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)

6. 1x05 - Haywire

A Note From The Author

Greetings all! I'd like to take this moment to apologize for the LONG-delayed fifth episode of X-Men: New Class. This episode was originally to be written by Anaphylaxis, unfortunately a series of misfortunes led to the completion of this installment first taking much longer than originally anticipate, and later in doubt entirely. After discussing the situation with A, we agreed that it would be best for me to go ahead and finish the episode from my original story notes. Elements of Anaphylaxis's work does remain, however, mainly in elements of Acts I and II. I'd also like to credit him for "Ashida the Hedgehog."

Anyway, thanks for your patience, and I hope some of y'all are still out there waiting for an update. With luck, future updates will be much more regular from here on out.

So without further ado, I present to you the triumphant return of X-Men: New Class!

---

1x05

Haywire

###

Act I

###

Tokyo, Japan, five years ago...

"Noriko!" The voice called from the haze of sleep enfolding her in its warm and smothering embrace. "Noriko, wake up! You will be late for school."

"Coming, mother," Noriko Ashida mumbled into her pillow. But sleep maintained its hold on her, and she rolled herself deeper into her blankets. Her body ached and her head was throbbing, and she had no desire to exacerbate either by dragging herself from bed at such an early hour.

Her mother, however, was not to be disobeyed. "Noriko!" she shouted from the hall just outside her bedroom door not five minutes later. "Get out of bed this instant!"

Nori lifted her head away from the pillow, and wished she hadn't. A thin beam of light speared through her drawn curtains, but even that was blinding and made her head spin. And as her head spun her stomach lurched. "Mother, can I stay home, I feel sick," she moaned as she let her head drop back to the pillow. She brushed the dark hair of her bangs away from her face and threw an arm across her eyes to block out the beam of light searing her brain. It only marginally helped.

The door opened and her mother, dressed for work in her neatly pressed suit jacket and skirt, and with her short black hair neatly arranged around her face, stepped into the doorway and planted her hands on her hips. "Oh do not try that with me again this morning. What is it this time? A biology test you forgot to study for? Your father and I have heard enough about the trouble you've given your teachers. Now out of bed this instant!"

Nori grumbled an acknowledgement, and slowly and painfully sat up and threw aside her covers. Her mother watched her for a moment to be sure she wouldn't just slip back again, then departed and closed the door behind her to give her privacy. She caught a brief flash of her younger brother watching the exchange from the hall and scattering to avoid their irritated mother, until the door shut out the house beyond.

It took a great deal of effort to lever herself out of bed, and the dizziness and aching in her body still refused to abate. Nori forced it from her thoughts as best she could as she skirted the piles of dirty clothes, CDs, books, and other odds and ends she knew her mother and father would hassle her over later, and dropped heavily into the chair next to her vanity, turned on the lights and gazed into the mirror. Her hair was a frightful mess, and she grimaced at the dark circles around her eyes. Nori just sighed and mopped her face, then picked up her brush at started going to work.

She had not gotten far into her morning grooming when, much to her frustration, her hair began to stick out and crackle from static building up from her brushing. Nori frowned and studied her reflection for a moment, then redoubled her efforts to little avail. When her hair still refused to obey she set aside her brush to slick a particularly troublesome bit of frizz back down by hand, and yelped loudly as an electric-blue shock arced from her hair to her finger.

Nori shook out her hand and sucked on the zapped finger for a moment. She had yet to make any headway in taming the unruly hairs sticking out all over, and her frustration began to build. And as if that weren't enough, the vanity lights began to flicker.

"Ugh! What is going on this morning!" she growled irritably.

And that was then she became aware of a crackling sound in her ears which refused to go away when she shook out her head. The crackling was soon joined by prickling feeling that danced across the surface of her skin, and she shifted and squirmed, and brushed at her arms, legs and body in a growing panic as the sensation built and built in desperation to shake it off.

And just as she felt she couldn't take any more, a loud crack shook the room as a wave of blue electricity exploded from her body, shattering the vanity mirror and causing all of its lights to blow.

###

Westchester, New York, present day...

Sooraya shot upright in bed at the sudden, piercing crack of electricity that whipped through the room, instinctively shrinking away from the arcing bolts of mini-lightning tracing the metal frame of Nori's bed. Thankfully the room itself was well insulated; a necessary precaution whose cost was justified within the first week the girls began rooming together. Sooraya was not unaccustomed to waking up this way, even if it was not all that common. All the same, though, it never stopped being an unpleasant surprise. She breathed out a sigh she hadn't been aware she was holding in, and with it, a silent prayer to Allah as she looked up to see her roommate's twisted features.

The small discharge died out much more quietly than it began as Nori focused on regaining control, and brushed her bare leg against the grounding coil next to her bed. A sharp snap accompanied a final bright spark at her calf; she winced, but it didn't do any visible damage. She frowned at her gauntlets, before she caught Sooraya's concerned eyes watching her.

"Nori? Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Fine." Nori pulled the shoulder strap of her cropped tank top up and turned away in embarrassment, before she rose from her tangled sheets with a growl at the ever-present static cling. She had spoken frequently about intending to find some nicer cotton linens, since a humidifier was out of the question, but had not yet gotten around to it. "Nothing new, just my built-in alarm." She snorted as the smell of ozone reached both her nose.

Sooraya met her gaze again, eyebrows raised. "You do not need to be uncomfortable with your power around me. I understand that control is not always..."

"I'm fine, Sooraya," Nori interjected waspishly. She stretched her arms upward, her gauntlets gleaming in the sunlight peeking through the window. Her top also rose up, showing off more of her toned belly. She continued, "I'm not uncomfortable about anything. If I was, I would borrow one of your burqas and hide in that."

Sooraya sighed again, in resignation rather than relief this time, and closed her eyes, searching for patience. "We have had that discussion too often of late."

"Yeah. And even though I'd love to advocate women's rights again to someone who isn't going to listen, I need to help Luna open today." She spread her covered fingers and glowered at their metal sheaths before turning her attention away from Sooraya and towards getting ready to leave.

Sooraya politely turned away as Nori shed her cotton pajama shorts and tank top, and selected one of her favorite pairs of skinny jeans along with a nice-ish top and vest.

"Perhaps you should speak with Dr. McCoy if your gauntlets are no longer managing your power effectively," Sooraya offered.

Nori sighed. "Maybe you're right," she said. "Ugh, I just wish he could do something about the looks! They don't go with anything! You know, I keep thinking about playing with a kind of cyberpunk look, but that would totally just scream, 'Look at the Japanese anime punk girl!'"

Sooraya rolled her eyes. "Your vanity is as limitless as Allah's patience, Noriko."

"Whatever." Nori briefly checked her electric-blue hair in the mirror, then offered an offhanded wave in an attempt at civility on her way out the door, but she didn't see if the other girl had noticed.

Left alone again, Sooraya merely sighed and shook her head again before seeing to her own morning.

###

Nori knocked on the door to Dr. McCoy's room, and waited impatiently with her arms folded across her chest. She heard a soft, muffled thump that reminded her an awful lot of a cat hopping down from a high shelf, then the door opened and the large, muscular frame and the blue, furry leonine face of Dr. McCoy appeared in the door. "Yes?"

"Morning, Dr. McCoy. Do you have a second?"

"Ah, Noriko. Come in; I was just catching up on my Dostoyevsky," he said, waving the book clutched in his hand a bit as he stepped aside and gestured for Nori to enter. "What can I help you with this fine morning?"

Nori followed him into his room. A heavy metal chin-up bar was bolted to the ceiling where the Beast preferred to read while hanging from his feet, while much of the rest of his private quarters was furnished with bookshelves, workstations, computers, and a variety of apparatuses which Nori could neither name nor describe. It may as well have been another lab rather than a bedroom (that was tucked out of the way on a far wall). She unfolded her arms and extended her covered hands with a shrug. "My gauntlets are acting weird lately."

Dr. McCoy chuckled softly under his breath. "I don't recall specificity being one of the seven heavenly virtues... but it usually doesn't hurt."

Nori refrained from rolling her eyes. Dr. McCoy just had a way of saying things like that and making them work, while from anyone else it would come off as superfluous. Hell, if Keller had come off with some of the Beast's subtler snarks she would have been ready to slap the back of his head. Dr. McCoy, however, pulled it off with both well-read class and accessibility in a way that most others couldn't.

"They don't seem to be drawing off as much of my charge," she said, turning her hands and examining them closely. "I've been zapping stuff as often as when I first came here."

Dr. McCoy nodded, and looked over her gauntlets pensively. "Indeed? I see how that could be an issue." He reached out toward her arm, "May I?"

"You made 'em," she said with a shrug.

He nodded and lightly seized her left forearm, and intently ran his furry digits over the metal gloves. He turned her arm over several times and peeked inside various panels, checking for who-knew-what to hint about the gauntlets' condition. Finally, he looked up as he released her with a slight frown. "Your gauntlets seem to be in fine condition. If you have time, I could run a full diagnostic to rule out any internal problems I would miss in a casual survey."

"Not now," she replied with a shake of her head. "I have to get to the Grind Stone in a minute. Luna has me opening today."

"Ah, I see. I won't hold you, then." McCoy adopted a thoughtful expression again, one hand under his chin, "My tentative assessment is that as you've learned to control your electrical ability on a finer level, with your gauntlets' help in suppressing outbursts, the overall magnitude of your power has increased to compensate."

Nori cocked her head to the side for a brief moment, and frowned as she crossed her arms and tried to translate the verbose diagnosis. "So I've been working out my mutation? Like running with weights?"

McCoy grinned back at her, "Something like that. The capacitors I used in your gauntlets may be at their limit, if that's the case, which would explain the recent overflow."

"Good to know, I guess, but that doesn't really help the fact that it's happening..."

"Perhaps you could come by my office after work. I may have a solution that would at least hold up until your power's next 'growth spurt.'"

"Alright, I'll see you then, Doc. Thanks." Nori glanced at Dr. McCoy's wall clock and cringed. "But now I really have to run, literally."

McCoy nodded again, musing, "Punctuality is the politeness of kings..."

Taking that as an unorthodox goodbye, Nori stepped back out of the teacher's room and walked briskly down the stairs toward the main door of the mansion. There still weren't many people up this early; the only ones that made much of a habit of it were Laurie, Kevin, and Laura. Laurie tended to use the early mornings to avoid everyone, Kevin just brooded, and Laura... was just the odd one of the bunch. Nori still wasn't sure what to make of her, even though David kept pushing her to include her in stuff. If he wanted to include her so much, then maybe he should invite her over... or, actually...

Nori discarded that line of thought as she touched the door handle and pulled it open. She was probably just too charged up and starting to go off on mental tangents or something...

As soon as she passed the threshold and pushed the door closed again, she began a jog down Graymalkin toward June Road, gathering more charge with every step. Soon enough, she was zipping off down the street as a blue blur, electricity arcing behind her. Nori allowed herself a brief grin as she squinted against the wind; she had to admit, even with the bad sides, her mutation could be fun.

###

Act II

###

Westchester, New York, one year ago...

Julian took a deep breath of the spring air, stretched, and yawned as he made his way along the drive leading from the main entrance to the school down to the gates where it turned into Graymalkin Lane and made its way towards June Road. The sun was still rather low on the horizon to the east, but the morning was bright and warm. Well, at least as warm as spring in New York could be expected to be. He'd already had enough of the harsh northeastern winters to last him the rest of his lifetime, and not for the first time longed for the warm and Mediterranean climate back home in Beverly Hills.

Though to be honest, his thoughts weren't particularly on the weather.

She'd just arrived a month or so ago, and already he was in love. The accent, the exotic features, the hair. Even with the preposterously high percentage of gorgeous women back home, he'd never seen anything like her.

The fact that Sofia Mantega barely seemed to want to give him — him, of all people; the coolest, richest, hottest guy in the entire school! — the time of day just made the thought of her even more exciting.

He stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets and made his way somewhat aimlessly along the drive up from the gates. The grounds were deserted this morning, giving him plenty of privacy for reflection.

They were quite alike, of course; both rich and beautiful, and from good families. He'd heard from Cessily that Sofia's father sent her to the school after an outburst of her powers. Maybe he ought to express his sympathies for that, show her that he could do earnest and caring. She was from Ecuador or Panama or something like that, and his father had plenty of business down there, so he could arrange a proper welcoming present to help her feel more at home. Julian bet that would get her attention.

After a few moments he found that his course had brought him to the gates at the end of the drive. They were closed for the morning, of course, for the privacy of the students and faculty who dwelt at the school and to keep out unwelcome visitors; Westchester was, after all, what passed for upscale in this part of the state. However as he drew nearer he was aware of a figure huddled in their shadow and studying the elaborate wrought iron worked with the Xavier School's crest. Julian scowled. The furtive movements immediately told him all he needed to know: whoever it was didn't belong here.

The intruder didn't appear to realize he was approaching the gate. Julian gathered his power to him, but kept his hands in his pockets to mask the telltale glow around them. If there was trouble he could knock this unwelcome guest into the next county before they knew what was happening. He kept his distance and watched for a moment, and then the figure reached out as if they intended to climb the gate.

"Hey!" Julian snapped, and immediately the figure jumped back in alarm. Now that he had their attention, he stepped into view. "What do you think you're doing?"

The figure murmured something and, as he drew nearer, Julian saw it was a Japanese-looking girl perhaps his age, though it was hard to tell under the layers of grime, and the ratty and disheveled clothes looked to have been scavenged out of god-knows-what trash heap. Greasy and stringy strands of black hair poked out from beneath a filthy and moth-eaten woolen cap. Though there was a good thirty or so feet between them he still nearly choked on her stench.

Her hands were shaking furiously, and she reached for the gate again, whether to try and climb over again or steady herself he couldn't tell, but nonetheless she had no business being here. "I said what do you think you're doing! This is private property," he snapped again.

The girl's response was once again an unintelligible babble, and this time she managed to take hold of the gate. Julian could see then that it wasn't just her hands that were shaking; her head bobbled back and forth and her whole body twitched, and her eyes were glassy and couldn't focus on any one point. Oh good god, some kind of crackhead meth addict. Probably looking for something to steal and trade on another fix. "Hobo speakee Engrish? This is private property!"

He didn't need to understand her words to get the gist of what she thought about that remark. There was a moment of angry clarity in her eyes, but just as quickly it passed, and the babbling continued. It was no more intelligible than before, though much more emphatic. Not only that, but this time she wouldn't shut up, and just kept rambling on and on. Here and there he caught one or two words that may have been names, but otherwise it was complete gibberish.

"What?" he said, but the girl just kept going, and now began gesticulating wildly and erratically.

Julian growled in annoyance as he saw that this was going nowhere. So he pulled out his wallet and grabbed a couple ones, then tossed them on the ground in front of her. "Look, I can't understand a damn word you're saying, but this is private property, not a shelter. There's a couple bucks, get out of here and buy yourself a shower."

There might have been a hint of panic in her voice at the dismissal, and she grabbed hold of the gate and shook it furiously for his attention.

"I said get out of here! I don't know what crackhouse you crawled out of, but you can go back to it. There's nothing here for you but trouble. Now beat it, or you're asking for a world of hurt."

And with that he turned and stormed away, listening to her babbled pleading fade away behind him as he made his way back up the drive and for the front door.

###

Present day...

Julian stretched out as far as he could reach as he darted to his right at a dead run, and his effort was rewarded as the football dropped into his outstretched hands. He clutched it protectively against himself to make sure he had it under control, then slowed to a jog and eventually a stop.

"Jesus Christ, Santo, I was right there," he shouted irritably to the mountain of walking rock watching him corral the errant throw. "All you had to do was throw it straight."

"Sorry!" Santo shouted back. "The wind took it!"

It was a beautiful autumn day, cool and crisp, but not too cold, and the air was heavy with the fragrance of the blanket of leaves piling up on the school grounds. He, Victor, Santo and Cessily were gathered in a clear area not far from the drive up from the main gates, where a number of their classmates were out enjoying the weekend. Sofia watched them from the sidelines with Laurie, who was giggling shyly over some comment from the other that Julian suspected was girl talk over Laurie's relationship with Foley. Or knowing Sofia, telling — or rather exaggerating — some embarrassing story about him.

Julian rolled his eyes, clutched the ball firmly, and tossed a clean spiral to Victor, who received the ball effortlessly in turn. "Right, the wind. I vote we change the pattern, someone else can run down Peyton Manning here for a while."

Victor made a throw of his own; clean and straight — damn that enhanced agility and coordination. That's why no one wanted to play him at darts anymore — to Cessily. "Forget it," he said. "You're the one that can TK it down if he gets out of control, so you get to play receiver."

"I never agreed to that!" Julian growled with a glare.

"You missed the vote," Cessily said. "Besides, we all know how much you like showing off for the girls," she added subtly waving the ball towards a crowd including some of the other girls in their class; Dani Moonstar and Rahne Sinclair — part of Ashida's girl posse — most prominently. "And as long as you cooperate I won't let that little tidbit slip to Sofia." She fired off a clean throw back to Santo.

"Blackmail, Cess? Really? I am one hundred percent committed to Sofia. You can't prove anything." Santo's throw this time was much closer to target, and Julian handled it easily before tossing back to Victor.

"That's what Quire is for," she said, as she, in turn, received Victor's pass and threw it on to Santo. "He'll rout out all your dirty secrets and every peak you've been sneaking."

"If that pink-haired punk rock poser tried to pull something I would send him into the next state, and he knows it."

"Quentin doesn't think he's worth it, anyway," Victor said. "He said something about reading Julian's mind is at a fourth grade reading level, and not enough of a challenge."

"I hate telepaths," Santo grumbled. "Freaks me out thinking they can be inside your head, and you'll never know it."

"Well, you don't have anything to worry about," Julian said. "Your mind is probably like a picture book."

"Hey!" Santo cocked his arm back. "Go long!"

And with that his only warning, Santo threw a powerful spiral that soared up into the clear blue sky overhead. "God damn it, Santo!" Julian snarled, and took off in a dead run across the field. The ball arced high through the air, and he knew there was no way he'd be able to catch up to it before it finally came back down again. He reached out to the ball with his power, but before he could get a firm grip on it he and the ball both ran out of room; the ball landed high up in the top of one of the tallest oak trees on the grounds, and Julian had to pull up short before he slammed into it.

Julian craned his neck, but could neither hear nor see any sign that the ball was coming back down again.

"Santo!"

"What!" Santo called back.

"Get your rocky ass over here and give me a hand. You threw it up there, you can go and get it!" Julian said, and stormed away from the tree.

"Yeah, sure, me climb up there? That's a joke, right?" Santo, Cessily and Victor joined him, the latter two staring up into the branches trying to pick out the ball. Unfortunately, the tree still bore a full crown of red and gold leaves that had not yet begun to fall. "Why don't you just TK it down?"

"Because I can't see it, dumbass!" he retorted. "I can't TK something if I don't know where it is. Just shake it out until it falls down."

"Nuh-uh, I remember what happened last time. I'm not spending next week in detention with Ms. Munroe for knocking down another tree."

"Well someone's got to go, I'm not losing my ball because you can't keep it in-bounds."

"Don't look at me," Cessily said. "I've never been one for tree-climbing."

Julian sighed and looked to Victor. "Well?"

"Do you really want me to scour the entire tree for your ball?" Victor said, and folded his arms across his chest with a scowl.

"Oh come on, you're the best climber out of any of—" Julian was cut off as something struck him in the back of his head. "Hey!" he snapped, and spun around, sweeping his eyes across the grounds but seeing no sign of anyone near enough who could have struck him. His ball, however, rocked back and forth at his feet. "Hey, who threw that?"

There was no response for a moment, and then a head popped out from the foliage halfway to the top, which he might have found comical if it weren't for the fact he'd just been beaned in the head by his own football. Laura blinked at the four of them from her perch, but said nothing. "You! Hey, Wednesday, what the hell's the big idea?" Julian demanded as he made a show of nursing the back of his skull.

"Julian!" Cessily hissed, "Be nice, she did get your ball down for you."

"I'm actually impressed," Victor said. "I'm wondering how she even got up that high."

Julian retrieved his ball and glared up at her. "I don't really care. I oughta shake her out of there." He tightened one of his fists and the green aura formed around it as he gathered his power.

Cessily hastily grabbed him by the wrist. "That's enough, Julian," she said sternly. "Like I said, be nice."

He glared at Laura for a moment in indignation, but released his grip on his power. "Alright, alright. Fine."

Cessily patted him on the arm and snatched the ball from his hands. "Good boy." She then started forward and called up to the smaller girl, whose green eyes watched them in a manner that made Julian feel distinctly uncomfortable, like she was looking clear through them. "Hey, Laura!" Cessily called up in friendly greeting. "Thanks! Do you want to come down and join us?" Cessily wiggled the football in invitation.

"Cess!" Julian said, aghast.

"What? Maybe it's about time you actually welcomed someone to school for a change."

Laura's face disappeared, and they heard the soft rustle of the branches as she started down. In moments she was low enough they could see her through the foliage, and she made her way from branch to branch with the practiced ease and fluid grace of a professional gymnast, swinging and flipping from branch to branch — untroubled by her skirt and heavy boots — until she landed effortlessly on solid ground again with an Olympics-worthy dismount, and stuffed her hands in the pockets of her oversized jacket. The four of them could only gawk in astonishment at the display.

"Thank you," Laura said quietly, and ducked her head shyly at the attention. "But Mark is looking for me."

And then she strode off, with a wary glance at Julian as if she had seen him prepared to TK her off her perch.

"Woah," Santo said. "I saw London, I saw France, I'm not sure she was wearing any..."

The rest of that was cut off when Cessily bounced the football off his forehead. "You are disgusting, Santo," she said.

###

"Excuse me, David?"

David Alleyne glanced up at the polite voice, and adjusted his glasses with his free hand as he laid his bio-chem book down next to his breakfast plate. He blinked at the slender black-robed girl that stood at the end of his table, her face mostly covered by her usual niqab.

"Morning, Sooraya. What can I help you with?" He gestured for her to sit, if she was so inclined. He didn't get much time to interact with her, given her somewhat vitriolic relationship with Nori, but she seemed like a genuinely nice person and always acted with a great deal of composure, which he could definitely respect in a school of hormonal teenage mutants.

Sooraya nodded graciously and eased herself into the chair opposite him. "I hoped to talk to you about Noriko. I do not wish to go behind her back, but I thought that you might be able to help."

"Well..." David steepled his fingers and shifted uncomfortably. Truthfully, he had been expecting something like this for a while. He had definitely heard Nori's take on Sooraya's lifestyle and how it was an affront to everything she stood for. A few times. Actually, quite a bit more than a few now that he thought about it. "I'm not really sure there's much I could say, even if I did get involved. I know Nori takes things to extremes, but once she decides something, it's not that simple to talk her out of it."

Sooraya's smile was obvious in her eyes. "I had noticed that."

Laying his hands flat on the table, David considered for a moment before frowning slightly. "Look, Sooraya, I'm sympathetic to what you're trying to do here. I usually like to smooth things over with people, and not make waves. But you still see Julian and I get on each others' nerves constantly." He pushed his glasses up again and turned his palms over to face her. "If both sides aren't equally willing to drop it, you can't really do anything. My advice would be to take this to the Professor if there's enough of a cultural clash to be a big problem."

"Hmm," Sooraya folded her hands in her lap as she considered his words. "I did not wish to 'go to the top,' as it were, but that may be the best course of action. I have seen Nori stand up for others, and she seems like a good person at heart. I try not to take her anger personally; I just do not think that she believes that I am not judging her personal choices."

David offered a slight grin, taking a final bite of his rapidly cooling eggs. "Nori is definitely passionate, but I'm glad you don't take her personally. Honestly, from her perspective, she's trying to help you. In her own way, I think she even respects you for standing for your beliefs, she just doesn't like them."

###

Salem Center, New York, one year ago...

It was night. Maybe. She really wasn't sure if she was aware of the time. But it was dark. Or maybe it was just the cloud over her head. She didn't really know, so she kept walking. The shaking wouldn't stop. She had tried to ask for help from that boy. But he turned her away. Why would he do that? She tried to remember why she was there. There was a clear moment when she knew. She knew there should have been help there. Or maybe not. She really couldn't remember. But the boy turned her away. He said something rotten to her. But she couldn't remember that, either. Where was she, anyway? She didn't recognize this street. Or maybe she did. Why couldn't she think? Wait, she was thinking. But everything was a jumble. She saw the faces again. Disapproving faces. She had told them...something about her. They didn't believe her. She wanted to see those faces again. She missed them terribly. Maybe. Or maybe they had sent her away. Why was everything so mixed up?

She remembered. For a moment she remembered what she was looking for; she needed another fix. Her whole body was shaking and her mind couldn't slow down. She needed another fix to make everything clear again. But she hadn't had money. The pusher had hit her and sent her away until she found some. She needed money. Where could she get money?

She passed a storefront and stopped. Money. There could be money inside. All she needed was enough to get her a couple more hits. Then maybe her mind would clear again. She could go back to that boy and tell him. He couldn't understand her, that was the problem. Maybe. Maybe if he could understand. Maybe. Maybe that would be enough. Maybe she could find help. She knew she needed it. And for a moment she knew that was where help was. But he turned her away. Maybe there was no help. She was alone. She had to take care of herself.

She needed money.

She stepped up to the door. It was locked. It was dark inside. There were words on the doors. She read them, but she couldn't understand. She knew English. Her... Who had taught her? She saw the face. She could not put a name to it. But she couldn't understand the words on the door. The door was locked. Stores locked their doors at night. It was night. She knew that. They were closed. There would be no one there.

And she needed money.

She raised her hand to the lock. She released the power. Her power. It was hers, she knew. She was... What was she? She heard the crack, and saw the spark. The lock popped, and the door swung open. She stepped inside. It was dark. Money would be in the back.

She needed money.

###

Present day...

"Nori?" Luna's voice cut through the foggy-headed daydream in a mix of equal parts concern and sharpness. Luna was almost more like an older sister than a boss, but maybe that was why all the Xavier's kids liked her, aside from her general tolerance of their more unique attributes. "Are you doing okay? You've been staring at that latte for about five minutes..."

Nori blinked her eyes quickly and looked up at the Grind Stone's owner. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine. I mean, I guess my head is a little light or something, but nothing big..." She put a hand over her eyes for a moment; the metal of her gauntlet was cool and pleasant to the touch.

"You're a little pale. It doesn't look like nothing." With a frown, Luna walked over and reached out to feel Nori's forehead with the back of her hand, but quickly withdrew her arm when a small spark snapped out from the surface of Nori's skin and nipped her finger. "Ow!" She shook her hand vigorously for a second.

That was enough of a figurative slap in the face to bring Nori's focus to the forefront. She jumped back a few feet, her hands up in a non-threatening position. "Damn! Sorry, Luna, I didn't..."

Luna raised her own hands up in a calming motion. "Whoa, it's fine. It was just a little sting; I just wasn't expecting it. We don't want to scare any customers off with a big show. Besides," she grinned at Nori for a moment, giving her a conspiratorial wink, "I don't think you'll top your first 'accident' with me anytime soon."

"Oh God, don't bring that up..." Both gauntleted hands went over Nori's face now, more from embarrassment than nausea. "I still feel like crap about that, even if you say I paid back what I took already. I still think you're fudging the numbers just to be nice."

Luna actually giggled at that. "Believe me, I like you, but I didn't let you off that easy. The actual damage was less 'damage' than 'mess', and you've already recouped the money as of your last check. You worked hard to make things right, Nori, I didn't have to fudge anything. Now go on, your shift has been over for ten minutes."

"Can't you write me a work note or something?"

"Oh, no. I'm not even getting into that mess. If you want to be my wage slave that badly, come see me once you graduate. Maybe I can retire at thirty." With another light-hearted smirk, Luna waved her off. "Shoo. If you start to really feel bad, check with someone in med-bay or whatever you guys have up there."

Nori traced a mock salute, and smirked back at her boss despite still feeling a bit light-headed. "Sir, yes sir."

###

Act III

###

Westchester, New York, one year ago...

"Oh, hey, fancy meeting you here!"

Sofia sighed and rolled her eyes at the forced casualness in Julian Keller's voice. They were standing at the southwest corner of June and Titicus; she was making her way back north up June from Salem Pizza and Pasta when she ran into him there, apparently having just gotten off the shuttle from school. Or at least that was what he claimed. Sofia had no doubt he had been following her and this chance meeting was carefully planned.

"What do you want, Julian?" she said impatiently, and stuffed her hands in her jacket pockets. It was a beautiful spring afternoon, and the first weekend of the year it had been warm enough to truly enjoy the outdoors. She had been in New York long enough to have grown accustomed to the weather, though she still deeply missed the tropical beaches of Caracas whenever she could make it down from the slums in the hills surrounding the city. Those rare trips were a pleasant and welcome escape from the crime and hardship of home.

Julian raised his hands defensively. "Hey, hold on, can't a guy just be polite?" he said.

"Oh, please," she said dismissively, and brushed past him as she continued on her way. "When will you get it through your thick head I'm not interested!"

"I really don't know what you're talking about," Julian said as he fell into step beside her. "Look, maybe we got off on the wrong foot, ok? It's a culture thing, we just got our wires crossed."

"Well you can go and electrocute yourself with them, then."

"Ow, that's a bit harsh, don't you think?" he said. His tone was wounded, but a quick glance in his direction told her it was more for show than a sign she had genuinely hurt his feelings. "I just thought maybe you'd like someone to show you around, you know? Being new here and all."

"I've lived in New York longer than you have, Valley Boy."

"Alright now, first, that's San Fernando, I'm from Beverly Hills—"

"Because that makes all the difference in the world."

"—and second, you're still new to Salem."

"And that's relevant because...?"

"Look, I'm just saying I know my way around."

"Oh, I'm sure you do, Mr. Beverly Hills. Well, since you know it so well I guess it wouldn't be all that hard for you to find somewhere to go and get lost."

Julian stepped around in front of her and glared crossly at her. "Now see that's just it. Here I am trying to be a gentleman and you're walking around with that chip on your shoulder."

Sofia had to stop and laugh at that. "Me? What about you, with your Abercrombie and boy band wannabee hair—" he self-consciously ran a hand through his dark hair at that remark "—thinking it makes you something special, you're arrogant and stuck up—"

"And you just know that, right? Without even taking a chance to get to know me?"

She stopped and planted her hands on her hips. "I know all I need to know about you, Julian Keller."

"Right, which is totally why you haven't spared me more than two or three words before now."

"What's to know? I step off the bus and there you are flashing those pretty boy looks and your wallet around like it makes you a big man and not some privileged child riding on his daddy's dime."

"So you do think I'm pretty," he said with what she took for his most disarming grin. In spite of herself Sofia had to admit it did make for quite the effect. So instead she just snarled in disgust and pushed past him.

"And what can I say about you, then? I noticed you're not exactly wanting for a bit of the finer things, either. That certainly looks like a Cartier on your wrist there—" she glanced at her watch peeking out from beneath her jacket sleeve "—all the best for daddy's little girl, right?"

Sofia rounded on him at that remark and felt her face heat in response. "My father sent me here because he wanted nothing to do with me!" she snapped angrily. "I broke his rules about my powers, so now I'm here!"

Julian backed away defensively and raised his hands again. "Whoah, hey, I get it, alright? I understand completely!" he said. "Outside of that school we're both just part of the freak show, we just lucked out on our looks and where we came from. I didn't—"

That just incensed her further. "You don't know anything about me or where I came from, so don't even try to tell me you understand!"

"Look, I'm sorry, bad choice of words, ok? But you're not giving me much of a chance to get my foot out of my mouth."

Sofia put her face in his. "Then you can swallow it and choke on it for all I care, now leave me alone!" she hissed, and started to storm away.

"Coffee."

"What?" she said, and spun back to face him. To her surprise, the hurt in his expression actually looked genuine.

"Have you been to Luna's yet?"

She frowned. "Who?"

"Luna DePaula, she runs the café on the other side of June next to the theater. Coffee house."

Sofia scowled at him. "I know what a café is."

"Oh good, then we're finally on the same page, then."

She glared. "Get to the point."

"Luna makes about the best coffee in New York, I think she's even got a Venezuelan blend. Just a little taste of home, you know?"

Sofia folded her arms across her chest and studied him closely. "Oh, so you've done your homework," she said dryly. "I'm sure it took you all of five seconds to find out about Venezuela and coffee from Wikipedia."

Julian rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Look, could you give me a chance to be a gentleman, here, and at least let me buy you a cup of coffee?"

###

Upon reaching the Grind Stone, it quickly became clear that they would have to pass on coffee that day.

Julian frowned at the police car pulling away from the curb as they walked up, and the tape marking off the entrance. Luna DePaula, looking uncharacteristically dejected, was leaning against the door watching him depart. Her arms were folded beneath her breast, and she hadn't even put on her apron.

"Hey, Luna," Julian said. "What's going on?"

Luna looked in their direction and smiled sadly. "Well hello, Mr. Keller. I'm sorry, but you'll have to come back another day, we're closed."

Julian glanced at Sofia, who merely looked away from him. No no no no no, she was actually willing to talk to me! "Is there anything I can do? What happened?"

Luna eyed him carefully, and she didn't fail to take notice of Sofia standing next to him. "Well that is uncharacteristically thoughtful of you," she said, and Julian winced inwardly at the guided missile she just lobbed at his game, "but no, I don't think there is. And there's no need to keep it secret since I already gave my statement, but I was robbed last night."

Julian gawked at her. Most of Salem was tolerant of the presence of the Xavier School and its students, but Luna DePaula was one of the few who openly welcomed them. In fact, Luna DePaula welcomed everybody, he couldn't imagine anyone who would want to do such a thing to her. "Are you serious? Why would anyone want to rob the Grind Stone?"

"Why indeed?" she said bitterly, then looked at the two and sighed. "I'm sorry, I've just had a very long morning. Look, I know I said we're closed, but why don't you come on in."

"We wouldn't want to impose—" Sofia began, but Luna cut her off with a wave of her hand.

"It's alright, maybe I could do with the company. And I don't think we've met yet, I'm Luna DePaula, and unfortunately I'm the owner and proprietor of this establishment.

Luna extended a hand, and Sofia took it in a firm shake. "Sofia Mantega, I just started at the Xavier School a month ago."

"And how'd this one manage to convince you to come along on a trip into town?" she asked with a nod in his direction, and again, Julian cringed inwardly.

"You're killing me, Luna," he murmured under his breath as the woman guided Sofia into the café.

She smirked at him over her shoulder as he hurried after them. "Just giving her a fair warning, hon'."

"Oh, believe me," Sofia said, "I haven't believed a word out of his mouth since I met him. But he said you had the best coffee in New York."

"Well, that much is true at least. You'll have to excuse the mess, but give me a minute and I'll see what I can whip up for you."

Mess, in this case, was an understatement. The dining room was trashed, with tables and chairs upended, the photos on the wall had been thrown down, and everywhere there were scorch marks.

"Jesus, what happened in here?" Julian said in disbelief.

"As I said, I had a break-in," Luna said as she went to work behind the counter.

"This looks like someone went to work on the Grind Stone with a lightsaber, not a robbery," Julian observed.

"Well, the safe was completely blown open. Unfortunately I hadn't done the deposit yet this week. I'll be ok, but there goes my vacation this year."

Julian frowned at her, and studied Luna carefully for a moment. "There's something you're not saying."

Sofia looked between the two of them and shifted a bit uncomfortably, and couldn't have looked like she felt any more out of place right then. Luna just sighed and leaned over the counter. "It looked like the thief was a mutant."

"Now I know you're kidding, there's not a mutant in Salem who would even think about robbing you," he said.

Luna scowled at him. "I'm not joking, Julian," she said, then sighed again. "And no, I'm not angry at you. Any of you. I'm just angry, period. The cameras in back caught a little bit of what happened. The thief was all bundled up in a coat and hat, but I think it was a girl. Then there was a flash of light and the cameras went dead."

Julian frowned thoughtfully, and folded his arms across his chest, and thought back to his encounter at the school's gates the day before. "A girl?"

She eyed him closely. "Yes, why?"

"Just that some girl was snooping around the school's gates yesterday morning. Bundled up in a jacket and hat, smelled like a landfill."

Sofia blinked at him. "Why didn't you say anything to one of the teachers?" she asked

Julian shrugged. "She was a total junky, babbling nonsense and shaking all over. It looked like she was trying to climb over the gate, so if she came here last night afterwards, she wasn't up to any good at the school."

"What happened to her?"

"I gave her a couple bucks and she took off."

Sofia glared at him. "Julian..."

He shrugged again. "What? I'm telling you she was drugged out of her mind, and was probably looking for something she could sell off for another hit."

"The girl was one of us and you just sent her away?"

"Look, you weren't there—"

"You are unbelievable," Sofia said. "I can't believe I let you talk me into coming. Good bye, Julian." She looked to Luna for a moment, who was watching him spinning helplessly towards a fatal crash with amusement. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Ms. DePaula, I'm sorry it was under these circumstances."

And with that Sofia spun on her heel and stormed from the café. Luna smirked at him from the counter. "Spectacular crash and burn, Mr. Keller. Better luck next time."

Julian just slumped his shoulders, looked to the ceiling, and sighed.

###

Present day...

The run home from work, fueled by her power, took little more than a few minutes, and all anyone making their way along Titicus road would see of her was an electric-blue blur as she flashed by with all the speed of...well...electricity. The release of energy came as something of a minor relief for Nori, and Luna's assurances she was no longer in her debt aside, it had been a very difficult and trying day to get through.

She made the turn on to Graymalkin, and sped along the tree-lined street where the autumn leaves were collecting in piles awaiting raking and bagging. The gates of the Xavier School at this time of day were still open, so she just sped through without needing to stop and enter her student access code, and zipped past knots of students talking, walking, and playing in the crisp autumn air. Her thoughts, however, were on Dr. McCoy and his promise to look at her gauntlets, and with her attention divided she nearly missed Keller, Cessily, Vaccaro and Victor making their way up the drive and juggling a football among each other. She caught them only just in time to sidestep them, but sent them scattering nonetheless. Keller could only spit a few obscenities at the blue blur flying up the drive and to the main doors, before picking himself up off the ground and resuming his own walk.

To be honest, she kind of wished she'd run right over him.

As Nori reached the doors she reigned in her power and slowed suddenly to a walk. Rahne and Dani were already on their way inside, and Nori fell into step with them as they entered the mansion. "Hey, ladies," she said.

"Good evenin', Nori," Rahne said in her rich Scottish brogue. She was a rather short and tomboyish girl, with short red hair and green eyes, dressed in a modest sweater and pair of jeans, with a small silver cross around her neck. "How was work?"

"Tiring," she grumbled. "What are you two up to tonight?"

"We were thinking of catching a movie. You in?" Dani said. Dani was the tallest of the three of them, with long, dark hair, dark eyes, and dusky skin betraying her Cheyenne heritage. Bits and pieces of her jewelry hinted at her native culture, but not so much as to be stereotypical.

"I don't think so," Nori said. "I have to see Dr. McCoy about these after I get changed." She lifted her hands and flexed her gauntlets for emphasis.

"We c'n always take a late show if ye wanted to go after," Rahne offered.

Nori pinched the bridge of her nose at the pressure building up in her head. "No, it's ok. You guys go on ahead, I'm probably going to call it an early night, anyway. David won't be happy, but oh my god my head is bothering me."

Dani laid a hand on her shoulder as they reached the stairs up to the dorms, and Nori paused and swayed a bit on her feet. "Are you ok, Nori?"

For a moment Nori didn't register that she'd said anything, and just stood at the foot of the steps. What was she doing again? Change and then Dr. McCoy's office.

Just as quickly as it settled over her the mental fog passed, and she shook her head to clear the last tendrils of it. "Hm? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just tired. I'll catch up with you later."

And with that she started up the stairs and left Rahne and Dani behind. She felt their eyes on her back for a moment, before they started away muttering among themselves with the occasional glance back at her as she mounted the steps towards the second level. Laura was in her usual spot sitting on the top step and watching the activity in the hall below, and Nori gave her a wide berth. If the other girl was aware of the deliberate avoidance she didn't say anything, and just kept her quiet, searching vigil. Nonetheless, Nori couldn't shake the feeling Laura had carefully noted her passage, and that sent a shiver down her spine.

Nori made her way to the door to her room, lost in a bit of a fog as her skull did its best to explode from the pressure she felt building up in her head. She may have been aware of a spark leaping from her hands to her doorknob, and a brief flicker of the lights in the hall, but she ignored it. All she wanted to do now was...was Sooraya in the room? No, it was dark inside.

She shook her head in an effort to reorder her thoughts, and wrung her hands to stop the shaking she felt building up as she went about undressing.

###

"Look, you weren't the one almost run over by Ashida the Hedgehog," Julian growled as they sidestepped Rahne and Dani and entered the mansion. "I'm telling you she did that on purpose."

"Oh come on, Julian," Sofia said patiently. She had joined them on their way back up the drive as they were headed back inside. The afternoon was fading to evening, and it was already starting to get dark outside. Most of their classmates were heading off to Salem for the night, though a few would remain at the school. "Do you really think she would go out of her way to step on you?"

"I do and she would."

"Calm down, Julian," Cessily said. "I'm sure it was an accident."

"Yeah, well maybe I should 'accidentally' TK her into the reservoir," he grumbled.

"Oh, now you're just grumpy," Sofia said, stopped, and enfolded him in a big, smothering hug. Julian had to fight to maintain his grouchy scowl as she pressed up against him. "Come on, let's get something to eat and then we'll cuddle up on the couch and see what's on TV."

"Oooh! I hope there's a game on," Santo said as he lumbered along behind them.

"You are not invited," Sofia replied, giving him her best "don't even think about it" looks.

"Aw, nobody loves me. Except you, right, Vic?" Santo made a move to put an arm around Victor's shoulder, but the smaller mutant quickly ducked out of the way.

"Dude, not even if you were the last guy in the school," he said. "Besides, I've got plans in town tonight, anyway."

Cessily smiled mischievously. "Oooh, what's his name?"

Victor shook his finger at her. "That's my business, not yours and the school rumor mill."

"Oh come on, you know that everyone is going to know anyway by the end of the night," she said, and edged towards him. "Who would you rather start spreading the news that our little Vicky has a boyfriend? Me or Quire? You just know he's going to find out anyway. He always does."

Victor threw his hands in the air in exasperation. "Oh come on, can't anyone have any privacy around here?"

"She can," Santo said, and nodded to the foot of the stairs as Laura came down the stairs. She stopped at the bottom and stood there as if waiting for someone. "I can't imagine why anyone would even want to get inside that head."

Julian grunted. "It's probably full of skulls, emo poetry, and the color black," he said, earning him a sock to the shoulder from Sofia.

"Oh you be nice," she said.

He gave her his best innocent shrug. "What?"

"Am I the only one here you were falling over yourself to make a good impression on the first time they stepped through those gates? You're just as bad to her as you were to Nori."

"He was a real sweetheart to me," Cessily said, and then motioned to Santo. "And he and this idiot hit it off right from the start."

"Well that's because they both have rocks in their head," Sofia quipped.

"Hey, I'm standing right here," Santo grumbled.

"Besides, Mark says she's very nice, when she does talk. She's just shy."

"Yeah, well, Mark hits on everything even passingly female," Julian said.

Sofia just laughed at that. "Oh, and you don't?"

"Of course not!" He put his own arm around her a snuck a quick kiss. "I have very discriminating tastes." Cessily snickered into her hand, and he glared. "You keep out of this!"

She held her hands up defensively and made a show of backing away. "Ok! Ok!" Cessily looked over his shoulder, and when he followed her gaze he saw the crowd parting to let Kevin Ford, looking as dejected as ever, picking his way carefully through the hall. "Anyway, I'll catch up with you guys later. Be sure to give me all the juicy details!" she added to Victor as she started away.

"Do you want me to just film it for you?"

"Oh! Yes! And with one of those director's commentaries, too!" At that she turned and quickened her pace and hurried to meet up with Kevin.

"Come on," Sofia said, and tugged at his arm. "Let's see what they have for dinner tonight."

"Right," he said. "Talk to you two later." Julian smirked at Victor. "Don't do anything I wouldn't tonight."

Sofia dragged him away from Victor and Santo before the former could make a retort, and the latter complain about being left out. She guided him down the hall, and they were just turning towards the lounge when he saw Ashida making her way down the stairs. Julian scowled and pulled away from Sofia's grip and started that direction.

"Hey, hang on," he said.

"Oh come on, Julian, don't start a fight," Sofia pleaded. "You just got out of detention."

"This will only take a second!"

Sofia just rolled her eyes in annoyance as he made his way to the foot of the stairs. Laura shied away at his approach, but he otherwise ignored her as he planted himself in Ashida's path. To his surprise she was a wreck, and it looked as if she had skimped over her typical meticulous attention to her appearance; her electric-blue hair was mussed and sticking out in places, and her clothes — a pair of baggy sweatpants and a fleece hoody — were rumpled and mismatched. There was also a very subtle tremor in her right hand.

"Hey!"

"What do you want, Keller?" she said, and pinched the bridge of her nose wearily.

"You to watch where you're going is what!" he snapped.

"I'm sorry, but I've had a long day and Dr. McCoy is expecting me, and I really don't need this right now." She started to push past him. Julian reached out and grabbed her by the arm, and yelped as a bolt of static leapt from her arm to his hand.

"No, we're doing this now," he said. "You did it on purpose and you know it."

"I don't know what you're talking about. What did I do?"

"Julian, that's enough," Sofia said from behind him. "Let's just get something to eat, and you can take a time out to cool off."

"Look, I was..." Ashida trailed off for a moment and bunched her eyebrows. "I was... Dr. McCoy needed me and I can't do this! I..." She swayed on her feet for a moment, but managed to catch herself on the railing of the stairs before she collapsed. "Oh..."

"Nori? Are you alright?" Sofia said, her voice filled with concern as she started forward. By now a crowd was starting to gather around them. Then the lights began to flicker, and Julian started to smell something acrid, like an electrical fire.

"S-s-s-s-stay... stay..." Ashida stuttered, and the shaking in her hand started to get worse.

And then the whole world exploded in a brilliant flash of electric blue as something struck Julian hard in the side, and sent him tumbling across the sitting room. Students shrieked in panic and scattered as a deafening crack split the air. The breath left Julian's lungs with a grunt as he came to rest hard on his back, and a weight settled on his abdomen, while he watched the ceiling spin overhead in a daze. As he finally managed to regain his breath he caught an overwhelming whiff of ozone, and a few moments later the ringing in his ears ceased and he could hear a few frightened and panicked cries from the student body, and a cascade of worried voices.

Julian groaned and tried to sit up, but something had him pinned to the floor. A face appeared overhead, and he now found himself looking right into a pair of green eyes staring intently back into his. Laura sat straddling his waist, her expression unreadable as she watched him.

"Get... get off me!" he growled at her, and roughly shoved her backwards. Laura toppled backwards off of him and landed hard on her backside without even a cry of protest, and remained there as he scrambled away from her and rose unsteadily to his feet.

"Julian!" Sofia cried out and rushed towards him, making the lingering ringing in his head hurt even more.

"Sofia? What..."

He trailed off as Dr. McCoy's hulking furry body appeared and started pushing through the crowd that had gathered around the staircase. As they parted Julian manages to catch a glimpse of Ashida writhing on the floor as electricity danced across her body, her gauntlets a blackened and smoking ruin.

Sofia threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Oh thank goodness! Nori's gauntlets failed and... and..."

Julian rubbed the back of his head — he must have cracked it on the floor when he hit — and watched the scene in front of him. "And I can fill in the blanks, yeah. Boom."

"Part of the blast went right through where you were standing. If Laura hadn't gotten you out of the way..."

Julian found Laura back on her feet again as if nothing had happened, hugging herself tightly and trying to disappear into her oversized jacket as she lingered at the back of the crowd and watched as Dr. McCoy worked on Ashida, injecting her with something that eased her thrashing. Slowly the arcs of electricity sparking from her body ebbed, and then ceased entirely. He then lifted her gingerly and started moving back through the crowd.

"It happened so fast," Sofia continued, watching Laura with a mixture of relief, confusion, and fear over what had just happened. "She moved so fast. I mean, not like Speedster fast, but she threw you out of the way before I could even think to move."

He caught, or at least thought he caught, a flash of green eyes looking their direction, as if Laura had overheard them, but she said nothing.

"Come on," Julian said, and put an arm around Sofia's shoulders as much to keep his balance while his equilibrium returned as to comfort her over the fright of what had just happened. "Let's go find somewhere to sit down for a bit."

###

Act IV

###

Westchester, New York, one year ago...

"Sofia!" Julian called at her back. "Sofia, wait up!"

Sofia just muttered a bit of Spanish invective and continued on her way west on Titicus with a shake of her head. Why will he not just get the hint?

"Come on!" he pleaded, and suddenly she found herself trapped in a faintly glowing green aura and unable to move. "Will you please stop!"

"Let me go!" she hissed angrily, and the moment she felt his grip on her ebb she spun around and blasted him with a concentrated burst of wind that knocked him sprawling on his back. "Do not ever do that to me again!"

For his part, Julian's expression was suitably chastened, and he didn't get up right away. Oh don't give him that much credit, he's just playing vulnerable right now to work on your sympathies. "Look, I'm sorry!" he said from his back. "I just don't get why you're taking this out on me?"

Sofia gawked at him. "You don't..." she strangled a scream of frustration in her throat, and planted her hands on her hips. "You don't get it, and that's the point. I see the way you treat everyone but that idiot Vaccaro. You're an arrogant and stuck up little boy wannabe princeling who walks around thinking he owns the place, and looks down on everyone else like they're his peasant subjects. Did it ever occur to your majesty that girl came to us for help?"

Julian took the time during her diatribe to get back to his feet. "What was I supposed to do? I saw someone trying to hop the fence. She was shaking and babbling, and I couldn't understand a word she was saying. How was I supposed to know?"

"You could have talked to her. Asked her!"

"Asked her what? 'Hey crazy meth-head, are you a mutant?' She was out of her mind all hopped up on something, I'm not a telepath, and I wasn't going to bring her onto the grounds to go and find one."

Sofia spun on her heel and started on her way again. "Good bye, Julian."

"What, where are you going?"

"I'm going to try and find her is where I'm going."

She heard his footsteps behind her, and this time when he grabbed her, he had the courtesy to put his hand on her arm. Nonetheless, she had half a mind to blast him down again. "Are you crazy?"

"She needs our help. Whatever she did tonight, I think it's clear she came to the school for a reason, so I'm going to find her and bring her to the Professor so we can find out why."

Sofia started on again, and Julian fell into step beside her. "Alright, fine, whatever, but where do you even start to look? She's had how much of a head start?"

She stopped and sighed, and mentally acknowledged he had a point. "I don't know, but she's probably on foot so she couldn't really get all that far. And somebody must have seen something." Sofia started on her way again. "So you go run along home to your castle, but I'm going to at least try and do something."

To her annoyance, Julian fell into step alongside her. "If you think I'm letting you run off alone you're crazy. You've got now idea what you're getting into, whoever she is she almost blew up the Grind Stone."

"Fine, but if you're going to help, then actually help. You can start by keeping your big mouth shut."

###

Present day...

"Is she alright, Doc?" David asked.

David stood next to one of his examination tables, with Nori perched on the edge of it, shaking and wringing her hands. Her forearms were mildly burnt when her gauntlets exploded, but nothing he wasn't able to patch up with Josh's help, but even Hank could see that what worried the boy most was her shaking.

"I'm...f...I'm fine," she mumbled, and even that short of a sentence took a tremendous amount of effort for her to keep her words intelligible.

Hank laid a furry paw on David's shoulder, and guided him towards the door. "She'll be alright, David. It's nothing worse than she's experienced before. Why don't you wait outside, right now she needs to rest while I look at her gauntlets."

David looked back to the table. Nori averted her eyes so she couldn't look at him, and to hide the worst of the twitching from his gaze. He sighed and nodded. "Alright, but I'm not leaving the medbay."

Hank chuckled. "No, I don't expect that you will."

And with that, he stepped out into a small waiting area, and Hank closed the door behind him.

"Th-th-tha...thank...y-y-you," Nori managed to bite out as Hank returned to the table.

He regarded her thoughtfully for a few moments while he checked her vitals on the computer. As he expected, everything associated with her mutation — metabolic rate, motor control and brain functions — were all going, for want of a better phrase, haywire, and he knew before long her stored energy would build to the point where she would be entirely non-functional, if not leading to another explosive outburst altogether.

"I figured that you would like some privacy," Hank said. "Though I'm sure Mr. Alleyne won't be happy until he sees you right as rain again."

Nori shook her head wildly. "N-n-n-n-n-no...no. Not...not l-l-l-like th-th-th...th-this," she stammered, and a tear started to roll down her cheek.

Hank made his way towards a cabinet along one wall, keyed in a passcode, and opened it up. Inside were rows of vials filled with an amber-colored fluid. He paused for a moment and glanced over his shoulder at the girl shuddering on the exam table, fighting with her hands in what, on the surface, might have been mistaken for epilepsy or perhaps even Parkinson's for the less well-informed. Then he retrieved a syringe and snapped one of the vials in place, shut the cabinet again — the lock clicking closed again and the alarm beeped to indicate it had set — and returned to her side.

"Here, this will help suppress your mutation for a few more hours. A full dosage this time," he said. Nori nodded, or at least he thought she did, and he wrapped a rubber band around her arm, swabbed her skin down with alcohol, then carefully injected the concoction into one of her veins. It was a temporary relief only, something he had devised decades ago both for himself and Charles. Both had since chosen to embrace, rather than suppress, what made them unique, but it did prove to have other uses.

After a few moments the shaking eased, though didn't stop entirely, and Nori visibly relaxed.

"Now, lay down and get some rest, I'll see if we can get your gauntlets working properly, ok?"

Nori nodded. "Ok," she said.

Hank gave her a smile and patted her on the shoulder, then turned back to his work.

###

White Plains, New York, one year ago...

The afternoon was growing late as they stepped off the Bee-Line bus in White Plains.

"Are you sure about this?" Julian asked, not nearly as convinced as Sofia that the girl hadn't slipped away.

"This is where the driver said she got off," she said.

"Yeah, but that was hours ago, she could have hit the train station and been long gone by now."

"Well, you're welcome to go back."

Julian stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I already told you I'm not letting you go alone."

"Then pipe down and let's go."

"Alright, alright. Lead the way, but I've got a bad feeling about this."

###

She had it. She had her medicine. She had money, and now she had medicine. It took all her money. What would she do after she was out again? She should go back to the school, that's it. Go back to the school and make herself understood. Where was she again? How did she get here? What was she going to do?

She needed to take her medicine.

She found a quiet spot at the back of the building. Lots of people around today. It was light, she knew that. She probably should wait. Better to way for dark. What time was it? Where was she?

She sat down behind a dumpster out back. The boy at school thought she smelled. She didn't smell anything. What boy? What school? What was this little bag in her hand?

Her medicine. She needed to take it.

She opened the baggie. There was enough. Just enough for one hit. Then she could think again a little. Was that a voice she heard? What was she doing again?

Her medicine.

She found a broken piece of glass in the trash. She poured her medicine out. She needed a straw. She had one in her pocket. She needed to take her medicine.

But then it was gone. She felt a breeze, and it was gone.

She howled in anguish.

Her medicine was gone. It was all gone. All she had.

Voices again. Voices calling. She looked up, and the boy was there. But now he was a girl. No, he had a girl with him.

They took her medicine away.

She was angry.

###

In the end, it hadn't taken long to find her. A man running a magazine stand near the bus stop had seen her headed towards the Galleria, and a little asking around revealed she had spent the night in an alley not far from there, and that she hadn't strayed far.

They finally tracked her down behind the Galleria, on her hands and knees among the garbage, and seeing her like this broke Sofia's heart. The girl was filthy, with stringy and greasy unwashed hair, bundled in a battered stocking cap and wool coat, but otherwise looked so poorly-dressed for the cold of a New York winter.

"That's her," Julian murmured.

"Oh god, how could anyone live like this? Hello!" she called, but the hunched figure ignored them as she emptied the contents of a small plastic bag onto a broken piece of glass dug from the garbage.

"Damn, I told you she was just looking for a fix," he said. "See?"

"Not now, Julian, right now we need to get her back to the school." Sofia started towards the girl but she ignored them and continued what she was doing. "Hello there! We're here to help you!" she called, but the girl didn't so much as look at them.

Sofia frowned. She wasn't sure what the girl was taking, but judging from the shaking she saw for herself, and the babbling Julian described, she was left with no doubt that whatever it was, was wreaking havoc with her mind. She had to put a stop to it.

Sofia gathered her power to her, and sent a concentrated gust of wind that scattered the fine powder the girl was preparing to take. At first she could only stare at the now empty pane of glass in disbelief, then let out a cry of pain and grief that echoed in the alley behind the Galleria.

"Uh, are you sure that was a good idea?" Julian asked.

"We had to stop her from doing this to herself, didn't we?" Sofia said. "More would only make it worse—"

Julian laid a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back as she started forward into the alley. "Wait, do you hear that?"

She frowned and listened, but at first there was nothing but the distant sound of voices from pedestrians out on the street. But then she heard it; a low, crackling hum. A light on the back wall of the building started to flicker, and then others joined in. Sofia looked at the girl, and realized for the first time she was looking back at them, her face a mask of unrestrained rage.

"Oh shit, she looks pissed," Julian said. "I really don't think you should have done that."

"I think you're right," Sofia said, and started backing away. The girl started towards them now, and as she drew nearer brilliant bolts of electrical energy arced from every light, electrical wire, and transformer she passed, and electricity danced across the surface of her clothing. "Wait!" Sofia pleaded, and put her hands up in surrender. "We're just trying to help you!"

"M-m-m-m-my...med-med...medicine!" the girls stammered, her voice colored by a thick Japanese accent.

"I thought you said she couldn't talk?" Sofia murmured to Julian beside her as they tried to back away.

"This if the first thing she's said I've understood!" he hissed back.

"You...took...my...medicine!" the girl screamed, a sound somewhere between rage and grief, and then flung her hands out in front of her, releasing the energy she had been calling to herself. Sofia screamed in alarm and ducked reflexively, but Julian reacted almost as soon as the girl attacked and threw up a barrier between them. The girl's power slammed against the wall of telekinetic energy, and electricity sparked and snapped. Again and again she released her power and battered Julian's barrier. He grunted and staggered against the strain as she hammered him.

"A little help here!" he said through clenched teeth, and grimaced as she assaulted the wall of power that was the only thing keeping them from a swift death be electrocution.

"What do you want me to do?!" Sofia snapped at him.

"I don't know! Knock her off her feet or something! I can't do it while I'm keeping her from roasting us."

"I don't want to hurt her!"

"Good for you but I don't think she's got the same idea for us!"

Sofia murmured a bit of Spanish invective. The girl kept coming forward. She wasn't certain where the power she was drawing on came from, but there didn't seem to be an end to it, and Julian was sweating as the unrelenting barrage snapped and crackled against his shield. With no other obvious choice presenting itself, Sofia gathered her power to herself, and let loose with a broad arcing gust of wind. It struck the girl square in the chest and blasted her off her feet, and her assault fizzled out.

None too soon. Julian's grip on his own power gave way and he collapsed in exhaustion to his knees.

"Thanks," he panted.

"Come on, let's make sure she's ok."

"Make sure she's ok?"

If anyone on the street or inside the mall had heard the confrontation they didn't seem to be in a hurry to investigate, so for the moment at least they had some measure of privacy. Sofia hurried over to where the girl was laying in the alley, and found her curled into a ball and crying. She was a pitiful sight, and, she admitted, smelled horribly, though it certainly didn't excuse how Julian had treated her.

"L-l-leave me a-a-a-alone," the girl stuttered. "M-my me-med-medicine. Gone now."

"Look, that wasn't medicine," Sofia said. "Look at what it's done to you!"

"N-no. It...it stops. Stops m-my power. L-le-lets m-me th-th-th-think... Y-you t-took it f-fr-from m-me? Wh-wh-why?"

Sofia sat stunned for a moment as she digested what the girl was saying. "Oh god, Julian. I think her power is doing this to her."

Julian frowned. "What?"

"It wasn't the drugs doing this. It's her own power." Sofia looked over her shoulder at him. "We need to get her back to the school right away."

###

Act V

###

The girl that Sofia Mantega and Julian Keller brought back sat shaking on Henry's exam bench. A bath and a bit of food later, and she seemed to be in somewhat better spirits, though Xavier could feel the pain and anguish she was keeping buried, as plainly as if she had cried it out to him.

"Hm," Henry said. "It seems the drugs she had been taking were interacting with her power, acting as a sort of power nullifier. Not enough to keep them fully under control, but enough for her to function. I suppose that might even be why Cerebro didn't find her."

"Is there anything we can do for her?" Xavier asked from his wheelchair. The girl still hadn't spoken, at least not anything clear enough to understand, since Sofia and Julian brought her back, and in her current state her thoughts were a jumbled mess that even he couldn't sort through to put them in a coherent order.

"Well, I supposed I could give her the inhibitor to suppress her mutation for now," Henry said. Xavier frowned at that, painful memories of his own resurfacing for the moment. Henry stepped back and rubbed his chin with one furry finger. "It seems that discharging her power in her fight with Julian and Sofia helped alleviate the worst of the effects, and that is why she was able to make herself understood. Perhaps I can fashion a safe means for her to do so, an apparatus along the lines of Scott's visor.

"There is still a matter of withdrawal from the drugs she was taking; they were helping her maintain control of her power, but it was still an addictive substance. Not unlike people developing a dependency to painkillers. What I would like to do is suppress her powers for now. Then we can help her come down from withdrawal without having to worry about her powers interfering with her recovery, and I can see about fashioning something to help her keep them under control in the meantime."

Xavier nodded. "Very good. I would like to speak with her as soon as she is able to communicate clearly."

"That sounds perfectly reasonable, but speaking as her doctor, let's just take it one step at a time."

"Of course," Xavier said. "Far be it for me to intrude on your expertise, Henry. Well, I suppose there are some other matters with this girl that need my attention now."

Xavier offered the girl as warm and reassuring a smile as he could, and though her thoughts remained disjointed and a little frightened, he could sense the wave of relief washing over her at the gesture as Henry went to work preparing the inhibitor for her. He then steered his wheelchair out of the medical bay, and made his way along the gleaming halls of the secure facilities deep beneath the mansion.

###

Julian fidgeted nervously in his chair facing Professor Xavier's desk as he awaited the headmaster's arrival. He was not at all looking forward to the reaming that was to come over their little adventure in White Plains. Sofia sat in a chair next to him, looking strangely calm and composed. Then again, she probably wasn't facing yet another week in detention.

"Will you relax?" Sofia murmured quietly.

"I'm relaxed, who's nervous?" he said.

"Who said you were nervous?"

"Look, I know how this is going to go. Professor Xavier is going to come in here, all quiet. And then he's going to stare at us, and tell us how disappointed he is, and then we'll be confined to the grounds for a week."

Sofia rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, is that all?"

Julian gawked at her. "Is that all? It's Xavier. Xavier disappointment it's...well, you've never seen it, but believe me, you'll only wish he would start yelling at you."

"Would you really rather I yelled, Mr. Keller?" Xavier said, and Julian closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and awaited the inevitable.

The Professor wheeled himself behind his desk and, for a few moments, seemed to ignore them completely as he went to work on his computer. Julian popped one eye open again and watched him, but the Professor said nothing. He didn't say a word, he didn't ask them to explain themselves, just tapped a few keystrokes on his computer with a stern expression on his face. Julian would rather have been confronted by the Wolverine in that moment.

"Now then," the Professor said after an interminable and uncomfortable pause. "I understand you two had quite an adventure this morning."

"Yes, sir," Julian said.

"I also understand our new guest came to the school yesterday, and was turned away at the gate." Xavier leaned his elbows on his desk, steepled his fingers, and gazed levelly at Julian. "Why didn't you see fit to report this to one of the staff?"

Julian swallowed. "I uh...I didn't think it was important."

Xavier raised an eyebrow. "Not important? Julian, I have made it my highest priority to ensure that any mutant who comes to my door can find help here, and that no one, no matter who they are or where they came from, will be turned away. And I learn today that is exactly what happened."

The displeasure in the Professor's voice made Julian's heart leap up somewhere around his throat. Oh that's it, I am so dead.

"Professor," Sofia interjected, "it's not fair to blame Julian for that."

Julian blinked and glanced sidelong at Sofia, and the Professor tore his disapproving eyes away from them and settled them on Sofia, who weathered the glower straight-backed and without blinking. "Oh?"

"No, sir. When I saw the girl for myself, I thought it was the drugs that were affecting her." She sighed. "I grew up in the slums outside of Caracas before I came to live here with my father, and I saw people like her everywhere. If I had seen her at the gates like Julian did, I might have thought it was because of the drugs she was taking as well. I'm not saying it was right for him to turn her away without help, but I would have probably tried to get her to a hospital and not even thought that she might be...well...one of us."

Xavier seemed to consider that for a moment, and Julian's heart worked itself back out of his throat and down into his chest where it belonged. "That still doesn't explain to my satisfaction why you went after her alone," he said. "I have learned, much to my regret, that the handling of a new mutant can be very difficult, if not dangerous to them and anyone around them. You two might have been hurt, or run afoul of local authorities who might not be as understanding."

"That was my fault," Sofia said, and Julian blinked in surprise at her taking the blame. "I insisted on helping her once we learned what she was, and Julian only came because he thought it was dangerous for me to go alone. I made a mistake, and if not for him she might have hurt me badly for it."

"Fortunately," the Professor said, "this time you were both very lucky. The girl is with Dr. McCoy now, and we'll do what we can to help her. But as for you two, I can't ignore that you put yourselves at an unnecessary risk to bring her here when it should have been reported to me, nor that you violated school rules by leaving Salem without our knowledge or permission."

"Yes, Professor," Sofia said.

"Yes, sir," Julian said at the same time.

Xavier tapped something into his terminal. "You two will be confined to the school grounds for this week. I won't be giving you detention, but I would like you to think very carefully on how this situation might have been avoided in the future."

He nodded towards the door. "Go on, dismissed."

Julian quickly vacated Xavier's office as soon as they were given permission to leave, with Sofia close behind him. He let out a sigh of relief the moment he stepped out of the office and into the library, and willed his pulse to return to normal again. Sofia filed out after him and immediately started back towards the main hall, and Julian hurried after her.

"Hey, Sofia!" he called, and she stopped and waited for him to catch up.

"What is it?" she said, her tone more tired than aggravated.

"Look, uh..." he glanced at the floor for a moment as he considered his words. "I just wanted to say thanks, for what you said to the Professor. About not blaming me? I...uh...I appreciate it."

Sofia sighed. "Julian, what I said doesn't change the fact I think you're an insensitive and arrogant jerk..."

He cringed at that, and felt his hopes spiraling down in flames once more. "Ok, that's fair enough."

"...but I meant what I told the professor; I might have thought it was drugs, too."

Ok, maybe not entirely in flames.

"So... About that cup of coffee...?"

###

The worst of the shakes had passed, and for the first time since she couldn't remember when, her mind was clear.

Nori sat in a fine leather chair in a conversation circle inside a richly-furnished and cozy office. Next to her was an aging bare-headed man in a wheelchair. He was dressed in a fine suit and he had a grandfatherly demeanor, but there was an intensity in his gaze that put her on edge, as if he could look deep into her very soul. Most of his attention was focused on a tablet computer handed to him by a tall and somewhat absurdly good-looking man perhaps twenty-odd years her senior, who committed the grievous faux pa of wearing his sunglasses indoors.

She gripped a cup of tea firmly in her hands, as much for something to hold onto to suppress the last of the shakes as for any real desire for the drink; whatever the big furry mutant had injected her with had turned off her powers, and with it her clarity had returned, but he warned her that she was still experiencing withdrawal from the drugs she was using to control them.

The elder man nodded in satisfaction, then laid the tablet in his lap and folded his hands on top of it before fixing his attention on her. "Well, how are you feeling?"

"Better," she said. It felt good to actually be able to talk like a normal person again.

He smiled warmly, and for the first time since brought into his presence by Shades over there, Nori felt herself relax. "Good! Very good. My name is Charles Xavier."

"Noriko Ashida. Most people used to call me Nori."

"Well, Nori, I would first like to welcome you to my school. I regret the sequence of events that saw you turned away when you came to us for help before, but the confusion has since been remedied."

"Am I cured?"

Xavier frowned at her. "Cured?"

"My powers, are they gone? The big Monsters Inc.-looking guy injected me with something, and now I can't feel them."

"Ah. The inhibitor Dr. McCoy injected you with is a temporary measure only, something we try not to use except in extreme emergencies. There are cases where mutants such as yourself have powers that, uncontrolled, pose a great physical risk to themselves." Xavier's expression turned distant for a moment. "Ordinarily I would not have opted to do so, but in your case we needed to make an exception. Your powers are what was impairing your mental faculties. Somehow the interaction of the narcotics you were taking with your body chemistry alleviated the worst of this, but it was important we help you regain control.

"Tell me, where are you from?"

"Tokyo," she said, and took a hurried sip of tea. "The first time I...did what I do was four years ago."

"And your family?" Xavier asked, and she immediately picked up on the caution over asking that particular question.

"No one was hurt. But when I tried to tell them what happened they..." she hesitated a moment, and felt tears welling up in her eyes at the accusations and anger in her father's voice. "They didn't believe me. They don't believe in mutants."

Xavier gave her as comforting a smile as he could manage. "Well, Nori, I can assure you we are all very real. Our mission here is to reach out to those like you, and give them a safe place where they can learn to control their powers."

Nori nodded. "I know. That is why I tried to come here, but that...that boy turned me away." She sniffled and scowled angrily. "I tried to explain but he wouldn't listen to me."

"That was Julian Keller, and I have already had a long talk with him. As I said, this was all an unfortunate misunderstanding. The question now, is what you intend to do."

The tears began to flow freely now. "Please, sir, can you just...can you just have the Cookie Monster downstairs give me more of that...whatever it was he gave me, so I can just go home and forget everything ever happened?"

Xavier reached across the conversation circle and took her hand. "Nori, I once felt the same way you do. There was a time that I was in a very bad place, and wanted all of this to just go away. But a very dear friend of mine helped to remind me that whatever their burden, my powers were a gift; something I could use to help build a better world, not just for our own kind but for all of humanity. That is the reason why I originally founded this school, and, even after I thought I lost everything, why I started it again.

"I won't force you to do anything you don't wish to do, and I have Dr. McCoy working on a solution to your control problems without the need for more drugs. That, I'm sure, is something you wish to get away from."

"Trust me," Shades said, speaking for the first time since she brought him to the room. "Hank knows what he's doing."

Xavier motioned to the other man. "This is Scott Summers, one of my best students when he was your age, and he now works with many of the students personally. Much like you, his mutation is one that can't be controlled."

"Without these," Mr. Summers said, and tapped the frame of his sunglasses, "I'd blast a hole clear through everything I looked at." He gave her a little smirk. "The first time my power manifested was interesting, to say the least."

"Can I at least think about it?" Nori asked.

Xavier patted her on the hand. "Of course, no one wishes to rush you into anything you don't want to do."

She nodded. "Ok."

There was a knock at the door, and Dr. McCoy entered at some unspoken command, carrying a bundle in his big, furry arms. "I believe I have a solution for our young friend, here, Charles," McCoy said, and made his way over to join the group at the conversation circle.

He knelt next to her, and held up a particularly horrid-looking torture device.

"This is a rather crude example, but it should work well enough until I can fabricate something a little more sophisticated. Let me see your arm, please."

Nori looked uncertainly from the contraption to Xavier, who gave her a small nod in reassurance. So she reluctantly turned her arm over to him, and McCoy slid it into a long, articulated metal glove that covered her from fingertips to elbow, and strapped in place. There was some padding on the inside so it wore comfortably, but she frowned at the cumbersome fingers and utter lack of style.

"Now then," McCoy said, quite pleased with himself. "I've designed these gauntlets in a way that you can discharge your power into them, and they will safely dissipate the energy rather than directing it. This will prevent the buildup that was overloading your mind and body by allowing you to release the charge in a safe manner."

"So, no more blowing holes in walls?" she asked, with a glance at Mr. Summers, who gave her a little smile.

"That's correct."

"They seem kind of clunky," she said, not quite able to keep the disappointment from her voice.

"Hm, yes," McCoy said, as he helped her into her other gauntlet. "I suppose I can see how the aesthetics would pose a problem for a girl of your age, and I'll confess they may not allow for much in the way of dexterity, but for now, at least, this will help you regulate your power while I work on a more elegant solution."

Nori held her gloved hands up and turned them to inspect the crude finish.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot," she said.

Xavier smiled. "I'm glad to hear that," he said. "Now, before I turn you over to Scott to see about finding you a room while you're with us, there is the matter we need to discuss of an incident with one Luna DePaula..."

###

Present day...

Dr. McCoy helped slip one of her upgraded gauntlets on and secure it in place. As soon as he was clear of her she released a small, experimental discharge.

"Ah, there we are," McCoy said. "I've upgraded the capacitors to handle your increasing power, and I imagine they should last you for a good while, now. But I would suggest you see me regularly in the future, perhaps once every three to six months, to run diagnostics and ensure they're keeping up with your own growth."

Nori slid her hand into the other gauntlet and secured it in place. She flexed her fingers to make sure everything articulated properly, then hopped down from his exam table. "They're still kind of clunky," she said. McCoy just chuckled a bit.

"The vanity of the teenage girl knows no bounds," he said, and Nori just rolled her eyes. "Well, I'll see what I can do to streamline their design further for the next upgrade. How do they feel?"

"I'm just glad I'll be able to avoid the shakes again," she said, then rushed up to Dr. McCoy and enfolded him in a big hug. "Thank you so much for everything."

McCoy just returned her hug, all the reward he asked for a job well done.

---

A Note From The Author

With this episode we get the first of the kids' "origin stories." As Nori hasn't been especially prominent thus far in the series, I knew I was going to want to start with hers. I actually didn't originally intend for it to play a part in Julian and Sofia's relationship until the action started to unfold. There's also a little bit of world-building here, with mention of a few other students at the school, namely Quentin Quire (whom also appears in the revised pilot. I just think there's some potential for Quire and Julian as schoolyard rivals always at each others' throats), but also my own Earth-10005 spin on Wolfsbane and Mirage. We also get a chance to firmly established Hank McCoy, and another little cameo by Cyclops (whom, I promise you, I DO have plans for him to be more than just a walk-on at some point! Really!).

And I will neither confirm nor deny Laura ending up on Julian's lap is in any way a ship tease. I'm totally pleading the 5th on that one.

Next time we'll be delving back into the primary arc for the first season. Where it's going may not come as a surprise for those of you familiar with the books, but hopefully for the rest there will be a few unexpected twists and turns to come.