And finally, the last part in the return quest of the two main characters can end. We finally get to see some serious full blown martial arts action in the coming chapter, from the start of the fight till the end of it. I have missed doing this kind of writing so it has been blissful for me to do. Not to mention I have missed playing around with the abilities of my favorite mutant characters.
And here we go!
The Welcome Home: Part 4: Back to the Mansion
Scott Summers was having a good day. He had gotten all his assignments in for the day, no homework had been handed to them, a new Danger Room session was going to implemented today and he and Jean had arranged for a date this coming Saturday. And it was a Thursday too, so Friday was just around the bend and the weekend would be here soon.
Hell, it had been a great day when he heard that some new kid stood up to Duncan Mathews and put him down a peg or two. Finally some kid had taken action against that obnoxious jock.
As the sunglass wearer made his way out of the school, he waved to Kurt and Kitty as they left their classes too. He may have had some reservations about the younger girl dating Lance Alvers, the leader of the Brotherhood, but he was getting over it. Mind you, Kurt's situation was pretty bad still.
"Hey you two, you guys going to catch a lift back with me?" Scott offered, finding the role of the older brother quiet enjoyable.
"Ja, I just need to have a word with Amanda before I head home." The young German said anxiously. "We kind of want to have a date this Saturday but we need to make sure her father doesn't suspect a thing."
"Man, it's got to be so hard sneaking around like that." Scott mused and then smirked at Kitty. "Mayeb you could give him some tips, eh Kitty?"
"Ugh, Scott, you can be such a dick sometimes." Kitty huffed, crossing her arms. "We haven't had an attack from the Brotherhood in a month and you still harp on Lance like he's goanna explode into a raving lunatic."
"How is this different from his normal behavior?" Kurt asked teasingly, but it was taken the wrong way….as usual. "It's not like he's going to win boyfriend of the year."
"At least he's making a better effort than either of you ever have!" Kitty snapped as she stormed over to the vehicle that was unmistakable Lance's, leaving both of the X-Men standing there.
It was an unspoken but well known piece of knowledge that out of the three, Lance did have more courage when it came to girls. He also had a better track of making his relationships work, reason why he and Kitty were still seeing each other. Scott had waited until he was nearly dying to actually admit his feeling for Jean and Kurt had lost out on Kitty and Tabitha before Amanda made the first move for their relationship.
It was a large blow to their egos, especially since that Lance was a villain and he was just coercing Kitty into joining the Brotherhood. But there were times when they actually thought that he could be a decent guy, although he often screwed that up. It was almost as bad as X23 going out with Toad.
Now that had been a ringer that no one saw coming. How the clone of the worlds deadliest killer and one of the hottest girls to enter the mansion have been seduced by someone as vile as that foul smelling, swamp punk? She could have done so much better but in the end she had even gone off to China with him, just on whim! She probably would have gone to the moon with him had he even suggested the idea.
The whole Brotherhood was just bad news in general.
"Man, why do I always say stupid things?" Kurt asked rhetorically as his shoulders slumped.
"Don't worry too much about." Scott assured him with a sturdy pat on the back. "I'm sure things will smooth out between you two."
"Ja, I guess so." Kurt said unenthusiastically as he slouched ahead with Scott.
"At least cheer up a little, man. You don't want your girl to see you like this do you?" Scott reminded him with a ruffle of his hair.
That did bring a smile to his face and the shorter mutant smiled at his surrogate big brother. Maybe things would mellow a bit more and maybe their teammates would come back to their senses, then everything could be normal then.
……well, as normal as possible for a house full of mutants.
"Hey Scott." Jean greeted pleasantly as she and Rogue met up with her boyfriend. "How was Chemistry?"
"Boring as ever, at least when Dr. McCoy isn't teaching it." Scott answered before giving Jean a kiss and then turning to Rogue. "Hey Rogue, you need a lift or is Sean going to come and get you?"
"I'm goanna hitch a ride with you guys, if that's cool." The Sothern belle said, smiling contentedly. "Sean said he was going to meet me today at the mansion."
"I still can't believe he actually asked you out, after flirting with you for nearly three months." Jean said in disbelief, missing the irked expression on the Goth's face. "Why did he wait so long anyway?"
"Sean likes to take things slowly, that's all." Rogue said offhandedly. "He felt that we should get to know each other before we do anything."
"Hmm, well, its nice that he was thinking like that considering he's…." Jean stopped as she looked around. "Hey do you guys hear that? Sounds like someone is….singing?
"I love it when you call me big pop-pa; throw your hands in the air, if you'se a true player…" The voice that carried those rap lyrics just stopped those that were gathered around Scott's car, everyone looking to see who it was that was singing. "I love it when you call me big pop-pa; if you got a gun up in your waist please don't shoot up the place. Cause I see some ladies tonight who should be havin' my baby; bay-bee."
The X-Men were confused as who could singing the rap lyrics in such a familiar tone but it didn't take them long to see who. The people responsible for the ruckus were strolling down the paved walkway and their actions were far from what would be normally accepted.
Rahne was leading the pack of kids, her hands sliding into her hair from her neck and she swayed her hips in the most provocative manner. Her face was glowing with her bright smile, her emerald glinting as she looked to her human friend, Tiffany Painter. The girl had been a huge help with helping her adjust to high school life and along with her friends, Tiffany had eased Rahne out of her shy shell. Which was apparent as the two girls connected hips and began to sway in sync with each other.
Her other human friends, Erica Parson and Preston Boswell, were also in the group of the people, the couple swaying romantically as they followed their friends. The jock spun his girl out in a mock example of ballroom dancing and the blushing young woman gave a lady-like curtsy. The three normal kids hadn't been to the mansion yet and while Xavier was a little unsure, Scott felt that they would fit right in with the others. Tiffany was the most vocal and brash of the three, while Erica was most sensitive and Preston merely observed it all. He was a nice change from normal jocks, since he kept his opinions to himself and chose to get to know everyone before making any rash judgments.
And there were the ringleaders of the parade, Toad and X23.
Jean felt her brain halt, Scott nearly let his glasses slide from his face and Rogue actually felt a large smile come over her face. They all looked at each other to make sure if it was true, but there was no doubt about it. There, in the middle of the whole mess and grinding up on each other, was none other than Laura Logan and the ex-Brotherhood member, Toad. The two were pressed up to each other, not even a piece of paper could have slid between their hips. Her hand lazed over his shoulder while he let his glide along her hips, their forehead resting close together. The clone was about to kiss her green boyfriend when she stopped and she pulled back to smell the air, her shoulders slumping.
Whatever she whispered to Toad, it made the amphibious mutant laugh and with one last roll of his hips he broke away from her. They said their goodbyes to the three normal people and the three mutants headed over the red convertible. The gathered X-Men smiled, some forced and others genuine as the approached the gathered mutants.
"Yo, X-Geeks, what's happening?" Todd asked, quickly shaking his hands. "I'm kidding, man."
"You better be, ya dopey frog." Rogue said in a teasing tone, before she received her carefully placed hug from him. "How ya been, sugar?"
"It's been good, but I'm damn happy to be home." Todd assured her as he pulled back and then held his hand over to Scott and Jean. "Yo, Summers, Jeanie, how's it hanging with the two love birds?"
"We're doing well, Todd. I take it China was fun?" Jean asked as she forced back her flinch as she shook his hand and was surprised by the callous, firm grip, X23 collecting her hug from Rogue.
"Heh, yeah, we learnt a lot up there and man, I feel like a new person after all that." Todd said, letting her go and shaking Scott's hand.
"Well, it's nice that you back anyways." Scott said, feeling his skin tingle as he heard the car door open.
"Hey Scott, I thought I saw…" Kurt then looked at Todd and jumped as the green teenager waved at him. "Mein Gott, it's true."
"Hey Blue Boy, how's it hanging?" Todd said as he looked over the car, looking unusually happy to see his rival.
Kurt was about to go around when the amphibious mutant vaulted over the open roof car. The young German held his hand out reluctantly, but was surprised when his rival gave him a warm hug. This not only shell shocked the younger man but the others around him, Todd patting him on the shoulder as broke away.
"Wow, Toad seems…" Scott was unable to finish that sentence but fortunately, someone else did.
"Todd seems like he grew up? More mature?" X23 offered and the two senior X-Men leaders nodded, the clone shrugging. "He had to grow up a lot while we were in China, not everything was as nice as we made it out to be."
"What do you mean?" Jean asked and X23 shook her head, her smile still strong.
"This is neither the time nor the place to discuss such things." She then brightened her smile and shrugged. "We're just happy to be home."
Todd happily listened to the X-Men as they filled him in about everything that had happened over the year that they had been gone. Some stuff was good new and other stuff wasn't reassuring him at all, something he noticed when he glanced at X23.
One thing was the Brotherhood; their new recruit, Meltdown, was way too over the top and unschooled with his abilities, to the point that SHIELD had to set up a field office in the Bayville area. Todd was suspicious that it had been there longer and that it was there for more than just that, but he kept that opinion to himself. Then there was the news that Apocalypse had paid the mansion a visit, that Caleb Ira, a man who had saved Todd more than once, had fought a major anti-mutant organization called the New Dawn and finally there was the news that Magento was gathering mutants.
Todd was really worried by everything that he was hearing, all for the same reason more or less. It just felt that the world was brimming over with the hate that he was used to being isolated in Bayville. But now that mutants were popping up everywhere, it was becoming a major thing and the discriminations was just replicating everywhere.
But there was some good new for the green mutant; he was happy to hear that Pietro had managed to get his leg all fixed up, there were a couple new kids at the mansion, some of the younger mutants were taking the Capoeira classes Otero offered and he was immensely happy that Lance and Kitty were still dating. It annoyed some of the others, but hey, Todd was romantic and so he was happy.
"So the missions have been going easy then?" X23 asked, seated contently on Todd's lap.
"Yeah, the team is better than ever and we really have got the teamwork down to a science." Scott said happily, his eagerness at talking about something he understood amusing to the others. "Logan has been a big help."
"Well, fighting is something old Wolvie knows best, yo." Todd snickered as Rahne laughed with him, yelping when X23 elbowed him. "What, he is!"
"Ugh, you are too cute for your own good at times…." She grumbled, thinly smiling when Todd gave his hug a squeeze. "Maybe not…"
"And we're home!" Kurt said thankfully, the blue mutant slightly freaked out by the mannerisms of the two.
As the car pulled up at the steps and people piled out, Todd took this time to pull Kurt over. The young German was shocked to see the concerned look on his rival's face and even more when he looked around, Todd lowering his voice.
"Hey Blue Boy, you and that Amanda chick are still cool, right?" Todd's question completely blew him out of the water. "I was wondering considering it's my fault her parents dislike you so much, yo."
"Ja….ja, we're still dating. Thanks for asking." Kurt said in a completely surreal moment, before give him a questioning look. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, I never really got a chance to apologize for what I did and since having X with me, yo…" Todd went silent and smiled as he shrugged, joking punching Kurt in the arm. "I guess I understand how my actions affected you now, so I'm sorry. Hey, better late than never, yo."
Kurt stood there in shock for a moment and watched as Todd joined his girlfriend, wondering just what had happened to them during their year in China.
X23 smiled as she saw Logan exit the front door and ran up to hug him, the gruff Canadian returning the hug proudly. She had really missed Logan during her trip overseas and while she may have called for some advice once or twice, X23 never felt it was the same. But it did show how much he trust he had in Todd for him not to insist on going with them or to have them spied on.
"Oh, I'm so glad to be home." X23 said pleasantly, she heard Todd come to a stop behind them and she eased away from her dad. "I missed you, Dad."
The older, much older, man was nearly the exact same and probably dressed in the exact same clothes as when they had left, his white shirt and jeans looking none the worse. His dark brown eyes glistened like a hungry predators and his teeth looked that should have belong to a wolf with the smirk he gave them.
X23 knew that Todd wasn't exactly comfortable around her father but when she heard his reasons why, she could understand. Having a merciless killer come after you wasn't an image to leave your mind anytime soon, but he was better now. She smiled as she sensed her boyfriend stand proud and tall next to her, a glance telling her that Todd was even looking him in the face this time.
"I missed you too, kid. It was kind of boring without any decent challenge in the Danger Room." Logan gruffly said before he looked as Todd. "Hey tree-frog, how've you been? Thanks for looking after Laura while you two were away."
"Hey, I'm pretty sure she looked after me more than I did for her." Todd said, grinning sheepishly. "But yeah, it was a total blast over there in China."
"Are you dealing better with…that accident?" Logan asked, the vagueness confusing those that walked by but it was well enough understood by those that understood. "You coping well enough?"
"Yeah, I'm good. You know all about the bad, so you know how it is." Todd said, his gaze dropping a bit before he gave Logan a broad smile. "Thanks for all the advice that you gave me and not saying anything to anyone, it really helped."
"Hey, it's a tough thing to deal with and I'm glad you managed as well as you have." Logan said and, to the surprised of everyone, the man gave the teenager a hug. "I may regret saying this later on, but it's nice to have you back."
X23 could see that what Logan said meant a lot to Todd, tears pricking up from the corners of his eyes and he smiled wider to keep them from overflowing. He had been through a tough time in China but thanks to Logan's help, Todd had been able to strive back his normal self.
"Ha, it's nice to be back, Logan." Todd said happily.
"Alright, don't get too fucking weepy eyed on me, bub." Logan said smacking the boy on the side of his arm before jerking his thumb at the door. "Get your ass in the door already."
The two left their bags by the stairwell and walked through the various rooms on the mezzanine level, the mansion feeling a hotel after they had been away so long. Todd and X23 were about to go and look for Scott when a door opened to the side of them. As the two travelers cast their gazes towards the sound of the opening door, they were welcomed with the happy face of Jamie Mardox.
Todd smiled brightly and wrapped the younger boy up in a hug as he rushed at the amphibious mutant, chuckling at the new height of the boy. X23 could see that Jamie was now just a shade taller than Todd was, possibly an inch taller at most. She could also see that his face was much more defined than when they last saw him and she guessed that he had stuck with the Capoeira training.
"Hey kid, how have you been?" Todd asked as he looked over the kid and patted his chest. "Hey, hey, looks like someone has been keeping with the training, yo."
"Of course, it's been a blast, Todd!" Jamie said excitedly, eagerly hoping from foot to foot. "I've learnt so much this past year but I really missed the classes that you gave me."
"I missed teaching too but it was nice to be a student for this past year, kind of cleansing really." Todd assured him, rolling his shoulders and grinning mischievously. "That said, I got some sweet aerials to teach you that I got to learn in China."
"Awesome! That would be so sweet! Oh, before I forget…"
Todd was confused as the boy pulled a silver chain from around his neck but X23 knew what it was, smiling softly. And out from his collar the St. Lucy pendant popped out, Todd's face becoming soft as Jamie removed it from his head and handed it to Todd. The green teenager rubbed his finger over the worn but well loved image, sliding it over his head.
And X23 could see that it seemed to bring a sense of calm to Todd, his shoulders dropping a little bit as the chain came to rest on his own skin. The clone chuckled as Todd wrapped an arm around Jamie's neck affectionately, the three walking down the hallway again. As they entered the largest living room, X23 saw something that made her brain do a double take.
She saw Rogue, the girl that was unable to touch anyone because it would kill them or put them into a coma, was making out with a guy. Her arm flew out and clamped onto Todd's forearm, bringing his attention to the scene she was looking at, poor Jamie looking as lost as ever.
"What's…Oh, it's just Sean." He said in a relaxed tone, making both of them jerk over towards the young man.
"What do you mean, it's just Sean?" Todd asked, his shock plastered over his face. "When did this happen and how can he…?"
"Touch her? Sean has a really powerful invulnerability to harm, something like an immunity to harm, and that cancelled out her power." Jamie explained. "He should up a couple of months after you two left."
"So he doesn't feel any sort of pain what so ever?" X23 asked in disbelief, watching as the other rolled over on the couch. "I've never heard of such a power before."
"Dr. McCoy and the Professor think that he might be some sort of super mutant, a rare kind of mutant whose powers start out higher that others."
"Hmm, sounds cool." Todd said before his face softened, taking X23's hand and putting an arm around Jamie's shoulders. "Come on, yo. Let's leave them be."
X23 was about to say something but she understood why he was doing this, leaning her head on his arm. Rogue was one of the few people that actually support the two as a couple and so they showed the same respect that they would wish to receive. She understood how had it been to find time to have privacy with the one you loved and that was obviously what they wanted right now.
As they walked down the hall, Todd and X23 waved to some of the other kids in the mansion but they generally didn't see many people. Deciding that they should go say hit to the Professor, Jamie lead them to the new study that the older man was using. Apparently, he needed some renovations to be done and was located on a different floor. They managed to walk in as Scott and Jean were leaving.
"Hey you guys, is the Professor in there?" X23 asked chirpily.
"Yeah and he's been expecting you both." Jean said pleasantly, side stepping to let the two in the room.
"Hey Wheels, how has your day been, yo?" Todd asked loudly, causing Scott and Jean to pale. Jamie tried to hide his laughter and X23 rolled her eyes with a tired sigh.
"You really need to know when to show respect to your elders, Todd…" X23 said in mild annoyance.
"But then I wouldn't be me." Todd said as the doors closed.
"Too true, Mr. Tolansky. Besides, I quite like the familiarity with him, Laura. I don't feel so old when he addresses me like he would his other friends." Xavier assured her as the three sat down.
"So, what's been happening here at the good, old X-Mansion?" Todd asked, resting his foot on his knee.
"We heard about the new kids that Magneto has gotten together, but who are this New Dawn people?" X23 added.
"Well, we may not have had a great deal of new students here, but everyone has been growing in their skills and it has been a good year for them." Xavier assured him before turning to the clone, his tone becoming grave. "As for the New Dawn, they are a group of meta-humans that are actually targeting anti-mutant and pro-mutant demonstrations collectively."
"They target pro-mutant and anti-movements equally? That doesn't make any sense…" Todd trailed off as he stared out the window, but suddenly jerked. "Wait, meta-humans, yo?"
"Yes, humans that are not born with the X gene, but are further advanced that what we would call a normal person. They are often stronger, faster reflexes and so forth but still weaker than that of a mutants." Xavier explained patiently. "They are quiet the adversaries."
"I can imagine. And they wouldn't be spotted by any gene scanner either." X23 said as she sat back in her chair. "Hmm, sounds like a time bomb."
"Indeed. They believe that they are a perfect blend of humans and mutants but so far their attempts to have children have failed, making a small group of them extremely hostile." Xavier explained, touching his lips in a gesture to remember. "I believe that they made a strike in China at some point…"
"Against GenCo., the pharmaceutical place that came out of England?" X23 questioned swiftly and leaned back when the older man nodded. "We saw that, less than a block from us while we were in the city. Such a pathetic way to ruin the day."
"We ended up helping evacuate people from the building, given our powers and then had to split with the rest of the students, yo." Todd explained for X23. "Not a happy day…"
"Well, I'm sorry to say that it does look like we might need your fight expertise sooner than we hoped."
"Not a problem, Wheels. I just can't wait for my equipment to pass through customs, yo." Todd said excitedly. "Master Sho and Master Huang insisted upon giving me a farewell gift and I liked them a lot, so I had to have them shipped here."
"You couldn't take them on the plane?" Jamie asked curiously.
"No, you aren't allowed to take live blades on the plane." Todd explained casually. "And since they gave me a few weapons that would raise some annoying questions, mailing it just seemed all the better, yo."
"Weapons?" Xavier asked warily, which totally flew over the amphibious teenagers head, and gave X23 a worried look. "May I ask how many?"
"Three swords, one spear, one chain and a pair of sickles; the masters gave him the weapons that he excelled at in class because they didn't want him to loose his edge." X23 explained patiently. "I'll make sure he doesn't use them in the Danger Room."
This comment made Todd look completely offended but Xavier could tell that it was just a ruse. The young man understood the truth in his girlfriend's words and he was just playing around with her now. An aspect of Todd Xavier would never understand.
"Come on, I would be so careful in that room. It'd be fine." Todd argued hopefully but that stare of the clone's was adamant.
"It's the not the room I'm worried about, it's the people." She argued evenly, her eyes widening for a moment. "Oh Xavier? Did Scott what us to join them in their training for today?"
"I think he said something along the lines of that if you wished to participate, you were free too." Xavier said absently, missing the look the two shared as he lowered his head for a moment.
Children, there are some friends that have returned from abroad and Scott feels that a special Danger Room session is in order to welcome them home Xavier's mental voice called out and he then turned back to the two returning students.
"Hey X, you think we should be nice to them, or just let loose, yo?"
Jamie looked at the two and was shocked at their faces. Todd's smile was now like a smirk and his eyes seemed to glow like the fire in an oven. His short looked like it was bristling with anticipation, muscles on his forearms tightening eagerly while he just seemed to push out this raw power of some kind. If Jamie didn't know about Todd's powers, he would have guessed that the amphibious mutant gained a new power.
"Oh, I think that we could let the restraints loose for a little bit."
And X23 was even worse, because her face showed a full blown smile that glowed with her pearly white teeth. Her emerald eyes flashed with a orange tint and he could have sworn he saw her knuckle bulge for a moment. She reached up and pulled the chopstick from her hair. As the long black locks fell down her back, the clone slid the stick into her hair twisted it around. The bun this time was smaller and less intricate, a small puff of hair sticking out from the top was about the most style that was shown.
These weren't the two that Jamie knew, these were people that lived for the arts of martial combat. They were the masters of fighting for this era and for the children growing, willing to pick up the sword to defend the hordes that stood for.
"I'll go grab our bags, okay, hun?" Todd told her, kissing her cheek after she nodded and he jogged from the room.
"I take it he's been looking forward to some training?" Xavier asked and he was confused by her laugh.
"No, we're just so used to the constant martial arts training, that he's been aching to release all the energy he has been carrying all day." X23 explained, rolling her shoulders back and forth. "And to be honest, I feel the same way. We were trained by some of the most powerful people alive and with what we were taught…"
She trialed off into a fond smile and shook her head as she turned to walk away, Jamie and Xavier deeply confused.
"What?" Jamie asked, the suspense rippling under his skin as the beautiful girl looked back at him. "With what you were taught, what?"
"It's no surprise we can't help but want to explode with excellence at the first chance we get." She then left for the Danger Room, leaving the two to wonder how much they had grown in their time away.
I find it very odd that I have been writing such long chapters so early in the story and I hope that I will be able to tone it down sooner as oppose to later. Normally I get lengthy as I get closer to the end of the tale, when the conclusion requires me to explain a great deal of babbling lunacy. So this just makes me wonder how long the last few chapters will be and that makes me slightly worried.
But all the same, the story is going the way I envisioned it so I am content with all that I happening. The next chapter will start the real challenges, when I have to write the martial into the story and that should be a chore and a half. Regardless, I'm looking forward to it immensely. Please review and lemme know what you all think.
Catch you all later,
– Lin.