Ok, I'm gonna let you guys just read today, but let me just say…I HAVE THIS ALL WORKED OUT IN MY HEAD! It took a long time…but I've finally got it! I know what's going to happen with Xandra and Vanessa and her brother. Oh, and if you're wondering about Sanders and Erik and what Sanders wants with Vanessa's brother…I've got that too! Keep reading everybody! Love you all!
-E.H.
(Also, the X-Men aren't mine. If they were, I wouldn't be writing FANfiction!)
Alex, Sean, and Hank followed Xandra's directions exactly and reached room 121. The door was slightly ajar and Alex looked at the others. They both nodded and he hesitantly knocked on the door. There was silence on the other side.
"Hey, anyone in there?" Alex tried. Still nothing. He shrugged at Hank and Sean. "Ok, we're coming in…" He said and slowly pushed the door open. The room inside looked like a murder scene…which it was. There was a man dead on the ground.
Looking around, the three mutants found two young kids in the center of the room. There was a boy with scales and sharp white teeth kneeling by the body of a girl. She was covered in frost, frozen blood coagulated around a place on her right side. The boy appeared to not know they were there, he didn't look up when they entered and he didn't move from the girl's side.
"Andrew?" Asked Hank, remembering what Xandra had said. At his name the boy slowly looked up, his bright eyes meeting Hank's.
"How do you know my name?" Andy hissed. Hank could hardly understand him, his voice was so reptilian.
"Um…We…Uh…" Now there was a question. Sean jumped in, changing the subject.
"We're friends…We came to help you." He didn't realize the situation they had run in on and Andy didn't take their friendship as well as they had hoped. He looked back at his companion.
"Well, you're a little late. Someone already offered." Alex, Sean, and Hank exchanged glances and Hank frowned, his blue lips curving over his large teeth. He took a few tentative steps toward the two teenagers and kneeled beside Andy. He didn't move. Hank reached out a hand to Vanessa's face and with a lightning movement Andy had shoved him hard in the chest, pushing Hank away from her. Hank roared in frustration but when he saw Andy's terrified face, he calmed down.
"It's alright…I'm a scientist. I might be able to help her." Andy didn't look convinced, eyeing his clawed hands with raised eyebrows. "Really." Hank added. Andy looked at him for a moment distrustfully, but after a second's hesitation he scooted aside enough for Hank to see Vanessa.
"Help her." He hissed quietly, then added, "She's my best friend." Hank nodded and set to work examining Vanessa's wound. It was a gunshot that had gone straight through her right side, just to the right of her navel. It had been a powerful handgun as the bullet was small and compact. It had thankfully missed most of the major organs but had severed at least one major artery and had clearly been bleeding heavily, but now the blood was frozen almost solid, like some sort of iron-red slushy. The girl herself was almost frozen as well, frost collecting over her face and arms made her look like a white statue. He would have thought she was dead had he not felt her slow pulse in her wrist and neck.
"She's alive, but not doing so well." Hank reported, stepping back and letting Andy regain his hold on Vanessa's hand. He turned to Alex and Sean. "We should get her back to the mansion." He walked over to them and whispered, "If she doesn't get help soon she could die." Quietly so as not to alarm Andy, but he overheard them.
"You can help her there?" He asked, the desperation clear in his face. Sean nodded.
"I recon we've got the supplies to fix her up." Alex and Hank nodded and Andy frowned.
"Are you working with Magneto?" There was a pause.
"No." Hank said shaking his head. "If anything we're against him."
"He betrayed us." Alex added. This seemed to comfort Andy. She gently laid down Vanessa's hand and stood up, wiping his bloody hands on his jeans.
"Ok, I'm with you." He looked down at his friend. "And so is Vanessa." Alex smiled and stepped forward. He offered a hand to Andy.
"Hey man, nice choice. I'm Alex by the way. You can call me Havoc though. This is Sean, or Banshee, and that's Hank…Beast." And gave a half smile. These guys put him more at ease.
"I'm Andy, aka…Andy. And that's Vanessa." Hank walked over to the girl and gently picked her up in his blue-furred arms.
"Nice to meet you Andy." He said as he carried Vanessa toward the door. Andy and Alex followed him, Sean walking along with Andy.
"Hey, nice to finally see a new face." He said with a friendly pat on the shoulder. As they walked, Andy kept a protective eye on Vanessa, though as he talked to the three men his trust in them grew.
"So, are you two mutants too?" He asked, nodding to Alex and Sean. Sean laughed.
"Cover your ears." He said. Andy watched as the red-head took a deep breath and whistled at the glass window of a door. Suddenly the window shattered spectacularly, sending a shower of glass into the hall. Andy jumped back with a shout and then laughed.
"Whoa!" He exclaimed, greatly impressed. He turned to Alex. "How 'bout you?" Alex hesitated.
"You know what, once we get to the mansion I'll show you, ok? It's not really an inside deal."
"Sure…" Andy said, puzzled. "So what's this mansion? Where is it?"
"It's where we live. It's like a school for mutants. It's called the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters." Answered Alex.
"A school?" Asked Andy. He was sure he'd have heard of it if there was a school exclusively for mutants, especially one in New York.
"Well, sort of…" Alex said with a frown. "We don't really have that many students yet, and so far I think we have…let me see here…yeah, one teacher. We're sort of new on the education front."
"One teacher? What's his name?" The three mutants with him looked at each other and Andy wasn't sure why.
"Charles Xavier, but students call him Professor X." Hank said, looking over his shoulder at Andy. "He's a really great guy, but I think he takes some getting used to. He's a bit…well…" The blue man seemed lost for words. He faced forward again and gently shifted Vanessa's weight to the other side as the group reached the door to the main lobby. Alex held the door open for everyone and Sean picked up where Hank had left off.
"He can read people's minds." At this Andy stared incredulously at the three of them.
"Are you screwing with me? A mutation can do that?" He exclaimed. Alex laughed.
"You'd be surprised…" Andy shook his head and muttered to himself, something about having an off day. The others led the way to the elevator.
"Wow, that kind 'a puts me into perspective. My mutation is pretty boring now that I think about it." He said quietly and Sean gave him a friendly smile.
"Come on, scales are pretty cool looking."
"Really?"
"Yeah! Any that voice of yours is neat too. I bet the ladies love you!" He nudged him with his elbow and laughed, but Andy looked at the floor, embarrassed, as the elevator door opened. "What? They don't?" Sean said, following him into the small space. The doors closed behind them and in the close quarters everyone was pressed against one another.
"Not really." Said Andy tersely, suddenly trying to hide the faint black eye he had received a few days before. There were a few seconds of silence and the elevator beeped at the second and third floors and opened. "Ow…" Andy murmured in the bright white light of the hall. He others piled out and he followed, glancing at Vanessa, still unconscious and frosty in Hanks arms.
The group started down the hall, but Andy was still a little blinded by the bright lights. As his eyesight returned he let out an involuntary blue-streak. The hallway was filled with broken and bent metal doors and bodies. They were mutants. He could tell as some of them were visibly different, one had fur, another was a dull shade of green, much like the color of his own scales. They had all been killed just outside of their cells, and as they continued to walk, he realized that there were more of them inside some of the cells. He was thankful to see that the majority of the small chambers were empty. Had these mutants been saved?
"What happened?" He managed to get. He nearly lost his lunch as his shoe bumped the body of a teenage boy half hidden under a fallen metal door. It was several seconds before anyone answered him.
"You met Magneto, didn't you?" Hank said, breaking the silence.
"Yes."
"Well now you know why he was here." Andy suddenly wished he had a more dangerous mutation. At least then he could have killed Magneto before he could kill all of these mutants.
"Hey, there's the Prof." Said Alex, trying to disperse the grim mood of the group. Around a corner came the sound of footsteps and wheels on tile. Charles and Xandra were slowly making their way down the hall, Xavier having difficulty maneuvering his chair around the crushed doors and bodies. As he came closer it became clear that he too was ready to lose his lunch at the scene in the hall, but his face showed more anger and sadness than disgust. He looked up as Hank called his name and stopped, waiting for the others to reach him.
"So this is Andy and Vanessa?" He asked, giving Andy a faint smile and letting his blue eyes drift over Vanessa, still out cold in Hank's arms. Andy nodded and stepped forward.
"Are you Professor Xavier?"
"Yes." The man answered. He had a British accent and was a little awkward to speak to, his wheelchair putting him at Andy's chest-height. He didn't look old enough to be a professor of anything. Andy looked over his shoulder at Vanessa and back to Xavier.
"Professor, she's really hurt. Can you help her? I don't know what's wrong with her…" The Professor nodded.
"Andrew Clarkson, I assure you that your friend will be given the best care our school can provide." His words were sincere, and Andy immediately trusted him. For a guy that looked no older than 30, he talked like a wise old man.
"Ok." Said Andy with a half-smile. "Where do I sign up?"
"For what?" Asked Alex, stepping forward.
"For this school. I want to be a part of this, if you'll take me…us." He corrected, thinking of Vanessa.
"Well, I think we have some spare rooms…don't we gentlemen?" Xavier said, looking past Andy at Alex, Sean, and Hank. They all nodded.
"Welcome to the team, man!" Said Sean, making Andy jump as he gave a loud hoot and punched him in the shoulder.