Chapter 13: A Dragon's Tale
-Bayville, Hogan's Street Side Stop Bar-
Inside a bar in the town of Bayville,Chelsea Marks was sitting at said bar having a much needed drink. She had just struck it lucky and not only got the directions she needed to get to the Xavier Institute, but also met some of the people who stay and work there. And honestly? First impressions were pretty damn solid in her book, especially in the case of the ruggedly handsome loner, Logan.
Needless to say, she was most likely gonna like it there. Now you might be wondering, why isn't she there now? Well that answer is simple: She first had to make sure she wasn't followed before she did anything. She had spent the last day making sure of that. Once that was done she then made contact with the Xavier Institute, and the guy who answered (Charles Xavier himself) told her that he'd send someone to pick her up.
Now she was sitting in the bar that she told Xavier to send the person picking her up, and was having a glass of scotch while she waited.
"So, you new in town?" The bartender asked her.
"Yup. Just arrived last night." She replied.
"Well then, welcome to Bayville. You know if you'll be staying long?" He questioned.
"I think my stay will be permanent, considering where I'm going." The dragoness responded.
"Oh? And where's that, if I may ask?" The man questioned further, now rather curious.
"You know Xavier's Institute?" She asked, getting a nod in return. "That's where I'm staying."
"Oh, so you're staying at Logan's place of work? That's a nice set up. Let me guess, you got a job as one of their instructors? Logan tells me the pay's pretty good with that job." The barkeep inquired.
"Actually, I haven't actually gotten a job as an instructor. After what you told me, though, I guess I know what to expect." Chelsea replied.
"Glad to be of service." He nodded while holding out a hand as he set down the glass he had been cleaning. "I'm Hogan by the way, I own this establishment."
"Name's Chelsea Marks. Thanks for welcoming me to town, Hogan." She introduced and thanked him in one go. "So you know Logan too?"
"Yeah, he's a regular here. You know him?" Hogan asked.
"Yeah, I met him on Mt. McKenna. I helped him when he was attacked by a wild cat and in return he offered me a job at the Institute." She nodded as she finished her drink.
Hogan nodded as he refilled her drink, Chelsea was about to tell him that he didn't have to but was stopped.
"No, I insist, any friend of Logan's is a friend of mine." The man told her.
Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, the woman took the free drink without complaint and started sipping from it.
Right at that moment, the doors of the bar opened and lo and behold, Logan himself walked in. After looking around for a moment, his eyes landed on Chelsea. He then walked over and took a seat beside her.
"Well speak of the devil, hey Logan, we were just talking about you." Hogan smiled at the scraggly man. "Let me guess, the usual?" The barkeep asked.
"Yup." Logan nodded. Hogan simply went around the bar and then came back with an icy mug filled with ice, and a bottle of beer, more specifically a bottle of Molson, a Canadian Lager.
Logan simply removed the bottle's cap and poured its contents into the mug, the fizz of the beer capping off the top of the mug as he drank from it.
Chelsea watched him and rolled her eyes. "What is it with you men and beer?" She questioned with a smirk.
"I didn't hear you complaining about alcohol when you were drinking your whiskey." Hogan retorted with a smirk of his own.
"I'm just making an observation, I mean if you were to ask me. Beer, in my opinion, is no different from piss. That shit will never getcha drunk. A real man drinks either Whiskey or Rum, and a real woman…" She then took a drink from her glass. "Drinks Scotch." She then smirked at him. "Though if ya don't got the balls to try and hang out with a woman, well, I could dress you up in a skirt and take you out for a night of dancing."
Chelsea's joke caused the two men to chuckle. Neither of them would be caught dead in a skirt, which was a fact. Logan then decided to go on the offensive and play along.
"Alright, Blondie, ya wanna see a real man? Let's go, shot for shot." Logan said while snapping his fingers. "Hogan, get us some Bacardi." He requested, causing the barkeep to chuckle.
"You got it." He replied as he went to get the requested drink.
"So, Logan, I'm guessing you're the one that Charles guy said would be picking me up?" Chelsea asked as she leaned back against the bar, whipping her hair away from her face.
"Yeah, Charles mentioned you needed a lift so I decided to do it since everyone else was busy. Besides, it was either me or one of our students, namely a kid named Gavin Shirakumo. I swear, ever since that kid got that new car of his he's been itching to get someone to ride with him." Logan nodded.
"Shirakumo… Is he a Japanese kid?" She asked curiously.
"Yup. He's also the best sword user in the Institute, which is a given since we picked him up from a fencing academy." The metal boned mutant explained. Right then, Hogan came back with the requested drink.
"Here ya go, one challenge sized Bacardi bottle and two glasses." Hogan said as he then turned to the rest of the bar's patrons. "Hey everybody, Logan's got a new challenger this week! Better place your bets now!"
The patrons immediately started placing their bets, knowing how legendary Logan's tolerance for alcohol is. A few of them actually bet on Chelsea, wondering if she could match him in drinking. Those that did bet on her made sure to bet lightly, though.
Chelsea smirked as the two started downing the alcohol as fast as Hogan could pour it. This act of pouring and chugging went on as if it was on repeat for a while.
(Elsewhere)
Outside of Bayville a trio of cruisers drove up to the line of the town, all three had the symbol of HYDRA on them. The driver of the lead vehicle looked at the man beside him.
"Are you certain this is the location?" He asked.
"Affirmative. This is where her tracking chip is transmitting from." The co-pilot replied.
"Then let our hunt continue." The leader nodded as they continued driving.
(Meanwhile)
-Hogan's Street Side Bar, an hour later-
Logan and Chelsea had just finished three fourths of the bottle of rum, when the dragoness started to sway from side to side, an indication that she was drunk.
The blonde slowly swayed before she passed out, her head dropping on the bar as her eyes were dropping. Her face red and with a drunken expression.
"And we have a winner!" Hogan called as he held up Logan's arm.
The people who bet on him cheered while the ones who bet on Chelsea grumbled a bit while being thankful for having the common sense to bet lightly.
Logan stretched as he hoisted Chelsea over his shoulder and paid Hogan for the drinks. "See you around Hogan." He said as he walked outside and carried the woman to the X-Van, which he had taken with him, putting her in the passenger seat and then getting in, driving off towards the Institute as the sun started to set.
After arriving and parking the X-Van in the garage, he took the drunken dragon to one of the guest rooms to let her recover. After tucking her in, he put some hangover medicine on the desk in case she needed it. He didn't know if she would need it or not considering she's got dragon abilities, but he'd rather not take that chance right now. He then wrote a note and put it next to the bottle.
As he left the room, he saw Gavin walking down the hall with his music player on while he listened to his favorite tunes.
"Hey there, Smokey." The man nodded at the boy.
The boy removed his headphones as he nodded, noticing the sleeping blonde in the next room. "Hey Logan, is that the dragon lady we've heard about?" He asked.
Logan nodded in affirmative. "Yup, that's her alright. Don't bother talking to her right now. She challenged me to a drinking competition and lost, so she's passed out from all the drinking." He replied as he told the pseudo vampire of her current state.
"Okay… Say, you checked her for tracking devices yet?" Gavin questioned out of nowhere.
That caused Logan to pause before cursing under his breath. "Crap, I forgot to do that!" He growled.
As if on cue, the mansion's proximity alerts went off, signaling they had company. "We got company!" Kurt said as he ported to where they were.
"Who is it?" Gavin asked.
"Some guys with guns and tentacled skulls on their uniforms." The fuzzy blue mutant told them.
"HYDRA…!" Gavin growled angrily. He didn't have any sort of positive opinion for the Nazis due to what they did. HYDRA was perhaps the sole remnant of their dark existence.
All of the X-men ran outside of the building and faced the group of six that stepped out of the vehicles. Professor Xavier rolled up to the front of the group.
"You have no business being here, leave now." The man told them firmly.
"One of our subjects is here. Hand her over, and maybe we'll let you live." The squad leader threatened.
"Like I'd do anything you say, parasite!" Gavin growled murderously. He then tugged on his gloves. "Release control art seal, Level 3, 2, and 1."
"Gavin, no!" Xavier tried to tell the boy, but it was too late. The pseudo vampire charged at the men and stopped right in the center of them, sword drawn.
"Hey guys, how's ya health plan?" He asked the men before they started shooting at him. "APPARENTLY IT'S GREAT!" He shouted before he started attacking them, slicing one in half, decapitating another two, stabbing one through the mouth, and then took the last one's legs off.
As the last remaining one was starting to crawl away, blood flowing onto the concrete of the Institute walkway, Gavin stabbed his sword through the man's back, then bent down to talk to him. "Let this be a lesson to you Nazi fucks, you mess with one of us? You mess with us all. Say hi to Hitler for me, bye." He smirked as he hoisted the man up with his sword and hurled him into the windshield of one of the carriers.
"Gavin, What, what did you just-?" Xavier said in shock.
"I just took out some Nazis, that's what." The boy responded before he returned to normal, making him jump in shock. "Whoa… Wait, why are the Nazis dead?... Ohhh my head." He groaned as he clutched his head.
"Are you alright?" Storm asked in concern.
"Yeah. I remember releasing my seals, but, after that it's all nothing but red." The boy said, shaking his head. "That's never happened before."
"If you've got a therapist, go see them. You might need it." Logan advised.
"Right…" The boy nodded before looking at Xavier sheepishly. "Sorry Professor, looks like I lost control… Again."
"More than that, as far as I can tell." Charles deadpanned.
"Yeah… Sorry." Gavin sighed sheepishly.
"You were not in your right mind at the time, so I'll let it slide. But I must urge you to keep yourself in control, do not let this become a pattern." The man told him.
"I can't promise anything, there. It feels like my seals are starting to possibly fail." The young pseudo vampire replied as another migraine suddenly struck him, causing him to wince and hold his head.
Xavier nodded as he rolled over to the boy as he let the man probe his mind. As the man looked through it, he saw four gates, each with the numbers 3-0 on them, and they seemed to be slowly crumbling. When he tried to continue forward, a powerful presence forced him out of the boy's mind as he reeled back.
The elder telepath took a moment to clear up his head. After that, he addressed Gavin.
"You're right, Gavin. Your seals are starting to fail, most likely from releasing them so frequently." He explained, causing Gavin to look alarmed.
"Oh no… If they all fail at once, I'll end up being forced to my level zero personality." He said in a dire tone, getting some worried looks from everyone.
"Then I suggest we work on your fighting so that you won't have to release your seals until they are fixed." Xavier nodded.
"Right." The boy agreed.
(The Next Day)
-Chelsea's room-
Chelsea slowly woke up as she stretched and felt the effects of a hangover settle in, causing her to grasp her head in pain.
"Ugh, I should've taken it easy on those drinks." She groaned. Looking around the room, she saw how much it felt like a home. She then noticed the hangover medicine on the desk and rushed over to it.
"Oh sweet Jesus, thank you!" She said as she immediately downed a few pills. Then she noticed the note next to it.
'Chelsea, here's some Tylenol for your hangover. We had a brief visit from HYDRA last night because I forgot to check you for tracking devices, but we were able to get rid of them. Come down to eat something, and after you've eaten come to our med bay so we can get that tracker removed. - Logan.' It read.
The dragoness sighed in relief. "Looks like I made the right choice by coming here." She sighed as she put on her jacket and walked downstairs, but suddenly had to duck when a small, and furry flying object buzzed over her head.
"What the hell?!" She gasped as she saw what it was, it was a fuzzy brown bat. "A bat? Where'd it come from?"
As if the whole thing was staged, a voice called out to the bat from behind her.
"Brownie, get back here!" Gavin called, causing Chelsea to look in his direction. The boy immediately turned to smoke and caught the little animal while avoiding the woman's head.
"Gotcha!" He smirked as the little flying mammal chittered at him angrily. "Don't gimme that shit. You know you gotta take a bath, and you know I'm not gonna let you fly around here while you're dirty and get everyone sick."
"What the heck am I looking at here?" Chelsea wondered as she scratched her head, causing Gavin to look in her direction.
"Oh, you're awake. Welcome to the Institute." He greeted her with a small bow.
The woman looked him over and noted that he was obviously of Japanese, but also obviously a mixed race kid, noticing subtle differences such as lighter hair and eye color being red, which was an extremely rare trait usually only found in people of European descent.
"So I'm guessing you're Gavin, right? Logan mentioned there was a half Japanese kid here." She said simply.
Gavin looked at her with a bit of surprise. "Huh, astute observation there. But yeah, I'm Gavin, and the little furball here that doesn't want his bath is Brownie, my pet bat." He said as he introduced himself and his pet, who chittered indignantly at him for the way he was introduced.
"Nice. Say, any chance ya could show me where I can get something to eat around here?" The woman asked before clutching her head. "And maybe some coffee?"
"Sure, right this way." He nodded, leading her to the Institute's kitchen where everyone was having Saturday morning brunch. "You're in luck, today is brunch, and the Prof pulls out all the stops for it every time." The boy smirked as he licked his elongated fangs, which his little furry companion copied as it rested on his shoulder.
"Ugh, brunch sounds so fucking good right now." Chelsea groaned with a look of bliss on her face as her stomach rumbled with hunger.
As the two sat down Gavin took a seat next to Rogue and Chelsea sat next to Logan. Everyone looked at the Dragoness and all waved at her.
"Like, hey Chelsea! So glad you were finally able to make it!" Kitty smiled at the woman.
"Hey, Kitty. Nice to know I've got a few familiar faces around." The blonde responded with a smile of her own.
"Wait, y'all know each other?" Rogue asked.
"We met during that little scenario at Mt. McKenna. Same with Kurt, too." Kitty explained.
"Yeah. She vas actually in dragon mode vhen she saved me from Sabertooth. I vas actually worried I vould get eaten." He said with a small shiver.
"Nah, I make it a rule to never eat anything that can talk back to me. Plus, your fur would've just gotten stuck in my teeth." Chelsea chuckled darkly as she started to chow down on a stack of waffles, large links of sausage, bacon, and a fully loaded omelet with smoked salmon on top. As well as chugging down several mugs of coffee.
"... Yup, she's part dragon alright." Gavin deadpanned, getting almost everyone else to agree.
"You're one to talk, man. I'm still trying to hide those puncture wounds you gave my neck last week. Next time, keep your fangs to yourself." Evan complained, rubbing his neck.
"That may have been an early sign of his seals starting to fail." Jean mused as she ate some eggs.
"Seals?" Chelsea asked, pausing in her ravenous consumption of the food present on the table.
"Yes, It has recently been discovered that Gavin… Is not exactly what you'd call normal, even by mutant standards." Ororo stated.
"That's an understatement." Scott said, getting an elbow to the ribs from Jean as she gestured to the pseudo vampire who had stopped eating and looked upset, Brownie trying to cheer him up by nuzzling his chin.
"Yes, as of yesterday, I have confirmed my suspicions that Gavin is indeed, an Omega Level mutant." Xavier nodded.
Everyone went quiet when that was mentioned. Chelsea though, seemed confused. "Wait, what's an Omega Level mutant?" She asked.
"Mutants are at that level have powers that are very near cosmic level, and Gavin's is particularly interesting because in order to keep him from going through a form of crippling psychosis, his mother had several mental blocks put on him by a Telepathic psychiatrist, these seals keep his various sides of his personality and levels of power at bay." Xavier explained. "The more levels are released, the more 'unhinged' he becomes."
"Do I want to know how unhinged he becomes?" Chelsea asked, slightly shuddering at the mention of telepaths.
"Trust me, you don't." Gavin grumbled as he begrudgingly started to eat and Rogue put a hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner.
"So, what are your powers, kid?" She asked.
"I got retractable vampire fangs that drain vitality, enhanced strength, agility, durability, speed, senses (especially hearing), a Healing factor and I can also turn into smoke." Gavin told her, his fangs visible as he ate.
Chelsea was surprised by this. "So you're a mutant vampire, huh? Cool."
The brunch went on without much else happening, except maybe Scott being chewed out by Jean about what he said to Gavin and Chelsea mentioning that she wasn't too fond of telepaths due to some bad experiences with one when she was still in HYDRA's grasp.
Afterwards, Chelsea went down to the med bay and met Charles in an operation room where she was in a hospital gown, getting an X-ray to find the tracker.
"So, where is it?" Chelsea asked as she laid down on an examination table.
"Just below your right shoulder blade. We should be able to get it out in a few minutes." Charles told her as he gave her the needed anesthesia.
The dragoness slowly felt herself drift off to sleep as the chemicals took effect.
(Chelsea's dream)
The woman looked around and saw that she was in some sort of vat of liquid and her body was only covered by a silver lycra skirt that was very short and barely contained her lower assets and a small wrap around her breasts, which barely contained her C-cup rack. Tubes were all over her body and a respirator was in her mouth.
She tried to struggle and get free but her arms, legs and neck were chained into place. The woman looked down and saw a man in a lab coat with glasses and greasy hair looking at her.
"Hello, subject Tiamat. Ready for today's treatment?" He asked as he waved a finger over a control panel.
Chelsea tried to scream as she kept struggling, knowing what was coming, she screamed and squirmed, she wanted, no, she needed to get out of there fast, anything to get away from what was about to happen.
The man's finger hit a button on the control panel, causing electricity to course through the green liquid and shock her, making her stiffen, then a red liquid flowed through the tubes and into her body. This caused her to scream in pain as she felt her body start to change and alter before everything went black.
(Back in reality)
Chelsea shot up as she felt her body to make sure nothing happened, before realizing where she was, she was in a set of pajamas and in her new room.
The woman put her hand on her head as she felt where the tracking device was, noticing it was replaced by a small piece of bandage. She removed it, revealing that the opening was already healed.
She then looked down at her body, which was larger in certain areas than in the dream. "Damn you, Rowner… Why can't I just forget you?" She groaned as she laid down on her side. She then looked at the Institute business card Bast gave her which was on her night stand. "Miss you already Bast, thanks for helping me get here." She sighed as she fell asleep.
(Elsewhere)
A cat woman in a shroud was in New York and working at a homeless shelter before she sneezed. As she wiped her nose she looked up at the sky.
"Someone's talking about me… Wonder if it was Chelsea?" She wondered aloud as she went back to work.