Disclaimer: I didn’t make the assorted X-Peoples, nor any else in the Marvel
Universe. I merely took what they had and did it my way. The only people
that are mine are Andre, Haitus, and Collate. Oh, and don’t sue me. Not
that you would. Just don’t.
Just Like The Old Times
Prologue: I’m all PENT up
"Well, it’s like there’s a beautiful voice talking to me, and I can talk to
it, and it will listen," Meggan explained. "But…well, that’s not really it.
It’s like, well…" Meggan was at a loss of a way to explain her powers,
especially since they were so versatile.
"Self thinks it is a good enough answer," Douglock informed, walking into
the kitchen with Meggan. Their conversation went immediately silent once
they saw Kitty sitting at the kitchen table, alone, and sadly staring into
her mug of coffee. "Query, what is status of Kitty?" Douglock asked her.
Kitty glared up at Douglock. "How do you think I am?" she snapped. "And I
believe you mean, ‘How are you, Kitty?’ Why can’t you just say it
normally?!" Kitty’s voice raised as she got up from her seat and yelled at
Douglock. Meggan came to his defense.
"Kitty, he’s just concerned about you. We all are," Meggan explained. "How
are you?" Meggan walked up to her and put her hand on Kitty’s shoulder, a
token display of affection.
"Don’t TOUCH me!" Kitty screamed, knocking Meggan’s hand off her shoulder
and stomping off.
Meggan looked back at Douglock.
Douglock looked at Meggan.
"Self is worried," Douglock said.
"I am, too, Doug," Meggan sighed. "I am, too……"
***
Knocking on the door, the short, raven haired girl let out a sigh of
boredom. She’d come this far to find them and didn’t want to be made to wait
any longer. She floundered her raccoon scarf that lay over her shoulders and
above the deep red, short dress she was wearing. Pushing her glasses beneath
her eyes for a better view, she glared at the door. She ran the doorbell
again. If they don’t let me in soon, she thought, I’m going to swelter in
this heat. I hate Australia.
The door abruptly opened.
"What do you want and who the hell are you?" a black woman with braided hair
asked. "And if you move, you die."
"I’m here to find and Acolyte, and your empty threat doesn’t scare me,
Joanna," the girl answered. Joanna Cargill was shocked to hear her name
spoken out loud by the stranger. "Look, I like you style, I like your whole
team’s style, and I want in. The lifestyle doesn’t sound too bad….."
"You may let her in, Joanna, and welcome her." The man who spoke walked out
of the shadows of the room and into the girl’s view. "She may be the newest
member of the Acolytes. Please, come in Sasha."
***
Sitting in a bar, the young man who had more recently become to be known as
Neophyte allowed his leg to nervously shake. He’d never been in a bar like
this before, and he knew it was a sinful thing to do. But what else was a
boy like him to do? He was a horrible person anyways, why not go for the
plunge? Besides, it’s not like anyone was going to approach him or
anything…..
Neophyte, or as he was christened, Lars, sat at the bar nervously holding
onto his beer. He hadn’t always been like this. He was once a happy boy,
gleaming in the haven that was his home, and learning in the world that was
his town.
That all changed pretty quickly.
When his mutant powers developed, Lars was forced to hide it from the world.
He was punished regularly, often tied up in his basement or the attic for
days. When the whole town found out what he was, he lost all hope. Lars
became a tortured child, and was tormented throughout his adolescence.
At the peak of his adolescence he began to control his powers more, and
spent less time in the places he was kept in. One day, he finally decided to
escape. He knew his life wasn’t worth anything, but he decided he’d rather
die at his own hands rather than at someone else’s.
That was when he became Neophyte, the Acolyte. The Acolytes found him to
where he had run away to, an abandoned monastery on a lonely mountain not far
from his home town. He attacked them but they saved him and took him in,
showing him the true way.
Lars (or Neophyte) had nearly been okay. He practically even began to like
himself, until he found out Fitzroy’s true alliances. Fitzroy was a traitor,
and because of that he allowed himself to help the enemies, the X-Men.
Neophyte had then abandoned his fellow Acolytes, and that was what earned
him his exile from Avalon. From that day forth, he went back and lived in
the monastery, praying for God to take his life. But Lars couldn’t find the
courage to take his own life, and somehow some part of him knew that the
others were wrong.
That didn’t stop him from hating himself, and the fact that he was sitting
in a gay bar and he wanted to be didn’t help any either. It wasn’t enough
that he was a mutant, he also had to be gay to. It had taken him weeks to
even allow himself out of the monastery, and nearly a year to let him in this
bar. He’d been here more than a couple of times before, but either his
visits were unsuccessful, the guys were just jerks, or he screwed them up.
Last time he’d even left with someone before, but chickened out, even
thought it was his heart’s desire to actually go out on a date with someone
he was interested in, or just to do anything for that matter. Lars hated
himself to the utmost.
But his hormones didn’t.
And so, when the cute blond guy winked and sat next to him, ordering a beer,
Lars (or Neophyte) nearly fainted, panicked and knocked over his drink.
Hating himself for doing something so stupid, and hating himself for being
attracted to the man, Lars’ hopes sunk. But the man didn’t react negatively,
in fact he helped Lars cleaned up and introduced himself to Lars.
Andre. His name was Andre. Lars loved the name already.
***
"You are not shoving that thing where you think you’re shoving that thing!"
Pete shouted.
"Peter, we need to investigate the damage done to ye, and that is one of the
places," Moira hesitated.
"You heard me! You are NOT shoving that thing where you THINK you’re
shoving that thing, or I’ll shove it up your ass when you’re done!" Pete
screamed.
"Rahne, hold him down," Moira sighed. Rahne did just that, and Moira went
on with her work.
"Do you go shoving things up all of the Excalibur member’s asses, or am I
just SPECIAL?!" Pete insulted.
"Pete Wisdom, if you don’t shut that trap of yours I’m going to shut it for
ye," Moira commanded. "Now be quiet or you can fix yourself up. Kitty did
nae do much damage to ye, but Gravemoss and the demons ye fought certainly
did."
Pete Wisdom’s scream of defiance was loud enough so Nightcrawler and
Daytripper, who were in the adjacent room, chuckled. They were working out
in a lab close by and were monitoring their exercise carefully. Kurt glanced
at Amanda and made his mind up. While Amanda bent over to find the right
weight, Kurt bamfed behind her, swooped her up in his arms, off her feet, and
kissed her harder than she’d been kissed before.
"Mmf!" Amanda said, not in utter defiance. She grinned and looked at
Nightcrawler, took in a deep breath, and continued her soliloquy. "What was
that for, fuzzy?"
"Nothing," Kurt said. "I just realize how much I love you and how much I
couldn’t live without you. I’m so glad you’re here, Amanda, and I’m so glad
you’re back. I missed you a lot."
"I missed you, too, fuzzy elf," Amanda grinned.
"Sooo…." Kurt trailed.
"So?" Amanda asked.
"So I think you should come away with me," Kurt insisted. "Anywhere we
choose. Someplace imminently romantic, where we can have candlelight dinners
by the beach, and were we can whisper corny things into each other’s ears all
night long."
Amanda’s heart leapt at the thought, but then returned abruptly to it’s
cage. "What about Excalibur, Kurt? You have responsibilities."
"Forget Excalibur," Kurt briskly ordered. "I can get time off, and Pete is
more than willing to take over as leader."
"Really, Kurt, do you really want this?" Amanda asked.
"More than anything else in the world," Kurt answered.
"Oh, thank you, Kurt, that sounds wonderful," Amanda kissed him deeply in
return.
Their minds flew around wildly reveling in this new idea, and they quietly
bamfed their way into Kurt’s bedroom.
***
"Come into full view," the tall, Native American ordered.
The girl stepped nervously into the lights. "Wh-what’s this all about
anyway?" Sasha asked.
"Introduce yourself and explain your powers," the man ordered.
"Um, Look, buddy, I’m not into whatever sick games you’ve got planned, so am
I in or not?" Sasha retorted.
"You will do as I order," the man said. "Now, answer the question." He
glared at her like he could see right through her, and she stammered and
began.
"Well, my name is Sasha Baker…" she began.
"Where are you from?" another man asked, this one tall and stocky.
"Why are you here?" another one asked, identical to the one who previously
spoke and speaking right after what seemed to be his identical twin.
"I am here," she said, glancing graciously at the twins and deciding to take
the road of charm instead of defiance, "to join you. And I am a psychometric
telepath."
"What’s that supposed to mean?" the black woman who had threatened Sasha
previously asked. Sasha gathered herself and smiled at the woman.
"It’s a combination of two terms. Psychometry is when someone touches
something and usually can tell something about the person who touched it last
or who owns it," Sasha lectured. "My powers are much more than that. I can
touch an object and open up a telepathic link with the person who last
touched it, and from there I can do anything any other powerful telepath can
do." Sasha grinned, graciously. "Have I properly answered your questions
correctly?" She turned to the Native-American man who seemed to be the
leader here.
The man she was speaking to looked down, thinking. "Acolytes, introduce
yourselves, powers included," he ordered.
A blond girl stepped out of nowhere and smiled. She seemed nice enough.
"My name is Scanner, and I can project my astral form." She grinned and
stepped back to where she previously stood.
"We are the Klienstock brothers," one of the identical twins began.
"Sven," one introduced.
"And Harlan," the other finished. "We can either mix together and become
much larger and stronger…."
"Or we can shoot fire blasts," the other added. They went silent
simultaneously.
"I am Joanna Cargill," the black woman with the braids informed. "And I am
very strong and very fast." She finished her sentence glaring at Sasha.
"I am Collate," a man with short brown hair and goatee commented calmly.
"I’m new here, too, and my name is Bob Donowski, and I am a shapeshifter."
"I’m Unuscione, but you can call me Carmella," a long, brown haired woman
said. "I have an exoskeleton at my control, and you step outta line once and
I’ll crush you with it."
"And that is all of them," the Native-American said. "I am Exodus, and like
you, I am a psi, but eminently more powerful. Welcome to the Acolytes,
Sasha. Or, as you will soon learn to be called, Hiatus."
Contemplating her new name, she smiled. "Sounds like fun," she said,
winking at Exodus.
"Oh, sweet child," Exodus said. "You have no idea."
To Be Continued
Like it so far? Hate it? Wish I could be hung naked above a boiling pot
for days? TELL ME!!!!!!! E-mail me at PhaserBob@Aol.com
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