Chapter 29: Adrift Amongst the Waves
Months had passed since Logan and Chelsea had 'officially' started dating. A revelation that made everyone else at the Institute happy for the two, especially Bast, Kai and Gavin since they always thought the two were practically made for each other.
Right now, it was the month of December and the winter cold had set in and white powdery snow had fallen all over the mansion. Everyone else was really happy about it, especially Kai who'd never seen snow before. Well, everyone except Chelsea, who's reptilian mutation made her become very sluggish and made her sleep in until noon most days, and she spent most of her time inside near heating sources to work on her school work while Gavin gave her hot chocolate to help her out a bit.
Speaking of the pseudo vampire, even after his little episode, he still showed signs of being affected even when he was in school. Rogue didn't hesitate to spend every moment she could spare with him. When his mother heard about what had happened, she almost broke several speed limits in a panic on her way to the Institute to comfort her son.
"Thanks for coming, mom." Gavin sighed as he laid his head on her shoulder, his eyes closed as he enjoyed his mother's embrace.
"Of course baby." She told him as she stroked his head. Right at that moment, Chelsea was entering the room with Bast behind her, the latter trying to help the former not fall over from grogginess.
"Hey guys." The groggy dragoness greeted tiredly.
"Hello." Amanda Shirakumo said as she got up. "I don't believe we've met, I'm Amanda, Gavin and Devin's mother."
"Chelsea *yawn* Marks. I'm one of the teachers here." The woman said before she gestured to Bast. "This is Bast, she's the Institute's nurse."
"Your son's kinda become like a little brother to Chelsea here, she's pretty protective towards him." Bast chuckled as her cat tail wiggled around.
"I bet." Amanda chuckled in agreement. "If she wasn't in her current state, I'd snap her damn neck." She added with an angry look, referring to Mystique and how she was pregnant with her grandson.
"Oh trust me Amanda, we were all upset." Chelsea nodded. "I personally was absolutely livid."
Amanda seemed to be glad that they were on the same page. "If I may ask, what is your… Mutation, exactly?" She asked the blonde and middle Eastern woman.
"Well, I'm part cat, but that's pretty obvious." Bast replied as she gestured to her body, Amanda looking like she wanted to nuzzle the anthropomorphic cat woman, but resisted.
"Mine basically makes me *yawn* part reptile, but I'm a dragon when I transform. It's part of the reason I'm so *yawn* tired." Chelsea explained through a few yawns.
"Oh." The woman nodded before Kurt suddenly walked in, his image inducer causing him to appear very… Well, fat.
This sight caused Gavin to start laughing as he rolled right off the couch. Kurt looked over at them in confusion. "Vhat's so funny?" He asked.
"You're so damn fat!" Gavin replied through his laughter.
"Huh?" The fuzzy mutant said as he looked down. "Oh." He nodded as he turned his appearance back to normal. Then he noticed Amanda. "Hello, I'm Kurt Vagner, who are you?" The boy asked her.
"Amanda, I'm Gavin and Devin's mother." The woman told him. "I take it you're that Mystique woman's son, right?"
"Unfortunately." He replied with a sour face as he looked off to the side. He then sighed. "I don't even know vhat got into her head, and if I'm being honest, I don't vant to know."
"I can understand that." Amanda nodded.
"I'm gonna go get some hot chocolate, wanna come?" Gavin asked the group as he got up.
"Oh, I could go for some of that right now." The tired blonde moaned in delight at the mention of winter's traditional drink.
"I'll have mine with coffee." Bast nodded.
"Same." Kurt added.
As the group entered the kitchen, they saw Logan and Jean in there already. Chelsea decided to sit next to Logan as Gavin poured her some hot chocolate while Amanda decided to sit with Bast and Jean, and Kurt sat on the counter with Gavin. As they were in there, Devin entered just as a report of a tropical storm named Ghideon had just been upgraded to a category one hurricane and had made landfall in Hawaii.
"Wait, isn't Scott over there visiting his brother?" Kurt asked.
"If I recall correctly, that's exactly where they are." Devin nodded before his face contorted as he tried to hold in a laugh. "Kurt… What on earth did you do to your head?"
His words caused everyone to look at the blue furball. Upon seeing what happened to him, Amanda had to try her best to stifle her giggle, Jean looked shocked, Bast was chuckling along with Chelsea and Logan was grinning in amusement.
Gavin laughed until he accidentally stubbed his toe on the counter, causing him to yelp and hop around as his foot throbbed in pain. And surprisingly enough, Devin started to do the same thing, as if he felt his brother's pain as well.
"What's up with you two?" Chelsea asked as she sipped her cocoa.
"It's the twin jinx." Amanda explained. "Every time these two feel pain within a foot of each other, one feels the other's pain and vice versa."
"I thought that was a myth." Jean inputted.
"Oh it's real, my sister Barbara and I are the same way." The woman explained.
"Well that's weird as fuck." Chelsea noted as the boys calmed down.
"You guys don't think Scott was dumb enough to go surfing in that weather, do you?" Jean asked, changing the topic.
"Scott? Hell no, he's too much of a stickler." Gavin said.
"Gavin!" His mother hissed angrily.
"What? He is. Alex though? I'll bet my whole collection of Vampirella the Vampire Queen comics that he's out there right now." The boy continued.
"I do hope you're wrong about that." Bast commented in concern.
"Ditto." Chelsea replied with a yawn.
After getting warmed up, they all went outside and saw the rest of the residents of the mansion in the middle of a snowball fight that was being supervised by Beast.
"Hey guys, what's goin-WHOA!" The pseudo vampire said before he had to duck so he could avoid getting hit with a snowball, only for it to hit Chelsea dead center in the face. Everyone froze where they stood as they looked at the dragoness nervously. Seconds passed before she… fell backwards and started snoring.
"Cold temperatures… it really does knock her out." Gavin said as he then got an idea. "Hey guys, help me move her into the snow." The New Mutants all chuckled as they helped him drag the blonde into the snow and then Jamie and Kai started helping them bury and pack her into a covering of snow, which they shaped to look like an angel.
Amanda could only shake her head with a chuckle at her son's antics as she watched him and his friends work.
"Do you think she'll be alright?" Devin asked Bast. "I mean she is technically part reptile."
"She's still warm blooded, she'll be fine as long as we make sure to wake her up later." The cat woman said.
"Alright." The metal mutant said with a bit of wariness about leaving Chelsea buried in snow.
After that was finished the snowball fight resumed, Rogue even joining in for a bit until they all took a break after Beast turned it into a 'mutant' snowball fight.
"Ah'm Anne Marie, but everyone calls me Rogue. It's nice to meet you, Miss Shirakumo." Rogue said as she introduced herself to the woman.
"It's nice to meet you too, dear. Gavin's told me so much about you." The woman smiled. "I must admit Rogue, the way he described how you looked, I was expecting to seem a little less… Well, cheerful. It's honestly surprising."
"Well, when Ah joined the Institute, Ah was pretty closed off. But thanks to Gavin and the others, that's started to really change." The southern girl said while stroking her hair, which was now long enough to reach the back of her shoulders.
"And the results show." Amanda nodded. "So… Not to sound like an overbearing mother, Rogue, but I don't suppose you and Gavin have started dating by any chance?"
The question made Rogue look at her in surprise before she started blushing lightly. "N-no, we're not." She stuttered… Though for some reason, the idea sounded appealing to her.
Gavin whipped his head around as soon as he heard that, his long black hair accidentally smacking Jean in the face. "Mom! Don't say stuff like that, it's weird! Sorry, Jean." He said before apologizing to the telepath.
"Oh don't even start. It's my job as your mother to know these things." The woman said matter of factly, all the while Devin was chuckling.
Gavin glared at his brother. "What's so funny?"
"Just how childish you're acting." He replied.
"This coming from a guy whose head over heels for his Adrenaline Junky friend, Roxy?" The pseudo vampire retorted, causing Amanda to look at him curiously.
"Oh really, now? Devin, is this true?" The mother of the two asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I-Don't know what you're talking about. Roxy and I are just friends, that's all." The Metal user denied with crossed arms.
"Mhm, suuuuuuure…" Amanda drawled, not buying it.
Right at that moment though, they were interrupted when Evan came outside. "Guys, I think you better have a look at this!" He said, pointing inside.
This caused Chelsea to wake up, finally, and found that she couldn't move and was surrounded by snow. "Okay, what the hell…?!" She growled tiredly.
"No time, come on let's go." Gavin said, which made the woman groan and breath fire on the snow to get out. After she was out, everyone quickly followed Evan inside and saw Ororo and Charles watching a news report, one saying that two boys were lost at sea as Hurricane Ghideon became a Category 3.
"Ororo, prepare the X-Jet." Charles ordered.
"Should we go with you?" Gavin asked.
"No, it's too dangerous." Xavier explained before turning to Amanda. "Besides, you and your mother still have a good bit of catching up to do."
"At least take me with ya, Chuck." Chelsea said. "I really need to get away from this cold weather."
The telepathic man looked at her and saw how desperate she was for a warmer climate. "Fair enough, I suppose." He nodded as they got ready to leave.
As soon as they left, Sam and Jamie came in with some snacks, one of which was a plate of garlic butter Texas toast. Gavin immediately turned the latter down and just took the offered PB&J crackers.
"Sorry, I'm allergic." He told the living cannonball.
"Oh. Sorry about that." Jamie replied.
"Wait, seriously?" Sam chuckled.
"Oh yes." Amanda added in. "It's genetic, his aunt has the same allergy. If they even swallow a little bit of garlic they…" She then puffed her face up to imitate swelling. "Puff up like a balloon."
"Oh." The two kids said before they all started to chuckle at the woman's face.
"Mom!" The boy snapped with an embarrassed blush, Rogue giggling beside him.
(Elsewhere)
-Oceans of Hawaii-
Scott gritted his teeth as he tried to keep a hold of Alex. What was supposed to be a simple surfing session turned into a fight to stay alive amongst the waves, and to make matters worse, they were right in the middle of a hurricane! The shaded teen just hoped funnel clouds didn't start forming.
"You and your big storms make massive breakers." He said to his younger brother.
"Hey, what can I say? Beach bums for life, bro." Alex chuckled nervously.
This moment of levity was ruined however when a massive funnel ground slammed down onto the water's surface, funneling and dragging them in. The boys struggled as the water pulled them in, but just when things seemed dire, the X-Jet appeared.
Storm stood on the roof as she opened the funnel cloud to stop its rampage, as she held it open, the bay door opened as Jean stood there and Chelsea turned into her dragon form to fly her over the boys so she could lift them onto the blonde dragoness's back.
Jean concentrated as hard as she could on getting the boys onto Chelsea's back while said dragoness tried her best to not let the winds knock her around. After the boys were successfully on her back, she carried them over to the open hatch of the X-Jet so they could at least dry off. After that, the blonde changed back to normal and got inside of the aircraft herself.
With that, they flew back to the Institute… Though Chelsea wasn't looking forward to the cold, if she had to be honest.
A couple hours later, the Twins and the others went to go see Scott in the infirmary, and Kurt got his watch back from the professor after he fixed it.
"Open wide." Jean told Scott like she was talking to a child.
"Jean, I'm not a little kid." The teen told her as he ate what she was giving her.
"You feeling alright?" Kurt asked as he activated his watch, causing everyone to chuckle at what the image inducer made him look like.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking… Ma'am." Scott replied with a grin.
"Ma'am? Vhat are talking about-?" He asked before he looked in the room's mirror. "AAAAAAGHHH!" He yelled as he saw that his hologram made him look like a girl version of himself, which really looked a lot like a younger Mystique. "Professor!" He yelled at the man as everyone burst out laughing.
"I'm sorry, Kurt. I-I couldn't resist." Charles confessed with a smile.
Kurt just decided to laugh along as everyone was finally able to enjoy the rest of the day.
(Elsewhere)
Mystique was in an apartment she'd been staying in for the last few months on the couch in the living room, her blue skinned stomach being very swollen as she was currently five months pregnant. She smiled happily as she stroked her belly.
"Ah, I've been wanting to re-experience this feeling for a very long time." She cooed as she felt her child grow inside her.
Though her musings were cut short when her lights flickered and a magnetic wave swept over the room. She looked around warily as she held her stomach protectively.
Then the door opened, showing none other than Magneto, who was currently dressed in a black suit and a trench coat, a fedora on his head.
"Mystique. You certainly have changed." The man said as he stepped inside, which caused Mystique to cover her swollen belly protectively, a glare shivering across her features.
"What do you want, Magneto?" She growled.
The man stepped forward as he knelt down and stroked her stomach. "I've almost forgotten about how wonderful the miracle of life is." He sighed, before looking at her seriously. "What are you getting at, using one of Xavier's students to sire your spawn? Do you realize what could happen if they retaliate?" He hissed.
"They won't." The shapeshifter replied firmly.
"For now, obviously. But they could retaliate with extreme prejudice after the child is born! Did that occur to you?!" He hissed once more.
"Of course. But they still won't, because I will give my child's dear father a choice: do me one favor and have his child given to him unharmed or else." She stated. Magneto then sighed.
"This will make you one of their most hated enemies, even among your own children. You know this, correct?" He asked tiredly.
"Oh it will only be a ruse, I assure you." Mystique corrected while smiling down at the unborn child in her body. "I will never harm this child. With my superior genes and young Gavin's Omega Level X-gene, our child will be unstoppable. Besides." She then glared at the man angrily. "I've already seen a child of mine hurt, and I hated it." She said, referring to what Magneto did to Kurt.
"At least progress was made." The magnetic man defended.
"I'd hardly call what you did progress!" The woman nearly shouted at him.
"And how is what you did so different?" Magnus questioned.
"I saw how that boy looks at Rogue, and knowing her this will most likely drive the two closer together, which will work to my advantage greatly. And if I can contribute a powerful new mutant to our race and further my own plans at the same time? Well, then that's even better." Mystique stated.
"I do hope this goes the way you hope it will. If it doesn't, there will be hell to pay in the eyes of Xavier's students and faculty alike." Magneto said.
"I'm not worried." The woman said nonchalantly. Without another word, Magneto left. Mystique smiled down at her unborn child in her womb. "Sleep well, my darling little one. Your mother anxiously awaits your arrival." She cooed with a smile. Inside her belly, the baby moved around in response, nuzzling against its mother's hand outside of its resting place.
And the odd thing was, Risty had actually still been going to school for the past few months, so that begged the question: if Mystique was Risty, how is she hiding her secret?
Dragon Emperor0: And so guys, looks like I was finally able to implement several different things in the story that I had been meaning to for awhile. (Ie: Chelsea's hibernation in cold temperatures, Gavin's garlic allergy, the Twin's jinx, and of course how Amanda interacts with her sons)
ThermalsniperN7: Let's not forget about her reaction to what Mystique did to Gavin. A bit late, sure, but it's there.
Dragon Emperor0: Plus, Logan and Chelsea are finally an item, took over 13 chapters but it happened. Now where will things go from here I wonder…? Hmmm.
ThermalsniperN7/Dragon Emperor0: Anyway, see you guys next chapter.