X-Men: New Class

by Ambaryerno

Set in the Earth-10005 Universe, a new class of students arrives at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. Inspired by Agents of SHIELD, X-Men: New Class loosely adapts Kyle and Yost's New X-Men as a hypothetical live-action television series. (Note: This story only accounts for up to X-Men: Days of Future Past, and will not be updated for Apocalypse)

4. 1x04 - Grounded

1x04

Grounded

###

Act I

###

"I can't believe we've got to spend the weekend in a classroom," Julian said as he made his way down the dormitory hallway with Santo and Victor walking along beside him. He wasn't in a particular hurry to leave his room that morning, knowing the new student advisor was waiting to suck eight hours of his life away. Neither he, Victor nor Santo had much of an opportunity to interact with her over the past week, and he certainly didn't have much interest in it. The whole concept of her trying to be their "friend" was way too teen drama for his tastes. He got enough of that watching television with Sofia to want to deal with it in real life.

Victor shrugged. "Considering we could be sitting in jail right now I think we got off easy."

Julian scowled at that. Those DeWitt kids had been looking for trouble, and no matter what he did they would have grabbed for any excuse they could get their hands on to start a fight. Granted he was more than willing to give them one back, but that wasn't the point. Besides, he didn't steal a damn car. That honor went to the bit of crazy he saw emerging from a room up ahead, dressed all in black (of course she was, did she even see color?); black jeans, black tube top, black half-sleeves from wrist to elbow, black choker with golden locket she never seemed to take off… The only other bit of color she had was the green eyes that immediately snapped in their direction.

"Hey, all I really did was get thrown through a window," he said. "She's the one who stole a car and went all The Fast and the Furious across Salem Center." He jerked his thumb towards Laura.

"That reminds me, if we ever decide to switch from Team Fortress to a racing league I vote we grab her before Nori does," Victor said. "We can't lose."

Julian glared at him. "I already don't even want to share a classroom with her for eight hours. Hell, no one even wants to share a dorm with her." He didn't bother lowering his voice for that, earning him a disapproving glare from Victor, but if Laura heard him she didn't show it and just pressed herself against the wall to give them room to pass.

"You could show at least a little gratitude. She's the one who got us out of your riot."

Santo grunted. "Who asked her? I was having a blast. Well, at least until those kids introduced Julian to the window." They turned at the end of the hall and made their way downstairs. "Ok, and I'll admit the police chase was pretty damn awesome. It was like being in an episode of Cops. I'd love to know where she learned to drive like that," the big mutant added.

"I'd still like to know where the hell you get clothes that actually fit," Julian said. "I envision terrified Big and Tall store clerks running screaming from the building. But that still doesn't mean I care enough to ask."

"Aw, I thought you dug my style."

Julian rolled his eyes. "I do know this: There's no way in hell I'm leaving my door unlocked with her around. She's already stolen a car, who knows what else she might walk off with."

"You've got to be kidding," Victor said incredulously. "You really think she'd break into your room?"

Julian shrugged as they passed the hall leading to the West classroom and entered the lounge. No way was he going to detention on an empty stomach. "What does anyone even know about her? She can hotwire a car and pick the driver's door. And she's always wearing the Wolverine's jacket, how much you want to bet he caught her trying to rob him."

"I don't know," Santo said doubtfully. "She's awfully…alive for that. And in one piece, even if it is a bite-sized one."

Victor rubbed his scaly forehead. "You're an incredible human being, Julian. Is everyone who doesn't have mommy and daddy paying their way a criminal to you? You did the same thing with Nori."

"And I wasn't all wrong then, either. If you don't want to believe me, fine," he said. "But I get to say 'I told you so,' when stuff comes up missing."

"I'd say it's more of an 'if'. And a big 'if' at that."

"If. When. Whatever. The point I'm trying to make is—"

Victor grabbed him by the arm and brought him up short, spitting him with as fierce a glare as Julian had ever seen. "The point you're trying to make is that you think you can judge everyone. Whether you want to admit it or not, Laura saved all our asses last weekend. You're lucky you just walked away from that fight with a few scratches and a busted up jaw. Santo's lucky he didn't kill anybody when he lost his cool. I'm lucky you stirring up trouble with those DeWitt kids didn't get us all locked up."

Julian threw his hand off his arm. "What the hell is your problem this morning?"

"My problem is that I've got to spend eight hours cooped up in a room with you over a fight you started and are too pig-headed to realize and take responsibility for. I enjoy tweaking normals when they come looking for trouble as much as the next mutant, but you pushed things too far."

"I didn't push anything. Those kids wanted a fight and I gave them one."

Victor threw his hands up in the air and growled in exasperation. "You know what, I'm not all that hungry. I'll see you in detention. I think I've had my fill of your self-righteous ego for right now."

He turned and stormed out of the lounge, leaving him and Santo alone. Julian looked up at the big mutant and shrugged helplessly.

"What the hell did I say?"

###

Nori made a final adjustment to the fall of her hair and regarded herself in her bedroom mirror. She hated being stuck having to work on a Saturday, so she might as well look good while she was at it. Fortunately, Luna was fairly lax on dress code and encouraged her employees to express their personal styles, so at least she didn't have to deal with tasteless uniforms. She was actually surprised Luna didn't cancel her shift altogether after the trouble last weekend, but a call never came, so here she was getting ready to catch the shuttle.

Sooraya was up as well, already in her abaya but with her face uncovered, sitting in front of her own mirror and brushing out long hair the color of dark chocolate. Without her niqab masking her face she really was quite a pretty girl, with finely shaped features and large, dark, almond-shaped eyes. More reason Nori just didn't understand why she would hide behind such a deceptively barbaric thing.

"I don't get why you bother," Nori said, giving voice to the thought. She watched her from the end of her bed while she slipped on a pair of heels. "No one's going to see it, anyway."

Sooraya didn't stop tending her hair, or even turn to face her. "Adherence to hijab does not mean one does not take care of oneself," she said.

"Yeah, but no one's going to see it."

She sighed impatiently, set the brush down on the dresser and turned to face her. "Is how others see you all that matters? Is simple cleanliness and hygiene not important?"

Nori made a face. "No, I'm not saying that. Ugh, I couldn't go a day without a shower even if it is like throwing a toaster into the tub whenever I go in there, but you take too much care of yourself and are too pretty to keep hiding it."

"How many times must we tread this ground? You focus too much on what others think of you. I am satisfied with myself as Allah made me, and will respect that by taking care of what I was given."

"Yeah, and then you go and hide what he gave you from everyone else. Don't you think he'd want his handiwork to be seen?"

Sooraya rolled her eyes in exasperation and turned back to her mirror to resume brushing her hair. "That would be vanity."

Nori threw up her hands in disgust. "You are impossible."

She finished and laid her brush down. "No, I am content. In trusting Allah I need not concern myself with what others think, and obsess over such trivial things as appearance."

"Hah! I wonder what Allah thinks of your spending time in detention today. For all your preaching that comes across as hypocrisy to me."

Sooraya picked up her niqab and slipped it on over her head, adjusting it carefully so she could see clearly while still ensuring she was properly covered. "I never preach, for I respect your right to believe what you wish. I accept the punishment Professor Xavier meted out because I was complicit in what happened, however small my role."

"Yeah, I heard Laura stole a car. Don't you people cut off hands for that sort of thing?"

Sooraya turned and faced her with a glare. "That is Medieval barbarism."

"So is walking up and shooting a girl in the head just for going to school, or cutting off their daughters' for rejecting an arranged marriage."

"Need I remind you of your own people's not-so-distant history? Of the women enslaved for the pleasure of soldiers, or the execution, starvation and torture of prisoners of war because they were deemed less than human and dishonored by capture?"

Nori felt her power crackle at that, and it took a great deal of effort to allow the massive electrical surge building in her body to discharge harmlessly into her gauntlets rather than lash out with it. "That was seventy years ago," she snapped, feeling her face heat. "My parents hadn't even been born yet."

"And I lost my family to the same monsters with whom you would associate all who follow my faith." Sooraya quickly rose to her feet. "Judge the ones who wield the sword, Noriko, don't lay blame blindly for no better reason than association. We face enough of that in our lives as it is." She started for the door and added, almost as if as a parting shot, "May Allah grant you a blessed day."

And then she was gone, and Nori was left alone in their room trying to decide whether that was sarcasm she heard in the other girl's voice.

###

Sooraya closed the door behind her, her temper getting the better of her in the form of a stream of Arabic invective. She closed her eyes and took a deep, steadying breath to forcibly release her anger while mentally begging Allah for the strength not to scour Nori's flesh from her bones, and forgiveness for having such a thought in the first place.

And as she opened her eyes again she nearly jumped straight out of her abaya when she saw Laura standing in front of her, having not even heard her approach.

"Oh! Laura," she said in surprise. Sooraya straightened out her abaya. "Good morning, I hope you slept well."

Laura cocked her head, her green eyes studying her curiously. "My sleep was undisturbed," she said, and an odd look passed across her features. "I startled you." She made that last part a statement of fact.

Sooraya smiled. "I merely did not see you there, and I apologize if I nearly ran you down just now."

"You did not," she said. Sooraya nodded and the pair started down the dormitory hallway together. "You are upset this morning." Another statement of fact.

She shook her head. "No, not at all," Sooraya said. Laura arched an eyebrow as if she saw through the fib, and the expression drew an embarrassed sigh from her. "Noriko is merely very…certain of her worldview, and seldom allows the feelings or views of others to challenge it. Or even enter into her consideration at all."

Laura frowned and looked back to the path ahead of them. "She was disparaging of your faith." Once again, that was stated without a hint of a question.

It was Sooraya's turn to look at Laura, marveling at the astuteness of her observations. Telepathy? No, she has shown no indication of it before. Even nearly a month after arriving the girl remained strangely evasive about the nature of her mutation, and while Laura had largely attached herself to she and Cessily—Mark as well, now that Sooraya thought of it, and particularly since the events of the previous weekend—and was beginning to become more talkative around them, she continued to evade questions about who she was or where she came from.

"She was," Sooraya said, and set aside her musings. They reached the stairs leading to the sitting room and followed them down.

"That is unfortunate," she said. "Religious differences have been a significant source of violent confrontations throughout history, despite no objective means of concluding that God even exists and supports one particular system of belief over another." Laura's purely academic tone as she said that made Sooraya blink.

"You do not believe in God?" Sooraya asked, giving voice to her surprise at the other's observation.

"I…do not know," Laura said.

"Surely you must have gone to worship services when you were young."

"No." There was a hardness in her response, and though her expression was, as usual, difficult to read, Sooraya guessed she must have touched on a sensitive subject.

Sooraya considered that a moment, before continuing. "The Quran recognizes Moses and Jesus Christ as prophets of Allah, and we hold great respect for the Virgin Mary, so I see no reason why there must be so much conflict between our faiths when we are all so similar. At the risk of oversimplifying, even the division between Christian and Jew comes down in the end to the nature and identity of the Messiah." She sighed. "You are right that it is unfortunate there has been so much hatred and violence over what, in the end, amounts to mere words. My beliefs are my own, but that does not mean that it invalidates the beliefs of others. Who is to say that God cannot wear more than one face?"

Laura shrugged, and said nothing more on the subject as they turned down the hall leading to the classroom where detention would be held. "Well, I suppose that is a debate for another time," Sooraya said. She gave Laura a small smile. "This will be my first time in detention. I must admit I'm not certain what to expect."

A pained look passed across Laura's green eyes. "I have endured punishment before," she said. "I cannot say how this will compare."

Sooraya frowned at that as curiosity over Laura's past built once more, but she forced the questions to the back of her mind knowing the other girl would just find a way to evade them.

"Well, we shall see together, then," she said instead, and they headed into the classroom.

###

Act II

###

Jay Guthrie stood alone. The wind was chill and most of the trees were bare, littering the ground with a carpet of red and gold, and filling the air with the fresh scent of fallen leaves. The voices of other students enjoying their Saturday morning on the grounds of the school—since the trouble last weekend most opted to forgo the shuttle into Salem Center over the past week—echoed quietly among the trees, the only sound of life as North America continued the slow march towards its winter sleep.

His thoughts soon turned to home; the winding of the Cumberland River as it snaked across Kentucky to where it emptied into the Ohio. The coal mines where he lost his father. The hard-working blue-collar folk. His mother still running the family farm, and the seven brothers and sisters he left behind when he was sent away to school. Well, six, now: Melody had joined him here not long ago. It was her turn of course, just as he had joined Paige—though she had been teaching here for a couple years now—and Sam was likely off somewhere with the X-Men doing something important, insane, or both.

And then he thought of Julia.

Jay took a deep breath and let it out, trying his best to filter out the dull ache near his heart at memories of her. The day was bright and clear, so he shrugged off his jacket and let his wings unfold; copper-colored feathers matching his hair gleamed in the morning sun. He stretched them out to full span, relieving the slight cramp in the flight muscles along his back and shoulders from having kept them folded for much of the night and morning. Then he leapt into the air, powerful downward strokes propelling him upwards until he broke free of the empty trees and into the open air above.

He spiraled ever higher, ignoring the biting chill of the wind as he sought the freedom of the skies. He twisted and spun, a smile managing to find its way to his face at the sheer joy of something few others could experience.

"Jay!" a distant voice called from below. For most it would have been lost by distance and the rush of the wind, but not to his keen hearing adapted by mutation for just this purpose.

Jay banked and entered a slow circuit, sweeping the ground far below with keen green eyes. An occasional beat of his wings maintained his airspeed and kept him aloft. There, he saw her in a small clearing among a few oaks on a stretch of the school's property not far from where he lifted. Melody had been looking for him.

He continued to circle, not particularly inclined at that moment to end his morning flight. As if she realized what he was thinking, his sharp eyes picked out the glowing aura as his little sister gathered her power and came to him, practically exploding upwards like a rocket to hover in the center of his orbit.

"There you are!" she said, her voice colored by a slight Cumberland twang. She was fifteen and tall for her age, with long brown hair like their mother's in her youth whipping past her head from the rushing wind at their current altitude. She bobbed a bit, her control over her power not quite strong enough to perfectly correct for the subtle shifts in the wind or the turbulence he created as he circled her.

Jay smiled and threw himself through a series of loops and rolls, to annoyed shouts of "Show off!" while she turned to follow him around his circuit.

"Good mornin'," he said in his own matching drawl.

"Oh good mornin' yourself," she said, folding her arms across her chest and giving him her best angry-little-sister glare. "What are you doing out here? I thought you were takin' me into town today."

Jay rolled and danced around her. "You're still wantin' to go? Most of the others have been stickin' around the school this week."

Melody rolled her eyes. "Just because Julian Keller and his stupid friends got themselves in trouble last weekend don't have to spoil it for everyone else," she said.

Jay managed a smile at that. "Julian's pretty good at ruinin' things for lots of people."

"Yeah, well, he ain't goin' to ruin things for me." She crossed her legs beneath her Indian-style and continued to hover as she glared at him, bobbing in the wind and looking like something out of some absurd old cartoon.

He laughed. "Are you goin' to tell him so yourself?"

"I just might."

"You know he'll just tee-kay you across the grounds when you start to annoy him." He flashed a mischievous smile. "Sometimes I envy him."

"Oh very funny. Fine, if you won't take me I'll just go myself. It's barely even a mile straight flight."

"Last time you made it halfway and I had to carry you the rest of it."

She glared at him. "My power is a lot stronger now, I've been practicin'."

Jay grinned and spun around her, picking up his bearings. "Oh yeah? Prove it. Last one to the Grind Stone buys."

He rolled over and dove to the ground, accelerating rapidly for a few moments before spreading his wings and leveling out, powerful beats driving him forward as he took off towards the Southwest, not even waiting to see if Melody had started to follow.

###

Jubilee sat perched on the edge of the teacher's desk facing them, her legs crossed, and counted.

Cessily. Victor. Julian and Santo make four…

Sooraya entered with Laura, the latter's green eyes quickly darting to each person in the room and the wheels clicking behind them. What the girl was thinking Jubilee couldn't imagine, but from what little contact she'd had with her, she quickly learned that Laura's mind was constantly working on…something when she entered a room.

Sooraya and Laura. Six. All that's left is… Ah, there he is.

Mark arrived last, huffing slightly from having run from some distant part of the school to arrive just in time. He flashed a lopsided grin at her, and Jubilee held out her hand to him.

"Let's have it, Mark," she said.

He bunched his eyebrows in confusion. "Huh?"

"The iPod. You can have it back when we're done for the day."

Mark rolled his eyes and visibly deflated, drawing amused chuckles from most of the others (Laura smiled at him in a rare show of emotion, but otherwise remained silent). "Aw, man," he said as he reached into his pocket and produced it.

She set it on the desk and extended her hand once more. "The ear bud, too."

He blinked at her. "How did you…" he started, and trailed off at the knowing smirk on her lips.

"Let's go, out with it."

Mark sighed, dug into his pocket one last time, and handed her a small radio with a built-in ear bud. Jubilee chuckled and added it to the pile of other contraband next to her: a couple other MP3 players or pocket radios, two 3DSs, a PSP, more or less a smart phone for everyone, and a collection of magazines and comic books Santo had tried hiding inside his textbooks. She nodded to the rows of chairs. "Go on, have a seat," she said.

Mark stomped away in frustration at the thought of spending the next eight hours without music to entertain him, and dropped dejectedly into a desk next to Laura. Jubilee smiled and shook her head, then turned her attention to the others.

"Well, here we are," she said. "I know I don't need to tell you why you're here."

"You're not going to have us write a paper on this later, are you? Who we think we are or something stupid like that?" Julian said. He slumped in his chair and stared up at the ceiling. "This isn't the Breakfast Club."

"Oh! Oh!" Santo said excitedly, waving his hand at her. "Can I be Bender?"

Julian let out a groan and mopped his face with both hands.

"Nope. No essays, no letters. I happen to know for a fact they don't work," she said.

"Corporal punishment, then. Got your switch with you?"

A strange look passed across Laura's face at that remark and she shrunk into her chair.

"Uh, hello, this is the Twenty-First century," she said. "You don't think I'm that old do you?"

"Which answer avoids another day in lockdown?"

All of the others except Laura and Sooraya chuckled at that, and even Jubilee found a bit of amusement in the remark. Oh, this is going to be fun.

Jubilee uncrossed her legs and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and clasping her hands in front of her. "You know, I spent quite a few weekends in that chair myself," she said.

"Oh, so it's story time, then?"

She chuckled. "In fact I had the exact same problem with authority as you do."

Julian looked away from the ceiling and at her, but remained slouched casually, leaning his head on his fist. "It all makes perfect sense you'd come back as a teacher then."

Jubilee let out a sharp laugh. "Not with my grades, and considering what I put the teachers through there's no way I'd just stand up here and take it from kids like you." She raised a hand palm upward and casually called her power, and a small ball of brightly-colored plasma briefly formed in her palm with a piercing shriek that made Julian suddenly sit up a bit straighter. She gave him a wink and a smirk. "I'm sure the parents would complain about my approach to discipline." Jubilee flipped the plasma ball up into the air where it disappeared with a sharp "paf" and a flash of light.

"Oh, pretty!" Santo said.

"So don't go thinking you can give me any trouble I can't handle, dude. I've been more trouble than you can even imagine, so I know all the tricks and invented a bunch of them myself."

He smirked back at her, an arrogant twist of one corner of his lip. "Am I supposed to be impressed."

Jubilee hopped down from the desk and leaned her backside against it. "If you want to be. But I'm not here to impress you or entertain you. Just keep an eye on you. Especially you. Your reputation precedes you."

"Oh good, and here I thought this was just going to be a waste of a perfectly good Saturday."

She chuckled back at him. "Well, that all depends on what you do with it. Seeing as I've done a bit of checking up with your teachers I know most of you have class work due on Monday, so this might be a good time to be productive. Otherwise it's going to be a long eight hours."

###

This was going to be a long eight hours.

Nori leaned on the counter over the fashion mag she'd borrowed from the rack and sighed. The Grind Stone had more or less been spared from the destruction of Julian's riot, aside from one big DeWitt Clinton kid who wet himself (and left a large puddle on the floor) after being blasted across the dining room by Mark Sheppard. Most of the activity had been further east on Titicus along the strip mall, and the local cops responded with impressive speed to contain the worst of it. That no one had been seriously injured was a miracle in of itself.

That didn't prevent the mood in town this weekend from being unusually subdued. The North Salem High School football team was out of town, so there wouldn't be rowdy teenage visitors to contend with again. But at least that would have meant something going on since most of her friends had been avoiding Salem Center in the wake of the fight.

She flipped the page of the magazine and took a mental note of the projected trends for the coming Winter and Spring seasons. Most of them were overreacting, of course; Nori arrived on the shuttle and not one of the locals so much as batted an eye at her. Not that she could really blame them for their caution, though. So many of them had fallen on the bad side of the more zealous bigots they expected to see torches and pitchforks every time they stepped outside the school.

"Seeing anything good in there?" Luna said. Nori looked up to see her standing over her, one eyebrow arched high as she looked at the magazine over her shoulder.

"Nothing much so far," Nori said, not bothering to hide her boredom as she turned her attention back to the magazine.

"Well, you should probably put it back then, I'm not paying you to study fashion." Luna leaned over and tapped an outfit on one page. "Ooh, my girlfriend would look cute in that."

Nori sighed. "The counter and all the tables have been wiped down five times already. I've restocked the front and kitchen, checked the inventory, then double-checked it. And triple-checked it. I've swept the floor, cleaned the windows inside and out, and emptied the trash. And there's only been two customers this morning. It's just dead in here today."

"Yeah, well I guess people have been a bit gun shy since all the excitement last weekend," Luna said. "I couldn't help but notice your classmates have been steering clear of town."

"Most of them are afraid if they show their faces there's going to be trouble. Julian Keller is one reason why we can't have nice things." She made a face at mention of his name.

Luna folded her arms across her chest and leaned her hip into the counter. "I think most of the folks here realize that it was the city kids that were looking for a fight. How is everyone, by the way? Last I saw of Sooraya and her group was when they took off out the back, though I heard no one was hurt too badly."

"Detention," Nori said and smirked. "Two weekends of it and the Professor has them confined to the grounds during the week to keep them out of trouble. But considering it's Julian I don't think that will stop him."

Luna chuckled. "That boy's got a big chip on his shoulder. Probably couldn't hurt him to have it knocked off."

Nori groaned in disgust. "Tell me about it. I can't be in a room with him longer than five minutes without wanting to play human bug zapper with him." As if in response to that thought she felt a crackle of energy dance across her skin, and the light overhead flickered for a moment. She quickly discharged the surge of power into her gauntlets. Luna noticed the display but disregarded it without the show of fear Nori was accustomed to from others when her power activated unbidden. Her quiet tolerance of the strange things that tended to happen around students of the Xavier School was one of the things that made her café so popular among them. "I'm not sure how Sofia manages to put up with him and not send him off to Oz."

The door chime rang and a group of locals entered and approached the counter. "Lots of patience, I imagine," Luna said. "Well, looks like the break's over." She slipped the magazine out from under her and returned it to the rack. "Save it for your lunch time, hon'."

Nori rolled her eyes and got back to work.

###

"Is…um…is it supposed to be doing that?" Laurie asked.

Josh frowned at the black concoction smoking in the beaker. "Huh," he grunted. "That…wasn't what I expected."

David leaned in cautiously and peered at the reaction through his safety goggles. "Where are the lab instructions again? You measured them, right?"

"I checked them three times."

Laurie chewed her lower lip and watched them from where she was sitting, out of the way in a corner of Dr. McCoy's lab set aside as a work area for the students. Beakers, burners, test tubes and a variety of paraphernalia and apparatuses she couldn't name were neatly organized into individual workstations separated by sinks for cleaning up equipment and chemicals.

"That can't have been right," David said with a frown as he tapped the side of the beaker.

Josh scowled at the instructions as he read through them again. Laurie watched him work, his brow furrowed as he read each line of the handout and cross-checked it with his notebook. Waves of annoyance and frustration rolled off both of the boys, but she kept a tight grip on her power to keep them from overwhelming her own feelings, which were… calm, content and happy. She marveled at that. For so long after her power manifested she had been afraid of herself and others, but now…?

"What's so funny?" Josh asked her, and Laurie snapped out of her reverie to find him looking at her. She suddenly realized she was smiling at him. Laurie blushed but that just made her smile even more.

"Nothing," she said, trying to hide her expression behind her hand. "I was just thinking about something."

"Was it about this lab?" David asked. "Because I'm actually a little perturbed, here."

"No," she said, trying not to laugh at the mock-serious look Josh was giving her in response to David's single-minded focus on their experiment. "Just…thinking."

Josh grinned. "Maybe you should send some of those good vibes David's way," he said.

Laurie blushed even more fiercely and she giggled. "Um…I don't think he'd welcome these ones…"

It was Josh's turn to blush at that.

David glared at the beaker like it was Julian talking down about his power again. "We're the two smartest kids in this school," he grumbled. "You would think one of us would have figured out what went wrong."

Josh tore his eyes away from her with an effort and reluctantly turned his attention back to the failed experiment. "Temperature was fine, everything was measured out right, and we got the procedure perfect. Sometimes things just…don't do what they're supposed to. That's why we're supposed to run it five times to begin with."

"No, there's got to be a reason for it, check the math again."

Josh groaned. "Come on, David. Let's just start over and try it again as-is. I can check the notes a dozen more times and it's not going to change anything. It's futile."

David folded his arms across his chest and frowned at the beaker again as if willing their experiment to do what he wanted. "I'm a Cubs fan, Josh, I know all there is to know about futility."

"And I'm telling you it's a waste of time."

"Fine then, I'll do the math this time. You were probably too busy making eyes with Laurie and forgot to carry a digit. Where's your notebook?"

"Hey, keep your hands off my notes!" he snapped as David grabbed for the book and Josh fumbled to rescue it before his work could be poked, prodded, and filled with holes he didn't believe were really there. Unfortunately he wasn't quite fast enough and David snatched up the notebook and started thumbing through it with Josh glowering at him.

"Hm. This all looks right," David said with mild surprise.

Josh buried his face in his palm and groaned, drawing another amused giggle from Laurie as she watched them spar. Oh sure, it wasn't quite as dramatic as Santo and Victor, but watching Josh and David pick at each other could be just as entertaining.

David just looked at her impatiently. "Don't you have anything better to do? You distracting him isn't helping us get this right."

"You know her being here is the only reason I haven't gone all Neil deGrasse Tyson on you," Josh said as he snatched his notebook back.

"What, by demoting me to a dwarf planet?" David grabbed the beaker off the table and rinsed it out in the sink, taking great care to get the leftover gunk from their first attempt out.

Josh started picking through bottles of a few chemicals. Laurie couldn't see their labels, and probably wouldn't have been able to pronounce their names even if she could. "What, you don't think I could take you?"

"You're kidding, right? I'd know all your moves before you could even think it. You and Laurie are still honeymooning, I'd hate to embarrass you in front of her."

Josh peered over one of the bottles he was checking and grinned across the work area at her. She smiled back at him. "Laurie's actually my secret weapon. Plus one Morale Bonus. And she can get a literal Power of Love thing going."

"Right, so you'd cheat."

"Says the guy who skill-grabbed to help his girlfriend win a Team Fortress tournament."

David set the beaker down on the counter, and Josh started mixing the chemicals again. "That wasn't for Nori, that was to teach Julian a lesson about talking down other peoples' powers. And it was absolutely worth seeing his reaction when he lost."

"And I'm sure Nori was very appreciative later," Josh said with a wink at Laurie. She felt a subtle shift in David's mood, and though she didn't have telepathy she certainly didn't need it to know just what sort of memories Josh's comment triggered. She blushed at the sensation and forced the feelings away.

"That is none of your business," David said. He crouched over the counter to watch the reaction as Josh started mixing.

"When you two are getting a bit frisky in the lounge you kind of make it other peoples' business. How are we looking?"

A grin spread across David's face as the chemicals began to react, turning bright pink and bubbling slightly. "Beautiful, it's working."

"See? I told you my math was right." Josh winked at Laurie, and she smiled as she felt his sense of triumph wash over her.

###

Act III

###

Jay shifted the angle of his wings and beat against the rush of air to slow him as he descended towards the street below. Pedestrians making their ways along Titicus looked up and a few pointed, and with a rustle of feathers he lightly touched down on the sidewalk among them and folded his wings tightly against his back. Melody followed close behind with his jacket clutched in one hand, and she wobbled in the air as her control wavered. If anything, her arrival drew even more onlookers given her flying with no obvious means of lift or propulsion. Otherwise the locals passed them by as they saw to their own business, accustomed as they were to the mutant presence nearby, though a few younger children out on the streets watched them curiously.

Melody stumbled awkwardly as she landed and leaned an arm against him to catch her breath from the strain of the chase. "Good Lord, that was further than I thought," she panted.

Jay chuckled softly. "Do you need to sit down? You look like you're about to collapse."

"I'm fine," she said. "Here." Melody shoved his jacket into his arms. "Momma will kill you if you lose that after how much she spent on it."

He threaded his arms through the sleeves and settled it over his folded wings. "You might have actually beaten me if you hadn't stopped for it," he said.

"What do you mean, you beat me?"

Jay raised an eyebrow. "Last one to the Grind Stone, remember?"

"Oh yeah, right. Well, we're not actually there yet," she said as she took off running for the door of the café.

Her sudden movement caught him so completely by surprise that for a moment Jay just stared after her, before breaking into a run after her. That brief head start was all she needed, though, and Melody flung open the door of the café and rushed in with Jay a few steps behind her. She skittered to a stop at the counter just ahead of him, laughing when he grabbed her from behind and tried to push her behind him.

Nori just blinked at them with bemusement from behind the counter.

"First! I win!" Melody giggled.

"Cheater."

"I am not! Hey, Nori," she said.

"Are too, I said first one to the Grind Stone. You don't tack on an extra lap at the same time as you give yourself a head start."

Melody just stuck her tongue out at him and Jay grabbed her in a headlock, drawing another burst of laughter from her. "Ah! Stop it or I'll tell mom you've been mean to me!"

"Uh guys," Nori said, hiding her face in embarrassment over the pair's behavior. There were a few locals seated at a table in one corner watching the exchange with amusement. "The playground is outside, ok? This place was lucky to survive Julian, so let's not tear it up today, huh?"

Jay released his sister with a playful shove away from the counter. "Hey, Nori. Sorry, just a little wager between me and my sister, and she went and cheated."

"I did not!" Melody said again in protest.

"How's it been today?"

Nori leaned over the counter and cradled her chin in both hands. "Believe it or not this has probably been the highlight of my shift."

"Slow?"

"That would imply it was actually moving to begin with. What are you two having? It'll be nice to actually have something to do."

Melody bounded back to the counter and bounced up and down on the balls of her feet like a Jack Russell Terrier on a sugar high. "Oh! Do you still have them fruit smoothies?" she asked.

"Yeah, Luna's not planning to phase those out for the season for another week yet," Nori said.

His sister squeaked happily and clapped her hands together. "I'll take a large strawberry-kiwi!"

"As long as it's not something with caffeine, you'll end up in orbit," Jay said with a roll of his eyes. "I'll just have a regular coffee, black."

Nori chuckled as she filled the coffee grinder and started it up. "You're lucky Luna wasn't out here to hear you say that. You drive her crazy with those vanilla orders."

"You city folks can keep all that fancy stuff," he said as he watched her get his coffee brewing. "Now back home coffee is coffee. Our mom's you have to beat into submission first before it lets you pour it out of the pot. And then it fights you goin' down."

"That's how dad liked it," Melody said, watching impatiently while Nori moved on to adding the fruit for her smoothie to the milk and ice already in the processor, and started it up. The soft whir of the machine filled the café and was like music to his sister's ears. "He gave me a sip once and it nearly put me through the roof, but he always said he could never wake up in the mornin' to work the mines without mom's coffee kickin' him in the butt."

Nori finished mixing the smoothie, capped it and set it on the counter, then rang them up while Jay's coffee bubbled in the pot behind her. "Just the drinks today?" she asked. Jay nodded. "That's $6.20."

Melody eyed him. "Remember, you lost," she said.

Jay sighed and rolled his eyes, and pulled out his wallet to pay. "I look forward to the day the others start to manifest so you can get to put up with an annoyin' little brother or sister."

"Oh, I'll just point 'em to you and let you deal with it."

"You know, you're right. I should just have Paige take care of you instead…"

Melody stuck her straw in her smoothie and took a drink. "Well you're no fun if you gotta go and bring Paige into it. And I thought you didn't have a sense of humor."

Jay rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Ugh, you don't have any siblings, do you, Nori?"

An odd look passed across her face for a moment, but she quickly shook it off. "I don't have any family to speak of," she said.

"I like to think that nothin's more important than family," he said with an annoyed look at Melody, "but then there's times like this…"

"Oh don't be such a grump," Melody said, and socked him hard in the shoulder.

Nori smirked. "That would be a change of pace."

Melody rolled her eyes. "Oh, I know! Do you know how hard it is to get him to smile for more than a few minutes?"

"I didn't know he could." His coffee finished brewing and Nori poured it into a cup for him and set it on the counter. "I swear he and that new girl are fighting to see who can be the gloomiest this year."

"She wins," he said after a careful sip of his coffee.

"Yeah, I won't debate that. But still, what's up? I mean the others have to pretty much twist your arm to get you to join in with anything."

Jay looked at Melody. "I'm goin' to find us a table," he said without answering, and left the two girls at the counter.

"Well, that was kinda rude," he heard Nori say at his back.

"Nori…It's kind of a personal thing," Melody replied solemnly. "I'd let it go."

Jay left them to talk and found a seat near the window, and let himself drift off into happier memories while he nursed his coffee.

###

Kevin pulled his long jacket tighter around him, his hands thrust into his pockets. The groundskeepers had not yet cleared this more isolated part of the grounds, and a carpet of red and gold crunched underfoot as he made his way among one of the many small copses of trees dotting the school's property. The wind was fresh and cold, and bit at the bare skin of his face. Winter would soon be on them, and while most of the students enjoyed the colors of fall, Kevin only saw death and decay; the naked trees rising from browning grass like gnarled and twisted skeletons, and the fallen leaves beginning to molder away into nothing as they awaited raking and bagging. The distant echoes of others enjoying the brisk fall air only served to emphasize the emptiness here.

He approached one of the trees and studied it for a moment, the branches splitting off the trunk like skeletal fingers, the rough bark like dead skin.

Kevin closed his eyes and withdrew his bare hands from his pockets. He flexed his fingers, balling and relaxing his fists a couple times as he sought his power. He knew it was there, he could feel it churning inside him, but it was elusive, slipping from his grasp whenever he sought it…there! He had it!

His brow knitted in concentration as he focused his hold over his power. He reached out with one hand and laid it on the trunk of the tree. For a moment nothing happened, and Kevin allowed a smile to break out on his features. He felt the rough textures of the bark, felt it alive beneath his hand.

And then it all went horribly wrong.

A low, venomous hiss filled the air, and his smile faded as he felt the bark of the tree crack and split beneath his touch. Sap oozed from the wound and blackened and smoked as it came into contact with his bare skin. Dismayed, Kevin didn't let go at first, seeking desperately for the fleeting grip he had managed to take over his power, but it wouldn't come again. His hand began to sink into the tree as the woody fibers bubbled, liquefied and then turned to dust, and it took a great effort to tear himself free again.

For a moment he just stood there staring at the ugly black wound scored into the trunk of the tree. The stench of decay filled the air, and he felt sick as the mess of rotted, ruined fibers gazed accusingly back at him. Kevin sunk to his knees and balled his hands into fists, and for some time all he could do was kneel before the tree in defeat.

###

The lounge was more crowded than usual for lunch on Saturday by the time he made it back to the building. Kevin threaded through the wide paths the others opened up for him when they saw him approaching, his hands back in his jacket pockets again and too lost in his own bitter thoughts to really care. He just scowled at the floors and stormed through the crowd on his way to the kitchen. He nearly had it. He knew he did. For a moment he could feel himself in control of his power when he touched the tree, but almost as quickly it was gone again.

He found the kitchen deserted, and went about preparing his lunch from last night's leftover stroganoff in silence as the sight of the tree rotting under his touch clung to his mind. Damn it, why couldn't he control it? Kevin jammed the bowl with his lunch into the microwave and slammed the door closed.

"Kevin? Are…are you alright?" Laurie asked.

He looked up from the counter he was leaning over to see her standing in the kitchen doorway, wringing her hands and chewing her lower lip as she watched him. Kevin felt his shoulders slump and he looked back down at the countertop. "It's nothing," he said.

She stepped the rest of the way into the kitchen and approached him warily. "It's not nothing," she said. "I…um…I'm trying not to intrude, or read you. My control is getting a lot better, but…really strong feelings are still slipping through." Laurie stopped next to him and tentatively reached out to touch his jacketed arm. "What…what's wrong?"

Kevin batted her hand away with his forearm. "Don't touch me!" he snapped, and instantly regretted the sharpness of his tone when he saw the hurt in her expression. He punched the time into the microwave and started it, more out of a need to occupy his hands than any real desire now to eat, and slumped against the counter again. "Please, don't touch me, I don't want to hurt you," he continued more softly.

Laurie resumed fidgeting again as she watched him, lower lip sucked once more under her teeth.

"You know what I can do," he said. "Everything I touch dies, and I l… Look, I just care too much about you, ok?"

She studied him thoughtfully for a moment. "Is…um…is that why you've been avoiding me since Josh and I…" He didn't respond, and he knew that told her all she needed to know. "Kevin… I'm sorry. You're…um…you're one of my best friends and I just… but I never thought of you like that."

"How could you, anyway? It's not like it would matter."

She started to reach for him again and stopped, remembering his previous reaction. "It…It's nothing to do with your power. I…" Laurie hugged herself. "I'm sorry. I care for you, too, but…"

The microwave beeped, interrupting that line of thought.

"Have…um…have you thought about talking to Ms. Marie?" she offered instead. "She can't control her power, either, maybe…"

"She doesn't actually kill everything she touches," he snapped again. "At least, not like me. When my power manifested the clothes on my back rotted away in an instant. I was terrified. And that was before my dad tried to calm me down…" Kevin trailed off, trying to force down the memory of his father disintegrating in front of his eyes and fighting back the tears. "Can you imagine what it feels like watching someone you care about just…decompose right in front of you because they saw you were upset and tried to hug you? What kind of advice can she offer for that?"

Laurie just stared at him, her expression a mix of horror and pity, and was unable to find the words to respond.

"Everyone else treats me like a walking plague. No one would have anything to do with me at all until Cessily came to school. So no, I don't think there's a damn thing Ms. Marie can say that's going to mean anything to me."

"Kevin…that…that doesn't mean she can't help. I mean…maybe it's not all the same, but…"

"No, it's not the same. And that matters."

She didn't respond for a moment, and Kevin took the time to retrieve his lunch from the microwave. "I…um…I was afraid, too," she finally said. "Of me. I was afraid of my power and being around other people because of what my father did with it, the way he manipulated people because he could. I…I didn't want to do that. Not to you, or Josh, or anyone. I still struggle to control it a bit, but…I'm getting better at it. Maybe…um…maybe all you need to do is practice?"

He sighed and dropped heavily into one of the chairs at the kitchen table. "I've tried," he said. She joined him, blue eyes looking deeply back into his. She used to never be able to look anyone in the eye like that… "But think about it, Laurie: I can't touch anything that's alive, or even used to be alive. I have to wear synthetic fiber, I have to put on gloves to knock on a door. How do I practice that without killing something?"

Laurie frowned down at the table as she processed that. "I don't really know," she admitted.

"There it is."

"So…um…so you're just…giving up?"

Kevin leaned his elbows on the table and mopped his face with both hands. "I don't know," he said quietly.

"There must be something…"

He sighed. "Like what, ask Dr. McCoy to stick me in a jar and run experiments? I'm already treated like a disease around here, being studied like one isn't going to help."

Laurie blushed a little. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

"I know you didn't."

"I just…I know I…um…I can't be what you want me to be, but…I am here, ok? You're one of my best friends, and I want to help, if I can."

Kevin slumped in his chair and nodded, no longer much interested in his lunch. "Thank you," he said.

###

Sofia made her way out of the library, books, binder and stacks of paper clutched against her chest. The halls were rather crowded, and even as small as the student body was it still took her a bit of maneuvering to squeeze past them. She didn't particularly want to stop working on this project right now but her growling stomach finally got the better of her work ethic, and she reluctantly admitted she needed to take a break.

As she made her way across the sitting room Josh appeared from one of the hallways, absently thumbing through his notebook while he walked. He ignored the crowd around him and nearly ran right into her as he puzzled over his notes. Sofia sent a gentle gust of wind to ruffle the pages in warning, and he looked up with a frown as he sought its source.

"Oh! Hey, Sofia," he said when he finally noticed her.

"Good afternoon," she said with a chuckle. "Busy morning?"

Josh sighed. "David and I are having a bit of a disagreement about the experiment we're running for Dr. McCoy. I decided I had to get out of there before we started dueling with the stirring rods."

Sofia smiled. "Ah, so it's going well, then?"

He snorted derisively. "You'd think he was the only one paying attention in class listening to him talk. You know, even though biology and biochem are kind of my thing and all."

She gave him an amused look. "Well, for the good of us all it probably is for the best you two evil geniuses take a break."

"Don't worry, I left my doomsday device back in the lair when I came to school. Anyway, Laurie was grabbing lunch and I was going to be joining her once I got to a stopping point."

"Ah." Sofia looked at him slyly. "So how are things going between you two?"

Josh laughed sheepishly at that question. "Well, it's only been a couple weeks but so far pretty well. If you want details, I'll just stop with that's all between Laurie and I."

"Ok, I'll just ask her, then. It's good to see, though, I've watched her pining for months." She smirked at him. "I imagine her power must make things interesting."

He blushed a bit at that. "She…uh…tries to keep that under control. Laurie's really been getting a lot better, too. Maybe a big part of it was just confidence."

"Well, good job pumping her up, then," she said, greatly enjoying the thoroughly discomfited expression on his face as they entered the lounge. Like the rest of the halls it was unusually crowded, and most of the tables were taken.

"Has it been like this all day?" Josh asked. "I haven't been up here since breakfast."

Sofia nodded. "All day, even the library has been pretty busy. Everyone is still avoiding Salem Center."

Josh shook his head. "Thank you, Julian."

She grunted. "Tell me about it. I was planning to take some time off with him tonight after I spent all last Saturday and Sunday working on my report, but the Professor has him confined to the grounds through the end of next weekend. Serves him right, at least. When he came home all busted up I was ready to belt him one myself. Thank you for not helping him hide that, by the way."

Josh grinned. "Yeah, well, I figured if I patched him up both of us would be asking for it, so I told him he was on his own."

"Very smart. I'm sure Laurie wouldn't have appreciated it."

He just chuckled and shook his head. They had just reached the doorway opening into the dining room when they heard a voice cry, "Look out!" followed by a crash and a shriek of pain. Sofia and Josh looked at each other in surprise for a moment, then rushed past the long table and its rows of chairs and burst into the kitchen.

Kevin was standing backed against a cabinet with his hands raised and his face twisted in a mixture of worry, horror and remorse. The fridge was open and a glass bowl that once contained leftovers from the night before was in pieces on the floor along with the rest of its contents spilled across the tile. Josh immediately darted forward to where Laurie was huddled in the middle of the spill, cradling one arm and shaking violently.

"Laurie!" Josh said, ignoring the pool of gravy, stew meat and noodles as he knelt beside her. Tears stained her face, scrunched up in a grimace of pain, and when Sofia saw the arm she tried to hide from them she felt something leap up into the back her throat. Laurie's right arm was desiccated, the muscles shriveled and her skinned blackened except for the angry red lesions weeping something particularly disgusting. The stink of rot hung heavily in the air.

Sofia forced down the rising bile and dropped next to them. "What happened?"

"She slipped," Kevin said numbly from across the kitchen. She tore her eyes away from Laurie's ruined arm and looked at him. Kevin's face was sickly white as he hovered over the scene.

"Laurie, let me see it," Josh said, any revulsion at the ruined mess of her arm masked behind near-panic and concern.

"What do you mean slipped?" Sofia pressed, not leaving Laurie's side as Josh studied the injury.

"She was getting something to eat and she slipped. I tried to catch her…I didn't…I didn't think, it was just reflex…" Kevin trailed off and stared at his own hands. "I didn't mean to…"

Something snapped behind Josh's blue eyes and his mouth twisted into an angry scowl. He jumped up and covered the space between him and Kevin with frightful speed, seized him by the jacket and slammed him against one of the cabinets.

"You touched her?" he snapped. Sofia hadn't seen Josh angry before. She decided in that moment he could be damn terrifying if he wanted to be.

For his part Kevin didn't resist, and he looked past Josh to where Laurie huddled on the floor. Sofia took the girl in her arms and hugged her, feeling her shake in pain. "I didn't mean to do that!"

Josh balled a fist and reared back to smash Kevin's face in.

"Josh, please!" Laurie said. Her voice trembled with the agony she was in at having her arm partially decomposed while still alive. "It was an accident! He was just trying to keep me from getting hurt."

Josh looked back at her, then turned back to stare Kevin down for a moment, the latter still not taking his eyes off Laurie, before he finally released him with a rough shove. He returned to her side and knelt in the spilled stroganoff again.

"Can you do anything?" Sofia asked.

He frowned at the injury as he gently took her arm in both hands. Parts of her skin sloughed off under his touch, and Sofia had to look away. "It's pretty bad, but…" Josh looked at her. "You'll need to stand back."

Sofia nodded, gave Laurie a gentle squeeze on the shoulder, and joined Kevin, who stood transfixed on the scene in front of him. "Kevin…" she began quietly.

"I didn't mean to hurt her. I'd never hurt her…" he muttered.

"I know," Sofia said sympathetically.

They watched as Josh tended to Laurie. He gently took hold of her wounded arm and winced against the yelp of agony as he gripped the rotted and withered flesh. "It's ok," he said softly in her ear. "It's ok. This is going to hurt a bit, are you ready?"

Laurie squeezed her eyes shut and a few tears leaked out. "Yes," she said, with a nod and a grimace.

Josh closed his eyes and Sofia and Kevin watched as a faint golden light emanated from one hand. Laurie squealed in pain and tried to shrink away from him, but a gentle touch on her shoulder stopped her. Soon her arm was glowing from within, and Josh furrowed his brow in concentration. Sofia's jaw dropped as ruined muscle fibers knitted back together, and rotted flesh was rejuvenated. Laurie gritted her teeth and whimpered in pain, but in moments it was over. The blackened skin ruined by Kevin's touch was gone, and in its place was a new, fresh pink surface.

The glow gradually faded away and the light from Josh's hand cut off. He groaned and slumped forward in exhaustion, where Laurie caught him in a tearful hug. Sofia smiled and looked to Kevin, only to realize he was gone.

###

Act IV

###

"And that's when the park burst into flames," Jubilee said, to a chorus of laughter from the kids gathered around her.

"So wait, wait," Victor said as he wiped the tears of mirth from his eyes. "That was you? We always thought that was just an urban legend."

She grinned smugly from her perch on the teacher's desk. "Ah, my fame precedes me. Yep, that was me."

"You know, they haven't had another Fourth of July display there since," Julian said as he drained the last of his soda and set the can down on his desk. His earlier resistance to her presence had disappeared and now like the others he was leaning forward with rapt attention.

Jubilee chuckled and took a bite from the slice of pizza on the plate at her side. A couple empty delivery boxes were crammed alongside a mountain of soda cans into a trashcan in one corner of the classroom. "Now that you can't blame entirely on me," she said. "I certainly didn't get a lot of complaints, just a lot of phone numbers. I think it was more the residents were tired of all the teenagers partying into the morning after, between us and the North Salem High kids. They just used burning down the park as an excuse."

"So how did a rebel like you get turned into a babysitter, then?" Julian asked with a smirk.

"Karma, dude," she said, matching his cocky grin with one of her own. "You guys are the Professor punishing me for all the trouble I gave him when I was your age. And one day it will be your turn." Jubilee let that hang ominously in the air for a moment as she looked between each of the kids, especially Julian, in turn. All of them saw the joke for what it was, though Laura's expression was, as she was finding usual, unreadable.

"No, but seriously," she continued, "I just wanted to work with kids like me: Mutants who didn't have anyone to turn to when they needed someone to talk to. Although giving me detention again my first weekend on the job probably is the Professor having a bit of fun at my expense… Then again it also has me feeling right at home, so it's like I never left!"

The kids laughed again. "So what, does that make you the school counselor, then?" Julian asked.

Jubilee shrugged. "Well, I guess you could look at it like that, but nothing really so formal. Just think of me like your awesome and beautiful big sister."

"You hear that, Mark?" Julian said. "She's your sister so don't get any ideas."

"I thought it was all you royalty types that were into that sort of thing, your highness," Mark shot back. "That blue blood runs in the family, you know."

Before Jubilee could interject, Julian's hand began to glow and he hurled his empty soda can across the room at Mark's head. However as it sailed past Laura her hand snapped up and she grabbed it out of the air without even looking. The others gawked at her, but Laura just casually tossed it into the trash before quietly taking a bite from her pizza.

"Woah," Mark said from where he was seeking cover behind his arm.

"Ok, now that was just cool," Jubilee said. She then fixed a glare on Julian. "And that's enough out of you. Just because I'm playing loose with the definition of 'detention' today doesn't mean this is a party. I can have another weekend tacked on if you want to push it."

"Forget sister," Julian quipped, "you sound more like my mother."

"No, I've met your mother," Cessily chimed in. "She doesn't talk down her nose enough at you for that."

"True, I guess if she was my mother we wouldn't be seeing anything but nostril." Santo and Victor both laughed into their hands.

Jubilee rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Oh my god, it's exactly like talking to myself ten years ago," she muttered helplessly.

Sooraya chuckled behind her niqab. "I for one have no doubts Allah has a keen sense of humor," she said. "So perhaps you are not wrong this is karma. After all, at the risk of sounding cliché: We reap what we sow."

She regarded Sooraya with a sympathetic arcing of her eyebrow. "And you guys deal with him every day, huh?"

"Yup," Mark said around a mouthful of pizza. "At least you get a break."

"I'll give you a break later, Sheppard," Julian said. Mark just rolled his eyes and flapped his hand and thumb in the traditional "talks too much" gesture. Jubilee laughed around a bite of her pizza.

"Well," she continued once she managed to stop laughing long enough to swallow. "I've figured out Mr. Keller is the mouthy one of the group, so I'd like to get to know a little more about the rest of you. Laura, you've been refreshingly quiet compared to the others, so why don't you start us off by telling me a little about yourself?"

Laura's only response was to shrink down into her chair and look away from her, and Jubilee regarded the girl thoughtfully. She quickly recognized the sort of withdrawal she had seen so many times from the kids she worked with back home in California. Wherever she came from, Jubilee knew at once her route here had not been easy. "Laura?" she said, gently pressing for a response. "No?"

Laura shook her head.

"Ok," she said with her best concerned caseworker tone. "If you're not up to it right now that's perfectly fine, I'm not going to push you. So why don't we start with Mark, instead?"

Julian groaned. "Oh great, we'll be listening to him talk about all of his girlfriends for the rest of the day."

"I'm sorry not everyone's stories are as entertaining to hear about as yours and Sofia's latest fight," he shot back. "Did she give you a black eye to go with the busted lip you brought home last weekend?"

"Naw," Santo said. "She did chew him out pretty good, though. A lot of it was in Spanish, but it sounded juicy. It was like watching one of those talk shows where they bring the idiot boyfriend out after the girlfriend spends the first fifteen minutes trash-talking him for the audience."

Julian glared at the big, rocky mutant, who was grinning ear to ear. "Whose side are you on?"

"Hey, she's just more fun to watch. Sofia does that thing where she makes you say 'Yes, dear' and shut up."

"First, this is real life, not some stupid sitcom. I've never said 'Yes, dear' in my life. Second, keep in mind that just because you're big doesn't mean I can't launch you across campus, rock pile. I flew a truck last weekend."

Jubilee watched the exchange with bemusement, and glanced aside at Mark. "They're not actually going to start fighting, are they?"

"Nah," he said, smiling broadly in amusement as Julian and Santo continued to snipe at each other. "They do this all the time, and it usually doesn't lead to destruction of property. They're like an old married couple."

"Ah." She whistled loudly to get Julian's and Santo's attention. "Excuse me, children, it's Mark's turn to talk. If you have something to share with the class, raise your hands and wait for me to call on you."

The pair quieted down, and Jubilee found herself reflexively looking for the wall clock to see just how much longer until the circus was over.

###

Jay walked next to his sister with his hands stuffed in his jacket pockets as they made their way along the strip mall. Melody had not stopped talking with Nori almost from the moment they arrived at the café, and it seemed like it was hours before they could finally get away. In the end it took Luna DePaula putting Nori to work inventorying the freezer for him to be able to drag his sister along again.

Now he was following Melody as she hit almost every shop from one end of Titicus to the other. Salem Center certainly wasn't a big metropolitan area, but compared to back home it may as well be a booming commercial center. While most of the shops sprung up to cater to the particular needs of students of the Xavier School, they still eyed the affluent residents of North Salem who wanted to avoid a trip all the way into the City, so many were high-end boutiques; clothiers and a shoe store, a salon, an electronics store and a number of other specialty shops lining the South side of Titicus east of the Grind Stone. There was also the halal and kosher deli Sooraya frequented, and of course the arcade (which was still closed for repairs following Julian's brawl).

She now dragged him into one of the more exclusive women's clothiers—the next shop in line as they made their way along the street—and Jay leaned against one of the decorative columns supporting the ceiling while she browsed clothing well beyond their means.

"What do you think, do you think mom would like this?" Melody asked as she held up a designer blouse for his approval.

"Yeah, I'm sure that would look great while working the farm," he said, not bothering to mask his boredom.

"Well ain't you just a big help. It'd be for whenever she comes to visit us, or goes into town, you big dummy."

Jay sighed and looked it over more closely. That is to say, looked at the price tag, and what he saw written on it made his eyes pop out of his skull. "How were you expecting to pay for it? You'd have to save your allowance for a year for that, an' we both know that ain't happening 'cause it'll be gone the first time you see some top or pair of jeans you 'gotta' have."

Melody rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, wouldn't you like to get momma somethin' nice? I heard Nori and Sofia say this place is just as good as some of the shops in New York."

"How did I know you were going to put that one on me? Even one of my best gigs wouldn't leave me feelin' comfortable about spending so much on one shirt."

"You know you could always get a real job…"

Jay folded his arms across his chest and glared at her. "You could get a job. You're old enough now to work part-time after classes and over break. In fact it would be nice if you got to buy your own lunch once in a while instead of mooching off me an' Paige all the time."

Melody flashed him a pout and the adorable little sister eyes. "Aw, I thought you all liked takin' care of your little sister."

"You can keep poutin' all you like Mel. You know the sad eyes haven't worked on me since you were nine."

Melody in turn fixed him with an irritated scowl as she hung the blouse back on the rack. "Well, you are just in a great mood today, ain't you?"

"Oh, I'm really having the time of my life," he said dryly. "I'm just pretending otherwise to drive you crazy. And I'm thinking of the best way to embarrass you if you run into any of the local boys while we're here."

Her mouth dropped open and she stared at him with a horrified expression. "You would not."

"Wouldn't I?" He tapped his fingertips together and fixed her with his best comic book villain smile. "The whole making your sibling die of embarrassment thing works both ways, you know."

"Oh you are such a jerk to me!"

"Infuriatin' my little sister is one of the remaining joys of my life."

Melody resumed her browsing with an exasperated sigh. "Don't be so dramatic, Jay. I know it hasn't been easy for you after…" She trailed off with a look at him as if to gauge his reaction. "After Julia," she continued when she didn't see any obvious objection on his features, and Melody sighed again, a less irritated exhalation than before, and looked back to the rack. "I dunno, you're just my brother an' I think you ought to be happy, an' I know from some of the girls in my class that overheard some of the older girls mention it they heard Sooraya talkin' about you at times." She flashed him a mischievous grin. "She can hide behind that burkhamacallit an' the word of Allah an' such all she wants, but she's still a girl, y'know. An' Nori says she's really pretty, too, though I don't know if I were a boy what I'd think about datin' a girl who couldn't show me her face or be alone with me without someone to keep an eye out that it don't get too frisky."

Jay stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets and looked at his shoes to hide his burning cheeks. "Melody…"

She turned on him and planted her hands on her hips as she stared him down in irritation, a pose that reminded him to a frightening degree of their mother delivering a scolding. Come to think of it, Paige was just as good at it if Santo was anyone to go by, so maybe it was genetic among the Guthrie women… "Oh don't you go tryin' to deny anything with me Joshua Jay Guthrie. You avoid most everyone outside of class except me an' Paige an' Sam whenever he's not out gettin' himself in trouble with the other grownups. Your friends have to practically drag you kickin' and screamin' out to have fun. Except for Sooraya. Seems you've always got time for a nice word for her."

"Let it go, Mel," he said.

"No, I don't think I will. Sam an' Paige may be willing to let you alone, but I don't think it's right an' neither does mom." Melody laid a hand on his arm. "Look, I know how much it hurt losin' her. We all liked her. She was a good person, even if she was a Cabot, but… Well damn it, Jay, you've got to let her go."

Jay glared. "Hey, watch your language, you know mom doesn't like hearing you swear like the coal miners. And I've 'got' to do nothing."

"Well, mom ain't here. An' she'd agree with me, besides." There wasn't any reproach in her eyes or tone, but that didn't make it any easier to listen to her. "Julia's gone. All of us know how special she was, but it's long past time to move on."

"An' I'm telling you it's none of your business."

"Like hell it ain't, Jay, we're family. What happens to you makes it my business."

He scowled. "And family business is what ended up losin' her. Chester Cabot saw to that. I died twice that day, it's just a damn shame I didn't stay that way."

Melody gawked at him. "You don't mean that!"

"Why do you think mom sent me to join Sam an' Paige here?"

"Jay…"

Jay felt his patience reach its breaking point and he turned for the front of the shop. "Are you about done here? It's startin' to get close to supper time so we should look to headin' back to school."

Melody started after him as he pushed past the neat displays and mannequins, any remaining interest in humoring her window shopping dashed. "Jay. Jay! I'm sorry, alright? Hey! Will you stop already?"

Jay paused when he reached the doors, and his sister threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a tight hug when she reached him. "I'm sorry. It's just… You're my brother an' I love you, an' when we thought… Until you walked back through that door it just about killed momma inside."

He sighed and buried his face in her shoulder. "I know, Mel. I know. I just…"

"Maybe… maybe it was wrong of me to try pushin' just now but… You're always harpin' on the other kids about family when they get at each other's throats, don't forget you've got family of your own that cares, too.

"Besides, this ain't right me worryin' over you. You're my big brother, you should be lookin' out for me. Lookin' out for you is Paige's an' Sam's an' momma's job."

Jay sighed again. "I know, Mel." He gently pushed away from her and directed her for the door. "C'mon, the shuttle ought to be pickin' up Nori before long so we can all ride back together. With as sudden as you two got interrupted by Luna earlier I'm sure you want to pick back up where you let off."

"Alright, but on one condition: You gotta get that guitar out an' play us somethin' in the lounge tonight. I hardly see you with it much lately, an' I'm sure the others would appreciate a little live music since most of them are hidin' out cooped up on the grounds."

He managed a sad smile for her. Jay found the urge to play wasn't coming as readily lately: Playing took heart, and he lost his with Julia, but if it kept Melody in line… "Well, I can't promise it'll be more than a little strummin' but I'll see what I can do."

###

Act V

###

Five o'clock didn't come quite soon enough for Jubilee. She'd spent years working with problem kids, and of course she had plenty of experience being one herself, but Julian Keller quickly proved himself to be a particular handful. Especially with how he and Santo fed off one another. Well Professor, I hope you enjoyed the turnabout. But I'm still standing, and I didn't even have to "paf" anyone.

Jubilee smiled at Sooraya and Cessily as they made their polite farewells and filed out of the classroom ahead of Mark, who flashed a grin at her before heading for the door with Laura after retrieving his belongings.

"Laura, just a moment," she said before the pair could leave.

Laura paused and reluctantly turned back to face her as Victor, Julian and Santo reclaimed their own things and hurried for the door, arguing amongst one another about what to do for dinner. The girl hugged herself tightly and approached her warily, in a manner not unlike a dog accustomed to a beating called to heel by an abusive master. Jubilee frowned thoughtfully at that analogy. Professor Xavier had allowed her to review the files of all the students over the past week, but Laura's was suspiciously empty of all but the most basic information and even the nature of her mutation was missing. Whoever she was, and wherever she came from, the Professor was taking great care to keep her identity secret, and Jubilee had learned long ago that usually meant trouble.

Laura waited silently during her deliberations, and watched her uncomfortably. "Is something wrong, Ms. Lee," she said haltingly after a few moments, and Jubilee couldn't help but feel as if Laura was expecting…something…to happen.

She smiled as reassuringly as she could. "Not at all, I just wanted to talk to you for a moment. And please, just call me Jubilee. That 'Ms. Lee' business is going to make me feel old." Jubilee perched herself on the desk and studied her for a moment. "I picked up the distinct impression earlier you don't like talking about yourself."

"I do not," she said flatly, not quite able to mask the discomfort in her tone. "This displeases you?"

Jubilee shook her head quickly. "Oh, no, not at all, dude." She considered her next words for a moment. "When I finished school I went back home to California for a job as a caseworker. I wanted to help kids who didn't have anyone, kids who were on the streets or came from abusive homes and such. I learned to pick up on a few things during the time I spent with them. I'm no empath, but there's a lot you can learn about someone's background from the way they move and talk if you know what to look for."

Laura blinked and studied her closely, searching for the meaning behind her words. Jubilee was left with the uncomfortable feeling that the girl was looking clear through her, her green eyes calculating and alive with thought, and she couldn't help but find it a bit unnerving.

"I just want to say I'm here to help," Jubilee continued. "If you ever need to talk about anything, I want you to know my door is always open…well, if I actually had a door, you know. They haven't exactly given me an office or anything." She smiled, but Laura either didn't pick up on or just disregarded the attempt at humor. "Anyway, that's all. It's up to you, but I want you to understand I'm listening and here to help."

She cocked her head and seemed to weigh that for a moment. "I will take it under advisement," she said, and Jubilee frowned at the practically robotic tone of her voice. "Is there anything else?"

Jubilee looked away for a moment as she rummaged around the desk for a pad of paper and something to write with. "No, not right now. Though if you'd like I can set up some time during the week for us to meet…" She trailed off when she looked back to where Laura had been standing just a moment before.

She was gone, and Jubilee had not even heard her leave.

###

"We could always have something delivered from Salem Center," Victor was saying as they left the classroom.

Julian grunted while checking the messages on his phone. "Like what? We already had pizza for lunch."

"Ooh, what about those sandwiches from the deli," Santo said. "Y'know, that place on Titicus Sooraya visits. Those are pretty good."

"Yeah, but they don't deliver, and thanks to Julian we're still confined to the grounds for another week," Victor said.

"Forget it," Julian said, and slipped his phone back into his pocket. "You two can do whatever you want, I'll just eat whatever the cooks are doing here tonight."

"And let this go to waste?" Sofia said as she met them at the entrance to the sitting room, holding a takeout box that smelled rather Italian from where he was standing.

Julian's stomach began to growl. "Wait, what is 'this?' I smell real food."

Sofia giggled as he hovered over the box, more as an excuse to thread an arm around her waist than sniff the contents of whatever she brought back. "Just some contraband for my criminal," she said.

He kissed her. "I love you, you know that?"

"Aw, what about us?" Santo said with mock disappointment.

"You keep your hands off, this is mine," Julian said. "The food is, too."

"Come on, Santo, let's just see what the cook has going tonight," Victor said, and dragged the big mutant off to let Julian and Sofia walk alone. She kept a firm hold of the takeout box to keep him from absconding with it and led him down the hall after them towards the lounge.

"So how was detention? This time."

Julian shrugged. "It was alright. I've got to admit, you know the new advisor? Jubilee? She's actually kind of cool."

"Mm, I'm not sure what to think of such high praise coming from you, but she does seem nice. But I'm sure you'll be disappointed to hear you missed a bit of excitement earlier. Josh and Kevin almost got into it."

"You mean the school's golden boy was actually fighting? What set that off?"

She sighed. "Laurie. Kevin accidentally touched her trying to help when she slipped and fell in the kitchen earlier."

Julian sucked a breath through his teeth and cringed in sympathy. "Ouch."

"Mm-hmm. Josh didn't take it well at all. I don't think I've seen him actually angry before." Sofia frowned. "If Laurie hadn't stopped him I think he might have ripped Kevin apart."

"Laurie's ok?"

Sofia nodded as they entered the lounge. "She's fine, Josh fixed her back up in no time. I haven't seen Kevin since, but it's probably for the best he steer clear of Josh for right now."

Speaking of Josh and Laurie, he saw them off cuddling in one corner where a number of other students were gathered in a knot around Jay as his fingers danced along the strings of his guitar, filling the lounge with something that sounded like a mishmash of blues, country and hard rock. "Oh great, Elvis is at it tonight," he said with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh you be nice," she said, and spit him with an admonishing glare. "It's been a while since he's been in the mood to play." A sly smile crept across her lips. "Besides, I happen to think a little live music over dinner is very romantic."

"I'll be sure to tell your next boyfriend, because if this is your taste in music I don't see it lasting." Sofia took one look at his mock-serious expression on his face and socked him in the shoulder hard enough to let the smile it was hiding break through. "When was the last time we danced, anyway? It had to have been at the Winter Formal last year."

"Mm, that was fun; though I think in hindsight floating above the crowd in a dress was probably a bad idea. Especially with Santo around."

Julian led her to a table under a window looking out onto the grounds as the sun outside sunk into the West and set the sky on fire. "Yeah, well, I'd have launched him across the state if he tried to sneak a peak. And he knows it."

Sofia rolled her eyes. "Such chivalry."

"Hey, I've got to protect my girl's honor."

She laughed as he helped her into a seat. "You know, we should dance tonight, seeing as we have music."

Julian seated himself across from her. "I don't know, I've got a reputation to consider. If we do that too often people may stop asking what you could possibly see in me."

"Oh, don't worry about that," she said as she opened the takeout box. "They'll still wonder. In fact I still ask myself that same question every time I see you."

"Simple: I'm handsome, rich, well-bred…"

"Ah, now I remember: It's your sense of humor." Julian stuck his tongue out at her and Sofia responded with a sarcastic smile. "It certainly isn't your maturity."

As Sofia went about unpacking their dinner, Julian decided that detention hadn't really been that bad.

###

Nori sat on the edge of her bed and rubbed her feet. She was sure if Sooraya had been in the room the girl would have something particularly smart to say about her decision to wear heels while working at the café, and since she had no desire to hear it was quite glad she wasn't.

She was just getting ready to undress and change when there was a knock at the door. Nori sighed and muttered a string of curses in Japanese as she got up and padded over to answer it. David smiled at her as the door opened, and much of the stress of the day lifted from her shoulders.

"Hey," she said.

"Good evening," David said.

She held the door open for him. "Do you want to come in?"

David peeked inside cautiously. "What about…"

"Sooraya is down at dinner," she said.

"Ah, I've been down in the lab all day working on that project with Josh, and just realized what time it was," he offered as explanation. Nori just shrugged and closed the door behind him as he stepped inside. "How was work?"

Nori sighed. "Long, slow and I'm glad it's over with. She had me restocking the kitchen and freezer all day." She returned to sit on the edge of her bed, and David settled down next to her. "I should have asked for the day off."

David chuckled. "Would Luna have given it to you?"

She shrugged and scowled. "Probably not. And ugh, I still have to go in tomorrow, too."

"Well, it's a paycheck. I was getting ready to head down to dinner, are you coming?"

"I'm sorry, baby, right now I just want to get cleaned up and collapse for a bit."

He nodded. "Ok. I'll bring you something up in a bit."

David started to get up, but Nori stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Wait," she said, and pulled him into a brief kiss. "This I can do with." Then she kissed him again and held him for a long moment.

"What about collapsing?" he asked when she let him up from air.

"Less talking," Nori admonished and kissed him again, and pulled him down onto the bed with her.

###

Sooraya clapped politely with the rest of the students present as Jay finished his song and started into another. She wasn't particularly fond of such a style of music, but acknowledged he had quite a bit of talent. Cessily's applause was much more enthusiastic, and she whistled loudly in encouragement.

"So how did you like your first trip to detention?" Cessily asked as the applause died down.

Sooraya folded her arms beneath her breast and watched Jay as his hands glided skillfully over the strings of his guitar. He was not following any particular program she could discern, but merely playing whatever came to mind. "It was a curious experience," she said. "I somehow thought that detention would be more of an actual punishment than pizza and sodas."

Cessily laughed. "Yeah, it normally would be. This was pretty unusual. Not…uh…not that I'm in detention all that often."

"Oh, do not worry, I would never have jumped to such a conclusion."

"But this was really your first time being held outside of class? Ever?" Cessily asked, her eyebrows lifted in disbelief.

"Ever," Sooraya said. "Of course, even after the removal of the Taliban my mother found it difficult to get me into a school so it is not like I had many opportunities to get into so much trouble. Sadly, as much as things have improved in Afghanistan since the Americans invaded it will take time for such ideas to spread to all of my countrymen. There are many who are not quite ready to give up their old ways, particularly when they worked to their advantage."

Cessily nodded and frowned. "I guess that's something all of us can relate to, especially after last weekend. Do you talk to your family often?"

She sighed, memories coming unbidden of the rough hands seizing her in the night, and her power awakening in an explosion stripping flesh from bone. "It has been years since I've seen my mother, and I do not even know if she is still alive.

"Oh! Oh, Sooraya, I'm sorry!" Cessily might have blushed in embarrassment if she were capable. "It's just…I don't think we've ever talked about it…"

Sooraya smiled and laid a hand on Cessily's shoulder. "It is alright! It is no secret, and I am not ashamed of my past. You merely did not ask, and I assumed you knew and were merely being respectful."

"Asked about what?" Mark said. He approached them with his hands in his pockets and his headphones back around his neck, and in much better spirits than when Jubilee had made him turn his iPod over.

"Sooraya's mother," Cessily said. "It's funny the things that you never think to ask your friends."

The aroma of cooking food drifting from the kitchen and dining hall tickled Sooraya's nose. "Indeed," she says. "It smells like dinner is almost ready, where is Laura? I thought you left detention together?"

Mark shrugged. "We started to, but Jubilee asked her to stay a little longer to talk. She disappeared somewhere after that."

Cessily frowned. "It'd be a shame for her to miss dinner, I wonder where she ran off to. I've noticed she's done this before."

"Even with as few of us as there are here, it's sometimes easy to forget how difficult it can be to have privacy," Sooraya noted. "I suppose she just wished for time alone. Come, after spending a day trapped in a small room with Julian and Santo I don't wish to deny her. She will turn up again when she's ready. Shall we see about dinner?"

Mark smiled at them and offered them both an arm. Cessily giggled at the display and accepted, and Sooraya joined her. "Just don't tell Laura about this," Mark said with a wink. "I think she's starting to like me, so I'd hate to make her jealous."

Cessily grinned slyly. "Oh, I'll think of suitable blackmail terms later."

The three started off for the dining hall while Jay's guitar continued to sing behind them, and Sooraya allowed herself a brief look back before they passed through the door.

###

The cold autumn breeze stirred Kevin's hair as he approached the tree, the angry black wound staring accusingly at him. In the West the sun had nearly slipped below the horizon, leaving only a fiery blush fading into the deep indigo of night and the lights of the mansion somewhere behind him to illuminate the grounds.

He didn't notice any of it, all he could see in his mind was Laurie's arm atrophying and rotting away under his touch, and being restored again by Josh.

A lump rose in his throat and he felt tears welling up in his eyes, but he forced the pain down and in its place felt something else. Something dark and bitter. Embers of jealousy smoldered in the pit of his stomach, fanned into flames by anger. Why him? Kevin had known Laurie longer. He had been one of the first to befriend her. He cared for her first. He was here first. Josh was a newcomer, an intruder.

Envy and anger twined together, two strands of a thread of hatred weaving through him. It wasn't fair. Josh, his power, none of it. His hands balled into fists so tight his nails began to cut his palms, and impulsively he strode forward and seized hold of the tree.

The bark smoked and hissed under his touch once again, and sap burst from the gaping fissures torn open in its trunk as bark and pulp rotted away. And this time he didn't let go. His lip curled with rage as he watched the tree wither and die, and crumble into dust. And when the deed was done he stepped back and regarded his handiwork, and a new sensation washed over him: Satisfaction.

It terrified him.

Kevin flexed his hands to steady himself and fight off the nausea as his anger passed and a queasy feeling over what he had just done overcame the hate and envy. He started to turn away when he saw her shadow between the trees of the small grove.

Laura stared at him, her green eyes glittering in the fading twilight and her expression unreadable. He knew immediately that whatever brought her out here tonight, wherever she had been going, she had seen what he had done. Kevin looked back at the ruined remains of the tree, a rotted skeleton collapsing under its decaying bulk, guilt washed over him and he started to say something.

But when he turned back to her again she was gone.

---

A Note From The Author

Whew, finally. I'll admit, installments that are focused primarily on character development rather than action can be a real challenge to write. Action scenes are a great way to eat up the word count without a lot of thinking. Dialog and character interaction takes a good bit more thinking, but the importance of character focus episodes in building the world can't be overlooked.

With this episode the last of the main players of season 1 have been introduced, with the bonus of an appearance by Aero (as previously noted, the film verse has no Decimation event, so she's still here and powered). There's also a bit of minor set up for future character arcs over the course of the season. And sorry, but I just couldn't resist the temptation to take advantage of David to poke at the Cubs (go Cards!).

I caught The Wolverine over the weekend, and for anyone else reading who has seen the film I realize I now have a minor continuity issue with Logan's claws in 1x01 (obviously, 1x01 was posted before the movie came out). I will not be going back and revising that chapter just yet, since I want to see how Days of Future Past affects the film verse. Although James Marsden has confirmed he won't appear as Cyclops, he did hint that Bryan Singer intends to "fix" problems in the film series with it, so I'm holding off until then to see what direction Singer decides to take. Otherwise, I'm still waffling a bit on whether this will follow up on Days of Future Past, or if it's going to become an alternate continuity that will ignore the post-X3 films entirely.

I'll be getting a bit of a break for the next installment, which is being penned by writing teammate/book canon adviser Anaphylaxis. Stay tuned!