(A/N: Well, folks, it's chapter twelve here to… be chapter… twelve. Yeah. I would like to dedicate this extra super long chapter to Nightcrawler's Shadow. Just know that I got your back ;D)
"School."
"Yep."
"You're joking, right?" John gave Scott the best stink-eye he could muster with only one eye. Scott sighed, seeming more than irritated. "No, John, I'm totally joking you, just forget I said anything and have a nice day."
John sighed explosively, throwing his hands in the air. "This is bullshit." He said, glaring up at Scott.
The rest of the X-Men still residing at the mansion were assembled in the rec room. "Tell meh about it." Rogue grumbled, sitting in the armchair across from them, her hand holding up her head, her legs crossed.
Morph blinked. "Well, look at it this way." A huge grin split his face- literally. His face stretched to accommodate one of those goofy cartoon grins- not the same as one of Kurt's megawatt grins, but it was the Morph grin.
"There'll be chicks there without boyfriends." Kurt chuckled. "That seems more of a bonus for YOU, than us." He said lightly.
Kitty elbowed him in the ribs with a slight giggle. "Oh? And what am I then? Wood?" Kurt laughed.
Jean interjected. "Look, guys… I know it's an unpleasant situation, but it's necessary. We have to show the world that we play by the same rules." John snorted. "Yeah, we TOTALLY play by the same rules- right down to our laser beams and teleportation." Kurt and Kitty snickered quietly, but John looked away uncomfortably as he received a withering glare from Jean. "Like it or not, we have to show that we DO play fair. Even if that means going to school."
Laura sighed exasperatedly from her spot next to John. "That is possibly the worst place to be though."
Logan groaned from his spot on the wall by the door. "Will ya stop gripin' and get over it already? Or, I could assign double the danger room sessions, and you don't HAVE to go to school."
That settled the matter so fast it was like everyone was avoiding a fate worse than death. Which everyone was.
Of course, there was still a lot of griping behind the backs of the instructors- which now counted the soon-to-be-newlyweds amongst them. The wedding had been set for the spring break, in three months. New Years was right around the corner, and the new year didn't look too promising.
Anti-mutant sentiments were rising just as fast as the mutant population was. Every day, a new mutant was born, and every day, a new hater joined the cause. There were rumblings that there was even an entire organization forming. A group called the MPC, or Mutant Population Control. Nobody liked the sound of that. Especially not Kurt. He shifted nervously in his seat on the way to school for the first time since before the mansion had been blown to toothpicks and shrapnel.
At least it's a new school. No prejudice, nobody cussing us out. He sighed in delight.
Kitty looked over at him. "Happy much fuzzy?" She said, snuggling a little closer to him for warmth, gazing out at the snow that littered the ground outside.
"Very much so. Nobody knows us here, ve vill fit in for once in a long period of hatred."
John nodded a bit, sitting behind them with Laura, on an X-Bus, a mainstream charter bus that Professor X had acquired through calling in a favor.
The driver was Wolverine, though he seemed very unhappy about it. They pulled up to a school that seemed to be built right into a skyscraper. Rogue's jaw dropped, and Kurt's eyes widened slightly. "Mein Gott… eet's ENORMOUS!"
John slapped his shoulder as he passed by. "Relax, dude, it's only on the first three floors."
Morph was right behind him, as they walked towards the front doors. Morph and John had image inducers on, John's grey skin and plate being hidden, Morph looking normal. Morph's image inducer made him appear a raven haired youth with a longish nose and a sly grin. His eyes were a light green colour.
Scott called after them as he stood in front of the bus, seeing as he had graduated he didn't need to go to school. "Remember, the Professor still had to register us as mutants, so keep yourselves in check!"
Kurt shook his head a bit, impressed with how seamlessly Morph, John, and the others slipped into the crowd. Kitty grabbed his arm. "Like, come on Fuzzy, you don't want to be late, do you?" The bell rang as if on cue, a loud, harsh grating sound.
"Be good guys, see ya later!" Jean called behind him. Rogue, Kitty and Kurt looked up at the school one last time, then heaved a collective sigh, and shouldered their packs, walking towards the towering school.
Kurt sat through three dull as dishwater (What a ridiculous american phrase… The dishwater he had seen was always soapy… not dull) classes, before P.E. came along. He was excited, because he had P.E. with John and according to the schedule they were having fencing. Kurt was an excellent swordfighter from growing up with the circus. He took great pride in it, and even had a pair of old german rapiers crossed on the wall over his had been presents from his Opa and Oma before coming to America, and they were beautiful, still in pristine condition.
He smirked a bit as he entered the gym, where the students were already suiting up. "Hey, Kurt!" John jogged over, already suited up. "Bout time, man. I've been dyin' to spar with you." Kurt grinned. "I zhink you vill regret zhat vish, mein freund."
Kurt flexed, eyeing John, who was bending his fencing sword. Around them, other kids were fooling around or fighting clutzily. John smirked behind his mask at Kurt, who smirked back.
He suddenly sprang forwards, flourishing his sword. "En Garde, mein freund!!" Kurt cried, leaping into a ferocious attack, sweeping his foil around and dancing around John's attacks.
John was obviously caught off guard, and barely managed to get his sword up in time to block the furious barrage of attacks. Kurt unleashed a destructive hail upon him, but John was good enough to block his attacks and even slip a few of his own in there. But it was like trying to touch a supermagnet with an iron rod, it was almost like the blade didn't want to touch Kurt.
Kurt's ferocious smile grew, and he pushed John back. His mind went into autopilot. Stab, block, riposte, lunge, fleche, parry, feint. John was quickly losing ground beneath Kurt's barely dodgeable attacks.
Then John flicked his blade upwards. Kurt immediately stepped in and wrenched the blade upwards, unprepared for John's hand, slamming the hilt guard of the sword into Kurt's shoulder, jerking him back, as if John had punched him with the sword's hilt.
He took a step backwards, disengaging, surprised by the technique John had used. It was more brutish than Fencing usually was, but still effective. John swept the point of his blade down, bringing the hilt up and turning to his left, his arm raising and his sword barely missing Kurt's thigh.
"A quarter turn, very impressive, John." Kurt said, panting lightly. He was dimly aware of a small crowd around them. He and John circled each other, blades pointed up like lightning rods. "I am curious though, vhere did you learn zhat guard- checking move?" He kept moving, warily staying out of reach of John's blade.
The other grinned. "Kendo." Kurt nodded. No wonder the move had seemed so brutish, it was made for a more brutish sport.
"Zhen I vonder vhere you learned to fence?" John shrugged a bit, making his equipment rustle. "I didn't. It's all kendo skills." He grinned.
"Zhat vould explain it. Unfortunately, it von't help you any longer." Kurt sprang forwards, sweeping John's sword aside with an inverted parry, using the part of the hilt not covered by his hand to knock it aside. He held his breath as he did, for it was an expanse of less than an inch, and if he misjudged and John's blade touched his hand he would be done.
He spun inwards, curling into his unfurled arm, then extending the blade, whipping it in a horizontal arc that snapped into John's wrist. John's breath caught in his throat as the hard strike knocked the blade from his hand. It clattered on the floor, and then the tip of Kurt's foil was at his throat. John raised his hands in defeat. "Ok, ok. Ya got me."
Kurt chuckled, lowering his foil. "Game."
John sighed, pulling off his headwear and shaking Kurt's hand. While they were up close to each other, Kurt whispered into his ear. "You're lucky I couldn't use mein tail… I can vield a sword with zhat, too." John paled under his inducer, and Kurt chuckled a bit. "Told you you vould regret it."
"Easy, easy, Donald! WATCH WHAT YOU'RE DOING!!" Roared a figure cloaked in darkness. "Shaw. Seriously. Shut up." A small snicker from Donald Pierce as he- more gently than before- lifted an arm that was three times his size into place on the chassis of the giant… thing. Thingy. Thing thingy thing thing thing. Thing was a funny word. Donald dropped the giant arm, and it slammed to the floor with a loud 'BOOM!'. In the shadows behind him there was an angry sigh. "You bumbling fool." He growled. Donald frowned.
He had once been a regular, if slightly mentally unhealthy, teenager. Thanks to Shaw's secret Hellfire Club and it's technological advances, he became something much more. At the cost of his freedom.
He absentmindedly rubbed the spot behind his ear where the control chip would be stored, on one of his normal bodies. But this one was different, special. He had… persuaded… the engineers to make him a body without the control chip. So as far as Shaw knew, he still had complete control. But he didn't know. And Donald intended to keep it that way.
"SOR-REE, Shaw, jeez. These things are made to fall out of the sky, after all. What about Fitzroy, wouldn't you rather bust his balls?"
Shaw sighed exasperatedly. "Fitzroy is indisposed, you idiot."
Donald snickered. "Busy puking, you mean. That's one unfortunate side effect to that teleporting device you gave him." He tutted as he lifted the arm into place. The magnetic bolts finally pulled together with a satisfying 'tchak!'.
"Wouldn't it be better just to kill him? We are trying to eliminate every mutant, not produce more of them."
Shaw narrowed his eyes. "Oh, sorry, have I been sticking my nose in where it doesn't belong again?" Donald taunted. "Yes, Shaw, I know what that device does to the user. You just want a mutant to use as an example."
Shaw turned, clasping his hands behind his back. His square spectacles glinted in the dark, making his eyes look larger than they were. "You know more than you aught to… and you'll not find out any more if you want to stay alive."
Donald smirked, mock saluting. "Yessir, sirety sir-sir sir." He leapt from the beams he had been standing to the ground almost 30 feet away, the ground cracking slightly under him. "I think I need a nice oil bath…"
John was sitting boredly on the medlab bed, feet kicked up and examining his nails. "So… why did you call me here, Mr. McCoy?"
Beast looked up with a slight smile. "I've got some wonderful news for you, Johnathan. I may have discovered a way to surgically replicate the cells and tissue structure that will recreate the-"
John waved his hands, cutting off his teacher. "Wait wait wait. The what… will… what? Biology isn't my strong suit, doc."
Beast sighed. "I may have found a way to give you vision in your right eye again." John's eye widened.
"You what? I thought the sentinoid had caused irreparable damage?" He sat forward, blinking.
Beast nodded. "That WAS true. But I may have found a concoction that- if it works- will heal your eye." John opened and closed his mouth, seeming dumbstruck.
"I um uh what?" He said faintly, feeling rather brain dead. Beast chuckled at his response. "You are aware of Logan's healing abilities." John nodded mutely. "And you are aware that Warren's blood has healing abilities, right?"
John nodded. "So, I have devised a concoction that combines the regenerative elements of the enzymes in their blood and cell tissue that, if applied properly, would heal your eye to precisely the way it was." John lifted a hand to his head.
"Would… it work for my entire head?" He said faintly.
Beast shook his head sadly. "Unfortunately I can only make enough with the materials we have for a single dose- only enough to heal your eye." John shook his head as if to clear it. "We could wait for a while if you want…" Beast started, trailing off as John stood. "Now. Let's do it now." He said.
The entire institute had gathered to had to get the Professor, and Jean, to assist him in the operation. Word had spread fast after that. The second John had gone under there was a full assortment of X-Men to watch. "Hank, are you sure this will work?" The professor inquired as he pulled his surgical mask up, Jean following suit, gloves on.
"You do recognize the risks of using more Power-8 on him, even such a small dose." Hank nodded, smiling slightly.
"Of course I do, professor. But John's cells express a surprisingly strong resistance to the warping effects of the drink."
Jean blinked a bit, quirking a brow. "Power-8? As in, the drink that caused Evan's powers to grow out of hand?" She said nervously. "You've used it on him before?!"
The professor put a hand on Jeans arm as Hank moved around busily to set up the equipment. "To save his life, yes. Sometimes, drastic measures must be taken. Please, don't mention this to the others."
Jean nodded, frowning under her mask, thinking that it was lucky the room was sound-proof. Hank bustled back over to them, with a syringe full of a translucent-brown colored liquid. Jean made a face. "That looks nasty."
Beast chuckled, pulling down his own mask. "I know, but it will help him." Jean looked down at her sleeping comrade- even if it was a drug-induced sleep- and couldn't help but wonder if this was the right way to go. Everyone at the institute loved John, whether as a brother, or more, and if this went wrong it would be a huge blow. Even Morph, recognizing the seriousness of the situation, was silent outside the sterile room.
Laura was pressed to the glass, worry glimmering in her eyes. Hank picked up a laser cutter, and slowly began to cut away the metal plating on John's forehead, over his eyebrow, just below his hairline. His skin had mostly healed in this area- but it still held an almost scorched quality to it.
"Let's do this right, now." Hank murmured, holding his scalpel over the scarred skin that covered his eye. "Jean, hold the syringe ready." Jean nodded.
The professor put the removed section of the plate gently aside, then put his fingers together and watched Hank make a delicate incision. Jean watched as Beast began to cut away at the ruined skin, and her face reflected more and more discomfort. She'd assisted the professor on surgeries before, but there hadn't been anything like this, this severe, or gross. She looked away as Hank removed the damaged tissue.
The professor put a hand on her arm. "I understand if this is too much for you." His voice, softly muted by the mask, reached her ears.
Jean shook her head. "I'm here to h-help." She said, her voice not as firm as she would like. "Jean, the syringe." She hastily handed the needle to Hank, who slid the tip into John's forehead, just inside his eye socket. "Ok… and… done. Get me some bandages, stat." Blood that hadn't flown since the incident began to pool around the wound, and Jean hurriedly handed Beast a roll of bandages, then hurried from the operating room to worship a toilet.
Hank ambled into the Medlab to check on his patient, who was kept in a controlled state of catatonic slumber to reduce chances of halting the regenerative process occuring in his head. He peeled back the bandages, happily smiling as he saw that the healing had almost completely regenerated John's eye, save a few patches on his forehead that hadn't completely sealed up yet. He tested John's eyelids, nodding in a satisfied manor as he recorded that they were fully functional. He blinked, examining his eye again, seeing something on the eyeball itself. "Oh dear."
Hank wheeled the professor up to the bedside. "Take a look at this, professor." He opened John's eye, and when his iris and pupil slid into view, the professor saw what had worried the blue man. "Oh dear." He murmured. "Precisely." Beast said. "It would appear that the mutagenic properties of the power-8 were not so nullified as I had hoped."
The professor frowned. "Perhaps it has something to do with the… oddly mechanical nature of his powers?" Beast shrugged. "That seems perfectly reasonable to me." John's eye, while retaining the iridescent qualities it had originally, there were solid black lines now, on his iris, much like those of a rifle scope, and his whites were dotted with extremely faint microchip-like symbols like those that had appeared on his body when they had first used the Power-8 to keep him alive. "Have you any idea what it might do?" Hank shook his head. "It may be anything from an evolution of his powers to a purely visual change."
Professor Xavier sighed. "Well, we won't know until he wakes up." He murmured wearily. Hank put a large hand on his shoulder. "Go get some rest, I'll let you know when he wakes up." The professor nodded. "I think… I will do that." He wheeled out of the room, to await John's re-awakening.
Blurry lights. A strange humming sound. Someone holding his hand, rubbing the back. He blinked, opening his eyes momentarily to the familiar infirmary lights, then squinting at their harshness. "Errhg." He covered his eyes with his free hand. Wait- his eyes. Plural. He blinked, fully for the first time in a long time. He blinked again, and again, and again, looking at Laura, sitting by his bedside, holding his hand and smiling widely. He grinned at her. "Holy crap, I can see!" He laughed, sitting upright, ignoring how the room spun.
Laura grinned. "That's great- eep!" She giggled as he pulled her into a warm embrace, and he hugged her to him. "Hah!" He cried, releasing her and hopping out of bed in his gown. Laura's face turned a bit red, and her giggles grew louder as he stumbled towards the door. She caught his attention, and turned to face her. "What?" She pointed at his gown. "Maybe you should put some pants on first…"
Kurt laughed, clapping as John walked into the kitchen. "Hooray! Zhe shellhead vakes!" He laughed.
Morph gave a wolf whistle (Literally, his head turned into a cartoon wolf's head) and slapped John's shoulder.
"Well, look at ol' bright eyes here! Good as new, I see." He tapped the rest of the plate before John laughed and slapped his hand away.
"Well, almost." Morph said with his face splitting grin.
Kurt gave John one of his own trademark megawatt smiles, clasping his hand. "Vell, your eye looks good as new, as Morph said." John nodded. He had been noticing something lately, though. His right eye picked up more- whether it was the faintest prediction of what someone was about to do, or being able to read people's emotions easier. Hank had explained that this was a result of the Power-8. John didn't like it. It reminded him of one of Jamie's Anime series he liked so much- Naruto, or some japanese name to that effect. One of the characters- some name he wasn't even about to try to pronounce- had a similar ability. It unnerved John.
He shook off his thoughts, and grinned at Rogue, who had slapped his shoulder. He raised an eyebrow. "What's up?" Rogue smirked. "Haven't y'all heard? Logan wants tah have a 'surprahse danger room session' for ol' shellhead here, to celebrate his eye." Morph stuck his tongue out at her. "Spoilsport." She stuck her tongue out right back at him. "Bite meh." She turned with a slight smirk and walked out of the room. Kurt shook his head. "Oh vell… might as vell go zhen, ja?"
They stood in the danger room and merely looked around.
"Holy crap. Upgrade." Scott breathed, looking around the Danger Room Sewer Tunnel. Aside from the square of metal at their feet the Danger Room had a holographic image set over it so realistic that Kurt was pulling 'grass' out of the ground.
"Vondebar." He said. "Tvice as good as vhen ve vere at ze mansion. Forge, I suppose."
John raised an eyebrow and gave the 'forest' in front of them a skeptical look. "Can't you guys see it?" He frowned a bit. The image was grainy, and semi- see through. "See what, John?" Jean asked, squinting into the forest. John blinked. "The image is all grainy and nasty." Scott squinted at the forest as well. "No it's not, John… Maybe your eye isn't completely healed." Laura gave John a knowing look. "Well… The Professor did say there was a possibility his mutation had flared up when his eye healed." John sighed exasperatedly. "This is ridiculous. Forget I said anything, let's just start."
Logan's gruff voice issued from the control room. "Gladly, kid." The ground rumbled, and a dark shape flared to life. John saw through the 'darkness'- a sentinel, tromping towards them. He narrowed his eyes.
"Guys, get ready! Sentinel, on approach." He hissed. They didn't stop to question how he knew- they scattered to cover, training taking over. The Sentinel lumbered into the clearing- and the session turned off. John frowned, looking to the 'control room', a viewing station overlooking the drainage area. "X-Men, get ready to ship out." Said a worried sounding professor X. "The Brotherhood have been located."
(A/N: Ooh, nasty cliffhanger! Well folks, it looks like another battle with the brotherhood is on the way… Will the X-Men FINALLY be able to whip them?)