4

We Are The X-MEN

Mark slowly woke up from his slumber. What had just happened? Where was he? Who had saved him? All of these questions, the boy had no answers to. He looked around, he was in a high tech looking medical facility. Machines were bleeping around him, and lights were flashing, dials whirring. A voice rang out in the room from behind where he was laying.

"Nice to see you awake." Said a woman, clearly walking towards him. She came into view, looking down caringly at Mark. She had white hair, not grey, brilliant white, and she was dark skinned. "My name is Ororo Monroe, but everybody here just calls me Storm"

"Where is here?" asked Mark, sliding up to a sitting position.

"This is the Xavier Mansion."

"I've seen you on the telly, you're part of the X-MEN aren't you? I'm Mark by the way." Mark said, running his hand through his hair.

"Nice to meet you Mark. Can I ask what you were doing in those woods" she asked, doing tests on Mark to check he was all right.

"I was taken there, by the Friends of Humanity." He said.

Storm stopped what she was doing and looked at Mark with shock.

"What? I thought you knew…"

"We knew they were close, but not this close, we had no idea that's who you were fighting, the soldiers were purposefully unmarked. Kurt said he couldn't tell who they were."

"Kurt?"

"He's the one who saved you, and brought you here."

Storm carried on with her check up, and when they were done, she took him on a tour of the mansion. First she showed him the upper floors, saying it would be best to leave the sub-basement till later. The building itself was beautiful, especially the grounds. There were teens playing on the basketball court, sitting by the pool, walking together and chatting.

Inside was just like a really big home for a really big family. There was a library, a lounge, a kitchen, a study, all that sort of stuff. Storm took Mark up to the bedrooms to let him have a look at the rooms that he would be perfectly welcome to stay in. they moved down a corridor and stopped outside a door. The woman knocked on it, and soon there was a quiet 'come in' from within the room.

Storm opened the door and let Mark in.

"Mark, this is Kurt, he's the one who found you."

Sat on the bed in the far end of the room, was a boy, roughly the same age as Mark, probably a little older. He had shoulder length hair with a blue tint, and was huddled up at the head of the single bed. All this was very good, but there was something else, he was blue, with pointy ears and a tail! As soon as he saw Mark he leaped up to come over and greet him.

"Hi, I'm Kurt, Kurt Wagner, I'm glad to see your ok." He said, shaking Mark's hand. His hand was fluffy and he only had three fingers

"Pleased to meet you" said Mark, not wanting to be impolite.

"Kurt offered to share his room with you if you decide to stay." Said Storm.

"Oh, thank you." Said Mark. Surprised at how unbothered he was with the blue furry man. "I really don't have any reason not to, there's nothing left for me out there."

"What about your family? Your mum and dad must be worried." Said Kurt.

"Somehow I don't think my dad will be." Said Mark, looking up to see a puzzled complexion on Kurt's face. "Long story." He added.

"Good, so you're staying, it's always nice to see a new face." Said Storm, beginning to walk off. "Lets finish the tour then, just the sub-basement left"

Storm took Mark down in the lift to the lower floors, back to all the high tech gadgets and machinery. She walked him through the main purposes and goals of the X-MEN, she showed him the war room, the hangar, the brig. Mark was astounded by the secrecy, and the wonders of having an underground secret base under his feet. The tour ended in Cerebro, where Storm explained how they were not alone in the fight for Mutant freedom, yes some would try to stop them.

"In time Mark, maybe you could become one of the X-MEN; help us get the peace we deserve."

"I'd love to" he replied.

"Good, now let's get you moved in to your new room."

"Seeing as I haven't got any stuff, I guess I'm already done." Said Mark.

"Ahh"

Mark went to his new room without any new clothes to change into, only the simple tracksuits from the med-room. He moved over to his bed along the wall and lay down, finally being able to have time to consciously sit still in a long while.

"So then, what do you think of the place?" Asked Kurt.

"Big" muttered Mark, sighing deeply.

"You should count yourself luck, most of the X-MEN are away on a mission, even I'd find it hard to handle meeting them after what you've been through today."

Mark let his mind wander, he let the thoughts he was thinking fade from his mind as he relaxed. Then memories began to fill his mind, the prison, the FOH. He immediately opened his eyes again and sat up straight.

"You ok?" asked Kurt

"Yeah, what do you do for fun around here?"

"Um, we go into Bayville I guess. Why? Thinking of going?"

"In these clothes?" he said, looking down at himself. "You must be joking!"

"I tell you what, until you get some new clothes, you can borrow some of mine, anything you want."

"I couldn't possibly…"

"I insist!"

"Thank you…again. I only really need a top and some trousers. Any will do."

Kurt pulled out the wanted clothes and passed them to Mark. "There you go, need anything else and don't be afraid to ask."

Once Mark was dressed, Kurt pushed a button on his watch, turning his skin white and hiding his tail, and making his fingers look human. The pair of them then headed off towards the city mall. Only once they had got there did Mark realise that he did not have any money at all. Kurt tried to offer him some but he couldn't accept it. Instead he had an idea.

They both went to the Starbucks on the upper floor of the mall and Kurt ordered two cups of coffee to go. Once the girl behind the counter had made them, she passed them over to the pair. Little did she know that Mark was about to move the liquid inside the cups to make them spill. They went all over the pair of them and the girl behind the counter suddenly started to panic.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened, oh, ill pay for dry cleaning, here, ill go and get the manager."

Surely enough the Manager came and refunded the coffee's and gave more than enough money for the dry cleaning. With that, Mark and Kurt left the shop, only one of them with a slight smile on his face. They rounded a corner and Mark stopped Kurt.

"That's how you get money." He said.

"Yeah, but what about the clothes?"

Mark sighed and moved his hands over the stains. As if by magic, the coffee was sucked out of the fabric and then thrown on the floor beside them.

"Wow, that's a neat trick"

"Any liquid…" said Mark, pre-empting what Kurt was going to ask next.

Now they both had more money that what they started with and Mark had a chance to buy some of his own clothes. They went from shop to shop, looking for the right pair of jeans, and the right top. Kurt gave Mark all of his winnings, claiming that it was his idea, and he needed the money more than him.

Once the clothes were bought, Mark and Kurt set about trying to think of new scams to pull to get money. They went to the fair and won at the water shooter game, they did a couple more spill refunds in a number of café's and then they started to head back to the mansion and call it a day.

"Thanks for today Kurt, it was fun." Said Mark as they got back to their room.

Mark started to unpack the shopping he had bought as Kurt slumped on his own bed, he fuzzed back to his normal blue self and lay down.

"Damn it!" said Mark.

"What?"

"I forgot to get Boxers! I'm officially pant less!"

Kurt opened his bedside drawer and got something out and threw it to Mark. "Take these" he said.

"I cant wear your pants!" said Mark, shocked.

"Go on, you can keep them." He said with a little grin on the side of his face.

Mark looked away to hide the fact that he was turning the brightest red anyone could imagine.