Y'all missed me? 'Cause I'm back!
Another week for exams and another week of juicy chaps, however much I can give out.
[Nathaniel Essex POV]
Evolution sure was a fascinating thing.
He looked at his new body, a work of art, a milestone in the direction of success he was working on.
He had spent over a century grafting and experimenting on mutant DNA. His recent success reaffirmed his belief that he was going in the right direction. If only he could crack the bio-code of that mutant.
Once upon a time he had thought Darwin was the key but even if he was fascinated by the ability of the man, Darwin turned out to be a cheap copy.
Evolution was always behind the door of Adaptation, and Darwin couldn't evolve, always unable to scale that grand bridge.
He had played his cards right.
Right now, S.H.I.E.L.D, the X-Men and that ragtag bunch would be chasing trails that ran through a maze he had set up. All the hideouts they had discovered were all places he no longer had use for, places that would never be traced back to his current identity.
All his actions, and the diversions, were just a prelude to his most treasured prize – evolution. And finally, after so many years, it was finally in his hands.
He needed the strength for when he would take it. Sure his body was the height of anything biologically possible, he figured that there had to be a certain criteria for the process of evolution to kick start. The mutant race was a proof of his theory, with most of them, 99% of the entire mutant-kind, having a linear progress on the evolutionary road.
To him, the abilities that mutants displayed were the trials and failures of nature's attempt at evolution – in other words, there had to be a criteria to be fulfilled to make evolution seamless.
And that was where Draul St. Cross came in.
From what he could tell, the X-gene of the man was a blank state, only changing its form when an ability was being used. It was as if he was a baseline human jumping straight to mutant every time he used his abilities.
So was Draul St. Cross a mutant or was he a human that had achieved evolution?
He wanted to know. He really wanted to know… and soon he will.
But Draul St. Cross wasn't the only one he had his sights on. He still had something in store for the children at Xavier's. He had been wrought with agony when he thought he had missed his chance at creating the ultimate mutant when something had happened to Jean Grey but then a miracle occurred that made him change his mind.
Why use Summers when he could use St. Cross? It was such a brilliant thought that didn't occur to him for a while making him doubt his intellect for a moment.
He would create the most perfect being in existence, one that was strong enough to trample 'him' at their feet.
With that child, he would finally be free of his machinations.
"Please be patient for a while longer." He caressed the surface of a tube as he spoke in a soft fatherly voice. The surprising thing about the tube was that it had someone inside it, as still as a dead person.
…
[POV Change: Back to the beach]
The group of five plus the two teachers, continued their day at the beach while ignoring their wards who took the rare opportunity to have fun away from the Mansion.
"Hey so, you're like living together with Draul right?" Kitty asked Yelena who joined them after leaving the company of Bucky and the others.
"Yeah. Want to ask something?" Yelena eyed the cute petite girl who she could tell with a glance had a bubbly personality.
"What are they like? I mean Draul and Steve Rogers with the other guy."
Yelena wrinkled her brows in incomprehension. "I don't think I understand what you mean."
"I think she meant to ask if they're single. Mah name's Rogue by the way." Rogue interpreted for the smaller girl which made Yelena's eyes lit up in understanding.
"Oh yeah. Sorry but the only advice I'll give is ending whatever crush you have on any of them." She dashed any budding hope in the heart of any female student present.
Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to deter the young feline. "Why? They all have someone?"
"None I can think of but, Bucky, the other guy, it might just be me, but I think he's interested in my sister. So no hopes there. We are not even talking about the baggage you'll have to face to get him to open up. Then we have Steve who's still hung up on his old girlfriend… for fifty years. God it hurts to even think about it. And then you have Draul… honestly I don't know what's his deal. The last time a girl tried to flirt with him in a bar, he just stood up, took his drink and went home. But I'll say he's the most approachable of the three, assuming you aren't put off by the bluntness." The younger assassin gave away the basic profiles of her targets as if she was a sales marketer, trying to pursue the customer to only look at the pros.
"Wow… that's… hot." Not just Rogue but even Kitty reacted that way.
"Well sorry to burst whatever dream bubble you are in but the chances of your crush progressing to anything else is nil." These girls had to be suffering from something in the head, Yelena thought, as it would be the only reason why they seemed even more enthusiastic even after she told them that they were just fantasizing.
'Guess I have to shoot whatever this is, down… maybe literally.'
"Do you think you can put in ah good word for us? C'mon we all just girls here, eh sugah?" Rogue asked.
"I don't think that would be a good idea." She refused.
"Come on Yelena! Please!" Kitty begged as she hugged the younger assassin with puppy eyes as opposed to her feline self.
"I can't."
"Why?! Aren't we besties?" Kitty whined.
"I can't, because then I'll have to kill my only friends. I've been doing that for almost a decade now until recently… don't want to go back to bad habits." Yelena confessed.
"…"
"…"
"Say what?!"
"You heard me." She shrugged and left the two who stayed rooted to the same spot for a while before they finally comprehended what she said.
"Kitty? She was jus playin' right?"
"I-I don't think so."
""So cool!!"" Poor Yelena would never know that she just created a fan base by accident. Unfortunately they would never know how true what she said had been.
…
While back at the teacher's lounge.
"Sounds like you've been having a rough time." Ororo was seated with Draul and Natasha as the other two men decided that they've had enough of sitting down and tried to find something fun to do.
"It wasn't always like this, you know. Now everyone just feels conflicted. John's death took us by surprise and… well most of us don't know how to react to it. On one side we have the Professor with his constant preaching of peace and justice within the law and how we are to act within the laid down rules to be accepted back into human society and on the other hand… Well you have people like me and a few others who think that maybe showing them how we feel would bring about a subtle change." No one knew whether it was because of the glass of wine she drank or she was just looking for where to unwind the things that had been bugging her for a while but her two audiences nevertheless listened with rapt attention.
"Isn't that just slavery? Telling people who are above a certain type of rule to conform to your own rules before you accept them… I don't see what it is apart from slavery." Natasha said.
"True. It was why Magneto was a better leader of the metahuman-kind than Charles ever was. A pity he had to resort to terrorism and was blinded by revenge. For all his wit and wealth, Charles is a failure as the leader of a group of powerful individuals. Unless he admits that fact to himself then I'm afraid all he'll do is drive the metahumans to a corner where they'll either have to fight for themselves or those who can't who have to surrender themselves. But I doubt he'll consider that, he is as stuck in his old ways as Magneto was. They really do make a complimenting pair together." Draul could see where they were heading, the metahumans. This wasn't like the DC universe where they learned to accept metahumans and aliens into their society with ease as almost all their protectors were either enhanced beings or aliens. The DC universe had a more hero worshipping society than Marvel which was perfectly fine and understandable because if for some reason the Flash or Superman were to turn bad… well Injustice happened for a reason. And it also didn't help that all their fights were in view of the public. So like it or not, the public had to accept these new groups of people as a functioning part of their society.
Marvel?
First problem = S.H.I.E.L.D. They denied the public of any information pertaining to aliens, decreasing the chances of a changing mindset to be present in the world.
The mutant exposure happened out of nowhere and took everyone, even the privy government by surprise. But instead of helping these people, they segregated them as a 'virus', a 'plague' that threatened to harm the 'human' society. And the public as the always ignorant sheep they were, gobbled everything up and helped fan the flames further by spinning all their horror tales into it to the point that just with the exposure that you were a mutant will have the police, army and even state defense on you.
They fucked up bigtime and now they had two different people fighting for their rights to live in the planet.
It was for all these reasons that Charles was a failure of a leader. He lacked the backbone, pun also intended, to make the hard choices that every leader was supposed to make.
All the great men and leaders in history were all called tyrants at some point, Charles lacked that very resolve and coincidentally, it was what Magneto had in excess.
"What are you going to do now?" He inquired from Ororo.
"I.. I think I'll take a page out of your book for a while." She said.
"Hoh? Which of the pages?" Draul seemed amused as he asked.
Hearing the amusement in his tone, Ororo laughed. "The one where you couldn't be bothered and just do what you want."
"Be careful, I might sue you for piracy." Natasha looked at the two of them with an amused smile on her face as she was sure that they had even forgotten that she was here. Not having anything else to do, she just relaxed and listened as they both got into their zone.
"How do you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Do whatever it is that you want. How do you make such decisions?" She really was curious.
"This might be bad advice to some, but I usually don't care much about people in general or how they think. All you need is an interest, either in yourself or people around you. When you find that interest, then it's up to you to work in favor of it. For me, if the president of the State were to go against my interests in a way that seriously hurts me, then all I'll have to do is cleave his neck off… as simple as that.. A word of precaution though, don't try to be interested in to many things." Draul said.
If Natasha was surprised by what he said then she sure as hell didn't show it, probably because she knew what he said was true… and to some lesser degree, the same with Ororo. She'd seen him kill and knew how brutal he could be, but she still asked. "Why can't I be interested in many things?"
"Because at some point, they'll cancel each other out and you'll be left stranded… looking for something new to attach yourself to. Better to have a scale of preference, not too many and not too small and before you know it, you'll find that those outside your list never mattered all that much in the first place… You can't care for everyone, Ororo. Even God had to cast out his brightest angel."
It was times like these that made Natasha remember why Draul was someone she looked up to. Apart from the age difference, there was something else about him that made him look as if the way he saw everything was different from anyone else. It was like he saw things as they really are, the good, bad and the ugly. Everything he said was exactly how he saw it. There was no need for him to doubt his own words or beliefs 'cause at the end of the day, he'll say that he couldn't be bothered to care all that much. And it wasn't only her who thought this way, both Steve and Bucky did.
"That's… thanks."
"Thank me by having fun, it's the beach for crying out loud."
"Hahahaha! True, it is. Very well then, since a certain someone says I can't have fun, then why don't you show me?" Ororo stretched out her hand in an invitation.
Draul eyed the hand and then her before he shrugged. "Sure, I don't see a problem with that."
Though not how he planned it, the day so far had been entertaining. Ororo had dragged him across the beach, hitting up any joint that looked fun. Even he had to admit that it was actually fun. Who knew Ororo could be this outgoing?
He didn't know if it was because of her powers but even though she was having fun she sometimes seemed to keep it at bay, as if she was careful to not show too much emotion. Draul could understand as he was someone who had the same issue, though his were on the negative spectrum.
It was a calm yet nice way of having fun, not the boisterous type, those Draul hate.
Even though they were going at a smooth pace, Draul could tell that it was affecting her. Not being able to show how you really felt would put a damper on most of your feelings. It was the reason why Ororo was seen as the serious and no nonsense teacher back at the Mansion. *Sigh*
He was the one who told her to try and have fun, it would be remiss on his part to not help her have it when he was her chaperone.
"Hey, Ororo. Can you surf?" He thought of a good idea.
"Yeah. But I don't think the waves are good enough to surf." She said while taking a glance at the shore.
"Oh don't worry about that." Draul said and went for the boards.
Ororo already had an idea about what he wanted to do so she waited until he came back with boards for both of them.
"Ready?"
"Sure. Though I don't think it'll be a good idea to do whatever it is I think you're going to do." She showed her skepticism while looking at the people who were in the water.
"Don't worry about that. I'd worry about myself more if I were you. Brace yourself." Draul waved off her concerns with a small smile.
"What ar-! Draul!" She couldn't help but curse at the laughing bastard as they fell down to the middle of the sea through a portal that the bastard had to be the cause of.
She stabled herself midair while Draul did the same, although the smile was still on his face.
"Out here you can surf without having to worry about ruining other people's day." The words he said shocked her because not once had she ever spoken about her inability to control the weather's link to her emotions. "How?"
"I noticed the slight change in the clouds a few times when we were on the beach and also how quick you were to get your emotions under control only for the clouds to go back to being sunny. An easy deduction on my part or anyone's in particular if they were paying attention." He explained and then pointed to the sea below them which was already starting to rage in turmoil. "Figured this would be the best way to get it out of your system. Come on."
With that, he dropped to the sea in a free fall only for the water to spit him out a few seconds later and a small ice platform to form around his feet as he stood and waited for her.
As if telling of her excitement, the sky rumbled as she made her fall but unlike Draul who splashed into the water, she slowed down as she neared the water surface where an ice platform extended to let her stand.
"You sure about this?" Despite the question, a smile was plastered on her face.
"Trust me this once. It'll be fun."
They readied their boards atop the ice while they waited for the exact moment, the sign for kickoff.
KRAKOOM!
They shot forth at the sound of thunder, going faster with a speed higher than any car on earth could move at.
KRAKKH!
They ignored the sky high waves that were coming for them and continued moving faster amidst the sound of laughter and the symphony of thunder.
Draul sped through the high rising wave and shot himself into the air and spun around to catch the graceful white haired figure of Ororo being bathed with lightning as she rode the waves of the sea with lightning trailing her course.
Taking that as a challenge, red lightning coursed through Draul's form as he descended back to the sea in a pursuit of Ororo as she had sped ahead of him while he was in the air.
Ignoring the waves that would have given the bravest of seafarers the fear of death, the two individuals, one clad in white lightning while the other in red, raced against each other with the laughing sky as their only audience. From afar, they looked like tiny sparks of red and white occasionally dancing in the black canvas of the sea.
"This is amazing!" Ororo shouted at the top of her voice which was echoed by Draul's mad laughter.
"Right?!! I-"
KRACCKAAH!
Draul's voice was cut short as lightning struck him by surprise, sending him into the sea.
"Draul!" She spun around and surfed to where Draul had been submerged only for the man to resurface while laughing like a loon. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. That was unexpected though. Crap, looks like my board broke." Draul frowned as he controlled the water to bring back his sinking board.
"Should we go back?" Even though she asked, the frown on her face showed that she hadn't had enough of the thrilling experience yet.
"Nah. We're not done yet." Before she could say anything, Draul made a board of ice, got on, and hit her on her shoulder. "You're it." Before he blitzed away with lightning speed.
She stood there for a while before realization dawned on her and she contorted into a scowl. "Oh, you're on." And she followed behind.
And so the game of tag continued in the ocean with two fun starved adults surfing on boards made of ice as they tried to tag each other.
It got to the point where, aware of each other's resistance to the natural elements, they started hurling lightning at each other as well as controlling the sea to act as obstacles.
Too absorbed in their little game, they didn't take the time to witness the state of the sea they were in for if they did, they would have known that where they were playing had become a spot for natural calamities.
Lightning from heaven, numerous in numbers each struck to the sea at the same time, making that area around the sea look like a birdcage made of lightning then stretched all the way from the clouds to the sea. Even the sea had risen more than 20% of its normal height but neither cared as they hurled lightning, ice and gales at each other in order to take in the highest tag count.
Draul surfed behind Ororo hurling one lightning bolt after another which she dodged with ease.
None of them were actually trying that hard to hit the other, what counted at the moment was the amount of fun they were having.
They had to stop after they saw where they were, from the elevated surface of the sea to the eye of a hurricane hundreds of meters below the sea level.
It was only at that point that they thought of the repercussions of what their little game would have on seamen and any civilization hundreds of kilometers away.
Thankfully, none of those fears came to pass as Ororo and Draul had to spend the better part of thirty minutes to calm the sea and tides and also to make sure that any effect from their actions were negligible.
"I think that's enough work for today." Draul nodded his head as they both gazed at the calm sea after they were done with the reconstructing of the ocean ecology.
"Now then, shall we?" With that, Draul opened a portal back to the beach and they both stepped through.
The beach was free, save for a few people still having fun, as the day was coming to a close.
"Hey, whatever happened to the Juggernaut and the others?" Draul asked Ororo as they made their way to their group.
"Piotr took them away on the jet to be locked up. He should be back by now to pick us up."
"And pray tell where the hell have you two been?" Logan asked the moment he saw the duo making their way to the stand.
"The Pacific." Logan snorted at that answer but humored him nonetheless.
"To do what?"
"Surfing."
"… Wait what?" Logan did a double take. "Did you just say you were surfing in the Pacific?"
Draul nodded.
"So what the news had been running for the past hour… was both of you?" He stared in shock at the gall of the two adults in front of him that called whatever the nauticals and marines were freaking about, surfing. "You know what? You do you." And he left it at that. Did they not realize that they had half of the continent worried about the predicted upsurge of tornadoes, hurricanes and cyclones in the coming months due to the stunt they pulled? Whatever it was, he didn't have it in him to argue.
"I'll have to go now. I believe thanks are in order for showing me such a wonderful time." Ororo smiled.
"No biggie. I've never had fun on such a large scale before so it's a big win for me too." He laughed off her thanks and grabbed a fruit on the table to chew on.
"Still, I still wish to thank you. I've never had fun… as wild as that ever before so it was a thrilling first experience. Let's just say the most I did were movie nights with… Jean and some of the students. Haven't done that recently however." She winced as she came to the realization that she was really lacking when it came to such activities.
"God, I can tell from the expression on your face that it's actually worse than how you said it. And if you still wish to thank me, just plan the next one. I'm more of a go with the flow type of guy anyways and planning things isn't really my style, so you do it. Deal?"
Ororo took a second to think before she beamed a smile. "Deal." And then shook on it. "See you later, Draul." And with that, she walked towards the changing room to get ready for her leave, which left Draul alone on the spot as he decided to wait for wherever his group went.
It didn't take long before they started filtering in, having gone out for some food.
"Look who decided to come back. And here I thought you wouldn't be in a hurry to end your date." Natasha winked at Draul and stole his second apple before he could take a bite.
"Oh, so the quack finally saw the need to date huh? I'm glad" Bucky just gruffed in a low voice and sat on his chair.
"It wasn't a date… the next one might be, but not this one." The man shrugged and snatched back his fruit from the red head's hand.
"She's that interesting for you to be looking forward to a date?" Natasha asked as she settled for another fruit.
"Ororo is… nice. At least she's not someone that I feel uncomfortable with so there's that. And please, enough about the prospective date that may or may not be. Are you guys ready to leave?" Draul asked as he reached for another fruit, only to find the bowl empty as everyone had snagged one when he was talking.
"Sure, that's enough time spent at the beach. Where are we going next?" Yelena asked which earned her bewildered stares. She sighed as it was quickly becoming a trend as of late. "What is it this time?"
"You still want to go somewhere?" Steve asked.
"Of course. It's only past five, we've got like six more hours to spend before we hit the bed. And it's not every time we all get to hang out like this, so yes, I want to go somewhere else." She said matter-of-factly.
"Turns out she's right. So where are we hitting next?"
"How about the cinema? I think a new horror flick came out. We could check it out and move from there." Yelena suggested.
"Hopefully it has a lot of blood." Draul said.
"I don't think horror flicks have much bloody elements." Natasha remarked.
"Okay then, a lot of screaming it is." He corrected himself.
"I think you are mistaking a slasher flick for horror man." Bucky said.
"So what is it about horrors that scare people so much?" Draul was curious.
"I think it has to do with the fear of the unknown. The best horror films tend to be the ones where the cause of horror gets the least screen time in order to boost the expectation and fear factor." Yelena explained.
"Could have just gone with some action. At least those have blood in it." Draul shrugged. They got to the car and the moment they were about to enter…
"Uhm… can I drive? Just this once." She stared intently at Draul and Bucky as they were the only ones who brought cars.
"You know what? Fine! You drive for the night." Draul tossed her the keys and got into the car with Steve while Yelena stood outside, looking as if someone just gave her the most valuable treasure on earth.
"Yes!!!"
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Read up to 30 chapters ahead at pa*treon /Draul_TheOminous.
