pre-apocalypse
chapter one
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Malachi wasn't sure where he brought himself into. He was that terrified, helpless and he had no other options. He knew about this place, but he was in the constant of reluctance to come to this place. He heard that it's supposedly the safe haven for people like him.
Mutants, it's what they're called, he wasn't sure who call them that. Mutants are the people with abilities, those who are not ordinary, those who are not normal human beings, some Mutants look obvious with their strange physical appearance and some may look normal that may blend into a crowd but they have something to hide.
Malachi Clark may look normal to you, but he has few things that he hides. He's fine with the abilities he has, but it's something else that scares him.
"You really think this is the answer?" He laughed as if making fun of Kai.
The voice inside his head made him frown, he tries to ignore him. Kai's eyes closed and took a deep breath before exhaling sharply. He pushed the gate open, the gate creaks as he walked forward onto the driveway towards the mansion. There wasn't a single person in sight, it was night and late could be past twelve and everyone could be asleep. It was a wonder if he should wait until morning, but there was nowhere else he can go to and he was tired.
Malachi was astonished by the sight of the mansion, of its size, it looked a lot bigger than what he had seen on posters. He wanted to say something good about it, but the voice inside his head commented before Kai could, "Jesus Christ, that is a fucking castle"
Kai sighed sharply and sheepishly. He didn't respond to his comment.
When he reached the footsteps of the mansion, he glanced up momentarily, most of the lights within the building were out, windows were all dark and some still had their lights on. He walked forward until he was a foot away from the door. There was a doorbell on the doorframe, he pressed the button and there was a ding-dong sound from the inside. He didn't realize how nervous he got as his hands began to shake and his heart quickened.
No one answered. Neither he heard any noises from the other side of the door, maybe he really should've waited until daytime. He tried to ring the bell again, but no one answered.
"Want me to knock it down, Kai?" He asked.
"No!" Kai exclaimed, "Could you just go away for once?!"
"I'm just trying to help. Gosh" he frowned as he folded his arms and rolled his eyes.
Kai shook his head, squeezed his eyes shut and dropped his arms. His hands ran across his face then through his hair in frustration. He turned around and sat down on the stony doorsteps. He pulled his hood up over his head, pulled his sleeves around his hands, wrapped his arms around his knees and rested his chin on his arms. Cold and tired.
"Let's fly out of here, Kai" he sounded somehow calm and comforting. Kai always found him when he's calm and comforting strange and weird. No matter how he tries, Kai still doesn't forgive him. "I'll find us someplace better. We could go to China. See the Great Wall as you've always wanted, eh?
"Leave me alone" Kai muttered, he rubbed his itchy and tired eyes. He can feel him feeling disappointed and he was tired too.
Few long moments have passed when the door behind him finally opened and at the same time, the light beamed on at the doorsteps where Kai was sitting. He promptly got up, twist around at the door, startled that he took few steps back. There was a young man, tall, pale skin, he had glasses on, brunette hair, he wore a robe over his pajamas and grey shirt. He looked rather annoyed and tired like he had been woken up.
"Can I help you?" The young man asked.
"I'm— I'm..." Kai was unable to find words, he only knew one name, a name he had heard from others. "I'm looking for Charles Xavier . . . I— I need help . . . I'm . . . I don't know where else to go"
The young man knew that the boy wasn't ordinary. The boy is one of them, and he's lost and desperate. Otherwise, he wouldn't show up, especially in the middle of the night. The young man sighed, showing sympathy for the kid, though the boy was familiar like he had seen the boy from somewhere. "Come on in" he stepped to the side as he pushed the door open.
There was a rush of relief running through him. He went inside, the young man closes the door as Kai was inside, the boy stopped as he immediately fell in stun when he gazed around. A large Y stairway ahead, high ceiling with a large chandelier hanging above, the lights were currently off but there were few that were on, very dimly.
"Come on, follow me," the young man said as he went ahead towards the stairs. "I think, for now, you should get some rest first. I assume you're exhausted, you seem to come a very long way. First thing in the morning, we'll discuss what's going on with you and Professor X will be in the presence. Sound all right?"
Kai can understand, it's late in the night, everyone must be asleep, he can wait until morning. His body craves for rest. "Yeah, sure" the young man guided Kai to the right stairway towards a large corridor.
"My name's Hank McCoy, and you are—?"
"Kai—" for a moment he was reluctant to tell him his name, he was concerned if this young man has seen him on television, on news, Kai has been on the run for a while and hiding. "I'm Kai," he said.
"Kai what?"
He didn't respond. Hoped that the man will forget about it. They reached the end of the corridor, then turned right which was another large hallway with a dozen doors left and right side. Hank stopped on the first door on the left, turned the light switch on, inside was an empty room, a single with a white pillow and folded crimson blanket on the end of the bed, nightstand and a drawer. It still looked empty and merely unoccupied.
"Just tonight, you're sleeping here, bathrooms are just down this hall—" he gestured the corridor they were in, "you shouldn't have any problem of finding it. Even the kitchens if you're hungry which is in downstairs in the west wing. So, will you be okay for now?"
Kai swallowed as he turned to Hank, he nodded, "Yeah, I just . . . need some sleep now"
"Great, Professor will be seeing you in the morning" Hank turned and walked back to the corridor where they walked from. "See you in the morning"
Kai said nothing back. He just went inside the room and closed the door behind him. Hoping Jack won't disturb him tonight.
"Don't worry about me, I am just as tired as you are, sir," said Jack, "did you see this place? It's really like a damn castle."
Kai merely took his black hoodie off and his shoes off before sitting down on the bed.
"How many kids do you think are in this place?" Jack questioned.
"How should I know?" Kai sighed as he rubbed his head. He swung his feet up onto his bed and laid down.
Jack let out a relaxed sigh, feeling comfortable. "Good God, this is the best bed in the world"
"Shut up and go to sleep" Kai murmured.
"Fine" Jack replied.
Then Kai's head felt empty. It just him and his own mind. It's as if Jack was gone, that he had left his mind like he just went out of the door but he can come back at any moment, or any time. It is truly difficult to explain about Jack. Finally, alone at least, Kai thought.
He forgot to turn off the light, he didn't feel like getting up to turn it off, he weakly raised his hand, his index finger lifted and with the little flick, the light turned off.
✧ ✧ ✧
When Kai woke up from a dreamless sleep, he was still tired that he wanted to go back to sleep. His sleep felt rushed and short. His eyes were itchy. But he felt an odd presence. He heard someone clearing their throat and paper flapping behind him. He slowly shifted onto his back as he opened his eyes, turned his glance and found a strange man sitting on an odd wheelchair in front of the window. He was reading a book.
The man's eyes fixed on Kai, "Oh, finally, you're awake" he put the book on top of the drawer.
Kai groggily laid his head back down on the pillow. "Are you . . . Charles Xavier?" He said tiredly. He heard a few things about that man, that he was on a wheelchair and can read minds.
"And you must be Kai," Charles said. "Hank told me that you're . . . in trouble? That you need help?"
Kai didn't speak for a moment, with that moment, he sighed deeply before lifting himself to sit up, he pulled the blanket off to the side. "You could say that"
"What seems to be the problem?"
Kai shrugged, he crossed his legs, his hands clamped together as he rested his arms on his lap. "Well . . . I have something . . . that I can't tame . . . Something that I can't quite apprehend"
"So, this must be the Jesus they all talk about" Jack sounded tired.
Kai put his head down, held his head before rubbing his forehead. Not now. He thought.
"You alright?" Charles asked as he stared the boy in curiosity.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just . . . I'm still tired. What time is it?"
"It's two thirty"
Kai was surprised, he slept through the morning, "Oh, shi— really?"
"Yes. Anyway, why don't we meet downstairs, Hank and I will be waiting for you in the entrance room, it's from where you came in from, we'll talk in Hank's lab" Charles moved around the bed towards the door, his wheelchair barely even made a sound as he moved. "There's some fresh clothes in the drawers if you want to change. Can you open the door for me?"
Kai would get up and get it open, but instead, with a slow wave, the door slowly swung open. Kai wasn't sure if he should find it odd that Charles wasn't even surprised of what he just did, like as if he knew. Kai closed the door when Charles left the room.
He took a long moment as he remained on the bed, thinking, wondering what will happen next. He was slightly worried. When he got out of the bed, he went to check the drawers, noticed how his clothes were not cleaned and they must've smelled too. He found different sizes of grey sweatpants in the bottom drawers, different sizes of multi dark shade colors of t-shirts and different underwear as well. There were also dark grey hoodies in the closet. After he fully changed into grey sweatpants, a white t-shirt, and a hoodie, he left the room.
There were kids around, some looked younger than twelve, most of them teenagers and some were adults. He'd found them looking curiously at him, of course, he was the strange and new kid in the building.
"God, don't they have better things to do than staring at us?" Jack groaned.
Kai kept on walking down the hall until he reached the stairway in the entrance area. There, Charles Xavier was waiting and he was speaking with a girl. A girl with black hair. The moment Charles saw Kai coming down the stairs, he told the girl, "We'll discuss it later again, all right?"
"Yeah, sure" The girl nodded, she shifted her glanced onto Kai, the girl was Asian, she looked to be around fifteen or sixteen, her wavy hair and had her top hair tied in two ponytails. She wore a yellow jacket and jeans. "New stray, Professor?" She looked at Charles.
"Yes, showed up last night. This is Kai" Charles greeted, "and Kai, this is Jubilee"
Kai tried to smile back at the girl, instead he reached a hand out, "Hello" Kai is never used to meet new people, he gets a little shy.
"Hey" The girl's smile was welcoming and friendly as she shook his hand. "Always interested in meeting new kids around here"
Kai didn't know how to respond to that, instead, he managed to smile. Jack was chuckling softly, "Stop smiling, man. You look like a total moron" Kai's smile disappeared instantaneously and broke his gaze from her.
Charles stared at Kai for a second before shifting his gaze onto the girl. "We'll see you later on again, Jubilee" Charles assured the girl.
The girl nodded, "Yeah. Nice meeting you, Kai" she smiled then strolled away toward the stairs.
"Come, follow me, Kai" Charles started to move to the eastern wing and the dark blonde boy was right behind him.
After going through a single corridor, Charles leads the boy to an elevator, going to the underground section, which to the boy's surprise by the basement's appearance, the walls and floors seemed to be all in metal, floors, and walls all in dark blue and every door were in silver. The halls were brightened by the white fluorescent lights in the corners of the ceiling. Kai was flabbergasted.
They reached the lab where Hank was waiting, the room was large, there was a strange machine that reminded Kai of an MRI scan, only to be looked advanced. Hank gestured Kai to take a seat on a bed that stood in the middle of the room and it looked to be connected to the strange looking MRI scan. The bedding was hard and leathery. "All right, Kai. I'm just going to a couple of vital checks"
"Is that really necessary?" Kai questioned.
"We just . . . wanna check if you're healthy"
Kai's brows furrowed. "Well, I used to smoke . . . a lot"
"Well, thank god I showed up to stop you from killing yourself with that disgusting habit" Jack murmured.
After Hank checked Kai's vitals, his iron, his blood pressure, his breathing and his pupils which took within fifteen minutes. When Hank finished, he set his notes down on the table and claimed, "Well, he's healthy. Nothing unusual but will need to be scanned"
Then Charles moved in front of the boy. Kai put the small gauze on his side as the top of his finger had stopped bleeding from where Hank pinched with a needle to check his iron. Charles stared at the boy in curiosity, and as if he's waiting for something to happen. It made Kai uneasy, his eyes looked into Hank for a moment who seemed to be waiting for Charles to say something.
"Malachi Clark, is it?" Charles's arm rested on the wheelchair's arm.
It almost didn't surprise Kai at all that Charles knew his name because of his ability to read minds. Can he hear Jack as well? That was the question. Kai nodded in response.
"You were in the news a few weeks ago" Charles went on, "You've caused a destruction in Seattle, was that really you?"
Kai's gaze dropped, the guilt was so tremendous on him that he wanted to cry. His hands gripped the sleeves of his hoodie, his eyes squeezed shut as his eyes began to burn and his arms were starting to shake. He remembered screaming, and the people that screamed. All those people that he harmed. I couldn't stop. I tried to stop.
"What really happened?"
"I tried . . . " Kai's voice shook. "I tried to stop. I couldn't control—"
"I can understand that you couldn't control your abilities, but what happened?"
Kai knew he can't be scared and worried. He had told his father about Jack, but his father never believed him and he was told that he was crazy. Those that he tried to tell, he was told he was crazy. He lifts his head up and looked at Charles "I couldn't stop him"
"Stop who? Who's him?"
"He calls himself Jack. He did it. He did that in Seattle"
Jack sighed loudly and peevishly, "We talked about this, Kai. I did what I had to do"
"You were going to kill all those people!" Kai uttered in anger.
Both Hank and Charles startled. With Charles's confusion hinted Kai that even a mind reader like him can't hear Jack. He can't hear him. He can't hear him. Even though Kai had hoped that Charles would able to hear Jack. Is he really crazy? Is he actually crazy?
"I'm sorry" Kai murmured. "I didn't mean at you both"
Hank and Charles exchanged looks, so they think Kai is crazy?
What Kai was unaware is that Charles was speaking telepathically with Hank. Questioning and theorizing of Kai's situation.
Charles cleared his throat. "Jack . . . Can you tell me about him?"
Kai couldn't respond right away. He tried to remember when and how it all started, how Jack showed up. Kai began with a shrug. "It's been months . . . He comes out when I'm asleep. He comes out when I get scared, and when I get so angry . . . It all started while I was asleep and I'd find myself somewhere else in the next morning, that went on for a few weeks, not every day though . . . Then the blackouts started, I'm in a class then the next moment I'm at home . . . You could say it got worse"
During those times when he was in class, he remembered two of his classmates bothering him and angering him, he was on the edge of the breaking point, it was all black the next second before finding himself in his own room in just a moment later. That was five months ago and that went on for a month before finally, he met Jack.
He found him in a mirror, his own reflection. His reflection speaking. It scared Kai that he didn't sleep for a few nights. He started suffering from insomnia for months. Jack got angry at everyone around Kai. He had reached to the breaking point when his father tried to shoot him, that's when he instantly and fully lost control of himself and Jack. And Jack . . . He killed Kai's father. That's how it leads to the destruction in Seattle. It was all Jack. And Kai barely remembers what happened that night. He was raising his hands, crying and begging for his father to not kill him, the moment his father was about to pull the trigger, Kai blacked out and Jack took full control.
" . . . It was all him" Kai finished.
"You are making me very sad now," Jack said.
Kai's eyes closed shut as he sighed infuriatingly, Shut up. Meanwhile, Charles and Hank exchanged looks again, Hank had a questioning look while Charles was thinking for a moment. He let out a sharp breath before asking, "Do you think . . . I can speak with Jack?"
Kai's head lifts up and glanced at Charles in surprise. Does he believe him? Kai's mouth dropped, speechless for a moment, "uhm . . . Maybe . . ." Jack? I swear to god if you're going to pull something off, I'll kill us both.
He can hear Jack sighing. "But I'm a little shy right now", Jack whined sarcastically.
"I'll try," Kai said to Charles, he glanced around the room. Sometimes Jack has no choice to come out, like how Kai's father attempt to kill them both. Like Jack doesn't want them both to die, or he doesn't want to die. Kai let out a sigh as he thought of trying something foolish . . . or—
Jack sighed sharply and peevishly. "Fine. No need to hurt yourself to force me to come out"
Then everything turned to black for Kai.
What astound Charles and Hank were the sudden change of Kai's body physically, they could see it. Something on the boy's neck, veins darkening, reaching up to his cheek, the boy's blue eyes were brighter blue and around his eyes even darkened and his skin was paler. Jack craned his neck, breathed through his nose, pulled his legs up and crossed them before glancing down at Charles Xavier. "Good to meet you properly, Charles Xavier" He smiled.
"And you must be Jack"
• + • + • + •
Yeaaahhh! First chapter done!
I wanna make some introductions
first, before I get to the movie like
his interactions with Jean, Charles,
Hank, even Jubilee because she
deserves more appreciation !
And I wanna make Kai and Jubilee
an ultimate brotp or platonic or both.
I wanna build up his relationships and
friendships with others before I could
start onto the movies and maybe more
in between apocalypse and dark phoenix.
For some reason, I hate first chapters
idk why xD.