Our classroom is where we come to learn how to learn, to ask questions, to be curious. Sure, there's still philosophy, but other than that we build our own projects and follow computer programs at our own pace. There are so many plants in here it's almost like being in a little jungle at times but I love them. The chairs and tables are all ergonomic, comfortable, though often we choose to sit on the floor mats at the low tables, or on the couch.
Every room has a learning guide, a teacher, who's job it is to inspire and guide us when we ask for help. But there are some students that even the teachers of Bayville High, NY, aren't completely qualified to help, such as 15 year old Scott Summers.
Scott Summers closed his eyes tightly as he felt an all-too-familiar headache forming at the bridge of his nose. Since he was about 10, he had known he was…different somehow. He had headaches, and sometimes his eyes would burn. After accidentally putting a hole in the wall of the house he lived in at the time, he learned to keep his eyes shut whenever another headache began, lest he do serious damage to something--or someone--else.
The bandages around his eyes were a source of mockery by certain peers of his and had lead the faculty to believe that he was blind, which he rolled with, it was easier than admitting that he was hiding a laser cannon behind each eyeball.
He'd tied them firmly around his head, ensuring that he wouldn't accidentally blink, or let his eye twitch, for any opening, however small, was taken advantage of.
He only hoped the headache would end soon as he tried to pay attention and follow the lecture while trialing his fingers over the braille in his textbook. Learning braille was exhausting but it helped keep up the masquerade and he was functionally blind anyway, so might as well.
In the front of the classroom, the history lesson droned on.
Across the room, Duncan Matthews watched the teacher intently. Once he turned his back to write on the board, Duncan threw a paper airplane at the back of Scott's head and hit him dead on.
Scott sighed and brushed it aside as Duncan and his gang of idiots snickered at him.
Scott didn't even need to hear him to know who threw it: The local asshole. Scott ignored him and went back to his book and Duncan narrowed his eyes, if there was one thing he hated, it was being ignored by his chosen victims. Scott knew that he was going to be attacked by Duncan's gang later for this great crime, but he didn't care, he'd take his victories where he could get them.
Eventually, the bell rang, which didn't do Scott's headache any favors, and he quickly closed up his books and felt around for his bag before stuffing everything inside and zipping it shut and heading towards the door. Unfortunately, Duncan was waiting for him in the hallways and stopped Scott. "Where you think you're going freak? Huh?" Scott brushed his arm aside and tried to just walk away but Duncan shoved him backwards. "What's wrong freak? Cat got your tongue? Think you're too good to talk to us? Huh? I'm talking to you!"
Scott doesn't need his eyes to know that his fellow students are walking right past all of this. "Hey? Hey, can you hear me? Huh?" Duncan asked and slapped Scott's ear and shoved him against a wall. Duncan and his gang laughed and looked back at the other students who just minded their own business. Satisfied, Duncan turned his attention back to Scott. "So what's up freak? You deaf now too?" He pushed Scott back and leaned in close. "Because damn man, if you're this screwed up, I can't imagine how fucked up your parents were!"
Scott lost his temper and kneed Duncan in the groin as hard as he could. Duncan's mouth opened wide and he backed away and held his balls but Scott wasn't done yet. He clenched his fist, a vein popped out of his forehead. He swung his arm, it was a sloppy punch since he was guided by Duncan's voice alone, but his fist landed on the side of Duncan's face and he spit out saliva as pain hit Scott's knuckles and shot up his arm. Ignoring it, Scott grabbed and shoved him aside as hard as he could before running down the hallway and pushing past several students while laughing even while Duncan's friends picked him back up. "You're a dead man Summers! Do you hear me?!"
Scott knew he was going to get the beating of his life for this but dammit if he couldn't help but kick the bully while he was down. As such, Scott turned around and raised two fingers in the air.
"You got your ass kicked by the blind kid, Matthews!"
"YOU LITTLE SHIT!"
Scott resumed running and trying to push past the other students even with the bullies hot on his heels shoving the students out of their way. He tripped and stumbled and he had no idea where he was going but he was not going to stop running. He knew they would catch up soon however, but if his guess was right, he wasn't too far from the bathroom. Scott stumbled towards the walls with his hands outstretched in front of him and they pushed against the wall and he ran forward with his hand trailing alongside the lockers as students got out of his way. Thankfully, his hand slid alongside the door to the men's room and Scott shoved it open and stumbled inside and he slammed it shut behind him.
"Summers? That you? What's up? You got an emergency or something?" A student asked him while washing his hands.
"Hi. Duncan. Crazy. Run." Scott said in between breaths.
"...How badly?"
"Bad. Run. Now. Get the Principal. Go."
"Okay, come on, we'll run together."
"No...no, I'm the one Duncan's after. You. Go." Scott told him and felt along the walls as he walked to the back of the men's room.
The student was about to respond when Duncan smashed open the door. "GET OUT HERE SUMMERS! GET OUT HERE AND GET WHAT'S COMING TO YOU!"
"Hey you! Get the fuck out!"
The student backed up and crept alongside the walls before running out. "Watch the fucking door, make sure nobody comes in." Duncan told one of his friends and he started kicking open the stalls as he looked for Scott. He came to a back corner where Scott was waiting. To his left was the wall. To his right was a stall. It was a narrow gap so if Duncan wanted to fight, his movement would be limited compared to the smaller Scott Summers. More importantly, Duncan's friends would be bunched in if they tried to come at him all at once, so at the very least, they would need to come at him one at a time. And with the narrow gap, they could only come at him from one direction, so even if Scott was trapped and unable to see them, he would at least know which direction they were coming from.
"Took you long enough Matthews. All those steroids slowing you down?" Scott joked, trying his best to hide how worried he was.
"Yeah real funny Summers. You get one lucky shot and think that makes you a fighter? You that makes you a man? Looks like I'm going to have to beat some sense into you."
"Then bring it chicken wuss." Scott put up his hands. "I'm ready for ya."
Duncan's gang burst out laughing at him. "Hey man can you believe this? Huh? Look at him! Eyeless wants to be a fighter!" One of Duncan's lackeys mocked Scott.
"Oh shove it. Fighting means you could lose. Bullying means you can’t. A bully wants to beat somebody, he doesn’t want to fight somebody." Scott taunted right back.
"YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Duncan grabbed at Scott who pushed his arms away and stepped in with a one two combination that exploded across the bully's jaw. He backed up and Scott kicked out and caught him in the side. Duncan's friends laughed at him as he stumbled and fell to the ground but a growl and a glare from him shut them up. He got right back up and went after Scott again. Scott leaned against the wall and kicked at him but Duncan stepped back and punched at Scott again, catching Scott on the face. Scott fell back and the bully advanced on him and then Scott leaned down and charged him and punched at Duncan who just took it and punched at Scott's head and grabbed him and he shoved Scott against a wall. Duncan punched Scott hard in the stomach and knocked the wind out of him and then Duncan threw Scott to the floor and he started stomping on him. Scott coughed and hacked and put his arms over his head to shield himself but Duncan just kept it up, laughing all the while with his lackeys. Not done yet, Duncan reached down and grabbed Scott who struggled against him and then he shoved Scott against the wall. "What's wrong Summers? Huh? Not talking shit now are you? HUH?!" Scott swung wildly, grazing his jaw but then Duncan punched him right back. Duncan scoffed as Scott fell down and blood dribbled from his mouth. The bully then kicked him in the ribs and scoffed. "Pussy." Scott fell down, holding his stomach and coughing. Suddenly, red lights started shining from Scott's face and his bandages started burning.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Duncan and his friends backed away from Scott.
"What? No. NO DON'T! DON'T!" Scott grabbed his face and squeezed his eyes shut. "G-Get away. Get away from me. Now!"
Duncan was about to respond when he heard the door slam open. His friend went to stop the interloper but there was the smashing of fist to flesh and his friend dropped like a sack of potatoes. The new arrival calmly stepped over him and rolled up his sleeves and rubbed his knuckles. The student is powerfully built with unusually long arms and legs, and unusually large hands and feet - a rare although not unique case of mutant powers manifesting before puberty. His bodily proportions are comparable to those of a gorilla, resulting in him receiving the bizarre nickname on and off the field of "Magilla Gorilla".
"Say what you want about the man, but it seems Johann Wolfgang von Goethe had a point when he said that 'The coward only threatens when he is safe'."
Duncan and his thugs backed up. "T-this doesn't involve you...Hank. So just back off!"
"See, that's where you're wrong. You are here and you hurting my friend. I'm involved on principal."
"Yeah? W-well what are you going to do about it huh? We've got you outnumbered man!"
Hank ignored the idiot and called out to Scott. "Hey Scott. How are you holding up?"
"You....are...late."
"A thousand apologies. I'll wrap this up quickly."
"Oh cram it! There's four of us and one of you!"
"Yes, but I can't exactly wait around all day for more of you to show up, I have things to do. So why don't you neanderthals apologize to my friend and promise to drop out of school and we can resolve this peacefully. Sound like a deal?"
"D-Duncan?"
Duncan spit on the floor and walked out with his gang. "Fuck him up."
Hank just rolled his eyes. "Neanderthal was right on the money it seems."
The first of Duncan's bully friends ran at Hank head on only for Hank to calmly sidestep and grab and throw him through the air. He smacked into a wall and fell to the floor and groaned in pain.
He would be sore for a few days but he'd be fine.
The next two attacked him at the same time and Hank responded by dropping down on his hands and kicking up his feet, kicking them both in the stomach and launching them backwards right past Duncan. They smacked against the walls and dropped down.
Before Duncan could respond to this, Hank sat down in a crouching position and sprung up into the air and flipped over his head and landed behind Duncan and then Hank picked him up by the back of his shirt, carried him into a toilet stall, shoved his face in the toilet water and flushed it to the bully's dismay.
Hank then tossed him out of the stall and the bully landed hard on his back, coughing and sputtering, his face and hair dripping wet.
"I gave you a chance to apologize you know. It isn't too late Duncan."
"S-screw you Hank!" Duncan spit on the floor and he got up and tried to punch him again only for Hank to calmly catch it and shoved him backwards and into a wall. He impacted against it and slid down to the floor. Duncan fumbled around with his hand and grabbed onto the wall trash can and pulled himself up, groaning in pain. "Please stop embarrassing yourself." Hank insisted.
Duncan started towards him again but Scott lunged at him and punched Duncan as hard as he could manage. With Duncan already off balance, Scott's punch knocked him to the floor and Scott fell with him, still keeping his eyes squeezed shut. Hank ran over to his friend. "Scott. Scott, are you alright?
"
"Been better..."
Now that Hank could see him better, he saw that his friend had bruises and blood on his face from the beating he'd just taken. From his ragged breathing, he'd taken hard hits to the stomach as well. It took every ounce of Hank's self-discipline not to do the same to the bully who'd hurt him. Restraining himself, Hank nevertheless turned to face Duncan. "One moment Scott." Hank walked over to Duncan and picked him by his shirt and knocked him out with a punch to the face before dropping him to the floor.
He then pulled out the paper towels and wet them in the sink and crouched down next to Scott and he began wiping his friend's face. "Come on now, let's get you to the nurse."
Just then, the Principal walked into the bathroom and he was utterly baffled by the scene before him.
"What on EARTH has happened in here?!"
Hank helped Scott to stand. "Duncan...Duncan....attacked me. Hank saved me. Simple."
"Is this true Mister McCoy?"
"It is sir. I heard about what was happening and I rushed in to help my friend. When I arrived, these men attacked me so I defended Scott and myself. I am well aware that fighting is against the rules here, but considering the circumstances, I believe that an exception should be made. especially considering that my friend has a note, from his doctor, that his eye condition requires that he wear these bandages around his face to protect his eyes and that he is functionally blind because of this...and yet, you can see the damage he's taken for yourself. So you can punish me if you want, but I stand by the fact that I would do it all again if it meant saving my friend."
The Principal sighed and crossed his arms. This whole thing was a giant mess for sure, but the evidence spoke for itself.
"...Alright, let's get everyone to the nurse. I'll make some calls and once Mr. Matthews is feeling better, I'll interrogate him regarding his role in this disaster. Mr Summers, I will contact your teachers and tell them that you're excused from your classes for the rest of the day. Your parents will be notified as well."
"Thanks." He rested his head as Hank escorted him out of the bathroom and the Janitors soon filed in to help pick up Duncan and his gang and get them to the nurse as well.
The Principal rubbed his face with his hands and looked over the bathroom. It didn't take long for him to see the blood on the floor and he took a picture with his phone. It was all the evidence he needed. Mr.McCoy would be given a slap on the wrist, Mr. Summers a vacation and anything else he wanted and Mr.Matthews and his friends would be questioned and then suspended for a good long time, followed by a year's worth of detention once they came back. He closed his eyes and backed against the wall to think."
Sir? You okay?" A janitor asked.
"I'm worried about the kid. That's all....let's get this room closed off and the area around the blood taped off. I don't want anybody except the police in or out until they've finished looking it over."
"Can do sir."
Hank helped Scott to walk down the hallway and Scott leaned against him. "Hey man, are you gonna be okay?"
"Fine once I get a few days of sleep."
"That's the spirit." Hank looked around before whispering. "...Why didn't you use...that?"
"I might hate Duncan but not that much and I'd rather not vaporize somebody."
"You're a good man Scott Summers."
"I guess...nice timing back there."
"I was in the neighborhood."
Scott nodded and cringed from the pain in his body but nevertheless forced a smile.
Scott.
Scott...
Can you hear me Scott?
I want to help you.
What? Who's there?
My name is Charles Xavier. I am speaking to you telepathically. I apologize that I could not reach you before now but I would like to help. I can reduce the pain that your mind feels from your altercation until you are feeling better. With your permission, I would like to do so.
I-I can't see you. Where are you?
I am on the way to your parents' house actually. I know about the gifts that you and Hank McCoy posses and I would like to help you to hone them.
My gift? You mean my eyes?
Yes. It is a very unique gift Scott and I believe that I could help you to control them.
Do you mean it?
Yes. I will do everything in my power to help you.
Well...I guess you can start by numbing the pain I'm feeling.
Happily.
It happened gradually but soon Scott realized that despite the beating he'd taken, he wasn't feeling it at all anymore. He didn't feel numb either, he just felt fine.
"Xavier..."
"You say something man?"
"I...Hank, I want you to do me a favor. Look up a guy named Charles Xavier for me."
"I think I've heard of him. But what for?"
"Let's just say...it just popped into my head."
Hank McCoy looked up Charles Xavier on his phone. "Here we go. Charles Francis Xavier was born the son of nuclear researcher Brian Xavier and his wife Sharon. Following her husband's accidental death, Sharon married Brian's colleague, Kurt Marko. Cain, Kurt's son by a previous marriage, came to live at Xavier's Westchester Mansion Shortly thereafter. Following their mother's death, a fire in the family home took Kurt's life, leaving the stepbrothers alone....
He entered Bard College in New York at age 16 and earned his bachelor's degree in biology within two years. He was then accepted into the graduate-studies program at Oxford University, where he earned degrees in genetics and biophysics and he joined the military after completing his studies at Oxford.
Charles quickly became something of a legend in the area of search and rescue until he lost his brother Cain in a cave in.
Charles next traveled to Israel where he got into some kind of trouble with a man named Erik Magnus Lehnsherr. Details are sketchy though.
Xavier later got into an accident in the Himalayas that broke his legs and he had to be air lifted out.
Charles resumed graduate work at Columbia University in New York, and after receiving a Ph.D. in anthropology he spent several years in London earning a M.D. in psychiatry. There, Charles renewed his friendship with Moira, who had married Joe MacTaggert and was now a renowned geneticist and they've funded a school for gifted students here in the States."
"Yeah, that's him." Scott rubbed his head. "I'm not sure why but his name popped into my head and I wanted to know about him. Right about the time I felt the pain leaving me."
"Hmmmm.. He's had a hard life. The poor man. I can't believe any one man could go through all of this. However." Hank set his phone down and looked at Scott. "You said his name popped into your head and the pain left your body right? What if...what if he's...special? Like you?" Hank whispered the last part.
Scott response was a short laugh. "I have my doubts about that." He tapped his eyes. "Pretty sure he isn't a walking laser cannon." He laid back down on the bed. "Anyway, I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up if anything exciting happens or my parents show up, cool?"
"Cool man. Get some rest."
_______________________________________________________________________________
"Mr.Summers? Mr.Summers?"
"Scott! Hey Scott! Wake up buddy!"
Scott groaned and woke up in the bed, doing his best to keep his eyes closed still.
"Whaaa? What's going on?" He asked as he felt the rag on his head.
"Your dad's here."
"D-dad?" He looked around for him.
"SCOTT?!"
"DAD?!" Scott looked over towards his direction and Jack Winters ran over to his bedside and hugged his son. "Scott. Oh God, son, we drove straight here when we got the call. Oh God. What the hell did that maniac do to you?"
Scott drooped over his dad's shoulder and he hugged him gently. Scott had never seen his adoptive father but from his figure and his voice he could tell that he was a strong powerful man with a full powerful beard and a voice that commanded attention. "Just a few scrapes. Few dozen maybe. I'll be fine in a few days maybe. Give it a week. Maybe two at most...."
"As long as you need son. We'll be here for you." He gently held his son for a few minutes and he looked at Hank. "Thank you Hank. Oh God Bless You."
"I was just in the right place at the right time. I'm just glad I was able to help him."
"You saved our son's life." Jack told him.
"You really did man. Thanks again."
"No thanks required. I'm just the bodyguard, bro."
"Well listen Hank. Anything you need, and I mean anything, you come talk to me and we'll help in any way we can." Jack assured Hank. He helped his son lay back down for the moment and then he turned back to the nurse. "So tell me: Where's the punk who hurt my son?"
"Currently in a different nursing office. We have a few here. We thought it best to keep the kids separated for awhile. For legal reasons however, I cannot tell you which ones the children are in right now.
Jack took a few deep breaths to calm himself down and then he replied to the nurse. "Okay. That's fair. I would like to take Scott home now."
"Of course. Please be careful with him Mr.Winters. He's going to need plenty of bed rest for the next few days.
"Don't 'worry, we'll take care of him." He told the nurse and helped Scott up and out of his bed and out of the room.
"Hey dad?" Scott asked him. "Where's mom?"
"Well you know your mother Scott." Jack smiled.
"What kind of joke of a school are you running here?" Crystal Winters shouted at the principal. "My son is HANDICAPPED! He has notes from his doctor for his eye condition! That's why he wears that's thing around his eyes in the first place! And yet I get a call from the nurse about some coward attacking him and beating him up for no damn reason?! What are you going to do about this huh? I want those psychopaths EXPELLED and a full apology from the school for what's happened here today! AND I want them to pay for any and all medical bills we could build up from this!"
The Principal held up his hands defensively as he waited for her to finish. "Please Miss Winters. I assure you that we're doing everything in our power to resolve this crisis but this has all happened rather suddenly for all of us. I have several students in the nurses offices who might need to go to the hospital, police investigating a bathroom brawl and the entire affair is rather chaotic. Unfortunately I only have the statements of two students to go on at the moment. Normally we would've brought the other students in for questioning but they're unconscious at the moment. You must understand this places us in an awkward position. Believe me, once they're feeling better and able to answer questions, we will get their side of the story. It is only fair that they can give their own version of what happened. We will launch a full investigation into this matter and once its done we will make our decision. For now I believe the best thing to do would be for Mr.Summers and Mr.McCoy to both return home to rest. If we require a follow up statement from them we will call you. Any homework they miss will be delivered to their houses."
Crystal fumed but relented. "You just keep those delinquent assholes away from my boy and out of this school." She stood up and walked out of the principal's office.
She met Scott and Jack on the way out and she rushed over to hug them. "OH HONEY!"
"Hi mom." Scott said quietly while he hugged her back. "Can I go home now? I hate it here."
"Sure baby. Come on lets get you out of this madhouse." She whispered back and she and Jack escorted Scott out of the school.
They helped Scott into the car and he buckled up and relaxed in his seat and he slowly drifted off back to sleep.
They let him relax and they got into the car. There was a period of silence between them as they drove home until Crystal began to cry. "Our boy Jack. Our baby boy."
"It'll be alright honey. It'll be okay. We'll get him home and it will be okay."
"He can't go back there. It's not safe for him. Those mongrels tried to kill him Jack. If we let him go back one of their friends will try to finish the job. He can't go back there."
"I know....maybe....maybe we should give Xavier's a chance after all."
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Scott ran down the hallway as fast as he could past the unmoving statues dressed like his students. He couldn't stop! He couldn't stop! They were going to kill him! He pushed past the statues while screaming out for help but nobody came to help him.
"HELP ME! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME! ANYBODY PLEASE! SOMEONE HELP!" He screamed down the hallway. His voice echoed down the hallway endlessly but nobody came to help him. The statues just closed in around him. He had to squeeze past them to get through. The monsters were still coming! He could hear them rampaging down the hallway smashing through the statues in their way to the screams of the students. Scott ducked down and squeezed through a gap of student statues but then he fell down on his face. He pulled himself up to his feet and tried to keep going but he bumped into a statue. He tried to go left but he bumped into another statue. He tried to go right! He tried to go down! He tried to go back! He was trapped in a circle of statues closing in on him. The screams grew louder as the monsters rampaged down the hallway growing closer and closer.
"NO! NONONO!" Scott frantically pushed and shoved against the statues. "No! Please! Help me! Someone help me!" He slammed his hands against a statue and suddenly fell forward and landed on his face again. He coughed and spat out dirt and dust. He rolled over on his stomach and looked around for the monsters but for his shock he discovered he was laying in a field now. The hallway was gone. The school was gone. The monsters were gone and he was alone in a field of flowers. "Uhhhh what? Huh? What? Hello? Anybody? What's going on?"
"I was hoping you could tell me. What are you doing here new kid?" An angelic voice asked from behind him.
Scott scrambled to his feet and then he turned around to see a smoking hot redheaded supermodel in a pleated skirt and a black top that left her midriff exposed standing over him with her head tilted in curiosity.
"Huh. You know, you're actually kinda cute. What's your name new kid?"
"I-I-I-I uhhh I-I'm....I'm uh...ahem!" Scott took a deep breath and exhaled and stood up straight. "Right! I'm Scott. Scott Summers. What's your name and uh, where are we?"
The redheaded girl giggled and offered her hand. "I'm Jean Grey. Welcome to The Field Of Dreams."
