The next evening, Joe found himself in the back of a fancy black town car with his parents and Ms. Munroe. The glasses guy-who Joe had since learned was a teacher named Scott Summers-sat up front driving, with Jean in the passenger seat.
For the last twenty minutes, he had been forced to listen to his parents question them about anything and everything to do with Xavier's.
"And what about sports? Joe has always been very good at basketball." Joe's father questioned Ms. Munroe, who sat on the seat across from him with Joe, as he flipped through an Xavier's pamphlet he'd been given.
"Xavier's offers a wide range of sport activities, from Basketball to Taekwondo. And at Bayville high, where he'll be going to study regular classes, there are several varsity sports teams that I'm sure Joe would be welcome on."
Kenneth nodded absent-mindedly, not looking at Munroe but at a picture in the pamphlet of two young boys throwing a frisbee to one another.
Scott turned the town car off the road and through a large security gate.
"Where are we?" Kerry asked, looking out of her window to a vast concrete field.
"This," Scott said proudly over his shoulder. "Is where the school's private jet lands when we're in Chicago"
The car pulled to a halt and Joe climbed out to find one of the most impressive sights he'd ever laid eyes on.
It was at least sixty feet long, with a sleek, metallic sheen that seemed to glow eerily through the pure black paintjob. The wings were inverted and the cockpit was oddly rounded, like the beak of a igantic bird. He'd could already imagine himself flying around in it, doing various spins and loop-de-loops.
"I see you've taken a liking to the Blackbird." Summers said, walking past the teen as he carried Joe's bags up the short ramp into the interior.
"Blackbird?" Joe asked, looking around the inside, even more amazed by the high tech gizmo's within.
"Yeah, that's what we call the jet...cause it looks like a bird."
Scott lay down Joe's bags under one of the seats, and sat down in the leather pilots chair.
"I can teach you to fly it sometime, if you want."
Joe's eyes widened like a five year old at christmas. "Really? Mister Summers, that would be amazing...thank you so much!"
Summers just grinned. "Don't worry about it. Just, stop calling me Mister Summers?."
"Deal"
"Joeseph!...come say goodbye to your mother and me!"
Joe turned and headed out the same way he came in, finding his parents, Ms. Munroe, and Jean, who was in the middle of giving his mother the schools information.
Both his parents shook hands with both Munroe and Jean, then turned to Joe.
His mother gave him a hug that was so tight he could swear a few of his ribs were cracking. "I want you to call me everyday at eight o.k?...no matter what. And I want you to call me as soon as you get there...And don't forget to brush your teeth after meals...and wear clean underwear-"
"MOM!...I'll be fine I swear." Joe comforted his mother as best he could, but it still didn't stop her from tearing up.
"I promise Joe will be perfectly safe at school Mrs. Harris. I'll make sure of it." Munroe said over the woman's shoulder.
She hugged him again, and began wiping her nose with a tissue from her purse. "Ok...Ok just...be safe Joe."
He nodded, hugged his mother once more, then turned to his father, who offered his hand. "Take care son." Joe shook the man's hand and Smiled.
"I will dad...you take care of mom...she's gonna need it."
Kenneth smiled and pulled his son in for a deep hug.
"Joe? It's time for us to leave." Jean said. Ms. Munroe had already gone inside.
"Alright," He hugged his mother once more, then waved as he stepped up the ramp.
0ooo0ooo0
The trip took less than two hours. Most of that time was spent with Joe asking questions about Xavier's, his classes, and the other students. But, when he asked about his own powers-which as far as he could tell consisted of shooting multi-coloured golf balls from his eyes and making people disappear-the cheery feel that filled the plane faded to a dead silence.
"We don't know what you can do yet Joe," Jean said from her spot behind Scott, who flew the plane like it was a second nature to him.
"What do you mean?" the teen asked. "I'm not a mutant?"
Jean shook her head and smiled. "You're a mutant, Joe. You have the brain pattern of one. It's just that we haven't yet figured out what your powers are specifically, we've never actually met someone that shoots things from their eyes."
"Oi?," Scott said from his seat, turning the plane over a bridge that Joe couldn't recognize.
Jean laughed. "Alright, almost no one." she rolled her eyes to Joe, which Scott didn't notice.
"You shoot stuff from your eyes?" Joe wondered, his face still displaying a smile from Jean's small joke.
Scott nodded and tapped the red sunglasses that folded around his face. "See these things?," Joe nodded. "They keep my eyes from misfiring. I was in an accident when I was a bit younger than you are now, and now I can't control it."
Scott looked over at Joe, whose mouth hung open slightly, and shrugged as if it was no big deal. "Don't you miss getting to see?"
Scott chuckled. "I can still see Joe. I just have to wear glasses all the time. It's fine though. They make me look cool."
Joe grinned politely and turned back to face out of the plane, suddenly very pensive about his situation. What if he couldn't control his powers? The simple thought scared Joe alot more than he thought it should.
"How do I find out what my powers are?" he said after a moment, not even turning to Jean.
"We have ways of learning what you can do. When you've settled in a little bit we'll start your training," Jean said, leaning out from her seat and putting her hand on Joe's shoulder. "Don't worry, it will be hard but I promise that it'll work." Joe-still not looking at her-nodded to show he was listening.
0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0
When the Blackbird began to descend, Joe did his best to get a look of the landing field that they were coming down on, and was surprised that it wasn't a airstrip but a large basketball court.
"Welcome to Xavier's Joe." Scott said when he saw the teen's face.
Scott hit a button on the plane's dash, and the half-court line of the basketball court split in two, revealing a large gap that the blackbird descnded into.
"What the?" Joe gasped in amazement as the plane floated down gently into the completely dark space beneath the basketball court. The Blackbird touched down, and it was dark for a moment, then hundreds of flood lights flickered on, bathing the space-which went off a hundred meters each way-in a warm orange glow, illuminating an extensive collection of luxury cars an motorbikes that were lined up in a near perfect formation around them.
"All these cars are yours?" Joe looked to Scott, then over his seat to Ms. Munroe, who shook her head.
"No Joeseph, these cars belong to Xavier's students. Meaning you." she spoke the last part with another charming smile on her face.
Joe smiled even wider. Cars had always interested him. "I can drive these?"
Scott nodded. "Yes. But first you'll have to pass my driving test."
"I have my license."
Scott chuckled. "Not your Xavier's license Joe. My test is for these cars, they're not built the same as others."
Scott turned off the Blackbird's engine-which didn't make much of a difference because the plane ran so smoothly-then the four occupants left their seats and, after Scott and Joe took up the teen's belongings, left the plane through the steel ramp that descended from it's hull.
Joe couldn't help but be drawn to the cars, but Jean pulled him away, stating that he'd be able to look at them the next day.
It was then that Joe realised that it was almost midnight, and he was exhausted, so he followed the group into a silver walled elevator that carried them up to a hallway that looked like it was out of a horror movie. Four suits of armour, two on each side guided them down the hall, and ancient paintings that Joe assumed were very expensive hung all over the walls.
He followed his teachers into an entrance hall, where a massive wooden staircase that split halfway up and lead into two different wings of the mansion sat. Ororo stopped them.
"Okay Joeseph, Scott will show you your room. The left wing is for males and the right for females. Under no circumstances are you to enter the right wing without my permission, understood?"
Joe nodded, and Ororo smiled, said goodnight, and walked off down another hallway adjacent to the one they had entered from.
Scott and Jean lead Joe up the main staircase, where Jean smiled and headed up the right stairs while the two males went left, onto a landing that took them into yet another hallway, this one with a series of large oak doors that Joe could only assume lead to the bedrooms.
Scott stopped at the door at the very end of the hall on the right, which he opened and walked into. Joe followed him in and-though he had half expected it to be classy-was still surprised by how luxurious it was.
The walls were a burgundy colour, and a large four poster bed sat in the far left corner. A work desk sat in the opposite corner to the bed, with an expensive looking laptop sitting open on top, and a series of textbooks standing in bookends behind the computer.
"Here we go," Scott said, putting Joe's suitcase at the foot of the bed and looking around. "Bed, desk, closet...the usual."
Joe nodded. "Thanks Scott." The man smiled and walked out into the hallway.
"Don't mention it. I'll come up and get you in the morning okay?.' Joe smiled this time, and then waved as his teacher walked off down the hall before he closed the door and began getting changed.