What do you do when a black jet lands on the quiet road outside your local pub?
What anyone else would do. Stand there like an idiot, staring at it with your mouth open.
Hal lead me and Lana back down stairs, taking his private stair case so none of the customers would see us in the pub. We stood outside and watched as the jet landed on the stripe of road (which, I'm pretty sure is illegal). When people exited the jet, Hal went to greet the strange people like they were old friends.
"Can thisss night get any weirder?" Lana asked in hushed tones, watching the new people with caution.
These people were…weird. One guy in a black leather uniform went to speak to Hal first. He wore a visor with a red lens that seemed to glow in the night. At his side was a pretty red head, also wearing a black leather outfit. Then there was this huge, blue hairy guy. He was like, part man, part lion, part ape. And he wore glasses, which seemed very out of place. The sight of him made me feel strange, like I should know him from somewhere. And then there was Hottie McHotstuff. He was gorgeous, with smooth pale skin, pristine blond hair, and sparkling blue eyes. He had white feathered wings coming out of his back, but they made him look even hotter instead of weird. He looked like an angel in spandex.
"Doo doo dodle doodle doo doo dodo." Lana sang the circus music in my ear, making me giggle.
"Stop it." I said half-heartedly.
"Amusing, if inappropriate." A pleasant male voice said, startling the two of us. It was the blue dude. He stood in front of us, crossing his huge blue arms.
"Uh," Lana stuttered.
"We're sorry," I apologized, looking at the ground instead of looking at him. "its just, we usually don't see anything like…this, in our town. Sorry."
"It's quite alright." Blue dude said. He looked me up and down, examining every inch of me. It made me feel very uncomfortable. "You look so much like your mother, but you defiantly have parts of your father."
What could I say to that?
Red glasses guy came over to speak to us now, Hal and the others following him.
"This is our little Leah? She's grown so much!" The red headed woman said, her eyes wide as she stared at me.
"That's what happened in sixteen or more years." Hottie McHotstuff said, also looking me over.
"I know that, but still, Leah's almost a woman now. And she looks so much like her mother." Red said kindly, looking at me affectionately.
"Okay, please stop acting like you know me. Because you don't, and I don't know you." I said shakily, backing away from them.
"Too bad she has her father's manners." Glasses guy said in a huff. I glared at him.
"I'm sorry, but it's been kind of a crazy night for me. When some chick turns into a lizard girl in front of me, my house gets blown up, I get attacked by a giant robot and my parents get kidnapped, I have a tendency to not be the politest person in the world." I said coldly.
Hal laughed and slapped me on the shoulder.
"Do you believe me now about your parents?" He asked.
"I- I don't know." I answered quietly. Things were starting to add up, but still, the idea that my parents were superheroes, X-men, is too insane to believe.
"What about her parents?" Hottie asked.
"Apparently they never told her about being X-men." Hal replied, making the others look confused.
"Didn't tell her? How could they keep it from her?" Red asked, shocked. "Logan even goes on missions! How did he explain that?"
"Did you even know about them being mutants?" Scott pried. I shook my head for an answer. "That's just typical Logan-"
"Hey, Storm's just as much in fault." Hottie said. "I still can't believe this."
"Storm?" I asked skeptically.
"Yes, as in your mother." The visor guy answered indignantly.
I had never heard my mom be called Storm before. She was always Ororo, or 'Ro, or Mom. What kind of name is Storm?
"We can't stand here all night talking about this." Visor guy stated. "We have to get back to the mansion. Thanks for the call Hal, we'll take it from here."
With that he turned and walked back to the jet. Hottie went with him, but blue dude and red haired chick stayed. They had begun to walk back as well, until they realized that Lana and I weren't following.
"Come along girls, we're leaving." Blue guy said gently.
"Leaving to go where? I can't just leave my life to go off with strangers." I said, using my best tough voice.
The red haired woman put a pale, delicate hand on my shoulder and Lana's. "We know you're both very scared right now, but we are going to help you. Lana, that is your name, right? We have a place for you at our school, if you wish to come. It's a safe place for mutants, where you can learn without fear of being prosecuted."
Lana stood still for a moment, then nodded.
"Good, if you just want to go along with Hank, he'll get you settled in the jet. I just need to talk to Leah, but I'll be right with you." The red haired lady said kindly.
"Lana, no!" I gasped as she did as she was told. She looked back at me but only for a second.
We had been through a lot together tonight, and she ditched me as soon as she could.
"Leah, you have to trust us. You've been through so much tonight, but it's going to get better. We're going to take care of you and we're going to get your parents back." The lady said. I felt a strange feeling at the back of my mind, something that felt part way between a push and a caress. "We're old friends with your parents, and even though you don't trust us now, please know that you can. We'll answer any questions you may have."
I felt very tired all of a sudden. The promise of answers was tempting, as was the promise to help my parents. I was done fighting. I was just too tired.
"Okay, I'll come with you. But I should warn you, I took out a giant robot all by myself tonight, so if this is a trick or something, I will take you down."
The red headed woman just smiled and led me to the jet.
xXx
I slept for most of the flight, but I think that was because Jean Grey Summers (red headed chick) messed with my mind to make me sleep. She's one of those telepaths. I was tired, but there was too much going on in my mind for me to sleep peacefully.
So, it all came out. My mom, was Storm. A weather witch. She could control the weather with her mind and emotion. She was an X-man.
My dad was Wolverine. I heard the name before, I mean, who hasn't? But the pictures and stories on tv never were my dad. The Wolverine, is the best at what he does best, or something. Still goes on missions, what I thought were business trips. He can heal, has super enhanced senses, metal bones and claws. He was an X-man. And an Avenger. And part of Alpha Flight. Probably some other superhero teams to, because he's a superhero.
My parents are mutants. I'm not.
But, you know, whatever.
How could I have been so stupid?
I had a nightmare while on the plane. It was really bad. I was one of those MRD soldiers (Jean had explained to me who they were). I was dressed sort of like a soldier, so of like a police officer, and there was a large gun in my hand. I helped the other MRD officers line up a bunch of mutants. Mom, Dad, Lana, Jean, Hank…and then we executed them.
I woke up screaming and saw Lana giving me an odd look from her seat across from me.
"Hey, are you alright?" She asked, concerned.
I just nodded, not trusting my voice.
"Okay, well, we jussst landed." Lana looked out the window. "My new home."
"You don't have to stay here, you know." I said in a very low tone. "Once I have my parents back and we get a new house, you can stay with us."
Lana gave me a confused look. "You mean you think they won't want to ssstay here?"
Before I could answer, Hottie- I mean, Angel, appeared.
"Okay, let's show you guys around. Leah, the Professor would like to speak to you once you've recovered from your flight." Angel said. "Would you two like something to eat first? Breakfast is still being served."
"Food!" Lana exclaimed. I gave her a look and she settled.
"Who's "the professor"? Isn't this a school, so that would mean there would be more than one professor, right?" I inquired.
"Wow, you really don't know anything about this." Angel mused, making me frown. "The guy who made all this possible is Professor Charles Xavier, you've heard of him before, right? Well, we call him The Professor, because he was the one who taught everyone teaching here. He taught your mom and dad."
I followed Lana and Angel, muttering. "Oh goody, more stuff from my parents' twisted past."
I had to admit, the grounds were amazing. It was well kept and decorated with fountains, statues and vegetation. They even had a pool and stables. Lana and I didn't get much of a tour because we only had a small amount of time before they stopped serving breakfast. Angel ushered us through the main floor of the mansion to a large room that looked like any other school cafeteria.
Well, there were differences. It was more like some preppy school cafeteria and it was filled with mutants.
"Wow." I said under my breath as I looked around. It was like we were on a different planet.
"So, the caf line starts over there, and someone will be back for you in half an hour to give you a proper tour and get you rooms sorted out." Angel said, turning to go.
"Hey, wait a sec! You're just leaving us?" Lana asked, sounding afraid.
"Well, yes. Trust me, its better if you meet some people by yourself without help from a teacher. You'll be accepted more." With that, the angel flew the coop.
Getting our food was the easy part. The cafeteria serves filled our trays with eggs, bacon and fruit, along with a drink of our choice. Finding a place to sit amongst the chaos? A very different story.
"Whoa!" I yelled, narrowly dodging a fire ball from burning my hair. One of the caf ladies sighed and got out a fire extinguisher.
"Sorry about that." A boy said, coming up to us and smiling impishly. "That one got away from me. You two new here?"
"Yes, we are." Lana answered. I was still in shock.
"Well, you want to come sit with us?" The boy who almost burned my head off offered. "We got some room, and you two look a little lost."
"That would be great, thank you." Lana accepted. I had no choice but to follow them to the back of the room near a large window. I don't know what the guy thought about having room, because the table was packed with teenagers our age. Lana quickly took a seat next to her new friend (Pyro, I think he said his name was) and completely forgot about me. I stood with my tray, a deer in the head lights.
"Yo, Peter! Move your big butt over to give the girl some room!" A boy with spiky blonde hair called from the end of the table where Lana sat. When nobody responded to his call, the boy formed a snowball (which was cool) and whipped it at another boy's shoulder. "Pete!"
A large, muscled teenage boy jerked his head up from the notebook he was doodling in.
"Pardon?" The boy, Peter, asked. Others snickered, making him blush.
"I said, shuffle butt, the new girl needs a place to sit." The blonde boy repeated.
"What?" Peter asked confused. He looked up at me with startling blue eyes. "Oh, sorry."
He shifted, making a space at the end of the bench. Awkwardly, I took a seat. Peter went back to his notebook, and I stared down at my breakfast as it grew cold. I sat motionless, feeling uncomfortable. It's not that I'm unsociable, but I do feel uncomfortable around strangers. Added to the fact that I was the only human in the room and everything that happened last night; I was not at my best.
I stole a look at Lana. Unlike me, she was doing well. At school, she was always getting along with people. It wasn't like she was Miss Super Popular, but she did get along with everyone. She was just as much herself in her new form as she was in her old one. At the moment she was giggling at a joke Pryo said and digging into her breakfast.
The food smelled wonderful, but I couldn't eat.
I felt really, really awkward just sitting here. I looked over at my "lunch buddy". He was still doodling. Actually, calling what he was doing 'doodling' would be like saying brain surgery is first aid done by girl scouts. On the paper was a barn yard, with a little girl in a pioneer dress playing tug of war with a lab puppy. It looked beautiful and real, even though it was done with just a pencil. I was impressed, but I was too nervous around the large muscled boy to complement him, or even talk to him.
Everyone else was ignoring me as well.
I bet they know that I'm human. They can sense it or something! I thought, paranoid. Maybe if I told them I'm the spawn of the famous Storm and Wolverine or something…
A bell rang, causing a stirring of motion. I quickly got up and out of the way so that other people on the bench could leave. I pressed myself into the wall so that there was enough room. The room cleared, leaving Lana and I alone once more.
Lana grinned at me, her reptile eyes glittering. "How great it this place?"
xXx