurious and fancy.
Finally, Xavier spotted the Valley Residence. It stood on a corner of the well-kept neighborhood. It was a large three-story mansion, about half the size of the visible portion of the Xavier mansion. Built of snow-white marble. The windows were lighted up. It had a large circular lawn and was surrounded by a flowerbed filled with orchids, roses, jasmines, and marigolds. The image and address of the house matched that on the display Xavier was reading on the van's display screen.
Xavier pointed to the house. "There it is, Logan," said Xavier.
"I see it," responded Logan.
The others had noticed it as well and leaned forward to see. They had to admit that they were looking at one of the fanciest houses they had seen. The house was still only half as large as the Xavier mansion, but it still made one stop and look to admire its wonderful design and fine garden and lawn. If anything, it really stood out from the other houses, which was probably because the other dwellings on this street were of a certain color or a combination of many, but this house was of pure snow white. If just had the right kind of balcony and pillar formation at its entrance, it could have passed as a mini White House.
The X-Van pulled up into the driveway, which ran around in a circle around a large patch of roses and other flowers, which in turn encircled a small tree.
"Is this guy like rich?" asked Kitty, "He must be loaded to live here."
"His parents have very high-level jobs, Kitty," Xavier responded to Kitty's question, "His father is a geneticist and his mother is a psychiatrist."
"Both his parents are scientists?" asked Kitty, "Cool."
Scott took in the very nice house before his and his friends as they slowly piled out of the van. Scott didn't know any rich teenagers, except his old rival, Duncan Matthews. He remembered seeing Duncan's house last time that arrogant, self-centered Neanderthal version of a high school student had thrown a party. How fancy that house had been. Looking at the white mansion before him, Scott was suddenly reminded of that and his hatred fro Matthews, which had started the very day he had met him.
Truth be told, Scott suddenly thought of the possible scenario here. Fancy house, rich folks, arrogant bastard of a son. That was how it had worked out with Duncan. Could this guy they were after be the same? Scott had to admit, that thinking back to the picture he had seen in Xavier's office, he suddenly realized that Simon Peter Valley looked a little like Duncan Matthews. Scott suddenly felt uneasy: a guy with Duncan Matthews' personality and dangerous mutant energy powers. Talk about a bad combination! It almost made Scott sick to his stomach.
Xavier finally lowered himself on the brick driveway by means of the moveable platform that was attached to the side of the X-Van. The others had already gotten out. Within a few moments, they were walking up the catwalk towards the house's front door.
The doors were atop a small flight of stairs, which made it impossible for Xavier to reach the door in his wheelchair. So instead, he turned to Scott. "Scott, could you ring the doorbell?"
Scott nodded and did so. The group then waited for a few moments. Each of them was feeling mixed feelings on how they were going to break this to their new recruit and his folks. With recruiting new members, things were never easy at all. If fact, it wasn't even fair. Each of them had been through this process before, so it was no surprise that this would be the same. To have your world turned upside down, to discover you're a mutant with powers that must be dealt with, the possibility of the dangers that came with being a mutant. It was so unfair, so totally unfair. Yet it was. And there was nothing to do except to choose to accept it, or run from it as best one could.
The brass doorknob on the door suddenly turned and the door opened. The X-Men saw a man standing there. He looked to be as old as Professor Xavier, and had thick sandy hair and a narrow intelligent face, the face of a man who possessed a lot of knowledge and knew his own opinions without doubt. He looked a little surprised to see the fairly large group of teens accompanied by the three adults, one of them an exotic African woman with blue eyes and white hair.
"Hello?" the man asked politely in excellent English.
Professor Xavier smiled at the man and went into the basic introductions he always used. "Dr. Valley?" he asked.
The man nodded. "Yes."
"Dr. Nicholas Valley?"
He nodded again. "Yes, I'm him," Mr. Valley responded, "What can I do for you?"
"I'm Professor Charles Xavier. I was hoping that I could talk to you about your son," said Xavier.
Mr. Valley's brow furrowed at the mention of his son. "Oh, I'm sorry, my son isn't here at the moment. Is there something wrong? Are you from his school?"
"No," said Xavier, "We're here about something different. "
Mr. Valley's brow furrowed a little. Xavier could tell he was confused about this. Lots of times in the past, he had always been regarded this way when trying to recruit someone. Most of the time people were able to see his good intentions and managed to look past it and everything. But this time was unusual, for he had his entire senior class with him, which was something he almost never did on recruitment missions.
"I'm afraid I don't understand," Mr. Valley replied.
Suddenly Jean stepped forward. She was often the best one with good greeting skills and this required that hugely. "May I, Professor?" she asked. Xavier nodded to her so she went on. "Its about your son's powers."
That made it happen. The mention of his son and power in the same sentence made Mr. Valley's eyes widen in surprise. "What did you say?" he asked, suddenly sounding a little tense.
"We were hoping to speak to you about your son's powers and how we may be able to help him," said Jean in the calmest most reassuring voice she could produce.
Suddenly, Mr. Valley was pouring out questions. "What do you want with that? Who are you? And how do you know about that?" he asked quickly.
The X-Men exchanged glances. This was not starting off well. They had met the father of their hopefully newest recruit and were already being questioned. This wasn't great, but not unexpected either.
Xavier was about to respond to Mr. Valley when the teens and adults heard a new voice behind them. "What is it, Nick?" came a woman's voice from behind Dr. Valley's back. The man turned around to face the owner of the voice.
Scott and Jean looked through the door, as did all the other X-Men, to see a tall, slender, titain-haired woman standing inside the house.
"We have some visitors, Hillary," said Mr. Valley, "They're asking about Simon."
Mrs. Valley stepped out on the steps to get a view of the people who her husband had said had an interest in Simon. She was somewhat surprised to see the small group at their front door.
"Hello?" she asked.
Mr. Valley suddenly jumped in again, "How do you know about Simon's powers?"
Mrs. Valley eyebrows arched at the sound of that, but she then threw it aside. She knew she had to meet these people and understand their intentions. "Wait, Nick," she said, trying to calm her husband down, "Let's not get too excited. Let's hear what they have to say."
Mr. Valley started to simmer down a little.
Mrs. Valley turned to face the professor. "I'm sorry about that," she said kindly, "but I do think we must know who you are first."
Xavier smiled slightly. "I'm Professor Charles Xavier, Mrs. Valley. These two are Logan and Ororo Monroe," he motioned to Logan and Ororo. Logan merely nodded, for he never was one for friendly greeting. Ororo, on the other, hand smiled. "And these six teenagers are some of my students." Xavier motioned to Scott, Jean, Kurt, Kitty, Evan, and Rogue.
"You're a teacher?" asked Mrs. Valley.
Xavier nodded to her. "Yes, I'm the headmaster of a school for gifted youngsters, like your son."
Mr. and Mrs. Valley exchanged looks, traces of confusion and tension in their eyes. "What do you mean 'like our son'," she asked again, "We're not quite sure what you mean."
"Mrs. Valley?" Jean asked, stepping forward.
Mrs. Valley turned to face the red-haired girl. "Yes, Dear?"
"We were hoping if we could come inside and discuss this with you and your husband. We'll gladly answer any questions you may have."
Mrs. Valley turned back to her husband, who was now calm and steady. "I think that sounds reasonable," he said.
Mrs. Valley turned back to the group. "Certainly. Come in,' she said, motioning in the door with her hand.
"Thank you," said Xavier, smiling.
"Do you need help?" Mr. Valley asked Xavier. But Xavier simply shook his head and smiled.
"No need," he said kindly. He motioned to Jean. The young woman placed her hands to her head and suddenly Xavier's chair was lifted into the air as if by invisible means and placed at the top of the steps. At the sight of that being done, Mr. and Mrs. Valley's eyes widened.
"Don't worry," said Xavier, "We'll explain everything to you."
The shock in the Valleys' eyes lessened a little. And they nodded again. "Yes. Come in, come in."
The rest of the group followed inside. Xavier already knew a lot of explaining was about to be at hand.
That's the next chapter. The journey continues for the X-Men. I now a few of you are anxious for the X-men to meet Simon, but don't worry, that's only two chapters away! the tension will build and the action will blast! Just be patient! I need reviews to stay alive! Review! Please!