Human on the Team
Flights of Fancy

Kurt Wagner pulled on the cowl that covered his face. He was sitting in, of all places, an airplane. He held one cloth covered hand to his face and pondered the situation he now found himself in. He still couldn't believe that his adoptive parents had decided to send him away like that, but the monks in their village even agreed this was a good idea. Yes, him leaving was so that he could live a normal life, but the teen wasn't sure if he really could trust this Professor Xavier, let alone whether the man could fulfill his promise.

The teen glanced down at his three fingers on his left hand, carefully feeling the bible one of the monks had given to him as a going away present. The monk said something about hoping Kurt would remember that God was looking out for him, but the teen found himself doubting. It wasn't a matter of not believing in God, but instead struggled with the idea that someone as benevolent as the monks said would allow a child like himself to be blue, but never make friends.

He carefully watched as only a few people got on the flight. Of course, the time of night was one of those times people normally didn't want to fly but made it so that the teen was less likely to attract attention. For trying to live a normal life, this was certainly far from a normal experience, yet the trip to New York city would hopefully prove uneventful.

Kurt looked out the window as the flight took off. He hadn't a clue how the Professor had secured a student visa for him so fast either. The quickness of this securing of the visa had been to his adoptive parents' happiness. This only made Kurt more skeptical about whether this whole institute was real of not. He wouldn't know until he actually arrived in the states and met the professor. Rain began to pour down and tap the window. Kurt sighed and decided to get some sleep.

M

Scott Abernathy sat on a plane with Scarlett. They were flying out to Illinois for what his companion deemed a nuisance. Scarlett hadn't said much about what the mission was about though, nor where he was going to go after the fact. Scott wasn't really sure about anything anymore. He also wasn't happy that Spud had to be packed into luggage. There was no way that his friend would like that, so he had put the robotic dog into sleep mode, much in the same way one would do for a real pet.

"Scarlett, this flight is going to Rockford, Illinois. Is that where I am going to be staying?" The boy looked carefully at Scarlett, trying to read her response.

"No. We were asked to look at something first." Scarlett said, shrugging her shoulders. "Apparently someone hacked into the computer system at one of the schools. The principal thought it was terrorists."

"Not Cobra I take it," Scott whispered to Scarlett so that no one around them could hear.

"Nope." There an amused look on Scarlett's face.

Scott screwed his face in confusion. "So, what exactly is so funny about this?"

"It probably isn't a terrorist at all," Scarlett said, shrugging her shoulders and putting her hands behind her head.

"Then why are we even going. Joe specializes in terrorists." Scott was irritated.

"Because someone did hack the school accounts, Scott. And we, the two of us, until we can get situated, need to lay low of the 'terrorist' hackings. Not to mention we need to do something to keep us busy until Duke finds that place."

M

Mystique was miffed with Todd. She had been telling the boy to take out the trash since he had gotten there. The problem was, he had yet to do so and the place was beginning to smell like the boy. Flies were also everywhere. She sat in the kitchen, covering her face. It was then the Toad jumped, or more of hopped, into the kitchen. She shook her head.

"What did I tell you about taking out the trash?" She asked him. He looked at her with a stunned look on her face.

"I was getting some cash," Todd stated. Her eyes narrowed at him.

"I thought I specifically told you no stealing. I won't be able to bust you out every time you mess up like this." She snapped. "Back on topic. The trash!"

"Ah, boss lady!" Todd waggled a finger at her. "You obviously don't get what is so good about leaving trash!"

"That it leaves such a perfume that it overpowers everything else." Mystique said sarcastically.

However, Todd thought she was being serious and continued. "Not just the perfume boss lady! The flies are a big deal of it too! I mean, look at all those flies!"

"I am looking at all the flies Toad. Explain to me why that is a good thing?"

"Ode to the fly, the fly has beautiful eyes! Thousands of them to be exact, looking like a jewel, a bedazzling jewel. The wings are like delicate gossamer that might be torn in the smallest breeze, yet they are able to fly for long periods of time. The body is made of just the right shapes, spherical, nice, round and plump. The tongue stretches out in a curl like a Siamese cat's tail."

Mystique groaned. "Why Toad, are you telling me everything that makes a fly look good to you?"

"Ahh, I guess you already knew all that stuff, huh boss lady?" Todd jumped into one of the chairs. "But you know the best part. The best part is how the fly tastes, it is a major delicacy. Have you tried it?"

"No, I have not! Are you telling me that the reason you left the trash is because of you wanting to eat flies?" Mystique snapped at him.

"Duh, yeah!" Todd looked at her like she was crazy. She gave him the same look back.

"Normal people don't eat flies Toad. They do not like this kind of smell. I want it out of the house now!" Mystique yelled at him.

"Your loss lady!" Todd yelled, obviously miffed at having to get rid of the delightful smell and food source. "I was going to share them with you too!"

He grabbed the bags and began to haul them out. His tongue shot out and grabbed one of the flies. He went out the back door, then stuck his head back in. "By the way, my liking to eat bugs, it is part of my mutation. Get used to it."

"And you get used to bugs not being allowed in the house!" Mystique snapped. Todd slammed the door. "Uughh. Well, at least I know that I will never have to call an exterminator… unless the bugs are poisonous. Maybe I'll just let him eat them and then watch him squirm in pain. Yes, I think I'll do that. I won't bother to look up whether or not they are poisonous or not. I'll wait to find out.