X-Men-First Class: Rise or Fall
Chapter Two
Warning: This is a fiction centered around family, pain, and discipline of all sorts, plus further controversial components. If one finds this troubling, leave now or forever hold your peace.
NOTE: Property of Stan Lee, Marvel, and just about every entity but me.
After making a quick change into gray sweats and his dark sleeveless hood, Alex made his way down to the anti-nuclear bunker/training facility. He waited patiently, flexing some loose tautness out of his biceps while he did. Before long, he heard footsteps approaching. However, before he saw a face he saw what appeared to be enchanted pots and pans floating in his direction. The dishes dropped abruptly, revealing Erik behind them.
"All right, cooking lessons," Alex remarked. "I'm a little ahead of you, though. I already know how to flambé."
"Funny funny, child," Erik responded dryly. "No, we're going to spend some time on your defensive output."
Alex waved his arms in a welcoming motion. "I'm hands on in. Give me your best shot."
"As you wish." Flicking his wrist slightly, Erik sent a skillet in Alex's direction.
The teenager managed to let out a small crimson red blast but not in time to stop the metallic object from colliding with his shoulder.
"Just warming up."
Erik nodded before sending out a pair of pans.
While Alex managed to blast one off course easily, he was unprepared for the other, which made contact with his knee, causing him to wince slightly.
At Erik's displeased raised eyebrow, Alex said, "All right, okay. Not enough protein this morning."
"Hm. Why don't we see how you respond to pushing all reflexes at once?"
Alex dipped his head in a single nod. "Sounds like a plan."
Flexing his hands, Erik sent the remaining kitchen weaponry hurling at the thin blonde before him. Alex blasted a nice portion out of his path but received a blow to the stomach and a bump to the head; the latter knocking him over.
Erik came over and knelt over him. "Are you all right?"
Touching his head, Alex asked, "Am I bleeding?" Checking quickly, Erik shook his own head. "Then I think it's all good." He sat up, resting his arms on his knees.
"Alex, you should have made each of those shots blind folded," Erik told him. "I know the trouble you've had with control but Charles speaks well of your progress of late. But here, you're coming off as- incredibly restrained."
"Just trying to avoid small but containable fires," Alex said.
"That's not what this is about," Erik stated knowingly. He hovered a hand over Alex's right forearm. "You're practically radiating tension. What's the problem?"
"Nothing. Look, I'm fluked up, whatever. Can't we just try again?"
"And again and again," Erik responded as they both got to their feet.
"By the way, might want to work on your aim a little," Alex advised. "But I can see where that would become a problem in you older mutants."
Retorting in actions alone, Erik used his power to pick up the cast iron frying pan. When it came hurling his way, Alex promptly took off for the other direction.
IIIIIII
Silence filled the library as Joey went over the multiplication table sheets in front of him for what had to be ten hours- though he had only really been reviewing for a little less than twenty minutes. He found the five times table simple enough after understanding that the last digit always has to be either zero or five. The fourth and sixth time tables always proved a little more challenging.
Holding his head up for a moment, Joey looked at Charles who sat at the small desk a couple feet in front of him, eyeballing some papers of his own. It still amazed Joey at the size of the Xavier Mansion library. The room itself was huge with stacks upon stacks of different books. It also frequently proved to be the quietest room of the house, especially when used for a classroom. Joey found himself wishing that he could take part in coursework with the older children but only a small part of him held that desire. It was nice not having to go at the same pace as the others; not to mention having Charles' sole attention so much throughout the week.
When Joey glanced forward again, Charles looked up at him with a smile. "How are the numbers coming along?"
"They're all right," Joey answered him.
Standing, Charles headed over to the child's table. "Let's see. Four times three is?" At Joey's stealing a peak at the sheets, Charles quickly instructed, "Eyes up. You know this one, Joey. Four times three?"
"Twelve," Joey said.
Nodding his approval, Charles moved to another. "Four times five."
"Twenty," Joey replied with a confident smile.
Charles decided to change it up a bit. "Six times eight?"
After going quiet for several seconds, the child said, "Forty-eight."
"Nicely done but I sense you're still counting to yourself," Charles surmised. "The best thing you can do when it comes to multiplication tables is memorization. It comes off as overwhelming but it's the quickest and simplest way when dealing with basic mathematics. I think what I'll have you do is study these at night and we'll do recitation right down the line each day until you have it down precisely."
Joey knew adults loved using big words but Charles most definitely took the cake. "Okay." Honestly, he hated having to recite anything in front of anyone, even Charles sometimes. As much as he cared about the Professor- adored actually- the child still found it hard to sound intelligent in his presence.
"Good then. Let's go over this week's spelling list." He went over to the desk and fetched the sheet of paper, returning to Joey with it. "You did better than on Monday but you seem to be having consistent trouble with the silent vowels. Take globe for example." He laid the graded paper down on the table. "You left off the E. Without the E it becomes glob."
"Like a glob of pudding?"
"Yes, exactly," Charles said. "We must try to capture that elusive silent vowel."
"But if it's silent then why do we even need it?" Joey wanted to know.
"The silent vowel acts as a differentiator in regards to the English language," Charles explained. "Also, I suspect the dear people at Webster's dictionary had a tendency to play around with letters." Smiling at the youngster's laugh, he went on. "No, but really. You have the same problem with photo, which you spelled with an F, as opposed to a PH. Now, that should be something you have no trouble with whatsoever as your full first name uses a PH over an F."
"That's why I like Joey better."
"Then you have to make use of the rare vowel of Y," Charles countered. "You cannot escape it, Joey. Now, for homework tonight I want you to review the spelling list and write each word ten times each."
"Ten times?" Joey repeated, frowning.
"Ten times," Charles confirmed. "The more you write it, the more it becomes familiar to you. Let's go over the definitions."
Watching the Professor head over to one of the chalkboards, Joey read over his spelling sheet again. Although he'd had trouble with globe and probe, stone had been simple, thanks to the boy's newfound love of King Arthur's adventures with Merlin. Joey imagined himself in charge of the dictionary for a moment. Any word with letters that refused to speak and remained silent would be erased immediately; starting with 'homework'.
IIIIIII
"All right, guys. Hour's up," Hank pronounced, ending the science class. "Remember, your reports are due next week. That's two pages for the younger students and four for you, Sean."
"Being the oldest," Sean commented softly to Frank as they headed out together. "That's always fun."
"Try being trapped in the middle," Frank came back with. "You're headed out to train, right? Can I watch your flight?"
"Sure. You can even be my signal light."
"You're funny," Frank said, despite being amused.
Hank watched the boys leave the lab then called after the departing girl. "Hey, Becca?" She turned around. "Could you come here for a second?"
Becky nodded and came over, studying his expression. "What is it, Hank?"
"We need to talk about last night's assignment."
"What about it?"
Hank gaped at her incredulously. "You mean besides the fact that you didn't do it?"
"Oh. Right." She darted her eyes briefly, as if searching for an explanation. "I've had so much work due from Charles and I just forgot. I'm sorry."
"Becca, you know if you're ever feeling overloaded, you can always come to me for help," Hank reminded her gently, "but ignoring schoolwork is just not an option nor is doing it half-asked. Your last couple of assignments have been much less than your best. So what's going on here?"
She quieted momentarily before responding with, "I haven't really felt like it."
"That is not good enough," Hank said strongly. "Sit down."
Becky took back her seat at the solid black table, resting her lower-grade science textbook down in front of her. She really hoped the normally jovial scientist before her had no intentions of chewing her out. Hank rarely ever raised his voice, let alone at her.
For a lightning fast moment, the dark haired girl entertained the idea of going into his mind to see what he was really thinking about her present poor class performance. Did he think she was just stupid? Was he ready to drop her as his almost close-enough little sister? She refused to go through with it, though. Hank always tried to be kind and honest with her so snooping around his head was no way to repay that. Besides, probing took a lot of effort and the child really was in no mood for temple throbbing.
"So," Hank spoke, getting the girl's eyes fully on him, "this first part I'm saying as your older brother. I know how good a student you are. I know-" He stopped to clear his throat a bit, judging his words with careful precision. "Things are different now," Hank mentally awarded himself for Understatement of the Year, "but you're still that incredibly smart kid I know and seeing you fall behind worries me. So for my sanity, just pull me from whatever I'm working on if you ever need help. Okay?"
"Okay," Becky agreed, feeling some relief come over her.
Wrinkling his brow in a sterner gaze, Hank went on with, "Now, as your instructor, if this keeps up, you will be staying behind after class doing makeup assignments.
"Okay," she repeated in a less enthusiastic tone of voice. "Hank, do you think I could maybe turn in last night's homework with tomorrow's homework?"
"You'd better," he replied, giving her that familiar smile again.
Taking hold of her book, Becky said, "Thanks, Big Bear."
"Hey, anything for you."
Becky shot him a grateful grin before standing and leaving out.
IIIIIII
Frank helped attach Sean's makeshift wings to the sleeves of the older boy's training outfit. The two stood together on top of the enormous satellite dish, just a short ways away from the mansion. Personally, Frank thought the gray sweat clothes combined with the yellow and black faux-wings looked ridiculous beyond all reason. He could not imagine having to wear such a thing but his buddy Sean managed to pull it off.
Gazing out over the edge for a moment, both boys got a good view of their very green surroundings. Frank had not been a part of the household when Sean took his very first flight but he loved hearing about it.
The duo was soon joined by Erik, who always attended any training involving Sean. If the young Banshee were to ever lose control, even for a moment during flight, Erik had the ability to catch him by the metallic attachments on Sean's clothes. Charles arrived last, having been late due to dealing with Joey wanting to watch the session. Charles had gently shooed him off to science lessons with Hank.
"All right, Sean," Charles began. "How are we feeling today?"
"Pretty good," Sean replied, letting out an easing breath. The whole experience still proved overwhelming at times for him.
"As well you should," Charles assured him. "Your progress has been excellent in a short amount of time. Let us see just how high you can achieve. Do watch the sun, however."
Sean said, "Don't worry. I know a little better than Icarus."
At Frank's confused expression, Charles responded, "Oh, you'll cover the Greek mythologies soon enough." He turned his attention back to Sean. "Now, go on."
Letting out another breath, Sean went out to the edge of the platform.
Let's do it, he told himself.
At the young teen's hesitation, Charles encouraged, "It's all right, Sean. You've done this all before. Today won't be any different."
"Need a little nudge do you?" Erik took a step forward.
"Keep him away from me," Sean said immediately.
Frank spread his own arms out and made a move to block Erik's path. "Better hurry, Sean. I don't know how long I can hold him."
Sean gave a smile to his ever helpful younger friend before leaping off, arms out. He screamed at a resonating level that caused a gathering of birds to take off.
Charles beamed with pride as his student went to new heights while Erik appeared pleased yet not at all surprised at Sean's abilities.
Frank looked on, feeling happy for him as he always did. Sean always exhibited such solid control over his powers. Not that Frank was without completely and utterly without control. However, he could never imagine anyone lining up to watch one of his, in his mind, pathetic light shows. He looked to Charles, unable to imagine what it felt like to not only read but control minds. Then there was Erik, who could shake the very structure they currently stood on if he wanted to. Frank often felt in awe of the mansion's two oldest members. They were incredible with their powers and so wise with it.
After Sean met up with them on the ground below, he did something rare for him and exclaimed. "That was amazing, Charles! I think I've finally mastered it."
"I think you've come miles closer. However, the flying part is not something I want you attempting without supervision for some time yet," Charles emphasized. "Understood?"
"Right," Sean replied with his usual obedience.
"Those birds didn't know what was coming at 'em, man," Frank told him. "They were so not in your league."
"You tilted your head too far back at several points," Erik informed him. "If you don't watch it, you could easily come crashing down to earth before you even realize what's happened."
Sean said, "But that's what I have you here for."
"I might not always be here to catch you," Erik reminded him.
Losing the smile he wore, Sean nodded. "I know. I'll be careful." He knew Erik meant well- at least he hoped he did- but sometimes the metallic wizard's words could bring him crashing down to earth faster than anything.
"Come along, Sean," Charles instructed. "I want to test your resonance out against the lake."
While the older men went ahead, Frank said to Sean, "Erik nitpicks more than my uncle. I thought you looked great."
"Looks can be deceiving, Frank," Sean reminded him. "They're only trying to watch out for us."
"How do you and Hank always manage to sound grown-up?" Frank wanted to know.
Sean indicated the adults ahead of them. "Spending enough time with those two will turn anyone old," he whispered.
The boys shared a laugh before quickening their pace to the lake.
IIIIIII
Sometime after dinner ended, Joey laid out on the plush carpet of his bedroom with his math sheets, one page science assignment compliments of Hank, and the dreaded spelling. Somewhere between the words graft and craft, Joey grew greatly frustrated, which caused the lights over his head to flicker.
Alex appeared in his doorway in a few seconds. "Hey, Eel boy, you mind laying off the electric? Trying to read." He indicated the auto magazine in his left hand.
"Sorry, Al." Joey groaned then erased furiously.
The teenager came in fully. "Whatcha working on?" He squatted down by him on the floor.
"Math and science," Joey replied then slammed the eraser end of his pencil down on the paper in front of him. "And yuck, spelling. I have to write all the words ten times each."
"How many words are on your new list?"
"Fifteen."
"Ooh," Alex winced on behalf of the small child. "Were you bad?"
"No," Joey answered matter-of-factly. "Charles says it'll help me remember. But it makes my hand hurt more." He held out his rather limp right hand in demonstration.
Alex took it, offering a gentle massage. "Poor little man. Make it easy on yourself. Write half. Then if Charles asks why, just give him this look like," he showed off a full puppy dog face, "and he'll give you a cookie or something."
Joey laughed, rolling over onto his back. "I wish that would really work. I'd never do homework again."
"That was always my elementary school motto." Alex gave the boy's stomach a small tap with his magazine. "Seriously, though, come on. Take a break from the wordiness. I'll help you with your times tables."
"Okay, Al." Joey straightened up, sprouting out answers while Alex went over the rows of numbers.
When Charles came in less than an hour later, he saw the two boys transferring Joey's school supplies neatly over to the desk.
The telepath alerted them to his presence with, "Work all done for the day I take it?"
"Uh huh," Joey answered then yawned. "Finally."
"See you in the morning, kid," Alex said, tossing the shorter one's already messed hair. He gave Charles a salute on his way out.
"Night, Alex," the brown haired man said after the departing one. He eyed Joey, who was already dressed for bed. "Ready to see what our friend Arthur's gotten into now?"
"Yeah," the child replied.
Charles lifted Joey up and grabbed the novel off the nightstand with his free hand. After gathering the three of them in the bed with the covers wrapped securely around Joey, Charles removed the red velvet book mark on their latest chapter.
"Hey, Charles?" Joey spoke before the story began.
"Yes, pet?"
"If I ever did only half my homework, would you give me a cookie?" the little one asked.
Charles came back with, "Unless some sort of grave illness caused you to complete only half of your homework, absolutely not. You would receive something from me, though. Whether or not you'd enjoy it is highly doubtful."
"Oh." Joey nodded knowingly. "That's what I thought. Just making sure." He snuggled in closely under the man's arm. "Let's read now."
"Yes, let's," Charles agreed happily. Comforted by the warm presence of the small body, he began in on the latest word from young Arthur.