"WHY ARE WE AT A CHRISTIAN CAMP?" shrieked an outraged young man by the name of Pietro Maximoff. Raven just smiled and began unloading bags. "Come on. Let's get registered, kids!" She led them up to the registration office at the top of the hill, where they came face-to-face with the two most odd people they had ever seen. The girl, a brunette geek of about 25 in a red Camp Granite Hills 2010 t-shirt, beamed up at Raven. "Oh! Golly! It's Counselor Darkholme. Wow, Miss, you're like a legend around here! And these must be your sons and daughter, am I right?" The teens snickered, and Raven gave them a Look. She then turned back to the girl. "Thank you, Jai, but they're not mine by blood, only by adoption." Jai looked at her shyly. "I remember you telling me it didn't matter, that even adopted family is still family." Raven laughed. "It's good to see you again, Jai. You've really grown." She turned to the boy. "Hello, Mac."
"Hi Miss Darkholme." said the other counselor with a smile, showing off his braces. He was also around 25, a redhead in a black Granite Hills Camp Counselor shirt. He handed Lance a sheet of paper with the words Cabin 27: Brotherhood Boys and CXY. "CXY?" he asked. "Yeah, the other mutant group around here. You gals are with their female population in Pop Stand Room #3. They should arrive in half an hour… until then, make yourselves, uh, as comfortable as possible. And DON'T EAT THE TACOS." They all gave him a startled look. "Trust me." he said very seriously. They shrugged and headed off to drop their bags outside their cabins. Several people waved cheerily at them. One girl came running up to them, and Lance turned on her, saying "If you're going to tell me 'God Bless You' or some crud like that, don't even bother!" The girl looked at him oddly. "Nice shirt, man. I love The Grateful Dead." She ran off. Lance was now positively puzzled. He looked at the others, only to find them already gone. They passed by a large, elongated building on one side, and a few rocks on the other, slipped through a building labeled 'The Zone', which was filled with video game consoles and other such games, and emerged in a small courtyard, with dorm rooms all around.
"Ah! Room 27. Right over here, guys." called out Raven. The boys slung their bags off their shoulders and Victor dug for the key they'd been given, unlocking the door as quickly as possible. The walls were lined with wooden bunk beds. Each guy took a bed and slung their stuff either on or under it. Todd and Fred were on the bottom, squished in to the back corner farthest from the door, and Lance and Pietro were right above them on the top bunks. Victor had grabbed the bottom bunk next to the boys. That left a huge number of bunks still open. "Must be a lot of CXY kids." said Freddy, looking around at the empty space. "They should be arriving soon." said Raven. "Let's get the rest of us over to the pop stand." They walked out, locked up, and headed back through the Zone, turning down a tiny side path. Raven gestured to a small building that they passed. "Those are the extra showers. Most people think this restroom is for staff use only: It isn't." She gestured to the building on their left. "The pop stand. You can buy drinks, snacks, and other stuff. There's pizza on Thursdays, which is a godsend because that's Taco Night." She led them around to the back of the pop stand and up a tiny set of stairs to four small rooms. She opened Pop Stand 3 and the girls set their bags on beds. Wanda had the bottom bunk right next to the door, closest to the showers, and Tabitha was just above her. Mystique chose to bunk across the room, hanging out on the bottom bunk that was up against the wall. "Must be not that many kids coming." said Tabby, looking at the tiny room. Mystique smiled and opened a door in the wall, revealing the other room. "Pop Stand 3 and 4 are connected." she said. "There are a LOT of girls coming."
A short time later, they were all gathered in the field outside of the other girls' dorms, which was currently filled with old inflatables that smelled like generations of teenage feet. Pietro suddenly pointed wildly. "There's the last van!" he cried, and, sure enough, there was an old van with the words CXY Youth on one of the windows. They rushed down to get a glimpse of their cabinmates. Jai waved them over. "I forgot to tell you. Mutant powers are allowed here as long as things don't get too out of control. But... you may wanna keep it low-key, especially around the Methodists and stuff." They all nodded. Suddenly, from behind them, there came an outraged, "NO!" They turned to find themselves staring straight at the X-Men, in all their civilian-clothed glory. Mystique looked around at the assembled heroes and lifted a hand in greeting. "Oh. Hi." Jai looked between them. "Oh, you guys already know each other! That's wonderful, at least you'll be bunking with people you're familiar with!" The assembled teens gaped at her in horror. Actually, so did both of the men. It would seem that Xavier decided to send Wolverine in his place, and now Wolvie and Sabes would be bunking together for a week. Raven called out over the complaining mutants. "Victor and my boys can show you guys to your dorm room... and they will behave. Understood?" The boys all looked at her and nodded furiously, even throwing in a 'Yes, ma'am' for good measure. She smiled. "Girls, I can take you to the pop stand room we'll be sharing. Follow me, please!" And so, the girls trudged off, leaving their respective boys to their own devices.
The girls reached their rooms without much incident and the X-Girls picked out their bunks carefully. Most of the New Mutant girls were in the other room, but the original X-Men ladies were packed in with the Brotherhood Babes like sardines. Storm cautiously settled herself on the upper bunk of the bed Mysti was in, raising an eyebrow at the friendly smile the other dorm leader sent her. Jean settled in one of the corners with Kitty right above her, Rogue claimed the bottom bunk that cornered with Wanda's, and Rahne, saying there were no more bunks available in the connecting dorm, chucked her stuff under the bed that cornered with Mystique's. (For a picture of the layout, see my profile.) Suddenly, a knock came on the door. Jean got up and went to open it, only to be faced with three girls, one of them Jai the camp counselor. "Hey, girls! I completely forgot to tell you. There's no room left in the other cabins, so we'll be imposing upon your hospitality. You don't mind, right? Great!" She walked over and slung her duffel bag under Rogue's bed. The girls looked at each other warily. Suddenly, a loud, clanging bell was heard. "Oh, there's the dinner bell! Well, we can talk about rules and such after dinner." The girls all got up and left the popstand, sighing to each other. This was going to be a very long week. But, no matter what they did, the situation was clear: Their stay at Granite Hills had officially begun.