"Are you sure this plan will work?" a woman's voice spoke up, as she looked at the group gathered. This could end horribly if it failed, not just for them but for everyone else.
"No. The science around all of this is uncertain - and you don't want to know the odds. Trust me."another one responded, belonging to another woman. The others in the room looked over at her as she responded to the first one's question.
"Really? That is not exactly a confidence booster," another voice responded, this time the voice of a man who had just joined them.
"Wasn't meant to be one - look, there's a chance that you'll be able to change the timestream. But it's also possible that time is quantized - or that any chance you attempt to make will ultimately be corrected for. And assuming we can change the past, there's the possibility that the future will become darker instead...There's a lot about this that we just don't know." the second woman responded, before she was interrupted by yet another woman.
"It will work." she said simply, the others couldn't really think of how to respond, but the first one spoke again, this time with an annoyed voice.
"Would you all just shut up! Now, let's get this over with, hopefully noting too horrible will come when this is given to me. Now give me that damn serum." The room was silent for a moment, before the man responded.
"Sorry, you do have a point though. We can't just sit around here doing nothing, waiting for them to catch us. We need to move, and if we wait any longer, we might just talk ourselves out of this". "Hey, easy princess! You asked me if I was sure the plan would work." the second woman said, before grabbing a needle and the syringe that was filled with serum that they had worked so hard to make.
"Here. It'll be enough to boost your powers to make the trip. You'll need all of it." The needle injected the serum into her bloodstream, making sure that every last bit was emptied out of the syringe.
"Alright, let's get this over with then." she said, as she waved her arms, making a portal, and leading the group through.
X-Mansion - After the Battle at the Lab
Guin had been up for a few hours, though as far as anyone else in the mansion was aware, she was still unconscious. She had played "dead" for her first few rounds of visitors that morning. At first, it had been because she felt too tired to interact with anyone. And then, after a certain point of time, she did it on purpose - just to see what people would do. She had half expected Pietro to say something hopelessly sentimental when he had come through an hour back, but her plans had failed.
Slowly, she opened her eyes and glanced at the other occupied bed in the ward.
"Morning Poison Ivy," Guin said, her voice sounding far weaker than she felt.
"How's your head?" When she heard Guin's voice, she sat up slowly, looking over at her friend. Her hand was bandaged from the burns, and she had stitches in her head. A filing cabinet hitting her could do wonders to your head. She was still a little dizzy, but at least her head wasn't as foggy as it had been when they had returned. Marygold couldn't even really remember what had happened after her head injury, but it could have been a lot worse.
She made a face at Guin when she heard the nickname too.
"Ugh, I hate that name. That would be comparing me to a plant that is actually poisonous in its own way. My head is fine, for the most part anyway. Don't really remember what happened once we left the lab though, how's yours?" "Mm, that explains a lot about what you did when we left the lab then," Guin said with a smirk.
"Honestly, if you and Pietro were that set on eloping, you could have told me. Keep love alive and all that~" she teased. Part of her had been hoping that Marygold wouldn't be able to remember the aftermath - but to be fair, Guin could only remember blurs of it herself. Her memory became muddled about around when she stupidly basically screamed
come at me, bro at Magneto.
"And my head seems to be fine. I mean, not really. But...I'll get better. And I'll bust out of here once Happy stops lurking at the door. He really doesn't understand the concept of loose follow..." "Right, even though racing off places is TOTALLY what you should do after a major head injury. How many times did you hit your head again?" she said, giving Guin a grin. Unlike her, Marygold generally was a strict rule follower. There was one thing that did bug her, and she hadn't really been conscious to see if anyone asked any questions about it.
"So, Guin? What exactly happened with you and Wanda? I've been wondering about it since before I got hit in the head". "I think I lost count...Granted, my brain kept trying to count in imaginary numbers so...Who knows?" Guin quipped. According to her mind, it had been i^413 times that her head was smashed against something during the fight. However, her joking mood faltered slightly as Mary brought up what had happened with Scarlet Witch. She had been avoiding thinking about it, but to be truthful, it was just about the only thing she could think about. She opened her mouth to say something to Mary, before abruptly shutting it. Perhaps this had been the real reason she had pretended to be asleep thus far - this wasn't a conversation she wanted to have.
"Well...I think I know what happened and it's not good," Guin admitted with a sigh. She had already come to the conclusion that she likely wouldn't be able to have human contact again. What was to say that she wouldn't simply switch once more? And would she be able to control it if she did? She had failed spectacularly at that when fighting Wanda.
"oh, I see. I can probably take a guess as to what might have happened now, with the way you replied and reacted. That is a conversation you really need to have with Professor X if it's what I think it is. Don't worry about it, it probably couldn't be as bad as you think it is," she said, giving Guin a reassuring smile. The reason that she asked, was because she wondered if she knew what had happened, even though Marygold had an idea in her mind. It did surprise her that it had happened for Guin so late in life though.
Guin rolled over. She most certainly did
not want to talk to Professor X about this. She didn't really want to talk to anyone about this. It'd be preferable to have palladium pumping through her system than have any sort of conversation along these lines. And of course, she was surprised as well. Her family never had any X-genes in the family tree - at least, the Starks didn't. She didn't really know about her mother's side of the family, given how much she actively avoided them. While she had always wanted to have some sort of super power growing up, it was hard for her to see this as that.
"No point. I've already thought it through. If I touch anyone, I switch with them. Not only is that annoying, but...I almost got stuck in Wanda's body. And it's ironic, because I had finally started feeling comfortable in my own skin when this all happened." "Ok, don't you think your overreacting a little bit? I mean yeah, your a mutant, so what? It isn't the end of the freaking world," she said, before laying back down and turning away from her. Now Guin was starting to piss her off. She was freaking out, that was totally understandable, it was the way she had worded it, and the way it sounded to her that made her mad. It sounded like she was pissed off at being a mutant, but at least she hadn't discovered her mutation as a kid in front of a large group of people nearby. She lived for 2 years hiding her powers before she came to the institute. Before that, she had to hide her powers in fear because of what might happen if others found out. Now her best friend was making a big deal about suddenly discovering that she was one.
"Wow Guin, I can understand how this is all shocking to you and I'm sorry you'll never be able to touch a living person again," Guin muttered under her breath, quietly enough that Mary couldn't hear. While they were best friends, they also often butted heads. And in this situation, the tension was quickly growing. Guin wasn't pissed off at being a mutant - in reality, she was terrified of her own powers now. She knew that she ought to embrace them but it was more challenging than she had previously imagined it would be. But she was also aware that anything she said to Marygold would only make the situation worse. Unfortunately, she was a Stark. That thought wasn't enough to stop her from opening her mouth.
"No, the end of the freaking world was a few days ago - or at least, it would have been. But thanks for your support when I'm freaking the fuck out. Really appreciate it - and I definitely am not having a small panic attack or anything over...this..." Ok, now she was beyond mad. Sometimes Guin didn't know when to keep her mouth shut about something. A few flashes about leaving the lab came back to her, and she remembered something that might shut her up for once in her life.
"Did you ever think it might have something to do with your emotions at all? Otherwise, how was Pietro able to kiss you after everyone got out of the lab. You think you have problems? Ha! Been there, done that. Most people in this building have, but you seem to think that the entire world revolves around you!" she shouted at her, before proceeding to cover her head with a pillow.
"That's scientifically inaccurate! The world revolves in an elliptical pattern with the sun's center of mass at one of the foci!" Guin spat back.
"Tycho Brahe called, he wants you to take a fucking look at his data!" And of course, with all of the head trauma, she didn't even really remember Pietro kissing her. Everything was such a blur up until a few hours ago, when she had finally managed to open her eyes without seeing stars.
"And if I seem that way, it's because that's how I was fucking raised! You try growing up with Tony fucking Stark as a role model! And hell, even granddad was just like this. Yeah, I'm an asshole. It's in the genes." She had enough of this, she was fighting back tears now, and she couldn't stand being in the same room as Guin anymore. Her head was still pounding, but that didn't matter to her.
"You know what, you live in your own little world, where your problems are the most important thing, but welcome to reality. Everyone else has problems too, and some of them are probably similar to yours. You think your the only one who has had freaking problems about stuff like this? I freaking hate you Guinevere Stark!" she shouted, tears falling down her face, before she got up and raced out of the room as fast as she could without the risk of collapsing.
"That makes two of us," Guin muttered. She threw her blanket over her head, creating a small little cocoon for herself. She closed her eyes tightly in an effort to stop her own tears from falling. After a few minutes had passed, she reached out from underneath the blankets and grabbed her phone. She was done staying in this place. She had run away at least three times a year until she was seventeen and the instinct to run from her problems was still strong. She pulled up the Uber app and scheduled one to come pick her up from the mansion. Where she'd go after that, she didn't care. She just wanted to hide from the world.
Marygold was sitting against the wall in the hallway, tears rolling down her face, when she heard a voice in her head. She looked up to see Professor Xavier sitting there in his wheelchair, looking at her. He already knew what had happened, he was a mind reader after all. He held out his hand to her, before they reentered the room together. She saw that Guin was hiding under the blankets, but she said nothing as Xavier gave her one look and she sat back down on the other bed.
"Guinevere? We need to have a talk before you runaway from the Institute," Xavier said in a gentle voice, rolling over until he was right next to the side of the bed.
"Stay out of my head," Guin grumbled. She was completely engulfed by the blankets, peering at the app underneath them. Given that they were a bit out of the ways in Upstate New York, it'd be about twenty minutes until the Uber arrived to pick her up. When she had made the decision to run from her problems, she hadn't intended to have the world's most powerful psychic come in and try to play therapist.
"Pretty sure that isn't part of the aftercare process for concussions," she then added. If they didn't leave her alone soon, at this point, she'd likely call Tony and tell him it was a life or death emergency. And god forbid Pietro showing up. She didn't want to see anyone at all.
Marygold just laid back, knowing what Xavier would probably do. It was something that he had done several times over the years for kids who had just discovered their abilities. He started to use his telepathy to soothe her, calm her down. It would be enough for them to be able to have a better conversation, and hopefully it would shut her up for a few minutes.
"Trying to run from your problems, does not prevent them from being there. They always will stay with you, unless you try to face them". "I'm sorry, you've reached the Life Model Decoy of Guinevere Stark," Guin muttered. While she was feeling calmer, that didn't mean she was willing to talk about this. Xavier's powers had taken her down from a seven to about a four - and she was still quite prickly at that level.
"To leave a message...Go away," Guin then added. She felt uncomfortable with Xavier in her mind and she still felt panicked over the implications of her mutation.
"Guinevere, your powers are nothing to fear, and if you tell me about it, then maybe we can find the solution," Xavier replied, still calming her. Marygold was getting even more pissed off at Guin now. She was being a pain, and unlike half the people around, she had Xavier himself trying to talk about her abilities not long after they had manifested. She didn't meet Xavier until about 2 years after she had discovered her powers.
While she felt calm now, having fallen to about a two on the rage and anxiety scale, she still didn't feel inclined to talk to Professor Xavier. She respected him and everything he did, but was he someone to open up to emotionally? She had never been particularly good at that. Emotional honesty didn't come easy to her. It was part of the reason that her words had been so easy for Mary to misinterpret. As much as she could understand the principles of science and technology, she was a bit clueless when it came to matters like these.
But even Guin couldn't fight the mental influence of Professor X.
"That's just it - there isn't one. This isn't a problem that needs to be fixed. It's a genetic mutation, a non expressed X-gene that became activated," Guin said calmly.
"There's nothing wrong with mutation - it's necessary and beautiful. Yet this exposes me, like a nerve. If I switch, I have no control over my body. Anything can happen to it. And there's the potential that I will be stuck in the other body. As well as the fact that I cannot control this - that every time I touch a person, there's a chance that this swap will happen." Well then, Mary hadn't expected Guin to get all technical with the guy who could write the book on genetic mutation. He didn't seem bother by it though, it was difficult to get him mad though.
"You need to know, that there are others here at the institute who have been in you situation before," he replied, before nodding over at Marygold who looked away from them.
"Usually, abilities, much like yours, activate during an emotional response, like anger. If you had tapped Marygold on the arm while you two were yelling at one another, you most likely would have switched. However, now, I do not believe you would," he said, pulling the blanket gently off of Guin, and grabbing her hand. Nothing was happening, the two of them weren't switching places or nothing.
"Yes, but that's because a psychic is actively meddling with my mind," Guin argued. She wanted her blanket back. Professor X may not have realized it, but the blanket cocoon had been relieving some of her anxiety. And now with it gone, that anxiety was starting to return, regardless of Professor X's current calming influence. Her phone buzzed - the Uber was about ten minutes out. And since she had forgotten that her Uber account was hooked up to Tony's account, she had also received a concerned text from Pepper.
"You may believe what you wish. Though if that was really the case, than how is it that one of my other students still cannot touch another human being?" he asked her, and Marygold looked up at him. She instantly knew who he was referring to.
"You mean Rogue right?" she asked him, before glancing over at Guin.
"Yes, she has not been able to touch another person since the day she discovered her abilities. Including making physical contact with me either. Your powers are not like her's Guinevere". "You misunderstand me, Professor. Just ask Mary - I'm always emotional," Guin shot back. She was rarely ever in a zen like state of calm and from the information she had, that was what was required to keep her powers from activating. She had no intention of spending her entire life stoned just to stay in her own body. And she really wanted her blanket cocoon back. And to be left alone for a little while. She needed to process this - she needed data - she needed a whiteboard, model kits, and at least ten different scented dry erase markers. She needed an engine in front of her to fix, an NMR spectrum to analyze, a circuit to optimize. She needed a tangible task that would allow her to run away from this intangible problem.
"You may wear gloves on your hands, until you have better control of your abilities Guinevere. Let me help you, the Institute is here to help all mutants learn how to control their powers. You will not get stuck in someone else's body because from what I can tell, your abilities had a time limit for how long you stayed switch with Ms. Maximoff. You can only stay switched for a few minutes at a time, but should you work hard to learn to control them, you might be able to do it for longer periods of time," he replied, and Marygold just nodded. After a few months off working at it, most people's abilities seemed to die down, at least in the number of accidents that they caused relating to them. It took longer in order to thoroughly try and gain mastery over them, but after a year, most people were able to control their abilities fairly well.
For once in her life, something actually managed to shut Guin up. She hadn't even considered the fact that she now technically qualified to be a part of the Institute. She had made a commitment to S.H.I.E.L.D. already - she was going on an accelerated track in order to qualify for the Science and Technology Academy. And before she joined S.H.I.E.L.D., she had always assumed that she would end up working at Stark Industries. It was customary at this point in her family lineage. Joining the X-Men hadn't even occurred to her. Of course, she still didn't imagine ever
wanting to stay switched with someone. She didn't like the idea of someone else in her body. It felt too dangerous.
"But...What about S.H.I.E.L.D...and school?" "Guin, your close to finishing up your degree anyway, and SHIELD probably wouldn't mind too much. Besides, you could probably finish your degree with Hank anyway. Hey Professor, weren't you thinking of maybe adding college course to the school curriculum at some point anyway?" Marygold said, having finally calmed down,
"Also, you could just go to school here to learn how to control your powers, that is always an option. Not every student is actually part of the team". "That is true. You do not have to commit to anything Ms. Stark, and you do not have to change anything about your life if you don't want to. Though, Marygold is correct, I was thinking of eventually opening up college courses for the older students who chose to stay at the school." Mary was right - she was only really in school as a formality. She had gone to a prestigious boarding school that specialized in STEM until junior year of high school, and already, she was earning college credits. At Midtown Science and Tech, she only spent about half of her day there. The rest of the time she was either working on one of the various R&D levels at Stark Towers or taking college courses through NYU. She had even spent a summer at MIT. It was the reason why she had entered college as a senior.
"I don't play well with others," Guin finally said.
"But as long as the codename isn't awful...Fine." Marygold couldn't help but let out a laugh, and gave her a smile.
"Generally you get to choose your name, or whatever. You can change it later on if you want to or whatever if you don't like it. Like Jean, before just sticking with her name was originally called Marvel Girl," she said, before looking at the Professor. He was quiet for a moment, before speaking again.
"So, are you going to stay at the Institute? You might want to figure out what to do with the car you called for," he said, before backing up, and rolling out of the room.
Guin snorted.
"That's the worst codename I've ever heard." She neither confirmed nor denied to the professor that she'd stay at the Institute. She had already answered that question as far as she was concerned. As for the car, she simply hit the cancel button on the screen. She didn't care if her Uber customer rating went down. Once Professor X left the room, she debated whether or not to apologize to Marygold. But she figured that she'd likely mess it up and start another fight. Instead, she grabbed her blanket and returned back into her cocoon. This time, however, she let her head peak out.
"I know right? You wanna talk about bad names? There was one person whose code-name was Strong Guy, no joke! I honestly have been thinking of changing my code-name at some point, but I'm terrible at coming up with things," Marygold replied with a laugh. This was better, the two of them weren't arguing or shouting anymore, which was always a nice thing.
"Yours is what...Green Bloom?" Guin asked, with an eyebrow arched.
"I've always wanted to say this, but it almost sounds like a Powerpuff Girl's name. Which I suppose makes you Blossom, then," Guin teased. She had calmed down some and sent a quick text off to Pepper, sending her the specs for something she needed JARVIS to get done instantly. Of course, Pepper was sending her back a barrage of questions, but at least it was in the works.
"Hey, I was 16 years old, and hadn't seen any of the major fighting or anything yet, cut me some slack here. I was pretty happy-go-lucky before my first encounter with the Brotherhood and I began to see just how screwed up the world could be," she said, looking over at her friend. This was definitely an interesting conversation to say the least.
"Nope, no slack," Guin replied with a snicker.
"If Pietro Maximoff can come up with a better codename than you, that's saying something. I'd suggest Poison Ivy but that's copyrighted," Guin then added. It may have been a side effect of the concussion or Xavier's mind meddling, but she couldn't think of a better name to suggest to Mary. The only thing that came to mind was
Plant Lady. "Ooh...What about Green Dryad?" "Um... How about I just drop the color and go by Bloom until we can come up with something better," she replied, giving her a smile.
"So, what code-name do you think you'll go with? Are you going to stick with Starkette or choose something different?" Guin already had a nickname, and she didn't know if she wanted to stick with it. The name Starkette was the name everyone knew her by before they found out who her dad was, so it made her curious.
Guin shook her head slightly, though she instantly regretted the motion. She had gone by Starkette for one simple reason - S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted her to use a codename and they thought it would be best to pick one she'd already respond to. Starkette had been her gamer handle for almost her entire life.
"Nah. I think something different would be for the best - Starkette's what I first started playing games under. But as to what my codename would be...Haven't got a fucking clue." "Hmm... It would probably be easier to come up with one if you had full on psychic powers, as opposed to just mind switching or whatever. Let me think... How about Master Mentalist, or Neuroia? Those aren't the best, but maybe they'll give you some ideas," she said, trying to think of a few other things that might work. Coming up with a name wasn't the easiest thing in the world to do.
"Yeah, a lot of things would be easier..." Guin mumbled under her breath. Unless she wanted to go by
Freaky Friday, there really wasn't much in the way of suitable codenames. There were a few other obvious ones, but they all made her cringe. Master Mentalist sounded like an advertisement for an old circus act. Neuroia had the obvious connotations with neurons. But as much as she liked the idea of it having to do with her powers, she had made the mistake before in life of allowing some small part of her to define her entire identity. She sighed slightly. Usually she didn't have this much trouble coming up with nicknames and codenames.
At least she was remaining relatively calm for the meantime.
"But given that we don't even know really what I can do, besides fuck with Scarlet Witch...I'll use Catalyst for now." It was science-y and it was simple.
"Or maybe Star, then the world really can revolve around me." She rolled her eyes, but bit her tongue, preventing her from saying anything about that last comment. The last thing she wanted was for them to have another argument or whatever because of
someone's poor word choice.
"Well, whatever. How much do you wanna bet that the Professor told your dad that you're awake?" she asked, grinning.
"Fuck, he's still here?" Guin groaned. She closed her eyes for a moment.
"Do you think I'll get yelled at? I'm probably getting yelled at. Maybe I shouldn't have canceled that Uber after all..." "Have fun with that," she said, as voices could be heard from the hallway. Marygold couldn't help but smile as they grew closer, and her friend's reaction to hearing that Stark was still hanging around. A moment later, the door popped open, and in came Tony Stark, who seemed to be having an argument about something with Pietro who was right behind him. There was one thing for sure, she did not envy Guin.
The time since the incident at the Brotherhood Lab in New York has not be the kindest. The world is changing, and people continue to live in fear of the mutant population. Though, the first few weeks after the battle are hard on all those who live at the mansion. Oshea Jackson had died to stop the virus, and his funeral was attended by many of the students at the school. Though their time to deal with this was short, as the next battle was making an appearance.
Xavier had been called to testify at several hearings for Congress over the past year, speaking on behalf of many in the mutant population. His words were heard by many, but fell on deaf ears with others. With OMEN gaining more power due to what many are calling
The Mutant Menace, there is never a moment when a news station doesn't make a mention of it.
The Mutant Registration Act (MRA) is now making its way through the government, and Xavier is working to help find a more plausible solution, but nothing seems to be working. The public is starting to lean towards OMEN's point of view, causing one of their top agents to be in the lead in polls for the Presidency. Alexander Jakobsen is not someone you want to be running the country. He is just as dangerous as the entire organization alone, and he holds a grudge against any non-humans because of the attack on OMEN almost 4 years before.
He came out a hero, and now people want him running the country. The few people who are pro-mutant are rallying against him, and Xavier has been working with them. They only have a few weeks to get in a possible solution before things get any worse.
If only they knew what was going to happen, on the 6th of June, in the year 2020.
@Zora Earlier in the morning, Amni recieved a call from Professor Charles Xavier, requesting him to go to the mansion as there was something urgent that he needed to discuss with him. Amni could probably guess as to what, the whole thing about the MRA was all over the news, and it was something that would effect him too if the bill passed.
@FantasyChic@jdh97 Well, William and Sara, having not been at the mansion very long, were introduced very quickly in the way of teamwork combat. Unfortunately for them, that meant a Danger Room session with Wolverine. His idea of training was tossing you into the deep end of the swimming pool and hope you learn how to swim. The two of you were with
Bobby,
Kitty,
Jubilee and
Rahne. The session is over, but the 6 of you are exhausted. Any sort of lesson with Wolverine was never very fun, or easy.
Location: Xavier's Institute
Mira was in her room, messing around with her computer. She was working on trying to get it to work quicker, but was having problems with the systems. After a few moments, she gave up, deciding that the computer system was already as fast as it could go, for the moment anyway. She sat back, contemplating what to do now. She had spent the better part of an hour working on this project, and now was back to nothing.
After a moment, she walked out of her room, and nearly had Pietro Maximoff run into her.
"Oh, sorry bout that Mira. Gotta run to the lab, see ya," he said, before racing off again. That sort of thing was to be expected when you lived in the same house as a speedster. She didn't even have a chance to get a word out before he raced off again. He could be so annoying.
She headed out to the main common area, and saw that once again, the TV had been switched to the news. That's all it ever was on nowadays, so she sat down in a chair, to watch the broadcast.
"Today, Presidential Candidate Alexander Jakobsen was seen at a rally, where one of the main questions he was asked by supporters was "What are your thoughts on the MRA?" Jakobsen responded saying that he wanted to prevent more tragedies, so that no one had to go through what he did over 3 years ago. This is a common response from him, and many try to get him to shed more light on the subject, however he never reveals the details behind the attack on the organization OMEN's headquarters in Washington DC".
Location: Xavier's Institute
Marygold was out in the garden, tending to the flowers there. She had always loved plants, and it helped that she could use her power to bring plants on the brink of death back to life. As she worked, she thought about everything that had happened in the past year. The world was going crazy, and they weren't able to do much about it, and that made her mad. She wished that she could fix things, but she saw how well trying to help went back at both the Power Plant and the Lab. They had blown up one building, and lost someone in the other. It had taken a while, but everything had come flooding back, and she had a small breakdown, away from everyone else.
It was her fault, she had them go into the power plant without a concrete plan, and she had chosen to switch the teams up at the last minute. Oshea would have been safe had he gone down onto the lower levels, but no, she just had to decide that she should go down below, and he would join the team on the higher floors. Everything that had happened was her fault, and nothing could change that.
Marygold was starting to doubt her abilities to be a leader for the team, and started thinking of maybe stepping down. The thought had occurred to her over the past year, but she couldn't think of anyone who could take her place.
Was this how Cyclops felt so many times before? she thought to herself, as she looked up just in time to see a car she didn't recognize pull up the driveway. She pushed all of the thoughts about the situation out of her mind as she wiped her dirt covered hands off and walking up to greet them. Xavier had mentioned that they were getting a new student, some friend of Guin's.
She saw the boy, and thought he looked a little nervous. Giving him a smile, she held out her hand to him.
"Hey there, I'm Marygold Isley, you must be Lance. You look like your looking for someone?" she asked him, looking directly in his eyes.
"Uh, yeah, um... I wanted to see someone before I went to talk to Professor Xavier, do you know where I can find Guinevere Stark?" he asked, his voice a little on the quiet side, she almost had to lean forward to hear him.
"Oh, Guin? She should be down in the lab," she replied as she gave him quick directions. He walked off, and she couldn't help but smile. He seemed like a nice kid to her, and with that, she went back out to the garden, and back to the thoughts that were going through her mind.
Location: Xavier's Institute
Lance wasn't really too thrilled about going to Xavier's Institute, but it was either that or sit around with the Avengers forever. His things had already been moved into his new room there, and all that was left was for him to make the drive up there. It might not be too bad, on the bright side it got him away from his father and
his issues. Now he might be able to focus on other things.
When he pulled up to the mansion, he was surprised at how big it was. It looked more like a castle as opposed to a mansion, or a school. The building didn't look old and dreary either, at least from his point of view. That was going to be his new home, and probably a good thing. His powers did go a bit out of whack sometimes, and he needed help in order to fix that. He had one thing he wanted to do before he went to talk to the Professor, and that was to see Guin. It had been a while since he had talked to his friend, and that was high on his list of priorities.
He no sooner had gotten inside, when a girl with red hair approached him. She introduced herself as Marygold, and seemed to know who he was already. Did she ask Xavier or something? There was no time, as he responded to her question, and his voice was shaky. He had always had problems talking to people he didn't know well. She gave him directions to where the lab was, and he thanked her before walking away. He headed down towards the lab, to see if he could find Guin or not.
