Sabertooth (Victor Creed)'s Story

Ryan smiled as he felt Vincent's hand on his shoulder. "Thanks Vince." Ryan smiled. "You don't have to say it. I know. Bullies like these require a different kind of response." Ryan smiled. "That's what you and Professor X always say. I did take your ethics class." Ryan explained, smiling impishly. As he finished, a man Ryan didn't recognize spoke up. “The one under arrest was me. Thanks for saving me. You really helped me big time. I was freaking out back there.” He was genuinely grateful. Ryan smiled. "Glad I could be of use. My scaly hide isn't good for much else." Ryan smirked playfully. "Ryan." He said, extending his hand to shake. "Nice to meet you Mr?..." Ryan asked, introducing himself, waiting for this new friend to offer his name as well. The man introduced himself and Ryan smiled. "It's very nice to meet you." Ryan then switched his attention to Professor Xavier, who spoke, addressing the group.

Professor Xavier recommended that everyone try to take it easy in the mansion for the evening and avoid going out until he was able to do a probe of the city’s activities with Cerebro. Meanwhile, Professor Lensherr scanned the group with his eyes trying to get a check on who was there and who wasn’t. “Logan, Victor, David and Pietro are in the Danger Room although I am not the biggest fans of that particular combination of mutants being gathered there of all places. Fuyumi, Joanna, and Wendy are headed back from the mall. They should be back shortly. Scott and Jean just pulled up and are entering the mansion.". Ryan smiled wide when he heard Jean was back. He was excited to see her again. As she walked up to the group with Scott, Ryan ran up to her, threw his arms around her waist, and smiled. "I'm glad you're home safely." Ryan said, his smile massively wide. "I'm glad you're home too Scott." Ryan said, addressing Cyclops. He shyly stepped away from Jean and addressed Scott. "It's getting more than a little scary out there. I'd hate to be a mutant without somewhere safe to call home." At that exact moment, Ryan's ears perked up and Scott's head whipped around. Something had just exploded in the Danger Room, the force of it shook the mansion. Ryan sighed. He sniffed hard. "It's Professor Logan and that predator, Sabertooth. North might be with them, I smell the gunpowder on him, but he has no smell himself." Ryan stated the facts nonchalantly, as if everyone might know them.

Scott ordered everyone to hold hands and Professor Fuyumi phased them through the floor to the door in front of the Danger Room. Ryan smelled gunpowder and sweat. It was like a war zone in there. He was walking through the door when he heard the ding behind him. Someone had used the elevator. Ryan's ear perked, and his nostrils widened. He smelled acrylic paint and a sort of river-y kind of smell. Not like dead fish, but like flowing water and green grass. He whipped his head around and saw a familiar sight. It was Jonathan! Ryan smiled wide. Ryan wanted to call out to him, but the elevator door closed before Ryan could.

Ryan squeezed Jean's hand, he'd been holding onto her when Professor Fuyumi had phased them through the floor. Ryan had maintained a gentle grip on his surrogate mother's hand while the group walked into the Danger Room control booth. Ryan smiled. "For once, I don't want in on this Danger Room session." Ryan smirked. He turned around and walked right back out the Danger Room door. Ryan lowered to all fours and let himself go. His skin became dark and scaly. His ears and teeth lengthened and became pointed. Horns sprouted from his temples and his eyes turned golden and slitted. The best way to get to where Jonathan was, was through a window after taking some stairs. So that's exactly what he did. Ryan followed his nose to Jonathan's scent, taking some stairs, jumping through a window, running around the Mansion, and climbing a tree to peek through the window in the room Jonathan was in. As he looked, Ryan noticed the song he was hearing for the first time. There were two people playing. It was a piano and a cello, twining their sounds together in perfect harmony. It was beautiful. Ryan couldn't help himself, he started to hum along with the song. It was one he remembered. It was often played at the mansion, being the favorite of several students and teachers. When the song was finished, Ryan poked his head through the window. "That was so beautiful. Thank you." Turning to Jonathan, Ryan spoke up. "Hi! I'm glad you're back safely. It's a nightmare out there for mutants, what with the HMR surveying us and basically rounding us up. Also, I think I left my backpack with you a while ago. I want my backpack and my painting back." Ryan said to Jonathan, smirking. "Did you perchance take it to your room."

Kent Van-Pelt

Kent had finished the evenings broadcast and exited the set of the news room. He noticed the faces of some of his co-workers. They seemed quite nervous for him after having stood up to the HMR on national television. Kent packed his things and went home to his condo however it was broken into and vandalized horribly. On the large glass window that had a view of the city was spray painted “MUTANT LOVER GO TO HELL!!” Kent knew that it was no longer safe for him to be there. He packed up a few things and drove to the X-mansion where he knew there was always a place for him.

[At the X-mansion]

Logan replied in a snarky manner, “What does it look like ruby red, I’m letting out a little frustration on thing one and thing two over here. Now BUT OUT!”

Professor Charles cut in, “I want this brawl to stop now! Logan you know better than this. I do not permit stand offs against other students you know that.”

Logan let out a heavy sigh. Victor chuckled under his breath. However Charles not only reprimanded Logan but Victor and David as well. “Victor and David, I expect better from you both as well. Victor you especially could learn to control your rages.”

Victor’s laughing came to s quick halt. “Look wimp, I ain’t one of your puny little students! So you can take your cheap psychiatric advice and chuck it.” Victor snarled.

Logan shouted, “You’re outta line Bub!” He pointed his claws at Victor in warning.

Kyle crossed his arms and took a couple of steps forward, smirking. He was in line next to the professor now. “I could take a little steam out of old tiger eyes, just to cool him off a bit if you want professor.”

Victor smiled devilishly, “Oh your pretty little dead carcass would need some cooling time in the morgue once I’m done with you.”

Hideki stepped forward beside Kyle, “BACK OFF!! I’m warning you…” Hideki said as bright flashes and flares crackled and popped around his hands.

David stepped forward, “Ah ah ah… you’d better play nice.” He threatened as he pointed a pistol at Hideki.

Scott immediately took action. He would never allow such a blatant threat on a student’s life to pass. He shot an optic blast at the gun however David ducked and dodged out of the way rather effortlessly, hand still steady and now aimed at Scott. David took two steps closer and fired a shot at Scott. The bullet was stopped by Jean telekinetically.

Eric frowned strongly. He levitated the weapon out of North’s hand and crumpled it into a little ball of metal. “Charles said enough! If you cannot obey then you shall be forced into submission!!” Eric said angrily. He dropped the crumpled mass of metal to the ground and it made a loud clunk.

Cain levitated the metal ball and shaped it into a sharp spearhead. He made it shoot past David’s head and it launched into a wall behind him. “We mutants should not be fighting each other. It’s bad enough that the humans are out for our blood but you’re acting no better.”

David simply rolled his eyes and headed for the door of the danger room. He placed a hand on Hideki’s shoulder, “Sorry Matsuzaka. I guess I lost my cool there.” David turned to the Professor and Eric, “My apologies, I’ve been a rude guest. You should have a problem out of me any further.”

Scott frowned, “Aren’t you forgetting somebody?” He said in an annoyed manner.

“Oh yeah, my bad Cyclops.” David said with a smirk and a wink.

Joanna was quite annoyed. “Really North? Ugh… this is ridiculous. You four (Logan, Pietro, Victor, and David.) should really grow up.” She said as she rolled her eyes and opened the danger room door. She heard the sweet music rushing into the danger room and was captivated. “What in the world…?” she said in confusion.

Fuyumi turned around as well, “That music… where is it coming from? It’s so beautiful.” She said with a smile on her face.

Eric smiled as well. That would be Emily’s doing.”, he replied.

Everyone followed the sound of the music towards Dr. Coleridge. The negative energy simply melted away and everyone felt pretty harmonious. Cain smiled peacefully. “If only this could be played for the world to hear. They would all lay down their hatred and reason with one another peacefully.” He said calmly.

Vincent replied. “As lovely as that sounds, it could be taken as mind control once someone realizes the true nature behind the music.”

Philip stepped closely toward Vincent and said quietly, “Speaking of love and peace… let’s go to bed and make a little love~ Xavier…” Philip smirked devilishly.

Vincent blushed redly. “Well, everyone with that I’m off to bed now. Night all! And Lovely solo Dr. Coleridge!” Vincent said as he pulled Philip by the hand and out of the room.

Kent had arrived at the mansion with his suitcase. He easily found Charles as he simply followed the music. Once he found Charles and the others he told them what happened. “I hope I can take shelter here once more.”

Charles hugged Kent. “Of course you can! You will always have a home here. You know that Kent.” He said.

“Thank you Professor.” Kent replied with a relieved smile.

Logan pated Kent on the back reassuringly, “Good to have you home buddy.” He smiled. Logan always had a fondness for Kent. Logan never warmed up to anyone easily but it took him absolutely no time with Kent. Perhaps it was Kent’s easy going nature. Kent never pushed things too hard or was overbearing in any way. Logan liked that about him. Honestly there was a time Logan pushed for Charles to make Kent the X-men Team Leader instead of Scott. However Kent declined and Charles had firmly decided that Scott was the ideal candidate, much to Logan’s dismay.

Most everyone began to retreat to their quarters. David headed down the hall Victor at his side. They were headed to nearly the same place as their rooms were right next to one another. David saw Memory, Ryan and Jonathan. He smiled at the sight of her. He approached her from behind and placed a peck on her cheek. “Hi there beautiful.” He said with a cute smile.

Victor sighed and shook his head tiredly. He didn’t stop but kept walking. “Why don’t you flirt with chicks remotely closer to your age range North?”

“Don’t wait up for me Victory honey.” David replied to Victor sarcastically. David glanced at Ryan and Jonathan with a smile. “Hi ho fellas.” David didn’t mean to put anyone off, he had done his share of that tonight. He genuinely wanted to be friendly to the three, especially Memory.

Down the hallway a bit further walked Logan and Hideki. Their conversation could be heard a bit off from where they were. Hideki pulled at Logan’s arm beggingly. “Logan…com’on!! I’m creeped out by the HMR!! They know this place if full of mutants! Who knows whether or not they would raid this place. Please… let me crash with you tonight!!” Hideki begged.

Logan frowned in annoyance. He knew that Hideki was being overly clingy for the reason that he usually was, because Hideki had a crush on him. “How old are you again Matsuzaka?”

Hideki replied, “Please Logan! If anyone would sense a soldier sneaking up on him, it would be you. Rooming with the Professor is out of the question, Vincent is getting a leg over with Phillip so that’s a no go. I don’t really know Cain all that well and it would be… more than awkward. I’m not so sure about Annabelle’s telepathic skills yet and we don’t really know one another. Jean’s with Scott and three’s a crowd anyway. There’s nobody left but you!”

Logan chuckled, “You forgot Victor over there. His sense of smell is just as keen as mine. Go ask him if he doesn’t mind you snuggling up to him tonight for safety.” Logan couldn’t contain the laughter.

“Are you Nuts!!?? That’s not funny Logan… You’re like one on my best friends…” Hedeki pouted.

Kyle passed the two up, “Logan please do it so Hideki will shut the hell up…” Kyle said in a tired way.

Logan looked at Hideki with squinted eyes and let out a heavy sigh. “Alright then. Grab your stuff. But you try something and I’ll punch you in the gut. You know I mean it Kiddo.” Logan said with a smile. He thought about it a bit more and he figured he could use the company. After the bout that he had with Sabertooth and North it made him think a lot about his past and his own rages. It put him in a foul mindset that wasn’t a good place for Logan to be while alone.

“Yosh!!!” Hideki replied in excitement.

Kyle commented in a snarky manner, “Looks like Hideki can die happily tonight. His dreams are partially coming true.”

Hideki frowned up in embarrassment. He quickly fired a blast toward Kyle. “SHUT-UP!! Or else I won’t miss next time!!”

Logan simply shook his head and sighed. ‘Maybe this was a mistake…’ he thought as he proceeded toward his room.

Annabelle and Jennifer split from the group and made their way down one of the hallways, Annabelle was still new herself but she had managed to make a mental map by snatching the memories of other peoples journeys through these halls. She skipped down the hallway, happy to see her half sister again. She turned round and managed to speak to her,
"I'm so happy that you're here!" She smiled at her. "Maybe you could become an x-man and stay here!" She was walking backwards and bumped into something, something big and muscular. She spun around, her face flush and her eyes nervous.
"He's rather handsome." Annabelle heard a voice slur, her face then went pale and her eyes looked to the ground nervously.
"Sorry, Mr Creed." She projected into Sabertooth's head before ducking past him, her face hidden behind her hair.

Jennifer was happy to see her sister smiling and actually talking out loud. Jennifer's smile then fell when Annabelle mentioned becoming an x-man. "Belle, I'm not planning on staying very long." She told her, sincerely, but Annabelle didn't seem to listen, she was too preoccupied with the large man that she'd just bumped into. Jennifer gave him a curt nod and introduced herself. "I'm Jennifer Harolds, Annabelle's older sister." She waited for Sabertooth to introduce himself and let Annabelle wander off in her embarrassment.

Annabelle ran down the hallway and snuck into the library, hardly anyone used the library and she was sure no one would mind her being in there and talking to herself. "Stop! Just stop! Leave me alone!" She sat in a corner repeating to herself, her fingers pressed against her temples as she focused on locking Aurora up with mental blocks.

[A collaborative post between Masato22 and ViviOrunitiaFF9]

David North and Jonathan Moore

David followed Memory to her room, walking closely behind her. His body having no discernible scent made moments like this slightly interesting for the other party who would usually notice a person’s body scent when being intimate. David’s warmth was memory’s clue that he was close behind her. David could hear Hideki and Logan down the hall and smirked. ‘Looks like I’m not the only one getting a leg over tonight.’ David thought to himself. The thought of Logan shacking up with another guy made David want to laugh out loud. They entered her room and David quietly closed the door behind him.

He smoothly kissed the beautiful brunette’s lips passionately. David effortlessly picked up the petite girl up and held her as the make out session swung into full effect. However had a quick thought that made him pause and look Memory in the eyes. The thought was an image, the image of Ryan’s face stricken with sadness. He knew that Memory had the right to choose who and what she wanted, but seeing that poor boys face as David simply chased a temporary thrill made him feel actually horrible. David just could continue.

David let out a sigh. “I’m sorry love. I just can’t this time. Ah…this place it really working a number on me…” David said with a look that showed how hard it was for him not to carry on with it. David slowly put Memory down and then planted a gentle kiss upon her lips. “I guess today is not my day. I should go, you have the sweetest of dreams, okay?” David said as he turned toward the door, and the exited. As he closed the door behind him, he saw Jonathan.

“Good evening Jonathan.” David greeted with a small smile.

Jonathan's blood ran cold. Unable to stop himself, his hands closed over into fists as his eyes took in the sight he wished he hadn't seen. Just when he had been coming to keep David away from his sister, here he was smugly leaving her room and talking to him as if Jonathan had seen nothing. With more effort than should have been needed, he schooled his expression into something a little calmer and drew in air slowly to speak.
"David," he replied with a stiff nod. "Can I have a word?" He looked around the hallway, then back to David. "Somewhere a little more private?"

At David's nod, that smile still on his face, he turned and began walking quickly down the hall, several students moving out of his way upon seeing him - partly as they knew of his powers, partly because of the look on his face. The room he took him to was a small bedroom for a student that was yet to filled. He opened the door slowly and ushered David inside with the closest thing he could manage to a half-hearted smile. Glaring into David's back, he let the door close over and tried to calm his temper. "This should do for a quick chat," Jonathan murmured while he took a quick appraising glance across the walls. So long as no one was around to hear them he didn't care. This was between himself and David.

David wondered what Jonathan wanted. Jonathan didn't look very pleasant but David was trying to keep a positive outlook on things. He was already having a rough night. He smirked as he saw the other students avoid touching Jonathan. David remembered Jonathan’s file well. The guy couldn't touch anyone without sending them into a nightmare coma. Lucky for David he was excellent at evading attackers.

Jonathan addressed David, "I want to let you know now that I don't trust you, never have. Currently, I have no problem with you being around the mansion. If Charles trusts you enough to not cause any trouble, then I'll stick by his decision. But I want you to stay away from my sister."

David let out heavy sigh and rolled his eyes. He felt he just couldn't catch a break around this place. "God being nice is such a fucking pain... Look guy, your sister should be free to make her own decisions. So instead of riding my jock about giving her space, why don't you pull out first?" David snapped.

"Need I remind you of when we first met? You were holding us at gun point. My fucking apologies if I'm just a little reluctant to let her go with your kind." Jonathan replied in just as charged a manner.

"Well I ought to give her what both she and I both want just because I fucking can. I mean damn, you would have walked in on me in her had I not grown some form of a conscience due to your scaly little friend who likes her." Jonathan's face shifted into a look of contained anger and his fists closed. "So you really should thank me for showing a little restraint." Jonathan's knuckles slowly turned white as he fought to contain the growing flame within him. "But perhaps my being with her isn't really your problem... maybe it's because I haven't given you much attention?” David stepped closer to Jonathan, the two standing face to face. David totally could tell that his taunt mocked the young man greatly. David then laughed. Jonathan's face quickly turned from rage to disgust before he turned his head away. “Don't worry guy. I'll leave her alone for now. But I warn you, if she comes knocking I'm gonna answer.” David turned to walk away.

"Now let me warn you, North." Jonathan turned back to David and stared darkly into his eyes as he spoke slowly. "You stay away from me and my family or we are going to have a problem, and you are going to have to watch your back. Remember who you're dealing with." He opened his hand and slowly flexed his fingers to emphasise his point. "You're not the only one with blood on his hands." Jonathan replied coldly.

David smirked, "Alright kiddo. It's not that serious to me. Like I said, I'll give her space but I'm letting you know, that if I back off she'll come running. Don't be surprised. I've got nothing against you but I'm not in the mood for any more shit tonight so let's end it here. Before I remember the bloodstained monster I really am." David’s face displayed a deadly serious expression. David turned to walk out of the room.

The fight to control his breathing was becoming somewhat easier now that David had left him on his own. A dull pain in his palm finally registered in his mind as he calmed down slightly. He glanced down and noticed small red rings where his nails had been pressing hard into his skin. Shaking his hands, he took another deep breath and started for the door. He had protected Memory like a father since meeting her eight years ago, and he was not going to have all of his work undone by a self-obsessed asshole who think he can get everything he wants. Jonathan snorted. 'He should be a politician,' he joked to lighten his mood as he stepped out into the corridor and began back to his room, fixing his expression into something friendlier for Ryan.

David was pissed. It seemed to be one thing after another. David pondered about Ryan, Jonathan and memory. He wondered if he should interfere with Memory any further. He knew that given the look in Ryan’s eyes he felt strongly for Memory. “What the hell have I been doing here? I should have gone about my way long ago. I guess I do like it here but do I ever see myself as an official X-men like Logan? Ugh… I don’t wanna think about it any further.” David laid down in his bed and went to sleep.



[Post by Masato22]

{OOC: I just wanna apologize in advance because this post is ridden with intimate moments... sorry. I hope things were discreet enough and not too character bending.}


Victor Creed

Victor walked up the hall toward his room when he heard a familiar voice. It was Annabelle. He remembered her from the attack on the city by the Morlocks and Juggernaut.

"Maybe you could become an x-man and stay here!" She was walking backwards and bumped into something, something big and muscular. She spun around, her face flush and her eyes nervous.
"He's rather handsome." Annabelle and Victor heard a voice slur, her face then went pale and her eyes looked to the ground nervously. Victor grinned slightly at her.

“In a rush are you, little lady?” Victor said calmly.

"Sorry, Mr Creed." She projected into Sabertooth's head before ducking past him, her face hidden behind her hair.

Victor’s eyes followed Annabelle as she scurried past him. Jennifer gave him a curt nod and introduced herself. "I'm Jennifer Harolds, Annabelle's older sister."

Victor looked down at the young woman. His sights focused in on her and he raised an eyebrow. He was curious about her as he had not seen her around before. She was just as pretty as her sister. He smiled in his usual grin and replied. “I’m Victor Creed. Most people know me as Sabertooth.” He paused for a moment wondering what he wanted to say if anything at all. He never dropped his confident disposition. “So is your little sister alright. She doesn’t seem her usual self. Actually not that I care much, but she’s been a bit jumpy lately. I noticed her antsy energy. I can feel it a mile away. Just saying, you should probably check up on her.” Victor said to Jennifer. He could explain why he felt even slightly concerned. He never thought the X-men would grow on him like they were.


Cain Lehnsherr

“I think he makes a point.” Cara almost whispered to him in her thick Russian accent before kissing him passionately.

Cain kissed Cara his emotions flaring up strongly. He took Cara’s hand and led her to his room. He and her kissed and embraced each other passionately. Cain wanted Cara and nothing would stop him from pouring out his soul into her. It was like he desperately needed someone to love, a love to call his own. He knew how it felt to be in love because he had such a direct link to Vincent and his emotions meaning that he technically felt the same romantic love for Phillip that Vincent felt. Likewise, Vincent could feel what Cain had formed with Cara.


Philip Klein and Vincent Xavier

Vincent and Philip were in the middle of their intimate activities when Vincent felt a strange warmth in his heart. It was as if he was feeling a certain passion that was his own yet wasn’t at the same time. His mind flashed with thoughts of Cara, oddly enough. Vincent stopped and grabbed his head trying to sort out the strange phenomenon. Philip sat up and asked, “Vince what’s the matter? Are you alright?” Phillip held Vincent close.

Vincent replied, “It’s strange… I felt as if I was with Cara… please don’t take that the wrong way Love.” Vincent explain while still looking confused.

Philip chuckled, “No worries hun, I won’t.” Phillip thought for a moment, “Do you think it has something to do with Cain? He told me once that he could feel what you felt for me as if it was his own feelings for me. Maybe you’re feeling what he feels for Cara?”

Vincent’s eyes widened in shock. “Oh my God you must be right…. Bollocks! I have to get the fuck out of his head when he’s having sex! That must mean that he sees or feel when I’m having a go!? God… now I’m just done…” Vincent moaned in frustration.

Phillip frowned, “Oh no you’re not! I’ll fix the problem. If you need our passion to be amped up so that you drown out his thoughts then so it. Now lay down Xavier…” Phillip commanded with a devilish grin.

Matsuzaka Hideki and Logan

Logan and Hideki lay in Logan’s bed after Hideki begged him and successfully was allowed to crash there for the evening. Logan had already fallen to sleep and one that seemed quite deep from Hideki’s perspective. It was somewhat harder for Hideki to fall asleep for some reason that evening. He noticed how heavy Logan was considering how much the mattress sunk in under the sheer weight of the muscular man’s Adamantium frame. Hideki smirked at the thought of Logan at an airport.

“I you get stopped by airport security all the time huh?” Hideki asked quietly to the sleeping Logan. He knew Logan was asleep but he didn’t care. What better way to pass the time than thinking out loud. Hideki felt more comfortable sharing the close space with Logan than he thought he would initially.

Just as Hideki began to drift off he heard Logan began to grunt uncomfortably in his sleep. It was as if he was having a bad nightmare. Hideki turned toward Logan and sat up in bed. “Ne~ Logan-kun…” Hideki said in Japanese. Logan’s nightmare seemed to get pretty worse by the looks on his face. Hideki touched Logan on the arm and the strong mutant shot out of his sleep with a frightening roar and claws extended! Hideki jumped backward toward the wall in fear. Luckily he didn’t get cut or stabbed by the dangerous claws of the Wolverine.

“Logan-kun… Daijyoubu ka? [hey Logan… are you alright?]” Hideki asked in a timid manner. Logan was still breatinh heavily and sweat dripped off of him.

“Uh… yeah, sorry kid. I didn’t mean to scare ya.” Logan looked worried but was trying to calm down.

Hideki simply placed his hand on Logan’s back gently. “It ok Logan. I don’t know how much help I can be… but, I’m here.” Hideki’s voice was serious. Logan looked at Hideki with vulnerability in his eyes, a look few ever saw on Logan. Logan said nothing, but hugged Hideki close.

“Thanks kiddo.” Logan said while still embracing Hideki. Logan casually laid down while still holding onto Hideki which made Hideki nervous a little. He had never been this close to before Logan. After a moment of silence and stillness, Logan said, “You make a great teddy bear Matsuzaka. Hahaha…” Logan chuckled.

Hideki smirked, “Well I make an even better night light if you need one.” Hideki began to glow with soft multicolored light all over his body.

Logan frowned a bit. “Okay out with you.” He then smirked.

“HEY!!! I didn’t do anything funny!!! You said no funny business!! You’re the one who hugged me and snuggled!! I didn’t initiate that!!!” Hideki protested.

“I said no funny business as in, corny light jokes. Now scram.” Logan said with a smirk on his face.

Hideki in a huff crawled out of the bed. “Oh alright…” But before he could get but a pace away Logan grabbed Hideki’s hand and pulled him back down.

“Just shut up and go to sleep.” Logan said while smiling. He laid with one arm around Hideki and fell asleep. Hideki smiled shyly. If Hideki had doubts before they were erased now, Logan did care for him. However most importantly, Hideki was glad that he could help Logan as a friend. Hideki soon afterward drifted off to sleep as well.

Annabelle cradled herself in the library, the silence broken by her nervous chanting. “Just go back to sleep!” She constantly repeated, her voice never seeming to stop, it was the most she had ever talked with her own voice. She then grabbed her hair within her own hands and pulled her hair, the pain causing tears to well up in her eyes. “Please, Aurora, please. Just leave me alone.” She whispered finally before stopping her chanting and released her hair.
”No.” Annabelle then felt a powerful psionic hit, causing her to scream out loud before collapsing, lying unconscious on the ground.

Jennifer smiled up at Victor when he responded, his grin making her smile more.
“I’m Victor Creed. Most people know me as Sabertooth.” Jennifer nodded and looked up at him.
“That sounds rather vicious.” She giggled lightly before shaking her head. “Some people call me Clarity.”
“So is your little sister alright. She doesn’t seem her usual self. Actually not that I care much, but she’s been a bit jumpy lately. I noticed her antsy energy. I can feel it a mile away. Just saying, you should probably check up on her.” Victor pointed out, making her smile disappear.
“You noticed that, huh?” Jennifer looked away from Victor and sighed. “She hasn’t been here that long and already people have picked up on that, people that apparently don’t care.” She then walked past him, ignoring any comments he said as she walked down the hall. She let herself start humming softly, little butterflies, pink and blue, fluttered softly around her as she hummed, only disappearing when she stopped.

Aurora sat up in the library, she pulled her hair from behind her head and looked at the blond streak that was hidden amongst the brown tangle. “You have no style, sister.” She got up and looked out the window, the night was still young, Aurora could go out and enjoy it. Aurora went to push the door open but her hand became engulfed in a purple aura that prevented her from going anywhere near the window. Aurora took a hard look around the entire room and noticed it was all covered in the aura. ”NO! You can’t keep me trapped in this hell forever!” Aurora swiped at the air in front of her, the scene of the library disappearing.

Annabelle regained control and cried softly to herself, it was only a matter of time before Aurora did something that Annabelle would have to live with forever.

The Kitchen

Cain placed his arms around Cara’s waist and stood closely behind her. He wanted her to feel comfortable and relaxed. He was concerned with how she spoke of her tortured past moments earlier. Cain communicated to her telepathically. “Don’t you worry I will never let a human even dream of harming you again. You have my word. Unlike my father, I won’t leave you. I’d die first and I’m pretty hard to kill.” Cain then kissed Cara sweetly in front of the others. He didn’t really care what they thought. Only Cara mattered to him at that moment.

Kyle and Peter, having rolled out of bed and gotten lightly dressed, made their way to the kitchen. Upon seeing the frowning faces and thick atmosphere Kyle spoke. “What’s going on are we going to hang someone or something? It looks like a hostile town meeting in here.” Kyle shuffled to the liquor cabinet and opened it. “I think I could use an Irish coffee if I’m gonna stick around here.”

Logan intercepted him, “uh un bub. I’m not watching you ruin your liver this morning. Leave the Irish out of your coffee.”

“Good morning to you too handsome…” Kyle replied to Logan as he rolled his eyes. He went to the other side of the Kitchen where the coffee was, near Jonathan. Kyle stood next to him and smiled. “Morning stranger.” Kyle said quietly to Jonathan as he prepared his coffee cup. He couldn’t help but feel slightly anxious in a fearful way but he shrugged it off. Perhaps it was the energy of the room making him feel that way, as it was tense in the kitchen.

Hideki pondered the things said to him and he was on the fence as to which side to take. He definitely felt that if mutants didn’t stand up for themselves who else would? He glanced over at Mutt Ant who stood looking nervous to have been dragged into this predicament. There were humans like Mutt that felt Mutants should live free of persecution like anyone else. “I guess the Professor has been right all this time, so I shouldn’t doubt him now.” He thought.

Hideki looked at Aent Six who sat next to him quietly.” I wonder what she’s thinking about this situation?” He turned to Agent Six shyly. “Um Miss Six… I heard you have no emotion. You wouldn’t be offended if I asked you for your thoughts on this situation would you? Well then again I guess you wouldn’t get offended if you can’t feel offense. Sorry about that!” Hideki apologized.

Victor and David entered the kitchen, it seemed that the two usually traveled together. “What’s this, a class on current events and social issues? If you ask me I’d say I’m an equal opportunity kind of guy. As in, I’d split the skull of a mutant or a human for equal reasoning. Hahaha…” Victor chuckled smugly.

“Well Victor, no one asked you so you could have sparred us that little nugget.” Scott snapped.

Jean frowned, “Scott… Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.” Jean smirked at Scott after saying this. Scott only frowned up more yet slightly embarrassed.

Aidan interjected, “It seems that Charles hasn’t given you much instruction on what to do regarding this dire matter after all. Then again, situations like this are not as bad as they seem. I’ve been around for a VERY long time and I’ve learned something about people. We are always in a part of a quaint system of checks and balances. The humans fear anything they have difficulty controlling, us. We must allow then to have an illusion of power so that we can then snatch it from their grubby little hands when it is most effective to do so. Thus showing them that we are in truly uncontrollable and maximizing the effect of the realization.” His eyes scanned the room as he continued, “Charles may have some of you trained into docile peacekeeping doves. However those of us who are still ravens will know when the time is right to pluck the grub of power and control from the Earth. It’s like starvation, the food is placed in front of you and you can’t help but to ravage it. I suppose the REAL question is, who is willing to sit passively like Gandhi and become emaciated for the cause, and who shall sit fat and greedy with the power nature has supplied them with? Riddle yourselves that please.” Aidan couldn’t contain his smile.

Fuyumi shrugged her shoulders and flicked a lock of her long brown hair over her shoulder before responding, “I can understand the need to be afraid. I could incinerate someone by dragging them down into the Earth’s core if I wanted to, easily. There are so many of you who could do a lot worse. However everyone must deal with their fears responsibly and rationally. A competition of might is not the answer.”

Cain stared intensely at Aidan, “You have a fascinating perspective Mr. O’Doherty. I can understand why my fathers keep you close.” Cain said with a smile.

Aidan replied, “Indeed. Better me a friend than an enemy mate.”

Kent finished his coffee and let out a deep sigh. “Well we’re should try to stick together and win this one through perseverance and peacekeeping. We can’t expect to sway Anti-Mutant sentiment when we are swinging axes at each other. Whether Mutant-kind is superior or not, we should have the civil decency to try to showcase fairness in the hopes that the message gets through to those that need to understand it.” Kent looked to the others in the room. The let his eyes rest on Mutt. “Mr. Ant. You’re a human who is an activist for Mutant rights, how would you like to be interviewed on your perspective of this situation. I’m a news journalist and I think the populace could use a glimps of your thoughts on this. It could help our plight. What do you say?” Kent smiled as his ice blue eyes locked in on the strange man casually.

Jennifer Harolds
Jennifer shook her head and rolled her eyes, "That doesn't justify killing innocents." Jennifer sighed, before putting her headphones back over her head and listening to her music, if anyone looked closely at the blond they'd notice the slight pink and blue aura forming around her, it spiked with the bass of the music like a visualisation on the windows media player. Using her powers gave her a sense of calm, even if it freaked a few people out but it also kept them away from her, the rare few that dared to talk to her when she was using her abilities she held a lot more respect for. She watched as more people came in, but she didn't do much to show her acknowledgement, she merely focused on not making her powers spike to much, she may have been sat by herself but she still ran the risk of hurting someone if the constructs spiked too much.

Annabelle Greyson
After sitting in her room, silently crying to herself for a few moments, Annabelle decided maybe it was time for breakfast. She stood up and let out a deep breath before leaving her room, she made her way down the halls and finally entered the kitchen. The tension hit her like a punch to the face, her empathy was going off the charts, she could feel anger, frustration, hatred, sympathy, almost every negative feeling she could register was hitting her like a pile of bricks. Annabelle focused on her own, hoping she'd block out the others and they wouldn't affect her, but she could stop feeling all the emotions and she decided to just open up her telepathy, blocking out the empathy unless she forced the two together. She picked up on a message obviously not meant for her, the voice was obviously Cain's but she merely ignored it, it was easier to ignore thought waves than it was emotions.
Annabelle noticed Jennifer sitting at a table on her own, the aura obvious to her having grown up with, so she decided to leave Jennifer to herself and noticed Jean, she had similiar problems but now wasn't the time to bring up Aurora and cause problems for anyone. She decided to make herself some porridge with syrup and having no other choice, sat next to her sister, who didn't acknowledge Annabelle's arrival. Annabelle looked across the kitchen and noticed Victor, a slight blush came across her even if he wash't looking at her.

Hideki couldn’t help but notice the aura of colors emanating off of Jenifer as she danced to her music. “Well at least she hasn’t missed a beat.” He said quietly. He began to create small sparkles of light that like flickered around his hands.

Victor smiled at Annabelle when she entered the kitchen, looking a bit more put together than she did the night before. Before he could give it a second thought, he walked over to her and quietly asked her, “You alright little lady? You didn’t look so hot last night and I was wondering if you might need some help. I’m no Charles Xavier so don’t expect much though.” Victor said to Annabelle.

David grinned as Memory and Ryan entered the Kitchen coupled up like two train coaches. He walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed the note pad designated for memos and scribbled down “So M I guess Beast Boy was the better man. I respect that and I agree. We had a good run, Cheers. David North” he wrote in very precise and neat penmanship. David then folded the little note into a paper airplane and shot it towards Memory. David had keen aim and could send a projectile exactly where he wanted when he wanted. The plane landed right at M’s hand.

Jean hugged Ryan back as he embraced her. He helped her feel a lot more relaxed in the tense atmosphere. She quickly noticed his closeness with Memory and her smile widened. She prepared the two plates and whispered to Ryan “Way to go Mr. Stud.” She winked.

Cain couldn’t help but smile brightly when he saw Ryan with Memory. He was so proud to see a confident Ryan. Cain thought of Ryan as his little brother, exactly as Vincent did. “Ryan I didn’t realize you had such pretty girlfriend? I’d ask you to introduce me to her but I believe we already met.” Cain said cheerfully with one of the most lighthearted expressions he’d given all morning.

Vincent and Philip awoke as together in a carefree manner. They were glad to have found a moment to relax after the tension brewing with the HMR the night before. “Good morning Professor Xavier…” Philip said in a sultry voice, he couldn’t keep from giggling in his silliness.

Vincent playfully shoved Philip, “Oh please… you just put a bad image in my head of my father in,” Vincent stopped abruptly. “You know what? I’m not even going to finish that statement. I’d say you German boys are quite crafty aren’t you.” The two of them chuckled.

Vincent seemed to flinch for a moment. Philip noticed immediately and his smile quickly faded. “What’s wrong Vincent? Are you alright?” Philip asked, holding Vincent close.

“Nothing much, I just have a little bit of a headache. I guess I’m telepathically picking up in the mounting tension in the kitchen. It seems there’s a debate on about the current situation with the HMR. I’d better break this up…” Vincent began to get out of bed while he let out a tired sigh.

Philip responded with a devilish smirk. “Let me fix things with a little prank Herr Xavier” Philip’s German accent only increased his charm.

“Oh… Why not? It’ll be way better than me lecturing everyone on father’s methodology.” Vincent replied.

The made there way outside of the mansion after getting dressed and crept along the side of the building in order to sneak up to the kitchen window. Philip produced two handfuls of marble sized time-bombs and tossed them on the ground outside of the Kitchen window creating a popping sound akin to rapid gunfire. The people in the kitchen were all startled by the prank, some thought the HMR were really there. Cain created a protective magnetic barrier, Kent also generated a large domed force field to protect the group. However a few of them such as Logan and Victor knew full well who and what was coming, given their keen senses.

Philip and Vincent appeared in the window laughing loudly “Got ya!!” Philip chuckled.

“Mind giving us a hand inside Fuyumi?” Vincent asked her. Fuyumi pulled the two through the window via phasing. Her face looked somewhat annoyed. “Oh really you two! As if there weren’t enough tension brewing this morning!” she fussed.

Philip’s smile never faded, “Relax… See there are no guns from the HMR. So why are we pointing them at each other in here? We should all be enjoying this nice morning.” Philip replied with his German accent ever present.

Vincent chuckled, “Well at least you all are on your toes and ready for action.”


Cerebro chamber

Charles sat in the cerebro chamber scanning the city for mutant activity. With the HMR making such brash moves mutants were being pushed into acts of desperation. He could feel the emotions of fear and anger spiking in mutants across the nation. The X-men would be needed soon.

Moments later Eric entered the Cerebro chamber and addressed Charles. “What do you see Charles? Is it as bad as I feared?” He said as he approached Charles.

“Worse Eric, it’s worse than we both imagined. People are in a serious state of panic. The HMR has no clue what they unleashed upon us all. I must think of some way to help, there must be a way to convince them of the danger of their actions…” Charles said in a stressed manner.

Eric grew even more concerned. “Charles this situation is indeed dire but your state worries me most of all. You must no strain yourself. We can’t save the world, but we can help a little bit at a time.” Eric placed his hands gently on Charles’ shoulders in an attempt to guide him away from the cerebro headset.

Just then Charles got a sharp transmission of images. There were several attacks on HMR facilities by Mutants and it seems that the Morlocks have followed the lead of the main aggressors. Charles explained the happening to Eric, whom held Charles as he had almost collapsed under the strain of the Cerebro transmission. “Charles you need to rest. Allow me to handle it from here.”

As Ryan entered the kitchen, his eyes turned to Jonathan in the corner of the kitchen, next to Kyle. Ryan was a little nervous to see him. Ryan had smelled Jonathan from up the stairs, alerting him to his presence. His mouth dropped open as his sister walked in with Ryan, their fingers laced. He seemed somewhat shocked by the state of affairs. Ryan couldn't help but feel a flicker of fear and uneasiness. Was Jonathan upset? Did he approve of Ryan approaching Memory so soon after they had talked? However, much to Ryan's relief, Jonathan appeared to be ok with the whole situation. The corners of his eyes were turned up, and he appeared to be mostly happy with Ryan and Memory's arrival. Ryan mentally wiped a head of sweat from his forehead and sighed quietly. Though the majority of his worries were dispelled, he couldn't help but feel a strange sort of uneasiness around Jonathan. Ryan dismissed the thought, attributing the feeling to how stifling the room had felt when he entered, but a single thought remained. He would certainly hate to be on Jonathan's bad side. His eyes locked with Jonathan's for a brief moment, and Ryan smiled. He tried to, in that one moment, thank Jonathan for his brilliant advice, his kind, listening ears, and his big heart. Ryan wasn't sure if Nonathan caught the gesture, but Ryan felt obliged to make it none the less.

Approaching the stove, Ryan greeted his surrogate mother like he usually did, and Jean hugged Ryan back as he embraced her. Ryan felt his heart pound affectionately, and he resisted the urge to release a low growl of contentment. As the two broke apart, Ryan couldn't but notice his surrogate mother's smirk. She appeared to have noticed his closeness with Memory. Ryan blushed and smiled somewhat apologetically, as if he felt bad for not telling her about it sooner. After she had finished preparing the two plates, she handed them to Ryan, whispering just low enough for him to hear. “Way to go Mr. Stud.” She winked, and Ryan blushed deeper. Jeez Mom... Ryan thought, directing his grievances at Jean with a roll of his eyes. Whispering back, Ryan said. "Trust me, there was nothing suave about it at all." As he said it, Ryan couldn't help but smirk. Jean always knew just how to make him smile. For all Ryan's life she had taken care of him, and her approval and candor meant more to Ryan than the opinion of everyone else at the mansion, not including Jonathan, or Memory herself.

Having joked with his surrogate mother about the situation, Ryan stepped back towards the counter, plate in hand, and dug around in an open drawer until he found a fork. Attempting to use somewhat proper table manners, Ryan ate quickly, as he was quite hungry, but not so fast as to forget his manners. After all, he was attached to Memory now. People would associate his behavior with Memory's image. Ryan had to be a good example. The better he looked, the better Memory looked by association. As he ate, Ryan was approached by someone he hadn't properly been introduced to. Cain. Though Ryan had seen him come in with Vincent after the kidnapping incident, Ryan hadn't spent much time with him. However, Cain smelled exactly the same as Ryan's adopted brother Vincent; their scents were identical, indistinguishable. Further, he walked over towards Ryan with a wide smile, giving off waves of, what felt like, happiness and pride on Ryan's behalf. Had Ryan been transformed, his tail would have unconsciously started to wag. For some reason, Ryan was instinctively happy that Cain was pleased with him. The two were practically strangers, and yet Ryan felt as if he had known Cain all his life. Technically, though Ryan didn't consciously recognize it, he had.

Having reached where Ryan was, Cain spoke. “Ryan I didn’t realize you had such pretty girlfriend? I’d ask you to introduce me to her but I believe we already met.” Cain said cheerfully, a wide, bright smile on his face. Ryan blushed slightly, and returned the gesture with his own infectious, toothy grin, after, of course, making sure there was no food in his mouth. Setting down his plate, Ryan responded. "Cain, right? Though I don't think we've properly met, and I didn't know you'd already met Memory, I can most certainly agree with you. She is rather pretty." As he said it, Ryan threw a warm, heart-melting glance at Memory, and beamed at her, smiling wide. Once he'd finished his little compliment, Ryan stepped over to Cain and inspected him. His nose worked furiously, as if he were trying to smell his way into Cain's soul, to read his very essence via scent. Nodding, and having apparently deduced something pleasant about him, Ryan smiled and embraced Cain in a brotherly fashion. "Vincent said you were a part of him, and he of you. Two halves of the same whole. I'm not really sure how that works, but I suppose I can be ok with having another older brother as cool as you." As he said it, Ryan smiled wider, overflowing with a warm, wistful, happiness. Cain's scent, which was identical to Vincent's, contained only happy memories for Ryan. The same warm feelings he had for his brother Vincent, were present when he was with Cain.

After hugging Cain for a moment, Ryan let him go, quickly smiling up at him before fully stepping away. This way Cain could finish his breakfast, or be free to talk with others. Further, Ryan had the tiniest niggling suspicion he wasn't the hugging type. He wasn't the kind to break a hug for no reason, but he definitely wasn't the kind to run around hugging people either. His piece having been said, Ryan walked back over to where Memory was, and resumed the eating of his breakfast, cheeks still rosy, not from blushing, but from happiness. Ryan just felt so happy, he couldn't help himself. When he had finished his pancakes, which were absolutely delicious, Ryan thanked Jean and carried his dishes over to the sink, so that he could wash them. As he scrubbed, Ryan could smell Vincent and Philip outside the mansion, which explained their absence at breakfast, but what were they doing outside? Their footsteps were muffled, and oddly placed, as if crouching along the Mansion walls. Ryan tilted his head sideways, chuckling to himself. Just what were those two troublemakers up to? Ryan's question was quickly answered, as the sound of, what appeared to be gunfire, filled the air. Though he couldn't tell Philip was making miniature bombs, he at least knew that Philip was there, and was most likely responsible for the noise. When the rest of the room reacted to the little prank, jumping in surprise, or yelling obscenities, Ryan only smiled, laughing light-heartedly and shaking his head. He dried his hands off once he had finished washing his dishes, and returned to Memory's side, leaning his back against the counter, and casually sliding an arm across the counter to rest his hand on her waist. The contact demanded nothing, not even reciprocation, it was even placed so that she could continue eating, talking, or doing whatever she liked uninterrupted. Ryan's hand was just there as a reassurance, to let her know that he was there, and that he loved her.

Cara Black

Cara relaxed into Cain’s arms the bile in her throat still threatening to lunge once more but as his voice flitted back into her head she felt herself calm slightly. “There’s no need to die for me lyubov, as long as I am indebted to Xavier I can’t join those who are fighting for our freedom. Besides, I’m more of a follower than a leader.” She thought back, smiling as he kissed her.

“What’s this, a class on current events and social issues? If you ask me I’d say I’m an equal opportunity kind of guy. As in, I’d split the skull of a mutant or a human for equal reasoning. Hahaha…” Victor chuckled smugly.

“And that is why no one likes you.” Cara smiled to her old comrade teasingly before Scott’s snipe drew a familiar growl from Sabertooth. This time Cara thought it best to avoid starting another argument and maintained her silence and Ryan’s entrance with Memory drew everyone’s attention away momentarily.

So they were officially a couple now then Cara smiled to herself. Good catch. On both parts. Though Ryan’s shame of his appearance always confused her, if anything his horns added to the allure. Her train of thought was broken at the explosions her shadow quickly becoming several tendrils as she reached for things to throw. “Idioty!” She yelled in Russian as the two were helped in, obviously not amused by their prank.

“Relax… See there are no guns from the HMR. So why are we pointing them at each other in here? We should all be enjoying this nice morning.”

Cara relaxed herself back, her shadow returning to its normal shape but her face remained a picture of unimpressed.

Regaining the small amount of composure, she had that morning Cara leant back against the wall deciding that she was only going to end up homeless if she continued arguing, Xavier had spoken to her on many occasions about speaking out about humans around students and she was probably close to her last chance. As it happened it left her opposite the new couple, whom had been absent for much of the arguing and thus safe to talk with.

“So…” She began all of the English she knew had apparently just left her. “Good night?” She at last grasped at. The chance that it was probably a bad question given Ryan’s anxious manner not hitting her until it was already too late. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that.” She backtracked. “Did you sleep well?” Cara raised her hands to head she wasn’t good with normal conversations. She didn’t have them much.

Kyle Jean-Claude

"Is that what I am now?" Jonathan asked with a restrained smile before taking another drink of his coffee, finishing it. He caught Kyle's eyes for a second, then turned for the coffee to refill his cup.

Kyle’s smirk only grew larger and his heart fluttered a little. Kyle looked down trying not to blush and play it cool, then in a smooth motion glanced up at Jonathan with a reply. “It’s okay mon ami, I enjoy the attention of strange men.” Kyle flirted in response. He was used to being flirty and superficially interested in another but Jonathan made him feel differently, he made him feel honest with himself.

When Philip’s prank occurred Jonathan too jumped, dropping his coffee, but pressed his gloved hand against Kyle's chest and pushed him back slightly, moving between Kyle and the sound, lifting the other up slightly, ready to use his powers. Kyle was surprised that Jonathan’s immediate reaction was to protect him when Memory was only paces a way. “Why me? If those were real bullets, he would have put himself in front of them at the drop of a dime to keep me from harm… I’m the one with superhuman endurance.” Kyle thought to himself.

Jonathan was beginning to make Kyle feel increasingly flustered, something Kyle was not used to at all. He always thought he had gained a degree of control over most situations ever since he achieved the feat of controlling his absorption ability. Naturally anyone would feel like quite the overcomer. For Kyle, Jonathan seemed to bypass that confidence and salvage the vulnerability Kyle usually buries. Kyle watched quietly as Jonathan and Memory fussed at Philip and Vincent for their prank. Trying to regain his usual disposition once more, Kyle casually took a sip of his coffee and said to Vincent, “You know Vincent, sometimes it’s very easy to forget that you’re one of our teachers.”

Vincent replied, “What? You’d rather I’d go bald and lose my sense of fun. No way… You all enjoy the excitement of a fun professor too much. Trust me the telepath knows.” Vincent said as he pointed to his head with a smile about his face.


Cain Xavier Lehnsherr and Vincent Xavier

Having reached where Ryan was, Cain spoke. “Ryan I didn’t realize you had such pretty girlfriend? I’d ask you to introduce me to her but I believe we already met.” Cain said cheerfully, a wide, bright smile on his face.

Ryan blushed slightly, and returned the gesture with his own infectious, toothy grin, after, of course, making sure there was no food in his mouth. Setting down his plate, Ryan responded. "Cain, right? Though I don't think we've properly met, and I didn't know you'd already met Memory, I can most certainly agree with you. She is rather pretty." As he said it, Ryan threw a warm, heart-melting glance at Memory, and beamed at her, smiling wide. Once he'd finished his little compliment, Ryan stepped over to Cain and inspected him. His nose worked furiously, as if he were trying to smell his way into Cain's soul, to read his very essence via scent. Nodding, and having apparently deduced something pleasant about him, Ryan smiled and embraced Cain in a brotherly fashion. "Vincent said you were a part of him, and he of you. Two halves of the same whole. I'm not really sure how that works, but I suppose I can be ok with having another older brother as cool as you." As he said it, Ryan smiled wider, overflowing with a warm, wistful, happiness. Cain's scent, which was identical to Vincent's, contained only happy memories for Ryan. The same warm feelings he had for his brother Vincent, were present when he was with Cain.

“You don’t know how glad I am that you approve of me Ryan.” Cain said with a soft smile. “It seems you understand the connection I share with Vincent and thus with everyone else, yet many of the others don’t seem to see it. Thanks for giving me a chance little brother.” Cain replied, and he gave Ryan a brotherly hug.

Cain approached Vincent and offered him a hug. “Morning brother.” He shook Philip’s hand, “Brother in Law, good morning.” Cain said to Philip. He was careful of his interactions with Philip as he was drawn to the man as Vincent was. Likewise Vincent began to feel a connection with Cara as Cain did. It was a strange phenomenon indeed for all parties involved.

Philip replied jovially in German. “Guten Morgen, Cain.”

Vincent was very happy to have begun establishing a balanced relationship with Cain. The two had much to discuss yet both seemed to avoid actually discussing it. They were at least content with accepting each other as brothers and not as results of weapon x experiments. Vincent chuckled with Cain as he said, “You know we’ve really got to get this mental link thing under control, right?”

Can replied with a silly grin, “Yes I agree wholeheartedly.” Philip shot Cara an embarrassed look as he knew that he and Cara’s exploits with their lovers were not as private as they would have liked.



Victor Creed and Jean Grey

Victor snickered at Cara’s tease to him. He was enjoying being around her once more. He didn’t interact much with her while he was at the mansion but having her around reminded him of his old team of hell raisers under Magneto’s leadership.

“You alright little lady? You didn’t look so hot last night and I was wondering if you might need some help. I’m no Charles Xavier so don’t expect much though.”
Victor offered his support to Annabelle and she giggled lightly, looking up at him with a smile.
‘I’m alright, Mr Creed. Thank you for the concern but I was merely feeling a little homesick and I think I had a little adrenaline sickness from the events of the past few days.’
Annabelle projected to him, her smile hiding the lie of Aurora.
‘You are so pathetic.’
The all to familiar voice of Aurora whispered into Annabelle’s mind, the sultry purr sneaking into the message projected to Victor, Annabelle looked up to see if he’d picked up on it. Annabelle’s face dropped and she seemed paralyzed as if expecting Victor to go mental.

Victor could faintly hear a mocking voice in his head. He gave Annabelle a long stare as he processed what was going on. Victor turned toward Jean and figured he’d ask her about his suspicions. He wasn’t the biggest fan of telepaths but if he asked the help of any telepath he felt more prone to ask of Jean for help. As Victor approached Jean she gave a curious smile, while Scott frowned up increasingly.

“Hey red, I got a question that could use your consultation.” He said quietly.

Jean replied casually with a polite smile, “Sure Victor what can I help you with?” She was quite curious as to why Sabertooth of all people would ask of her help. She could see that he looked very concerned about something.

“I think one of your students, Annabelle, is dealing with something pretty heavy, you know, your brand of crazy.” Victor said referring to the Phoenix. Jean grew even more attentive. “I’m no telepath, or X-men, so it’s not like I give too much of a care, but I have a this feeling that gives me the chills when I am near her. Not many things give me shivers, you know that.”

Jean replied quietly, “Can you be more specific about what it is you feel Victor?”

“I feel like it ain’t just her in there. That poor kid is scared outta of her mind of whatever the fuck’s haunting her and I just can’t get over the feeling that I need to help her, that’s all.” He replied quietly. It was very difficult for anyone to hear their quiet conversation. Although many wanted to know what they were saying.

Jean nodded, “I will definitely be on the lookout Victor.”

Victor replied, “Good. Just keep it quiet for now, will ya? I don’t want everyone if the poor girl’s face just cause I said somethin’ okay.” Victor huffed quietly.

“I promise Victor. Who knew you could be such a sweetheart Victor?” Jean said playfully. Her smile made Victor blush slightly, much to his discontent.

“Okay we’re done Red.” He said trying not to smile.


Kent Van Pelt

“I would be more than happy.” Mutt affirmed. “When would you like to do it?” He asked.

Kent smiled brightly as he was very happy that Mutt would agree to an interview. Mutt may have been a little extreme in his appearance and interest in mutant-kind but his views were often well spoken. He had great insight from a human perspective and once he had begun sharing his opinions it would be difficult for others to easily dismiss them as fanaticism.

“Wonderful! I would have to clear the idea with the show’s producers but I’d say it could be in about a week or so. I’ll let you know ahead of time what I’d like to ask you so you’re prepared and comfortable when we actually interview.”

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.

Andy

The young man looked over his shoulder then to the left and right. Seeing no one in sight he continued on towards his destination. He pulled the collar of his jacket up, he was just about to stuff his hands in his pocket but stopped halfway in doing so. Shaking his head he began to mutter quietly under his breathe. Most of what he said was inaudible but every now and then you'd catch a few words and random strings of sentences like, "They're following me" "Got to get away" "No touching" "Not safe, not safe."

He stared down at the sidewalk he was walking on, not being very careful of bumping into someone. His clothes covered nearly every inch of his body save for his hands. That's where the power was concentrated, Andy walked in a nervous manner, his eyes flitting back and forth, his shoulders hunched and he kept walking back and forth between the door of a building to the end of the street said building was one.

Andy glanced up at the crowd of people passing him by. He caught on the words "Freak" "Is he homeless?" And others similar to that. His right eye twitched and he shook his head before hunching his shoulders again and started to mutter under his breathe. In his rising paranoia, Andy wrapped one arm around his stomach his hand balled up into a fist while the other was pulling his lower lip. Still walking back and forth a new sentence was added to his mutterings, "I didn't mean too" "Leave me alone" "Alone, lonely be alone."

Suddenly Andy stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder. A man in a suit with a fedora was heading in his direction. He wore dark sunglasses and immediately bells began to ring in his head. But Andy stood stock still his hand lowered and a look of awe passed his face, then his head twitched to the left. And just like that it was over, he spun on his heel the mutterings got louder and his arms were at his sides as he took wide steps to get away from the man in the suit. Andy kept looking over his shoulder to see the man and he did which only made him more paranoid. Walking even faster he reached the door but wasn't sure how he would open the door without disintegrating it.

Looking over his shoulder again the man in the suit was even closer then he was before and Andy jumped. In doing so he instinctively grabbed a hold of the door handle and pushed his way inside the building. The whole time his attention on the man in the suit. Andy was oblivious to the yelps of surprise from the people as there was no longer a door to the building only a pile of rubble.

Ace&Agent Six&Emily

Ace nodded at Logan's reply with a smirk on her lips. "That's nothing new, their always at it even if its quietly." Ace scratched her head, not really sure where she'd have to stand in this. Sure she disliked humans, rather she found them to be quite amusing with their little antics to be the alpha of the pack. Not that they're doing any good about.

"Oh really?" A look of amazement crossed Emily's face and then turned to a welcoming smile. Nodding at Cain she continued to smile but it eventually exchanged itself for something of a worried frown as their debate grew more and more heated. But she took no part in it, Emily disliked it when everyone bickered like this. She did he best to lip read but everyone was yelling and talking fast so it was difficult for her. Releasing her first sigh of the day, Emily brought her hands to her brow and shook her head. Looking over at Scott and Jean she sent them an apologetic look before she maneuvered herself around everyone and left the room.

Ace listened on, her eyes flicking back and forth between Cara and the rest of the team. Leaning back against the counter top, one arm under the other that held her coffee mug. The young woman took sips of her coffee with every lull in the debate and couldn't help but look in awe at some of the things they chose to say.

Especially Jonathan, who made a pretty valid point. Not that she was going to be choosing sides or anything, hell far from it really. Ace wanted nothing to do with this debate and she cared very little about. So long as I'm not the one getting tossed about like a toy I'm quite content in watching you guys tear at each others throat.

Of course she did care for some of the students, but that care can only go so far. A slight frown appeared on her lips at Hideki's words, not that she was very close with him, hell she wasn't very close to anybody in the mansion. But she knew Hideki would be greatly missed by the others and Cain's response to their favorite fire cracker made Ace snicker. Okay sure Hippie for the mutants. That really won't work well. All your saying is that mutants should take up arms and show the humans just how powerful they are. Like that'll get us anywhere.

The new girl Jennifer earned a internal applause from Ace. A smile curled the corners of her lips and she raised her coffee mug at her. Bravo, couldn't have said it better. And Cara's response made Ace stiffen as she set her coffee mug down on the counter beside her. Without realizing it, Ace began to rub at her wrists, if one looked close enough they would notice the faint scars from her time with MI7. Rolling her eyes Ace could only smirk at her fellow shadow manipulator, You think you've been tortured, I was raised on the very concept of it.

She wasn't really sure how Cara's comment hit so close to home or even get to that place. I must be getting soft. Shaking her head, she rolled her eyes at Cain's open affection for his Russian lover. "Tonto" she muttered under her breathe in her native language.

Agent Six was having a hard time keeping up with the conversation and just like Ace, she unknowingly thought about own situation. The people of WeaponX raised her on torture as that's what Xavier would call it, the program on the other hand would merely call it, "Raising her abilities to another level through pain." She was disrupted from her thoughts when Hideki asked of her thoughts on the subject to which she replied, "You've never experienced real torture." Her words were directed at Cara but she said them quietly so she knew the older woman wouldn't have heard her.

Ace glanced at the entrance to the kitchen and couldn't help but smile at Ryan and Memory. She knew Ryan better than his new girlfriend so she was more keen on feeling happy for him. "Well this is a big surprise. Finally has the guts to do it eh?" Not that she was meaning anything by it. Of course the cheerful mood was interrupted by a loud popping sound from the window. For once Ace was caught of guard but she didn't jump she merely flinched. Looking around she noticed the protective antics from the other guys and rolled her eyes, "How cute, I'm honored to have been protected by a few cocky bastards. What's next, Victor and Logan giving each other brotherly hugs, Si bien tontos."

She wasn't too keen on the next course of events that started with the appearance of two siblings. Ace could only wish she'd care enough to do something about the two's little probing threats and Ace was cheering on Ryan in the inside. "Well glad that's settled, not that I care really, Dios mios, what next are the HMR actually going to show up on our doorstep with cookies?" Shortly after Ryan left the kitchen someone she hadn't expected to show showed up that person being Ororo. "Even better we got our little storm in a bottle back." She said dryly before nodding a greeting at the woman. Ace wasn't much for hugs or greeting people with smiles.

[OOC:Whoops sorry accidentally tagged a Robert fellow:/]

Vincent Xavier, Philip Klein

Vincent stood awaiting Ryan’s answer however before Ryan replied his mind spoke leagues before his mouth did. Vincent had not intended to read Ryan’s mind but it was as if Ryan’s extreme emotions yelled to be heard without Ryan’s approval or knowledge.

Instead of feeling relieved, Ryan stiffened. Vincent hadn't sounded caring to Ryan, he had sounded condescending and uninterested. Ryan felt such anger with Vincent. His turbulent thoughts raced back to the situation in the kitchen. Where was this concern when Terra and Canaan walked through the door?! Ryan thought furiously. His mind was screaming at him and at Vincent. Ryan felt so betrayed. Vincent didn't want to be on Ryan's side when everyone else was around, but now, now that it was convenient, after someone else had probably pestered him, now Vincent was reaching out to him? Ryan felt disgusted, not only with Vincent, but with himself. Vincent was his brother. Vincent loved him. He had since he'd met Ryan nearly eleven years ago when Ryan had first moved into the Mansion when Ryan was six years old. The two had grown up together. Why would Ryan ever feel like he couldn't trust Vincent? What was some piddly little argument between brothers such as they? Why couldn't Ryan forgive him? It's not like it really mattered to Vincent anyway. The last time Ryan had brought these worries to him, Vincent had shrugged them off. The last time they spoke privately, though the larger concern was Ryan's ability to transform, they'd gotten completely sidetracked by the idea of Ryan possessing a human form. Though Ryan was grateful for that, it hadn't been what he'd wanted to discuss in the first place. Even more frustrating, they had been interrupted by Ace's Shadows before Ryan had a chance to talk to Vincent about his more pressing concerns, namely, the Leviathan.


Vincent was suddenly hit with a rush of emotions coming from Ryan. He felt a sudden pang in his heart. ‘Whoa… what’s all of this rage and anger?’ Vincent thought to himself. However, before Vincent could address the sudden rush of emotion that shot through him like a bullet through the heart, Ryan would soon give his reply.

Ryan sighed, looking up into his brother's eyes, his golden pupils glinting in the low light. Did Vincent even want to know? If so, why should Ryan tell him? "I'm fine Vince." Ryan lied effortlessly, a toothy grin on his face. "I was just a bit... surprised. I mean, come on, the last time I saw Terra we tried to kill each other. You trying to tell me Logan and Sabertooth, who hate each other, don't have minor scuffles from time to time?" Ryan's logic was sound, his facial expression was completely calm, even relaxed. So, where was this coming from? This calm, collected, effortless lying? Ryan never lied, let alone to Vincent, and yet, he couldn't stop. "I'm fine now. Terra lives here now. Just like me, this is his home. Who am I to refute that? Besides, just because we've fought in the past doesn't mean we have to be enemies forever. That's not conducive to anything productive at all. I just didn't know he'd come here on invitation. You should tell me stuff like that!" Ryan joked. Smiling, he even managed to laugh lightheartedly. Playfully, he punched Vincent on the shoulder. "I appreciate your concern Vince, really, my brother, I do. That being said, I'm fine. See?" Ryan finished his question with a smile, he even did a little twirl so as to facilitate a quick once over on Vincent's part. That smile of his, was his famous smile, toothy and white. It was a smile that refuted all argumentation. It was a smile that closed the subject, if only for a little while.

Vincent’s gentle smile increasingly became sorrowful. Vincent couldn’t believe that Ryan felt so hurt and upset with him. Ryan was now lying something that was quite foreign to him. Ryan no longer trusted Vincent, which hurt Vincent more than he could express. Ryan was battling with something big and Vincent was being barred from helping him. It seems that Vincent completely misconstrued Vincent’s concerns when they had previously talked during the shadow crisis. Vince tried very hard to keep from looking as destroyed emotionally as he felt.

Ryan turned on his heel and walked back to the kitchen, waving to Vincent as he left. "Thanks Vince," Ryan said jovially as he left. "I'm just fine. I promise."

Vincent watched Ryan depart and he simply stared in silence, trying to wrap his head around all that was going on with Ryan. Philip left the Kitchen in search of Vincent and he eventually found him standing alone in the hallway. Philip had passed Ryan along the way and simply gave Ryan a jovial smile and a casual wave as he passed him. Philip had tried not to make too much of what had happened with Ryan in the kitchen. He wasn’t a fan of being overbearingly worried. He knew things had to run their course, but he also desired for Ryan to know that he was there for him in whatever capacity he needed.

Vincent seemed highly saddened. Philip approached him and placed his hand on Vincent’s arm. “Hey Vince, what’s the matter? You look like you’ve lost a child or something.” Philip said jokingly. Humor was his way of lightening a dark mood.

Vincent looked up with weepy eyes. “Ryan… he’s so hurt and angry right now. I don’t know how to help him. It hurts so much to see him that way. I was concerned when he was so enraged in the kitchen, it wasn’t like him to be so vicious, so I asked if he was alright. However I got a huge hunk of his mind right before he responded… and it was so angry, all the thoughts he had of me. He doesn’t trust me, or much of anyone else right now. He’s struggling with something he calls the Leviathan yet he wouldn’t tell me about it.” Vincent said with a depressed voice.

Philip pulled Vincent close and replied ”He still loves and needs his big brother. Maybe there was a lot more happening in the kitchen than we realized.” Vincent shed a few tears quietly and just as quickly attempted to pull himself together. He stepped back from Philip.

“Thanks Philip. I needed to hear that. You’re my hero you know.” Vincent replied as he wiped away the tears that had previously fallen. A smile began to return to Vincent’s face.

“Ryan simply needs time to remember the love that never left him. He will in the right timing. He might push us away now but it doesn’t mean we leave him. We simply give a little space and an open doorway to the home he has in our hearts. So this Leviathan… is it like the Phoenix?” Philip asked.

Vince pondered for a moment. “No I don’t think it’s quite the same. Jean’s power took on an alternate persona thus creating the Phoenix. This is different. I think this is more physiological in nature, but Ryan’s mind seems to be personifying some physical phenomenon. I won’t know for sure until I can speak with Ryan regarding what’s going on.”


Philip replied with a smile. ”Ryan is strong and a good kid. He’ll pull through this. We’re all here to help him. No worries Vince. Come on let’s go check on my father in law. He’s been missing all morning.” Philip gave a silly grin. It was true, the professor had been missing all that morning which was unusual.

“Yet another very good point.” Vincent replied. “He’s probably locked himself away with Cerebro again.” Vincent replied. He was feeling a little better but Ryan still worried him.



Frenzy and Stinger

You certainly can love! I's great to see a fellow mutants knocking about this place! Say, don't suppose either of you could point me in the direction of Charles Xavier's institution for Higher Learning? I was hoping I could have a chat with the fella.", Robert replied cheerfully .

Frenzy and Stinger looked at one another in surprise. Frenzy turned to the man and replied, “You’re in luck sir. We happen to reside there at the moment.” She turned her head to look at Stinger briefly, “In fact, we’re going home right now.” This was the perfect chance for her to put a stop to Stinger’s shopping spree. Turning her head back to the man she smiled pleasantly. “If you don’t mind coming with us, we can show you the way. I’m Joanna Cargill, by the way. This is Wendy Sherman. I go by the codename Frenzy.”

Wendy cut in adding, “I go by the name Stinger, due to my electrifying skill set. So what might your name be mister tourist?” She asked. Wendy was very curious about this guy’s powers. After obtaining the man’s name Wendy asked, “So what is it that you do, power wise that is?”

Joanna hailed a cab and the three were off to the X-mansion. They arrived and entered the front door. Joanna said to Robert. “If you don’t mind with Stinger while I find the professor, it shouldn’t take long.” Joanna then turned to Stinger, “Please behave Wendy.” She said knowing how Stinger had the tendency to cause trouble.

“What am I gonna do?! I mean really Jo…!” Wendy replied as she folded her arms and rolled her eyes. After Joanna headed down the hallway, Wendy turned to Robert and spoke with an upbeat tone. “So, let’s go meet the X-men shall we? They’re a really tacky bunch but interesting nonetheless.” She liked to poke fun at the X-men.

They entered the kitchen where most people were gathered. David looked up and immediately poked fun at Wendy. “Well if it isn’t Static Cling. I see you’ve picked up a sugar daddy.”

Wendy immediately frowned in sheer annoyance of David. “Shouldn’t you be off getting plowed by Sabertooth or chasing after girls leagues younger than yourself?” She rebutted with a rather satisfied smile on her face.

David gave a sarcastic smile and looked over apologetically to Memory. Sabertooth, however, interjected. “Now now Wendy. Let’s not be a jealous and bitter old biddy. Besides I’ve heard more than my share of bickering today.”

Stinger was about to respond when Scott stepped forward toward Robert. “He there. Sorry about those two. I’m Scott Summers of the X-men. What brings you here.” Scott introduced himself in a friendly manner.


Niles Cranston

Keith chuckled into a fit of laughter as he stood up and hooted for his good luck. He turned around grinning the way a kid grins before playing a new video game. "Sounds fun. I don't mind joining you on this escapade if you like. No in fact I'd be kind of bummed out if you didn't. When it comes to destroying things like buildings and such, I'm sort of a demolition guru. Though I can't say people won’t get hurt. Hehehe. So what's the plan boss? Are we just going to walk into the place and let loose? Or are we going to fall from the sky like wrecking balls?"

Niles looked over at Keith and smiled lightheartedly. He was inspired by Keith’s energy. “Boss huh? Okay then, I guess there’s no stopping you from helping me. I do like the element of surprise. I’m sure they have guns or something to stop us with. But I’ve got my defenses. Sounds like you’ve got your offense covered. So you know, I can create explosive diamonds and control them at will. It seems that between you and me we’ve got a lot of firepower so we should be good. Let’s fall from the sky like wrecking balls. I like the sound of that.”

Niles created a platform of crystal and the two stood on top of it. He levitated the platform high into the sky above the building. Looking down at the roof of the building Niles spoke. “I can blast an opening for us an lower us down, or do you have another plan?”


Oliver Cassidy and Erika

Erika face twisted into anger, but then smoothed just as quick. A gun firing was all the push she needed. Erika drew in breath and let her power lace her voice with poison, the words corrupting the minds of those around her into doing her bidding.
"Please," she called looking to the side, her voice distorting into something sinister, but soothing, "won't anyone help us? Won't you save us?" Four terrified people around her suddenly stiffened and lifted their head to the ceiling as if given an electric shock, then ran forwards in front of the two of them shouting to the guards to not hurt those "innocent people".

Just as a gun was fired, an overweight and balding man in a suit ran in front of Erika, then dropped. Blood seeped from the bullet hole in his chest. She looked down at his body, hands shaking. This was the first time her power had ever been used to kill someone. She pulled her eyes away reluctantly to the office workers making a wall between the two mutants and the guards aiming their way.

Oliver was impressed with Erika’s power. However he did not foresee the particular mechanics of it limiting its effects. When the hypnotized man took the bullet and died it did indeed shock Oliver. He felt somewhat sorry for the guy but he’d rather it be that man than himself.

"Have any kind of plan?" She asked Oliver over the calling of the people she had manipulated. "This was your fault after all," she finished with obvious venom.

“Don’t you worry Ms. Seems we’re lucky to have run into each other. I can allow you to control this whole room. Give me a second.” Oliver said with a wink. Oliver looked up to the ceiling and concentrated. Thick vines broke through the ceiling and formed a sort of patrician between them and the security men. The vines quickly sprouted flowers of a strange sort. They opened and the air filled with spores. These spores were littered with pheromones. “Try your power now. Anyone weak willed and nearby should be all yours to control. Hell, we’d probably be able to simply walk out of here.” Oliver said with a confident smile. “I’m Oliver Cassidy. Thanks for helping me. I really didn’t mean for any of this to happen but I don’t handle being tricked very well.”

The building suffered massively from the plants exponential growth. More of the spore emanating flowers grew outside the building and more citizens were inhaling the pheromone spores. They began to head into the HMR building as Erika called to them.


Kyle Jean-Claude

Kyle looked around and noticed that Jonathan had suddenly left the kitchen. He was curious as to what had come up. He stepped toward the door to find Jonathan however Hideki grabbed Kyle’s arm and spun him around to face him. “I can’t believe you Kyle! Both Colossus and Jonathan?! You’re a total slut you know.” Hideki fussed.

Kyle rolled his eyes at the fussy Japanese boy. “I am no slut. I am simply flirting with Jonathan. Besides Piotr and I are in an open relationship. I haven’t cheated on anyone nor am I going to. You’re just annoyed because you’ve bot not shot with Logan. Too bad you’re not a cute Japanese girl instead of a cute Japanese boy.” Kyle taunted his friend.

“Hey! I’ll show you cute!!” Hideki huffed and created a bright flash of light that stunned Kyle’s vision.

Kyle flinched and rubbed his eyes wildly. ”AAHH! I HATE when you do that!! Ah…”

Hideki huffed, “Serves you right.” He noticed Ryan had returned. Hideki was very concerned about his friend. He walked away from Kyle who was still struggling to see, and approached Ryan. “Hey Ryan, are you okay? I was a bit worried about you earlier. If you ever want to talk about anything I’m here for you. I’m not all knowing like Professor X but I think a friend with a good listening ear can help just as much. If the two new guys to the mansion are trouble, I’ll take your word for it and be watchful. Honestly I didn’t know Cain had invited them here either.”


Piotr Rasputin

Piotr watched all that happened in the kitchen. He liked how eventful the X-mansion was. There was so much life there. However he did miss Russia, his original home. He looked over to Cara who was also from Russia, giving a smile he decided to chat with her a bit. He walked over to her and smiled “Morning Conrad Black.” He said with a chuckle. He knew she would appreciate the joke. Being around her made him feel slightly closer to home. “You’re very noble for speaking your heart without reservation. I admire that about you Cara.” He said in a more thought filled and pondering tone.

Robert grinned cheerfully at the pair of mutant women cheerfully, his smile having grown form their introductions. Things were going as smoothly as he hoped! To be frank he though he might be turned away due to being a complete stranger, a tourist, and an aging man which no-one recognized trying to enter a school.
"Well that's fantastic! Sure i'll come along! Been wanting to visit that mansion place since I came over here! Lovely to meet the pair of ya! I'm Robert, Robert Ashdown, but you can call me Rob. I'm afraid I ain't got a fancy nickname like the pair of you do, never had a reason too!" , the British tourist babbled excitedly, giving a quick chuckled as they headed to catch a cab, before adding; "As for my powers, I make blades, as in, make a pair of them pop up from my arms, a bit like that wolverine bloke of the news. Not really all that impressive as him though, so don't expect me to do back flips and slicing through walls!"

As they arrived at the mansion, Joanna announced that she was going to go locate the professor him, and told Rob to stick with Wendy for the time being. He nodded and raised a friendly hand calling after "Alright then, you do that mate,
See you and the professor in a bit then!" , seeming a bit puzzled about her comment to Stinger to stay out of trouble.
He then almost had a mini heart attack when Wendy decided they should go meet the X-men himself, gaping in amazement before babbling; "Really? The X-men? Wow now that's just fantastic! Brilliant! Ha, bet my sister wouldn't believe me if I told her I chatted with the X-men! yes, let's go see them!"

As he wondered into the kitchen, grinning from ear to ear, he heard a suited man poke fun at the pair of them by calling Rob a 'sugar daddy', to which he looked on in confusion, and startlement, which lessened as he realized that the stranger was merely poking fun at Wendy since she retorted back, causing the suited man to look over apologetically to a young long haired brunette woman. He then was caused even more surprise as he saw that the criminal mutant, Sabertooth was also among them, having appeared in the news with the other brotherhood of mutants numerous times, though Rob guessed the somewhat disbandment of the group led him to join the x-men, perhaps?

Before he could find out however, he was suddenly greeted by a man wearing sunglasses, apologizing for the behavior between the group, and greeting Rob friendly, to which he offered a hand out to shake Scott's before replying; "The names Robert Ashdown, nice to meet ya Scott, and it's no problem, all folks argue after a bit. After all i'm British, we enjoy taking the mickey out of each-other. Anyways, i'm here to meet with the professor, Charles Xavier. I'm just nosy tourist is all,and proud mutant like the rest of you bunch! Just hoping to just, well, talk about how to get through everyday life round stranger that hate you."
He looked into the distance for a few moments before snapping out of it and asking; "So which X-man are you, eh? Let me guess, the fella with the lazer eyes?"

Before Robert could get an answer from Scott Summers, he was suddenly asked from where about he was from in good old blighty,by a bright haired young woman standing next to Sabertooth, also noting to the former villain she wanted to chat with him. Robert smiled before noting and babbling, as well as answering Jennifer; "Huh, there sure is a lot of you younger lots about her,e kinda makes an aging fella like myself feel outta place! Eh, but make sense since this is a school after all! Anyways, I'm from the city of her majesty itself, London, down in Peckham to be more fussy about it. Used to live real posh like back when I still had my wife. The racist pewman bitch."
His final comment seemed devoid of the irony of the comment, as well as full of malice for his deserting wife, as she had for him. He gave a sigh as he let go off young man in sunglasses' hand before asking; "So are some of you lot the staff too then? and which one of ya all are the brilliant, brave, bunch called the X-men?", before turning to Jenifer and also asking; "You sound like your from back across the pond to mate, where ya from?"

Piotr Rasputin


Cara’s smile receded back to a small upturn on one side but she did not seem to shift from her good mood. “Perhaps but it has not made me the most popular girl in the mansion.” She said gesturing at the others in the kitchen. “I have fought with almost all of the people in this room at some point in my life and those I haven’t are those that are either too young to have seen the battles between Magneto and Xavier or didn’t join until after I came here.” She took a sip of her coffee before continuing. “I am not welcome here Piotr and as every day goes past there are times when I wish I wasn’t rescued that day.” She had turned more solemn now, her coffee once more occupying her thoughts. “I was not meant to be one of the X-men.”

Piotr listened, his smile fading into a sadder expression. He was a little pained to know that the X-men had not shown Cara the sort of kindness that he had received. He had a realization that it is difficult for even the noble X-men to break bread and forgive their once enemies. It was a testament that guests such as Victor, David, Stinger, Frenzy, Agent Six, and Pietro weren’t hitting many bumps in the road when it came to being around the X-men.

Piotr replied with a gentle smile, “You and I have fought before and I have no ill feeling towards you Cara. You are my friend. You fought us because it was the right thing for you to do at the time. I fought you because fate put us at odds. I never considered you my enemy though, it was the cause that I fought. We may not always agree on causes but I think we can agree that you and I can be friends no matter what divides us. You will always be a part of the X-men. I believe some of the others would feel an emptiness somewhere in their hearts if you left. I would.” Piotr spoke sincerely.

Piotr knew that Cara knew how it felt to be on her own. He knew how that felt as well. He had his sister who lived back in Russia. He lived to provide for her, but now that she is a young woman able to look after herself, he was free to look solely after himself. He joined with the X-men full time to fill that void, to help others as his nature spurred him to do. However Piotr feared that Cara’s isolation came for reasons entirely different from his. Cara could use someone to hold onto her, someone to let her know that she was at home, at peace. Piotr placed his hand gently on Cara’s shoulder.


The Kitchen

Scott listened as the guest replied. "The names Robert Ashdown, nice to meet ya Scott, and it's no problem, all folks argue after a bit. After all i'm British, we enjoy taking the mickey out of each-other. Anyways, i'm here to meet with the professor, Charles Xavier. I'm just nosy tourist is all,and proud mutant like the rest of you bunch! Just hoping to just, well, talk about how to get through everyday life round stranger that hate you."

He looked into the distance for a few moments before snapping out of it and asking; "So which X-man are you, eh? Let me guess, the fella with the lazer eyes?"

Scott looked a bit surprised. “Why uh… yes. I am. I didn’t know that I was known publicly.” Jean snickered nearby at Scott’s reaction. He was displaying a shyness that was rare to see on him.

Logan stepped forward and flashed a casual smile as he introduced himself. “Welcome, I’m Logan. So you’re English huh? You should enjoy chatting with the ‘Novelist’ over there. He’s from around your neck of the woods.” Logan said as he nodded toward Aiden O’doherty.

Aidan replied in an annoyed fashion. “It’s ‘The Author…’ and you should be nicer to be lest I bring 1,000 tons of gravity down on that spectacular adamantium skeleton of yours.” Aidan wasn’t the one to be mocked without consequence.

Victor stood in the kitchen and picked up a fresh apple that sat on the counter in a pile. There were several of them. He took a clean bite from it as he scanned the room. He noticed Logan had not ceased to watch him the whole time as if Victor was going to spontaneously attack someone. He snickered to himself at the fact that Logan couldn’t get over his trained inclination to ever be on watch when Victor was around. Victor looked over to David who seemed to be watching Ryan and Memory. It seemed that Ryan was definitely not North’s biggest fan. Victor subdued his own grin as he watched North pick up on Ryan’s unspoken tension toward him. North hadn’t uttered a word since his spat with Wendy but Victor knew him more than well enough to know when that man was deep in his thought processes.

Victor stepped closer behind North and whispered casually into his ear. “He’s only a kid. Besides you were trying to do the ‘noble’ thing and not fuck around with the little hottie. Don’t go back on your word now. I might think less of you.” Victor then took another bite of the green apple.


David turned partially with a rather sarcastic smirk. “I do Not go back on my word.” David replied his voice slick and cold as black ice. His disposition lightened just as quickly as it was darkened. “Don’t worry your handsome mug about it.”

Soon Jenifer tapped Victor on the shoulder to which he turned around slowly. He saw the young lady had caught the attention of the tourist. "I need to talk to you, by the way." She said as she turned back to him.

Victor smirked a little. “Sure blondie. I’m here when you’re free.” Victor figured that she wanted to discuss her little sister. He wasn’t sure exactly what she was going to say. He wasn’t really worried though. He supposed that he would tell her that Annabelle was simply in good hands.


Niles Cranston

Looking towards Niles as the dust cleared up, he yelled over the now apparent screams of those around them. "So what's next? Are we going to just destroy the building, or are these people fair game as well?" He rose his hand curling it into a fist and aimed it towards a random nobody who was hugging the corner while breathing heavily.

Niles looked around at the damage the one attack caused. “Wow… he really is a wrecking ball huh?” Niles thought to himself. “Only attack people if they are hostile. If they’re not, don’t hurt them. I just want to send a message not become a mass murderer. The building is our target.” Niles said to Keith. He formed several large floating and sharp crystals that launched into the walls and soon exploded causing the wall to be destroyed and part of the building structure collapsed.


Professor Charles Xavier and Magneto

Charles received a almost panicked transmission from cerebro. There were several mutant attacks about the city. The general public was in danger. Six sites were urgently in need of interference from the X-men. Charles turned to Magneto who stood behind him. “Erik… we must assemble the X-men at once! Mutants become so panicked that they have begun to attack several of the HMR sites. It seems the government’s recent moves have caused serious uproar.” Charles carried a look of worry as he knew that this was only the beginning of a long and difficult path for everyone.

Before Erik could respond, Vincent and Philip entered the Cerebro chamber. “Ah, there you two are! I knew you would have locked yourself away in here… Philip was worried. He’s such an awesome in law don’t you think? Oh, and Ororo has returned home! I was so surprised to see her! It’s always so tricky to telepathically sense her presence.” Vincent said in an obliviously upbeat manner as he entered the chamber with Philip. But he could feel the tension immediately afterward. “Wait, what’s the matter?” he asked. Erik turned around slowly with a heavy disposition. He was quite frustrated with the constant struggle for peace with mankind. So much effort only to hit so many setbacks. Erik explained the situation to Vincent and Philip.

Frenzy knocked on the Cerebro Chamber’s doors and entered upon their opening. “Good Morning Professor Xavier, Mr. Lehnsherr, Vincent, Philip. I hope I’m not interrupting anything important. This morning Wendy and I met a mutant from out of town. He wanted to meet you Professor, so we brought him here. I hope it’s not too much of an inconvenience.” Frenzy spoke politely. She wanted to give Charles and Erik a good impression of her. She took joining the X-men seriously and wanted to let them know that she respected them honestly and was appreciative for being accepted.

“Actually it seems my meeting with our guest will be brief and under unfortunate circumstances this time. There is trouble that needs the X-men’s assistance in quelling. I will have to assemble as many of us that are able and willing to assist. I am most grateful that Ororo has returned when she did. Joanna can I count on you as well? The X-men would greatly benefit from your strength and wisdom.” Charles replied.

Frenzy was pleasantly surprised that he asked her personally to help the X-men. “You and the X-men will always have my assistance. You need not ask in the future Professor X.” Frenzy replied with a proud smile.

Erik placed a hand on Vincent’s shoulder, “We must make haste. Things are getting worse with every passing moment.” They all headed toward the kitchen.

Professor X, Magneto, Vincent, Philip, and Frenzy entered the kitchen where most of the X-men and guests were gathered. Charles walked over to Robert and with a pleasant smile. “Welcome Mr. Ashdown. I am Charles Xavier, and this is Erik Lehnsherr. Welcome to the Xavier School for the Gifted. I would like to continue our meeting at length however my attention is needed elsewhere at the moment. You are welcome to remain here, or if you wouldn’t mind lending a hand in the matter that would be greatly appreciated.”

Xavier turned toward storm and greeted her with a bright smile, “Welcome back Ororo. We’ve missed you.” Charles wanted to say more but it would have to wait.

Erik spoke for all in the kitchen to hear, Charles telepathically transmitted Erik’s message to the minds of all that were in the mansion and not present in the kitchen. “X-men, friends, and guests, we are in great need of assistance. There are currently six attacks on HMR sites across the city. We shall intervene at once.”

Aidan smirked “Oh Charles what would you do without my help? I’ll lend you a capable hand if I must.” He said with his usual haughty disposition.

Erik rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed by Aidan’s disposition. After obtaining a commitment from some of those that weren’t X-men Magneto announced the team formations and leaders. “The six teams are as follows. Team one shall consist of Memory, Canaan, Logan, Quicksilver, Agent Six, Annabelle, Philip Klein, Hideki Matsuzaka, Jean Grey and Myself. Team leaders of this group shall be Memory and Philip.” Erik took a moment to give the Memory and Philip a reassuring smile as he knew they were surprised by their positions as leaders.

Erik continued, “Team two shall consist of Johnathan, Cara, Aidan O'Doherty, Kent Van-Pelt, and Frenzy. Jonathan you are the team leader of team two. You are more than a capable leader Jonathan.” Magneto encouraged Jonathan. He then turned to Aidan and spoke, “O’Doherty, I expect you to give Jonathan your full support and cooperation.”

Aidan flashed a sharp smile, “But of course. Don’t let me down Jonathan.” Aidan replied. He and Magneto never ceased to butt heads.

Erik announced team three. “Team three will consist of Terra, Ryan, David North/ Agent Zero, Vincent Xavier, and Colossus. The team leaders are Terra and Ryan. I expect you two to work in synch. You should do well.” Magneto gave a look of confidence to Terra and Ryan. He was fully aware of the group dynamics and was eager to test them.

David looked on with a smug expression. “What a motley crew we make, eh Xavier?” David said to Vincent with an amused disposition.

Vincent smiled just the same, “Indeed, I still haven’t gotten over your trying to shoot me that time. Not to mention you kidnapping me.” Vincent said jokingly.

David snickered, “Yeah… I haven’t gotten over the fact that you survived my shooting at you. Yet alone escaping Weapon-X. Then again, that part wasn’t on me.” David and Vincent began to laugh with one another, an odd scene to those who hadn’t seen darker side of Vincent’s humor.

Magneto continued with the team assignments,” Cain, Fuyumi, Ace, Mutt Ant, and Kyle, shall comprise team five. Cain shall lead this team.” Magneto simply gave Cain a proud nod and continued to announce the final team. “Team six shall consist of Jennifer, Stinger, Scott, Sabertooth, and Storm, with Scott as the leader.”

Sabertooth turned to Jenifer with his usual smug disposition, “I guess our little chat is really going to have to wait, unless we take it on the road seeing as how we are in the same team.”

Magneto spoke to Robert, "You are more than welcome to join any team Mr. Ashdown, if you so choose to assist us. We could use your talents.” Magneto said in a friendly manner. The groups departed the mansion in smaller jets, one per team, bound for the attack sites. Professor X remained behind to monitor the situation using Cerebro and to give advice.