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Chapter 3

///////=flashback

::::::=Talking in the mind

Kendall flew just above the forest’s tree line, carefully avoiding the taller ones. The late evening winds pushing her along toward her destination. Suddenly, she felt the urge to take in her surroundings. Kendall stopped, aloft in mid-air and looked around. The mansion stood proudly in the distance, just above the trees. She could see the windows on the third floor, some dark, some still pouring out light. Kendall turned back around and noticed a small plume of smoke coming from the direction of her parents’ cabin. If she strained a little more, she could even make out the rest of the town of Salem Center. It reminded her of the medieval kingdoms she’d talked about earlier today. The peasants homes and small businesses surrounding the Lord’s Castle.
Kendall flew on and found herself hovering over a large lake. She lowered herself to the ground and stretched her arms over her head. The Lake was at least thirty feet deep at its center and a quarter mile long, surrounded by dense trees. It was a pretty good distance away from the mansion and anyone who didn’t know better wouldn’t have known it existed. Hardly anyone ever came out there, making it as good a place as any to run around naked if you didn’t want to be disturbed.
Kendall finished her warm-ups and took off her clothes. She threw them and her robe over one of the lower tree branches. She was about to take a running leap into the water when an even better idea crossed her mind.

///////Kendall was about fifteen and had just gotten the hang of controlling the winds and was zooming around the grounds. Her parents had told her not to fly that fast, that close to the ground. She would have to go way up high if she wanted to cause any outrageous windstorms. Kendall didn’t like that idea too much, so she snuck out to the woods at night and buzzed around the trees.
One steamy October evening, Kendall had been out particularly late and had worked up one hell of a sweat. She needed to cool off some before returning to the mansion and decided to have a quick dip in the lake. Kendall used hurricane-forced winds to propel herself into the air before beginning her decent.

“This had got to be some sort of world record” she thought to herself.

At that particular moment, her father was out in the woods looking for her. He’d been looking around the house for almost an hour when he’d scared his daughter’s whereabouts out of Jubilee . Now he’d stalked his way out to the lake and he inhaled sharply. Logan twisted his features into a menacing snarl and looked upward. Kendall was about 300 yards away from the water’s surface when she heard her father roar.

“KENNNDALLLLL!!!!”

Kendall’s concentration was lost and so was her control. She screamed as she plummeted into the water. She didn’t come to the back to the surface for almost a full minute and when she did, she only poked her head, up to the nose, out of the water. Logan stood there, arms folded, non-verbally scolding his daughter. Speeches weren’t his deal, search and retrieval, that’s where he came in. Her mother would deal with her.

“Indoors. Now.”///////

“Nobody around to tell me not to now, is there?” Kendall smiled evilly to herself and took off.


************************************************************

Clinton Barton Jr. had thought he’d been lost before. In his own mind, he’d been lost thousands of times, but nothing he’d ever experienced before came even close to the forest behind Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. The labyrinth of trees had held Clinton captive for nearly an hour and he was beginning to get frustrated.

“All I wanted was a god-damned walk, not a fucking quest into the unknown.”

Clint had come to Xavier’s simply because it was where almost every super hero he’d ever met got their start. He was a mutant by definition, but not like most of them. His abilities had been present at birth, instead of manifesting during puberty. Clinton had inherited his powers from his parents, She-hulk and Hawkeye, which included super strength, telescopic vision, and not to mention, green skin and hair.
Clint’s had been a spoiled little rich boy since the very beginning. He got anything he wanted, whenever he wanted and didn’t give a damn about anyone else. Clint was under the assumption that he was quite possibly the best thing since to happen to the world since disco went out of style and had no problems telling anyone about it, whether they cared to know about it or not. In his own mind, Clinton was the sexiest, most thought provoking, and most intelligent person on this side of the planet. But at this particular moment, he wasn’t proving to be any of those. Going around the only tree he thought he’d recognized for the millionth time and grumbling to himself like a child.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind knocked him over, sending him crashing to the ground.

“God damned wind!” he yelled.

He sat up and began brushing the grass and dirt away from his body when a glimmer of light caught his attention. Clint stood up and walked toward what discovered to be a lake. He walked around a tree and noticed several items of clothing thrown into its branches. Clint made a quick circle where he stood, looking for the young lady that had somehow misplaced her clothes. Finding nobody around, he made his way toward the lake. The water was making small waves against the bank and looked very inviting.

“Aww, what the hell. It might calm me down a bit.” Clinton shrugged and looked around again making sure that he was alone. Then he stripped down to his boxers and slowly waded into the water. Once his body had adjusted to the temperature, he began bobbing beneath the surface, testing his lung capacity. After about twenty-five seconds, Clint returned to the surface. He shook the hair and water out of his eyes, just in time to see a streak of silvery-white drop into the middle of the lake with a huge splash.

“What in the holy hell was that?” Clint rushed back to the shore and scanned the water’s surface. There was no sign of …whatever it was aside from the water rushing into its original position. He was just about to chalk the whole thing up to exhaustion when a white-haired woman broke the water’s surface. Clint’s mouth hung open for a second when he got a good look at her. She was smoothing hair back against her head and laughing loudly. To the best he could tell she was almond skinned and relatively young. The woman then began to float on the water’s surface and Clint fought hard to suppress the sudden tightness in his boxers. She had a wide grin and a perfectly content look on her face as she pumped her legs and began to come in his direction.

Clinton’s mind was racing as he slowly got off the ground. “Holy shit, what do I do? I don’t think she’s seen me yet, maybe I can get back to the trees before…”

A startled gasp reached his ears and suddenly the wind picked up. Clint turned around and noticed that the mystery woman was gone without a trace. Out of nowhere and small thunderhead appeared just above his head, black and full of energy. Hail and freezing rain began to assault his skin and he, once again, fell to the ground. Clinton tried to get up but the hail just got thicker and harder. Just when he thought that it was all over, her heard a strong, female voice.

“I don’t know who you are or what the hell you’re doing out here, but you’ve got five seconds to explain yourself or you’re a dead man.” Thunder boomed from inside the cloud above his head.



************************************************************

Kendall wasn’t mad, she was royally pissed. Here she was, out here, minding her own business, having a great time in the water, then some big, green pervert has to come along and ruin her good mood. The nerve of him just sitting there in his underwear, ogling her like there’s no tomorrow. True, she didn’t really mind the fact that he’d seen her nude, it was just that he’d invaded her privacy. In fact she was hovering just above him right now, totally naked, creating this small maelstrom that was pummeling him silly.
Just then, she noticed that he was trying to say something. Kendall let the storm ease up a little and stuck her head through the cloud that she’d created for herself.

“What was that you were saying?” She inquired.

The green stranger stared up at her in total horror. He was trying to speak, but she still couldn’t make it out. Kendall rolled her milky eyes and let the storm dissipate totally. She stood between his splayed open legs with her hands on her hips, drumming her fingers impatiently. He just continued to stare at her.

“I’m listening.” Kendall stated angrily, her blue eyes blazing.

He stammered over several words until he was finally able to speak again. “I…I.. I’m really sorry miss. I didn’t know anyone else was out here. I got lost in the woods and found the lake and decided to go for a swim. I really didn’t know, honestly, I didn’t.”

Kendall curled her upper lip into a snarl not unlike her father’s “And that still doesn’t explain who you are.” The black cloud began to reform itself just over Kendall’s head.

::::::I believe I can explain that.::::: Charles Xavier’s voice rang though Kendall’s mind.
::::::Kendall, I would like for both of you to collect yourselves and please come to my office. I will clarify everything.:::::

:::::Yes, sir.::::: Kendall reluctantly answered. She extended a hand to the green stranger and helped him to his feet. Then she walked over to the tree and put on her robe. The man looked at her with a look of complete confusion.

“What was that all about?” He asked impatiently. Kendall tossed him his pants.

“You aren’t allowed to say another word until we get to where we’re going. Is that clear?” Thunder boomed from the cloud just above the stranger.

He shook his head in agreement. Kendall turned on her heel and quickly began the long walk back to the mansion as the thunderhead disappeared from the sky.





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