Introducing Generation X

[x-firestar.livejournal.com]

Angel and Julian discuss the changes to the New Mutants - including the name - and try to figure out what to do.



Angel sighed as she stirred her soup, staring at the papers in her other hand. In all the shuffle the students -- all two of them -- had gotten lost, but it was time to start getting them back on track. First by figuring out what the hell they were now.

"Okay," Julian sighed, wishing that he'd picked up a bottle of wine while he was in town. "So, we just have the two kids right now- but with Scott and Charles turning this place into a mutant haven, we know we're going to have more." He flipped through some pages that were scattered in front of them, then slid it over to his companion, "What do you think of the name?" He indicated the new team logo that was letter-headed to the page, reading 'Generation X.'

Angel leaned back from the pot, peering down at the piece of paper. "I think the next team should be called the A-Team, just for the hell of it." It was a weak joke and she knew it, but hey. "It's not just kids anymore, either." She waved the papers she was holding. "This is basically anyone who isn't already on a team. Anyone who wants to work toward being on a team. Anyone who wants help with their powers past high school. That's a hell of a wider scope than just students."

"That's where I have a problem," Julian sighed and rubbed his temples. "We're basically pre-paring kids to be X-Men in this, aren't we?" he looked up at her, lips quirked and brow furrowed.

"I don't think that's necessarily it," Angel said thoughtfully. "I mean it sort of sounds that way, but I doubt anyone's gonna be going after them saying 'Join the X-Men!' 'No join our team!' 'No join ours!' The kids - or whoever, insert age-group appropriate term here - can get the training they need and then decide from there where they want to go. If they want to join the X-Men or a team or do something else. Granted it sounds a bit more combat oriented than the New Mutants were, but...it seems like that might be more necessary here than it was...before. But I don't think anyone's going to force them to do anything they don't want."

"Of course not, but when you call the team Generation X, you might as well be calling it the Young X-Men or something- it's going to make them want to join." Before she could retort, he held up a hand defensively, "I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the X-Men, Angelica...I just...I want the kids to have other options than being super-heroes." Julian sighed and rubbed his hand over his face, had his parents not taken him back, Julian would have most certainly have been on the team today. "Doesn't matter though, we still need a plan of attack...so what do we need to do?"

"I wasn't going to argue," Angel said quietly. "I don't exactly want to train kids to go out onto the battlefield either, but...sometimes the battlefield comes home." They'd already put children on the front line once, after all. "Regardless of where they end up or how they end up there, at least this way they're prepared if they're forced into a situation they wouldn't be in otherwise." She turned off the burner, grabbing a couple of bowls to split the soup up. "Well our scope just dramatically widened, and if we're going to get an influx of kids...I don't know if we can handle all this on our own." They were just two people. Two busy people at that, Julian had his business in the city, Angel still had the X-Men and could be called off at any time...it was a lot for the two of them.

"I'd say Rogue, but she's in no condition to help right now...actually, if this amnesia carries on, she'll have to be part of the group," he took the bowl from her and blew on it. With a shrug, "Any ideas?"

"Yeah that would be wonderful." Angel sipped her soup absently, thinking. "What about Jess?" She asked after a minute. "She's around a lot, so that'll pick up the slack there on the off-chance we're both out, she's easy to get along with and I bet she'd be good with the kids."

Julian snorted and nearly bobbled his soup, "Isn't her solution to any problem to hit it? She's a hammer...but she's a good person, and protective. We could do worse-" he thought about it for a moment, having about to have said 'Nick Gleason', but Nick was gone. Julian pushed the thought away with an exertion of will and a sip of soup, "It's good," he indicated to the soup, "so, do you want to approach her, or should I?"

"I mean yeah we might have to talk her down from that approach but otherwise..." Angel shrugged, taking another sip of soup. Everyone was either overwhelmed, not coping, shut down, or amnesiac. "Having a hammer might not to be that bad too. Sometimes brute force does what fire and telekinesis can't." Another shrug. "I dunno. Wanna talk to her together? Or I can do it if you're busy."

"I don't have any plans tonight," he pulled out her phone and sent her a quick text. "We'll see if she's around...until then, what sort of things are we going to teach them?"

Angel reached for the papers again, looking over them once more. "Like I said before, it's more combat oriented this time, so...I guess we're teaching a little more fighting. Otherwise it's the same as the New Mutants, defense, powers training...I wonder if the students are still going to be doing volunteer stuff." That had always been a big part of the New Mutants - volunteering for things in the city, helping with Red-X...

"It should be," he started thinking back to his lessons at the temple, and the combat training- or daily beatings- he'd received there. "We can't just be warriors, we need to teach them more than that. Maybe some sort of curriculum of electives that they have to choose from? At least one combat class?" Julian met her eyes with a raised brow and took another sip of broth from the bowl.

"That would work," Angel agreed, thumbing through papers. "Where teaching's been mostly moved off to Bay-whatever now we can probably get a few people to help us with that so it's not just skinny old you and skinny old me - and maybe truck-like Jess - saying 'come at me.'" Callisto had been in charge of that stuff back in the old world - helping with the New Mutants self-defense training. They'd have to find someone else for it now.

Julian chuckled and checked his phone, sending a quick reply, "Okay, so let's lay out some courses."

Realizing they need a third hand, Angel and Julian talk to Jessica about helping them mentor the Generation X program.



Jessica looked down at her phone for what felt like the fiftieth time in the last five minutes. She'd received the text from Julian just a little while ago, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something serious was up. Perhaps it was her investigative senses? Who knew. Either way, she'd gotten the vibe that Julian and Angel wanted to talk to her about something serious, so she'd dressed the part. Her hair was up in a high ponytail and she'd dressed semi-professional, much like she would if she were going into the office with Adrienne. She'd even broken out a little makeup, and hastily applied it. She turned into the designated meeting room and looked around. It was empty, save for Angel and Julian, who appeared to be writing on a table nearby. They spoke quietly, not quite whispering, and they appeared to be quite engrossed in her work. Jessica steeled her nerves and gently cleared her throat.

"Hey there, guys. What's up?" She asked as she moved closer to them. It was time for her curiosity to be stated.

"Hey, Jessica," Julian leaned back from the table and took in the effect of his colleague's primping. "Thanks for joining us- did you eat yet? I think we have a little soup left." He pulled a chair out across from him with his telekinesis.

"I grabbed a bite earlier, but thanks." Jessica answered as she moved to sit in the chair that Julian had pulled out. She scooted closer to the table, rested her elbows on it, and steepled her fingers. "So, what's on your minds? I have to say my investigative nature is making me curious." She added.

Angel was still thumbing through papers, trying to figure out a couple more things. She smiled at Jess though as the other woman sat down, setting the stuff aside. "Julian and I have been trying to figure out what's going on with the students...here." She was weary to say in this new world. What a horrible way to bring about another apocalypse. "It seems the New Mutants program has expanded a bit - and changed its name. Beside the point though. Now it's basically for anyone who wants powers training, and that's...a little bit more than we can handle on our own. So we were wondering if you'd be interested in helping us with mentoring."

Jessica's jaw fell as soon as the words left Angel's mouth.

"Me? You want me to help out with training? That's...crazy. Not that my curiosity isn't piqued, because it is, but could you maybe tell me a little more about the whole thing? I mean, I've learned a lot from Rogue and stuff, but...I don't have a clue how to teach, really. So why me?" She asked, gesturing with painted nails to the air around her.

Julian spoke first, "You're dedicated, self-reliant, and you give a damn. You told me you wouldn't let anything happen to the kids if you chaperoned a field trip with me, so this is just taking that one step forward."

"Thanks, Julian, that means a lot. I-I do care. About kids, that is." Jessica said, running a hand through her hair nervously, before she cleared her throat. "Look, without getting all heavy or anything, I have some, uh, reasons, to want to protect these kids and see them grow. So...just call me Ms. Jones." She declared, before her gaze turned to Angel. "Well, uh, maybe just Jessica. We don't want to confuse them." She added with a grin and a nudge toward the other woman.

"There are a few things," Angel said with a small smile. She was happy Jess was so enthusiastic. It would make everything so much easier. "Punching stuff is a very attractive option, but it's not always the best one. Especially when it comes to the kids being in danger - and that happens a lot. ...A lot a lot. I don't know why we still let them out of the house to be honest."

Jessica whipped out her notebook and quickly began scribbling away.

"No...punching..." She murmured as she wrote, before she looked up at her two companions. "Okay, so what else do I need to know? Lesson plans? Names, first and last?" She asked, her hand twitching as she awaited further explanation.


"We are trying to get that straightened out right now- with what the kids will want to learn, versus what the educators we...have left...are capable of imparting to them. Powers training is part of it, but that sets them up to be little X-Men-" he held up a hand to Angelica, "I know, I know, not a bad thing, but still, I want them to have a more options. Any ideas?"

"Well..." Jessica thought, tapping at her chin as she thought. "Powers training is important. I mean, I learned more with Rogue in a few months than I did for eight years on my own. Still, you're right. We don't necessarily want these people to think we're rushing them off into battle as soon as they graduate. The three of us are happy helping out with our teams, but they might not be so eager. So, I figure we should approach it from a different angle. Tell them that we're training them in the use of their powers for a defensive, not an offensive, purpose. It's like martial arts. Most teachers don't tell their students to go out beating people, but instead use it to refine their sense of control and to defend themselves if necessary." Jessica explained, proud of how sure of herself she sounded. "Plus, we should probably have someone from each team come in now and then. Not to necessarily advertise for their team, but to give the students exposure to new people. A lot of them are probably going to WANT to join a team and, this way, they have a sort of...avenue into it, y'know? Of course, for the high schoolers, we could even help them pick out colleges or something. Be adults, that sort of thing." She finished with a grin.

"I really don't think anyone is going to be encouraging them to join teams," Angel pointed out as she scribbled down some notes. "I know I certainly won't be. Some students are just...naturally enthusiastic about that stuff. Like..." She hesitated for a moment on the name, "Molly last year, she was playing hero in Salem Center. Nobody encouraged that, and maybe that's something we should discourage more, especially in the high school students. But...they do make their own choices. Some of them might not have any interest in team, and some of them might be of the 'I'm going to join the X-Men as soon as I graduate!' variety. But that's a decision they've already made." She shrugged. "I don't know. I do think focusing more on the defensive and control aspects of powers rather than offensive. That's usually what I think about when I think powers training anyways, especially for the younger kids. Control is the most important thing right now for them."

"Particularly since public opinion is swinging away from mutants being "cool"," Julian made air quotes. He scribbled something down on a pad of paper, "So, we have that as a mandatory activity- and then since we don't want to overload them...minimum two elective tracks, to a maximum of four or something?" Looking up to his companions for confirmation.

"That sounds fair. I mean, I was an overachiever in high school." Jessica answered, writing down her own version of Julian's notes.

"This sounds perfect," Angel agreed, scribbling down her own notes. "Alright. Something tells me when the students start coming, they'll be coming fast. So let's get all this organized as soon as we can."