Subject: [OTL]: (A. Wisdom/2nd N. Mutants) Breeze Arc Book 0 Chapter 1/25 (PG-13) Date: Sat, 8 Jun 2002 14:41:20 -0700 (PDT) From: Phil Hartman will1@earthling.net Breeze Arc Book 0 Chapter 1 by Phil Hartman DISCLAIMER: They're all Marvel's, except for Aaron, Shawan, Cathy, Soraya and Miguel, who are mine, and Buffy and her crew, who are Joss Whedon's. No money is being made off of this. Please don't sue. NOTE: " - spoken word ~ - telepathy # -private thought [ - cyberpathy * - pre/retrocognition -------------------------------------------------------- The Story So Far: -------------------------------------------------------- Aaron Wisdom, 13-year-old son of Pete and Katherine Wisdom of an alternate 2020 A.D., was flung backwards in time to try and prevent the destruction of the timestream due to a temporal cataclysm in the past (as detailed in The Grand Tour). Aaron succeeded in arriving in the 2002 of an alternate past, and warned the X-Men and second team of New Mutants in time to prevent the temporal disaster - by allowing Buffy Summers, here the fraternal twin sister of Rachel Summers, to defeat a demonic incursion by the N'Garai (in Breeze Book Minus One). However, Aaron was stranded in the past for reasons which remain unclear, despite succeeding in his quest to save the timestream. Invited to join the second team of New Mutants, Aaron must face a past not his own ... ... and one of his classmates is, in Aaron's time, a reviled traitor to mutantkind. -------------------------------------------------------- 9/2/2002: Xavier Institute for Paragenetic Studies, Salem Center, NY: Men's Wing: 05:00 hrs EDT: -------------------------------------------------------- He sat up, in a room which was not quite unfamiliar, a buzzing in his ears. #Not ... my institute,# Aaron Wisdom reminded himself, sighing. The 13-year-old Caucasian boy glanced over at the clock, then at his roommate, who was scrabbling in the dark for something. "Sorry, Aaron," Frank Richards said apologetically. The 14-year-old blond boy finished grabbing whatever he'd set out late the night before, and switched off his alarm clock. "I should've warned you - I still swim for exercise. After my powers kicked on, I didn't really feel like it was fair to my swim team in Manhattan for me to stick around, but I still like it. I guess I'm just used to getting up early." "No problem," Aaron said, smiling weakly. "When you guys'd have me over to the house for weekends, Aid'd get up when you did and go for a swim with you -" He caught himself, while Frank switched on the light and sat on his own bed. "Sorry," Aaron mumbled. "I'm ... still not used to this time. In my future, you and Ray were - are - my godparents." Frank's eyes widened, and he said, "Aid - that's not Aislinn, is it ?" "'Aid' is Ace's twin brother, Aidan," Aaron replied, managing to meet Frank's gaze. "Ray had the twins about four days before I was born. They, with Nate and Domino's twins, were like siblings to me." The phaser shook his head, then looked at the far wall before looking back at Frank. "I'm sorry. It's not fair to you guys to put all my future expectations on you in this time," Aaron continued. "It's just - really, really weird. I mean, there's this whole mythology that sprang up around your team of mutants after the -" Aaron bit his tongue, then winced, as Frank's eyes narrowed. "After what ? Did we save the world or something in your future ?" Frank asked. #How do I tell you that your friend Chuck Lehnsherr went nuts in my future and led Genosha to destruction ?# Aaron thought, gulping. The thought made Aaron shudder, but he forced himself to look at Frank. "Don't," Frank replied, holding up a hand and smiling in a friendly manner. "It's not fair to you to mine you for info we probably shouldn't ask about anyhow. Besides, you've said this is a different past than yours is, and I don't want to make you feel bad for being here. I'm glad you are here, anyway - at least I've got a sane roommate." "uh - thanks," Aaron said, managing to smile back. "I'll - go back to sleep." "And I'll try to rearrange my swimming schedule so you don't have to wake up before dawn," Frank said, ducking into the hall. "Later." Aaron pulled the covers back over his head, but couldn't shake the churning in his gut. #Frank and the others've been nice to me so far, but what do I do about Chuck ?# Aaron worried. #How do I tell them that he might become Abaddon ? Don't I have a responsibility to prevent the Lehnsherr War from happening here ?# He didn't get much sleep before 7 a.m. -------------------------------------------------------- 07:15 a.m.: X-Mansion Dining Room: -------------------------------------------------------- "Aaron !" Aaron ran a hand through his still-wet brown hair, then waved at the call which had come from the mostly red and yellow-spandex-clad crowd at the breakfast table. He found a seat at Frank's right, then glanced quizzically at the person to his own right. The younger boy was Caucasian, with slightly shaggy brown hair and blue eyes. He was clad in a grey skinsuit from neck to toe, and was working his way through a plate of French toast. "Hi," the boy told Aaron through a mouthful of egg-soaked bread. "Hi," Aaron said, accepting the plate of French toast from Frank. "You're - ?" "Nate," the boy replied, offering Aaron his hand after gulping down his current bolus of food. "Nate Summers." Aaron naerly dropped the platter of French toast, then gaped at Nate before looking at Frank, and then at the red-haired girl sitting at Frank's left. "You look like you've seen a ghost," Rachel Summers - one of Nate's older sisters - tried to laugh, before she shook her neck-length red hair out of her face and away from her food. "Uh - he - in my future - Nate was your twin brother - Aunt Jean had twins back in 1988, but Buffy wasn't -" Aaron managed, before looking at Nate. "I'm sorry, Nate, but I was expecting someone ... well, bigger." Nate seemed to visibly shrink, but forced a smile despite the snickers coming from around the table. "Dad says I might grow more now that I've hit 11," he said, blushing profusely when his voice broke on the last word. "You're Aaron, right ? Mom and Dad talked about you last night when they came back from the woods." "Nate was at the boathouse," the blonde Buffy replied from where she was sitting at Rachel's left. "Pass the sugar bowl, kid." "OK, OK," Nate mock-grumbled. Aaron watched as the sugar bowl lifted into the air, then landed gently beside Buffy's plate, and Nate flashed a grin. "Showoff. Nate's more telekinetically skilled than even I am," Rachel snorted. She smiled wickedly at her little brother, then added, "But he's still got a lot to learn about telepathy ... SOMEbody was dreaming about Betsy -" "RAY !" Nate yelled, going red again. "I don't eavesdrop on YOUR dreams - I oughta tell -" "Don't you DARE !" Rachel shrieked, going red herself. The plate of French toast started to vibrate dangerously - - until a large knife landed in the middle of the pile of toast, seemingly of its own accord. "Do you two MIND ?" a hoarse, teenaged-Caucasian-male voice barked. Its owner - a taller, brown-haired white boy who lumbered over to sit beside Buffy - slumped into his seat, clad in a red and yellow skinsuit similar to the other members of the second New Mutants. #I must've been a late entry,# Aaron realized, looking down at his own, "traditional" yellow and black skinsuit. He glanced up once more at the newcomer, then tried not to wince when the other boy met Aaron's gaze with haggard blue eyes. "I had a terrible night last night, and you two yelling is bugging me," Charles Xavier Lehnsherr grumbled. He magnakinetically removed the knife from the middle of the French toast, then removed the speared slices from the utensil and set them on his plate. "What happened now, Unc ?" Bill Maximoff said, from where he sat at Nate's right. Chuck glared at his nephew and growled, "Positive ions, or maybe I replicated Frank's precog talent by mistake. Either way, I had crappy dreams." #I wonder what of ... ?# Aaron thought, trying not to break into a cold sweat. He coughed, then said aloud, "So ... why're we in uniform for our orientation ?" "The Professor wants to put us through a demonstration of our powers, then have us rattle off our life story," the pink-haired, blue-skinsuit-clad girl with bone horns jutting from her forehead said coldly. Sarah McCoy sniffed, sipping her orange juice before adding, "I don't see the point." "Maybe he just wants us to get to know each other better ?" Luna Maximoff asked, from Bill's right. The Caucasian blonde girl tried to smile, but failed when a miniature raincloud broke out over her plate and poured onto her French toast. "Don't fret, Luna. You do belong," the boy to Sarah's right - a dead ringer for Bill, but with better-kempt hair - said with a wink. Tom Maximoff glanced down the table, then said, "We all do, right, Aaron ?" "Huh ?" the time-tossed phaser asked, looking around. "Uh, yeah, sure." "Let Aaron eat, Tom," the tall blonde girl to Luna's right said. Illyana Rasputin flashed Aaron a big grin and added, "Anyone related to Kitty is a friend of mine - except for her parents, of course." "Very magnanimous of you, Illyana," the green-skinned boy who sat down beside Tom chuckled. Leech did give Aaron a smile, then added, "Leech'll still shut you all down." "Even my art displays, buddy ?" a pink-skinned boy with large white eyes shot back from beside Illyana. Artie Maddicks generated a hologram of shifting colors, then shut it down as Leech seemingly rolled his eyes. "Well, at least I don't have to worry about the spandex and angst awards," Buffy deadpanned. She finished up her breakfast, then stood and took her plate. "I'm off to start Slayer 101 - later." "Have fun, Buffy !" Nate called. The older kids waved, but Rachel looked at Nate with a quizzical expression. "I know fighting vampires and other supernatural stuff is serious," Nate replied to Rachel, "but Buffy's always kinda felt left out, I think. I mean, she's as cool as you guys are, but she didn't have any powers until now." Rachel nodded slowly, then half-smiled at Nate. The boy smiled in relief, and Aaron managed to relax a bit. #They never did fight for long,# he remembered, thinking about 30-something versions of the Summers siblings. #But, if we're all teenagers, and Nate's just a sixth-grader -# Aaron glanced at Rachel, who said, "Nate's powers make him a ... special case for the Mutants. He's ..." Nate went pale as he stood, taking his plate, and replied, "It's OK, Ray. Tell Aaron what I did. It's true." The younger boy ducked into the kitchen, and Aaron looked at Rachel with concern. "Did I - ?" he asked. Rachel's face fell, and she sighed, "Nate blames himself for when he vaporized Apocalypse back during the Akkaban incident in 1999. It was self-defense, but Nate thinks he's terrible for taking down Apocalypse. If he hadn't, he'd've been possessed by that creep, and we'd probably all be dead." Aaron squinted, then asked, his eyes widening, "But, in 1999, Nate was - 8 YEARS OLD !?" Rachel shrugged, smiling a bit more as she finished her breakfast, and replied, "Unless a Summers just lacks an x-factor, we tend to manifest our powers pretty early with enough stress. I popped my telepathy when I was a baby, because of the Brood egg that'd possessed the Professor and was trying to use his telepathy to enslave me and Mom. Nate popped his TK when he was a little kid because Apocalypse's goons tried to kidnap him aboard Ship, and he floored the Dark Riders." Aaron finished his French toast with a neutral expression. #The seeds of greatness ...# -------------------------------------------------------- Danger Room, Mansion Sub-Basement 2: 07:55 hrs EDT: -------------------------------------------------------- ~Please, enter the Danger Room. The rest of the new students have already arrived, and are finding their own seats.~ Aaron tried not to marvel at Professor Charles Xavier's telepathic summons as he followed the rest of the boys already accounted for into the Danger Room. #The Professor was already gone by the time I was born,# Aaron recalled. #He's been really kind to me - everybody has ...# Aaron felt a pat on his arm, then looked down slightly to see Nate at his left. "You OK ?" the younger boy asked, smiling again. "Sure. Hope I didn't freak you out at breakfast," Aaron said. "Nah. It's kinda cool, having someone from the future here," Nate said, grinning. "I mean, besides Bishop. He's OK when he's not being all Mister Security and stuff." They found their way into the holographic lecture hall which had been programmed as the room's new setting, while Aaron noticed a large number of other teens scattered throughout. Nate waved to a white boy with reddish-brown hair sitting next to a girl who could have passed for Rachel's twin. Both were in yellow and black skinsuits similar to Aaron's, but the girl was scowling while the boy grinned at Nate. "Hey, squirt !" the boy - Aaron estimated him to be older than even Frank - said in a friendly, baritone voice. Nate sat beside the older boy, who ruffled Nate's hair before giving Aaron a nod as the phaser sat to Nate's right. "Joe, this is Aaron Wisdom. He's from the future, and he can control his own density," Nate said. "Aaron, this is Joe Bailey, my big cousin. He's a TK and tepe like Ray and I - and that's his sister Gail. She's -" "Mortified to be here. I wanted an inhibitor collar, but NOOOO," Gail growled. Joe rolled his eyes, and Nate tried to sink into his seat, while Aaron sat next to the younger psi. "You're ... not happy about your powers ?" Aaron hazarded a guess. The baleful green glare he got almost made him phase into the floor. "Not - HAPPY ?" Gail snarled. Her eyes widened in rage, and she began to seethe - until her voice literally cut out, and Rachel sat beside Gail with a cold stare. "That's enough, cousin dear," Rachel said, icily. Gail looked at Rachel in horror, but the more experienced psi shook her head and replied aloud, "Not until you calm down. And DON'T think I won't do it again if you keep this 'woe is me' crap going. Gram and Gran sent you and Joe here to get help, not for you to whine about wanting some kind of 'cure' that'd probably kill you anyway. Now, are you going to behave, or ... ?" Gail teared up, but hung her head. Rachel nodded, then closed her eyes momentarily, and her cousin managed a whimper. "Listen to Ray, sis. She means well," Joe said, softly. Gail glared at him, but finally just crossed her arms and stared at the podium. ~It's a long story,~ Nate sent to Aaron telepathically. ~Is it OK if I mindspeak you ?~ ~Sure,~ Aaron thought, giving Nate a faint smile. ~I'm used to it. A lot of my friends from the future were - are - telepaths.~ ~I'm glad to 'hear' it, Aaron,~ an older, familiar voice replied in the boys' minds. ~Nathan, I apologize for the intrusion, but we're about to begin.~ ~Sorry, Professor,~ Nate sent, cutting the mindlink with a flicker of apology. Aaron grinned at the younger boy before looking at where Xavier used his wheelchair to approach the holographic podium. "I felt that this lecture hall setting might be more suitable than the traditional, bare metal walls of the Danger Room for your orientation," Xavier said, smiling faintly. He looked around the room, and added, "Your class of New Mutants is, arguably, the largest and most diverse. Many of you are from other nations, other cultures, other races - and that is to be commended. Whether we found you with Cerebra, or you came to us on your own, welcome. We seek to further understanding between all peoples, and are willing to listen to others' ideas. I hope that all of you will keep open minds while you are students here." The room remained silent, and Xavier nodded. "Very well then," he said, smiling. "I'll ask the student who has traveled the farthest, at least temporally, to speak first about his past. Aaron Wisdom ?" Aaron blinked in surprise, but stood and said, "Yes, sir ... well, I'm Aaron Kurtis Wisdom. I can change my molecular density so that I can walk through solid or liquid matter - that's phasing - or become superdense, and increase my strength and resistance to injury when I do so. I was born on June 5, 2007, in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, and grew up there until I came to the Xavier Institute of 2020 A.D. to study about my powers." He took a breath, allowing those students who hadn't heard Aaron's origin before now to react to the news, and then continued. "On my first day at the Institute, there was a temporal disaster of some sort," Aaron said. "I was sent back in time to try and stop it, and I landed here last night. It worked - well, kind of - and I'm still here ... so the X-Men offered to let me join you guys." "We're glad you're here, Aaron," Luna said, smiling at the phaser. Applause - some faint, most at a polite volume - filled the hall, and Aaron managed to smile before he sat down. ~You did fine. You OK ?~ Rachel asked Aaron telepathically. ~Yeah,~ Aaron thought, relief fighting with grief and gratitude in his mind. ~Who's next ?~ -------------------------------------------------------- NEXT: Frank's tale - or, how Kang got smacked, Rachel became smitten, and Mephisto had a fit ... --------------------------------------------------------