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 1 -- "Welcome Hydrogue"
I never would have believed that being in a class full of other mutants could be just as boring as classes in regular school. I sat in the back of biology class in Mutant High, just as zoned out as I had ever been in his public high school. I entertained myself by forming balls of water from the vapor in the air and rolling them around my desk. I glanced around the class, checking out some of my fellow mutant students, trying to occupy the past few minutes of class time. Most of the students looked normal enough, though several had strange mutations which altered their physical appearance such as green skin, horns, or in one case, an extra set of arms. I'm glad I can blend in if I want to, I thought to myself.
Up until 3 weeks ago, that was exactly what I had done, blend in. I had been reluctantly content to pretend I was normal, until my whole school simultaneously learned that I was not only a mutant, but gay as well. Not even waiting to see if my friends or family would ever accept me, since I knew they never would, I ran away. I lived on the streets for a few days until he heard about Xavier's School for Gifted Children, a safe haven for mutant kids. I was warmly welcomed, and had now been living in the mansion for 2 weeks.
At long last, the bell rang, signaling the end of the class. I snapped out of my reverie, and started to pack his bag. I stood up, stretched his stiff muscles, and proceeded towards the door.
"Alexander Wental, could I speak with you?" asked Dr. Grey. I groaned at the sound of my name, and hung behind the crowd heading out the door, and walked over to the front of the class.
"Yes Dr. Grey?" I asked. She looked at my intensely for a second, as if studying me. Her eyes bored into mine until I had to look away.
"I just wanted to know how well you were getting along here. I have noticed you spend a lot of time alone and I wanted to be sure that everything was alright."
"Oh, thank you, but everything is fine. I'm still kind of shaken from the huge shift in my life. Don't worry; it just takes me time to come out of my shell."
Jean smiled. "I'm glad to hear it. In the meantime though, could you possible let you mind wander a little less during my class?" I laughed sheepishly in response.
"I forget that you are psychic. Of course, I'm sorry about that." I smiled and proceeded out the door to my final class of the day. As usual, I was impressed with how nice the mansion-turned-school was. Beautiful wooden walls, high ceilings, and well placed art gave an unexpected feel of comfort and hominess to the school. I stopped as I passed a mirror, and stopped to check my hair. My short, light brown hair was still nicely spiked up, despite a full day of classes. I smoothed my blue shirt over my compact, 5'8" body, enjoying how it showed off how my torso tapered towards my waist. I grinned, and flashed my deep sapphire-blue eyes, my secret weapon. I could always charm anyone over with my eyes the color of the deep and mysterious ocean.
"Quit checking yourself out in the mirror jackass!" I heard behind him. I grinned when I saw Caleb, my roommate. Codenamed Demon, Caleb had short, spiky black hair, red skin, ruby eyes, pointed ears, and a long red tail which came out of a hole he cut in the back of all his pants. Caleb sported a muscular build reminiscent of a gymnast, muscular but compact. His showed off his body in the tight black sleeveless shirt he wore above his tight blue jeans. He also wore no shoes, as was his habit. Caleb's feet were articulate and flexible, and he could use them like hands. I knew that Caleb's musculature was extremely dense, causing him to weight much more than he appeared to, as well as giving him the strength of several men. Despite his mutation, Caleb was actually extremely attractive with his goofy smile filled with perfect white teeth. His vermillion eyes were hypnotic, filled with beauty and wonder. Unlike many who had skin mutations, Caleb did not have rough, scaly, or hairy skin. It was smooth and soft as a baby, as he grew no hair anywhere but on his head and eyebrows. I greeted my roommate with a pat on the back, which Caleb returned with a squeeze on the shoulder, using his tail. We proceeded together towards our mutual last class, Mutant Relations.
"How was bio?" asked Caleb, a joking tone in his voice. He knew how much I disliked biology.
"Fantastic as always. How was math?" I rebutted, jabbing Caleb in the ribs with my finger. Caleb performed horribly in math and made no secret about it. We both enjoyed our final class though, as it almost always contained interesting and current topics, and closely affected all students personally. Rather than desks, the students sat in various comfortable chairs, couches, bean bag chairs, and floor cushions which formed a semicircle towards the front of the class. Caleb and I took our usual seats beside each other on a love seat on one side of the semicircle, in the front row, but off to the side. The full class of 40-odd mutant teens took their seats, and waited patiently. At almost precisely 1 o'clock, in wheeled Professor Charles Xavier and Dr. Jean Grey to begin the class. Silence fell over the class immediately, in respect for the great man in front of them. Every student in the class had a heartfelt respect and gratitude towards Charles, who had done more for mutant-kind than anyone else, and who had opened his doors to take them all in and keep them safe. The fact that he was considered the most powerful telepath in the world didn't hurt either.
Class began as it normally did, with a review and discussion of what had happened in the news around the world with special regard to mutants. The Professor then changed the topic to one of his chosen discussions.
"Mr. Wental, can you tell me why most mutants have two names, a given name, and a codename?" Xavier asked suddenly.
After a moment of consideration, I answered, saying "Mutants chose code names for two reasons. First to describe their powers and mutations, and also to create an identity in which they can be themselves, but still be protected from the outside world". I was rather proud of his answer.
"That was very good, however you seem to forget that some mutants, such as Magneto, need no protection from the outside world, and yet still go by their chosen names."
Caleb piped up this time, stating "Well Magneto uses his name to inspire fear. If he went around commanding a hostile force by the name of Eric, he would be a lot less scary to the everyday Homo sapiens".
"Very true. So, what do we conclude about Mr. Wental's answer?"
"It was wrong." Stated a deep voice which came from a large boy named Steve who stood leaning against the wall.
"Was he? Why then, Mr. Blanco, do you call yourself Golem?" Steve's response was to turn his skin into iron-hard stone, making him appear very much like a stone golem.
"I am aware of why you chose that name for yourself, but why did you chose a name at all?" asked the professor. Though he made no hint of it on his face, I got the distinct impression he was amused with Steve's subsequent confusion.
The answer came from a tall girl in the back of the room. "Well, I think he was at least partially correct, at least about the part about protecting ourselves. We can use aliases and talk about each other or to each other without it getting back to our families and friends. It allows us to blend in better."
"Some of us don't get that option" Caleb stated matter-of-factly. It was true, Caleb could never blend into a crowd, and everyone he ever met would know he was a mutant. He sat lounging back in his seat, and took a bite from an apple, which he held with his tail. I chuckled at the sight, enjoying how comfortable Caleb was with his mutation. He used his tail as if it were another arm or leg, as it was quite strong and very flexible.
"Correct. Why then, do we need new names?" Asked Jean Grey, who spoke for the first time. She sat leaning against the desk at the front of the room, her dark red hair spilling down her shoulders and complimenting her maroon pant suit nicely. She glanced around the room, scanning for any student with an answer.
I decided to try again. "Perhaps we do it, because our original names were given to us by our parents. They reflect the expectations of the homo sapien world, which we are not a part of. We give ourselves new names because we can identify with them more. They allow us to be who we are, and to be proud of that fact."
Xavier smiled at him, saying "That is how I see it as well Mr. Wental. Or would you prefer Hydrogue?" I smiled. I had not given much thought to a name for myself, but I liked the one the professor had chosen. With my ability to manipulate, generate, and become water, the name befits me.
"Hydrogue it is" I repliedand couldn't resist grinning. I was honored that the professor had taken enough notice in me to choose a suitable codename. For the next 15 minutes, the class discussed the finer points of naming themselves, shared why they chose their names, and some even came up with theirs during that class. Someone then asked a question which I had been wondering himself.
"Professor Xavier, do you have a codename?" Michaela, aka Firefox asked. The professor smiled, as if he had been waiting for the question.
"No Ms. Jenks, I do not. I chose to live by the name my parents gave me a long time ago. I feel that it suits me as well as any name I could give myself."
"What about you Dr. Gray?" I asked, almost blurting out the question. She appeared to wince, as though she had known the question was coming (she was psychic he remembered), but was dreading it.
"I am Phoenix." She stated simply.
"But you don't have any fire powers do you?" asked a younger girl Alex didn't recognize. "I thought you were telekinetic and telepathic."
"I don't have fire powers. My name comes from the myth of the phoenix burning itself in its own flame, only to rise again, reborn." When Jean said this, her face held a mixture of fear and pride, and created a great weight for her words.
"Excuse me for asking but, did you die?" asked Caleb, echoing the thoughts of most of the students.
Jean faltered when she tried to answer, and the professor stepped in. "Jean made a great sacrifice to save the lives of many other mutants, including myself. She protected and rescued us from a wall of advancing water when a large dam broke. She held the flood back long enough for us to escape, but then the water took her, and drove her to the bottom of the newly formed lake." Gasps echoes through the room, and a girl or two stifled tears. "Jean's powers unconsciously protected her from the force of the water, and kept her safe under the lake for over a year, until she healed her wounds both mental and physical. She then returned to us when the X-Men traveled to the lake to pay their respects to her. She rose like a Phoenix reborn, greater and more glorious than ever before." He looked at Jean with a look of deepest pride and respect. Alex even thought he saw a hint of gratitude, for being willing to share her story?
"And this brings us to our final topic for the day. What do you all know about the 5 Mutant Classes?"
Most of the student glanced around, not knowing if they had the right answer. Then Golem spoke up and said "I thought it was a ranking of how powerful a mutant was, 1 for weakest and 5 for strongest. I, of course, would be a Class 5."
"Many would agree with you Mr. Blanco. But in actuality, the class system is more complex than that. A Class 1 mutant is one with a physical mutation for little or no ability beyond that of a normal human. An example of this is a mutant with a different color skin which grants him or her no power of any kind, or one with horns. A Class 2 mutant is one with a physical mutation which provides an `ability' in and of itself, such as gills to breath under water, generating spikes, or our friend Warren Worthington III who has large white wings and can fly. The first two classes make up about 2/3 of all mutants." The students watched and listened with rapt attention, intent to learn about the categories of mutant powers, and, of course, to classify themselves accordingly. I knew I did not belong in either of these classes.
The Professor continued, saying "A Class 3 mutant possesses a physical mutation which provides a remarkable ability such as healing, shape shifting, or some kind of self-altering ability. Mr. Blanco, you would be a Class 3 mutant." Golem looked crushed, as he clearly wanted to be a Class 5, which everyone considers to be the most powerful. "Class 4 mutants are the broadest class, as they can range in ability and power considerably. This class contains those with specific energy manipulation, such as optic blasts, fire, ice or any similar thing. It also includes telepaths, telekinetics, and those with wide-range abilities such as Storm's weather control. Storm is an example of an extremely powerful Class 4 mutant, as am I." Though no sound was made, I could tell that the class was surprised to hear the Professor call himself anything but a Class 5. Many students were only here because Xavier's psychic abilities were so vast that he found them struggling with their own thoughts from across the country and across the world.
"And then there is Class 5. This is a bit of a difficult concept to understand, but I have the fullest confidence in all of you. A Class 5 mutant is limitless. They can have a similar ability to a class 4 mutant, but they are not limited to certain specifics, and have all the power they could wish for. The easiest way to explain this is with an example. Doctor Jean Gray here is a Class 5 mutant." The class collectively gasped, looking at Jean with awe, reverence, and veiled fear. Jean met their gazes with a cool, though slightly nervous look. Xavier rested his hand on hers as he continued. "Jean has telepathic and telekinetic abilities, which would normally rank her in Class 4. But, her power is unsurpassed in these areas. Her range with her telepathy is limited only by how far she can perceive to stretch it. Her telekinetic abilities can extend down to the very atoms which make up the world, and she can manipulate them in any way she can think to."
"So, a Class 5 would have to be telekinetic in order to fit into the category wouldn't they?" I asked.
"No, that is a misconception. Class 5 means that the mutant has a limitless ability with their power. Someone who controlled fire could be a Class 5 mutant if he or she could extend their power so far as to be able to manipulate thermodynamics on the smallest and largest scales. By doing this the mutant would extend their powers far beyond that of a pyrokinetic such as Pyro. They would gain the ability to influence heat on the level of suns, and cold (which is the absence of heat) on the level of the cold of space." The Professor paused while the students wrapped their minds around this concept. The few in the room who classified as Class 4 mutants were considering how far their powers could go if their range and scale were limitless.
"There are extremely few Class 5 mutants. Jean here is the only one I have ever had as a student. I have encountered only 3 others before, and 2 of them only through Cerebro. It is difficult to directly focus on Class 5 mutants, as their presence is much larger than humans or other mutants."
"What about the other Class 5 mutant Professor? Who was it? What could they do?" I asked, extremely interested in knowing. I thought of these Class 5 mutants as gods among men, and felt I should know all I could about them and what they could do.
Xavier smiled and said "I think that will be it for today. Have a good weekend all of you." And with that, the class was dismissed. I was confused by the abrupt end of class, but soon forgot about it when I realized that I had just finished classes for the week. Caleb and I left class and headed for our room, discussing class along the way. We agreed that we had covered some really deep stuff. We also agreed that Caleb was a Class 3 Mutant, and I was Class 4. He also congratulated me on my new mutant name.
We arrived at our room and shucked off our backpacks onto the ground. Our room was a medium-sized room lined with golden wood. There were two beds against the wall on the right, under a pair of windows. The room also contained two desks, and had a door in the left wall which led to a shared bathroom with a small stall shower. Because we were both older students, we got a few more luxuries than the younger kids. Out the 3rd floor windows, we could see the field and the lake behind the mansion. It was a beautiful sunny spring day, and there were dozens of students dotting the field and the shoreline. We really lucked out with our room, and I really lucked out with my roommate. Caleb was a truly good-natured guy, funny and intelligent, but a true friend when in need. We often stayed up late into the night talking about everything. I had told him everything about me, and what had led me to Xavier's School.
Getting ready to take a shower, Caleb shucked off his shirt and tossed it onto the bed. He stretched his muscles to work off the tension of a long day of classes. He unbuttoned his jeans and let them fall to the floor. He wore black briefs with were super low-rise. All of his underwear was low-rise so that the waistband would be low enough to accommodate his tail, which grew out of the base of his spine just above his ass. Caleb wore them out of necessity, but I enjoyed the sheer scandelousness of them. He stood with his hands on his hips in statuesque glory. His hair was black as oil, spiked and shiny. His red skin glowed in the bright sun streaming through the window. His vermillion eyes glittered with exotic beauty, and his perfect white smile seemed to light the room around him. His chest had full, compact pectorals, with small dark red nipples which were oh so lickable. His arms bulged with densely corded muscle, a perfect specimen. Caleb was build with the perfect physique, he was 6' tall, heavily muscled, but not bulging like a bodybuilder. He looked like the perfect gymnast, and could have been used a model in an anatomy class. His stomach had every line of the abdominal muscles, and there was a sweeping V at the bottom of his stomach diving down into his briefs. His entire body was completely devoid of hair except for his head and eyebrows. His legs showed a similar sculpture of muscles, and he had perfect calves which tapered down to his large, red feet. The black underwear bulged out obscenely. I knew that this was not because he was hard, since his bulge was always enormous. Though Caleb was very proud of his body, and was free in his underwear around our room, I still had not seen his full package.
"If you are done staring, I'm gonna hop in the shower he said, snapping me back to the real world. I looked at his face, which was grinning. He took my being gay very well, and I loved him for that. He took my stares at his body as a compliment, which they were. If he knew just how much I wanted to jump his bones, he might sing a different tune. For the time being, I would rather keep my friend.
"Just one more minute" I responded, grinning. He chuckled, and headed for the bathroom. Once the door shut, I tried to figure out what to do with myself. Due to my powers of water, I never had to shower, as I could turn to water, dissolve any dirt on my skin and hair, and then filter it out and turn back.
As I lay on my bed, I realized that what Dr. Gray had said was true; I was a virtual hermit inside my room. I had been at Mutant High for over 2 weeks, and had yet to do much socializing. I had been too busy healing from the total destruction of my life. But now, I decided that this would change. I got up, put on my sneakers, and walked out of mine and Demon's room.
It was time to meet my fellow mutants.
I have written other stories before, but this is my first story involving the X-Men, so please feel free to give me some feedback; I really appreciate hearing from you! More will come soon, and positive feedback will speed the process.
Matt -- phoenixfire543@yahoo.com