This is (obviously) a work of fiction. Any events even remotely resembling real-life are purely co-incidental. If homosexual relationships aren't your thing, then I suggest you turn back now. This story is (c) stoleyoursneakers@yahoo.com. Take it as your own and be plagued with guilt.
"// \" Denotes speech via telepathy.
The X-Men and all related characters are all (c) Marvel Comics.
Becoming an X-Man: Chapter Three
Aryk awoke the next morning with the sun streaming in his eyes. He could hear the shower running and assumed it was Logan. He stayed in bed for a while longer, smiling to himself and thinking about last night.
//Attention all students: Please report to breakfast in approximately thirty minutes for an important announcement.\
Aryk looked at the clock. 7:45. He got out of bed and stretched. Logan came out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel and grinned.
"Mornin', kid." He said as he rustled Aryk's hair. "Sleep well?"
"Yeah," replied Aryk. "Much better than I have been." He grinned and walked towards the bathroom.
"Hurry up, kid. Breakfast starts in fifteen." Logan said as he slipped his boxers on. Aryk got a quick glance at what made the bulge in Logan's pants so prominent. He blushed and hurried into the bathroom. "I'll see you down there. I gotta go and talk to the Prof real quick."
Aryk showered, got dressed in his normal attire and left the room for breakfast. After a few minutes of wandering, he entered a large room with a bunch of tables. There were about forty kids sitting around them and they were all talking lively and laughing loudly.
"Hey! Aussie!" he heard from a table to his left. He turned and saw Roberto waving to him. He grinned and walked over to the table where four other kids were sitting. "How was your first night at the mansion?"
"It was good. Really good." Aryk replied with a grin. Roberto pulled a chair over to the table and motioned for him to sit. "Thanks."
"No problem. Lemme introduce you to everyone. That," he said, pointing to the girl that walked through the walls last night, "is Kitty. She can walk through walls and stuff like that." She gave him a small smile and a polite wave. "That's Jubilee, the human fireworks display." Jubilee shot Roberto a sarcastic look, turned to Aryk and smiled. "That's Bobby, the ice-man! He can pretty much freeze anything." A very attractive young man with blonde hair smiled and extended his hand.
"Welcome to Mutant High!" He said. Roberto leaned closer to Aryk.
"He says that to all the new kids." He whispered. "It's getting kind of old. That's Rogue." He pointed to a young girl with dark brown hair. Two white-streaked locks hung down in front of her face.
"Welcome, Aussie." She said with a strong southern accent. "You've already become a hot topic of conversation on our floor." She grinned and shot a sidelong glace at Kitty. Kitty scowled back at her.
"All I said is that there was a new guy in the mansion. That's it." She said harshly to Rogue. "Welcome to the Xavier institute! What do people usually call you when they don't refer to you by your heritage?" she said, giving Roberto a mean look.
"Uh, Aryk. Aryk Jackson."
"Well Aryk, we'll take you around the Mansion and the grounds, show you the ropes. And," she said as a few darker-looking mutants walked by. "Who not to talk to."
Bobby looked at his watch.
"So what's this all-important announcement the professor has for us?"
Rogue looked to a raised platform near the corner. "I dunno, but the Prof is about to tell us."
//Good morning, everyone.\ The room was silenced quickly and everyone turned to the corner. "Now that I have your attention, I have a very important announcement. Cerebro has detected the presence of mutants nearby. I must warn you that these mutants are dangerous. They are a group of renegade mutants known as the Brotherhood and should be avoided at all cost. If you see any strange mutants lurking around the institute, I must ask that you report the sighting to an instructor immediately. That's all I have to say for now. Have a nice day."
"What's a cerebro?" Aryk asked Robert.
"It's a machine the Prof has," he replied. "It can pick up the presence of any mutant on earth. But other the Professor can use it because of this incredible telepathic abilities."
"And the Brotherhood?"
"A bunch of slackers that couldn't cut it at the institute. Lazy, not really worth your time, but don't worry. They never come around here anymore." Kitty answered.
Later that day, Roberto showed Aryk around the grounds, pointing out the more popular places.
"Have you been to the lower levels of the mansion yet?" Roberto asked.
"No. There are lower levels?"
"Yeah, but we use those for training. They look nothing like the rest of the mansion. I'm sure you'll be down there soon enough."
"Do the students train often?"
"Yeah, we have daily training sessions during the week. Weekend training is usually dished out as punishment." Roberto said.
Aryk laughed. "You say that with experience."
"Let's just say I'm not a star student." Roberto replied with a grin. "Damnit! I've got swim practice in like, five minutes! Think you can find your way back to your room?"
"Yeah," Aryk said. "I'll manage. Have fun!"
Aryk found his way back to his room after asking a few kids for directions. He collapsed on his bed and closed his eyes. He found himself wishing that Logan was there with him. He started to daydream about the possibilities of his stay at the mansion when a knock on the door snapped him back to reality. He sat up as the door opened.
"Aryk? You in here?" Logan's voice came from behind the door.
"Yeah, I'm here." Aryk replied, smiling.
"Hey kid, how was the grand tour?" Logan walked to the balcony and opened the doors. A cool breeze ran through the room.
"It was fine. Roberto had to leave early, though. He said he had swim practice."
Logan grunted. "That kid never finishes anything he starts. You want me to show you around and pick up where he left off?"
"No, that's alright. I'm kinda tired right now, actually. I met a lot of people today and I'm still getting used to being around so many mutants. It's weird, you know? Weird in a good way." Aryk said, lying down on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
"Yeah, I remember when I first arrived here." Logan said, sitting down on the bed. "It took some getting used to, but eventually I figured out that this is where I was meant to be. For the time being at least."
Aryk sat up and moved towards Logan. "Where were you before you came to the institute?"
"Canada. The north. I've always been there, as far as I know. Searching for something. I've never been able to put my finger on it, but whatever it was brought me here." Logan said, looking down.
"Well," Aryk said quietly. "I'm glad it did."
Logan looked at him and grinned. "You're one of a kind, kid."
Aryk laughed nervously. "Thanks, I guess. You're uh... you're pretty amazing yourself."
A quiet buzz hung in the room as Logan looked at Aryk. Before Aryk knew what was happening, he found himself lying on the bed with Logan passionately kissing him. He felt the warmth of Logan's solid body pressing down on him. He felt the blood rush to his head and thought for a moment that he was going to pass out. Logan broke the kiss and looked at him in surprise.
"I... I'm sorry. I don't know what... I'll leave." Logan said, getting up quickly.
The pure shock of the situation made Aryk hesitate. He looked up as Logan was reaching for the handle. "No!" he yelled. Logan turned and looked at Aryk. "No... don't go. Please, please stay. I..." Words failed him.
"Alright, kid. I'll stay, but only if you really want me to." Logan said as he walked back towards the bed. Aryk practically leapt from the bed and kissed Logan again. Logan picked him up and brought him over to the bed. Placing him gently on the mattress, he started to unbutton his over-shirt.
Aryk felt a shiver run down his spine as Logan's tongue expertly explored the inside of his mouth. He moaned as Logan's hands ran up and down his chest. Logan sat up and peeled his shirt off. Seeing the animalistic lust in his eyes, Aryk worried for a brief moment that Logan would be too rough on him. Logan reached down and ripped Aryk's shirt off. Aryk's eyes widened and the arousal drained from him as he feared for his well-being. Focusing slightly on Logan, he slowed his movements enough to crawl out from under him and off of the bed. Rolling his ankle as he ran towards the door, his concentration was broken and Logan looked around the room for his victim. Seeing him at the door, the feral man slowly advanced.
"Logan... Logan snap out of it!" Aryk begged, lying on the floor. His cries fell on deaf ears and Logan unsheathed his razor-like claws, leaning down towards Aryk. The younger man panicked, and before he could think Logan was thrown against the wall.
Logan stood up, groaning and holding his head. "What the hell happ--" His voice trailed off as he saw Aryk lying on the floor, his shirt ripped to shreds and nursing his ankle. "Shit kid, are you alright?" he asked and rushed for him.
"Stay back!" Aryk yelled and extended his hand, telekinetically pushing against Logan, albeit only a few feet.
"Aryk? Aryk, calm down, I just want to see if you're--"
"I said STAY BACK!" Aryk screamed, sending Logan flying out the window and over the balcony. Breathing heavily, he got up and limped towards the door. Rushing out into the hallway, he collided with something solid and fell to the floor.
"Are you alright?" a stately voice asked him.
"Yeah I'm.." Aryk looked up. It was the weather-witch. He hesitated.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just rolled my ankle from... uh... I was late for a meeting and I..."
"Let me take a look," she said and bent down to look at his ankle. "We should get you to the infirmary. I wouldn't be surprised if this were more than a broken ankle." She lifted Aryk up and supported him by her shoulder. "There's a spare wheelchair in the elevator. Let's go let Hank check you out."
"That's a nasty sprain you've got there," a large, blue-furred man said as he examined Aryk's ankle. "Just relax. I'll go and get you a brace and be right back." Hank left the room leaving Aryk alone in the foreboding, metallic room.
The door opened again and Aryk turned, expecting to see Hank. Logan walked quickly into the room towards Aryk.
"Logan, I'm sorry about how I reacted. I was scared and--"
Logan grabbed Aryk by the shoulders and growled. "Listen you little shit. If you tell anyone, and I mean anyone about what happened, I will tear you to shreds." Aryk felt something hard and cool run across the back of his neck. "I could kill you so easily. Be thankful that I don't." Logan spun on his heal and exited the room.
Aryk watched him leave, awe-struck. The door opened again and Beast entered, holding an ankle brace. "Here you go. I'd advise that you stay off of your ankle as much as possible. I'll get Logan to bring you back to your room."
"NO!" Aryk yelled. "He's uh... he's busy. I can manage." Aryk wheeled himself out of the room and back into the elevator.
Aryk reached for the knob to his room.
"Aryk? Aryk!" Kitty yelled from down the hall.
"Kitty! Hey... I was just about to lie down for a bit. But I'll talk to you later alright?"
"Aryk, I need to talk to you. The whole school has already heard about what you did to Logan. He's been in the professor's for the last forty-five minutes. The last time that happened, somebody had to leave. A lot of kids here like Logan, Aryk. He's been here for a while. Maybe you should make it easier on yourself and just leave." Kitty turned and walked down the hall.
Aryk fought back the urge to blow the door open. He wheeled himself in and lay down on the bed. Tears forming in his eyes, he turned over and quickly fell asleep.
Kitty entered the elevator and hit the button for the roof of the mansion. Cracking her knuckles, her skin began to darken to blue, and her mousy brown hair brightened to fiery red.
"Mystique here. Yeah, he's baited. He should be leaving any minute now."
That's it for now. I'll get working on the next one ASAP. Don't hold your breath, though. I'm relocating soon so the next one might not be out for a couple of weeks or so. I'll try and make it a good one.
Comments? Questions? As always: stoleyoursneakers@yahoo.com