HI there, everyone. It's me KSimonT-X and here I am with the next chapter of my story. I want to thank all of you who have read my work and reviewed. It really touches me to hear praise and comments from you all. It really drives me to work on my story. Let me respond to those who reviewed my last chapter. I decided, after some thought, that the last version of this chapter was a little sappy, so I think this is a more realistic approach to a recruitng conversation.
Now, on with the story!
Chapter 5
Questions asked, Answers Provided
The interior of the mansion was quite remarkable to behold as Mr. and Mrs. Valley allowed the nine visitors to enter. The front hallway of the large house was big and tall, white walls and ceiling, a black and white tiled floor, oil paintings and expensive vases and glassware resting on exquisite rose and cherry wood tables, and a large crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling and filling the room with prism-like speckles of rainbow-colored light. The young X-Men took a minute to take in the expensively furnished home. This reminded them of what the Xavier mansion was like.
"This is a very nice house," said Kitty as she took in the sight of the indoors.
"Thank you, dear," said Mrs. Valley, "Me and Nick like to have sort of a fashionable styling to our house."
"Well, I must say your taste for indoor arrangement is truly good," said Xavier.
"Thank you, Professor," said Mr. Valley, "Why do you all come into the living room. There's plenty of room for all of us to sit down and be comfortable."
Mr. Valley led the group into a large and richly furnished living room with fine furniture and rich carpeting. There was a large marble bust of George Washington in a small display crevice in the wall, which was filed with bookshelves and such. The room also had paintings on the walls and a large black grand piano in one corner.
The two Valleys proceeded to two large armchairs near a large table in the center of the room, as Logan and Ororo also took two empty chairs near them. The remaining six teens, each took up seats on both of the two sofas in the room, Kurt, Kitty, and Rogue on one and Scott, Jean, and Evan on the other. Professor Xavier, being paralyzed from the waist down and requiring to use a wheelchair all the time, had no need for a seat, so instead, he simply steered his wheelchair over to where he could be like the center of talk and attention, which was where he had to be since he had a lot of explaining to do.
Unsure of how to open a conversation like this one, Mr. Valley simply started talking, even though he wasn't even sure how to do that part of it either. "So Professor," he said to Xavier, "Would you mind telling us just what it is with our son's powers?"
Xavier only smiled at Mr. Valley's request. "Certainly, Mr. Valley. I suppose that you're wondering just how your son got the powers he possesses?"
Mr. and Mrs. Valley both nodded. Xavier could sense their tension and anxiety with his telepathy. Even though Xavier could turn his telepathy on and off like a light switch, his ability was so powerful that he always sensed a person's feelings whenever he was around them, even when he wasn't intentionally probing their minds.
"Well, before I answer that question, I must tell you about us a little first. The details are rather complicated."
"We're all ears, Professor," said Mrs. Valley, "Both us and Simon have been struggling with that question for years and it's been literally eating us up from frustration of not knowing. Can you really give us the truth behind his 'abilities'?"
The look on Mrs. Valley's face was that of a concerned mother for her son. He had seen that face before, in the faces of the parents of his students whenever he went to recruit a new student. Elaine Grey with Jean, Terri Pryde with Kitty, and Vivian Daniels with Evan were only a few of those. But this was the face of one who had been living with the unanswered question for a long time. And even though he had no idea as to how long, he could sense it had been long enough to leave an imprinting mark.
"Mrs. Valley," Ororo suddenly barged in, "You really mustn't worry about this. We're here to answer all the questions you have. Plus, we're also here to help your son, and you as well."
Mrs. Valley looked at Ororo. Seeing the sincerity in her eyes, she nodded. Looking back to Xavier, she waited for him to go on.
"When I was a young boy," Xavier told the Valley's, "I discovered that I was different from other people. I discovered that I could read the thoughts of others, project my thoughts into other people's minds, project psychic blasts, and even control minds to a limited degree. I realized that I had the power of telepathy." All the students were listening with fascination. Even though they had heard this story many times before, it still made them quiet with fascination, for it was the very thing that had started their lives as X-Men mutant warriors. But for Mr. and Mrs. Valley, this was all new information, and the looks in their eyes told everyone how astounded they were.
"As I got older, I became a scientist and went into genetics and biology," Xavier went on, "I spent years studying and researching the cause of my "gift," as I call it, until I discovered that it was caused by a genetic mutation anomaly called the 'X-gene.'"
"Are you saying that our son's powers are genetic?" asked Mr. Valley, looking a little caught off guard by the revelation.
"Yes, he's a mutant, like me, Ororo, Logan, and my students. The next step in evolution for our species."
"Amazing," said Mr. Valley, "I've never heard of anything like that in all my years as a geneticist. There have been many theories about certain genetic anomalies could emerge int eh human gene pool, or the possibility of genetic supermen created through genetic engineering. But I never thought it could go like that."
"The fact that mutants walk the Earth has been kept anonymous for a long time," said Xavier, "I have reasoned with great care that the norm of the human population is not ready to know this."
"I can understand that," said Mrs. Valley, "I can imagine just what would happen if the public knew about this."
The students exchanged glances at this conversation. They had been warned time and time again about what the possible consequences of mutants made public could be. It made them shudder when they thought of it.
"Just what are the powers of a mutant?" asked Mr. Valley.
"Each mutant has unique powers," Xavier explained, "The nature of the X-gene is chaotic, and so there is no real way of knowing what the powers related to it are. The variety of powers that the X-gene produces is enormous indeed."
Xavier continued to introduce the X-Men and give detailed insight on their powers, so over the next fifteen minutes the X-Men continued to show the Valley's their gifts and discuss how Xavier had helped them with controlling and improving their skills with them. The Valley's asked a variety of questions, like how the X-gene had emerged to begin with, how a person might get it, and how the powers of a mutant developed, and sometimes evolved, with age.
After while however, Mrs. Valley asked another question. "Professor, just how did you find out about Simon's powers in the first place? Did you hear about it on the news or something?"
Ororo and Logan seemed interested in that particular question. "Are you saying that people saw him using his powers?" asked Ororo.
The six teens suddenly exchanged glances with each other. The had the feeling that if someone saw a seemingly normal human throwing energy or disappearing, mutant secrecy would be a thing of the past.
Mr. Valley shook his head. "No, Ms. Monroe," he said, "Last night, he saved two local girls from bank robbers in the city. But no one knew that it was him."
"When did that occur?" asked Xavier.
"It was around midnight," said Mr. Valley, "Or at least that was when the reporters say it happened."
"So it was on public television?" asked Scott.
"Yes. In fact, we recorded the report," said Mr. Valley.
"Is there anyway you could show us this recording?" asked Ororo, "I think we'd like to know for certain if he wasn't seen by the public." She looked to Xavier as she said the sentence.
"Yes, I think it would be good if we saw it as well," said Xavier.
"Let me get it ready," Mrs. Valley walked over to a large TV screen on one of the walls of the room and turned it on, revealing snow and static on the large screen. She reached down to the VCR/DVD combo seated in a special shelf underneath.
"Were you upset at Simon for using his powers like that?" asked Scott.
Mr. Valley shook his head in denial. "I wasn't upset, no. But I was however concerned about him. He used his powers like that for a good reason. I didn't blame him for doing it. But I was worried about how it might affect things around here."
"If what you say is true, Mr. Valley," said Xavier, "I do not blame him either. His motives were admirable, but we really can't let his activities risk exposing us to the world."
"I understand, Professor," said Mr. Valley, "But my son has always tried to do the right thing in every aspect of his life ever since he discovered he had powers. He's thought about it so much that it's kind of become an obsession to him. He thinks and thinks, but he just ends up wearing himself out trying to decide what's right and wrong."
"One of the things we can offer Simon is guidance on that," said Jean, "It's what we've all learned from Professor Xavier, even though some have needed to learn it more than others." She gave Evan a knowing look. Ororo noticed that and couldn't help but chuckle, remembering the rather annoying problems they had had with trying to get her hard-headed nephew to understand the consequences of his power usage, which he was still trying to accomplish, for he still couldn't stretch in the morning without firing a few marrow missiles unintentionally.
"It's ready," came Mrs. Valley's voice. The group turned to face the very large television set in the wall. Some of them had to turn their chairs completely around in order to be facing the right way. Mrs. Valley pressed the PLAY button and a few seconds later the static on the screen was replaced by a clear recording.
A large image of the Channel 4 News icon suddenly appeared on the screen and then the unseen TV announcer began speaking. "Tonight, on Channel 4 News, a Moonriver Falls bank robbery foiled by means unknown." The image then changed to showing a reporter with news reports and a news image in the background. "Hi," the announcer spoke to the audience, "I'm Steven Campbell. Earlier this evening a group of armed bank robbers robbed the Moonriver Falls National Back of over 50,000 dollars in cash and fled the crime scene in an armored vehicle before police arrived. Police then searched the surrounding area for the armed suspects to locate their armored escape vehicle near an old warehouse. Upon arriving on the scene, the police discovered that the suspects had taken two teenage girls hostage. But reports have said that the suspects were found unconscious and defeated when officers arrived." The screen changed again to show a scene inside the warehouse, at least that was what the X-Men took it to be. Xavier had his fingers stapled under his chin, for he saw where this was heading, and he didn't really like what he saw. What came up next on the screen made all the people in the room freeze.
They saw the bodies of several masked men on the screen, two lying on the floor, another atop on wooden crate that looked like 700 pounds of bricks had been dropped onto it from above. The picture also showed that smoke was in the room, for lights were on and their beams were clearly to be seen. The police were carefully examining the bodies of the robbers.
"Upon arriving at the warehouse," the announcer spoke, "The officers found all the thieves unconscious having sustains suspicious minor injuries. All of them showed bruising on a large area of their bodies due to what is believed to be concussive force, while one was reported to have sustained minor second-degree burns that were later identified as electrical burning of the flesh. But most mysteriously is this alarming piece of evidence that the police found at the scene."
The next picture on the screen showed two firearms, a magnum desert eagle and an assault rifle, but the metal of both guns was out of shape. The magnum's barrel was completely gone, the metal edges of the damage were ripped and torn. The assault rifle's long barrel was bent a full ninety degrees downward from it's original position and the ammunition clip looked like it was partly dissolved, like melting black ice cream that had been left to melt halfway and had then been refrozen.
"This two highly damaged weapons suggest that some extreme type of force was involved." Logan growled a little, for he didn't like this at all. "Police are still baffled by the bizarre nature of the damage to these weapons and the cause of this has been determined as 'unknown.' But one of the suspects' hostages has a rather unusual explanation."
The picture shifted to show a young teenage girl with long brown hair. She looked rather scared and confused, as if she was not prepared to say what she really wanted to. At the bottom of the screen it read, 'Annie Howardson, Hostage/Eyewitness.' "It was the strangest thing," she said to the camera, "It just appeared out of nowhere. It was like a man, but it wasn't a man. It had some sort of weird shiny surface all over it, and it was all covered with these weird patterns that were like neon light signs. And it threw all sorts of strange light flashes at the burglars. And it moved faster than I could see. It was almost like a ghost or something come to life."
The words leaving the girls' mouth on the screen fit what the young X-Men and instructors remembered hearing about the powers of this new recruit. They remembered Xavier telling them of abilities to fire energy blasts and some sort of body armor. If what the girl was describing was not their latest recruit, then there was no telling what it was exactly.
"I don't like this, Jean," said Scott, "This guy might be exposing mutants."
All Jean could do was to look back at Scott. She wanted to say something about all this, but she found that she could not. These were definitely displays of mutant power that they were hearing of from the eyewitness, but then again, there was no mention of it being a human from the girl. After all, a being with a shiny outer layer decorated with pulsating light patterns would surely not pass for a normal person unless there was some distinguishable feature that said otherwise.
"No, I wasn't high!" the suddenly snapping of the girl made a lot of people jump a little from surprise. The girl on the screen looked angry now. "You people calling me a liar? I saw this with my own eyes. Me and my friend were saved and those thugs were stopped! That's no lie!" With that, the scene ended. The screen then went back to the announcer.
"And there you have it," said the man, "Several armed robbers stopped by means unknown, two girls rescued from certain doom, and the claim that an unidentifiable force was involved. Police are still questioning these two girls for more details. What is the cause of all this mysterious tension? That remains to be seen. We'll be back with more on Channel 4 News in just a moment." With that, the screen went to commercials. Mrs. Valley stopped the tape.
She turned back to face her husband and guests. "Me and Nick both know that it was Simon that did that," she explained as if she was expecting them to ask her that, her face blank, "He openly admitted to it."
Xavier looked at her and let out a sigh. "I take it that this was how you found out about Simon's powers?" asked Mr. Valley, looking more concerned than neutral.
Xavier shook his head. "No, I found out by other means, which I must keep anonymous if you understand." Mr. and Mrs. Valley couldn't ask more on that, for they realized how anonymous life as a mutant would be if you lived at an institute for mutants. But neither said a word.
"Has anyone approached you about this other than us since this happened?" asked the professor.
"No, no one has even mentioned it to us outside our family. But we've been afraid that someone might," said Mrs. Valley, concern sketched into her face.
"Was that kid of yer's tryin' to play hero or something?" asked Logan, a deep frown slashed into his features. If there was one thing Logan didn't approve of, which was a list far too long to say, it was mutants going around flaunting their powers.
"Logan," Kitty suddenly protested, "He saved two girls and stopped a group of armed robbers. What's so wrong about that?"
"Kitty," said Ororo gently, "he may have meant well, but he was probably not thinking of how is actions might affect the public."
"Ororo is right," said Xavier, "we are fortunate that this time no one knew it was him and the true cause was not realized. But he really can't be allowed to use his powers openly."
"You don't allow the students at your institute to do that, do you?" said Mr. Valley, more in a statement form than that of a question.
"No. The public is just not ready to know about us yet. Use of powers in view of the public simply puts our secrecy at great risk. But the risk is especially high if our identities are known as well," said Xavier.
The images of the news recording still hung fresh in the mind of the Jean Grey. With what she had seen it was clear that extreme force had been used to stop the robbers and as for the handy work with the weapons, only strength beyond that of a conventional human and extreme heat could have accounted to the damage. It would take a very, very hot heat source to melt the steel making up a gun, and if any tool, like a welding torch or laser cutter had been used, surely the news would have reported it, or at least the girl would have admitted it. But there had been none, so there was more than reason to believe that mutant power had been used. Plus, she remembered Xavier's telling them of this new mutant generating extreme thermal energy, which was probably the same thermal attack that had melted the gun she had seen, not to mention the kinetic and electrical attacks, which could account for the dented boxes they had seen and the report of electrical burning.
"So where does that leave us?" asked Mrs. Valley.
Xavier really had to get to the important details know. He had pretty much shown Simon's parents the first stair of the flight and now it was time to show them the rest of the way.
"I believe that now I should tell you why about us and why we are here," said Xavier.
Mrs. Valley looked at her husband, who returned the look. Even without using his telepathy, Xavier knew what they were thinking. "Yes, Professor. We would like to know about this school that you run."
Now came the really big part. "I run a school for gifted youngsters. Youngsters who have abilities that other people don't have. I believe you know what I am referring to."
"You must mean the "powers" that Simon has," said Mr. Valley, "Do all your students have powers like that?"
"Yes, as do my instructors here, Logan and Ororo," Xavier motioned to the gruff, beefy man and tall dark-skinned woman who were sitting nearby. "All my students have abilities that are the results of X-gene. I created the institute where we all live for the purpose of bringing young mutants together and to help them with their powers. I train them to use their powers responsibly and for the betterment of mankind. I also provide them with education and resources."
Scott could see Mr. and Mrs. Valley thinking all this over with great care. He could see that their nervousness was diminishing as they heard about what Xavier had to offer, nut there was still tension and uncertainty in their eyes. He couldn't tell if it was being over-whelmed by all this news and information, or perhaps maybe of how they felt now that they knew the truth about Simon. He remembered seeing ho desperate Jean's parents were when he had seen Jean Grey fro the first time. They had been frantic. They were practically overwhelmed by concern for their daughter. These folks didn't seem to be desperate, but they were however, a little uncertain about it.
"So you want to offer Simon a place at your institute where he can be with others like him and to help train him so that he can use his powers the right way?" asked Mr. Valley.
Xavier was hoping tha this could end alright. Usually, parents didn't quite catch on quickly when he tried to recruit a new student for the institute. More often than not it took over an hour, sometimes two or three, until the parents of his recruit could understand what was going on. And on a few occasions, he was rejected the first time, either by the parents of the mutant or the mutant himself or herself. Now, it seemed to be simply passing along. But he had to be careful about this, for after all whether their son came or not was his choice. The professor had to make sure to be as genuine and sincere as possible when he made offers like this to enroll at the institute. "Yes, that is why I am here. I would like to offer your son a place at my institute where we can give him the training and discipline he needs."
Jean saw the two parents process this information. She sensed that there was a conflict of immense hope and relief and concern and uncertainty in them. She decided to add on to Xavier's speech. "Mr. and Mrs. Valley, I know this may seem sudden, but believe me, we all used to have problems with our powers. We would all be still struggling with our powers today with no idea what to do if it weren't for our time at the Xavier Institute. Isn't that right, guys?" she asked her friends sitting around her. The all nodded in agreement, most of them with enthusiastic looks on their faces.
"Ja," said Kurt, "Ze professor helped us out like nothing elze could. It vas like a dream come true for us all."
"And it really isn't so bad after a while," said Scott, "Having super powers can be pretty cool as well. Of course it may not seem that way at first, but given time, you really grow into it."
Jean looked on at the professor, who was smiling proudly at the children whose lives his guidance and wisdom had been turned from confusion and fear to hope and confidence. "Ever since we joined his school, he's been like a father to us all," she ended it.
"So," said Xavier, turning back to the two parents, "What do you think about all this?"
Mrs. Valley looked at the middle-aged, yet handsome man in the wheelchair. "To tell you the truth, Professor, we're not quite sure how to see this. Form what we've heard from you, this institute sounds like a real helpful place. We've been living with all this confusion and fear for over five years since his powers first appeared. And ever since that day, life for our son has changed dramatically."
"May I ask how," asked the Professor, raising an eyebrow at the mention of a dramatic life-style change.
"When Simon discovered he had those powers," said Mr. Valley, "He's become distant and bitter towards the rest of the world. He was a loner type before then, he hardly let home, went out, or traveled. But when he discovered his ability, he became even more distant than before. He become bitter and mistrusting of people, not going to parties, not making friends. He's been cautious about everything he does because he's been afraid of his powers going out of control. He's been living a confused and hard life ever since the time he found out he was different. Not only that, but he started to fall behind in school. For a while after he first found out about his talents, his grades fell extensively. In fact he almost failed school that year. His confusion and such was so immense on him that he couldn't think of anything else."
Xavier took in each and every word of Mr. Valley's story. He wasn't entirely sure what he was expecting to hear, but he wasn't totally unprepared for anything. It sounded like the discovery of powers had affected this young man severely. And how deeply that ran could present a social problem. Perhaps Xavier had to worry about mental status as well as powers. Powers definitely needed attention and training, but emotional pasts and problems were no small standing issue either. "Mr. Valley, it sounds like your son has been trying to hide himself from the world because of his powers." Mr. Valley nodded in agreement. "I believe that mutants should not need to hide in shame and confusion. I do believe that your son could have a better life at my institute. We can help him overcome his emotional problems and regain lost social skills, as well as train him to use his powers for the betterment of mankind and the struggle for mutants' rights. In fact," he voice became grave, which made Mr. and Mrs. Valley suddenly feel a little uneasy, "I must tell you that I believe that it's in your son's best interest and the interest of people everywhere that he come with us."
Seeing the change of tone, the Valleys looked concerned. "What do you mean?" asked Mrs. Valley.
"Well, try to understand this," said Xavier, as serious as he ever had been, "because it's really vital than you know this. If your son does not agree to come with us, then there is an extremely high possibility that other groups will come to recruit him to their causes, but not with his best interests in mind."
"What are you saying?" asked Mr. Valley, his voice concerned and curious.
"Mr. and Mrs. Valley," Xavier said at last, "my hope is that someday humans and mutants can live together in peace and harmony. However there is one individual whom you must know about who doesn't share this view of mine. Magneto."
The other students were holding their breath on this subject. They knew right from the start that Xavier would bring up the issue of Magneto looking for other mutants to join his cause. He had told them just hours ago of how he didn't want to risk losing Simon to the Brotherhood. Magneto would have wanted a soldier with powers like Simon's. The thoughts of the possible results made them shiver.
"Magneto?" asked Mr. Valley, "Who's Magneto?"
"Magneto is one of the most powerful mutants alive in the world today," Xavier explained, "He was once a very close friend of mine. We both once shared the dream of mutant/human harmony in the world. However, his views changed and now he goes by a philosophy totally different from mine. He believes that mutants can have a free and peaceful existence only through enslaving or eradicating the rest of the human race."
Mr. Valley's eyes looked concerned while his wife looked fearful. "That's terrible," she said, "But why would he want with our son?"
"I'm sure you have seen your son do a variety of things with his powers," said Xavier. They both nodded. "Magneto is always in search of mutants to aid him in his declaration of war on the human race. But he is especially interested in mutants who have exceptional powers, like your son. If he knew about your son, then there is the high probability that he would try to recruit Simon for his own team."
"But Simon would never do that," protested Mrs. Valley, "He has a very strong belief in honor. If he knew what this Magneto intended, he wouldn't have anything to do with him or his plans."
Xavier knew he had gotten the main message across, but now he had to choose the last words of this carefully, for he didn't want o cause anymore concern unless absolutely necessary. "Magneto is a master manipulator. He has ways of persuading others that I prefer not to mention to you," Xavier cautioned, "Even if your son said 'no' to him, he would not accept it as an answer."
He stopped there, hopping that he message had gotten across to the Valleys. It had. He could tell by the way they exchanged glances.
"Well, Professor," said Mr. Valley, "We're uncertain about this institute of yours. I hope you can understand that."
All Xavier did was nod. "Yes, I can relate if this is overwhelming news for you. Not many people take such information easily."
"However," said Mrs. Valley, "it sound like Simon could benefit from all you have to offer. I've always told him that he needs to find people who he can relate to, socialize with. I keep telling him that over and over, but he believes that no one could do that with him because of his powers. But maybe you could prove how wrong he is."
"Well, that's a problem a lot of mutants have," said Xavier kindly, "At the Institute, I teach young mutants how to overcome their personal demons and troubles. It's no easy task, but all my students have benefited from it in that way."
"In addition, even though I believe it would be best if your son did enroll at my institute, he must come of his own free will. I may be as encouraging as I can be, but the final choice is his."
Both Mr. and Mrs. Valley could see what he meant. "Well, I guess we should leave that choice up to Simon once he hears what you can offer," said Mr. Valley, "From my personal viewpoint, I don't know what to say. I really think that Simon should hear from you."
"Well," said the Professor, "now that that is taken care of, I would like to speak with your son."
"I'm afraid he isn't here," said Mr. Valley, "as I said earlier."
Xavier nodded. "Yes, but do you know when he will return."
Mrs. Valley responded. "Every night, he goes on long walks through the city. He never goes anywhere in particular as far as Nick and I know. And he always stays out as long as he is allowed, which is late."
Xavier placed his chin in his hands. "Well, then, I think then I should try to get a hold of him sooner than that." He then turned to Logan. "Logan, could you and the students take the X-Van and look for Simon?"
"Sure thing, Chuck," said Logan, looking relieved to have a chance for some action after all this listening and waiting. Besides, he could use a chance to use his superb tracking skills.
"Scott, you and rest of the students go with Logan and location Simon. Ororo and I will remain here and give Mr. an Mrs. Valley the details of what we are offering."
Scott got up and gave the professor a salute. "You got it, Professor," he said confidently.
"But, how will you be able to find him?" asked Mrs. Valley.
"Not to worry," said Jean, "We have special means of finding him. And we won't harm him either."
Simon Peter Valley of Moonriver Falls, Washington was not in a good mood. He was now standing on a rooftop above the ally where he had stopped a young woman from getting robbed or raped or worse. But he wasn't satisfied with his task. Now that he was in armored form and energized to the brim with organic power he was restless more than ever, the power of his state acting like nuclear power adrenaline to his system and network of neural pathways of energy vessels.
Stopping that thug had been so easy it wasn't even funny. And easy was a word Simon Valley hated about 50 percent of the time he heard it. His thoughts suddenly wandered back to the moment he had stopped the attacker.
The drunk, drugged up thug raised a huge fist to strike the poor innocent that was at his mercy. The woman was paralyzed with fear, her body frozen as if submerged in a human body freezing solution.
"Time to see a real man play," sneered the bastard as he readied to do some dirty act.
Simon took the opportunity. Using his powerful speed and strength, he yanked the creep away. Picking up the guy like a piece of trash, Simon gave him a massive blow with one of his fists, as powerful and as formidable as a sledgehammer, to the guy's gut. It sent the air out the punk's lungs with a whoosh of air that Simon felt right through his living armor and skull covering.
With less than a minute left, Simon raised his fist again and struck the thug on the head. Simon made sure he didn't do it with enough force to crack his skull open. He wanted to stop this jerk from harming the woman, but he didn't want to kill him.
As soon as the attack met its mark on the guy's head, the fight left the punk in a heartbeat.
Simon looked up to see if the woman was all right. But his enhanced vision didn't see her there. But at the same moment, Simon's supersonic hearing abilities detected the footfalls of high-heeled shoes on cobbled pavement from the far end of the ally. Turning his armored head, he saw the reddened image of the woman darting out the ally and around the corner, vanishing from sight as she went.
The most vivid details he would remember was the look of utter terror on the goon's face at Simon's armored mug of fanged, blue-eyed glory. And the even greater terror of the woman he had just saved. She was more afraid of him than the thug.
Two people had seen him in his armored form, which was something he never wanted to happen.
Now Simon was up on the roof of the building beside the location of where that attack took place no more than two minutes ago. He still was in his armored form, but he didn't really deactivate it for a reason he could quite place. It was as if something at the back of his head was urging him not to turn off his battle mode.
If Simon could feel any sort of satisfaction at all, it would have been in being able to stop a terrible act of human evil, even if it was by a means that he was not satisfied with to begin with since it reminded him of how much a freak he was in comparison to other people.
"According to these readings, he should be in the next section of the city," said Jean as she sat in the front seat of the X-Van with Logan at the wheel, "I think he in a two-mile radius."
Scott and the rest of the students were in the back seats of the van as it raced up and down the streets and highways of Moonriver Falls. They had all left the Valley mansion twenty minutes ago and were well into their search for Simon Valley. Logan was ready to use his powerful sense of smell, which allowed him to follow a target as effectively as shark would detect a bleeding fish for consumption in dark deep ocean waters. Jean herself was now equipped with Simon's brainwave patterns, which Xavier had provided her with shortly before they had disembarked on their search and location operation. Now, to find out which part of this large city he was in, they were using the newly built-in mutant signature detecting sensors of the X-Van to location their target's general whereabouts.
Scott tried to read the readings as best he could from his seat behind Jean. As far as he could tell, the display Jean was reading showed a read digital map of the section of the city they were traveling through. The blipping red X on the screen was clearly the X-Van, but other than that, there was no other indicator symbol on the map, which probably meant that Simon Valley was not in that section of the city.
"Man, how are we supposed to find a mutant who looks just like an ordinary human being in a city like this at night. It's like a needle in a haystack," said Evan, "We might as well put up posters saying 'have you seen this mutant?'"
"Very funny, Evan," said Kitty sarcastically, "We'll find him soon enough." Evan Daniels was the resident complainer of the X-Men, and that was probably putting it mildly. It was almost like Evan's list of things to complain about was growing faster than the extensions of his bones were when he fired up his spike-producing powers.
"Ah wonder what he'll say about joinin' us at the institute?" said Rogue, "Weh might have ta' improvise."
"Well, I just hope he doesn't go all "energy storm spellcaster" on us when we try to talk to him," said Kitty, "if I try to phase through all that energy he can throw at us, I may end up phasing myself out."
"Amen to zat," said Kurt.
Rogue was thinking as well. She remembered what Mr. and Mrs. Valley had told them a while ago about Simon. Bitter and distant. More to the point, they had said that he had been a loner even before his powers emerged, like she had. And like her, he had become even more so once his powers manifested. Rogue's mind was going through all sorts of twists with Simon as a member of the X-Men. But also, it was pretty much only what one who knew nothing about him could come up with.
As the six teenagers and one adult continued on, the sensors and detectors still showed no sign of the mutant energy pattern of Simon's abilities. Jean, as well as Scott, Kitty and Rogue, would steal glances at the panel. But still fifteen minutes later, there was no indication of a mutant gene-possessing life form anywhere in the surrounding vicinity.
Suddenly, a beeping came to Jean's attention. She looked at the digital map on the screen before her and saw a tiny green dot on the red and black map of the city. And the blipping X marking the location of the X-Van was very close to it, about six inches apart from it.
The others had heard the beep and also saw the indication on the screen. "It looks like we've found our target," said Scott.
"Where is he?" asked Logan.
Jean quickly did an estimation of how far away the mutant was from them. By the distance legend the map was set to, she judged it to be two miles away. "Two miles straight ahead," reported Jean.
"On it," said Logan automatically. He stepped on the gas and accelerated on.
As he drove, the distance between the two symbols became smaller and smaller, a sure sign that the distance between them was closing rapidly. Within three minutes, the dot and X were less than half an inch from each other.
"I think this as close as we can get," said Jean, "According to these readings, he should be right next to us."
Logan came up with the next step. "Let's pull over and search on foot," Logan suggested, "I'll be able to sniff him out from there."
"Ya can do that?" asked Rogue.
"Sure, Stripes," said Logan, "I was in his house, I was near his coat, I got his scent. We'll be able to find him easily." Logan slowed down and parked the X-Van hear a mailbox and newspaper stand standing side-by-side on the sidewalk. The X-Men unbuckled their seatbelts and started to climb out.
An armored, alien-looking Simon was walking towards the door that lead to the downstairs of the apartment building he was currently standing on. He was about several yards away from the door when he suddenly stopped.
There was something strange present. Something unlike anything he had felt before. He sensed something, yet he couldn't understand or identify it. He couldn't see any unusual heat, light, or electrical color signatures with his transformation-enhanced vision, nor could he feel or detect the presence of strange vibrations or sound waves anywhere nearby. But something was coming and Simon suddenly tensed up, bringing his powerful, carapace-sheathed hands and arms in a battle-ready stance, prepared to defend himself should he be attacked.
Carefully, Simon moved slowly and carefully, trying to find out where the strange feeling was coming from. At first in was ubiquitous, as if the entire world was trying to confuse him. But right then and there, the entire idea based on that assumption as thrown away, for there was no possibility of it being that way.
But suddenly, Simon noticed a change in the sensation and yet began to understand it more. It was like a combination of heat and cold at the same time, but more warm than it was cool. And it was a powerful sensation as well. It was so strong that Simon now had difficulty sensing other signatures around him.
The feeling was no longer everywhere, for it seemed to be narrowing its location of source down to a single spot. As Simon continued to determine where the source was coming from, he finally managed to figure out where the source was the strongest. It was coming from one side of the building and it was lower than the roof. Perhaps on the ground level on the street or sidewalk.
Simon walked over to the edge of the rooftop and knelt down to inspect what was going on below. His brightblue eyes scanned the city streets. But Simon didn't see anything strange yet. He saw the red thermal signatures of people and other hot objects, he saw the solid white beams of car headlights and streetlamps, the purple electrical presence of devices such as telephones, powers lines, and any other type of electronic device on the street and the pale waves marked by the vibrations produced by the footfalls of people and the movement of car tires.
Without anything strange to pin on this new feeling, Simon couldn't understand what was going on. This was getting frustrating. Simon looked some more and listened as hard as he could to whatever his energy/vibration senses would pick up. Nothing.
Suddenly, something caught Simon's attention. Was he seeing things? No, there WAS something unusual down there on the street. He could see it now. It was a large minivan coming toward his location. It had just the same energy patterns as any car he saw tonight, but there was something else about it, something he didn't ever remember seeing in his armored form.
The more he looked, the more obvious it became. He suddenly saw a color that he hadn't seen before in armored mode. It was gold, a fierce bright flaming gold light. Coming from inside the van.
As he watched, the van pulled up to the sidewalk and parked right next the building he was standing on. Just then, the doors of the van opened and seven people got out. Simon suddenly saw that the people were what were giving off the strange golden light he was seeing. Their bodies didn't appear red like the others around them. They glowed gold like the sun. He saw them move and interact with each other.
Simon was confused. Why were these people emitting the strange gold aura? There was something different about them, but he had no idea what it was. This was both interesting and frightening as well. Then Simon saw something else as well. One of the figures, a boy wearing glasses, as the telescopic properties of Simon's energy vision picked up, had a particularly bright gold glow on a certain area of his body, which was brighter than the rest. It was coming from behind his glasses, as if he had two small suns where he eyes were with the glasses placed in front of them.
The figures stayed where they were. They appeared to be considering something. Simon tried listening.
"So where is this guy?" he heard a male voice say, "I don't this Simon Valley anywhere."
Simon froze. They were looking for him? How did they know him? What were they after?
"According to these readings," he heard a female voice speak up, "he should be right next to us, but there's nothing here other than this building."
She pointed up to where Simon was. And just as quickly, Simon leaped out of the view of sight of the street. These golden people knew who he was and where he was. Something was way off base here. He didn't recognize them at all. He had never met them. So who the hell were they!
Simon suddenly realized that he had to get off this building and keep an eye out on them. Whatever was going on, he had to find out. And then perhaps, he could figure out what to do next.
That's it for now folks! Coming up next is probably the part you've all been waiting for, when Simon meets the X-Men. It will be interesting to say the least! And remember, REVIEW!