Chapter 7 - Back at the Brotherhood Boarding House
Author's notes - Thanks again for the reviews. Sorry it's been a while since I posted, with any luck I should be able to get the next chapter finished sooner. Soleana – yes, Toad is being really mean to Kurt, whereas Kurt is at least trying to be civil towards him, but their mutual dislike for each other should be obvious. As for Kitty, she is well aware that Todd is a jerk…but she also knows that sixteen year old boys can often be jerks, and Kurt is also a sixteen year old boy. There will be plenty of opportunity for Kurt to explain himself to Kitty, but there needs to be some conflict involved if there is to be any sort of story. The adults at school are treating Kurt fairly well, so the Brotherhood are to be his major conflict at school. Pheonex305 – glad you like this story – as requested, here is the next chapter. (Warning – there is very mild sexual innuendo in this chapter) - Enjoy!
"We drew boobies in Art Class," said Kurt to Mystique, managing to keep a straight face with some difficulty. She looked back at him, and blinked twice. When Kurt had asked her to take an interest in his life, she had indeed done so, but in much the same manner as a general of an army might take an interest in his troops, rather than as a parent interested in how her child was doing at school. She had demanded that Kurt report to her on his school day. Well, two can play that game, Kurt thought to himself, as he stared back at her, unblinking, but laughing inside. Oh, he knew that it was childish and immature, but he had been dragged here against his will, he deserved, he reasoned, to have a little fun at her expense.
"You drew boobies in Art Class," Mystique repeated, "and Mrs Jones said that this was acceptable behaviour?"
"Of course, why shouldn't it be?" Kurt asked with mock innocence, "it was our lesson on natural life."
"Natural life," Mystique repeated, still staring directly at Kurt.
She suspects I'm doing this on purpose, Kurt realised, but she does not know how good my English really is, so she really can't be sure, "Yes," said Kurt, "nature studies," he added.
"Nature studies," Mystique repeated again, still staring at him.
"Yes, Mrs Jones thought it would be good artistic practice for her class to draw birds," Kurt added.
"Birds," Mystique repeated, her eyebrow raised ever so slightly.
"Yes, birds," said Kurt, "boobies."
Mystique continued to stare at Kurt, who stared back. "What…sort of boobies were you drawing?" she asked, after a very long and very awkward silence.
"Oh, blue-footed boobies," said Kurt, managing, with some difficulty, to still keep a perfectly straight face. "You know, those funny looking cute birds that are native to the tropical islands along the Pacific Ocean."
"Oh, right, those kinds of boobies," said Mystique, looking slightly relieved.
"There's another kind?" asked Kurt, feigning innocence.
Mystique continued to stare at him. She's not sure if I'm winding her up or not, Kurt thought, staring back at her; she certainly suspects, but that's all it is.
"Some might claim so," she said, after another awkward pause, "that is not relevant now. Now you shall report on the rest of your first day at school."
Parenting: you're doing it wrong, thought Kurt cynically to himself. "We also had history," said Kurt.
"And how did that go?" Mystique demanded.
"It was okay. I hadn't really done American History before, and they seem to be under the impression that not much went on before Columbus discovered America by accident in 1492, but at least they don't have a load of Henry's and Louis' to get confused with. That's what always confused me about European history; half of the French Kings seemed to be called Louis, and half of the English kings seemed to be called Henry. At least the Native American's had much more interesting names than that, like Black Hawk and Wild Elk, and Running Water. Much cooler than some boring old Henry."
"I…see," said Mystique, "well, at least you appear to have been paying attention in some of your lessons. How was your English class this morning?"
"I was late for Mrs McCann's class because I couldn't find the room," Kurt said, "and then I had to stand up in front of the class and introduce myself. It was a bit embarrassing," he admitted.
"I could have Mrs McCann killed for you, if that would make you feel better?" Mystique suggested.
You're joking, you've got to be, thought Kurt. You're just trying to get back at me for being childish about drawing boobies. But I can't be absolutely sure… "No," he said, putting his hands up defensively, and then calmed down just a little bit, "I mean, no, that won't be necessary," he added, trying to project an image of calm which he did not feel, "she was nice to me, she wasn't trying to be cruel. She even asked me to audition for Romeo and Juliet this Friday."
"I see," replied Mystique, "and you will do this?"
Kurt shrugged, "I haven't decided yet," he said, honestly, "I wasn't going to make my decision until I knew how much homework I would have to get done. Why, you disapprove?" he asked.
Mystique merely looked away for a moment, "I would prefer that you were putting your talents towards something that would aid the mutant cause, rather than wasting your time on some artistic endeavour. Still, the decision is, must be, yours alone, and I will not prevent you from making your own choices, will support you in those choices, even if I personally feel that you are making a mistake," she said.
That's practically Mystique for mothering, Kurt thought, smiling ever so slightly to himself. "I might audition," Kurt said after a while, "Mrs McCann said that it would count towards my final grade." Besides, you seem to disapprove, he added mentally, and I kind of want to irritate the person who demanded that I come over here, leaving everything that I love behind.
"Very well," said Mystique, "you have anything else to report concerning your first day at school?"
I don't have to report to you, Kurt thought back defiantly; you might have given birth to me, but you have never been, will never be, my mother. My mother lives in Bavaria in Germany, with my father and my brothers and sisters. They are the only family that I want, or need. "I don't think so," Kurt muttered.
"Very well," Mystique said again, "then I am planning to meet with Magneto later, to discuss what should be done about the HDL. The rest of the Brotherhood will be joining us. You can come too, if you would like to do so."
"No," said Kurt, "I have a lot of homework I really have to get done," he added. This was technically the truth, although he did not plan to actually do much of his homework, "and I want to email my parents back in Germany, let them know how I am settling in, that sort of thing," he said, "it takes me a long time to type," he held up his fingers, "too fat to hit the keyboard easily without making loads of mistakes. I will stay here, if that is all okay with you."
Mystique narrowed her eyes, "It is your choice," she said, after a long pause, "but I really do wish that you would be more enthusiastic about reversing the world order concerning mutant subordination."
"I do have homework to do," Kurt said again, "You want me to do well at school, don't you?" Kurt saw her hesitate. She does, Kurt thought to himself, "Well, English is not my first language. It can take me a while to work through something that is written in English. I can manage, but it takes me longer than it would if the lessons were being given in German. And I do have my new dictionary to help me, so I can manage perfectly well alone. You go to this party with Magneto and the Brotherhood Boys and enjoy yourselves," he added, wondering if he was finally going too far, "with your discussion of mutant superiority and all that."
"Are you mocking me, Kurt?" Mystique demanded.
"What do you think?" he replied.
Mystique sighed, "You have a right to be upset about being forced here against your will, I accept that. But it has been several days now, it is about time you begun to adjust. Still I accept that you wish to concentrate on your academic studies, cannot disapprove of your interest in that, at least. Perhaps you could encourage the rest of the Brotherhood to also feel some interest in academic activities."
"Perhaps," Kurt replied, shrugging slightly.
"No matter," Mystique said, "I will be leaving now, with or without you. I ask you once more; do you want to accompany me?"
Kurt hesitated a moment. Perhaps it would be a good idea to come with her, perhaps he might be able to learn something about what they intended to do. But he could guess pretty well that they would just moan about how the world was so unfair to mutants, so they would have to reverse the order of the world – nothing that he had not heard before. Besides, staying here would mean that he would have the whole Boarding House to himself, and he could not risk losing an opportunity like that, since he did not know when one might come again. "I will stay here. As I said, I do have a lot of homework to do, and I want to contact my real family back in Germany," he said.
For a moment, Mystique's eyes seemed to flash with sadness upon hearing his German family being referred to as his real family, but the moment passed as soon as it had arrived, making Kurt wonder if he had imagined her sudden, momentary display of emotion. She's not made out of stone, he thought to himself, she might have many, many faults, but she is trying to be a parent to me, however sloppily and ineffectively she might be going about it.
"As you say," she said at last, "get on with your academic studies while we are away. We will return and report back to you in about two hours." Without another word to Kurt, she gathered the rest of the Brotherhood around her, and, within the next five minutes, they had all left. Kurt watched them go. Then he went upstairs, and indeed did do some homework – for about five minutes, so that he could honestly report back to Mystique that he had been doing homework while she had been gone. Then he went and started to email his parents, on the computer that he had used before, when he had first arrived at the Brotherhood Boarding House. He told his family that he had enjoyed his first day at school, that he was making friends here in America, and that he was adjusting to living in America. He avoided mentioning anything about mutants or giant robots. He was afraid that his emails were being spied upon by the American authorities. He was smart enough to work out that Mystique and Magneto were involved in activities that were, at best, dubiously legal, and that the authorities would therefore be curious about any correspondence that was going out of the Brotherhood Boarding House. So keep it normal, keep it simple, Kurt told himself – I'm a European in America, telling my family how I am doing at school – nothing is more normal, more natural than that. No need to write about mutants or the Human Defence League or giant robots. In any case, I really don't want to get them involved in any trouble that might happen here; it is for the best if they remain far away from it, both physically and emotionally. But I don't have that luxury, he thought to himself, as he finished the email and sent it to his family. I have to do something about all the trouble over here. But what? He still didn't know, but now was the perfect time to try to find out.
He went into Mystiques room, and pulled aside the carpet, opened the trap-door and descended down the steps. It took a while, but Kurt thought it was best to avoid teleporting, just in case there was someone down there, and arriving in a cloud of foul-smelling smoke might distract this person, causing goodness knows how much trouble. So he slowly made his way down, and then opened the door leading into the room with the huge robot inside. The chamber was dimly lit now, but there did not appear to be anyone else there. Kurt stared up at the robot. He had no idea what had to be done, but he was so fed up of just going along with what other people told him to do, compliantly, obediently, that he was determined to do something, to show his autonomy. He walked around the robot, examining it. He had no idea how it worked, but there seemed to be one universal truth when it came to machines – they were easier to destroy than to create. Not that he needed to literally destroy the robot, he reasoned, just make it so that it no longer could work properly, so it was not a danger to anyone anymore. But how? Well, perhaps there was a manual around somewhere, he thought, looking around the robot. Not that he expected there to be a big red button with SELF DISTRUCT written on it in scary capital letters, but there might be some sort of way to ensure that a human could take charge of the machine, perhaps some form of remote-controlled device which could be used to control the robot from a distance. But Kurt could not seem to find any sort of manual, so went back to examining the machine itself. Perhaps there would be a loose screw or bolt somewhere? He examined the robot, walking around it, climbing up it and looking at it carefully. No, if there were any screws on this thing, then they were well hidden. Well then, perhaps there was some kind of chamber inside it, some place where he could teleport inside the robot, and then start to remove all of the wires and metal from inside the machine? But there did not seem to be any chamber, either. Kurt was running out of ideas, as he clambered over the robot. I've got to do something, he thought to himself, if I don't then this thing might kill people – and if it does, and I could have stopped it in some way, does not that make me just a little bit responsible for the deaths that it might cause? Kurt sighed in frustration. His mutant power did not seem to be of much help right now. Oh, it gave him some wonderful abilities that could certainly help him in numerous occasions, but it did not give him any sort of ability that could be used to stop a giant robot. He knew very little about electronics, save the very general knowledge that his parents, back in Germany, had told him about circuits and the flow of electricity and the like. He also lacked super strength, the ability to, well, basically bash this machine until it was scrap metal; he had only normal, human strength, which seemed useless, right now, against his robot adversary. Kurt sighed again. Well, he had a little while to think about what to do; the mutants did not intend to use this robot for a while yet, so perhaps he should spend some time researching what should be done about it. But not here, not at the Brotherhood Boarding House, not where his internet browsing might be hacked. He would try at school, at lunchtime, and if anyone asked, he would say that it was because he was interested in physics and robotics – technically the truth. He sighed once more, and made his way back up the long flight of stairs.
He went into his room, and picked up his school bag. Well, he had told Mystique that he intended to do homework while she was gone, so he might as well get on with it, while the Boarding House was quiet, and he had some time to himself. He picked up his English assignments. So, there was really no point in writing his essay on Shakespeare, as he intended to audition for the play, and earn credits that way instead. He looked at Mrs McCann's other assignments. She had a list of story suggestions, assignments of at least five thousand words. He grinned as he looked at the suggested first sentences; Yesterday, my Grandmother won a race against a velociraptor; I should never have come to Earth, I was warned that it was a dangerous place to go; Yesterday, my time-travel machine broke, and this is the story of what happened next and titles; The first person born on Mars; The Island between Here and Reality and The tale of the Last Dragon. Too much choice, thought Kurt, although there were certainly some potentially interesting stories that could be written, with a little bit of imagination, using these suggestions for inspiration. But nothing about giant robots, he thought to himself…yet it said at the bottom of the page that, if any student would like to use their own title, then this was acceptable, as long as they had discussed their options with Mrs McCann first, and she had approved of them. And was something about giant robots really that different from stories about Mars or dragons or time-travel? Kurt grinned to himself. Perhaps there was a way to ask for help in how to deal with the giant robot, without ever literally having to ask for help at all.