X-Tennyson: Part One

X-Tennyson
Part One: New Living

~~~~~~~~~~

It was bigger than I expected.

Now, that’s not to say it was scarier or anything. Just… bigger.

Ken drove the car through the large front gates of the X-Mansion smoothly. It kind of made me even more nervous to have him taking this in such an easy stride. Why couldn’t I be like that?

“Well?” he looked over at me as the car circled through the parking lot, narrowly avoiding cars and mutant pedestrians. “What do you think?” he asked.

“What could I possibly think?” I asked back. I always enjoyed playing word games with him. Especially given the fact that Ken was smart enough to play. “I’ve barely seen anything of the place,” I answered.

Ken laughed and pulled into a parking place. “Right, Gwen,” he retorted in that off tone of his, “As if you haven’t already taken in the entire layout of the school the instant we got close enough.”

Damn. How did he know that?

“I’m your brother,” he answered my mental question, “I’m supposed to know stuff like that.”

Ken always freaked me out. He’s totally not a mind reader or anything, but he knows me so well, it’s scary sometimes. “Cut it out,” I snapped, no longer interested in playing games since I was loosing, “So what if I did?”

“You’ve always been six steps ahead, huh?” he joked, pulling the keys from the ignition.

I frowned at him. Yeah, okay, it was true. I had gone through the entire school building the instant we were close enough for my powers to work that well, but so what? It’s not like I found out anything important besides that there are two people on the third floor making out in a dorm, and that a dork just accidentally locked teacher in a closet. Or maybe he did it on purpose… Oh, well. Whatever.

No sooner had Ken and I stepped out of his Accord Sedan – a going away present for him from our Grandmother on our mom’s side – than a burly, tough-looking man appeared before us.

“Hey,” he greeted us gruffly, with a slight nod in my direction.

Ken shuttered in my peripheral vision, which made me think this man was in a sour mood.

My brother had the uncanny ability to feel the flow of emotions. It was not a common power amongst mutants, (I had researched), but basically, he could feel what other people felt, and - if the occasion called for it - manipulate their emotions so they felt whatever he wanted them to feel. It was like, the next best thing to mind control because if he pushed someone's emotions far enough, he could make them do things without even realizing it. Not that Ken would. Come to think of it, he barely used his powers at all.

"Hi...?" I greeted back hesitantly.

The man had this weird, dark-blueish hair the same dark blue of his short sleeved shirt. He wore a belt in his lighter blue jeans - a  brown one, that matched his boots. He had just a light brushing of stubble along his jawline. His eyes were an oppressing black that seemed to be blocking a deeper muddle of memories.

He didn't smile when he spoke, but he didn't frown either. "I'm Logan," he introduced himself, "The teacher assigned to drag you two around campus today."

Ken shuddered again.

Well, that proved my bad mood theory.

"Leave your bags in your car," he told us, "We've got a lot of ground to cover, and you're not going to want to lug all your stuff around with you."

Ken gave me a wary glance, so I smiled reassuringly, and we followed Logan away from the parking lot.

Logan wasn't kidding. Not only was the place bigger than I first thought, it was bigger than I had surveyed with my powers. There were numerous buildings that covered miles and miles of land. There were horse stables and sports courts that ranged everywhere from basketball to tennis to football. I knew Ken would like it here. It was like college - times four.

Near the end of the tour, we ended up in what Logan called the main lobby. There were students everywhere who played fooseball, or messed around with their powers, or whatever. The high energy levels coming from the room covered my arms in goosebumps.

One girl, sitting on a couch, reading Pride and Prejudice, (one of my favorites), got up and came over to Logan with a big indigo lipped smile.She was a girl, maybe a year older than me, but I wouldn't bet on it; a short haired brunette with white stripes in the front. When she got closer to us, I shied away. She had an eerie manna about her. It made my skin crawl uncomfortably just to be near her.

"Gwen and Ken Tennyson," Logan motioned to us with his hand, then to the girl, "This is Rogue."

The girl gave us a weird glance. I couldn't quite but my finger on what it was, but politely held out a gloved hand. "Hello," she greeted in a clearly southern accent, "You two are new here, huh?"

Ken took the girl's hand and shook it, "Yeah, we are."

When she stuck her hand out to me, something strange happened. I felt more than one energy surge at me in powerful waves that force me backwards a step. I gasped.

She retracted her hand quickly and looked at me, puzzled. "What's wrong?" she asked.

I shook my head and stepped behind Ken, keeping his energy between mine and hers. "I just... can't," I panted.

Logan looked from me to Rogue then back to me. "You okay?" he asked, "You didn't even touch her skin."

"What happens if you touch her skin?" Ken wanted to know.

"I absorb," Rogue spoke up, "Little pieces of whoever I touch. Memories, personality traits, physical features, even borrowing mutant powers. It all gets stored in the back of my mind."

So that's it, I realized, The different energies I felt are the ones she's absorbed, and I can't handle so many at one time.

"So Logan," Rogue recaptured his attention, "I hear your daughter is being transferred here tomorrow."

Logan growled, "She's not my daughter."

"She may as well be," she said quite matter-of-factly, even placing a hand on her hip for dramatic effect, "Have you come up with a name for her, like the Professor asked you to?"

Logan looked like he was going to lash out again, but then his face dropped and he got really calm. "Yeah," he answered in sort of a defeated tone, "I have."

I raised an eyebrow at Ken, who just winked. Three guess why Logan was so calm now.

"Well?" Rogue pressed him, bringing her book up to press against her chest.

"Laura."

"Oh, that's nice," I commented before I could stop myself, "Is there, uh, any specific reason for it?"

Logan shrugged, "It's the name she wanted."

"Hmm," Rogue murmured, "Well, nice talking to you, but I'm sure you have a tour to get back to. Catch you later Tennysons!" She suddenly dipped from us, running to join a group of kids, and automatically catching all their attention with whatever she was saying. Something told me she only came over to find out the name of Logan's not-daughter.

"So... Your daughter?" Ken turned to Logan.

"Another time," he answered, and started walking away. Ken and I followed hastily.

"Logan!" a voice came from above us. Not heaven or anything. Upstairs. Second floor balcony to be precise. Logan froze.

A woman with long white hair and an interesting accent I couldn't quite place came down the steps. Floating, rather. The way she walk and her flowing skirt made her look more like she was floating. "Hello Logan," she greeted, "How is it going?"

Logan sighed, "This is my last tour. Then I can go beat the crap out of machinery to clear my head."

Ken and I exchanged worried glances.

Storm rolled her eyes at him. "Are these the Tennysons?" she asked, looking over at my brother and I.

Ken nodded, "Yes ma'am." (Ken and his manners; So annoying sometimes.) He stuck out his hand, "Ken Tennyson, and this is my sister, Gwendolyn."

I elbowed him in the side for saying my whole name. He expected it though, and moved out of the way just in time. "Gwen," I corrected, offering my own hand, "Gwendolyn is a bit much for me."

The woman smiled at me beautifully, and accepted my handshake. "I'm Ororo. Ororo Munroe," she introduced, "It's quite a mouthful as well, so the students call me Storm." (Figured it out. It was an African accent.)

"Let me guess... Weather manipulation?"

She seemed a bit surprised. "Why yes, how did you know?" she asked curiously.

"The internet is amazing nowadays," was all I needed to say.

Storm turned back to Logan, "Almost done?"

Logan nodded, "Just about to show these two to their rooms. Then I'm done and gone."

"What are your rooms?" Storm asked us.

Ken pulled a piece of paper from the front pocket of his jacket and unfolded it. "Room 38," he answered.

"Your rooming with Bobby, in the boys dorms," Logan informed Ken before turning his attention to me, "And you?"

I took my own school schedule from my black skirt pocket and found my room number at the top. "Room 57," I told them.

Storm smiled, "It seems you got lucky as well. Rogue and Kitty moved into separate rooms, so you're Kitty's new room-mate."

Curiously I repeated, "Kitty?"

"Shadowkat," Logan explained, "Her real name is Kitty Pride."

"Hey Gwen! Kenny!" a familiar voice suddenly cut in.

I spun around and found my cousin, Benjamin Tennyson walking towards us. In all the excitement, I had forgotten he was coming to this school as well. I sighed with relief at this little piece of familiarity, then wrapped Ben up in a hug.

"Ah! Gwen!" Ben croaked, "C-Choking me!"

I quickly released Ben. "Sorry," I apologized, "You okay?"

"Fine," Ben answered me, "Miss me?"

"Extremely."

Logan raised an eyebrow at the two of us. "You two know each other?" he asked.

Ben shrugged. "Well, yeah," he told her, "Gwen, Ken and I share a last name. We're cousins."

Storm seemed throughly interested in this. "Really?" she asked, but didn't give us the chance to repeat out answer, "How nice. We don't get a lot of family members here."

Just as I was about to asked, 'Why not?', another persona joined us. Not a girl, but not quite old enough to call a woman. Perhaps, fresh out of High School? She was very pretty, with blood red hair falling down her back. She wore a lavender top and baggy, tan pants, exposing her midriff. Guess there was no dress code here.
(Yay!)

"Hey Logan. Hey Storm," she greeted as she walked up to our group, "Oh, you two must be Ben's family. We were just talking about you."

I frowned at Ben, who threw me an innocent grin.

"I'm Jean Grey," the red-head continued, "I was just about to say good-bye to Ben now that we've finished our tour."

"You can go Professor," Ben told her, "I'll stay and hang with my cousins."

Storm smiled at Jean. "Professor," she repeated, "Well, how's the title feel?"

Jean grinned, "Exciting, if nothing else, but I've got to go. Scott's waiting for me." And with that, she ran off.

"She new?" I asked, having gotten the feeling she was through the conversation.

"She just graduated last year," Storm told me, "She and Scott both. Now their starting their first year as Professors."

"God help us all," Logan grumbled.

I giggled.

"Well, Logan," Storm suddenly changed the subject, "Why don't I help you out and take Gwen to her room?"

Logan gave her a suspicious look, "And why would you want to help me?"

"To get out of the Orientation Meeting starting right now," she answered blatantly.

Logan shrugged, "Fair enough. She's all yours."

Stormed waved her hand for me to follow her. I took a step, then turned back to Ben and Ken. "Go ahead," Ken told me, "We'll catch up with you later."

I nodded and ran after Storm, ready to branch out on my own. Ready to take on the Xavier Institute.