X-Knights: The First Month Chapter 16 (A Generation X Based Fic)

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RichGenX

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Author's Intro

It is December 11th, and after a brief break with all those posts over the weekend, I am now ready to post the next chapter. This one focuses on other character than those in England, and sets the stage for another event that will happen in this story. With that said, here comes Chapter Sixteen of X-Knights: The First Month.

Generation X Cale Storyline Disclaimer

Attention: Generation X and their villains, as well as any other mutant mentioned in this story, is property of Marvel Comics. The character Richard Cale is named after family relations. Any other reference to anything copyrighted is a chance happening.

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X-Knights: The First Month

Previous Stories and Chapters

Previous EntryWelcome Retreats

Chapter 16: Overseas Developments

Jonothan Evans Starsmore stood in the middle of the Danger Room at the Xavier Institute of Higher Learning, also known as the headquarters of the X-Men. Normally, he didn’t train on a Sunday, but the events of the past couple of weeks were playing on his mind. One of the signs of this was the way the hole in his chest and face were reforming. Shortly after he joined the X-Men, he had learned to control his ability to reform his face and chest. Since he learned that ability, he could feel like he did before his power manifested.

As he focused on regaining control of his powers, and refocusing it’s destructive powers on the Danger Room simulations of past Generation X and X-Men foes, he thought about everything that had happened in the past two weeks. First of those were the girl, Anne Smith. When Cerebro had confirmed the girl’s powers, Professor X had been concerned that she would get in with one of the groups that opposed the X-Men. He and Paige had been asked to persuade her to join the Xavier Institute.

In a way, he found out she was like him. It had taken a few letters from Charles before he came to America. He wasn’t surprised when the trend had repeated, and the girl refused to join. What had surprised him was the mention of the Cale Institute. He hadn’t been aware that his former teammate had opened a school in England.

He started to wonder, as he continued to fight the robotic mockups, if the new school was part of the reason why Richard kept blocking Professor X’s attempts to place a school in England. He figured that a big part of it was linked to the rift that had formed between the two. It had formed five years ago, when Richard discovered that Charles had been concerned about Richard and Yvette being in England, with their powers. He knew Charles was worried about someone like Magneto or Mr. Sinister trying to sway them, and had wanted one of the X-Men to act as bodyguard. Even Charles had admitted it was more worry than a lack of trust.

The big problem was that Richard felt betrayed, and he and Yvette lashed out whenever they felt their privacy had been violated. Shortly after he and Paige had returned from England, Charles almost collapsed when he had been looking in on a strong psychic presence. Shortly afterwards, Jean was on the phone with Richard. She seemed to be the only one who could even communicate with his former schoolmate.

Added to those worries, were the worries that he had gotten after he and Paige stopped in on Gayle. Even though she had tried to turn all of Generation X over to Emplate years ago, she corrected her actions. He had kept in touch with her, and that weekend, he and Paige found out more about the ‘Rippers’ that were in England. She had told them they were a gang, and a few times, she was sure they had left her threatening messages. She even suggested that the ‘Rippers’ were a gang of Emplates, but he was sure that wasn’t the case. Emplate was long gone.

His thoughts ended when the Danger Room shut down. He turned around, only to see Beast with his tool kit. “Salutations Jonothan. I do hope my unscheduled inspection of the Danger Room isn’t interrupting your training. I just noticed on the sensor logs that a strange disturbance had been detected in here almost two weeks ago.”

“Not at all, Hank. In fact, I think I should go check on my fiancée.” He smiled and then headed out of the Danger Room, with a new thought on his mind. He remember, during a session Paige and he had in the Danger Room, that a sudden gust of air hit them. Something in the air reminded him of Britain. He wondered if there was a chance that the girl they had meant to come to the X-Men had actually done something to connect them with England. Charles had suspected that the girl’s powers were linked to teleportation, but he wasn’t sure how. He then left the sub-basement, with one destination in mind.

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Paige Guthrie sat in her room at the Xavier Institute and looked out the window. She had done it many times since the doors to the Xavier School closed. She always wondered how some of her classmates were doing. She always kept in touch with all of them, except for those overseas. The most they ever communicated was with letters. She sat back in the chair she was in, and thought what might be going on in all their lives. Were Richard and Yvette living as British Nobles do? Was Monet working on some research for Gabe?

Thinking of Monet made Paige remember that it had been weeks since she spoke with Jubilation. She had been one of the maids of honor at her friend’s wedding, along with Monet. She had even kept in touch with Jubilation twice a month. It had even been a week since the last call. She reached over to the phone in her room, and picked it up. She dialed the number for Everett and Jubilation’s place in Chicago, where both worked at Paladin Technologies.

She waited anxiously until someone picked up. “Paladin Technologies switchboard. Who are you trying to reach?”

Paige was stunned by the sudden pick up. She had never reached this unless both were at work. She took a deep breath, and responded. “Ah was just trying to reach Jubilation Thomas. Ah haven’t heard from her in a week. My name is Paige Guthrie.”

She heard person on the other end type something before finally responding. “I’ll make sure Mrs. Thomas gets the message. She’s been doing her best to keep up with things since the Thomas’s went to England.”

Paige was stunned when she heard that. She wasn’t sure how to respond to that bit of information. If they were in England, why didn’t they let the X-Men know. Unless, it had been a sudden trip.

She hung up the phone the second the door to her room opened. She wasn’t surprised to see Jonothan entering the room. He always stopped by when she in the room. However, this time she could tell by the look on his face that something important was on his mind. He closed the door before he finally said, “I think something is going on in England, and it involves a school being run by Richard.”

She nodded when he said that. “That might explain why Jubilation and Everett are in England. I just tried to call them, and someone at Paladin said they were in England. Do you think they might be teaching at a school with Richard?”

She saw him nod. “It makes sense, but I think it also involves that group Gayle told us about.”

She gasped about that, remembering what Gayle had said. “Didn’t she suggest that the group was a bunch of Emplates? If that were true, it would explain a school starting up. But didn’t Professor Xavier say that there were no schools in England.”

Jonothan nodded, and then said, “Yes, but he also heard that the King had been pressuring Richard into starting a school. Apparently, he had a list of volunteers for it.” She remembered when they were in England, and Jonothan had spotted a flyer about it.

She got up out of her chair, and looked at the man she loved. With all these new thoughts, she was sure they needed to find some way of confirming it. “Maybe we should head over to Xavier’s office, and talk with him about this. He might know more about it.”

As they left the room, she heard Jonothan remark, “It might be linked to the psychic presence he felt a few days back.” She thought back to Xavier’s collapse almost two weeks ago. Jean had been quick to talk about it on the phone with someone, but she wasn’t sure who Jean had spoken with, but she had figured it was Richard. They then headed down to Charles Xavier’s office, trying to find answers to their questions.

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Charles Xavier sat behind his desk. Events in America had Charles worried. Over the past five years, many things had happened that threatened his dream of mutants and humans living peacefully together. Top of the list was the growth of a group calling itself the Church of Humanity, however it had been stopped before it could do a mass killing on the Xavier Institute’s front lawn. Another was an abduction of some mutant students, one of which was part of a radio show. The X-Men had stopped that before the students could be exploited. The most recent, however, was the government trying to pass a law that would make superheroes divulge their identities. That could be detrimental to the safety of everyone. The issue had divided Congress, and it was still being talked about.

His thoughts on these issues had stopped, when he sensed the approach of Jonothan and Paige. Two weeks ago, he had sent them to England, to recruit a female mutant who had teleportation like powers. They had returned empty handed, but with news of Lord Richard Cale opening a school. He confirmed that after his attempt to investigate a powerful psi mutant. What he had ended up doing was angering one person he didn’t want to anger.

He still found it hard to believe that even after five years, a rift still existed between him and Richard Cale. He was thankful the mutant didn’t turn evil, but he hated that the two butted heads. He would have loved Richard asking to head a school of his in England. The fact that Cale had opened his own school just made him worry a bit. He was thinking about that when Jonothan and Paige opened the door to his office. Before they could say anything, he just said, “I take it you are wondering about Richard Cale opening a school in England.”

He noticed a stunned look on both their faces, until Paige said, “Yes, we were going to ask about that, but did yah know that Jubilation and Everett are in England as well.”

Charles raised an eyebrow at that revelation. “No. I wasn’t aware of that. However, it would explain the encounter I had two weeks ago. Apparently I stumbled onto a teaching session with one of his students. If I remember right, when I was investigating a strange psychic presence, I noticed Yvette and Monet with an unknown figure.” He watched as a slightly stunned look crossed both Paige and Jonothan’s faces. He was proud that the surprised look was the only thing that crossed Jonothan’s face. Usually, his powers would disrupt the illusion the mutant codenamed Chamber put up.

It was Paige who broke the momentary silence. “If Richard was opening a school, why wouldn’t he have asked us to help?” Charles didn’t want to answer that question, because he was sure it was because it was linked to him.

He was thankful when the awkward moment was stalled when his video phone rang. Not many people had that number, and he wondered who would be calling him on it. He activated the phone, and answered. “Yes, Charles speaking.” He felt a surprised look cross his face, and motioned Paige and Jonothan to come over.

He was looking at the image of Richard Cale, and apparently the former member of Generation X was laying in a bed in a medical room. “Hello Charles. I know it’s been a long time. I’m guessing you are aware I’ve opened a school here in England.” He nodded and waited for Richard to continue. “I’m afraid that my stubbornness made me blind to some things, which includes how to run a school like this.”

He couldn’t help but admire that Richard Cale could admit the problem, but he wasn’t totally wrong. “I must admit I should have shown you more trust. However, I am concerned with what happened to you. You look like you’ve been in a fight, or worse.”

He heard a slight chuckle come Richard, before the lad finally sighed. “I’ve had better days. Yvette had taken some of the students, as well as some of our teachers, to one of the malls. While they were there, they were attacked, and the school was attacked.”

Charles heard a sound of concern come from Paige, but it was Jonothan that asked the question. “Who attacked you, Skitz? Was it those ‘Ripper’ blokes?”

He heard Richard sigh at that. It was as if they were both thinking on the same lines. Besides, he was curious to learn more about this new group, and if Richard had found out anything about them. “We believe they are linked to the ‘Rippers’. In fact, I believe our attacker is their leader. I can’t believe he got back here after five years.”

Charles could feel a feeling of apprehension rise in both Jonothan and Paige, as the realization hit him as well. He looked at Richard, and said, “Do you want me to send some X-Men to help? Especially if Emplate truly has returned.”

He watched Richard shake his head. “Right now, I don’t want you sending too many people over. There’s a certain reporter over here that would have a field day with this. Last thing I want to do is give him anymore to work with. If anything, send Jonothan and Paige. Now I should get some rest. It might take me another day or so to recover. If you want, send them out later in the week. I’ll talk with you more later.” He then watched the screen went blank.

He sat back, and then looked at both Jonothan and Paige. Before they could say anything, he said, “I want you two to start getting ready. On Tuesday night, I’m sending you two out on the X-Jet. I’ll let Richard know then, so hopefully, we can get you two there without attracting any attention to you or him.” He watched them both nod in agreement, and then leave his office. He then smiled, grateful that the rift between him and Lord Cale was now closed.

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Daria escorted the last group of people visiting Godiva’s Museum of the Unusual to the exit. It wasn’t unusual for her to do it. In the five years since the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters closed it’s doors, she had been helping at the museum. It was also a way to get to know the woman who was the daughter of the man who watched after her, the man who had been in charge of Zero Tolerance. There had been rumors that the person had been a powerful Sentinel from the future, but the truth had been known amongst the members of Generation X.

When the last of the people passed through the door, she said, “Thank you all for coming to Godiva’s Museum of the Unusual. You are welcome to return at any time.” When she closed the door and locked it, she turned to the others, who had assembled in the entry room, and smiled. “Looks like another good day. You’ve all done very well.”

With that statement, she head one of them chuckle. Her silvery hair, which was merely an extension of her power, and her background from Zero Tolerance, flowed behind her as she looked at the one laughing. She fixed her gaze on the one laughing, and realized it had been one of the recent additions, a girl named Diedra. “What’s so funny, Diedra?”

The girl stopped laughing, and finally spoke, almost startled that she had been picked out. “Sorry, you just sounded like one of those British shows.” She watched as the girl looked around, and finally said, “Since the place is closed, should we work on setting up the Jersey Devil exhibit?”

Daria nodded, and watched as most of the others left, leaving her alone in the lobby with a man who appeared to be in his late sixties. She turned to face the man. “Carl, your adventures have been a hit. It’s hard to believe that someone has had all those different encounters.”

She saw a smile cross his face. “It feels good to tell those tales, but when Ms. Cale first contacted me about this job, I thought she had been joking. Besides, what would any one want with a washed up reporter like me.” She smiled at his words. Deep down, when Godiva and Kyuukai first told her about the man, she thought they were joking. However, her opinion quickly changed after she heard his stories, and there seemed no end to them.

She glanced over to the starting room of all the exhibits in the museum. “Carl, do you happen to have any stories about the Jersey Devil? It’s a big story here, since New Jersey is on the other side of the Delaware.” She wasn’t sure what she expected the answer would be, but she had a feeling it would be a yes.

Her thoughts were confirmed when he nodded. “Just one, it was literally the first time I had heard of it. It was also one heluva.....” She saw Carl start to stare at the entrance of the museum as he continued, but on a different thought. ....lovely woman. Who is she?”

She turn to look out the door, and was a bit surprised to see her former teacher, Emma Frost, standing at the door, looking in. It was her expected arrival that made for the early closing today, as well as the new exhibit. Daria quickly ran over to the door, and opened it. “Emma, it’s been years since I last saw you. How are you?” It had been over three years since she last saw Emma, and she was sure there were some things that Emma was unaware of now.

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Emma Frost gladly walked in the door, and waited until Daria had locked the door before she said anything. It had been almost three years since she last spoke with one of the most unique members of Generation X. The last she has seen the girl, she had been dating another one of her former students, Mondo. “Daria, it is nice to see you again. I hope all is well with you and Mondo.”

She noticed a slightly hurt look cross Daria’s face. Apparently, something happened between the two. Her thoughts were confirmed when Daria just said, “It ended a few years ago. He told me he had fallen in love with someone else, and left. I was heart broken for a few months. Working here at the museum helped, but it wasn’t until recently that I started dating again.”

Emma took a quick glance at the older man in the room. She hoped the man in the seer-sucker suit wasn’t the man in question. She could tell Daria had thought that was what she thought when the girl quickly said, “No. He works here. Godiva hired him for the museum because of his background.”

She nodded at the gentleman, but turned attention back to Daria. “So you’ve moved on? I take it you have found someone else.” She watched as the silver-haired woman nodded. However, something in that nod told Emma that there might be something she was holding back. However, she didn’t want to totally pry into Daria’s social life. Her main reason for coming to the museum today was business. “We can talk more about this later, but I do want to know what you’ve been doing since the school closed. Right now, I need to see Godiva.”

She wasn’t surprised when the door to the first museum room opened. “She’s in her office here. She was here all day since the new exhibit arrived.” Emma turned to face who was talking. It was Kyuukai Hisui, Godiva’s significant other. The Asian-American woman walked over to Emma and smiled. “Hello again, Emma. It’s been a while.”

Emma nodded. Every meeting she had with Godiva had been at the Paladin Technologies’ offices in Easton, and never at the museum. Therefore, she had never had a chance to see Kyuukai since the day of the wedding and the closing of the school. “Indeed, it has been five years.” She wasn’t sure what to say, since it had been the use of Kyuukai’s powers that almost caused Emplate to succeed when he attacked that day.

Before she could say anything, the woman just looked at her apologetically. “I’m sorry about that day, Emma. I should have never let my powers be used in that way. I guess the motherly side in me made me get trapped. I never suspected that Britney had been helping Emplate.”

Emma just smiled. It wasn’t a mean smile, but a compassionate one. “We’ve all made that mistake. However, we can talk about it later. Right now, let’s go talk to Godiva.” She watched as Kyuukai nodded and then led the way to where Godiva’s office was.

As they walked, Emma looked around the museum. Much had changed since her first visit to the museum years ago. The exhibits had changed, and so many things were different. As they passed through one room, she saw a bunch of people working on setting up a statue of a horrifying beast. One of them seemed to be moving as a blur. “Diedra, slow down. Godiva will be upset if you are careless with that item.”

Kyuukai led her to a door in the room, and opened it, leading them to the secret hallways in the museum. “Godiva had managed to get a display set up for the Jersey Devil. One of the items is a replica of the place where the beast was born.” Emma felt dumbfounded when she heard that.

As they started towards where the office had to be, she remembered the man in the lobby. “Kyuukai, who was that man talking with Daria in the lobby?”

She heard Kyuukai laugh. “He was a reporter at one time. Seemed most his stories always took a supernatural turn, and Godiva hired him to tell his tales at the museum. He’s been a hit, and he even said for the new exhibit, he had a tale to tell.” She turned back to Emma and smiled. “Frankly, I like his stories more than his taste in fashion.”

As they started up the stairs, she heard a yell. Although she couldn’t make it out, it made her worry. She started to pick up her pace, but Kyuukai motioned for her to halt. “Kyuukai, I don’t think we should slow down.”

Kyuukai motioned up to the top of the steps, and Emma glanced to see a young man dashing up the steps. When he was out of sight, Kyuukai said, “Godiva must have lost something. Her office can be a mess sometimes. Remember that boy from the radio show that ended up missing.” She nodded, remembering that she, Paige, and Jono had helped in his rescue. “Well, he and his radio partner are here this week, doing some interviews. As part of the arrangement, they are helping out with some things. His radio partner liked the museum so much, he offered to do a recording for the exhibit we are adding.”

Emma smiled, remembering the radio host. During the years since the school closed its doors, Paige and Jonothan had helped in that manner. The show’s producer had actually planned to kill the host, and blame mutants, all on an on air broadcast. Now, the man had changed some of his views on mutants. She came out of those thoughts just as they neared Godiva’s office.

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Godiva Cale shuffled through all the files on her desk, as well as using her hair to bring files from other spots. Godiva had the mutant ability to use her hair like extra limbs, and her hair had the strength to break even the hardest metals. The file, however, was one relating to a deal she and Emma Frost were working on. One involving a new company that was asking for financial help. As she searched, she heard the door to her office open. She looked up to see the spectacled face of the radio personality ‘Recall’. “Did you lose something?”

She glanced at the boy, and nodded. “Yes. A file. I know you two have been hear all week doing interviews, and helping, but can I ask your assistance...” Before she could finish, she saw his eyes glowing.

He had told her than his power was to find anything lost. She had even heard accounts from people who had benefited from his help. Soon, he opened his eyes, and he glanced at a filing cabinet. He pointed to the bottom of it, and said, “It slipped under that cabinet.” She used her hair to lift up the cabinet, and there was the file.

She picked it up, and was surprised when she heard Kyuukai say, “Did you find what you were looking for?” She turned and nodded, seeing Kyuukai and Emma enter the office. She also watched ‘Recall’ slip out behind them. She could tell the boy was on the meek side, except when it came to an argument. The boy could turn any argument into his point of view, even if it was meant to insult him.

As Kyuukai left, and closed the door behind her, she faced Emma. “It’s nice to see you again, Emma. Sorry we had to meet here, but I’m sure you learned about the new exhibit.”

Emma nodded. “Indeed. Now what did you find out?” At times like this, she liked Emma’s straight to business attitude. She handed the file to Emma, and watched as Emma looked it over

For the past few weeks, a company was looking to start a branch in Easton. It was asking her company for help. She wasn’t stupid, and immediately had some people look into it. What they had found out didn’t set well with her. In fact, it reminder her of one of the things Richard had found out before he turned the company over to her. “Looks like this company has been doing some genetic experimentation, and has some shading projects going on. I think we want to avoid this group.”

Emma nodded in agreement, and set the file on the desk. “Indeed. I bet you are going to call the authorities on this.” Godiva nodded, and Emma had smiled. “Just like your cousin would have done. Have you heard from him lately?”

Godiva smiled. Ever since the events at the closing of the school, Richard never spoke with the X-Men, whom Emma had joined. So, it was obvious she wasn’t aware he had opened a school in England. “Actually, I heard from him about two weeks ago. He asked for Davis to come to England. He’s started a school there.”

She noticed Emma frowned at that. “Why didn’t he call me, and when was he going to even notify us? Charles has been trying to get a school in England, and Richard keeps blocking it.” Before she continued, Godiva just pointed at her, and put a finger to her nose. Emma stopped speaking at that point. “Ah. Of course, that’s the reason. I hope those two can patch things up soon.”

Godiva nodded. “I hope so too. Kyuukai and I plan to get married this year, and I don’t want them both at each others throats. I plan to invite the X-Men since Charles helped Kyuukai control her powers.” She wasn’t sure if Emma wanted to remember that day, but she had to mention it.

She saw Emma nod, and could tell she was about to ask something, but Cyn-Jen, who had been Jubilation’s friend, opened the door, with a worried look. “Godiva, you need to come down to the lobby quick.”

Godiva got up and headed out of the office, followed by Emma. As they walked, she looked at Cyn-Jen. “What happened? Don’t tell me someone is already upset by the Jersey Devil exhibit?”

When they left the passageways, Cyn-Jen finally spoke up. “No, nothing like that. Nothing like when we set up the Grail display. What happened is that someone appeared in the middle of the lobby. Carl and Daria had been talking, and she just appeared out of nowhere.”

When they reached the lobby, Godiva suddenly stopped. Daria was obviously trying to calm the woman, but it wasn’t that which surprised her. The woman looked almost like Yvette Cale, her cousin’s wife, except she didn’t look like she had similar powers. The woman was babbling, but also appeared to be calming down. Godiva looked over at Carl, who had pulled out a tape recorder. “Carl, what the hell is going on? Who is she?”

Carl shrugged, but spoke. “Well, judging from the accent, I think she’s French. I’m not familiar with the language, but she keeps uttering something like ‘Gee My appeal is Eloise Lemonique’ or something like that.”

Godiva’s eyes went wide. She knew a bit of French from high school. “That’s not what she’s saying. She’s telling us her name.” She looked at Daria and said, “Daria, try to tell her she’ll be safe here, and we’ll get someone to help her.” She looked at Emma and said, “Try to help. I’m going to call Yvette.” She watched Emma nod, and then she started back towards her office.

As she ran back, she replayed what she realized the girl was saying in her mind. My name is Eloise Leveque. She was the daughter of the man who had helped her cousin find out about the illegal activities going on before he handed the company to her. Yvette had even told her that the man was a French Ambassador, but nothing else about the whole situation. What she did know was that Yvette was the person to call, and that’s what she was going to do.

Next ChapterRecovery
Future Chapters and Stories

Chapter 18Sinister Things Afoot
Chapter 19Gains And Losses
Chapter 20Surprise Surprise
Chapter 21Flirting With Disaster
Chapter 22Dangerous Party Crashers
Chapter 23Complications
Chapter 24The Person We Know
Chapter 25Bogus Bobbies
Chapter 26Sinister Effects
Last Chapter (Chapter 27)Darkness Revealed

Future Stories (All Links go to the first chapter)
The Wrath Of Dio

Library PageRichGenX's Library - X Knights 1 - The First Month