Attention: The following story
is based off Generation X, and the timeline that is known as the Cale
Storyline.
It starts almost 5 years after the story Class Dismissed. All of
Generation X is out of school, and new adventures are about to start.
==========================================
Chapter 21: Flirting With Disaster
Kevin Dallas stayed in his seat on the plane as it
began it arrival at Heathrow Airport. He was staying calm, which
was difficult as he thought about the jump he was finally getting on
Canon. For the past five years, thanks in part to having places
to stay at Paladin Technologies, he had been tracking down Canon,
trying to finally catch him and end his villainy. However,
shortly after the incident in Japan, he discovered he might not be the
only one waging a war on Canon. Someone else was shutting down
all of the villain’s operations. While he was never able to meet
up with this ally, he did have to deal with those of Canon’s minions
that were still around.
When the plane finally stopped, he was broken out of
his musing, especially when he looked at Christina Laine, and noticed
she seemed tense. Something was bothering her more than the
confrontation he knew was coming. Her ears were perked up, like
she was alerted that something bad was in the area. He looked
around for a brief moment, not knowing if attention was drawn to her,
or not. He had been with her so long, he ceased to notice how
everyone looked at her, since cat ears and a tail usually drew
attention. Before they got up, he quietly said, “What’s
wrong? You seemed a bit tense there.”
As they started to leave the plane, she started to
relax and he felt better when she spoke. “Someone on the plane
stank like they were many different creatures all at once. Some
of those scents were familiar, and I’ll tell you this. They
aren’t nice creatures.” Just hearing those words made him worry a
bit. Although Christina never spoke of her early years that much,
he knew that part was growing up in the jungle, which meant she saw
things that others never got to see.
He put that out of his mind, letting it return to
the real reason they were there. He took a deep breath, and said,
“Well, I don’t think it’s one of Canon’s followers. We’ve been
extra cautious to make sure he’s not aware of our movements. And
this time, we have a jump on him. He has no clue that we know
he’s making his way here to England. Plus, being allowed to stay
at our friend’s school will keep him from find us if he does find out
we are waiting.”
He heard her sigh for a moment, before she
spoke. “I just hope this is finally the end. Tell you what,
why don’t you get the luggage together, I need to use the WC, as they
call it here in England.” He then watched as she headed over to
the very place she had mentioned, noticing her tail swishing behind
her. He always wondered if her cat-like looks were due to her
mutant power, or something else entirely. If it was linked to the
cat-like persona, it also made sense to her loyalty to him, however he
didn’t think it was because she loved him.
He then walked over to the baggage carousel, and
watched for their suitcases, well her suitcase. She was the one
who had a few extra clothes. He never fully understood why, since
he could keep all his stuff in a special duffel bag. However, as
he was watching for the baggage, he became distracted by a dark-skinned
vision of perfection. He didn’t remember seeing her on the plane,
and he was upset that he had missed seeing her on the plane.
However, he was sure that she had noticed him, especially as she
sauntered up to him, with an almost seductive look in her eyes.
However, it wasn’t just her eyes that spoke to him. Her outfit
also spoke to him, especially the low-cut blouse that gave him a very
captivating view. He returned his gaze to her face, gave a wry
smile, and said, “Good luck smuggling those things through customs.”
He felt good when she smiled, giggled, and glanced
down as she answered. “You might be right. they may search me,
and I don’t want that.“ She then looked at hime and continued her
statement, “unless you're the customs officer. So what brings you
to England?” Something in her words just made him melt inside,
and he smiled back at her and answered.
Claudette St. Croix was pleased that her powers
still had the power she needed to do what she wanted. She had
managed to sneak into Heathrow Airport, keep herself hidden from all,
and was scanning for her new recruit. During that scan, she
discover the man she was looking at now, and was using all her powers
to make him spill his guts to her. Of course, she wasn’t relying
solely on her power, since she wasn’t limited to the special suit she
had to wear for the past few years. Now, she could rely on her
figure.
In this case, it was working wonders, especially as
the man finally spoke to her, “Not much, just trying to find someone
who wronged me long ago.” In part she understood that, but she
was also wondering if it was the same people she had a vengeance
for. She had found weeks ago that Lord Richard Cale, who long ago
realized how big a danger she was, had taken in the man who cost her
her powers for five long years.
She glanced at the man, and leaned forward for a
moment, which she knew would distract him even more as she mentally
probed his mind. “I bet he’s someone high up, like a British
Lord.”
She was a bit surprised when he shook his
head. “Nah, actually I owe Richard and Yvette big time, for
giving us a place to stay.” Instantly Claudette had a dislike for
the guy, but she still had a use for information. Soon, she had
him talking a bit about what had happened. “A few years back, I
came closest to catching my adversary, in Japan, when he ending up
trying to kidnap one of Richard’s friends. From what I remember,
Richard fought him, and my foe unfortunately escaped. Mind you, I
don’t remember all the details, since my fight didn’t end in my favor.”
There was something Claudette couldn’t access about
that whole event, and hoped a deep breath would distract the man long
enough to make him spill the beans. “What happen, did you get
knocked out for the rest of the fight?”
His next words caught her off guard.
“Nope. I died.” He said it so casually that it stunned
her. She couldn’t believe what he said, but she sensed it was the
truth. She quickly stopped scanning his mind, but focused on her
passive scan, and the real reason she was here. She did notice
that the guy still was focused on her, which she was sure was due to
the slightly low cut top she was wearing.
She passively listened as he said, “Sorry to scare
you like that, but that’s my mutant power. I resurrect every time
I die, each time with a different secondary power.” As he said
that, she realized she would have to tell her brother about him.
She was sure Marius would enjoy a meal like this guy. She then
noticed him looking back towards the direction of the restrooms, and
she saw a woman with cat ears and a tail coming from there. She
had seen her walking away from the guy in the first place, and knew it
was time to disappear.
She also noticed the person she was truly looking
for. In a blink, she blocked herself from everyone’s minds, as
well the person she was looking for. The person she was looking
for was dressed very nicely, however, his hair was oily black, and
slick as well. She walked over to him, and he just looked
at her, and in that look, she could see a distain for anything
human. She watched as he glanced around the room for a moment,
noticing that everyone seemed oblivious to them, and then he addressed
her. “I take it you are Claudette.”
She nodded, noticing the commanding tone in his
voice, but she knew how to keep her minions in their place. “I
am, and remember that I am in charge.” She watched as he nodded,
but noticed that he looked over at the girl with cat ears and a
tail. She then firmly said, “You will come with me, since I’m
sure Customs would take an extra long time with you.” She glanced
at his bag, and while he didn’t look, she knew instantly what had put
in there, and she knew she was right about them being noticed by
customs. She even wondered how he had gotten them onto the plane
in the first place. She then lead him out of Heathrow. “I’m
sure you’re going to enjoy the task I’ve set up for you. You and
a few others of my colleagues will be part of an attack. At least
those you control will be doing the attacking.” She then started
to tell him her plan, as they entered a waiting car, and it sped out to
her base.
********************************
Kiana Asahara held her own sword up as Lord Richard
Cale swung his sword, causing the two to clang loudly. In that
instant, she realized that she had done the right thing, and watched as
he pulled back, and went to swing again. However as she raised
her sword again, she noticed that he was pulling his left leg back, and
with it, the rug she was standing on. Before she could move, she
felt her feet go out from under her, causing her to fall back, and drop
her own sword.
As her sword hit the floor, she saw Lord Richard
Cale stop moving, and put his own sword down on a shelf.
“Remember to always be aware of your surroundings. Surprises can
come from anywhere. You can’t be ready for every attack when it
happens, but if you can be aware of where an attack might come from,
you can minimize it’s effects.”
She got up, and frowned slightly. “I suppose
that’s where mind reading can help.” She quickly closed her
mouth, and shook her head, realizing what she had said. Her
remark was anti-mutant, which wasn’t good when she was staying with a
bunch of mutants. She bowed apologetically. “I’m sorry,
sir. I didn’t mean to say that.”
She was surprised when he just smiled. “It is
all right. Those mutants that have that power could use it to
fight, but most likely in a defensive way. Think about it for a
moment. If I read your mind, to know how you were going to
strike, I would parry. However, if I read your mind, to know how
you would counter, the only way I would know is when I am in
mid-strike. Mind reading is a defensive tactic.”
She did think about it for a moment, and his words
made sense. She then picked up her sword, and placed it on the
same shelf that Lord Cale had placed his. When she had done that,
she noticed something else on that shelf. It looked like a fang
of some sort, like from a big cat. She picked it up for a moment,
and studied it. The more she looked at it, the more it looked
like a fang from a big cat. “I hate to ask this, but what is this
thing?”
Kiana watched as her mentor took the fang and placed
it back on the shelf. He did answer the question. “That is
a fang from the Black Beast of Exmoor. A few years ago, one was
attacking a town, and they called in the Paladin to help. That
particular cryptid is very cat like, almost panther like.”
She blinked for a moment when she heard the odd
word. She thought about it a moment, and then looked at him
again, “You mean it’s an animal of some sort?” When he nodded,
she looked at the fang again. “I thought animals were just that,
and not something we would worry about.”
Before she could hear how he would reply to her
statements about cryptids, she heard the door to the secret study open,
and saw Monet St. Croix entering, and from the look on her face, she
could see the woman was troubled. The African woman
closed the door, saying, “I’m sorry for interrupting, but I needed to
talk with you about...”
Kiana noticed that Richard smiled, and spoke,
surprising her. “Not at all. We were just having a
discussion on cryptids, and there seems to be some concern on the
nature of them. Maybe you can explain about it a bit, given the
family history.” Kiana then looked at Monet, and was again made
aware of how much Monet looked like the woman who her cousin had teamed
up with, and she wondered how this would explain why the Cale’s had to
keep an eye on cryptids.
Monet took a deep breath, especially as she felt on
the spot with a very difficult issue to speak about. Deep down,
she knew her family held a lot of dark secrets, and the fact that out
of all her siblings, she was the good one didn’t make things
easier. She also wondered what this had to do with cryptids,
which she did have a chance to study during her years working with
Gabe. She glanced at Kiana, and calmly asked, “And what do you
need explained, Kiana?”
She watched as the young girl didn’t back down,
which she had to admire, when the girl spoke. “We were talking
about how some cryptids seem to be inherently evil, and other are just
as nature intended, but if they are animals, that shouldn’t be the
case? Can animals be born good or evil, or is it learned as in
people?”
Monet sighed, knowing this would somehow get steered
towards her own relatives, which for many years, she tried to disavow
any knowledge of. She paced for a moment, considering her answer
long and hard. “I personally think that good and evil is in all
creature, man and beast, and it is not always balanced out. All
creatures can have the preference to do evil, like my brother and
sister. However, there are the odd chances that one can be
confused if they are good or evil.”
She noticed a confused look on Kiana’s face, but was
glad when Richard chimed in. “There are many things that could be
viewed as evil, but is in fact very neutral, or misinterpreted.
Some devices which people have constructed for good, ended up being
used for evil, and vice versa. It’s hard to believe that nothing
is innocent when it comes to being aligned to good and evil, but it’s
possible.”
Monet then remembered one simple fact, and turned to
face Kiana. “What about your own cousin, Kiana. Would you
say she is evil, or confused, and was she always that way?”
She watched as the girl nodded, and then
looked at her. “She was always mean.” As the girl spoke,
Monet could feel a sense of hatred coming from the girl. “Growing
up, she always tormented me, and her evil escalated. The final
straw was when she had one of the demons she controls kill my father.”
Monet understood all to well what Kiana felt, knowing that her own
sister killed their own father.
Monet started to focus on sending out some calming
thoughts, and she could see Kiana was starting to calm down. “Now
you can understand that people, animals and cryptids, can be neutral,
good or evil.” She watched as the young lady nodded, obviously
understanding their point.
When Kiana started to go back to looking over
things, Monet remember why she had rushed down to the secret room in
the first place. She looked at Richard and calmly spoke,
“Richard, some of the students are using the training room with one of
the games you had loaded in. I don’t know if you want them in
there yet.”
She watched as Richard started to place his sword on
a special sword rack in the room. She knew that over the years,
Richard could summon the sword to his side in an instant, but wondered
how well he used the power, if the room was locked. As he did
that, she heard him respond to her news. “There is only one game
I would not want them testing their skills in at the moment, mainly
because it was being set as a test of when their powers would be a
hindrance. Do you know which game it was?”
Monet thought about it for a moment, but could not
remember the title. However, from the special viewing screen, she
did remember one detail. “It was set in a museum similar to what
Godiva has, if that’s a help.” In an instant she saw that he knew
which title it was, and that it was the very one he didn’t want them in
yet. Before he could even move, she had glanced in his mind to
know what he wanted. She turned to Kiana, and pointed to a
shelf. “Kiana, grab those replicas over there. If I
remember right, Richard had those specially made years ago, more or
less as props for training. They may be handy where we are
going.” She watched as the girl did so, and then they both ran
out of the room, following Richard to where the training room was.
Allan Arron was amazed at the capabilities of the
training room. The first thing that amazed him when he had
entered with Kevin Mitchel , Thomas Jacobs , and Anne Smith, was the
fact that a core of it’s simulations were pulled from various video
games. This was good since it worked well with his powers, to
shape shift into various characters from game. The second thing
that impressed him was how obscure some of the titles were, which
included the one that featured the museum they were in right now.
It had been from a title that came out in the mid 1990’s.
However, the most amazing thing was that in here, he
would walk around in his normal form. Something about the
mechanics in the room protected him from the harmful effects light had
on his skin. This allowed him to walk through the fictitious
museum devoted to strange things like a normal teenaged boy. Of
course, the others had been surprised when he became the average sized
blonde with hazel eyes. They were also surprised by the glasses
he had to wear in that form. Other than that, they had to admit
he was a good looking individual.
When they all stopped at one spot, which was a huge
room with a mummy case, wax snake, and a music box featuring a spider,
he remembered something about this title, that all this time he had
forgotten. While still studying the music box, he just said,
“Hey, I think I remember this title now. If I remember right,
there are a bunch of supernatural creatures running around, but since
we didn’t have to deal with the puzzles, I’m guessing they aren’t
around.”
He glanced over as Thomas walked close to the wax
snake, but moved over to the mummy case instead, saying “You mean to
say one could go through the game with out encountering the
creatures. Doesn’t sound like much fun.”
He stepped away from the music box, and
smiled. “It was a reward for beating the game. There aren’t
that many museums in the world that’s devoted to the unusual.” As
he thought about, the only ones he could even think of were over in
America.
He was a bit surprised when Anne spoke up, “Lord
Cale’s cousin owns one in America. I didn’t get to see much of
it, but it was a sight to see. This place is kind of like it,
even with the weird statue making an odd sound.”
The second he heard her mention the odd sound, his
mind raced back to times he had played the old game. An odd sound
usually preceded an attack by the creatures in the game. He
looked at Anne, and shouted, “Move quick, something is going to attack
soon.” He watched as all of a sudden, she stepped into a haze
that appeared next to her, only to appear next to a structure that
looked like a lion. In that instant, something that looked like
an oozing pile of wax with limbs came out of the snake, only to
disappear back into the statue.
He then watched as Kevin rushed forward, and quickly
touched the statue and the stand, turning them both in to metal.
“Let’s see that creature get out of the statue now that it’s
metal.” In that moment, he heard the sound had changed, and he
could tell Kevin realized it too. He quickly back stepped, only
to stumble and start turning the floor to metal as well.
In that moment, another creature lunged out of the
statue, looking like a living statue. This one was one he
remembered from the game, since it had gotten the jump on him before in
the game. As Kevin backed away, he quickly transformed into the
creature, and noticed it appeared confused, and hoped that the
confusion would buy the others some time to get out of the room.
Thomas looked at the scene, stunned at how passively
his power worked sometimes. He had been about to look at the
statue that the monster came out of, but at the last second
didn’t. However, he wasn’t sure how his power would help in this
situation. Anne had manage to ‘step’ away, and Kevin’s own power
just made the situation worse. He had to admit that Allen had a
good idea to distract the creature, but it wasn’t going to last long.
He also knew he had to help Kevin, and quickly ran
over to him and started helping him up. “Come on, Kevin, we need
to get out of here before my luck decides to stop.”
He was glad when Kevin got up quickly. “You
won’t hear any argument from me, Thomas. Did I change the
creature when I changed the statue?” To be honest, Thomas wasn’t
sure, but he wasn’t eager to find out. All he knew was that this
one didn’t seem in a hurry to disappear, and had more area to move
about, due to Kevin’s actions.
As they backed away, he heard Allen say, “No.
It’s a different one with a similar attack pattern. Instead of
wax objects, this one is bound to metal. We need to get out of
this room, and fast.” He then saw Allen shift formed, returning
to his normal form, which could be out due to something in the training
room. This ended up being a mistake, since the creature’s
attention was now drawn back to him, not out of confusion, but out of
hunger.
He saw Anne had joined them, and said, “Well, what
is that thing, and how do we stop it?”
When Thomas heard the next voice speak, he wasn’t
sure if his power was still working to help them or not.
“According to the game, it is called an Ixupi, and the only way to
capture it is with the vessel it is bound to.” He glanced to
behind Allen, and saw that Richard, Kiana, and Monet had all entered.
He looked over at Richard, and went to ask him if he
had anything that could stop the creature, and saw his teacher hold up
a ancient looking pot, with an animal like lid. Soon the creature
roared, and started acting as if it was fighting a black hole.
Soon the thing had been sucked in to the pot, and he could tell his
teacher wasn’t happy. Deep down, he was hoping to see something
cheer up his teacher.
His luck held out again, as he saw Lord Cale, and
the others focus their eyes on Allen, who were now seeing the
shape-shifting mutant in his real form for the first time. It had
been Kiana who finally spoke. “I didn’t know you looked like
that, Allen.” He watched as a slight smile crossed the girl’s
face, and he realized she thought the shape-shifter looked cute.
The brief moment of shock soon passed when Lord Cale
spoke, but his anger had cooled down a bit. “I must say that it
is good that the technology in this room allows you to be in your
normal form, Allen, but I must ask you all to leave. Once we are
in the ante-room, I’ll explain this a bit better, and you’ll all
realize why I did not want you to venture into this one yet.”
He fell in line with the rest of his classmate, and
headed for the exit that now appeared. As they walked, he noticed
that Allen took on the form of a blue boy like robot. As they
left, he noticed he was next to Anne, and he said to her, “Well, at
least we finally got to see what Allen looks like.”
He watched as she nodded, and then responded.
“Yea, but I’m sure we are going to be punished for this.” He
nodded in agreement, but hoped the punishment wouldn’t be too
harsh. Personally, as they entered the ante-room, he had a
feeling that discovering a way that Allen could appear normal would
lighten whatever punishment they would get.
Kevin sighed when they all stood in the
ante-room. Deep down, he had hoped they could just try walking
around one of the areas loaded into one of the devices. They all
knew the training area used areas from games from any of the devices,
and the only times they had been in one was during a training
session. No one had even thought that something would be set up
to test their abilities.
He was still thinking about that when Richard
finally spoke, “In part, I am a bit disappointed that you would go in
there unsupervised. However, I will take part of the blame since
the testing protocols were still on. That little scenario was
designed, and based off, an old game, to test you on one aspect of your
powers you may have to deal with.”
Kevin looked at his teacher, and wondered about a
thought that had crossed his mind as they stood there. “Sir, was
that being designed to test us on not using our abilities?” When
he saw Richard nod, he really felt bad about going in there. When
he used his powers, he ended up setting them up for an attack and
giving the attacker more room to work from.
He was startled when Monet St. Croix spoke.
“It’s been something we have been working on a bit this past
week. All of the teachers were putting their thought in on how to
test each one’s talents in there. As you saw, Kevin, the nature
of the creatures in that game sets up the danger in using your power.”
He nodded when he realized what they were telling
them. Of the four of them that had entered the room, it was his
that was the most dangerous to use. He then looked over at Allan,
when the boy, who now looked a famous video-game robot, spoke.
“Was one set up for my power in there, one that allowed me to not use
my power?” He nodded as the others noticed that as well.
He watched as Richard shook his head. “To be
honest, no. I don’t even think that scenario was even
considered. With your condition, I’m surprised you can be in
there and in your normal form. However, since the simulations
work differently than reality, maybe the room blocked out all natural
light, or what ever is in the light that hurts you.” He
then watched as Lord Cale looked at all of them, and said, “Since you
are all fine, and we learned something of how that room will work with
Allen, by the end of the week, I want a paper on how dangerous one’s
abilities can be if they are used as a weakness.
He nodded, like everyone else, and went to leave,
but he felt a hand on his shoulder. As the others left, he
glanced at his teacher, and realized there was more to his
punishment. He realized it was also linked to his new role as
team leader. “I know, I did something foolish, and took my team
into a dangerous situation.”
He was surprised when his teacher nodded, and said,
“Indeed, and you realized it, and tried to protect them. A good
leader tries to weigh up all the options, and in a moment, has to act
as they see best to protect their team. Sometimes, we will make
mistakes that cost us.” He noticed a pained look go through his
teacher’s eye, and at the same time, Monet looked like she might cry
for a moment, and then his teacher continued. “Being in a
leadership position is not easy. I want you to include that in
your paper, and really think about it.”
Kevin nodded and then walked out of the room.
As he headed back for his room, he wondered what cost Richard might
have been referring to. Judging by the reaction from Monet, it
had to be something that effected the both of them, and it made him
want to find out more. However, at the same time he wanted to
find out more, he was wondering if he did want to know the costs of
being a leader, and if he might be ready for them.
***************************************
Everett Thomas was ready for the big dinner.
With all the events that happened in the past week, they all needed
this. Of course, as he walked with his beautiful wife,
Jubilation, they both knew they had a big announcement to make known to
all. So far, the only ones they had told were Richard and Yvette,
and Darrett and Clarice. The former couple knew mainly since the
doctor that Jubilation saw was Yvette’s doctor. The later had
been informed because of the unique bond that he and Darrett had.
Even if one would think about it logically, the fact was that Darrett
was Everett’s son, from a future that never happened. It had been
kept secret until the last few days of the Xavier School for Gifted
Youngsters.
When they entered the main dining hall, he watched
as both Clarice and Darrett Thomas-Ferguson came over. Both had
smiles on their face, especially as Clarice put a hand on Jubilation’s
shoulder, and said, “Welcome to the club. It is going to be the
longest ride of your life, but it’s well worth it.”
He then felt a hand on his shoulder, and saw that it
was Darrett. He watched as the mutant master of summoning looked
in his eyes. In that moment, Everett could see in Darrett’s eyes
a bit of himself. Darrett had obviously been thinking about this
for a while. “Listen, I know it may be early to be thinking about
this, but maybe when the time comes, you shouldn’t tell them I’m their
uncle.”
Everett smiled, knowing just what Darrett was
talking about. “I know. I bet they would just look at you
and us and go ‘Huh’. I know the same thought went through my mind
when you told me.” It was the honest truth. The past
weekend, he was trying to figure out what to tell the others, but he
was sure that Richard was going to say something at the dinner tonight.
This dinner was going to end up being a big
celebration, especially as all the students started coming in. As
they came in, he noticed that some of the students seemed to be
coupling. The first he noticed was Kevin and Amy Johnson.
That one was no big surprise, since they had known each other before
the school was formed. The next one that didn’t surprise him was
Prince James and Tasha Lewis. He had noticed that the prince
seemed infatuated with the psi-mutant, but this past week, those
feelings must been made known.
What did surprise him was that Kiana was walking in
and talking with Allen, who now appeared like and old Nintendo
character. He wondered what had prompted the mystical student of
Richard’s to become interested with them. However, that coupling
was not as surprising when he saw the teachers starting to enter.
He did see it coming, but it was still a shock to see Davis Skinur and
Monet St. Croix walking in together.
Soon, everyone else was coming into the room, and as
they all sat down at the table, Jubilation quietly said to him, “Yvette
just told me that Richard may ask you to announce our news to
everyone. They both think it would be best if we say it.”
As some of the new people there came in, including
Jonothan Starsmore and Paige Guthrie, and the mysterious Eloise, who
looked a lot like Yvette years ago, he nodded as he agreed with his
wife. “Indeed. I can’t wait to see the looks on everyone’s
faces when we tell them.”
They then walked over to their seats, and sat down
just as the food was brought in, and Richard and Yvette entered the
room. Those who were bringing the food to the table quickly left,
and Richard and Yvette walked over to their spots. Yvette sat
down, but Richard remained standing. At that moment, he knew
Richard was going to announce the big new, not only theirs, but about
other things, since that was another reason for this meal.
Everett decided to just sit back, until it was time to tell his news.
Richard Cale Jr. waited until everyone was silent so
he could tell the big news. Due to all the events of the past
week, including the attack the previous weekend, a lot of things didn’t
get done. Of course, with all the things that had happened over
the course of the week, some of those things would have needed to be
redone.
Once everyone quieted down, he spoke. “This
past week has been a very big week for the school, many good and bad
things had happened. Instead of dwelling on those bad things, let
us focus on the good things. One of those things is the arrival
of three new faces to our halls. The most recent one being Eloise
Leveque.”
He watched as the redhead, who as he looked at her,
reminded him of Yvette before she learned to control her powers, stood
and greeted everyone. “Bon soir.” Just as the young girl
spoke, and looking at her, he could sense the same charisma that her
father had.
He put that thought in the back of his mind as he
continued. “Her father will be stopping by later this week, and
he may decide to let her remain here. If you think he last name
is familiar, that is because she is the daughter of the French
Ambassador.” He saw stunned looks come from all around, and then
continued. “Also arriving this past week are Arron Allen,” who
stood up and appeared to look like Megaman, “and Alexandra
McNeal.” He watched as the young lady formerly known as Samantha
stood up and nodded.
When she sat down, Richard continued, “With her
officially enrolled under her real name, it marks the end of some
problems, since Graylon Walsh has decided to lay off the bad
publicity. He will even be helping out from time to time, as well
as our new teachers here, Paige Guthrie and Jonothan Evans Starsmore.
“ He watched as his former Generation X teammates stood up and
waved hello again to the students.
He then glanced over to where Everett and Jubilation
were sitting and nodded as he said, “Now before we eat, I believe the
Thomas’s have a little announcement they need to make.”
He watched as everyone glanced at the two, who then
stood up, and Everett spoke as Jubilation started to blush. “We
would like to announce that as of right now, we are expecting our first
child.” Richard smiled as cheers came from all around the table,
especially from the little children. He knew it would be a while,
but he noticed that his own children, Richard Cale III and Ashley Cale,
as well as Joleen Thomas-Ferguson were starting to feel a little left
out of things.
When the cheers finally settled, Richard motioned
towards the food, and calmly said, “That is it for the good news, now
enjoy. Tomorrow we will get back to our regular classes and
studies. This past week has told us we may need to be more on our
toes.” At that moment, the sound of a knock on the main door
echoed through the building. He glanced at Yvette, and noticed
she was already heading out to get the door. Deep down, they both
knew who it might be, but they were both hoping they were wrong,
especially as Eloise’s father was coming this week.
There were other things it could be, including a
crazy plan by Emplate and his ‘Rippers’, even thought he was sure
Emplate was lying about them not being his. There was also the
fear that the knock might be Sinister in some kind of disguise, or one
of Claudette’s minions. He was also hoping that it wasn’t the
Knights of Humanity, who had started targeting his school. He was
sure they only started this because of his school, but he didn’t want a
confrontation.
After he heard nothing bad from Yvette, he started
to get some food together. It was comforting that nothing
appeared to be wrong, and that all was well. It wasn’t until his
wife finally returned, and when he saw who was with her, that he almost
dropped his plate. In that moment, he knew it would take a
miracle to avoid a major confrontation, since when .
Christina looked around the room they had entered,
and realized that both she and Kevin had interrupted dinner. Deep
down, she had a feeling they would, but was being optimistic. She
could also sense a bit of worry coming from both Richard and Yvette
Cale, however she had sensed the concern when Yvette had answered the
door. Before she could even ask about what was worrying them,
Yvette announced their arrival to everyone. “Everyone, I’d like
to introduce you to two old friends of ours. Ms. Christina Laine
and Kevin Dallas. We had met then a few years ago, and they
stopped by for a visit.”
She politely waved her hand, knowing that her tail
swishing was getting all the students attention. She smiled, and
said, “Hello. I wish we could say we are here for a social visit,
but I’m afraid our visit isn’t just social.”
She started to feel nervous when Kevin just spoke
up, glancing over those who had to be the teachers at the school.
“You could say we are here to get the jump on a very evil man.
One that has cause a lot of grief, but I wouldn‘t want you to get
involved.” As Kevin spoke, she saw him start to walk around the
room, being the typical showman. She could have sworn he was
acting like a great hero, about to finally defeat his foe.
She watched as Richard looked at Kevin, a bit upset,
and said, “Kevin, I want you to remember something. This is a
school, and they are students. They also know nothing about your
lives mission. Those statement are like an open invitation to
join you.” She watched as Kevin looked right at Richard, and she
knew that Richard had chosen his words to stun Kevin.
She walked over to Kevin, and calmly said, “He is
right, Kevin. This is your crusade, and it’s not right to get
these kids involved.” As she said those words, she noticed
everyone was now looking about both of them, and she was certain the
students were wondering about what Kevin had said.
Eventually, her eyes locked with one student.
She looked at the student, and as they looked at each other, she could
see something familiar in the girl. The girl looked a bit like
Yvette when she used her powers, but there was something else that was
familiar that she couldn’t place at the moment.
Her thoughts were broken when Kevin then said, “I
can respect that, but it would have been nice if his teacher here,” and
she noticed he was pointing at a dark-skinned teacher, whom she never
met from their first time meeting Richard and Yvette, “had
offered us a ride here, instead of trying to flirt with me.”
She watched as the teacher got up, with a very
disapproving look in her face. “How dare you accuse me of
something like that. I would never flirt with someone like
you.” In part, she could tell from the way the woman was dressed,
and how it contrasted so differently from Kevin’s usual biker image,
that they were of two different worlds.
However, she gasped when Kevin said, “Well, you
could have fooled me, with how you were dressed. Hell, you're
actually wearing something this time. Maybe earlier, you were
entertaining your wild side.” When those words left Kevin’s
mouth, she was sure that Kevin would be tossed out. Then she
noticed a worried look on the woman’s face. She realized that
something was wrong, but her friend took the look the wrong way.
“I guess I exposed your little secret.”
She watched as somehow, every teacher reacted as if
they were talking on a telepathic level. Soon, Richard had walked
over to Kevin, and placed his hands on Kevin’s shoulders. She
also noticed a extra troubled look cross his face, which if she
remembered Richard Cale’s power correctly, meant he saw more of what
Kevin had been through. “Kevin, did you mention where you were
going to that lady?”
She heard Kevin react in a slightly upset
tone. “What do you mean? Didn’t she tell you that she ran
into us?” In that moment, she saw a panicked look start to cross
all the teachers. She also noticed a familiar odor in the air,
one that she had smelled on the plane. She hadn’t told Kevin
everything about that odor, but it was a mixture of several scents,
some of which she had smelled when in the jungles. In fact one
was linked to what could only be described as a spider as big as a man.
In that moment, she then heard a growl coming from
outside. She turned to look at the window, and heard Richard say,
“We need to get everyone out of this room.” Soon, she realized
what was happening. The woman that Kevin had seen wasn’t the
woman here, but a twin will ill intentions. In an instant, the
window exploded as a huge cat creature came in. From the
creature, Balam could detect a wave of malevolence, and was stunned
when Richard said, “The Black Beast of Exmoor. Everyone out of
the room now.”
Part of her wanted to use her powers and grow in
size, but the sudden appearance of a second cat, as well as a hulking
brute, and some thing that could not be human at all stopped her from
doing so. While it looked humanoid in general appearance, many
tentacles came from the creatures back, as if they were a natural part
of the thing. Everyone was heading out the door, and she was the
last one out when the tendriled thing just said, “Surprise, surprise,
Vanquisher.” She closed the door, and quickly followed the group,
knowing they needed to form a plan, and feeling a bit guilty that their
arrival invited this attack. She even wondered if their attackers
were linked to Canon, but she was certain they weren’t, since they made
sure never to leave any trace that they received help from Lord and
Lady Cale. However, she was sure that this night would be an
interesting one.
Attention: The following story
is based off Generation X, and the timeline that is known as the Cale
Storyline.
It starts almost 5 years after the story Class Dismissed. All of
Generation X is out of school, and new adventures are about to start.