Disclaimer:
All usual standard disclaimers apply. X-Men and all other related elements are properties of Marvel. This work is purely fanFICTION, and may also contain sexual of situations of the homosexual nature, not suitable for minors. Any storyline not true to the Marvel original is only made up by the author's non-comic book aficionado imagination. This includes sexual orientations. Any remote resemblance to real life, or any other fanfiction, is entirely coincidental. No pretenses, insinuations, infringement, or any other legal issues intended nor desired. Consider yourself warned.
Writer's Note:
For those who always feel compelled to provide feedback, whether positive or negative, you may e-mail me at: charlie.likes@yahoo.com.
This is my first... ever. Be nice, dudes!
Legend:
" " -- spoken conversation { } -- telepathic conversation
Chapter One: Deliverance
Rains poured heavily outside a large Victorian manor, as the doorbell echoed throughout its quiet and empty halls. A handsome man in his mid-thirties rushed to the manor's huge double doors to answer his visitors.
Man: "Professor Xavier, thank you so much for coming on such short notice." He said as he opened the door. "Come in, come in. It's pouring outside."
Xavier: "It's no trouble at all, Preston." The bald man sitting on a wheelchair replied. "Cerebro picked up on the activity anyway, so this visit would've been inevitable. I trust you still recognize your former colleagues?"
He was referring to the three people behind him, a beautiful woman with long auburn hair, a classy black woman with long white hair, and a handsome man, who, despite the weather, was wearing dark, ruby glasses.
Preston: "Yes, of course. Jesus, it's been awfully long, huh?" He reached over to give each of them a hug. "Jean, Ororo, how have you guys been?" The black woman spoke first.
Ororo: "We are well, thank you. It's good to see again after all these years, Preston."
Jean: "Yes, it has been a little too long, hasn't it?"
Preston: "Yeah, it has. Sorry I haven't been in touch that much, my work gets pretty hectic." He turned to the man in shades. "Scott, you look well, man."
Scott: "Thanks, I am. But obviously not as well as you." He was taking in the huge expanse of the manor and all its sophisticated furniture. "Nice crib."
Preston: "Thanks, I try. Uh, do you people want anything, drinks, dinner?"
Xavier: "I think we can still manage. Right now, I think it's best we focus on the situation at hand."
Preston: "Yes, of course. He's upstairs, let's hurry. I'm... actually quite afraid to touch him. Not for anything else, but he's been struggling for several hours now, and you know how I can feel all of his pain. I just..." His words trailed off into a deep sigh as exasperation took over him.
Jean: "Don't worry, Pres. We're here now, we'll do all that we can to help him out of it." They had started to ascend the stairs, and Jean raised her hand, and the Professor's wheelchair levitated itself from the ground, and followed them as they climbed each step. She was using her Telekinesis.
Ororo: "Tell us, when and how did his powers first manifest?"
Preston: "It was actually this morning, before he left for school. We were having breakfast. My empathic abilities were telling me that he was... distraught. I didn't know what to do. I knew he was still grieving over Margeaux's death." There was a distinct pause, as tears welled up in his eyes at the memory of his late wife.
Xavier: "That's perfectly normal, Preston. Margeaux has only passed away a couple of months ago. You two are still recovering from the shock. We... all... were surprised by the news."
Preston: "I know, Professor. It's just that I'm still having a little trouble dealing with it. And I know Beau is having an even harder time accepting the fact that she's gone. You know he hasn't been sleeping and eating properly for the past two months? He's never cried, at least not in front of me. But I can tell, because of my empathic abilities, and the sadness in his heart is just overwhelming. sigh I-I'm starting to get worried about him is all." Silence. They climbed a couple more steps. "I guess I should tell you about his powers now. Well, we were having breakfast this morning, as I've said, and I decided to give him Margeaux's Tarot Cards."
Ororo: "Oh, yes, she used to practice witchcraft because of her precognitive powers. And, yes, I seem to recall that she did prize her Tarot deck like her life. That's a very noble thing you did, Preston."
Preston: "Thanks. I thought he needed it more than me, make him feel like he still has a part of her with him. And I thought it really did help, because I felt that he loved it and he smiled, the first I've seen in a long time. That's when it happened. He was looking at the cards one by one, and I felt a small amount of... joy... in him, so I decided to amplify it with my power." He had started to cry by then, and Scott gave his arm a comforting squeeze. "I just... I really only wanted to help, and now..."
Jean: "Why, what happened?"
Preston: "I'm not sure myself, but I think his powers activated. A Tarot card suddenly materialized in front of me, and flew towards his hand, as if it knew where to go exactly. We were both shocked. I knew it must've been his power, since conjuring isn't part of my power's scope. The card wasn't like a regular Tarot card either. It showed a blank picture, but the label said 'Empathy', and I know something happened when he read it aloud. He had like some kind of seizure. But he insisted that he was fine, and hurried off to school before I had a chance to talk to him about Margeaux and I being mutants, and the fact that he might have inherited our mutant genes. I thought things would be okay. When he got home, the maid had called me up to inform me that Beau had like, a terrible migraine or something. I knew it was his powers, so I went home, and sent the maid to take a week off."
Scott: "Let me guess, it wasn't a migraine."
Preston: "Yes, it turned out he had become empathic, like me, all of a sudden."
Ororo: "Oh, heavens, but he doesn't have your control!" Preston simply nodded in agreement.
Preston: "His range is quite broad, and for an empath, the wider the coverage, the more emotions you have to deal with. He was clutching his chest the whole time, and he kept crying, like he's in pain. And he is. I felt it." He had broken in tears once again. "I'm sorry. It's just that seeing him like that, and knowing and feeling what he's going through. He's still grieving for God's sakes!"
Xavier: "We understand, Preston. His reaction is quite natural. Empathy and Telepathy are quite similar. He's just overwhelmed by the sudden changes he's going through, is all. The more he learns and understands what's happening to him, the better and sooner he'll be able to deal with his abilities."
They had reached the fourth floor, where Beau had turned their manor's spacious attic into a bachelor pad, so to speak. Immediately after they had reached the landing, tarot cards materialized in front of them and before any of them had a chance to read what each said, they flew through the attic door, presumably to Beau. Suddenly, there was a scream from the inside. They rushed towards the door, but just as Preston reached his hand to open the door, a strong telekinetic blast snapped the door off its hinges, and split it in two. Each of the pieces was sent hurtling towards them. As if in reflex, Jean put up both her hands and a telekinetic bubble formed around them, shielding them from the large broken pieces of door.
Scott: "That's some powerful Telekinesis! I thought you said he was only empathic?"
Ororo: "Charles, what does this mean? Is this his true power?"
Thunder rumbled so violently outside, that they all jumped. Inside, they found Beau, Preston's sixteen year-old son still in his school uniform, his shaggy jet black hair damp and sticking to his forehead from too much sweat. He seemed to be in his own world and was rocking back and forth in the center of the room, mumbling incoherently. His right hand was clutching at his chest, as if trying to claw the pain and hurt out of his heart, while his left hand hugged his knees protectively to his body. Tears continuously streamed from his unusually red eyes. All around him, his special tarot cards, that had materialized just moments ago, were floating in mid-air. Broken pieces of furniture swirled around him in a dangerous tornado. The windows had already shattered, and the rain that had now grown to a vicious storm outside, mercilessly poured watery winds into the darkened room, casting upon everyone an ominous chill.
Preston: "Beau!!! What's happening to you?! Beau, answer me!" He hurried to reach for his son, but Scott pulled him back.
Scott: "No! He might be dangerous!"
Preston: "Dammit, Scott, he's my son! Let me go!"
Xavier: "Remain calm, Preston. We have to approach the situation with caution. Jean, lend me your mind. I have some theories as to what's happening, and if what I think is correct, he's now a powerful telepath as well." The others looked at him, obviously shocked. "Scott, Ororo, Preston. Make sure Beau, Jean, and I remain unharmed as we make telepathic contact with his mind. Please, don't provoke him in any way, as he still doesn't have a full grasp of your powers."
Ororo: "OUR powers, Charles? Don't you mean his?" Before the Professor had a chance to answer her, more of Beau's tarot cards had begun to materialize around him.
Xavier: "Jean, now!" The urgency in his voice had snapped Jean into rapid movement, and within seconds, their bodies stayed still as their minds traveled into Beau's.
Inside, they were immediately surrounded by a black void. And as their mental senses started to adjust to the nothingness around them, they were instantly overcome by various emotions, the surrounding air engulfing them in various intensities of dread, fear, lust, happiness, loneliness, anger, and many others. In the distance they heard an approaching buzzing noise, like a large swarm of bees in surround sound mode. As it got closer, they realized that it was actually a swarm of thoughts, just as the Professor had predicted that he was now a telepath. And right there, floating in middle of the space of his mind, lay a trance-like Beau, eyes unblinking, tears flowing endlessly. He was clutching the special tarot cards in his hands.
Jean: "Professor, what's happened to him?!" She was mentally shouting her lungs out just to be heard above the noisy din of thoughts.
Xavier: "It's his power! He's somehow acquiring our powers!" The Professor shouted back. "Jean, we have to teach him to control his telepathy immediately!"
Jean: "How?! He's picking up thoughts from... probably, the entire city!"
Just then, a tarot card materialized above Beau's laying body. His hand subconsciously reached for it. As they got closer, they found out that he was mumbling "Mom" over and over again. Just then their surroundings had changed to montage after montage of scenarios from the lives of the people whose thoughts he's telepathically picking up, just as Beau got a grasp of the freshly conjured Tarot Card.
Xavier: "We have to try! He's acquiring the powers of other mutants whose thoughts he's tapping into!"
They crouched down beside Beau, and tried their hardest to snap him out of his trance. Their efforts remained futile, as Beau remained zombie-like. The Professor then stopped to think. Maybe he could get a clue from his surroundings, perhaps? After a few minutes, an idea came to his mind. Reluctant as he was, he was left without another choice. He had Jean focus her mental energy to his own, for added juice, and then conjured an illusion of Margeaux, Beau's mom.
Beau: "Mom?" He uttered in a meek, almost inaudible voice. "Is that really you?" The Professor then proceeded to speak through Margeaux's illusion.
Margeaux: "Yes, Beau, I am here." It seemed to have worked, as Beau suddenly got up and hugged his mom's image.
Beau: "I'm so, so scared!" He was bawling over his mom's shoulder. "What's happened to me, mom?"
Margeaux: "Listen to me, Beau. Something wonderful has happened to you. Just like your father and I, you have inherited mutant gifts. And the sooner you learn to understand your gifts, the sooner you can take control over them, and rid yourself of this torment."
Beau: "Gifts? These are gifts?!" He seemed outraged. "But they hurt so much..." He trailed off into sobs.
Margeaux: "I know, but they don't have to be. You have to believe in yourself. You can't let your powers rule over you, you have to gain dominion over them instead."
Beau: sob sob "...Okay. I'll try. But... how do I do it?"
Margeaux: "Look behind you." Beau looked to find Jean and the Professor. "They are my friends, Beau. Those people helped both me and your father when we were struggling with our own powers. They will do the same for you. Trust in them, Beau."
Beau took one last look at the Professor and Jean, and then turned back to his mother.
Beau: "Okay, mom. I will."
And with one last, loving smile, Margeaux dissipated into thin air. Beau then approached the Professor and Jean. After cursory introductions, they explained to him about his being a mutant, and the nature of his mutant powers. At first, Beau was confused, but he focused and willed himself to listen, and accept their offered assistance. They taught him to control his newfound powers over the next couple of hours. Slowly, Beau's mind cleared itself, and they were able to mentally speak in normal decibels. The Tarot Card form of Beau's acquired powers seems to provide boundaries for the individual powers, themselves, as if trapping them all on their own, so Beau was able to learn to control and subdue them rather easily.
Meanwhile, Preston was pacing the floors back and forth, as his passive powers didn't prove very useful to protecting anyone.
Preston: "It's been hours! What if they got stuck inside my son's mind?" A red beam shot across his face, reducing a broken down chair to dust. Preston looked at Scott, from whom the beam had come from. He, by now, had traded his sunglasses for a futuristic visor.
Scott: "Just calm down. They know what they're doing. They won't let anything happen to Beau."
Ororo: "He's right. You know you can trust your son's life in Charles' hands." She raised her hand and sent a zooming snowboard hurtling to the nearby wall by summoning a gust of strong winds.
Preston: sigh "I know. And I'm sorry. I'm just really worried..."
All of a sudden, the storm outside had returned to its calmer, milder, heavy rains, and the flying furniture had halted and receded to the floor. Beau stopped rocking back and forth and his eyes blinked his own tears away. They had returned to their normal gray color as well.
Ororo: "Beau's coming around! Oh, thank God! They did it."
Preston immediately rushed to his son's side to help him up, while Ororo and Scott tended to the awakening Jean and Charles Xavier.
Xavier: "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but now that everything seems to be under control, I'm beginning to feel a little peckish. Does your offer still stand, Preston?"
Preston: laugh "Of course, Professor. Here, let's all go to the kitchen." He had started to lead the way. "I'm pretty sure Beau here is pretty hungry after tonight's events. In fact, I think all of us are"
Jean: "Alright, I'll help cook."
Ororo: "As will I."
Preston: "What, you don't trust my cooking?"
Scott: "Pres, no one eats your cooking."
They all shared a laugh, and went down to the kitchen, except for Beau, who had insisted on staying to change out of his school uniform and freshen himself up first, as well as gather his now relatively thick Tarot deck. He looked at the cards one by one. He had managed to acquire quite a number of different powers during his telepathic trance. The last card, however, particularly drew his attention the longest. Somehow he knew that this one card was different from the rest, almost as if it had... life. He felt a tingle run through his spine, as he sensed the power of the card course through his veins. He gazed intently at the card, and suddenly, a loud bird cry echoed across his mind. He gasped, as he realized he had shut his eyes tight.
He looked over at the card once more, and read the writing on the card's label. The words spelled out, "Phoenix Force."