Snippet #2478296

Niles Cranston

The young man seemed to scowl when Niles bumped into him but only momentarily. Right behind Niles and Keith, two cops had pointed at Keith and he quickly grabbed the Niless arm. "Listen. Don't say a word okay?" Keith ordered not explaining much.

"Sir we're going to need you to come with us." One of the officers said.

"Why? I didn't do anything." The young man replied.

"Article 10: Disturbing the peace. Passage 12: Destruction of owned property. Article 9: Thievery." The officer retorted.

"Awe come on, I'm only a kid. Plus I gave the man money so all should be fine." said the seemingly crafty young man.

Niles stood puzzled by the happening. He remained silent as he took in what was going on. It seemed that this young man was in a spot of trouble and needed a helping hand in getting out of it. Niles was deciding what he was going to do. He had his own troubles to deal with but he couldn’t help but rack his brain with how to help the young man out.

"You must learn that there are consequences for your actions. . . Hey." The officer said turning to Keiths new "friend". "Aren't you that guy... George. What's that guys name. The one that sells the jewelry and stuff."

Niles looked a surprised in a somewhat lofty manner as the officer recognized him. Answering casually, “Ah, yes. I’m Niles Cranston.” He replied.

The other officer known as George apparently looked up and laughed. "Oh yeah. Niles Cranston. You know, I bought my wife something from your make and well, let's just say, we had a good night."

Niles replied pleasantly, “Is that so? I’m glad she found my work satisfactory. And that it was worth the purchase for you sir as well.”

"Did she cook you meat or something?" Asked Keith in an innocent manner.

"What?" the officer inquired.

"Well, when you do something nice for a woman, she cooks you meat right?" Keith continued.

Niles stared curiously at the young man. ’How peculiar he is.’ Niles thought to himself.

Staring at each other the two officers whispered while doing various head movements. "How do you two know each other again?"

"Uh.... Um... He's my....Brother? Yeah. He's my big bro. You know like we have the same mom.... and dad." The young man replied quickly.

Niles’ expression was unchanging as if the statement were true. He decided to play along. “Sorry officers, my little brother has always been a bit awkward and prone to misbehave when nervous.” Niles added.

"Okay kid." George said patting Keith on the head. Turning to Niles he winked and said, "Seeing as your brother is both innocent and a little bit of an airhead, we can let him go for this little misdemeanor, but please, give this kid the talk or something."

“Yes, sir. I promise officer, you won’t have any more trouble out of him.” Niles replied with a relieved expression and then looked down at Keith with the scowl an elder brother would give.

As the officers left, Keith let go of Niles arm. "Man those guys are dumb. Do we look related. Hehehe. I wonder what he meant by the talk though. Anyway," He said holding out his hand, "I'm Keith. Nice to meet you. Niles was it? Seems I'm in your debt or something like that so I'm going to follow you around seeing as you might need help with something. That sound cool. I can do anything you want. Listen since you kept quiet like I asked I'll tell you a little secret." Keith looked around. "I'm a mutant. So yeah. I'm pretty much a bad ass. Don't tell no one though. Awe heck. I don't care if you tell. Seriously though, anything you want, I'll do it for you. A rich looking man like yourself might want something. Not saying you have to pay. This one favor's on the house." Keith grinned. "Only one though."

“Nice to meet you Keith. You’re quite a strange one, I must say.” He shook Keith’s hand. “As for doing me a favor… well I’m not sure what to ask of you. Regarding my fortune… well, I’m not sure how long that’s gonna last now.” Niles let out a heavy sigh, the pressure of his predicament once again weighing upon him. “By the way, your secret is safe with me Keith as it is the same as the secret I’m keeping, or at least was keeping up until moments before I bumped into you.” Niles then sat on a nearby park bench. “I’ve just been blackmailed and set up by a rival in business. He gave my name to the HMR and they will most likely lock me away. No one will want to do business with a mutant, he said. He might be right. I’m finished, so Keith I don’t think it would be good for you to get involved with me.”

Niles sat and rubbed his brow. “If only someone would put an end to the HMR. Then no one would have to fear being hunted down by them. Maybe sending them a message via force will be enough. My mentor Emma Frost, said that I should fight for the freedom of mutants. I might get caught but I’d rather get caught fighting for mutant kind then running away. I’m already in the spotlight of the HMR so I can risk getting caught but you’re under the radar for now, and I’d rather you stay that way. So I can’t ask you to help me with my plan.” Niles was concerned for Keith. In the short time he’d known the young man, he’d developed a fondness for him. Niles felt like he was safeguarding his own estranged little brother.

The Kitchen

Vincent grew quite concerned with Ryan’s sudden furry. It was a rare sight for anyone to see Ryan in such rage. He was almost terrifying, ready to rip anything that moved the wrong way to shreds by the looks of him. “Whoa whoa… Ryan buddy it’s alright! Please calm down.” He said.

Fuyumi had begun to approach Ryan and Jean stepped forward but Logan motioned for them not to get too close. Logan understood the kind of rage Ryan was exhibiting, he and Sabertooth often met with such standoffs. It was purely a miracle that the two hadn’t tried harder to kill one another while in the mansion for so long. The two simply kept a mutual distance from one another and that seemed to help a bit. “Look there will be no fighting you got it?” Logan said after Ryan challenged Terra.

Scott stood from his chair ready to break up a possible fight. Things seemed to calm down before he could say anything. Hideki, for the first time, was actually afraid of Ryan. He had never thought Ryan could become so fierce and angry. When Ryan calmed down, and reverted back to his human appearance, his clothes were tattered all over. Hideki called after Ryan as he left the room, but Cain placed a hand on his shoulder, “Let him be for now Hideki. He’ll come back around when he’s ready to. He probably wants a little space for the moment.” Cain said to Hideki.

Jonathan walked back over to Kyle and leaned back against the wall. He leaned in a little closer to Kyle. "I don't trust him," he said quietly.
Kyle took a moment to evaluate Terra for himself. “Yes. I too am a bit, what is the word? Ah, apprehensive. I agree.”
He shook his head and stepped back, turning to Kyle with an apologetic smile. "Sorry 'bout that." He cleared his throat and gave another quick unsure glance to the pair, before finishing the conversation they were previously having.
"How does a walk sound?" He asked with a smile. "I need some fresh air."

“It sounds great to me. A little fresh air will do me good too. Too much too fast. I’m embarrassed to admit it.” Kyle chuckled.


Ororo Munroe

Storm had arrived in the LaGuardia airport that morning from her trip to visit a few friends of the X-men. She caught a cab to the X-mansion eager to surprise Charles, Erik and the others. She unlocked the front door and was greeted with the familiar sights and sounds of students. She could hear the commotion in the kitchen, so she placed her bags down and walked toward the kitchen with a curious tilt of her head. She smiled the whole way there. She quietly entered the doorway to the kitchen as Kyle and Jonathan were just reaching the doorway to head out.

“Ah, Hi there Kyle, or should I say Marvel Boy?” Ororo said pleasantly with a smile.

“STORM!!” Kyle exclaimed. “That was a really long Holiday you took.” Kyle added.

“Yes, a much needed one. Northstar sends his love Kyle.” Storm replied casually. “Jonathan, have you grown taller now?” Storm asked as she had as she embraced him, being sure not to touch his exposed skin.

“Oh! You went to see Jean-Paul?! No wonder you didn’t want to leave. I wouldn’t have either.” Kyle replied with a smirk. Kyle had the biggest crush on Northstar. It was Northstar who was responsible for Kyle’s referral to the Xavier Institute.

“I didn’t say I didn’t want to come home. I could never stay away from here. Besides Jean-Paul isn’t the only one I went to see. I also met up with Dazzler and Gambit. Everyone they send their love.” Storm said with a gentle smile.

Hideki was so excited about Storm having met up with Dazzler. She was like another mentor for him, in different ways than Logan was. Like Dazzler, Hideki shared many of the same light based abilities but his were plasmatic in nature rather than only light. Dazzler had taught him a few things on her visit to the mansion some time ago. They also shared common ground as they were both popular singers. Hideki loved the Disco Dazzler.

“Storm noticed Jean among the usual crowd. Jean had left before Storm had took her holiday and she hadn’t expected to see Jean back so soon. She was very glad that Jean looked well. ”Jean! I didn’t expect you back so soon!! I’m so glad, and I’m sure Scott is too.”

Jean rushed over and gave Ororo a big hug. Scott smiled proudly at Storm’s comments. “It’s great to have you back Storm.” Scott said as he as well gave Storm a hug. Storm was like another family member of his. Her not being around was like having a sister not present at home. He was always concerned and waiting for her safe return so that things would be as they should at home.

Logan couldn’t retain his smile, “Ororo it’s about time.” Logan said trying to mask the excitement in his voice.

“I missed you a lot Logan.” Storm replied as she walked over to him and hugged him.

Vincent approached Strom and embraced her. “You always could sneak up on me. My telepathy never works well with you. I tricked myself into believing that I would have been able to sense when you were going to arrive home.”

“I guess I win then.” Strom giggled. “You’ve been treating Philip well I assume?”

“Yes, considering how much of a trouble maker he is.” Vincent replied while looking Philip up and down with a smirk.

“Shut-up… Vince.” Philip replied trying to contain his snickering. “Hi Storm.” He added.

Storm greeted the others warmly and then looked about to see a few unexpected faces, Sabertooth, David North, Agent six, as well as a few new faces. “Well, well, it seems I’ve missed a lot.” She said as she placed her hands on her hips.

“Yeah… There’s a lot we’ve got to get you caught up on Ororo.” Logan said. An explanation followed.