It is a gloomy day; dark clouds hang in an angry sky. The tall grass of the uncut field rippels in the wind like a sea of golden-green. The same wind that seems to blow gently through the grass has caused oak trees, decades old, to bow their branches low to the ground. The leaves of the trees rustle and whisper of the comming storm, thunder rumbles in the distance, and somewhere far away, lighting streaks through the sky.

A small rectangular corner of the feild, near an ancient church building, has been mowed and well maintained. Scatterd about are small gray tombstones. This place is a cemetary, though entirely unlike any cemetary you are likely to come across. There are only a few graves, really, the names of some of the worlds greatest heroes are etched in stone here. Well, except for one.

One sight alone is bereft of an ornate monument. This marker simply reads: "Here lies Mondo. The size of his heart was exceeded only by the size of his stomach." Two bright tropical potted plants rest on either side of the stone, and it seems as though any moment they will be blown away. Eight figures are huddled around the grave in a loose semi-circle. They are Generation X, and they are mourning...no, wait, I mean, they are saying goodbye to their team mate, Mondo.

Jubilation Lee sniffels loudly as she drops a hibiscucs flower to the grave. The wind snatches it away before it even reaches the ground; soon the brilliant red flower is gone. Her lower lip quivers before she turns and hides her face in her hands. "We..." she pauses, "We never even knew his name!"

Evertt Thomas wraps an arm around her, comforting her. He thinks that it is odd; Jubilee and Mondo never really hit it off, but she is the only one crying for him. Frankly, he's glad Mondo's gone. I mean, Everett thinks. They guy never participated in a fight, or saved anyone, or helped out in any way. He ate four times his weight and well, he was just generally plain annoying.

"Well," says Angelo. "He's in the ground now. Can we go?"

"Yeah, I'm hungry," adds Paige.

Monet looks and says quietly "Return of the Jedi opened today; if we hurry we can grab some food and catch the movie."

"Really?" Jubilee asks, her former grief forgotten. "I love that movie!"

("I 'aven't seen it before,") Jonothon Starsmore comments telepathically.

"Well that settles it!" excaims Jubilation, "You have to see it! Can we go, Frosty?"

Emma Frost crosses her arms over her chest. "I suppose," she says at last. The group breaks into chorous, cheering their favorite teacher (well, for the moment). Emma looks at them harshly. "Children, please. This is a cemetary."

Jubilee puts her hand over her mouth, "Oops! My bad, I forgot." She then glances at her other teacher, Sean Cassidy. His head is bent down and tears stream down his face. Oh, poor, guy, she thinks. This was probably real hard on him.

Sean Cassidy's tears, however, are not shed for Mondo. How could this 'ave happen!? he thinks. I'll never be able to pay for that casket! I had to special order th' thing, Mondo was so big!

Emma puts her arm around Sean, and they walk to the white limo as their students race ahead of them.

"Shot gun!" calls Angelo.

("Not on yer life,") Jono protests, ("Oh, whoops,") he adds ("I didn't mean any disrespect ter th' dead.) Generation X climbs into the limo while Sean and Emma get inside a different one. She telepathically tells Bumpkin, the driver of the other limosine, to take the children to Cheungs Chineese Express, and then to the theater. She tells her driver to return to the school.

As the limo pulls away from the cemetary, Emma speaks up. "Well. It's funny, I guess. When I first lost my Hellions, I was devestated. But here, one of my students gets nocked off and I don't really care. I think I must be growing more uncarring as I gain experience."

Sean shook his head, "I think Mondo was just a fat idiot."

Emma rested her hand on her chin. "Now you do have a point, Cassidy. He was unteachable, unloveable, shallow, stupid, fat..." she waved her hand in the air. "Well, you get the point. But we do have a problem, Sean, we have to tell his family. And we don't even know who they are!"

"Oh ye shouldn't worry yuir pretty head over such things. Western Samoa is only four little islands. It's just a matter o' findin' out which one he was from. It'll be a nice trip fer the kids. A we bit o' culture for 'em."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Sean, those kids don't need culture. They are culture. Jono's British, Monet is Algerian, Angelo is Hispanic, Penance is Yugoslavian, Paige is a hick, Jubilee is a Valley Girl, and Evertt is American. You're Irish, I'm a snob, what more culture could they need?"

Silence. "Yuir right. But I really want to get out o' th' states...besides, Western Samoa is warm and tropcial and has lots of handsome men is skirts..."

"Not skirts, lava-lavas."

"Well, ye know what I mean. It seems like just th' place for ye." Emma pondered the thought for a moment. "Alright. Let's go! We can inform the children tomorrow before class."

"Excellent!"

"Alright class. Class. Class! Settle down. Alright. Now. Inlight of Mondo's recent death, we will be having a brief unit of geography focusing on Western Samoa."

"How brief, Frosty?"

"Ten seconds worth. But that's not the point. Now, take notes, this will be quick. Western Samoa is located in the South Pacific, about 48000 miles southwest of San Fransisco. It's capital is Apia, which incidentally is it's only city. There are roughly eight major roads in W. Samoa--"

"Eight?!"

"Eight. And the official language is Samoan. Most Samoans do not use money. Ok. That was our lesson. The point of this? We're going to be taking a trip to Samoa to inform Mondo's family of his death. So, pack your bags, we leave in an hour."

To Be Continued