One-shots/Short Stories

Charles Xavier

The Mutant
"Alright, Charles. Time to recruit more students."
   "Lead the way, Hank." Charles followed Hank on his wheelchair, every once in a while greeting his students in the hallways, sometimes reminding them to do their homework and assessments. They finally reached their destination, heading towards the familiar machine that's been updated throughout the years. "Hello Cerebro." Charles whispered with a small smile.
   Hank walked up to him, placing the helmet on Charles' head gently. "Ready?" he asked him.
   "Born ready." Charles grinned. Charles breathed in deeply, searching through his mind for a student. He listed a few, when he stumbled upon one certain mutant. She was held captive in her house, being experimented on because of her mutant powers. Charles was intrigued with her powers, as well as greatly concerned. She's been captive for her whole life; she needed to be saved.
   "Got them." Charles breathed out. "First, we go to London. Someone needs our help."

***

Charles, Hank, Raven, and Erik all stood outside the simple-looking house. Erik was there with them because Charles contacted him through Cerebro, asking for help to save the girl who's captive, since he noticed that the person holding her captive knew some defence skills.
   Charles placed his pointer and middle finger together on the side of his temple, a concentrated look on his face. "She's in the basement." he told them. "She's tied down to a bed - she's drugged on morphine."
   "And the person that's keeping her captive?" Erik asked through gritted teeth. He didn't like the idea of his brothers and sisters being held against their will - hence, why he agreed immediately to Charles' cry of help.
   "I'll handle the guy." Raven agreed, her beliefs the same as Erik's.
   "He's down there with her, preparing to experiment on her - he's her adoptive father." Charles said in disbelief. "Oh my - how cruel! Quickly, we must act fast now!"
   The four quickly barged in, Erik controlling the metal hinges to fall off the doorframe. Charles sat up straight in his wheelchair. "There was a trigger." he told them. "Breaking the door had a trigger. He thinks we're the government and we caught him."
   Charles started leading them, Hank pushing the wheelchair for him, following his instructions. They reached the stairs down to the basement. "Alright Charles, you stay here -"
   "No," he interrupted Hank, "I want to come."
   "Charles -" Raven said.
   "Disabled or not, I am going down with you." Charles told them sternly. He turned to Erik. "You and Hank help me down the stairs. We don't have much time -" he suddenly gasped, his face etching into horror. "Quickly!" he said urgently. "He's planning to insert her with a syringe that will kill her!" Without another word, Hank and Erik took an arm each and followed after Raven downstairs to the basement.

"No. . .no! Don't inject me with it! Please! Someone, help me!"

Charles winced at the scream, attempting to calm her mind. "Hang on, Natalia." he whispered out loud. "We're coming for you."

***

Two hours later. . .
She was slowly waking up, though she was still unable to open her eyes. "Thank you again, Erik." she heard a familiar voice say.
   "It's okay, I would have came if it happened again." another voice said. "We got to stick together, us mutants."
   "Be mutant and proud." a woman said.
   "Charles," another voice said, "I think she's waking up."
   As soon as that man said that, Natalia opened her eyes, instantly met with bright light. Her mind immediately went to the basement. When she'd open her eyes she would be met with bright light. Panicking, she sat up quickly panting, looking around scared. She took in the different room that was not the basement. The place was fancy, and there were books everywhere. She looked at the furniture she was lying on and saw it was a sofa. She couldn't remember the last time she sat on a sofa.
   She snapped her eyes to the sound of someone coming towards her, spotting four people near her. Scared, she backed away from them as much as she could, wrapping her arms around her knees. She looked between the four in fear.
   "Natalia. . ." her eyes flickered to a man in a wheelchair. Her eyes furrowed when she realised he looked familiar. She eventually realised where she saw him; he was there at the basement - in fact, all four of them were there. . .saving her. She remembered the guy in the wheelchair now; he came and sat beside her, untying her bounds. She noticed he was disabled through her blurry gaze when the other two men carried him in the basement. She remembered after he untied her, he grabbed her hand and gave her a comforting smile, whispering soothing words while the other three handled her adopted father. Her father. . .
   "He's handled." the man in the wheelchair told her with a small gently smile. From beside him, a tall intimidating-looking man and the other woman smiled smugly at what he said. "Your adopted father will no longer harm you."
   "Who. . .are you?" she asked slowly, not used to talking freely. Whenever she made a sound, her adopted father would hit her, tell her to be quiet.
   "I am Professor Charles Xavier." the man in the wheelchair introduced, wheeling electronically towards her. He reached beside her, though still keeping his distance. "I heard you through Cerebro that you were in trouble."
   "C. . .Cerebro?"
   "A machine that allows my telepathic powers extend around the world." Charles pointed to his head. She tilted her head in curiosity at the sound of his gift. Telepathic powers? "Yes, I can read minds." he chuckles. Natalia looked away shyly. "Don't worry, you're safe now."
   "Thank. . .you."
   "Let me introduce you to the others that helped me save you." Charles motioned to the others. "This is Raven, Erik, and Hank."
   "Nice to meet you." Raven smiled gently at her. Hank gave an awkward wave, Erik nodding at her.
   "You're safe now." Erik told her sincerely, glad that her adopted father was now gone and away from her life. Erik turned to Charles. "I'm going to go now. Until next time."
   "Until next time." Charles nodded. "Are you sure you don't want to stay?"
   Erik chuckled, turning for the exit. "You can keep asking that and you can keep getting the same answer."
   "Here, I'll walk you out." Raven offered. Hank then said that he was going to go back to his lab and see what Natalia's father was doing. It was then just Charles and Natalia.