musicankane
I blew a monkey once.
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2004
- Posts
- 15,633
So I have been trying to make an attempt to write in a different style than a normal body of work. I've always wanted to write a piece of X-Men fan fiction in which I can create a character to drill the living shit out of good ol' Rogue. At the same time I wanted to re-create the visual and quick cut style of a comic without the pictures of course. So this is my first attempt at putting something like that out.
Please note that this story will assume the reader is fairly familiar with the X-Men comic universe.
Kane's X-Men: Nemesis
Issue 1
Kent Marshal had two real loves in his life, video games, and football. Good God how Kent loved football, he had tried out for the team in every single grade since junior high. All he ever wanted was to be big enough and strong enough to play football.
There was only one problem.
Kent Marshal, at seventeen years old, was only 4'11" and barely 100lbs soaking wet. Was there something wrong with him? No, not exactly. Kent simply destined to be a skinny and lankly dorking kid. He worked out, he ran, he lifted what little weight he could, but nothing ever seemed to help him. No matter what Kent tried he was destined to remain a scrawny little dweeb.
At least he had a Playstation.
As Kent stared up at the bed he thought about tomorrow. This year would be different. Tomorrow was try-outs for Varsity, senior year. His last year to make it on the team. Three days ago he turned eighteen, he was a senior now, he was ready to make the biggest impact of his life on that field tomorrow.
This time things were going to be different. He smiled and closed his eyes.
Kent awoke to a suddenly and violently loud jolt and crash. He cired out and jerked upright looking around for what had caused the noise. After a moment he realized he was sitting on the floor of the room, the bed frame around him had collapsed completely. Confused he threw the covers back and saw that he had changed. His body looked bigger, bulky, strong, his arms toned and cut as if he was a professional body builder. He scrambled out of the ruins of his bed and stood up quickly, he grunted as he whacked his head on the lamp that hung from his ceiling.
Hissing Kent staggered back and glanced up at the lamp. He had never hit his head on that before. He wasn't tall enoug......Kent's eyes went wide and he spun toward his closet door. The mirror he hung up on the door revealed a very different person than the Kent that went to bed a skinny pale dork last night. What stood in the mirror now was a six foot something man with a body that looked like he was chiseled from stone. He absently ran his hands over his body as if trying to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
Kent cried out as a knock came at the bedroom door. "Kent Honey! Are you okay? What was that sound?"
Kent moved to the door and opened it slowly. "Mom? OKay don't freak out, but something happened last night." He said carefully.
Kent's mother Cathline, a small woman herself, glanced up as she realized her son's voice was above her now. Her eyes moves up slowly and she said, "Kent?"
Kent sighed and pushed open the door and revealed what was apparently the brand new him. Cathline put a hand to her mouth and stared at the mammoth her son had become. "Oh dear Lord."
"What happened to me?" Kent asked.
Cathline shook her head and took a deep breath. "I think...oh honey. I think you're a mutant."
* * * *
Kent drew looks from people all day long at school. As much as he would like to think it was because of the tacky clothing he had borrowed from his father's closet, Kent knew better. It was because he had physically become outted as a mutant. A dirty stinking mutant, at least that's what people thought of mutants.
He sat on the bleachers waiting tryouts to begin for Varsity and stared at his hands. What would they say to Kent suddenly showing up nearly double the damn size as he was last time? Maybe they wouldn't notice, he barely made a blip on their radar last time he tried out, totally forgetable.
Yeah right.
Forgetable or not, they would notice the massive literally overnight transformation.
"I am screwed." He muttered and buried his face in his hands.
* * * *
Coach Davis and Coach Mathews looked at the sign-up sheet and groaned, "He signed up again?" Mathews asked in disbelief as he scrolled through the names.
Davis groaned and shook his head, "You gotta admit the kid is determined."
"If he wasn't build like a piece of tissue paper." Mathews grabbed his hat off the edge of his desk and put it on. "Let's get this embarrassment out of the way."
Together the coaches walked out of the office and out onto the field where the tryout students already stood wearing trial jerseys. Both men where looking at the clip boards so they didn't see the massive bulk that Kent had become.
"Alright guys, welcome to football tryouts. You are all here to fight for a spot on the team and we only have limited spots so let's get this go....oh." Davis said, his voice trailing off as he glanced up.
Davis smacked Mathews in the shoulder causing the other man to look up and see the beast standing in line. "What the?"
"Looks like we are going to be champions this year." Davis whispered with a smirk. He walked up to the tall kid and said, "What's your name son? You new to Belmont?"
Kent looked down at the coach, still embarrassed at how much he had to look down at people now. "K...Kent Marshal coach. I've tried out before."
Davis blinked and took a step back, "Marshal?"
Mathews came up and said, "Puberty hit you like a goddamn truck didn't it kid?"
* * * *
Brian Marshal stood before the podeum on television and slammed his fist onto the hard wood. "Mutants are a menace, they've always been a menace and always will be a menace unless mankind rises up and takes a stand. My campaign comes at you with many promises, but the most important promise of all, is my mutant regulation act. This act will be our first line of defense against this mutant problem, allowing us to monitor and ensure that all mutants are under careful watch."
Cathline sighed and stared at the fourth scotch she had poured for herself since Kent left for school. "Your son is a mutant Brian." She wiped tears from her eyes again and chugged the scotch from her glass. What was she going to do? She loved Kent, she didn't care if he was a monster or not. Kent was her son and she would do anything for him. But Brian was so incredibly mutant phobic that she feared what her husband would do when he found out his own son was a mutant. Especially since Brian was trying to become Major on the basis of his anti-mutant campaign.
Cathline knew this would be a problem the moment Kent left for school. Her heart felt tight at the anguish of it all. She knew that she needed to find Kent a place to go, a place where she could hide him from her husband and prayed that Kent would one day forgive her. A few minutes on the internet revealed Xavier's School for Gifted youngsters.
Now at literally eleven A.M. and Cathline was drunk. Xavier had been such a nice man, calm and understanding in her inability to handle the sudden changes that Kent had undergone. Xavier was only too happy to accept Kent into his program and even offered to send someone to pick him up after school.
"Forgive me Kent." Cathline sobbed.
* * * *
The TV glared with the film of KEnt Marshal performing amazing feats of football at tryouts earlier this morning. Both Mathews and Davis sat across from Principal Carl Statherton. On screen Kent runs the forty in under four seconds, followed by Kent easily shoving two linebackers aside like they weren't there in order to run up and touch the quarterback indicating a sack in practice.
Carl clicked the TV off and turn toward the two coaches who were beaming from ear to ear. Davis smiled and said, "I don't know what that kid has been putting in his Wheaties but I dont care. He is going to take us to the championchip this year."
"No." Carl said flatly.
Mathews blinked and leaned forward. "No? What do you mean no?"
Carl turned his gaze carefully, "Marshal is a mutant you idiots. You can't put him on the team for any number of reasons."
"Like what sir? WE don't see it as a problem."
"That's because you two are dumb jocks and all you see is trophies." Carl said, shoving the now rejected roster back toward the two men. "You can't put a mutant on the team. Everyone will say that it is cheat, especially since the kid has some kind of super strength or something. Not to mention that anti-mutant lobby going through town right now, you have any idea how many angry parents will be beating down my door because I let you two put a monster on the football team?"
"He's just a kid Carl not a monster." Davis protested.
"Not the point. Marshal is not on the team and that's final."
* * * *
Kent was flying high all day. He couldn't believe how incredible he was at tryouts, he felt like a professional NFL player. Being a mutant was awesome, he was so fast and so strong he could hardly beleive it. All the running and stuff he did and he didn't even break a sweat. This new him was awesome, so much better than the weak and sad old version of himself. Even if everyone in the cafeteria was staring at him.
Come to think of it, maybe the change was a little sudden and drastic. But it isn't like he had any control over it.
As the after school bell rang Kent hurried over to the gym message board where for the first time he knew that without a doubt he would finally be on the list to be on the football team. His dreams were finally going to become a reality, he was going to get on the team, and then he was going to get a girlfriend and at was all uphill from here.
Kent pushed his way to the front of the line and ran his finger down the football team's new roster list. Where was his name? There was now way it wouldn't be here after all he laid out on that field this morning would there?
"Out of the way freak." Someone said, shoving at him.
Kent jerked away, turning toward the coaches office. There must be some kind of mistake. Maybe they forgot to put his name on the list, or maybe there was a page two on the other side of the paper and he simply missed it.
The door was open as he approached and he poked his head inside to see Coach Davis sitting at the desk filling out some forms. "Coach Davis?" Kent asked softly.
Davis looked up and frowned, "Hey Marshal what can I do for you?"
Kent slipped into the room and gestured toward the list. "Well I was looking at the tryout results and I could have sworn I was a shoe in. I mean the way you and Coach Mathews gushed over me. This is my dream, I've always wanted to play football what more can I do to get on the team?" Kent asked in a rush.
Davis sighed, "Look Kent I know how much you wanted to be on the team, but there are things that we can't help. Kent I wanted you on the team I really did, but we can't have a mutant on the team. Don't you think that your skills are a little unfair for a high school student? Everyone would call us cheaters. I'm sorry Kent."
KEnt just stared at him, "Are you serious right now? I'm not a mutant."
Davis snorted, "Oh really? You just grow a foot and a half over night? Where were all those muscles hidding? Come on Kent face facts here kid. You are a mutant and I am sorry but we can't let you on the team." DAvis sighed.
"That's bullshit!" KEnt roared jumping to his feet. He grabbed the edge of the desk and without trying flung it across the room where it smashed into the far wall, leaving DAvis sitting there shivering. Kent blinked and looked at what he had just done. "Oh......I'm a.....mut...." Without another word he spun and ran out the door, fleeing the school as fast as he could.
* * * *
"Marshal did this?" Mathews asked as he and Davis picked up the battered desk and struggled to carry it across the room. Luckily it was a massively heavy oak desk and Kent's toss did little more than scratch up the varnished surface and break a few things that had been on top of the desk, sadly this included Davis' computer.
"Yeah with one goddamn hand. I see why Carl refused to let him on the team. Can you imagine how badly he could have hurt someone on a football field with this kind of strength? Those mutants can do some scary things man." Davis said.
"Excuse me." A sweet Southern voice called from the doorway. "Are you two gentleman talking about Kent Marshal?"
Both men turned toward the voice to see a stunning young woman with long wavy brown hair with a white streek coming from her bangs and running back. Her body had both men looking her up and down. She wore a tight pair of dark blue jeans with a yellow and green shirt under a brown leather jacket, finalizing the outfit witha pair of armlength gloves for some reason.
"Who might you be lady, and what do you want with Marshal?" Davis asked, standing up straight. Though Kent was a mutant, he was still a student and therefore Davis had a duty to protect the kid from strangers.
The woman smiled and shifted her weight to one foot, a motion which had far more sex appeal coming from her beautiful frame than it should have. "Ah'm his wife."
* * * *
Two months ago the dreams began. At first Rogue dismissed them off as fantasy, a by product of her mutant powers (read: curse). The large part of her that desperately wanted someone she could touch. Really touch without the protection of clothing or gloves. Sadly due to her power to absorb other people's memories and powers by draining their life from simple skin on skin contact.
In this dream she is always happy. Always playing with the wedding ring on her finger, as she watches a man sleep beside her. She happily caresses his cheek with his bare fingertips. It is as this point in the dream that she realizes her belly is slightly swollen with the unmistakable shape of early pregnancy. She is going to have a baby, she has a husband she can not only touch but be fully intimate with.
Every night this dream haunted her Rogue woke in tears, grabbing her belly. The pain ripping at her as her desire to have a man she could touch fades back into nothign more than a dream.
Or so she thought.
Two months after the dreams began Rogue was called into the Professor's study. Xavier was sitting in his study on the phone with someone when Rogue walked it, tugging absently on her gloves.
"Thank you for your interest in our program Mrs. Marshal. Yes, I do believe we can help your son Kent." Xavier said. "Of course, I understand. It actually happens all the time. I will have someone go pick him up and collect his things. Goodbye Mrs. Marshal." The man's British accent always made Rogue think of wisdom, while her own voice sometimes made her think of hillbillies.
Xavier looked up and smiled at her, "Ah Rogue. Thank you for coming. I have a task I'd like you to take care of for me."
"Of course Professor, what do you need."
"I just got a call from a rather distressed mother of a young man who woke up this morning over a foot taller than he went to bed. She suspected that her son is a mutant and rightly so, I took the liberty of checking into where this young man went to school and found this." Professor waved his hand over his desk where a 3D image of a scrawny little kid appeared hovering over the desk.
"This is what Kent Marshal looked like yesterday." Xavier explained, then he waved his hand again and the image changed into the same boy if you fast forwarded time ten years and pumped him full of horse steroids. "This is Kent today."
Rogue's jaw was hanging as she stared at the image. The boy floating above Xavier's desk was the man in her dreams. The man she could touch, the man she could be with in ways she had only been able to dream about.
"Rogue?" Xavier said, snapping her out of the shock. "Are you alright?"
She shook her head to clear the dream out of her head again. "No....Ah mean...Yeah Ah'm okay. Just a bad night's sleep is all."
"I can send someone else if you are not well Rogue."
She jerked upright, "NO! Ah mean, ah can go. No worries Professor."
Xavier nodded, "Alright, here is the address. Take a car, if you leave now you should make it by the time school let's out for the day. You have to be there before he gets back home, evidently his father is running for Mayor on an anti-mutant campaign. Needless to say getting Kent before he and his father butt heads will be the best for both parties."
Rogue nodded and sighed, "Shame the kid can't be accepted by his family."
"One day Rogue. One day." Xavier said, "Off you go."
Rogue turned and headed out of the office, but paused at the doorway. "Professor?"
"Yes Rogue?"
For a moment she thought about telling him about her dreams, but sighed and shook that idea away. If she told him, he might want to send someone else to pick this kid up and she wanted a chance to see if her dreams meant something. Her stomach trembled at the thought that there was even a slight chance that whatever Kent's mutation might be, it would allow her to finally safely experience real human contact.
"Nevermind, Ah'd better get going." She said, walking out.
Xavier was the most powerful telepath on the planet, capable of controling minds from around the globe. He didn't need powers to tell that something was going on with Rogue. He let it go for now though, she would come to him when she was ready. Rogue tended to try to work things out of her own before coming to someone else for help. She could only hope that what she was about to try didn't kill anybody, Lord knew she didn't need to add another life on her list of sins.
The question that always crossed her mind when she thought about being able to be truly intimate with someone was always, did she deserve it? Rogue certainly had earned her curse, from putting her first boyfriend into a coma, to nearly killing Carol Danvers and inheriting her powers perminately. Since then she had vampired any number of people, friend and foe alike. Her only hope was that the good she did with the X-Men would offset the evils of her beginings. The only person she never regretted sapping from was Remy, because Gambit brought that upon his own damn self most of the time. She liked Remy, and if things were different she probably would be perfectly happy being with that goofy man. As it stood Gambit brought a lot of warmth into her life, but they could never truly be together and that is what made her dreams burn her stomach so much.
So if her dreams meant something, if this Kent kid could touch her skin to skin, what did that mean for her? She had nearly ten years of age on a guy still in high school, and what kind of critizism would that bring upon her for latching onto that? Besides what if this kid was a complete shit head? Would she overlook any and all character flaws simply to experience the touch of another human being? And Gambit, for better or worse, Gambit loved her and no matter what excuse she came up with, he was not going to be happy with her cuddling up with another man. A kid at that.
She sighed, "Get over it Suga', you don't even know this Kent can touch you anyway."
* * * *
Kent huddled in the corner booth of a nearby diner. Becky's was a local staple, and a typical coffee shop diner that was located a mere three blocks from the school. This made Becky's a key spot for students to study after school, or simply come and grab a bite since no one ever wanted to eat from the school's own cafeteria. Kent had barreled straight toward the corner booth, to be as completely out of sight as he could with his new massive size.
He couldn't believe this, a mutant, him! He stared at his palms as the realization finally sunk it. Though if he was completely honest, he realized what he was the moment he caught himself in the mirror this morning. Though he wished he could've simply been naturally this size in the first place, after all he absolutely crushed that football tryout. He totally could have been on the team, he could have been popular, he could have gotten himself a cute cheerleading girlfriend.
But no, instead he had to be a freak. Even before he changed, he had been a weak, pale, freak. Just like his father always suspected he was. Good God, if his father saw him now.
Kent looked out the window and noticed a sexy red sports car sitting in a parking space, a far nicer car than what usually sped around town. It got him thinking of all the rich men that his father used to bring over for dinner. His Father wanted nothing more than to become a man of power, and becoming Mayor was certainly the first step. Whenever one of those dinners would happen, Kent was forced to eat in his room and remain hidden until the guests had left.
"Always ashamed of me. He would freak if he saw me now." Kent muttered to himself.
With a sigh he buried his face into his hands and sobbed.
A moment later the sweetest voice he ever heard said, "Now what could have a big man such as yourself so sad?"
Kent jerked up in his seat, the wooden booth back cracked loudly and he winced. Across from him sat a stunningly beautiful woman. He blinked and swallowed hard trying to fight back the sobs that would undoubtably be in his voice. "What? Who are you?" He asked.
She smiled and winked, "Mah name is Rogue, Ah'm from Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. It is a school for special people like you and I, to learn in a safe and unbigoted environment." She paused and gestured to his body, "You woke up to quite a change this morning didn't you?"
Kent looked at her and frowned, "How did you know?"
Rogue's smile faltered and she said, "Your mother called us, asked us to help you get your barings so to speak."
"My mother....." Kent nodded. Of course she would call someone to take him away. If his father saw him like this he would freak and probably take it out not only on Kent but also his Mom. Besides his father was running his campaign with a heavy anti-mutant agenda and it sure would be bad for press if anyone found out his own son was a full fledged mutant monster.
"So your here to take me away like some kind of outcast. Gotta take me away to some mutant 'school' so real people don't have to deal with me." Kent spat letting his frustrations out.
Rogue shook her head, "It's not like that Kent. It is a welcoming place where you can both learn about your abilities as well as everything you'd learn in any public school."
Kent snorted, "Right, keep us segregated under the guise of education."
Rogue frowned, "Hey, Ah want to help you Kent and I will forgive you being a dick because you are scared and shocked." She stood up and backed toward the door. "Ah'll be outside, come with me if you want the help, or be homeless tonight. Make the smart choice big guy." She spun and walked away.
Kent couldn't help himself, his eyes locked onto her backside and his teenage loins ignited. Was she a mutant? IF so, was her power to be sexy as all hell? Kent pushed himself out of the booth and followed her out of the diner. He stopped short when he found no one out in the parking lot. He glanced over at the bright red sports car, no one there.
"Looking for me?" Rogue called from above him.
Kent looked up and gasped as he was staring up at the woman flying in te air above him. She was flying! No wings, no jetpack, nothing, just her...what? Her energy maybe? She was a mutant like him, but she could fly. Her power was so much cooler than his was, maybe....to be honest he had no idea what his mutant thing actually was, except being strong and built like a pro-wrestler.
"Holy crap!" He cried. "That's awesome!"
Rogue floated down to the ground in front of him and smiled, "See? And you were all doom and gloom about being a mutant before. Suddenly I'm cool?"
Kent looked down and frowned, "I ummm, guess. Probably shouldn't be such a jerk about it. Just I'm suddenly....god to hell with it. I'll go with you to see Xavier's school."
Rogue closed the gap between them and leaned close it. KEnt didn't know it, but Rogue was fighting with herself to see if touching Kent would cause her powers to zap some life from him. If she was quick about it maybe he would only end up with a little headache. God knows Gambit had mastered the art giving himself little zaps.
"Ah promise it will end up being a good thing Kent."
Please note that this story will assume the reader is fairly familiar with the X-Men comic universe.
Kane's X-Men: Nemesis
Issue 1
Kent Marshal had two real loves in his life, video games, and football. Good God how Kent loved football, he had tried out for the team in every single grade since junior high. All he ever wanted was to be big enough and strong enough to play football.
There was only one problem.
Kent Marshal, at seventeen years old, was only 4'11" and barely 100lbs soaking wet. Was there something wrong with him? No, not exactly. Kent simply destined to be a skinny and lankly dorking kid. He worked out, he ran, he lifted what little weight he could, but nothing ever seemed to help him. No matter what Kent tried he was destined to remain a scrawny little dweeb.
At least he had a Playstation.
As Kent stared up at the bed he thought about tomorrow. This year would be different. Tomorrow was try-outs for Varsity, senior year. His last year to make it on the team. Three days ago he turned eighteen, he was a senior now, he was ready to make the biggest impact of his life on that field tomorrow.
This time things were going to be different. He smiled and closed his eyes.
Kent awoke to a suddenly and violently loud jolt and crash. He cired out and jerked upright looking around for what had caused the noise. After a moment he realized he was sitting on the floor of the room, the bed frame around him had collapsed completely. Confused he threw the covers back and saw that he had changed. His body looked bigger, bulky, strong, his arms toned and cut as if he was a professional body builder. He scrambled out of the ruins of his bed and stood up quickly, he grunted as he whacked his head on the lamp that hung from his ceiling.
Hissing Kent staggered back and glanced up at the lamp. He had never hit his head on that before. He wasn't tall enoug......Kent's eyes went wide and he spun toward his closet door. The mirror he hung up on the door revealed a very different person than the Kent that went to bed a skinny pale dork last night. What stood in the mirror now was a six foot something man with a body that looked like he was chiseled from stone. He absently ran his hands over his body as if trying to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
Kent cried out as a knock came at the bedroom door. "Kent Honey! Are you okay? What was that sound?"
Kent moved to the door and opened it slowly. "Mom? OKay don't freak out, but something happened last night." He said carefully.
Kent's mother Cathline, a small woman herself, glanced up as she realized her son's voice was above her now. Her eyes moves up slowly and she said, "Kent?"
Kent sighed and pushed open the door and revealed what was apparently the brand new him. Cathline put a hand to her mouth and stared at the mammoth her son had become. "Oh dear Lord."
"What happened to me?" Kent asked.
Cathline shook her head and took a deep breath. "I think...oh honey. I think you're a mutant."
* * * *
Kent drew looks from people all day long at school. As much as he would like to think it was because of the tacky clothing he had borrowed from his father's closet, Kent knew better. It was because he had physically become outted as a mutant. A dirty stinking mutant, at least that's what people thought of mutants.
He sat on the bleachers waiting tryouts to begin for Varsity and stared at his hands. What would they say to Kent suddenly showing up nearly double the damn size as he was last time? Maybe they wouldn't notice, he barely made a blip on their radar last time he tried out, totally forgetable.
Yeah right.
Forgetable or not, they would notice the massive literally overnight transformation.
"I am screwed." He muttered and buried his face in his hands.
* * * *
Coach Davis and Coach Mathews looked at the sign-up sheet and groaned, "He signed up again?" Mathews asked in disbelief as he scrolled through the names.
Davis groaned and shook his head, "You gotta admit the kid is determined."
"If he wasn't build like a piece of tissue paper." Mathews grabbed his hat off the edge of his desk and put it on. "Let's get this embarrassment out of the way."
Together the coaches walked out of the office and out onto the field where the tryout students already stood wearing trial jerseys. Both men where looking at the clip boards so they didn't see the massive bulk that Kent had become.
"Alright guys, welcome to football tryouts. You are all here to fight for a spot on the team and we only have limited spots so let's get this go....oh." Davis said, his voice trailing off as he glanced up.
Davis smacked Mathews in the shoulder causing the other man to look up and see the beast standing in line. "What the?"
"Looks like we are going to be champions this year." Davis whispered with a smirk. He walked up to the tall kid and said, "What's your name son? You new to Belmont?"
Kent looked down at the coach, still embarrassed at how much he had to look down at people now. "K...Kent Marshal coach. I've tried out before."
Davis blinked and took a step back, "Marshal?"
Mathews came up and said, "Puberty hit you like a goddamn truck didn't it kid?"
* * * *
Brian Marshal stood before the podeum on television and slammed his fist onto the hard wood. "Mutants are a menace, they've always been a menace and always will be a menace unless mankind rises up and takes a stand. My campaign comes at you with many promises, but the most important promise of all, is my mutant regulation act. This act will be our first line of defense against this mutant problem, allowing us to monitor and ensure that all mutants are under careful watch."
Cathline sighed and stared at the fourth scotch she had poured for herself since Kent left for school. "Your son is a mutant Brian." She wiped tears from her eyes again and chugged the scotch from her glass. What was she going to do? She loved Kent, she didn't care if he was a monster or not. Kent was her son and she would do anything for him. But Brian was so incredibly mutant phobic that she feared what her husband would do when he found out his own son was a mutant. Especially since Brian was trying to become Major on the basis of his anti-mutant campaign.
Cathline knew this would be a problem the moment Kent left for school. Her heart felt tight at the anguish of it all. She knew that she needed to find Kent a place to go, a place where she could hide him from her husband and prayed that Kent would one day forgive her. A few minutes on the internet revealed Xavier's School for Gifted youngsters.
Now at literally eleven A.M. and Cathline was drunk. Xavier had been such a nice man, calm and understanding in her inability to handle the sudden changes that Kent had undergone. Xavier was only too happy to accept Kent into his program and even offered to send someone to pick him up after school.
"Forgive me Kent." Cathline sobbed.
* * * *
The TV glared with the film of KEnt Marshal performing amazing feats of football at tryouts earlier this morning. Both Mathews and Davis sat across from Principal Carl Statherton. On screen Kent runs the forty in under four seconds, followed by Kent easily shoving two linebackers aside like they weren't there in order to run up and touch the quarterback indicating a sack in practice.
Carl clicked the TV off and turn toward the two coaches who were beaming from ear to ear. Davis smiled and said, "I don't know what that kid has been putting in his Wheaties but I dont care. He is going to take us to the championchip this year."
"No." Carl said flatly.
Mathews blinked and leaned forward. "No? What do you mean no?"
Carl turned his gaze carefully, "Marshal is a mutant you idiots. You can't put him on the team for any number of reasons."
"Like what sir? WE don't see it as a problem."
"That's because you two are dumb jocks and all you see is trophies." Carl said, shoving the now rejected roster back toward the two men. "You can't put a mutant on the team. Everyone will say that it is cheat, especially since the kid has some kind of super strength or something. Not to mention that anti-mutant lobby going through town right now, you have any idea how many angry parents will be beating down my door because I let you two put a monster on the football team?"
"He's just a kid Carl not a monster." Davis protested.
"Not the point. Marshal is not on the team and that's final."
* * * *
Kent was flying high all day. He couldn't believe how incredible he was at tryouts, he felt like a professional NFL player. Being a mutant was awesome, he was so fast and so strong he could hardly beleive it. All the running and stuff he did and he didn't even break a sweat. This new him was awesome, so much better than the weak and sad old version of himself. Even if everyone in the cafeteria was staring at him.
Come to think of it, maybe the change was a little sudden and drastic. But it isn't like he had any control over it.
As the after school bell rang Kent hurried over to the gym message board where for the first time he knew that without a doubt he would finally be on the list to be on the football team. His dreams were finally going to become a reality, he was going to get on the team, and then he was going to get a girlfriend and at was all uphill from here.
Kent pushed his way to the front of the line and ran his finger down the football team's new roster list. Where was his name? There was now way it wouldn't be here after all he laid out on that field this morning would there?
"Out of the way freak." Someone said, shoving at him.
Kent jerked away, turning toward the coaches office. There must be some kind of mistake. Maybe they forgot to put his name on the list, or maybe there was a page two on the other side of the paper and he simply missed it.
The door was open as he approached and he poked his head inside to see Coach Davis sitting at the desk filling out some forms. "Coach Davis?" Kent asked softly.
Davis looked up and frowned, "Hey Marshal what can I do for you?"
Kent slipped into the room and gestured toward the list. "Well I was looking at the tryout results and I could have sworn I was a shoe in. I mean the way you and Coach Mathews gushed over me. This is my dream, I've always wanted to play football what more can I do to get on the team?" Kent asked in a rush.
Davis sighed, "Look Kent I know how much you wanted to be on the team, but there are things that we can't help. Kent I wanted you on the team I really did, but we can't have a mutant on the team. Don't you think that your skills are a little unfair for a high school student? Everyone would call us cheaters. I'm sorry Kent."
KEnt just stared at him, "Are you serious right now? I'm not a mutant."
Davis snorted, "Oh really? You just grow a foot and a half over night? Where were all those muscles hidding? Come on Kent face facts here kid. You are a mutant and I am sorry but we can't let you on the team." DAvis sighed.
"That's bullshit!" KEnt roared jumping to his feet. He grabbed the edge of the desk and without trying flung it across the room where it smashed into the far wall, leaving DAvis sitting there shivering. Kent blinked and looked at what he had just done. "Oh......I'm a.....mut...." Without another word he spun and ran out the door, fleeing the school as fast as he could.
* * * *
"Marshal did this?" Mathews asked as he and Davis picked up the battered desk and struggled to carry it across the room. Luckily it was a massively heavy oak desk and Kent's toss did little more than scratch up the varnished surface and break a few things that had been on top of the desk, sadly this included Davis' computer.
"Yeah with one goddamn hand. I see why Carl refused to let him on the team. Can you imagine how badly he could have hurt someone on a football field with this kind of strength? Those mutants can do some scary things man." Davis said.
"Excuse me." A sweet Southern voice called from the doorway. "Are you two gentleman talking about Kent Marshal?"
Both men turned toward the voice to see a stunning young woman with long wavy brown hair with a white streek coming from her bangs and running back. Her body had both men looking her up and down. She wore a tight pair of dark blue jeans with a yellow and green shirt under a brown leather jacket, finalizing the outfit witha pair of armlength gloves for some reason.
"Who might you be lady, and what do you want with Marshal?" Davis asked, standing up straight. Though Kent was a mutant, he was still a student and therefore Davis had a duty to protect the kid from strangers.
The woman smiled and shifted her weight to one foot, a motion which had far more sex appeal coming from her beautiful frame than it should have. "Ah'm his wife."
* * * *
Two months ago the dreams began. At first Rogue dismissed them off as fantasy, a by product of her mutant powers (read: curse). The large part of her that desperately wanted someone she could touch. Really touch without the protection of clothing or gloves. Sadly due to her power to absorb other people's memories and powers by draining their life from simple skin on skin contact.
In this dream she is always happy. Always playing with the wedding ring on her finger, as she watches a man sleep beside her. She happily caresses his cheek with his bare fingertips. It is as this point in the dream that she realizes her belly is slightly swollen with the unmistakable shape of early pregnancy. She is going to have a baby, she has a husband she can not only touch but be fully intimate with.
Every night this dream haunted her Rogue woke in tears, grabbing her belly. The pain ripping at her as her desire to have a man she could touch fades back into nothign more than a dream.
Or so she thought.
Two months after the dreams began Rogue was called into the Professor's study. Xavier was sitting in his study on the phone with someone when Rogue walked it, tugging absently on her gloves.
"Thank you for your interest in our program Mrs. Marshal. Yes, I do believe we can help your son Kent." Xavier said. "Of course, I understand. It actually happens all the time. I will have someone go pick him up and collect his things. Goodbye Mrs. Marshal." The man's British accent always made Rogue think of wisdom, while her own voice sometimes made her think of hillbillies.
Xavier looked up and smiled at her, "Ah Rogue. Thank you for coming. I have a task I'd like you to take care of for me."
"Of course Professor, what do you need."
"I just got a call from a rather distressed mother of a young man who woke up this morning over a foot taller than he went to bed. She suspected that her son is a mutant and rightly so, I took the liberty of checking into where this young man went to school and found this." Professor waved his hand over his desk where a 3D image of a scrawny little kid appeared hovering over the desk.
"This is what Kent Marshal looked like yesterday." Xavier explained, then he waved his hand again and the image changed into the same boy if you fast forwarded time ten years and pumped him full of horse steroids. "This is Kent today."
Rogue's jaw was hanging as she stared at the image. The boy floating above Xavier's desk was the man in her dreams. The man she could touch, the man she could be with in ways she had only been able to dream about.
"Rogue?" Xavier said, snapping her out of the shock. "Are you alright?"
She shook her head to clear the dream out of her head again. "No....Ah mean...Yeah Ah'm okay. Just a bad night's sleep is all."
"I can send someone else if you are not well Rogue."
She jerked upright, "NO! Ah mean, ah can go. No worries Professor."
Xavier nodded, "Alright, here is the address. Take a car, if you leave now you should make it by the time school let's out for the day. You have to be there before he gets back home, evidently his father is running for Mayor on an anti-mutant campaign. Needless to say getting Kent before he and his father butt heads will be the best for both parties."
Rogue nodded and sighed, "Shame the kid can't be accepted by his family."
"One day Rogue. One day." Xavier said, "Off you go."
Rogue turned and headed out of the office, but paused at the doorway. "Professor?"
"Yes Rogue?"
For a moment she thought about telling him about her dreams, but sighed and shook that idea away. If she told him, he might want to send someone else to pick this kid up and she wanted a chance to see if her dreams meant something. Her stomach trembled at the thought that there was even a slight chance that whatever Kent's mutation might be, it would allow her to finally safely experience real human contact.
"Nevermind, Ah'd better get going." She said, walking out.
Xavier was the most powerful telepath on the planet, capable of controling minds from around the globe. He didn't need powers to tell that something was going on with Rogue. He let it go for now though, she would come to him when she was ready. Rogue tended to try to work things out of her own before coming to someone else for help. She could only hope that what she was about to try didn't kill anybody, Lord knew she didn't need to add another life on her list of sins.
The question that always crossed her mind when she thought about being able to be truly intimate with someone was always, did she deserve it? Rogue certainly had earned her curse, from putting her first boyfriend into a coma, to nearly killing Carol Danvers and inheriting her powers perminately. Since then she had vampired any number of people, friend and foe alike. Her only hope was that the good she did with the X-Men would offset the evils of her beginings. The only person she never regretted sapping from was Remy, because Gambit brought that upon his own damn self most of the time. She liked Remy, and if things were different she probably would be perfectly happy being with that goofy man. As it stood Gambit brought a lot of warmth into her life, but they could never truly be together and that is what made her dreams burn her stomach so much.
So if her dreams meant something, if this Kent kid could touch her skin to skin, what did that mean for her? She had nearly ten years of age on a guy still in high school, and what kind of critizism would that bring upon her for latching onto that? Besides what if this kid was a complete shit head? Would she overlook any and all character flaws simply to experience the touch of another human being? And Gambit, for better or worse, Gambit loved her and no matter what excuse she came up with, he was not going to be happy with her cuddling up with another man. A kid at that.
She sighed, "Get over it Suga', you don't even know this Kent can touch you anyway."
* * * *
Kent huddled in the corner booth of a nearby diner. Becky's was a local staple, and a typical coffee shop diner that was located a mere three blocks from the school. This made Becky's a key spot for students to study after school, or simply come and grab a bite since no one ever wanted to eat from the school's own cafeteria. Kent had barreled straight toward the corner booth, to be as completely out of sight as he could with his new massive size.
He couldn't believe this, a mutant, him! He stared at his palms as the realization finally sunk it. Though if he was completely honest, he realized what he was the moment he caught himself in the mirror this morning. Though he wished he could've simply been naturally this size in the first place, after all he absolutely crushed that football tryout. He totally could have been on the team, he could have been popular, he could have gotten himself a cute cheerleading girlfriend.
But no, instead he had to be a freak. Even before he changed, he had been a weak, pale, freak. Just like his father always suspected he was. Good God, if his father saw him now.
Kent looked out the window and noticed a sexy red sports car sitting in a parking space, a far nicer car than what usually sped around town. It got him thinking of all the rich men that his father used to bring over for dinner. His Father wanted nothing more than to become a man of power, and becoming Mayor was certainly the first step. Whenever one of those dinners would happen, Kent was forced to eat in his room and remain hidden until the guests had left.
"Always ashamed of me. He would freak if he saw me now." Kent muttered to himself.
With a sigh he buried his face into his hands and sobbed.
A moment later the sweetest voice he ever heard said, "Now what could have a big man such as yourself so sad?"
Kent jerked up in his seat, the wooden booth back cracked loudly and he winced. Across from him sat a stunningly beautiful woman. He blinked and swallowed hard trying to fight back the sobs that would undoubtably be in his voice. "What? Who are you?" He asked.
She smiled and winked, "Mah name is Rogue, Ah'm from Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. It is a school for special people like you and I, to learn in a safe and unbigoted environment." She paused and gestured to his body, "You woke up to quite a change this morning didn't you?"
Kent looked at her and frowned, "How did you know?"
Rogue's smile faltered and she said, "Your mother called us, asked us to help you get your barings so to speak."
"My mother....." Kent nodded. Of course she would call someone to take him away. If his father saw him like this he would freak and probably take it out not only on Kent but also his Mom. Besides his father was running his campaign with a heavy anti-mutant agenda and it sure would be bad for press if anyone found out his own son was a full fledged mutant monster.
"So your here to take me away like some kind of outcast. Gotta take me away to some mutant 'school' so real people don't have to deal with me." Kent spat letting his frustrations out.
Rogue shook her head, "It's not like that Kent. It is a welcoming place where you can both learn about your abilities as well as everything you'd learn in any public school."
Kent snorted, "Right, keep us segregated under the guise of education."
Rogue frowned, "Hey, Ah want to help you Kent and I will forgive you being a dick because you are scared and shocked." She stood up and backed toward the door. "Ah'll be outside, come with me if you want the help, or be homeless tonight. Make the smart choice big guy." She spun and walked away.
Kent couldn't help himself, his eyes locked onto her backside and his teenage loins ignited. Was she a mutant? IF so, was her power to be sexy as all hell? Kent pushed himself out of the booth and followed her out of the diner. He stopped short when he found no one out in the parking lot. He glanced over at the bright red sports car, no one there.
"Looking for me?" Rogue called from above him.
Kent looked up and gasped as he was staring up at the woman flying in te air above him. She was flying! No wings, no jetpack, nothing, just her...what? Her energy maybe? She was a mutant like him, but she could fly. Her power was so much cooler than his was, maybe....to be honest he had no idea what his mutant thing actually was, except being strong and built like a pro-wrestler.
"Holy crap!" He cried. "That's awesome!"
Rogue floated down to the ground in front of him and smiled, "See? And you were all doom and gloom about being a mutant before. Suddenly I'm cool?"
Kent looked down and frowned, "I ummm, guess. Probably shouldn't be such a jerk about it. Just I'm suddenly....god to hell with it. I'll go with you to see Xavier's school."
Rogue closed the gap between them and leaned close it. KEnt didn't know it, but Rogue was fighting with herself to see if touching Kent would cause her powers to zap some life from him. If she was quick about it maybe he would only end up with a little headache. God knows Gambit had mastered the art giving himself little zaps.
"Ah promise it will end up being a good thing Kent."
