"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