-X- X-Men: Foundations part 2: Changing World Summary Chapter 1: Bright Stars Chapter 2:Stand Still Chapter 3: Empire State University Chapter4: Distant Early Warnings Chapter 5: Brand Annex Chapter 6: Open Secrets Chapter 7: Change of Faith Chapter 8:Winter Breaks Chapter 9: Healing Breaks Chapter 10: Ice Skate Eve Chapter 11: Razor's Edge Chapter 12:Last Call Chapter 13: Thoughts Ignite Chapter 14: Red Tide Chapter 15: The Pass Chapter 16: Spring Breaks Chapter 17: Kid Gloves Chapter 18: Second Natures Chapter 19: Prime Movers Chapter 20: Moving Parts Chapter 21: Barriers Fall Chapter 22: Hand Over Hand Chapter 23: Hand Over Fist Chapter 24: Open Hand Chapter 25: Open Hand Closed Fist Chapter 26: Racing Heart -XX-
X-Men: Foundations part 2: Changing World
Chapter 15
-X-
The Pass
Heroes For Hire Building. Harlem.
“What happened to you?” “I’m exhausted!” Scott ran a hand through his hair in a half-hearted effort to smooth himself out as he dropped onto the sofa between Ororo and Jean. “For the second time today, you look like you got hit by a bus.” Jean craned in her seat to look at him, but this time Jean was laughing instead of watching him worriedly. Scott grinned back at her. “Thanks?” He still felt drained, but at least it was with good cause. While Jean, Ororo, Amanda, and Meggan had been cleaning up the chaos left over from a kids’ after-school pizza and ice cream party, Scott, Emory, and the Heroes For Hire team had taken the kids down the block to Thunder Dojo to let them burn off some of that excess sugar energy while waiting on their families to arrive for pick ups. After about an hour there, Luke, Emory, and Misty had offered to walk or bus home any stragglers. Colleen Wing perched herself on the edge of the sofa beside Jean, closest to Scott. “I would ask how the Tai Chi is going, but you hardly look in condition to give a meaningful answer.” Colleen was looking him over appraisingly anyway, much as she had the first time they met. As was the case then, Jean did not appreciate Colleen’s extended interest in Scott. “Didn’t you decide not to train him?” Scott chuckled tiredly at their ribbing. “I’ll take a rain check for today. We tried a demo with the kids, actually. We got them through: Listen. Stick. Follow. Root. Yield. Adapt... and I’m wiped. But Shang-Chi did say, I might be ready to have you show me weapons forms by summer.” “Really?” “Such surprise,” Jean noted sourly. Colleen ignored that. “He thinks you’re ready to move to Tai Chi Chuan? Sure you don’t want to learn Kung Fu next, Mr. Art of War?” Scott shrugged. “Maybe, eventually. But turns out I like Tai Chi. My first challenge is to internalize what I’ve learned and better apply it to my whole life. I have a long way still to go.” Colleen leaned in slightly. “I can get you through: Power. Vulnerability. Attitude. Spirit.” “Yeah?” Scott grinned, considering that offer. “Shang-Chi says learning the weapons forms will help my composure and balance.” “You’d better hope so,” Colleen challenged Scott with a wink. Was Scott Summers successfully... flirting? For a moment Ororo worried Jean’s head might explode. Then, with a swish of her bobbed hair, Colleen abruptly looked up, a couple of seconds before the front door opened. Shang-Chi entered, dressed casually today, and accompanied by a considerably less disheveled than-usual-looking Danny Rand. Scott sat up, previous exhaustion forgotten as his relaxed, easy-going smile vanished. Rand’s entrance immediately got his and Ororo’s attentions, given Rand’s odd interest in Jean the last time they’d encountered him. They were not surprised today when Rand crossed the room toward them with deliberate haste. “Were you ever going to tell the boy he was in danger, or just wait until the creature drained him dry?” Scott, Ororo, and Jean all swiveled their gazes to look at Colleen Wing, waiting for things to make more sense. Colleen only gave a hapless shrug. “Does he look like he’s in danger? I can cast simple protection nets in my sleep.” Rand grinned. “Have you brought me another shape shifter then?” Meggan gave a little squeak. “A little discretion, maybe? You cheap parlor magician.” Amanda Sefton and Danny Rand hugged like long lost friends. “How is Margali? Well, I hope?” he insisted as he released her. “You two– know each other...” Ororo finally stated, stumbling slightly over that unexpected realization. “Old family friends,” Meggan explained with a buoyant smile. “My father and her mother went way back,” Rand added. “Not helping,” Amanda stated. “Right. Sounds kinda gross.” Meggan stifled a giggle, prompting Rand to smile at her charmingly. “Your foster brother is the last person I expected to run into at a Catholic monastery in the Alps.” “He decided to go into ministry there when we came here.” “Did you find anything else there?” Amanda asked, clearly redirecting the wayward conversation. For Scott, Ororo, and Jean – Shang-Chi and Colleen Wing too, for that matter – the whole thing was a wayward conversation, like watching a very confusing ping pong match. “No,” Rand concluded, shifting his gaze toward their confused audience. “As a matter of fact, I’ve found far more here, entirely unexpectedly.” He stepped forward to stand in front of them “Of course, you have possession of the Heart Stone, Ororo Monroe. That is as it should be. Jean Grey. You have clearly come into contact with the Mind Stone.” Jean and Ororo exchanged slightly stunned expressions with one another. “No need to play coy with me,” he admonished them casually. “I assume Charles Xavier has been in possession of the Mind Stone for some time now. Likewise, I know Erik Lehnsherr has spent a great deal of time on the hunt for the Soul Stone – a dark blue sapphire, every bit as flawless as the Heart Stone. “Shang-Chi and I have been looking all over the world for the Spirit Stone, only to realize that you have contacted it– Or more precisely, I think, a part of it.” He extended one hand and conjured an image out of thin air, as casually as if he were offering a slideshow for a lecture class. “Show off,” Amanda murmured. The image was of a green emerald, roughly the same size and shape as the ruby which had been passed down for generations through Ororo’s mother’s family. But this stone was not flawless, as Rand had described the other stone. This one had a small sliver missing from one corner. A jewelry-sized sliver. “Perhaps an old family heirloom?” Rand prompted. “Perhaps one which made its way here from South America by way of the Scottish or Irish isles?” Jean’s expression remained calm and impassive. “I may know of a piece like that. If I tell you what I know about it, will you do the same for our questions?” Rand nodded. “Agreed.” “Oooo, stories!” Meggan clapped her hands together excitedly. “My father raised my sister and I on bedtime stories handed down from his mother and grandmother. All of them told of trailblazing Grey family women. We thought them no more than tall tales, adventure stories meant to inspire and encourage us through childhood challenges and difficulties. But this piece of jewelry– it always played a key part in those tales. As children, we were told it was too precious to be worn often, but, in times of trouble, or for special occasions, it would always bring the wearer luck and courage.” Scott remembered the piece of jewelry in question. The only time he’d seen Jean wear it previously had been on her first day at Xavier Institute. “The stones each have a will of sorts; they will find their ways to appropriate holders, often passing for generations through the same family before their full powers can be accessed by a rightful host. This one may be trying to find its way back into your family.” Jean took in Meggan’s explanation with a slightly stunned expression before looking back to Rand for confirmation. Rand gave a shrug. “Amanda and Meggan are more versed in the history and properties of the stones than am I. My goal, much like Xavier’s – and perhaps Lehnsherr’s – is simply to ensure that they do not fall into the wrong hands, where they could do significant harm.” Ororo gave a glance toward Scott, who responded with an equally discrete nod. “What do you know about Amahl Farouk?” Ororo asked Rand. “The latest incarnation of the Shadow King.” Meggan gave another squeak and ducked dramatically in her seat. “Previous holder of the Heart Stone – and a real dark piece of work. Good job in taking the stone away from him.” “He’s child’s play compared to the current holder of the Soul Stone,” Amanda stated flatly. Rand seemed to take that as a challenge to his competence. “Which brings us back to this boy and the energy vampire,” he countered testily. Shang-Chi spoke up for the first time, shaking his head certainly. “That ancient myth is long outdated. Energy wraiths have not existed for many centuries. Their destruction is well-documented in the Book of Changes.” But despite his certainty, Shang-Chi was studying Scott with fresh curiosity, much like Colleen had done earlier. “That is true,” Colleen Wing added, also addressing Rand. “You know full well, the Daughters of the Dragon played a key role in bringing about their extinction.” “Yes. And then the Keeper of Imperial Archives fled the city to become Immortal. Yield and overcome; Bend and be straight; Empty and be full; Wear out and be as new.” Rand waved his hands dramatically as he rattled off familiar mantras without giving them weight of belief. “Now tell me what we’re all seeing here?!” he challenged Shang-Chi and Colleen Wing. It was Amanda who answered. “It’s not a myth nor some ancient creature; in this case, it’s no more interesting than a rogue mutant.” Rand fixed her with an unforgiving glare. “Again– Tell your friend to stay away from energy vampires!” Amanda rolled her eyes. “I tell you, again, he’s in no danger– not from Sauron. Your failed search for Nosferatu is another matter entirely,” she concluded. “Perhaps if you stopped bringing other tasks to distract me, Jimaine Szardos....” Again, Amanda waved him off. “Enough bickering!” A lightning breeze crackled through the air, causing lights to flicker and casting them all into darkness momentarily. Jean reached across Scott to grip Ororo’s wrist in the darkness. Ororo relaxed her posture slightly and gave a slight shake of her head in unspoken answer. “Ro?” Scott asked warily. Before Ororo could answer, Amanda gave a wave of her hand to set things right. “Meggan.” “But she really wanted to do it!” Meggan whined in protest. “People want lots of things, and they choose not to act on every desire,” Amanda told her patiently, sounding as if they had had this conversation many times before. “You cannot afford to be swayed by impulse.” “But why?” Meggan insisted, confused. “Why not do the things you want to do?” she insisted, now nearly dancing with unrestrained energy before falling into a pout, collapsing down into a heap at Amanda’s feet. Amanda couldn’t help but notice that Ororo hadn’t seemed at all shocked by seeing the impossible thing she had desired a moment earlier so easily come to pass. Early on, Amanda had pegged Scott with his glasses for most likely to be... unusual. But from the start, Meggan had been drawn to Ororo Monroe, the way a child was drawn to bright colors, with endless fascination. Clearly, Jean Grey was a very powerful mutant under the tutelage of Charles Xavier. Scott Summers seemed to be an energy converter of significant power. What if creating a gust of wind, or rain, or crackling lightning, was not an impossibility for Ororo Monroe? Perhaps Meggan was simply drawn to one of her own kind. “And you have the audacity to accuse me of cheap parlor tricks,” Rand told Amanda. “Perhaps you should be less reckless with other people’s closely-held secrets,” she grumbled at him in return. They learned that Amanda had been born Jimaine Szardos, in Bavaria. She explained to Scott, Ororo, and Jean that she had taken the name Amanda Sefton to better acclimate herself into Western society. She also explained that her powers were magical in nature, while Rand’s own powers were more of the mystical than the magical sort. The two of them obviously maintained a heated, if good-natured, rivalry over those differences – which apparently had extended over several generations of their families. Meggan’s case was somewhat more complex. Meggan Puceanu was technically a shapeshifter. But, more exactly, she was an elemental metamorph. Born with said powers, Meggan was only able to fully control her shapeshifting abilities with help from Amanda’s sorcery. Meggan helpfully demonstrated the concept, morphing herself to match Amanda’s appearance. As Amanda spoke, Meggan’s familiar features gradually faded into Amanda’s hazel eyes, olive skin, and curly brown hair with its honey highlights. “More than appearance,” Rand insisted thoughtfully, like he was puzzling out a mystery he’d yet to solve. “Unlike most shapeshifters, or common wraith mimics, she’s doing far more than mimicking appearance, or even abilities.” “I’m able to stabilize her physical form, control her outward appearance, but not the emotional, mental, or psychological aspects of her reactions to everyone around her– which she soaks in, sponge-like....” Amanda trailed off briefly. “Without that stabilization, her physical form would change constantly to meet any momentary physical need or comfort, to mimic whatever next catches her fancy, or – more dangerously, for her – to unconsciously reflect other people’s impressions or expectations of her.” “The ultimate case of, ‘I only like myself when I’m with you,’ syndrome.” “She’ll learn to control it, in time.” “With help.” Amanda fixed Rand with an offended stare. “Not all of us can be so fortunate as to inherit vast mystical powers through simple enchantment.” “Jealous much?” he smirked. Meggan again lost interest with their bickering and instead set her attention on Ororo. Amanda’s olive features took on darker tones while brown hair whitened and hazel eyes turned bright blue. “That’s not disturbing at all,” Scott mumbled. Jean elbowed him. Meggan faltered, her hair going more golden than white for a moment, caught between the two different impulses. “It’s alright; I don’t mind the complement,” Ororo admitted. It was fascinating to see herself reflected back at her with such innocence, without her own inherent restraint or time-garnered caution. And the hero-worship-like attention was flattering for a one-time goddess. Amanda and Rand concluded their bickering debate without resolving an implication that Rand had helped a young Amanda with teleportation abilities... Amanda insisted she’d mastered that skill without his help. “It’s hardly telling fortunes,” he scoffed. “Maybe a trip through Limbo would remind you who sorted out your ‘tripping’ issues.” “Don’t tempt me,” she retorted, before ignoring him to resume the previous conversation. “As you might imagine, the ability and unrestrained tendency to change oneself at will led to some complex childhood socialization issues.” “That sweetness and light personality doesn’t help,” Rand quipped. Meggan stuck her tongue out at him, still in Ro’s form – which drew laughter from the rest of the room and consequently made Meggan giggle. “How did you two end up here?” Ororo asked. “We’re here to learn more about the disturbance that Shadow King and the demon, D’Spayre, caused with the Heart Stone over the summer,” Meggan answered importantly, as if she had carefully memorized that line in anticipation of just such a question. As Ororo abruptly remembered those events, Meggan’s image reverted to more Nordic features, the ones Scott, Ororo, and Jean were familiar with. A cheery, dimple-rounded face, bright blue eyes, and slightly curly long blonde hair. “Is that her true physical form?” Scott asked. “No. But it’s as close as she has to one, that we know of.” Amanda explained that Meggan had begun presenting as a classically beautiful Nordicly-featured child upon her family’s travels through England, assumedly as a defense mechanism. “I call that her ‘safe form’.” “Safe form?” Ororo asked. “A default she’s kept coming back to since early childhood. The one she found most pleasing to the most people around her at any given time. Her true form?” Amanda went back to Scott’s question. “It may be unknown, even to her, as long as other’s expectations of her interfere with the discovery of her authentic self.” “Can we ask them about the stones now?!” Meggan insisted impatiently. Amanda nodded. “Did you see the portholes? Did you meet any Immortals?” “Just a minute,” Jean returned her attention to Rand. “Before we answer, I’d like to know, what’s your purpose here, beyond ‘generous benefactor’?” “I need another?” he quipped. “How about ‘mystic artifact hunter’? I actually like the sound of that one,” he considered. Amanda chortled. “You’re not Indiana Jones, Rand.” “You’d make a fair Marion Ravenwood, Jimaine.” “Focus, Rand.” “Very well. It’s a very long story – all this mystical bunk about magic cities and magic stones – I’ll try to make it shorter. I think you already know about the four stones and their magical properties. Great war between the Immortals and Externals... the stones get scattered to Earth for safe keeping. Now. The part that concerns me is the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven.” He paused. “I assume from your blank stares, this part is new information. Good. As you have seen, the stones can open portholes to other dimensions. These dimensions were once used to unite the Capital Cities.” “And the Capital Cities are?” Scott prompted. “For starters, how someone like me inherits vast mystical powers through enchantment, as Jimaine puts it. But with the stones scattered to the four corners of Earth, the portholes now open only sporadically, and only to those deemed worthy by whichever City would admit them.” “But if all the stones were to be found...” Ororo prompted. “Someone gets an all-access pass to nearly unlimited power and Immortal glory – which could be exceedingly bad in the wrong hands. Luckily, that’s where I think you come in, Jean Grey.” Jean suppressed a heavy sigh. “You almost made sense, for a minute there.” “Bear with me. I no longer think that what I’m sensing from you is an aftereffect of contact with the Mind Stone; those powers appear blocked in some way. I suppose the Spirit Stone could interfere with or somehow counter the Mind Stone...” he waved away that theory, “but I doubt that as well. I stand by my first impression. You wield a power not of this – or perhaps any other – realm. It may be you who is intended to unite all the realms.” Colleen Wing let loose a low whistle, leaning away from Jean. “Forget the Immortals. That’s god-like, Celestial, levels of power,” Shang-Chi concurred. “So much for Rand’s making any sense,” Jean decided.
-x-
ESU Campus.
Cameron Hodge crawled out from under one of two twin beds in the dorm room he’d been assigned to with Scott Summers. Having successfully pried loose the device he’d placed months ago, he sat briefly in a desk chair to study the familiar settings on the control dial’s face. Then, with a grin, he pegged the thing. No more messing around with a tiny notch here and a tiny notch there. That task accomplished, he pushed the chair back under its desk and found an empty zipper pocket he could tuck the thing into on the outside of Summers’ already packed travel bag. On his way out of the dorm he flashed a grin and gave a thumbs up to J. Martin, who was sitting on a bench outside, fiddling with a device that looked a little like a portable radio. Martin nodded in discrete acknowledgment. Cam seemed too excited to remember discretion for very long. “This will pick up everything that goes on with those freaks at their little clubhouse over spring break.” Martin absently agreed with him and began checking the settings. The device was broadcasting on the proper transmission frequency, the newly adjusted one. It was still producing its uniquely specific wavelength– which had jumped dramatically in strength when Hodge spiked the settings. “Perfect. Any luck, they won’t even bother to return after the break.” After Hodge finished gloating and left, Martin walked over to another bench where Jason sat with Regan, the former tossing popcorn kernels for a few birds and squirrels to fight over. Late evening shadows readily masked the momentary change from Martin back to Martinique, as Martinique lifted the illusion she’d worn for Hodge’s benefit. “Well?” “We’re good so far.” The transfer worked; we’re getting the transmission on our receiver, and the signal’s strong enough for our needs.” Martinique passed the receiver back to Jason. “I’ll admit, his plan is pretty ingenious.” Jason laughed, shaking his head. “That junk explanation Bocklin gave the Hodge kid about ‘biowaves’ may not be entirely untrue.” “The Hodge kid still thinks it’s a crude bug, for recording conversations. He’s clueless,” Regan added. “I wouldn’t expect a Hodge to understand anything beyond common, ordinary blackmail,” Martinique confirmed. Jason continued. “We’re dealing with the sort of wavelength one’s brain would be particularly susceptible to in REM sleep phase.” “I’m surprised he didn’t call them E-waves, after his hero, that famous nineteenth century scientist, far more handsome and far more brilliant than Darwin....” “His ego knows no subtlety,” Jason agreed before redirecting. “You’ll be shadowing them on the train to Annandale-on-Hudson tonight?” he asked, shifting the conversation back to their subjects. Regan nodded. “Good.” Jason concluded. “We’ll join you there,” Martinique confirmed. “We’ll likely only get one chance at this. Better tonight than later at Westchester; this way Xavier won’t be able to interfere with our test run. But if everything goes to plan, he’ll get our little calling card, just the same.” Regan nodded again and glanced down at the receiver Jason handed over to her, its signal coming through perfectly.
-x-
The train ride back to Annandale-on-Hudson that evening was a quiet one. They were going to have a lot to tell Xavier about... and there had been more than a few questions among themselves on what not to tell. Ororo was feeling particularly protective over Meggan’s secrets. Neither Meggan nor Amanda had forbidden them from sharing their stories, but Ororo was disinclined to do so, even to Xavier. Scott had a hard time figuring how they could explain Rand while also keeping Amanda and Meggan’s secrets. While Jean was more inclined to write off the whole episode as unreliably narrated bunk. “Do we really think Xavier doesn’t already know more about all this than we do?” Jean countered, “Given Cerebro?” “Depends,” Scott responded. “Is he monitoring the whole city?” “Likely he would make it his priority to know if another powerful mutant, or mutants, were nearby to us,” Ororo noted. Scott agreed with that. Though he was uncertain what, if anything, Cerebro might reveal about Danny Rand (or Amanda and Meggan) if their abilities truly were unrelated to any mutant X-gene. Cerebro hadn’t detected Shadow King and D’Spayre before they had attacked. Jean crossed her arms and closed her eyes, tuning out the last of their debate. She was also still a bit cross with Scott, given the way Colleen Wing had elected to end the evening by making an aggressive pass at him.... Aggressive enough for even Scott to catch on. He’d spent the entire cab ride back to campus insisting to Jean that he had no intention of visiting Colleen on Capt. Forrester’s boat. Not over spring nor summer break either – no matter how “desperately” Lee needed “good, strong crew members” to help get the boat in shape for the summer sailing season. He further insisted he’d only gone along and told her, “Maybe another time,” to be polite. Of course Colleen had – only playfully, according to Scott – promised she would hold him to that. But she had also been standing very close at the time (casually resting her arm on his shoulder, in fact) and, honestly, the damage was already done by that point. Scott had seldom seen Jean work herself up into such a fearsome state.... Luckily Ororo seemed to have talked her down a bit by the time they made it to the train. Now the whole thing was out of sight, out of mind... or at least he hoped it was. Before they went on to Westchester for spring break, they had a short stopover at the Greys’ for the weekend. Scott had been spending more time with the Greys over the past few months. At first that started as a concession to Jean in the wake of Sarah’s leaving, but it was a welcome one. Even for a couple of nights, returning to the mansion just didn’t feel the same as returning to John and Elaine’s home. It was more difficult for him to switch gears between ESU and Xavier Institute, and his focus was already ragged enough these days without attempting to further split himself between his Cyclops duties and everything else. Scott leaned his head back against the headrest and listened to the sound of the train. Anyway, he liked spending weekends at the Greys’. Saturdays spent studying with Ororo and Jean around the dining room table or watching movies in the living room. Sundays spent helping John in the garage while Elaine cooked Sunday dinner and Jean and Ororo sat outside. It felt peaceful and at ease... and he didn’t often feel that way anymore. He felt like he had to keep moving all the time now, unable to take a decent breath during the day, and desperate for a few hours of uninterrupted sleep at night. He remembered back to winter break at the Institute... he’d asked Ororo then, if she still thought about what they went through with Shadow King and D’Spayre. He’d come away from that exchange only somewhat reassured, that perhaps this time the malevolent forces only existed in his own head.... He was no longer so quick to write off what was in his own head as inconsequential or even non-threatening. Now, after this afternoon, it felt as though his various worlds were colliding more violently. “Think you can ask your dad about that necklace?” he asked Jean cautiously. “I think I’ll have to,” Jean replied without opening her eyes. She sounded as tired as he felt. “Just tell me there’s no mystic porthole waiting for me in my childhood closet.” “Try to avoid opening any stray porthole to another dimension,” Scott kidded dryly in reply. “Yes, please do,” Ororo seconded that motion. Jean laughed and leaned her head against Scott’s shoulder. Sometimes it was all so ridiculous, it felt good just to laugh at the absurdity of their lives. Scott put an arm around her in response, a show of solidarity.... He wouldn’t blame her if she was still feeling on edge over all of Rand’s weirdness but Scott wasn’t feeling on guard or on edge over Rand – or really anything else – at the moment. It felt like they were going home at the end of a very long day. And that, at least, was as it should be, in spite of all the weirdness. Scott felt comfortable and at ease with Jean beside him... and he hoped that shared moment felt at least a little bit comforting to her too. Regardless of anything else that was going wrong between them– he would always try his best to support and protect her. At least that was what he hoped he was saying to Jean when he put his arm around her.... But, as today’s earlier misstep with Colleen had demonstrated, he was not always good at this stuff... at relating to people in the very specific ways he intended to. All he could really do at the moment was hope Jean knew what he meant... reach out to her anyway, and trust her to understand the quiet parts. So many things he didn’t begin to know how to say, even when he wasn’t already too exhausted to try to put his thoughts into words... and somehow, when she was near him, he thought – maybe, just maybe – he didn’t need so much explanation. Maybe, for now, what he was feeling was explanation enough, for both of them. At the very least, it seemed it might be enough to get them through the train ride home.