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Vol. 1 Story 2: Questions Answered; Answers Questioned By Wraith and Shockwave ***WARNING*** This story contains mature themes and elements (Profanity, Violence, Drug Use, etc.) Cartier St. Croix had no idea why he had allowed this conference. If he did what he was asked, then all the money he paid to silence that whore Sandra Brown over the years would have been a waste. And besides it would simply devastate Monet, the light of his life. "Look, Ms. Frost, I appreciate what you are trying to do here, but I believe my sexual affairs are my own business. Thank you very much !" "Mr. St. Croix I don't think you understand the extent to which your "sexual affairs" being kept secret have caused us !" Sean Cassidy shot a shocked glare at Emma. He was as upset as anyone at Mr. St. Croix's secrets (M's autism, and the existence of Emplate and Penance especially came to mind); but Emma was letting her emotions get the better of her. If she continued down this road, St. Croix might cut off communication then and there. "Emma, why don't I finish talking to Mr. St. Croix eh ?" "Fine Sean. Maybe you can get more out of him than I can !" Emma left the room. Now only Jamal, Monet, and Sean were in the Communications Room with a digital image of Carter St. Croix on the view screen. Carter thought to himself, well it's now or never. "Monet," he began. "I'm sorry you have to hear this but.... Yvette and Marius' mother is not your mother. The woman Sandra Brown is your mother." "B-But why didn't you tell me the truth last night?" "I thought I wouldn't have to tell you at all ! But when you called, a reflex action of lying about that woman just took over me. But don't think that I love you any less. In fact, my dear, I love you more than Marius or Yvette. And I would do anything to have kept this a secret. Anything." Something about the tone of voice and look in Carter's eyes when he said "Anything" gave Sean a cold feeling. He suddenly thought about what Carter said about loving Monet more than the others. Everything Finally Clicked!!! "Wait one damn minute!!!!" Sean had to check himself so that his emotional yell didn't overpower his willpower and liquify the monitor in front of him. "Who else knew about your wee little secret Mr. St. Croix !?!" Besides Yvette and Marius' mother ?" Carter looked downwards in shame. "Marius himself found out....." "And what kept him from blackmailing you like Monet and Jamal's mother ?" "I.... He....." "He didn't want money did he Carter ?! All he wanted was a mutant he could feed off of for the rest of his life didn't he !?! You bastard! You handed Yvette over to that monster just to keep your extra-marital affair out of the press!!" Monet spoke up again "That must be why Gateway called Yvette `Penance'." She continued choking away sobs. "She was your payment, or penance, for your crimes!" Carter tried to comfort his daughter as best he could from half a world away. Now it was done. The circle; completed. Monet, the girl for which he would die, stared at him with the blank look of dispare. While Carter St. Croix may have been a man to be feared and revered in Monaco; in the Communications Room of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. He evoked three very different emotions in three people. In Sean Cassidy, the man who felt like the closest thing Yvette had to a father, Carter's very voice turned his stomach with disgust. In the eyes of Monet St. Croix, daddy's little girl who became daddy's little secret, Carter was a louse to the woman she was raised to believe was her mother. Especially to Yvette, who was forced to pay for his crimes. To Jamal Brown, the man was an enigma. He never met him till today, but Carter caused so many emotions to run rampant in Jamal's mind that Jamal didn't know what to make of him. **************** At the same time that Monet St. Croix's perfect world was being torn down around her; Christopher Storm was trying to display the extent of his mutant ability to Headmistress Emma Frost. Emma decided that keeping her mind on her work, and off that piece of primordial ooze speaking to Sean in the next room; was the best way to calm down. "Chris," she said holding a 12 volt battery in front of him. "I want you to drain this battery's electrical charge and attempt to stabilize it in a physical shape in the air between us." "Any particular shape ma'am ?" "Any shape you want Chris. Oh and Chris?" "Yes ma'am ?" "Call me `ma'am' again; and I'll make you lose control of your bodily function's for 24 hours. OK?" "Yes Ms. Frost" Chris began to concentrate. As he did, the volt meter connected to the battery began to read a significant drop in power from 12 to 6. However, Chris began to perspire and the meter *stopped at 6. Emma urged him on. "Come on Chris; just a little more. You can do it!" And, as if on cue, the remaining 6 volts of energy drained from the battery. Chris' eyes glowed an electric blue color. Still concentrating he traced a shape in the air with his index finger. As he did, the electrical charge he drained filled in the spots he traced in the air. The smell of ozone filled the room as cursive words spelling "Thank You Ma'am" floated in the air. Emma smiled. "Cute Chris, cute. That is all for now. Meet me back here the same time tomorrow and we'll try a bigger battery." "Thank you Ms. Frost. Good-bye" **************** Since her arrival 12 hours ago, Sara Kain had been reunited with the boy she and her family owed their lives to; made a new best friend; and engaged in more girl talk than she had ever had in her life. Since her father died when she was a young girl, and her mother began to date again, she had only her older brother to hang out with. Kyle was a man's man; he felt it was his job to since there were no steady male role models in the home. Kyle's friends were Sara's friends, so Sara became somewhat of a tomboy. Yet since she met Paige Guthrie 12 hours ago, she felt her tomboyish nature continually receded. And now as the two girls jogged around the Biosphere continuing their girl talk, the subject (inevitably) turned to boys. "Paige what do you do when you meet someone you knew as kids but now you like them?" "Well gal, I've learned that if you wait for a boy to talk to you, you could be pineing till the cows come home." "So you're saying I should ask Jamal out?" "Oh, Jamal is who we're talking about! When did you used to know him ?" Sara thought back to the night when Jamal saved her, and her mom. "Well...it's complicated" "Tell ya what gal. If you ask Jamal out, I'll ask Chris out." "Chris !?! Last night you said you and Jono were...." "Well Jono and I are in a kinda cooling off period" "How bout we corner them tonight? At 9:30 ?" "I'll meet you in your room." "Cool" *************** It was 9:45 p.m., and Monet and Jamal were sitting around her room laughing almost louder than the hip-hop music blasting from her speakers. "You know Jamal I never listened to the.. eh;" She picked up the CD case and read the group name. "Boot Camp Clik. Or any rap before. It's......interesting." Jamal couldn't help but laugh. He didn't want to bring up the subject of marijuana around Monet. Even though it was his favorite way to calm his nerves; he didn't want to offend his newfound big sister. So he figured laughing the night away was the second best way to calm down. When they weren't laughing they were exchanging stories about their missed childhood. "Ya know Monet, you would've been miserable with Sandra. Everything Carter was covert about, she did out in the open and didn't care." "Jamal, I really appreciate what you're doing. And I......" A knock at the door interrupted them. It was Everett. "Monet it's me, Ev! Mr. Cassidy said you were a little upset about something." Jamal stood up to leave. "I'll leave you lovebirds alone. Hey sis; you can keep tha CD for a while. See ya round." As he walked out of the room he turned around and, literally, bumped into Sara. "Oh, hi Sara..." "Uh, yeah...hi..." "This is kinda awkward isn't it?" "Yeah well. I'll just blurt it out.... would you like to go out sometime?" She crossed her fingers. "Ya know what Sara, I'm glad you asked me that." "Why?" "You saved me the trouble of screwing up tha nerve ta ask ya myself!" Sara ran her left hand through her shoulder length strawberry-blonde hair and breathed a sigh of relief. Her relief quickly vanished though, when a large explosion from outside rocked the building almost to it's foundation. Sara, Jamal, Monet and Everett ran outside in time to see Jono standing over Chris' smoking body. Paige was huddled over top of Chris screaming in Jono's face. "What! Now you all of the sudden care about me!? Well guess what Jono? THIS is why I broke up with you in the first place! You're so damned moody I don't know how you feel sometimes! Now leave Chris alone!" Paige helped lift Chris off the ground as he limped inside. Unbeknownst to Paige or Chris, Jono was charging up his Chamber again. They didn't understand this was a point of honor for him. He had finally found the woman who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with; and now she had up and left him for another man! His emotion clouded his judgment. He fired again, this time at Chris' calf. The blast didn't meet its target. As the wave of bio-kinetic force ejected from Jono's chest Jamal jumped in the way. Instead of hitting the ground, a rainbow aura ,much like Synch's, surrounded him. Jono, as well as everyone else was shocked. [[What in the bloody hell ?]] Monet instinctively ran to her half-brother, but Everett stopped her. "What do you think you are doing Everett? He's not you, he can't survive a blast like that!" "Actually Monet, he is like me; for now anyway. He must've seen my power and learned to use it. Passively albeit, but he used it." Everyone's attention returned to Jamal and Jono (except for Paige, who managed to get Chris to the infirmary and alert Sean in the confusion). Jamal's eyes glowed with the intensity of Jono's energy blast. "Back off English! You'll bite off more than you can chew!" [[I hardly think so! You've got no right interfering in business that isn't your own you lousy ni--huh!?!?]] Before Jono could allow his emotions to get him into anymore trouble; Sean grabbed both young men by their collars. "On me sainted mother's grave! What in God's name is going on here?" No one responded. "If I don't get some answers than I'm gonna put the lot of ya on academic probation!" Emma Frost spoke up inside Sean's mind. [[No need for that Sean, Paige explained everything to me. Apparently Jonothan was the one to blame for this fiasco. Jamal tried to play peacekeeper.]] [[Thanks Emma.]] "O.K. Jono why don't you go inside and cool off. That's NOT a request. You are to report to Emma tomorrow morning for a psyche evaluation. This isn't like you lad. I'm disappointed in ye." [[I'm sorry Mr. Cassidy; I don't know what came over me.]] Jono extended a hand to Jamal. [[I'm sorry Jamal. I said some things I shouldn't and....]] Jamal abruptly turned to leave. He wore a look of disgust on his face. "Sara, I'm going inside to see how Paige and Chris are doing. I'll see you in the morning." He gave Sara a short, but well appreciated, kiss on her cheek. Everett whispered into Monet's ear "He works fast doesn't he?" ************** Paige knew that Jono wouldn't exactly like the fact that she asked Chris out behind his back, but she never expected this! Then again maybe she was being a little melodramatic. Chris wasn't real bad. In fact he dodged the blast so well that he was only caught by the tail end of the blast. The most damage was done to Chris' clothing. His favorite outfit (consisting of a black FUBU hoodie and black Tommy Jeans) was utterly ruined. As she sat in the infirmary she wondered if she made the right choice. Was she seeing Chris because she genuinly liked him, or was she just trying to hurt Jono for ignoring her as of late (in which case she apparently succeeded). Snapping her out of her melancholy was a knock at the door. "Hello? It's Jamal." "Oh come in." Paige stood up to open the door. "I really want to thank you for standing up for us." "Yeah well, I guess I felt like I had to." What he didn't tell her was that he felt a psionic bond with Chris. The same bond he felt with Monet. But he didn't want to complicate things anymore than they were. Chris awoke. "Hey! It's my hero!" He squealed in falsetto. "But seriously," his voice went back to normal. "Thanks for the assist back there. Good lookin out boy." Paige broke in. "Oops! It's nearly 11:30 and I have a big lab presentation in the morning! I'll see you guys later." She kissed Chris, who was sitting up in the infirmary bed, long and hard on the lips. "Sweet dreams." On her way out she kissed Jamal on the forehead. "Thanks again. G'night." Both boys said goodnight back. Chris felt that he had to ask the question that was burning in his mind. "Why Jamal?" "Why what?" "Why did you stop him? I mean we barely spoke to each other after that little getting-to-know -you session yesterday." "Yeah well, I just felt I had to." An uncomfortable silence passed for about minutes, which seemed more like three hours. Finally Jamal spoke up. "Looks like English fucked up a good outfit." "Sure did! Wouldn't you know that that's my favorite one too!" "Well, ya know; when Emma was driving us in I saw a fairly large mall. And Besides Boston is only about an hour away." "I do have some spendin cash..." "What say this weekend we all go out to go shopping?" "Who's `we all' ?" "Whoever wants to come." "Cool." "Yeah I'll see ya tomorrow playa."
