WARNING!
This story has a smattering of sex, violence, and "salty language". You have been warned.
ANOTHER WARNING!
I'm a total X-Men newbie. PLEASE keep your eyes open for errors, no matter how small, and mark the note at the end of the story. I put this story up for CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM! (And lots of it!) Thanks so much for reading! (Unless you don't like sex/violence/salty language. In that case, go.)
Loading… loading… and then a high-res picture of a white man in his early twenties showed up on the computer screen, smirking as he proudly showed off his huge erection.
Lynette burst into forbidden giggles, ogled the picture, and unconsciously let her hand drop into her lap.
Several minutes later, everyone down the street had an orgasm.
Xavier knitted his brow as a bright crimson flash went off in a corner of his mind. Jean, he sent telepathically to Phoenix, the girl has done it again.
I know, Jean replied unhappily. Something must be done.
Xavier considered carefully. For years, this girl, Lynette, had been in the back of his mind. He'd been monitoring her progress, her development as a mutant. Her emotional influence had grown so powerful that all in close contact with her, everyone on her street, everyone she smiled at while waiting for the bus, was feeling what she was feeling. The radius of her control had been expanding. The degree of her influence had been increasing. Something had to be done.
Perhaps it is time to collect the child, Professor X said reluctantly. He sensed Jean’s agreement. We’ll go together, tomorrow.
“We’ve been watching her for quite some time now,” Xavier told the smiling parents in front of him. “She has immense potential, and we feel she is going to waste at her current school.”
“Yes, she hasn’t been doing much work lately,” the smiling mother said. The woman’s perpetual grin unsettled the two telepaths. It certainly was a wise choice to get the girl out of there, away from where she could cause trouble.
“We only want the best for her,” the father said. His smile was massive and toothy. Looked painful.
“The school is free, provides food and a room of her own. I founded it just for special girls like Lynette.”
“That sounds wonderful. When will she be leaving?” the mother asked.
“When can she go?” Jean returned. She wanted to get away from this place. The parents’ minds were flat, even, as if they had been eroded. Flat, but always very content. The constant stream of thoughts and emotions coming from the upstairs bedroom were troubling her as well. Occasionally she had trouble focusing on the conversation.
“Why, right now, if you’d like,” the father said. How is he maintaining that stupid grin?
“That’s fine, get her packing,” Jean said breathlessly. She got up abruptly and headed outside, followed by Xavier’s hoverchair.
She inhaled sharply once on the front lawn of the decidedly suburban house. “Charles, that girl is stifling!” she cried out, pacing across the grass. “A constant bombardment of intense feeling… we’ll have to lock her up!”
“Now Jean,” came Charles’ soothing voice. “You know that it will be your job to teach her to control her powers.”
“Her powers are nothing like mine,” Jean retorted, near exasperation. “They work in an entirely different manner! She has no connection to the astral plane. Her thoughts are so base… their methods are so primitive… they’re nothing like mine, Charles, nothing at all!” She pressed her fingers to her temples, shaking her head.
“You’re panicking, Jean. You must stay calm.”
A window opened on the second floor. A smiling face — a geniune, sweet smile — and a head of short dark hair streaked a shocking red popped out. She called down to them in a musical voice: “It’ll take me an hour or so to get all my stuff together in boxes. I’ll see you then, okay? I can’t wait!” She disappeared into the house again.
Jean looked at Charles in despair.
Five huge trunks were loaded into the rented truck. The suburban girl had surely been spoiled. “So what are your names?” she asked brightly. She was quite a beautiful girl, with large dark eyes, a lovely half-Asian complexion, and full lips that were just what any teenage boy would desire. Her body was slight, her breasts small but well-proportioned, with a thin waist and a vague flare of her hips into energetic legs that were bouncing from foot to foot.
“I am Charles Xavier. It is my school where we are now going.”
“My name is Jean Grey, sweetheart. I’ll be one of your teachers.”
“Cool. What do you teach?”
Jean looked sideways at Xavier. “Our school is set up a little differently than most. You’ll see when you get there.”
Lynette’s eyes narrowed. “How big is the school?”
“Very small. Only a very elite group of students are invited.”
“Oh…” Lynette didn’t seem to approve. “It’s just that my old school is pretty big. I like having a lot of friends.”
“You can easily keep in touch with all your old friends,” Jean assured her, as she thought to herself, This girl is unusually open and naive for a teen… I remember when I was young, conversation with adults wasn’t quite so easy.
The truck drove up the ramp into the Blackbird. Lynette’s eyes were popping out of their sockets. “First, I’ve never heard of a school with a private jet. Second, I’ve never seen a private jet like this.”
Charles was actually smiling. “Indeed, child, it is a very special school you will be attending.”
Jean could tell that Lynette was growing more and more suspicious, as the Blackbird soared on, as it landed, as they walked out of the docking bay and onto the great expanse of parkland around the X-Mansion. How could Phoenix not notice? The steady stream of doubt and reservation flowing unimpeded from the girl’s mind was making her begin to doubt and suspect herself. The prospect of the girl’s effect was extremely unsettling.
“Lynette, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, Xavier’s School for the Gifted is no ordinary school at all. It is a school for individuals with gifts that are not of the usual kind. Gifts provided by evolution. It is a school for mutants.”
Lynette stared blankly at Xavier. “Then why am I here?”
Charles chuckled. “My darling, you may not be aware of it, but you are a mutant as well.”
“No… way.” Lynette’s expression was a captivating dance of delight and disbelief. “How can you tell?”
“Lynette, child, your mind is a steady stream of thought and emotions. As a telepath, I cannot help but pick it up,” Jean explained. “And in a roundabout way, neither can normal humans. You have a startling effect on the mind, sweetheart. People pick up on what you are feeling and begin to feel it themselves.”
Lynette seemed disappointed. “That’s… kinda… sucky. So, no invulnerability or super strength for me.” She sighed. “And I’ve been doing this all this time?”
“Since puberty, sweetheart.”
The girl kept walking through the parklands, thoughtfully plucking at her sleeves. “I guess that would explain why I’ve had so much fun for the past few years.”
“Hmm?” Jean prompted.
“Everything was going my way. I was getting just what I wanted, all the time. The boy I had a crush on would dump his girlfriend and go for me. My teachers loved me, I was infallible in the classroom, I never got in trouble. My parents couldn’t resist fawning on me. I could hardly believe my incredible luck.” She heaved another sigh. “Not luck, I guess.”
“Honey, you are lucky. You were born with a gift.” Jean smiled. She was actually starting to like the girl.
“So now I’m here. Am I going to learn about my powers here?” Lynette asked, gazing about the tree-lined parkland.
“That’s correct, child,” Charles said. He kept to himself that a more accurate explanation of their interest in the girl is simply that she was too dangerous on the loose. Perhaps they could train her to contain her powers, and then release her. He sighed inwardly. No, the desire to use a power as tempting as that — to manipulate people’s very emotions! — would be too attractive, especially to a young girl. They’ll have to find a more appropriate home for her. Perhaps Generation X, if she has the drive to fight for mutant rights. We’ll see, he decided.
“This place is not just an unusual school, but a base for a group of mutants known as the X-Men. Perhaps you’ve heard of them?” Charles asked.
“Aw, shit yeah! I see them on TV all the time, doing totally whacked-out stuff! It’s always so exciting to watch!” Her wide, dark eyes glowed passionately. “Seriously, this is where you guys hang out?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes.”
“Oh MAN!!” Lynette pirouhetted and spiralled across the lawn in a surprising show of agility. She was clapping her hands excitedly as well. Apparently she’s co-ordinated too. Charles and Jean exchanged glances. Agile like… a certain X-Man.
Yes, Jean. I think perhaps both she and Gambit have a lot to learn about their powers. It may be more efficient to have them studied together.
“You’re kidding, right?” Logan growled. “Two wild teenage girls running around the X-Mansion? Healing factor or no healing factor, my heart might give out.” He shot, and the billiard balls rolled smoothly into their expected pockets.
“And what could she possibly have in common with Gambit?” Gambit asked, chalking the end of his cue. “I thought I was through learning about my powers.”
“Aw, c’mon you guys, don’t be such killjoys,” Jubilee interjected, spritely as always. “I’m so excited for there to be someone my age here!”
“Who’s gonna show her to her room?” Rogue drawled. “I vote Jubilee.” She winked at the girl. “Apparently Lynette is also half-Asian. It’s uncanny how similar you two are. Ah’m sure you’ll get along just fine.”
“Seriously? No way! That is such a coincidence. When is she coming in?” Without waiting for a response (or even to catch her breath), Jubilee bounded out of the room.
“It was a bit of a sudden decision to invite you here,” Jubilation explained, “so your room isn’t quite all decorated or anything. I’ll help you personalize it, though!”
“Sure thing… I wasn’t really expecting anything anyway,” Lynette said. She was still a bit in awe. “I can’t believe I’m here.”
Jubilee laughed. “We don’t really act that superhero-like around here. It’s not like we’re Captain America or anything.” She stuck out her tongue. Lynette giggled.
“I think Rogue already brought your stuff in. All you have to do is unpack,” Jubilee said, and swung open the door to Lynette’s new room. “My room is right across the hall, if you need anything anytime. If I’m not there, I’ll have my communicator on.”
“Thanks,” Lynette said, taking a few tentative steps into her room and kneeling by one of the trunks. Jubilee closed the door gently, and smiled. A shopping partner! She squealed and bounded into her room.
In the gardens, near Lynette’s wing of the mansion, Remy LeBeau was having a smoke. He was leaning against a tree, pensive and silent. As soon as the girl had arrived, he’d understood why Professor X had mentioned pairing her up with him. His charm power was something he’d been aware of, but not anything he used very often. He’d been proud of not needing to use it, having quite enough charm on his own. This girl, he knew, operated on a level very similar to his charm power; nowhere near the astral plane, but in some other, more tangible way that he did not fully understand.
Unlike the telepaths, Remy was having no problems with Lynette’s constant flow of emotions. He understood it and allowed it to flow past him without taking any effect.
He knew that his charm power had been overlooked and ignored during his time as an X-Men. He never used it, so there was never any focus on it. Everyone just assumed that it was a primitive form of telepathy. He liked it better that way, because he knew that as soon as his charm power went under the magnifying glass, latent Gambit opposers like Cyclops and Wolverine would leap on it and accuse Gambit of having “charmed” the X-Men all this time.
The cigarette was burnt down to a stub. There was a sudden flash as Gambit charged it into combustion. It disappeared literally in a puff of smoke.
Remy didn’t like the sudden interest in his charm power. He knew that now, with this girl, it was going to be studied and dissected and analyzed. He grabbed a low branch and swung deftly to his feet. His gaze was on the lit window, the window into Lynette’s room.
“Fortunately, previous experiments on Jean and Psylocke have left us with a handful of specially designed machines to monitor telepathic activity,” the large fuzzy blue guy was telling Lynette, who was nodding dumbly. “Simply fit the monitor over your head like so…” His immense furry blue paws were surprisingly gentle as the bulky metallic contraption settled into place on her skull. He flipped a switch with one claw and the machine hummed to life.
A steady beep, not unlike the sound of a electrocardiograph hooked up to a dead patient, was alarming, to say the least.
“How odd,” Beast said to himself. “I am clearly experiencing your telepathic radiation, yet the machine is not picking up on it at all.” He turned off the machine and flipped it back on again, under the general principle of the “reboot”. Still the same results.
“Hmm. Perhaps the machine has broken down from neglect. It’s been a while since we’ve conducted any tests on telepaths.”
“Come now, Beast. You know as well as I do dat you shine every damn instrument in dis laboratory every Sunday afternoon.” Gambit strolled into the lab, cards dancing between his hands. “Dere ain’t no such thing as ‘neglect’ in dis place.”
The scruffy and sexy Cajun couldn’t help but seem out of place in Beast’s sterile white laboratory, but as a rule, Remy was never uncomfortable. The cards flew from hand to hand with a satisfying sound like an exotic rolled ‘r’ from some foreign tongue.
“You’re right, Gambit. I pride myself in the care I take in my instruments.” Beast regarded the monitor the way a member of Mensa regards a challenging puzzle, which is pretty much exactly what the situation was.
“Hello dere, petite. My name’s Gambit.” The Cajun sauntered over to Lynette, sitting stiffly in the laboratory chair with the heavy machine on her head. Her gaze followed the attractive X-Man as he approached. Remy repressed a smirk as the waves of lust and admiration radiated from the girl. Beast was less successful, but was luckily bent over his computer in the opposite direction to obscure his amusement. His grin vanished almost immediately, as he felt stirrings within himself. His own body began to respond to the girl’s emotional emissions. “A wise choice, Xavier,” he thought to himself. “A wise choice for the public, to remove the girl.”
Remy lifted the machine off of Lynette’s head, easily setting it down on a nearby surface. “Looks like we’ll be spendin’ a lot of time together, Lynette,” he said. “The Professor seems to t’ink that we may have certain t’ings… in common.” The rumbling in his throaty voice made Lynette’s mouth go dry.
“Oh really?” she managed. Gambit only nodded, never taking his smoldering red eyes off of the poor girl.
Remy felt a flash of guilt. He knew the teen girl didn’t stand a chance. More stubborn women than she had fallen victim to his charms. At least one had died for it. And he was still in love with Rogue, despite her constant rebuffs and cruel dismissals.
But then he remembered Rogue’s last cruel dismissal.
“Remy, you know we can’t evah be together. Why do you keep on tryin’??”
It hurt him more than she had realized. The Cajun was one with incredible resolve. He never gave up. In the end, he always got what he’d come for. Now, after all these years of fighting to be with her, relentlessly, after Antarctica and Joseph and everything from his past, now she is telling him that it was always futile?
“I’m sure we’ll get along jus’ fine, petite.” He smiled at her, and watched her melt.
“If you’ll excuse me, the — ahem! — tension in the room has proven too much for this particular X-Man.” Beast shuffled out of the room less gracefully than usual.
Gambit flicked a glance at the exiting mutant, but quickly returned his gaze to the girl. “You have any idea why dey might t’ink that our powers are similar in any way?”
“Umm, no…”
“Well, I’ll tell you.” He smiled again. He knew it was cruel of him, but he did it anyway. “Shall we go for a walk while Gambit explains?”
“Yeh… sure.”
“Professor?” Storm hurried into the Professor’s library, somehow maintaining her regal posture. “Professor… I am sensing great upheaval in the elements… the earth is crying out… heralding a great presence.”
Xavier arched an eyebrow.
“I’m afraid, Professor, that I can describe it no more accurately. It is announcing the arrival of a queen… or perhaps a goddess.”
Xavier steepled his fingers. “Watch out for intruders, then, I suppose…” He had no better suggestion.
Suddenly, the earth began to move. It rippled and heaved, quivered and shook. Xavier’s hoverchair was overturned. Storm took to the air in surprise, swooped down and pulled the Professor out. They hung in the air, watching the room around them sway. The arch over the fireplace collapsed, and the fire was snuffed out with a hiss. Bookcases fell on their faces. The chandelier rattled, and Storm had to dart out of the way as it came crashing down.
The floor split open, and a tall, dark woman stepped out of the chasm. Her hair was coal-black, wooly, in huge curls bunched around her head. Her eyes were sunken, but glowed with inner fire. Her neck was unusually long, but her body was built and sturdy. She gave the impression of being made of a dark ebony wood.
Storm gasped. “Professor, surely here is the goddess of whom the earth was speaking!”
The earthquake subsided. “Put me down, Ororo,” Xavier said sternly. Storm righted his chair and set him down, always with her eyes on the huge dark woman.
“You have something that is mine,” the woman said in clipped English. An African accent.
“Do we?” Xavier asked.
“Return the girl.”
“I didn’t know she was yours.”
“Return her.”
“I’m afraid I cannot do that just yet. Please identify yourself.”
“Return her, or you will regret it.”
“Identify yourself.”
The dark woman and Xavier stared at each other silently in a battle of wits. Storm stood protectively at Xavier’s side, although she felt inexplicably helpless before the tall, dark woman.
As if on cue, the woman turned to Storm. “One of my children,” she said, and smiled. Her smile, at first horrifying, quieted the flames of her eyes to the gentle blaze of a hearth, and became beautiful. “Some part of your soul must know me.”
Ororo stood, feeling like a small child. “Surely some part of me must know you… but it has not risen to the forefront of my mind… Holiness.” The last word felt pulled from her soul. It rushed forth like waters bursting through a dam.
The smile remained on the woman’s face. “Yes, you do know me. I am Ala. To me your mother prayed when you were born, and to me you will return when you have died.”
Xavier was certainly alarmed by this. Surely this isn’t actually the goddess of the Nigerian tribes. One look at Ororo, however, and he knew that she was convinced.
“Ala!” It made no difference to Storm that she was from Kenya, not where this particular fertility goddess had ever been worshipped. She felt that she must worship this dark entity. She was truly a goddess! “What is it that we have taken from you, that we may return it immediately?”
“The girl, Allegra. Allegra is mine.”
Storm turned back to Xavier. Allegra?
“We… don’t have her…” she faltered.
“Yes you do!” Ala shrieked. The floor opened beneath Storm’s feet and yawned into a chasm. Storm leapt into the air.
“Oh, Ororo, my daughter,” Ala cried out. Her voice was warm and earthy as her appearance. “Forgive my fury. I want my girl back!”
“Lead us to her,” came Xavier’s powerful voice. He had almost been forgotten. “Lead us to her, and we will return her to you, if it is within our power.”
Ala paused to contemplate this, then inclined her head in agreement. She began to walk for the door.
Lynette was beside herself with delight. Perhaps she truly was lucky. Had she brought on this earthquake so that she would end up in Gambit’s arms?
They were crouched in the middle of a field, Remy’s duster thrown over their heads, his arm around her. The earthquake subsided, but Lynette clung tightly to him. He smelled so good!
“It’s over, petite.”
She just snuggled more closely.
Remy pulled his long coat back and lifted his face to the clear skies, concern on his face. He was no geologist, but he knew that earthquakes were fairly unusual in these parts.
He rocked back on his heels and sat down. Lynette simply moved with him, her face pressed into his abs. He pulled out a deck of cards, began fidgeting with some. Lynette turned her face to see what it was. Finding his face to be even more pleasant to look at than his abdomen, she rolled over entirely, lying in his lap. “Earthquakes aren’t so bad as everyone says, hmm?” she asked dreamily.
“Dey sure are not, petite.” The cards flew from hand to hand.
“It must be so exciting, to be an X-Man,” Lynette purred.
“You could say so.” Time to play aloof, Remy thought to himself. This girl is snared. There’s no use running her into the ground.
She stretched languidly across his lap, showing off her young breasts to their fullest potential. Gambit wasn’t terribly impressed, but he was amused. He was just considering toying with her further when motion caught his eye. Xavier, Storm and some unidentified figure were heading for them. “Qui est là?” he murmered to himself. He rolled Lynette out of his lap — she responded with an “oomph!” when confronted with grass in her face — and stood up.
The third figure was certainly no one he’d ever seen before, but he assumed she could be trusted if she was with Xavier and Storm. Gambit was hard-pressed to define the stranger as a “she”, despite that he could usually detect a woman from miles away, for her body was stocky, lacking much of the feminine delicacy. There was something in her face, though, that betrayed her sex, even from this distance.
Lynette had fumbled to a sitting position, squinting at the approaching figures. “There’s the Professor in his wheelchair thingie… who are those two?”
“De one wit’ de white hair is Stormy,” Gambit said, but he could not answer for the last figure.
“It is she,” the unidentified woman cried out. Her rumbling voice almost made Gambit shudder.
“Is she talking about you, petite?”
“I don’t know, Gambit…” Fear was apparent in Lynette’s eyes.
The dark woman’s pace quickened, and Xavier was left behind. Storm took to flight, keeping pace by the dark woman’s left shoulder.
“Allegra!” the dark woman screamed. “Allegra, it is I!”
Lynette unconsciously wrapped an arm around Gambit’s sturdy leg. “Is she talking to me?” she stuttered. The answer was obvious.
“Hey, petite, don’t be nervous. She’s wit’ Storm and de Professor. Gambit is sure dis woman is nothing to be afraid of.” The soothing tone of his voice belied Remy’s true suspicion. His instincts were telling him that this dark woman was not Xavier or Storm’s usual company, and he didn’t like the nearly panicked expression on the stranger’s face.
“Why is she calling me Allegra?” Lynette rose to her feet, still holding on tightly to Remy, who had no answer for her.
“Don’t you recognize your Mother and Creator?” Ala demanded of Lynette. “Don’t you?” She was quite close now. Her expression was more of fury than of happy reunion.
“…No.”
She was a brave girl, Remy had to give her that.
Ala’s eyes blazed, causing Gambit to produce a handful of cards, ready to be charged and thrown. Just as suddenly, the earth goddess was calm.
“Of course you don’t remember, my child. O, my daughter.” She extended a wooden hand and touched Lynette’s cheek. The girl recoiled.
Gambit decided that this was enough. “Who are you, and what do you want wit’ Lynette?”
Ala didn’t bother to look at LeBeau. He felt insignificant, and subsequently infuriated. A charged card was airborne, arced through the air, exploded at Ala’s feet. “So Lynette is supposed to know you, ah?”
The curl of smoke from the scorched grass got Ala’s attention, and the eyes flared up again. “She is mine, you impudent mortal. I will take back what is mine, by force, if necessary.”
“Give Gambit your best shot.”
Ala raised her brow. “I needn’t waste my energies. Allegra?”
Lynette looked up at Gambit in terror. Then, as if drawn painfully away, her head turned to the earth-goddess. Her breath sped up. Her fists clenched and unclenched. Then, with a rending shriek, her knees buckled and she slammed the earth with her hands. The ground rippled in response.
“Ala, Mother-Goddess, I am yours,” she murmured, prostrate before the wooden woman. The teen’s voice was eerily resonant.
Gambit cleared his throat, his brows knitted. “…Lynette? Petite?”
Lynette did not turn.
“Allegra,” the dark Ala cried out in triumph. “Give your Mother a demonstration of your immense power.”
Emotionless, Lynette bent over and plucked a blade of grass from the earth. She lifted it to her lips and blew gently, her breath creating a rippling breeze across the dancing tip of the grass. Rather than fluttering, though, the grass leaned away from her breath and — poof! — disintegrated in a shower of green sparks.
“Heavens,” Storm breathed. She darted a glance at Ala, who seemed to have forgotten about the flying X-Man. The dark woman was cackling. Ororo reached up and gently touched her communicator, summoning the other X-Men.
“I could hardly believe my eyes– or Storm’s eyes, as it were,” explained Jean, running alongside Beast. “The grass just… disintegrated in a burst.”
“But you could not see any remnants of matter actually falling to the ground?” Beast inquired.
“Come to think of it… no.”
“Hmm. I believe I understand now the reason for my instrument’s inability to detect any telepathic radation from our new adolescent friend.”
“Yes, Beast?”
“She functions on the cellular level. Her influence is on our very neurons. Why, it is entirely different from your powers, or Xavier’s. Her mutant radiation serves as a counterpart to pheromones, effecting reactions in the cells of our bodies that are purely chemical. And now, it seems, that this ‘Ala’ has powered her up. She may now have physical control over any living cell. This makes her a formidable opponent, indeed.” Beast’s voice dropped, as the two charged down the corridor. “I believe that she could as easily do to us what she did to that blade of grass.”
Jean pursed her lips, but continued running.
Neither spoke until they reached their destination.
On to part two.