we continue on. catch the 'dark angel' reference.
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The doorbell rang, but Bobby was already waiting by the door. He opened it, and the biker who'd buzzed Kitty and Piotr was waiting outside. He barged in with his bag, lighting a cigarette as he came in.
"There's two kids on their way up, too," he said. "I think they're stuck walkin'. So where's the Professor? It ain't you, is it? Nah, I've seen him on the news. You've got hair."
"And I can walk," Bobby muttered. "There's no smoking in the foyer."
"Too bad," Logan said. He took a drag, and as he was inhaling, Bobby extended his hand, and a white mist came from it and onto the cigarette. It froze in Logan's mouth. "Neat trick, jackass. I like you. The name's Logan. You?"
"Bobby Drake. Iceman, when that's important."
"Code-names here too, eh?" Logan said. "For what it's worth, I go by a couple. Patch, or Wolverine. Take your pick."
"Patch? Wolverine?" Bobby had to force back a mean smile. "I'm sorry, man, but those both kinda suck."
"Yeah, I know. But hey-" He stopped, clenched a fist, and threw it out a little over a foot from Bobby's face, and then, out from between his knuckles, three one-foot-long blades popped out with what sounded like a slicing noise. This all happened in about a second. "-Gotta keep people on their toes." He smiled, retracted the blades, and brought his fist back. "So really, where's Xavier? Sorry if I'm rushin' ya, but I'm anxious."
"He wants everyone to wait in the study until the whole class gets here," Bobby answered. The doorbell wrang again.
"Betcha it's those kids," Logan said. Bobby opened the door, and Piotr Rasputin and Kitty Pryde were waiting in the doorway.
Three down, Bobby thought. And it's gonna be a class of eight. If anybody's flight's delayed, I'll be very upset. He had left them all in the study two hours ago, and was hoping that they were getting along. He peeked out the window, and there was, at long last, another person coming. He was a dark-skinned, long haired man with a pony-tail. He'd driven himself, and didn't seemed to know where the parking lot was, as he'd left his car, an old Chevy, right by the curb. It occured to Bobby that he was probably Native-American. He opened the door to great the newcomer.
"Hello there," he called. The man waved.
"Hey. You another new student?" He asked.
"Nah," Bobby asnwered. "I'm Professor X's assistant, Bobby Drake. What's your name?"
"My name? Eh," he seemed hesitant. "You promise not to laugh?"
"Your Forge, aren't you?" Bobby asked. "I've got all the names down. I don't see another one that'd make someone sound so awkward."
"Phew. Well, that makes it a little easier. Just as long as you don't ask why. I don't know too well either."
"Too bad," Bobby laughed. "Hey, I'm supposed to lead everyone to the study, so follow me, and bring your stuff if you want. There're three other people already."
"Lead the way, Bobby."
In his office, Professor Xavier checked off Forge from his own list of new students. There were still four more to go. He closed his eyes, and searched around as far as he could unassisted. Two more of them, Sara Rutherds and Ororo Monroe, were both in range. He considered going down to the low level where Cerebro would be able to connect him to not only the other two new students who he didn't see yet, but the twenty or so more who he decided not to invite, and, indeed, every mutant on Earth. In the end, he decided not to. He wanted to see all of his students at once when he first met them, and who knew when one of them would go roaming around? No, for now he'd stay in his office.
The frightened taxi driver was back at the Xavier Institute, and this time, he wasn't allowed to drop off his client halfway and speed off. He'd tried, and the gorgeous British woman had threatened to twist his arms off if he did. Normally, he'd take an attitude to this kind of behavior, but not when he was certain that he was dropping off a mutant. She did have purplish hair, and he wondered if that happened naturally.
"No," she said, suddenly.
"Huh?" The driver asked.
"No, it's not natural, and your preferred method of finding out is, I must say, extremely crude," she said calmly. She thought for a minute, then sighed. "If you really must know, type 'Elisabeth Braddock' into Google." Whether the driver was gaping because of what she had just hinted at or because she'd read his mind, Elisabeth 'Betsy' Braddock wasn't concerned. She loved to leave strangers with something to remember.
Another hour after this, seven mutants sat in a large study in Charles Xavier's mansion. Sara Rutherds, a girl only a few years older than Piotr Rasputin, was still wearing her hood that she'd come in with. She sat in an armchair, looking at her feet for entirely too long. Kitty was listening intently to Betsy's stories about being a model, Ororo Monroe was admiring the many books in the study, and Forge and Logan were sharing stories about riding motorcycles. Bobby Drake watched them for a moment, happy that they seemed to be getting along, and then went in to talk.
"Hey everybody," he said. "How's everyone doing?"
"Wonderful, thank you," Ororo said, pleasently.
"Got anything to drink?" Logan asked.
"Yeah, I'll go grab something from the fridge in a bit. Hey guys, listen, we've got one more person, and the Professor told me he's hanging around outside, feeling nervous. If anyone wants to come out and help me coax him in, that'd be appreciated."
"I will," Sara Rutherds said, finally showing some signs of life. "I'd kinda like to get outside."
"Alright," Bobby said. "Hey Logan, you still want a drink? If you do, you can come along and grab one on the way out."
Bobby led Sara, Ororo, Logan (who was content with a can of Pabst), and Forge outside.
"Hello!" Forge shouted. "Hey, last guy! Come on out! We've all been waiting for you!"
"Hurry up!" Ororo joined in. "I'm bored!"
"Oh, be quiet," Logan groaned. "If he's shy, that's not gonna help. Gimme a few minutes, and I'll find him." He sniffed the air, and took off, headed for the trees in the distance, when he stopped. "What the hell? Scent just disappeared."
"Huh?" Ororo walked to him, curious.
"I'm a tracker," Logan said. "It's one of my powers. I can hear and smell like an animal. I had a scent, and it just vanished. Wait!" He sniffed again. "I got it. Little sucker's fast!" He took off to the other side of the driveway, and Ororo followed. In a moment, Forge and Bobby joined in. Sara just stood on the steps.
"Dammit!" Logan snapped. "Lost it again. Hey, who else heard that?" He turned his head back to the front of the mansion, above where Sara stood. Everyone else turned and saw what Logan saw. Sticking to wall was a blue man with a tail. It was pointed, and it moved around alot. Sara ignored it.
"Please, just leave me alone!" He yelled, in a thick German accent. "I only came because I was invited."
"Hey there!" Bobby yelled up to him. "These guys all were, too. Don't be shy. We're all mutants here."
"None of you are like me, are you?" He asked. "I saw how shocked you all looked when you saw me!"
"Don't jump to conclusions," Sara said, calmly. She looked up at him, taking off her hood. They all finally got a clear look at the young woman's face. Her features were small and unpronounced, but what they all really noticed were the bones sticking out from her cheeks. "Not everyone can pass for normal here."
There was a burst of smoke where the blue man was clinging to the wall, and another shortly after next to Sara. The blue man, who's yellow eyes were now more obvious, appeared.
"Hello," he said, now sounding only a little more confident. "My name is Kurt."
"Hello, Kurt," Bobby said, reaching out his hand, which Kurt shook timidly. Bobby now noticed that Kurt only had three fingers, and it wasn't due to an accident. "Ok, everyone, the gang's all here. If you guys'd show Kurt to the study with everyone else, I'll get Xavier."
"Hey, buddy. I'm Logan," Logan introduced.
"Guten tag, Herr Logan. I am Kurt Wagner," the blue man said. His eyes moved to Logan's right hand, and his can of Pabst. "Where did you get that?"
"Come on, I'll show ya."
Bobby led them all inside, and introduced Kurt Wagner to the others. After making sure that he was confident enough to be left with them, Bobby set off to retrieve Professor Xavier, though he knew that the man was probably already on his way down.
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coming up next: code-names, costumes, and an extremely dangerous room.
also, would anyone who's reading this happen, out of curiousity, to be some kind of an artist? i had this idea of having some of the events that i write be drawn and the pictures added to this thread, but i can't draw for the life of me.