disclaimer I do not own the rights to any of the characters in this story, and make no claims to the artistic visions of the marvel universe. I know nothing of the sexuality of any of the creators, actors, or characters involved in the Marvel universe. Similarly, this story contains graphic descriptions of gay male sex. If you don't like that, they you should probably avert your eyes.
This story takes place in an alternate X-Men universe from the one in which the 3rd movie took place. Certain events occurred after X2 which changed the timeline. Jean, Scott and Professor X are all still alive, and there was no cure. The specifics of the timeline changes may be made apparent as the story progresses.
Chapter 3 -- "An Echo of Things to Come"
"Become who you were born to be"
I woke from the horrible nightmare with a start. There was an intense monsoon going on, pouring gallons of water per second. Inside my room. Demon was standing over me, his hands on my bare shoulders, having just shaken me awake. His ruby eyes were wide with concern and alarm.
"Dude, are you alright?" He had to yell over the sound of the torrential downpour, and sputtered water out of his mouth every couple of seconds. "You were screaming and thrashing and, well...." he gestured around, clearly pointing out that only I could have made it rain in our room.
"Sorry" I replied, and focused on stopping the rain. It was rather difficult at first, but soon I go the hang of it and the rain stopped. I have no idea how I managed to make it rain in the first place; I had never done it before. I got out of the wet bed, and looked around and saw that our room was completely destroyed. Both beds were soaked totally through, and every single item in the room was either soaked, or submerged under the foot of water which filled the room. My mouth gaped open with shock as I tried to process the damage I had done in my sleep. My heart still pounded from the nightmare, and I was breathing heavily. "Demon, I'm so sorry, I've destroyed everything." It was just like my dream. Id gone on a terrible rampage, destroyed my childhood home, my family, and my high school, everyone who had ever judged me for being a mutant. A voice had spoken in the back of my mind, a dark and ominous voice. The voice had goaded me on, fueled my rage, and caused me to draw on more and more power. And in the last moment before Caleb woke me, it threw out that last horrifying sentence. Become who you were born to be. I would never do any of those things, would never be that person.
I couldn't help it, I started to cry. I had experienced the dreadful dream, the most terrifying of my life, and then destroyed the few possessions I had left, as well as those of my closest friend and roommate. Caleb drew close, put his arms around me, and held me to him as I sobbed and trembled. "It's ok," he whispered into my ear, as he pet my wet hair. It was comforting just to be up against him, to be held in his arms. He just kept whispering in my ear, telling me it was ok and that he wasn't mad, and he rocked ever so slightly. I calmed down slowly as he held me close to his red chest.
The door burst open, and in came one of the senior mutants at the mansion, whom I recognized as Scott Summers, a.k.a. Cyclops. He was dressed only in a pair of dark red flannel pajama pants, which got soaked the moment he opened the door. The water, which had been slowly trickling out through the crack of the door, gushed out of the room like a burst dam. Water splashed against him on its way out of the door, making his pants cling to him. He looked incredibly sexy, with his mysterious red sunglasses which matched his clingy wet pants. His chest was bare and mostly smooth, with only a very faint dusting of hair on his pecs. His stomach was strong and well defined, and sported a small trail which led into his low riding pajama pants. His forearms were thick and strong, and sported a generous amount of dark hair, and leg up to a set of incredible biceps. I had little time to appreciate the view at the time, but I filed it away for later contemplation.
Scott looked at us with confusion. I suppose we did look odd. In the middle of a wet and destroyed room, we were a small guy with sapphire blue eyes, and a tall muscular guy with red skin and a tail, both wearing only completely soaked briefs, who were holding each other close.
"What the hell is going on here?" He asked, obviously annoyed to be woken up. "There's water all down the hallway and is spilled into half of the dorm rooms!"
I opened my mouth to start to talk, but my voice failed me. Demon took over, saying "We're sorry Mr. Summers, but Hydrogue here had a bit of a night terror, and he caused a bit of rain. He didn't mean to sir, please don't punish him." He held me close while he said this, and I was grateful to him for that. Other students were now peaking into the room, having been drawn by the shouting and the water.
I let go of Caleb, and faced the crowd and Mr. Summers. "I really didn't mean to ruin everyone's night. I didn't even know that I could do this until now. Let me try to fix it." I gathered myself, and looked upwards toward to ceiling so that I could focus. My eyes grew even bluer, almost glowing as I reached out toward all the water. I found all the water that didn't belong there, and drew it to me. The other students gasped as the water lifted off the floor, out of the carpets, off of everything it had soaked through, and came towards me. The water coalesced into a sphere of water around me, and once I had all the water together, I dispelled it, sent it in all directions as individual water molecules. The water molecules flowed through walls, floors, and windows, and out into the air. It was done. Some things were still damaged, but at least the water was gone, and we were all dry again. I closed my eyes and released the power, and felt accomplished. I had never done anything like that before, and I barely even felt tired from it. Maybe the voice was right.
I looked back at the crowd, who were all looking at me very strangely. Cyclops' expression was unreadable due to his glasses. He seemed unsure of what to do, now that the damage was reversed, mostly. "Just try and be more careful next time" he said, and ushered the other students back to their dorms. I couldn't help but notice how high and tight his ass was as he turned to head back to his room.
"Dude that was freakin awesome" said Demon, once the door closed. I smiled weakly and thanked him. I was less sure about how awesome the whole event had been. I decided that there was no way that I could get back to sleep right then, so I put on a pair of pajama pants and headed out, wishing Demon a good night.
I strolled slowly down the dim hall, my loose and comfortable cotton pj pants billowed around my legs as I walked. My dark hair, which was normally spiked up, was subdued and unkempt atop my head. My deep blue eyes were bright and practically glowing in the dim light. My bare chest was smooth and lightly definied, with small, tight pecs and small nipples. My biceps popped out nicely, I was always proud of my arms. My abs were lightly rippled, and were framed on the bottom by a slight but sexy V of muscle. My pants were loose and hung low, showing the top of my now-dry white briefs. All and all, I looked damn hot, though I hadn't tried to at all. I would have felt more exposed, except that I was too deep in troubled thoughts.
I wandered into the common kitchen for the 3rd floor, thinking about getting a midnight snack. I settled on a glass of milk, and sat at the table. Only one other person was there, a guy about my age. He sat at the other end of the table, and seemed to be staring off into space. He had the blackest hair I had ever seen, and oddly pale skin. His face had strong, handsome features, and his skin had a smooth and soft look. He had a thin build, and wore a loose orange shirt over bright purple shorts. It looked like he had gotten dressed in the dark, the colors clashed so badly. Also, oddly, he wore black sunglasses over his eyes, even though we were indoors, and it was nighttime. I sat silently, and remained still for several moments, just staring into my glass, thinking. Suddenly a piercing, high-pitched noise shocked me into leaping from my chair. The sound was short, but very sudden, and stopped as suddenly as it started. I stared at the poorly dressed boy across the table with utter confusion and a bit of wariness. My chest heaved as I breathed deeply, trying to still my rapidly beating heart. The strange guy looked right at me now, seemingly amused by my reaction to the sound.
"Sorry buddy" he said, speaking for the first time. "I just wanted to make sure you were still there." I stared at him with incomprehension. Why did he have to scare the crap out of me to know was still there?
"Why didn't you just look at me?" I asked, a little bit mad. He laughed at me.
"Because I can't see you when it's quiet." WTF?
"What do you mean?" I asked him, very much confused.
He extended his hand to me and said "Echo's the name." I warily walked over to him, and shook his hand. He had a strong grip for such a skinny guy.
"Uh, hi Echo. Hydrogue." I remained standing, since I hadn't decided whether or not to just leave.
He chuckled at my uneasiness. "Maybe I should explain. I am, in the normal way of speaking, blind. However, my eyes can see sound. The bouncing sound waves allow me to see the shapes around me; it's how I get around. If I need to see better, I give out a ping, like that noise you just heard."
"Like a dolphin?" He laughed.
"Yes, like a dolphin. Only instead of being able to hear the sound and interpret it, I can actually see the sound. Problem is, I only see physical objects, I can't see images on flat surfaces like photos, and I can't see colors." No wonder his clothing choices were so terrible. "You have a really nice shape by the way." I blinked at the unexpected complement. That must be his equivalent to telling me that he thinks I am hot. Was he another gay mutant?
"Thanks. Are you gay?" I know it was rude, but the question just blurted out. It wasn't every day I found another gay mutant, and I had to ask. He didn't seem to mind, as he grinned widely.
"Yes I am. Are you?"
"Yes. I'm not entirely used to talking about it yet." I decided to sit, since it was clear that Echo was no danger to me. And even though he was clearly very strange, I liked him. "So what's with the sunglasses at night? Are your eyes all messed up from being blind?" He laughed.
"No, they aren't dead eyes. They move just fine. They just scare people." To show me what he meant, he took off the sunglasses. I expected to see white eyes, or eyes staring in different directions or something to that effect. Instead, his eyes were completely black. Not just the irises, but the whole eye, including the normally white portion. It was actually very cool looking, but it gave him an evil look that he did not normally deserve. "Told you" he said, and put the glasses back on.
"They aren't that bad. Maybe you should leave the glasses off, and let people deal with them. You should be who and what you are."
"You have a good point." He did not remove his sunglasses. "Maybe with time I will be comfortable enough to do that."
We talked for about an hour before I headed back to my room. Echo seemed really cool, though he was definitely strange. He was good natured though, and I was glad to meet him. He invited me to a poker game with some of his friends the following night, and I agreed. It would be good to meet some other students my own age, maybe make some new friends.
I managed to sleep a little bit that night, though fear that the voice would return was never far off.
When I awoke in the morning, the room was empty. It was late morning on Saturday, and Demon was already off doing his own thing. I lay in my bed, feeling the sunlight on my chest. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my weekend. I ate a quick breakfast in the common kitchen, and walked out on the mansion grounds. I had dressed comfortably in a royal blue sleeveless t-shirt, black shorts, and sandals. The sun was hot and welcoming, and I saw many students by the lake, splashing and playing. Most of them were younger students, about middle school age. Most of the school was made up of that age group. However, there were plenty of high school age mutants, and a few who looked like they were 18 or older. Having turned 18 shortly before coming to Xavier's school, I was in the minority among the mutants here.
Across the lake I saw a small group of older mutants sitting down facing two others. One was a tall, thin woman with short white and gray hair, who was wearing a gray pantsuit. The other, if I was not mistaken was my secret crush Bobby Drake. His brown hair was shining with blonde and red highlights in the bright sun, and the wind gave it a sexy wind-blown look. It appeared as though Bobby and the white-haired woman were teaching a class, though I had never heard of a class meeting on Saturday afternoons. Intrigued, I decided to check it out. I realized with dismay that it would take me almost an hour to walk around the lake towards the small group. Then an idea occurred to me.
I walked straight and confidently, directly towards the lake. I focused my mind, and hit the water. I held the water membrane's integrity together, and instead of sinking, I walked on the surface of the lake. I strode confidently across the water, passing several people who were swimming on the water I walked upon. Activities ceased as I passed, and other mutants gasped or looked with surprise. The lake is very long, but not overly wide, and so I was able to cross in a matter or minutes. As I approached, the group on the shore noticed me coming, and turned to watch as I approached. Now that I was closer I could see that I was right, it was Iceman with the white-haired woman. He smiled warmly as I stepped onto solid ground again, his bright blue eyes sparkling in the sun. He looked amazing in his form-fitting gray shirt and blue jeans. He came over and shook my hand, and again his skin felt strangely cold to the touch.
"Come join us Alex, this is an open class." He led me over to the white haired woman to introduce me. "This is Professor Ororo Munroe, also called Storm." Storm had a beautiful dark skin tone, which contrasted with her oddly white and gray hair. She appeared to be young, but with her hair color and her dark, wise eyes, she could have been any age.
"Hello Hydrogue, I have heard a lot about you" Storm welcomed me. "Welcome to our little weekend session." Her voice was quiet, but had a powerful quality to it. I was glad to be welcome, but I wondered why the professors had been talking about me. I filed the question away until later.
"What is the class about?" I asked, looking around.
"This is an informal class for the older students, to test the extent of their control over their powers." Bobby explained. "There are no grades or tests, we just get together to discuss any difficulties we have with our powers, and we help each other to learn to improve our control. Everyone over 18 are welcome to come to as many or as few classes as they wish to." I was very much intrigued by this. "If you want to join us, please have a seat with the others."
I went over to the small group of students, all of whom appeared about my age or older. There were 14 mutants there, not including Iceman and Storm. I saw Echo, my tentative friend from the night before, and went to sit by him. I was pleased to see that he had managed to avoid a disastrous clothing choice, though it was probably sheer luck. He wore a slim fitting white t-shirt which accented his slim build nicely, and he wore light blue ripped jeans. His sunglasses today were a dark, metallic blue which completed his ensemble nicely. All in all, he looked much more attractive than he had the previous night; his handsome features complemented by nice clothing made him quite the good looking man.
We listened while Storm and Iceman talked about the importance of controlling out powers. They pointed out that a mutant with a high degree of control could accomplish many things which would seem to be outside of their abilities. They also discussed how emotions could affect a mutant's control and power level.
"Many mutants first discover their abilities during moments of heightened emotion" Storm explained. "Strong emotions can trigger abilities from your body that you did not know existed. A person can access extremely high levels of power during these times, and can do things they normally could not. The stronger emotions, such as rage, fear, and love, are known to have the largest effect. This allows mutants to do even more extraordinary things during a time of crisis or distress."
"However, heightened emotional states also cause us to be less in control of ourselves and our powers" Bobby continued. "There have been plenty of mutants who have lost control of their powers while under extreme distress, and done things which they would not normally have done. So, along with learning about our powers, we must learn to control ourselves and our emotions as well."
After their instructional talk, Storm and Iceman gave us exercises to do. Each person had a slightly different one, as they tailored our exercises to our specific powers and how proficient we were with them. I watched Echo at his exercises for a short time, watching and listening as he generated different sounds, pings' he had called them. He explained that he could use different pitches and tones to tell different things. Some simply told him where objects were, and what they looked like. Some had a longer range and allowed him to see' further. Some he could use to sense the textures or solidness of objects. It was fascinating to listen to him explain his powers and what he could do with his sound, and I told him as much.
"You think that's cool?" He smiled at me, and I blushed slightly at how cute his smile was. He sent out one of his short, fast pings, one I recognized as the one he used to `see' through less dense materials. He sent the ping right at me, and smiled broadly, as though he had just done something deliciously wrong. What was so mischievous about what he did?
Less dense materials, I realized. For a brief moment, he saw right through my clothes, and memorized my naked form. I gaped at him openly, shocked and amused by his shameless act. He winked at me in amusement. "This is even better" he said, raising his hand. I saw air condense in front of his hand, and with a strange sound, a combined high pitch and low pitch thrum sound, a concussive save of sonic force flew form his hand and shattered a nearby tree. My impressed gasp was interrupted by a scream of pain from one of the other students.
"NOOOOO!!" A girl ran forward, her skin was light chlorophyll green, and her hair dark hunter green. She ran to the tree with tears in her eyes, horrified at its violent death. She embraced the broken tree trunk, her tears flowing even as she sang to the tree. At first I thought she was just grieving for the tree, but then to my astonishment, a small tree sprout burst forth from the broken tree, growing about two feet in height in only a few seconds. The small tree grew large, green leaves, which spread towards the sun to drink in more energy. The green girl turned to berate Echo for his `wonton destruction'. I chose this moment to excuse myself from the situation.
Since this was my first time, Storm had asked me to meditate on my powers, to feel the world around me. I found myself a flat stone near a tree beside the lake. I sat Indian-style on the stone, placed my hands on my knees, and closed my eyes. I extended my senses outward, feeling the water all around me. Once again, I was distracted by the sheer volume of water in the lake. The currents of water flowed in intricate and seemingly random patterns. I noticed that the closer that I looked, the more I saw the complex and chaotic pattern of currents in the wide and deep lake. I was lost in the pattern for a short time, until I caught myself. I chided myself for being so easily distracted, and focused outward. I could feel the presence of the other students beside me, as well as Storm and Bobby. I did notice that the water which made up Bobby moved slower than the water in the others, indicating that it was colder. I was learning slowly to identify specific people, though it was more art than science. I focused on being able to feel the tree beside me, and I was able to do so, though it was difficult. The water within the tree moved slower than in humans and animals, and was more difficult to notice as a living thing.
I thought about my dream the night before, and that terrible voice. While I never wished to hear that voice again, it had kindled a curiosity within me. It had pushed me to go further, to do more. I wondered if it was my subconscious self telling me that I could do more than I believed I could, and that I was limiting myself.
So I went out. I pushed my mind outward, my senses engulfing all of the grounds of the mansion, several miles of field and forest. A flood of information swept towards me, sent by my minions, the water molecules. There were 357 people on the grounds, almost all of them inside the mansion or around the lake. I could also sense several thousand fish and small water creatures inside the lake, all swimming about according to their own whims. Several of the people I sensed with my minds followed the traces of water back to me. Telepaths. My attention had earned theirs, but once they saw that I was not intruding into their minds, they paid me no heed. I was surprised to notice that there were several people under the mansion, though the mansion had no basement. There appeared to be several floors of structure under the ground, none of which I had been aware of before.
Further, I told myself. My attention flowed out again, further, further, further, as far as I could extend it. The information rushing into my mind was too great for me to handle. I had extended too far, too fast. I was touching every water molecule for miles around, almost the entire state. I tried to pull back in, back to myself, but I realized with horror that I no longer knew where my body was. Which of the thousands of human-sized collections of water molecules was my body? I screamed inside my head, frantically searching for myself. I tried to find the lake, but I had gone out too far, there were many lakes inside my range. I started to despair, felt myself slipping away. It was as if the longer I stayed away from my body, the looser my connection to it was. I had been too ambitious, too eager to learn just how powerful I was. And it had killed me. I cursed myself for my idiocy, but I didn't waste too much time berating myself. I let go.
Just before I did so, I felt the touch of another. It was another mind, one who reacted to my mental screaming. I felt the other mind come closer to me, and then it touched me. I gasped in shock as I felt the awe-inspiring vastness of this other mind. The size and power of this mind were inconceivable to me, and I shrank back in fear. The strange mind seized me with its power and pulled me back to my body. I rocked backward and fell off the rock I had been sitting on. I lay on the dirt, dazed and confused, but glad to be alive. I sent waves of gratitude toward the powerful mind which had saved me. Thanks.
"You have much to learn, but you are well on your way." I knew that voice. It echoed within my mind just like the awful memories of my nightmares. "Your power grows with each passing day. Your potential is within your grasp."
Who are you?
"I am The Phoenix."
Sorry that it took me so long to submit this chapter guys, but I really wanted to do it justice. Please let me know what you think, because I know I really liked it. More to come soon.
Matt - Phoenixfire543@yahoo.com