Xciting New Worlds

By Meagan (Padfoot)

Chapter 1 Changes Big and Small

            "Miss Becker, would you please join the class?"

            "Huh?" I asked, snapping out of my latest fantasy. No longer was I battling the dark wizard Renaldo for the location of the kidnapped Prince David. No longer was I amazing the innocent bystanders with my astounding infinity of knowledge and magical prowess.

            Nope.

            Now I was being unappreciated.

            My fellow classmates giggled and pointed at me. I heard people muttering Melody this and Melody that under their breath. Talk about being mature.

             I blinked and rubbed my eyes.

            "Welcome back, Melody," Mrs. Senator said sarcastically. I scowled up at my Algebra Honors teacher. It was a known fact that I despised math in every form.

            "What was the question?" I asked in a would-be casual voice.

            I held my breath as she opened her mouth to do her worse (she didn't like me at all), but then the bell rang. I leapt to my feet with a cry of, "Saved by the bell!"

            I darted out of the classroom. Freedom!

            I shoved my way to my locker and crouched. Unfortunately, I happen to have a bottom locker. I scrambled to do the combination before the boy who owns the top locker, Gregg, came and made it impossible for me to get at my books.

            "Move," grunted Gregg. The stupid one had arrived.

            I twiddled the padlock quickly and opened the locker, only to be nudged—or rather, kicked—out of the way. I grunted as I landed hard on my side. I dejectedly blew a stray hair out of my eyes.

            It took Gregg about twenty minutes to open his locker, take out the right books, and put them in his backpack. This was one of his fast days.

            When he was finished, he slammed the locker shut. He turned and, as he walked back, purposely tangled his foot in my skirt and yanked it up to show the remaining students my underwear.

            I yowled and jerked my skirt back down. You see, I go to a private school and therefore must wear a uniform: a skirt and blouse.

            "Nice tighty-whities, Becker," Gregg chortled, and ambled off down the corridor.

            Eyes stinging with tears of humiliation, I got my books for homework and stuffed them into my bag. I snuffled and a solitary tear dripped down my cheek. I scowled with self-anger for letting a thing like that get to me.

            I left the school and walked home quickly, heels clicking against the pavement. If I walked quickly enough, I could probably avoid the bullies that hung around the place after school…

            "What's your hurry?"

            Guess not.

            I ignored the voice and quickened my pace. Not today, not Friday, not the day of the dance!

            The first swing by Bully Number 1 caught me in the shoulder and I went down. I lay sprawled on the sidewalk for a moment, dazed. Stars exploded in my eyes.

            A foot swung out and kicked me in the side. I rolled off the sidewalk with a grunt and down into a ditch by the side of the road. My backpack fell off in the process and tore, all my books and papers spilling out into the grass.

            I lie on my belly for a few moments. When I went to get up, a foot pressed against my back and shoved me down into the grass. I frantically searched the area around me for something, anything, that would aid me.

            I grabbed a shard of glass and gouged my captor's leg.

            He howled in pain and I rolled, but Bully Number 2 jumped on me. A solid blow landed on my eye, snapping my glasses. The left lens cracked. I yelled. I balled my hands into fists and swung, getting Bully Number 2 my across the face but the blow was weak.

            Another hit went onto my nose. Blood spurted out and rolled down my cheeks into my hair and mouth. I coughed and spluttered.

            "Leave her alone!"

            Now this voice I didn't recognize. It blinked a few times and looked up. A boy stood on top of the hill. He looked pretty muscular. His brown hair looked a little windblown. He was wearing ruby red sunglasses. He had his hands on his hips and, although he was wearing sunglasses, you could tell he was glaring at the person on top of me.

            "And why should I?" my captor demanded.

            "Because I said so!" Sunglasses said.

            "Look what she did to Danny," Bully Number 3 griped, pointing to Bully Number 1.

            Bully Number 1 was whimpering. He was a wimp enough not to have pulled the glass out of the wound. Blood seeped out of the gash and down his leg.

            "Look what you did to me!" I said, glaring. This only earned me a punch across the mouth.

            Sunglasses dove at Bully Number 2. They hit and both went rolling. I quickly got to my feet and shouldered Bully Number 3, who had started to run so he could help his partner-in-crime. I was short, but that came in awful handy when you wanted to trip someone.

            Bully Number 3 went down. With all my might, I kicked him in the side of the head. Specks of blood flew from my nose. He flopped down on the ground, unconscious.

            I ran over to where Sunglasses and Bully Number 2 were fighting. I drew back my fist and landed a powerful punch to his jaw.

            He rolled off Sunglasses with a yell. He got to his feet, stared at his fallen accomplices, and ran.

            I wiped blood from my nose with the back of my hand and sniffed. I helped Sunglasses to his feet. "Thanks for saving my butt," I said.

            "No problem," he replied. He paused, and then added, "If you took down those two like that, why didn't you just do that to begin with?"

            I shrugged. "There were too many of them for me to handle. And besides, they hit me in the back. The next thing I knew, I was pinned on the ground and they were pounding on my face."

            "My name's Scott Summers," Sunglasses said, holding out his hand.

            I took it. "Melody Becker. Nice to meet you, Scott."

            "Same here."

            I bent and picked up the twisted remains of my glasses, screwing up my face. This was the second pair in three weeks! Mom was going to kill me!

            "Listen, do you need a ride?" asked Scott, running a hand through his hair.        

            I thought about it. It didn't seem like too bad an idea because, after all, he had just saved my butt. So I grinned and nodded. "Sure."

            We clambered up the hill. I froze when I saw his car. It was… beautiful. The shiny red convertible glittered in the sunlight. "Whoa," I breathed.

            "Like it?" Scott asked with a grin.

            I nodded fervently. I tore the door open and leapt inside. The interior of the car was leather. I grinned and ran my hand over the armrest.

            As Scott started driving, he told me, "There's Kleenex in the dashboard compartment if you want it."

            I nodded my thanks and wiped blood from my upper lip, stuffing the rags into my sweater pocket.

            "Where do you live?" he asked as we pulled up to the end of the street. I told him. He twiddled the steering wheel and took a sharp right.

            "Where do you go to school? I haven't seen you around before," I asked.

            "Bayville High. You?"

            I wrinkled my nose. "Albright's School for Gifted Children."

            "Oooh," he hissed in sympathy.

            "Yeah. Exactly. Like I want to go there. And as far as I see, I'm the only gifted person in the entire school."

            "High opinion of yourself?"

            "A true high opinion of myself."

            He grinned.

            I pointed out my house and he pulled up. I glanced at the driveway. My parents weren't home. Good.

            "Thanks!" I said, getting out.

            "Listen," Scott said, "If you need a ride home after school, I can drive you. And if you ever need to give me a call, I live at the Xavier Institute. Call before you come, though."

            I closed my eyes. "Yes, thank you! Just what I needed! I'm usually able to avoid the Stupids but I was slow today. A ride would be great."

            He waved and drove off.

            I ran to the front door, fumbled with my key, and tore the door open. I ran inside and was about to run past the mirror, but caught a look at myself and froze.

            I guess you can say I'm pretty plain looking. I've got straight brown hair that's a few inches longer than my shoulders. Right now, it was matted down with blood. I ran a hand down my slightly pointed, slightly elfish face. I was extremely pale. My blue-green eyes were wide in my face and half obscured by my bangs. I gingerly touched my normal-sized nose.

            I glanced at the clock. It was three. I had just enough time to take a shower before my parents came home.

            I took a quick shower and was padding downstairs in my bathrobe and slippers when my mother came home. My mother looked at me, glanced at the clock, and then stared at me.

            "What?" I demanded.

            "What happened to your eye?" she demanded.

            I looked to my right and crouched a little so that I could see myself in the shiny surface of the toaster. My left eye was swollen and purple. I touched it and winced.

            "I got jumped by a few bullies," I said, flaring my nostrils and immediately wishing that I didn't because it hurt.

            "Why don't you fight back?" Mom cried despairingly.

            "I did! There were too many of them! I would have come off worse for wear, but this kid called Scott pulled up and saved me. He even gave me a ride home."

            Mom stared at me, face turning red. "You accepted a ride from a stranger?"

            Oops.

            "Well, yeah. He had just saved me. Besides, he's nice. He lives at the Xavier Institute. Don't really gifted people go there?"

            "You're grounded."

            I froze. "What?"

            "I've always told you not to ride with strangers and you deliberately disobeyed me. You're grounded, for a month. You're to stay in your room for the rest of the evening."

            My face steadily colored. Anger bubbled up in my chest. I balled my hands into fists and trembled with anger. My lips stretched into thin, bloodless lines. I turned abruptly on heel and stomped upstairs.

            In my room, I threw on the clothes that were my usual attire: baggy khakis and a tight red tee shirt. I dried my hair and stared at my reflection. I sighed at my height, which is below average. I look like a sixth grader, not a freshman. I curled my lip as I saw my black eye. What a sunrise.

            In no way had my anger dissipated.

            Suddenly and violently, I had a pounding headache. The world spun wildly and I lurched forward. I caught the dresser and steadied myself, gasping. My nose started to bleed again. I choked on the air, as if abruptly unable to breath air.  My stomach churned.

            As abruptly as it started, it stopped.

            I heard the doorbell ring. I glanced outside the window and paled. Scott's convertible was parked on the sidewalk in front of our house.

            "Hello?"

            My mother's voice drifted up the stairs.

            I tore the door open and flew down the stairs. Scott stood in the doorway, with my mother confronting him. He was holding my visibly destroyed backpack.

            He grinned when he saw me. "Melody! You forgot your backpack!"

            I stared at him, as if I had never seen anything quite like him before. He was still wearing his sunglasses, although it was dark out. I smiled fleetingly.

            "Who's this?" Mom demanded.

            "Um, this is Scott. He's the one who gave me a ride home today."

            She glared at Scott, who looked a little taken aback. "What did you think you were doing, driving home a young girl you didn't know?"

            He took a step back, shocked at the confrontation. "I—I don't know. There were these three guys beating her up, so I got them off her. I guess I didn't want them to chase after her and get her again."

            I felt a trickle of blood crawling down my upper lip. I wiped it away and pinched my nose. "See?" I asked in a nasal voice, "I wouldn't have accepted the ride home if I hadn't known he was nice."

            "That's not the point! It's that—" She broke off.

            Because then the window exploded.

            I dropped to the ground as if I had suddenly lost use of my legs. I yelled with pain and alarm. I threw my arms up to cover my face as shards of glass flew at me. They pelted my skin, cutting deep with razor sharp edges.

             I looked up only when I heard the crunch of glass being stepped on. My eyes came to rest on a pair of shiny, black leather boots that I had never seen before. I looked up to see a pair of green scaly legs, a skimpy black skirt and top, followed by a snake-like face with yellow eyes. Her vivid red hair contrasted horribly with her skin. She grinned maliciously down at me, exposing larger-than-normal eyeteeth… or rather, fangs.

            "You exploded the window," I squeaked.

            She laughed, a low and sinister sound that sent a shiver down my spine.

            "Mystique," Scott growled. His hand had flown to his sunglasses the moment the window exploded. They seemed to glow with a pulsing red light.

            "Aaah, if it isn't Xavier's pet, Cyclops," the sake-woman, presumably Mystique, laughed.

            Now I could see that there was a definitely glow behind the mirror-like sunglasses. "I'm warning you, Mystique! Leave her alone!"

            "I've come to claim her, X-Child. She is mine," she bent down and dragged me to my feet, running a hand down my cheek.

            I jerked out of her grip. "Don't touch me, you freak!"

            She eyed me up with her demonic yellow eyes. She grabbed me by both shoulders and stared into my eyes. "You will come with me, whether you want to or not," she hissed.

            But something had come to distract me.

            I seemed to plunge into the yellow depths of her eyes. My arms unconsciously rose to touch her face, holding her head still. I felt—felt—my pupils shrink. The hands on my shoulders fell away. I felt power surge into my body through my hands, coming directly from Mystique herself.

            A red flash of light suddenly blinded me. I shrieked in shock and fell back, clutching my face. My skin rippled under my fingers, changing shape and texture.

            That's when my mother started screaming.

            Mystique slammed into the wall and slid down it, twitching. She moaned and blinked. Then she looked up at me with such terror in her eyes that I shall never forget it.

            I had never seen someone look as horrified as she. What traumatized me, however, was that that look was directed at me.

            I closed my eyes and buried my face in my hands. Something pricked my fingers. I winced and looked down. A thin trickle of blood ran down my finger—which was now a deep shade of green.

            I got to my feet and stumbled over to the mirror. All eyes were on me. I glanced in the mirror and screamed.

            My face was scaly and green. My hair was now auburn, not brown. My irises were yellow. My eyeteeth had grown to double their normal size.

            Another red light flashed. I looked over at Scott and jumped. His sunglasses were on the lower part of his nose. The lasers were coming from his eyes.

            Mystique yelled. She threw up her arms to protect her face. The scent of burnt flesh filled my nostrils. Scott's deadly gaze instantly charred her exposed skin.

            She closed her eyes and relaxed her face, looking as if she expected something to happen. Nothing did. She looked suddenly very panicked. She got to her feet, sent an alarmed glance at me, and jumped out the window she had come in.

            I sank to the floor. I closed my eyes and wished—for the first time in my life—that I were me.

            My skin rippled again. My vision slid out of focus. Confused, I touched my cheek. It was soft like human skin again.

            I dragged myself up to look in the mirror again. I smiled, still a little dazed and confused. I was myself again.

            "What's happening to me?" I whispered. I sat on the floor again and drew my knees up to my chest, trembling. Tears rolled down my cheeks. I was scared, an emotion that I hadn't experienced for years.

            Mom remained where she was. It was Scott who walked over and knelt beside me, gently squeezing my arm. His sunglasses glinted. "Don't worry," he said, "It happens to all of us."

            "'All of us'?" I repeat.

            He smiled thinly. "All of us mutants. It shows when we have particularly strong and violent emotion. You aren't the only mutant. There are lost of us. We're all mutants back at the Institute. Back there, we learn how to use our powers to protect others. You can come now, I guess. It's your choice if you want to come, though. I won't make you."

            This new and sudden information started to sink in. Mutants? How could this possibly be?

            "It's not true," I said stiffly.

            "Then tell me, what just happened?"

            I fell silent and looked blankly off to the side.

            "Mom," I said softly, "Mom, what am I going to do?"

            Mom looked down at me as if I were something she'd found in the sewer. "I have no daughter," she said, "Because whatever you are, you aren't human. And you are not living in this house."

            My insides froze. My stomach dropped out existence. "W-what?" I spluttered.

            "Leave. Now."

            Numbly, I got to my feet. Scott helped me up. I stiffly walked upstairs, stuffed everything into a trunk, and brought it downstairs. As it clunked loudly against the stairs, realization sank in.

            My mother was disowning me.

            My eyes filled with tears. I fiercely wiped them away.

            Scott took my trunk to the car. I stood in front of my mother, staring at her with watery eyes. "You'll regret this," I hissed, "I was your only daughter. I'm glad I'm not now."

            And with that, I turned on heel and went to the car with Scott and got in.

            I was going to my new home.

A/N: Eeep! No flames! ::cringes:: This is my first fan fic about a TV show ever. I've been watching the show for about two months now and I'm lovin' it. (KURT RULES!!) If I've made any stupidly obvious mistakes, please inform me of this. Please, be nice!!

~*~Padfoot~*~