Chapter 18 – Professor Xavier

Kurt got off of the bus, and looked up at the hospital in trepidation. As far as he could remember, he had never been inside a hospital; he had always been a healthy child, and, on the rare occasions when he had fallen ill, had always gotten better in a couple of days thanks to his Mother's soups and home-made medicines. Of course, it would have been difficult for him to have gone to a hospital anyway, considering that he was blue and furry and had a tail. At least his image inducer was currently disguising his true appearance, but Kurt was nevertheless worried that he would have to pass through some kind of scanner, to check that he was not carrying anything that could be potentially dangerous, and wondered what would happen if the scanner were to show his true appearance. He sighed quietly to himself. Well, at least he could teleport out of there if something awkward were to happen, but Kitty was what was most important right now. He wondered how he would go about finding her, as he nervously entered the building, and made his way towards the reception desk. "Um, hello," he said to the receptionist, "do you know where they have taken Ms. Katherine Pryde?"

The receptionist smiled at him. She was an elderly lady with grey hair and huge glasses that magnified her brown eyes, "Are you a relative, dear?" she asked kindly.

"Um, no, I'm a friend from school," Kurt said, "I was told to get the bus here, and that Katherine Pryde was going to be taken here."

"Then I'm sorry dear, but I can't let you see her. Security, you understand, nothing personal," she said.

Kurt sighed again. "I understand," he muttered quietly. It was just then that he saw a bald man in a wheelchair coming towards him. Kurt smiled when he got closer, as he could see that the man was Professor Xavier.

Professor Xavier wheeled up to him, and gave him a little nod, "Kurt Wagner I assume. I believe that we have not been properly introduced. I am Professor Charles Xavier," the Professor extended his hand.

For a moment, Kurt was wary about shaking his hand, concerned that the Professor would realise that he had misshapen, furry hands. But there was something about the way that the Professor was looking at him that made Kurt realise that he probably knew exactly what he looked like without the comforting disguise of the image inducer, and did not mind at all. A moment later, Kurt accepted the invitation to shake his hand.

The Professor smiled at him, "Let us go and talk outside, it is a lovely evening," he said.

"Um, I'd really like to see Kitty Pryde, if it's all the same to you…" Kurt began.

Professor Xavier raised his hand to silence Kurt, "I have just come from Ms Pryde's bedside. She is doing well, but the medical professionals here have advised that it would be preferable if she were to get some rest before seeing another visitor. You will get a chance to see her very soon, I assure you of that. But first, I would like us to have a little chat."

"I was afraid of that," muttered Kurt, then quickly added, "not that Kitty is doing okay, I'm glad that she's doing well, really I am, but I was afraid that you would want to chat with me."

"I see," said Professor Xavier calmly, as they made their way out into the hospital grounds, "am I really that scary that the thought of having a chat with me would be something which would scare you? You, who have bravely stood up to giant robots, who have come all of this way alone from your home across the ocean, who have managed to survive, indeed thrive, despite the way in which mutants are regarded, sadly not entirely unreasonably, by those that hate our kind?"

Kurt shrugged, "I went to your mansion when I first got here. I was shot at."

"Ah," said Professor Xavier knowingly, "so that was you."

"You knew?" Kurt asked.

"It was the sort of thing I would have done, had I been in your,,,ah,,,shoes…" he looked down at Kurt's disguised feet, and smiled knowingly to himself, "had you been hit, you would not have been harmed, merely stunned. However, it is sadly necessary to take certain precautions to prevent our enemies from harming those that I care about. I am sure that you understand."

"Professor, about Kitty…" Kurt began.

The Professor held up his hand once more, "I told you, I have seen Ms. Pryde. She is tired, but otherwise fine. Still, I would like to hear your side of events."

Kurt shrugged, "Do you know Oliver McCann?" he asked.

"Indeed I do. A fine young man, and a most effective spy for the mutant cause," the Professor replied.

"Well, he gave me this information, about the HDL, uh, Human Defence League, said they were planning something big, but dared not go and find out himself, because he did not want them to recognise himself as being the one who helped us at the Halloween Party. Well, he gave us – that's me and Kitty – the address, to go and see what they were up to. So we went, and then there was this great big robot in that place. Um," Kurt thought for a moment, and then held up his watch, "both Kitty and I were wearing watches like this one here, since they disguised us, made us look like one of the HDL members," he lowered his arm, "but the robot saw through our disguise, and chased after us. Kitty tried to phase us through a wall to try and lose the robot, but it didn't work. So we made our way back to the school, as we knew that no one else would be there at this time, and that robot, though it was after Kitty and me, didn't seem to mind who or what else it destroyed in trying to catch us. Um, well, we went downstairs to one of the store rooms, I'm not sure which one now, but it had sports equipment in it, but it was clear that a hockey stick or something similar would be pretty useless against a giant robot. I wasn't sure what else to do, so I teleported Kitty and myself out of there. Unfortunately, I'd never teleported anyone else before, didn't know what would happen if I took an, um, passenger with me. I got back to the Brotherhood Boarding House, but Kitty was unconscious. That's when Toad, uh Todd, phoned you, and the ambulance, so that you could come and help her." Kurt smiled at Xavier, "And then I came here," he finished.

"Well, Mr Wagner, your story seems to corroborate perfectly with that of Ms. Pryde. I must say that you have had a most interesting and unusual birthday so far. May I be the first to wish you a happy birthday?"

Kurt gave him a small smile, "I have to admit, that with all of this going on, I almost forgot about that," he said.

"Understandable," said Professor Xavier, giving him a small smile, "tell me, how has your day been, otherwise?"

Kurt shrugged, "My parents, that is, my real parents back in Germany, they sent me some money to help me out over here. Just as well, as I was beginning to run out of money," he admitted.

"I take it that Mystique does not provide you with an allowance of some description?" Professor Xavier asked, giving him a penetrating look.

Kurt shrugged again. "I haven't asked," he said, "and I don't want to," he added, "if you rely on someone, it's as if you owe them something, and I don't want to owe Mystique or any other of the Brotherhood members anything."

"Interesting," said Professor Xavier, giving him a slightly questioning look.

Kurt sagged slightly, "I didn't want to come here," he admitted, "I was ordered to, by the courts. I guess I'll never really belong here."

"What do you mean by 'here' Mr Wagner?" the Professor asked, giving him a kindly smile, "Bayville, The Brotherhood, America, or something else?"

Kurt merely sighed, "I guess the Brotherhood," he said, "I mean, I've only seen a little bit of America, and so I can't really say for sure if I belong in America or not. I mean, it would be a bit like saying that you didn't belong in Europe if all you had seen of the continent was the Eiffel Tower in Paris."

"Perhaps you could join the X-Men?" suggested Xavier, "since you say that you do not feel that the Brotherhood Boarding House is right for you."

Kurt narrowed his eyes, and gave him a suspicious look, "And if I refuse?" he asked.

The Professor gave him a small smile, "Then I will accept that that is your choice," he said, "believe me, Mr Wagner, I am not in the business of trying to recruit those that are not willing to join, it can be hard enough with those that are willing sometimes, when there is a mansion full of enthusiastic teenagers, all desperate to experiment to the limits of their mutant powers. If you choose not to join us, I will respect your decision, with no hard feelings, wishing you all of the best for your future endeavours."

"Future endeavours," Kurt repeated, "like what, exactly?"

"That is, of course, up to you," said the Professor, "you are still young, after all, and doubtlessly there are many opportunities out in the world, many career paths that I have no doubt you could excel at, given the right amount of training and dedication. Ms Pryde tells me that you spent last summer working with the circus, perhaps you could make a career relating to circus skills. Ms Pryde also tells me that you are a rather talented actor, maybe a career on stage or screen, or perhaps some other branch of the arts…really, there are numerous choices out there, any number of career paths that you could follow."

Kurt looked down, then shook his head, "I do like working at the circus," he began slowly, "it's a fun hobby, and great as a summer job. I feel the same way about acting, although I really don't think that I could spend the rest of my life doing either. I guess I want more out of life, I mean, I've been given these powers, and I feel that I ought to, I don't know, use them to make the world a better place," he looked up at the Professor, "guess that sounds pretty corny, huh?" he said with a smile.

"Perhaps just a little," said Professor Xavier, returning the smile, "But I have met people like you before, indeed, there are many of my students who feel much the same way as you do. Listen to me, Kurt…may I call you Kurt?"

"Of course," Kurt replied.

"Thank you. There are maybe half a million mutants in this world. Many of them are working, training, studying and generally going about their lives, without ever using their mutant abilities, excelling in all walks of life, all over the globe. But there are others, mutants who wish to use their talents to, ah, as corny as it may sound, make the world a better place, where they train so that they can understand the true potential of their powers, so that they can use their powers for good. If you want to, you could become one of these mutants, indeed, I suspect that in another place and time, you may have joined the X-Men rather than the Brotherhood, might well have been a very successful member of our organisation. But as I said before, the choice is yours, and yours alone."

"I'd like to think about it, for a while, if you do not mind," said Kurt.

"Of course," the Professor replied, "you have been ordered away from your home, across the ocean and to a strange new country, with hardly a thought for your own preferences. I understand that your trust must be earned, and cannot otherwise be given. I would feel the same, I am sure, if I were you. But this need not be a permanent arrangement, perhaps you could merely join with the X-Men on a temporary basis, to see if this really is what you would like to do with your future, and if it turns out that this was not for you, then as I said, you can leave and pursue other endeavours, and go with my blessing."

"Thank you," said Kurt, "but I really do need time to think about all of this."

"I understand," said the Professor.

"It's just that I can't really think about anything much while I'm worrying about Kitty. I don't even know what happened to her," Kurt explained.

"I believe that I may be able to enlighten you about that," said Professor Xavier, "How well do you understand your Physics lessons at school?"

Kurt shrugged, "Okay, I guess," he said, "I'm really better at languages and more creative subjects."

"Then I will speak plainly, and forgive me if I over-simplify for you," the Professor began, "it seems that when Ms Pryde was teleported to the Brotherhood Boarding House, her body was subjected to certain forces, forces that she had not been able to grow accustomed to, having never encountered these forces before, and it was these which led to her becoming unconscious."

"Well, what else could I have done?" Kurt asked, suddenly feeling defensive, "there was this great big robot that was about to squish us like bugs! I had to get us out of there, it was not as if I had time to develop a careful plan of action, it was a case of act now, or never be able to do anything, ever again!"

"Indeed," said the Professor, smiling slightly at Kurt's outburst, "I believe that, given the circumstances, there was little choice in the matter, and that you did, indeed, take the best course of action. However, as all but a very small number of medicines have undesirable side-effects, there was this undesirable side-effect to Ms Pryde being teleported. It is much the same, in principle, to astronauts having to experience certain conditions in order to be able to cope with the forces of outer space, otherwise their bodies cannot cope in those hostile environments, having never grown accustomed to those conditions. I am not blaming you, Kurt," he assured him, "that is a very interesting and potential power that you have, but I do think that this power should be harnessed, controlled, and developed so that you will know when, where and how it can be used for maximum advantage, to know when it should be used as a weapon, and when it should be used instead as a more defensive ability. My offer to join the X-Men remains open, but I appreciate that you have something far more important, far more urgent on your mind right now."

"I really want to see Kitty, uh, Ms Pryde," said Kurt, "I feel really bad about what happened, even if I didn't really have much choice at the time."

"Ah, I understand, and I suspect that she is sufficiently rested at this time, and will therefore be able to speak with you," said the Professor, "let us make our way to her bedside. Please follow me." With that, he wheeled off down one of the corridors, Kurt following him, looking around the place slightly nervously as he did so. "Am I to take it that you have never been in a hospital before, Kurt?" the Professor asked.

"As far as I can remember," Kurt replied, "I'm just worried that there will be some kind of sensors here that will be able to detect that I'm, well, you know…" his voice trailed off.

"Believe me, Kurt, it is the care of the sick that is what is important to those dedicated medical professionals that are employed within this establishment," said Professor Xavier, "I doubt very much that they would care what you look like, as long as you cause no harm to anyone. But if something untoward were to happen, which, I might add, is extremely unlikely, then I could always erase the memory of the perpetrator."

"You can do that?" asked Kurt, impressed.

"Indeed," the Professor replied, giving him a small smile, "you are not the only one with impressive mutant powers."

They came to a small ward, and Kurt saw that Kitty was watching a television screen. At first, he thought she seemed frightened by what she was watching, but, on closer inspection, she seemed merely curious, examining the screen intently, as though she was trying to work something out. Well, at least she was not unconscious any more, and seemed to be healthy enough, as far as Kurt could tell.

The Professor spoke to a nurse who was coming out of the ward, "My associate and myself would like to see Ms Pryde now, if she is currently capable of receiving visitors."

The nurse nodded in response, "I've just checked on her," he said, "she should be fine, but we would like to keep an eye on her over-night, just to make sure. You can both see her now, but try not to be too long."

"Thank you," said the Professor, rolling into the ward, with Kurt following close behind.

Kitty looked up when she saw them. She seemed a little pale, but otherwise fine. Then she pointed back at the screen, "You should have a look at this," she said.

Kurt turned his attention to the television screen by her bed. There was the giant robot which he remembered so clearly from earlier, covered with countless metal chains, which were pinning it to the ground. There were people all around it, and they seemed to be trying to prevent it from breaking these chains. It looked as though they were not being very successful at this, however, as every few minutes the robot broke one of the chains that was covering its body. Yet the moment it did so, more chains were draped around it, preventing it from getting up. There were mutants there, trying to control the robot, including Scot and the other members of the X-Men, and Magneto and Mystique, who were leading the members of the Brotherhood Boarding House; all of these mutants were working together to defeat the much more dangerous enemy, putting their own petty differences aside in the face of a much more serious foe, just as Kurt and Toad had done. There were other people that Kurt had never seen before, and, he suspected, as he watched the screen, that at least some of them were mutants. There also appeared to be ordinary, non-mutant people there too, supplying chains to those mutants who had super-human strength and who were using these chains to keep the robot down; or providing refreshments to grateful mutants, who were taking a well-deserved break, while other mutants took their place. There were also medical professionals, doctors and nurses and the like, who were tending to the rapidly growing number of injured people. Kurt stared at the screen for a long moment, as the robot tried to get up once more, only to be brought back down by a mutant who clearly possessed super-human strength.

"It's a stale-mate," said Kitty, staring intently at the screen, "they're able to prevent that robot from getting up, but they can't defeat it, can't leave it alone, or else it will go on the rampage once more. And sooner or later, they are going to run out of chains…"

Kurt turned his attention from the screen back to Kitty, "How are you?" he asked, "I'm sorry about…"

His voice trailed off as Kitty waved that aside, "That doesn't matter now," she said, "I was unconscious for a little while, but the doctors said that I should be fine soon. What is important is that," she pointed at the screen once more, took a deep breath, and said, "I think I know how to defeat that machine."