'Oh my god....' Angela exclaimed in awe at the sight of the mansion that under them. Ari grinned. 'Welcome to Xavier's Institute for Talented Teens.'
Behind them, Reina and Edward were smiling. After Ari brought Angela back to the X-Jet, he's introduced her to Reina Anderson and Edward Thomas. Reina had the ability to manipulate water, while Ed had X-Ray and heat vision. He thought his ability was quite tame, but Angela absorbed everything like a sponge. Interacting with other mutants who actually liked her was a first for her.
Ari pressed a button on the control panel of the X-Jet, and the basketball court split into half, revealing a launch pad directly underneath. Gently, he landed the jet so that it was directly on the launch pad. The moment the jet touched the launch pad, the stairway opened with a hiss, allowing Angela, Ari, Reina and Ed to exit the jet.
'Oh my god...' Angela repeated, looking at the silver-coloured walls. As they entered a hallway, Angela's attention was taken up by the rows of black leather suits on various mannequins encased in glass cases. She glanced at the row of built-in drawers and shelves that had clothing neatly folded and stacked on them. Reina grabbed one article off the shelf nearest to her and gave it to Angela. It turned out to be a hooded jacket with the X-Men logo on the left breast pocket.
'Welcome to Mutant High,' Ed announced. Angela seemed stunned by the gift until she heard Ari's voice. 'Put it on,' he suggested. Shrugging the jacket on, Angela grinned at the gift.
You'd better hurry up, said a female voice. Angela swung around to see where it was coming from, but saw no one besides the four of them. Bring her up, the voice continued. Ororo's waiting for her in class.
Okay, Ari replied back without opening his mouth. Angela blinked. How did he do that?
Reina smiled. 'That was Alix.' she explained. 'Ari's sister. She's the telepathic. Come on. They're waiting for you.' She held out her hand. Slowly, Angela took it.
_________________________________
Alix looked at the rest of the class. Max and Candice were busy arguing about something, with Megan egging them on. Her brother, Jay was playing poker with Nessa and Heinz, while Tia was battling Alix in a game of chess. The glass chess set was in front of them, and Tia frowned, debating inwardly. She finally pushed her knight forward in front of one of Alix's bishops, in a position to check Alix's king. 'Check.' Tia announced.
Without looking, Alix's queen moved telekinetically towards the opening Tia's knight had left, leaving Tia's king exposed. 'Checkmate,' she said dully.
'No way,' Tia moaned. 'You're better at chess than me. I want a rematch.'
'You got it,' Alix said quickly, straightening up as Ari, Reina and Ed walked in, followed by a young girl with long dark hair and brown eyes. Ororo Munroe, their class teacher, entered also. 'Class,' Ororo announced. 'This is Angela Victor. She's a cryokinetic.'
Everyone's eyes sparked up with interest. Ororo beckoned Angela to a desk behind Max. 'Why don't you sit there, Angela?'
Shrugging, Angela took the seat. She glanced around, and saw a dark haired girl with very bright hazel eyes grinning at her. As Ororo began to teach, Angela watched as the girl held out her palm, and all of a sudden, a small flame was dancing merrily.
'Hi,' the girl said. 'I'm Tia.'
'Angela,' she replied. 'But...you knew that.'
Tia nodded. 'Max is in front of you.' Max turned around and flashed a smile. 'He's geokinetic,' Tia explained. 'Controls the earth. On your other side is Jay Summers, and behind you is Jay's sister, Alix.'
Angela half turned around. Alix was deeply absorbed in her work, head down. Angela turned back to Tia. 'She's also Ari's sister, isn't she?'
'Yep,' Tia smirked. 'Don't be put off by her cool and aloof expression. She's quite nice, really, you just have to get to know her.' Continuing with the introductions, 'that's Megan Washington and Candice Furstenberg up front. They're sisters, but it takes a long story to explain the different last names. Heinz over there has transmogrification as his main power.'
Angela's brain worked hard. 'So he can shape-shift?'
Tia gave an approving look. 'You're good. Yep. And the blonde next to him is Nessa. She's a feline Feral. She had the characteristics of a cat, and of course you know Ari, Reina and Ed.'
'Yeah,' Angela said whispering. 'They picked me up after I was chased by some goons.' She then proceeded to describe the whole incident to Tia, who was amused by it. 'Trust me,' she assured. 'Life at Xavier's is anything but tame. Those two goons were just the beginning.'
'She's right,' Alix said. Angela recognized her voice as the one they'd heard earlier down stairs.
'Hi,' Angela said, offering her hand. Alix winced. 'Sorry. No physical contact, if you don't mind.'
'Ooh-kay,' Angela said, frowning softly. What was with her?
Suddenly Alix's face was twisted in pain, and she clutched her head as she toppled to the ground. Not now, she pleaded silently. Not here.
No use. The pain came quickly, and Alix inhaled. She tried to breathe in, but she got herself caught in a psionic web. All of a sudden, her powers went wack.
Her telekinsis caused all the tables and furniture around her to be thrown back against the wall.
'Get back!' Ororo shouted, causing all the students to crouch down beside her. Jay was confused. 'Alix?' he asked hesitatingly. His sister held up a hand to stop him from coming any furthur. 'No physical contact, Jay, please.' Jay stepped back, hurt.
'I just need a minute,' Alix said quietly, her eyes closed. They watched silently as various objects, including the chessmen she'd been playing earlier, orbited around her like she was the Sun. 'One,' she started counting. 'Two....three...four...'
On 'five' something snapped, and Alix's head throbbed as she was telepathically linked with each person in the class. Her Illusionist powers started projecting images of her childhood on the wall. But then her telempathy struck out, and Alix felt as though she wanted to die.
At first nothing happened. Then....emotions came rushing in like water from a tap. Alix was filled with every emotion of the world, and it was killing her. She cried out again, causing Ari and Jay to flinch. They had yet to see her so vulnerable before. Then something exploded, and Alix's well-kept Chromatic ability was displayed for all in the form of lasers bursting out of her hands, effectively blinding everyone for several moments. When their vision cleared, Alix was gone.
Megan shook her head. 'We so have a problem.'
____________________________________
Alix made her way to the Sub-Levels as quickly as possible. Chris, she cried out telepathically, infusing the single word with the pain she was feeling. Help.
There were sounds of footsteps, and Chris Perry entered the Sub-Levels. 'Lex?' he asked gently.
She looked up when she saw him, and he noticed the inner pain in her eyes, as well as the pain she was radiating off her body.
'I don't know what happened,' she said softly, sobbing. 'I just snapped.' She looked up at him. 'What's happening?'
Chris helplessly shook his head. 'I don't know, Lex. I'll get help.' He knew that it was mistake the moment he voiced it out loud. Alix started shaking her head vigorously. 'No, please. I don't wanna die alone. Just...just take me to Cerebro.'
'Cerebro?' Chris caught onto what she meant. 'You think this has something to do with a mutant?'
'I don't think,' she said quietly. 'I know. Just help me up.'
Nodding, Chris helped her towards Cerebro, infusing her with some of his healing power to numb the pain. Focusing, she opened the door to Cerebro with a flick of her hand. It slid open. Before she went in, she turned to Chris. 'Just hold onto me, okay? '
He forced a grin. 'Okay.' He watched as the doors slid closed behind her. Alix walked to Cerebro, feeling the wave of losing control slowly fading away. She picked up the headpiece, and put it on, finding answers to the questions she had.
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