Searching for a Legend

Amongst the eight mutants of all ages gathered at the base of the Kunlun Mountains, one certainly did not fit in with the rest. It was surprisingly considering the fact that even when standing in amidst of Neyaphems like Carol and Luna, that the young man would still definitely be considered the odd one out by a bystander. Tanned-skinned, white-haired and crimson-eyed aside, the teenager towered over the seven others easily even from a distance and kept to himself for the most part. He yawned loudly after having slept and snored through the entire transport in the Blackbird.

It was clear from the combined body language of the group that he was a stranger to them: the majority of the X-Students probably only know him as the guy who just showed up one day to live at the dorms out of the blue but never seems to show up for class. He had never met the X-Men Garrett before; and Kitty and Pedro certainly doesn't seem to remember him after two decades. However what makes the boy titan stand out the most would neither be his appearance, lack of familiarity with the others gathered here in the Western Border of China nor just those two combined.

It was his attire and attitude. While the others are decked out smartly in matching uniforms which silently screamed their affiliation with the X-Men towards the world, the youthful mutant was the only one dressed in casual. Even Quicksilver as the only Avenger on the team was outfitted in his adventuring gear; the fact that the crimson-eyed-giant wore but a motorcycle jacket over a T-Shirt and ripped jeans might raise the question of whether or not he has special privileges as a supposed X-Student. The young man's lack of tension or nervousness regarding this mission is overwhelmingly patent as he glanced around lazily.

"Yes I thought when was the next time I was going to get an offer like this? Maybe never? Maybe not in my life time? So I took the offer without hesitation." Luna added as she was on all fours after walking wtih James. Sure it did seem a bit odd but it was natural for a neyaphem to do such at thing sometimes. She still seemed a bit nervous and shy around the young man but none the less pressed on knowing she had to help the others. "But my question is why would anyone need a gravity manipulator like myself? I can only lift objects or make them heavier of the sorts." She said realizing that her powers weren't all special. In fact she had known that for some time in her opinion. However she stopped when James spoke of someone else being nearby. Her ears were perked upwards in order to listen to see who was there.


"Well I blame it on a few things. One for not really knowing where to turn for help, and the second was for people not understanding what mutants are. That's the reason why we were treated so badly those days." Quicksilver said as he looked back at Carol as they walked. But as they paused he looked over some of the students, he did notice Luna at how similar she was to Carol in size and her species as well. That was certainly interesting he had to admit. But he didn't recogize many of the students here except for maybe one and that was the ice manipulator who he knew as Sarah. The rest may have very well been new to the team. Quicksilver was more familiar with the older generations of mutants. Such as Scott, Kitty and of course Xavier. Even so he wasn't in any interest of trying to learn the other names of the younger mutants unless they insisted to get to know him. For now he was trying his best just not to get into a fight with everyone.

"Look at your getup toots. All six of you might as well be a walking advertisement for the X-Men. It really doesn't take a mind-reader... Although that does certainly help."

A deep masculine voice called out to answer the questions that Sarah had voiced internally. The final member of the group of 8 whom was dawdling at the very end of their metaphorical conga line caught up to the group when they stopped moving. Trailing at the back of the party had given him ample opportunity to observe the other members of the crew. So judging from his words, the giant of a boy had picked up the moment when the ice-manipulator tensed up during when the unexpected encounter took place.

He continued walking at his unhurried pace even when the others had halted, passing the rest of the team he had been following one by one. The mysterious X-Student's words made it clear that bare-chested man's sudden appearance was no surprise to him. His powers had allowed him to accurately sense the stranger's position from 80 feet out, however as it was deemed matter of no concern; he just never bothered to speak up. When he took his place at the front of the group along with the two instructors, he gestured his thumb at the newcomer's belt buckle, upper right torso, face, eyes and hair, in that order while speaking out, this time listing off his observations to the two full-ledge X-Men.

"Oh come on Pryde. If a moron like me can figure it out so should you. X on his belt, X tattoo, looks like the Summers, glowing left eye like Cable and frequents the same barber as Rogue. Do the math."

Without bothering to ask for permission from those supposed superiors, the crimson eyed youngster approached the man seated on the boulder. This act of boldness would no doubt draw ire from both the Short-Stacked Phaser and Cajun Kinetic Manipulator who were already on edge but not a single fuck seems to be given by the offender. As noted earlier by Armel, the white haired teenager was calm and relaxed as ever even when he drew closer to the possible hostile. The demeanour he exuded was uncharacteristic of someone whom was supposed to be a mere X-Student. That changed in an instant when the towering biker narrowed his eyes and shot a glare in the stranger's direction, the abrupt burst of aggression causing Carol's telepathic abilities to register a maelstrom of bloodlust emanating her so-called classmate.

Suddenly the semi-flat rock on which the unknown stranger was perched imploded upon itself: the mechanism of its destruction completely unnatural. The boulder was not pulverized with physical force nor did it crumbled into pieces through elemental-kinesis or any sort. In an instant it just collapsed upon itself and suddenly ceased to exist. Without warning the biker had literally reduced it into nothingness with a single glare. Those possessing powers that require of them energy sensitivity like Garret, James and Luna might notice that kinetic, magnetic and gravitational energy surrounding the boulder were annihilated along with the landscape, a concept that completely defies the laws of physics, in particular the Law of Conservation of Energy.

The Blackhole Buster Technique: only a handful of the strongest Mutants in the world could escape an attack of that lethality unscathed and if the man before them were not a fraud, he will be fine. The confident titan was sure of it. Unlike his intellect, his primal instincts have never failed him before and right now they are telling the X-Mansion returnee that it was no imposter he was facing.

"Sorry buddy. Just had to make sure. You know with all these shape-shifters running around and what not. Haven't seen you since that time in 295. How've you been? Still make the rounds at them casinos?"

His playful attitude returning as if that act of belligerence had never happened, the youthful mutant then appeared next to where one of the world's strongest Psionics would land. While referencing to a time they had spent in the Age of Apocalypse timeline, he offered a brief but characteristically strong handshake which will flow into a fist-bump. It would seem that both of the enigmatic mutants are known acquaintances.

"We're here to get some Rogaine for the old man. You know anything about some crazy rejuvenation spa of some sort around here?"

"I see.." She muttered softly as she listened to James. Maybe she picked a bad time to talk about powers as she figured that dropping the subject was the best for now. Luna's powers in her opinion seemed more on a defensive approach being that she could lift a lot of things or even change their weight to make gravity either harder or softer on them. "Yeah you can come if you want." She added as she offered knowing it was probably better if they traveled in a group instead of being by themselves. The blue neyaphem listened to the areas around them to make sure that they were out of harms way. being a neyaphem she had sligtly better senses than most humans did, but they were nothing to acute, to match someone's like Wolverine's. "I'm Luna by the way I forgot to add that in. And my code name is Moonshard."


Pietro winced as he felt the sudden pang from their own connection as he was tied on with her through the link. He couldn't imagine how bad it was for Carol but only waited patiently to see if she would recover it. Though he was tense as well in case Carol needed her. "I feel bad for you then. You always have to put up with my rushing thoughts and I felt only a fraction of probably what you're going through." Pietro said as he put a hand on her side gently as he remained calm though. If anything were to happen to Carol he at least hoped that no one blamed him for the doing. But he would do his best to try and help her when she needed it. "But are you alright to move on?" He asked her still showing concern.

"Dude, I keep telling that you should go with Nate Grey or people will confuse you for Cable."

Though he was dropping his opinion on Nate's choice of alias, Ajax's attention was zoomed in on the spot in which his acquaintance had indicated earlier. Seriously? That far away? He could see why the place doesn't get many customers. Location, location, location. Apparently magical spas aren't exactly big on the whole convenience thing... However one would also assume that is exactly why it is considered a legend, not a brand name product that some Enron-esque company would have bought up the water rights, be actively drilling for and then bottling mass-production.

On the Cajun's further probing into his friend's background, Ajax placed a muscular arm around the poker champion and disgustingly nuzzled his chin into the shoulder of the shorter mutant. An annoying faux pirate accent which played upon an unwelcomingly shortened version of the Warrior Prince's first name then ensured with full force in his verbal reply.

"Yargh, honey~ and I met while we were traveling Garr. It was like backpacking through Europe only there were no backpacks and it wasn't Europe."

Good-nature teasing and jokes aside, there was plenty of reasons why the teenaged mutant phrased his vague statement, which pretty much told the instructors nothing at all, in such a way. His reply, more than just dripping, was literally overflowing with false yet copious amounts of homosexual innuendos: Ajax aimed to make this topic as awkward and uncomfortable as possible for Garret to approach. The young male knew of X-Man's past. Even when putting it generously the birthplace of Nate Grey was a shit hole. Forget planet of the apes, it was more like planet of Detroit. Being particularly fond of his acquaintance, the leather-clad joker manipulated the flow of conversation for its premature death, even if it came at the expense of having his own sexuality questioned later then so be it. If Nate had come to terms with the painful baggage of his past enough to discuss it with Armel, then that was the bare-chested man's choice, but as it stands Ajax made arrangements so that it would only be done on Nate's own terms.

'I'm heading back to bring up rear Nate, stop by if you can. I could use the help. Kitty's already shitting her pants under the pressure so we need Garret up front with her. Pedro should be fine reinforcing the middle... Someone's got to watch these kids' backs.'

Disengaging from the exchange with the Kinetic Manipulator after the meddlesome manoeuvres, the enigmatic boy strolls back the way he came but not before yelling his thoughts internally towards the expert gambler. However Ajax was particularly lacking in aptitude with things involving psionics so this was done haphazardly and without any sort of accuracy or dexterity whatsoever. The teen was unaware of this himself but since his thoughts are exceptionally easy to read to begin with seeing as he is of the straightforward type, shouting in his mind caused an overkill broadcast which would screams the thoughts at high decibels to every telepath within walking distance.

George Orwell once said: "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." Ajax was precisely exemplar of those 'rough men'. He shouldered the villainous burden of attacking Nate in order to discern the validity of the stranger's identity; all that was so the other X-Students would not have to risk their lives against a possible enemy infiltrator and also so they wouldn't have to do dirty their own hands. It was a bond built upon trust. Ajax believes in Nate. He has unshakable faith that if it were indeed Nate he was confronting, then the other party would without a doubt survive uninjured. The white-haired biker has the complete confidence in the newcomer to the group, which was why the traveler from Earth-295 was privy to the true intents and considerations the imposing titan conceals within his frivolous behavior. As it stands, it would seem that the same cannot be said for any of his other teammates present in this crew.

When passing by Pietro and Carol on his way to the rear of the group, the mysterious motorcyclist locked eyes unyieldingly with Night-Flare as if implying that he had noticed her recoil when he momentary revealed his ferocious thirst for blood. The tanned-skinned albino stared with his intimidating gaze at the Neyaphem, using her reaction to gauge the possibility of the slightly elder girl having picked up on his mental message meant for Nate.

"Try Princess instead babe. Queen's out of your league until you grow a set like Emma's. Or those. Those would do."

Raising his eyebrow skeptically upon inspecting Sarah's chest, the much taller X-Student failed at suppressing a small laugh. His passing remark coupled together with his reaction thus hinting at the fact that the ruffian with the crimson orbs finds the size of her bosom less than impressive. He pointed at Luna's breasts just to drive home his assertion and making it perfectly clear to the shy Moonshard that he was referring to her. If James were to look where the much taller male pointed, then Ajax would flick the Inuit on the head while Boreas was distracted before retracting his enormous reach. Not waiting for a retort to his chiding, Ajax simply smirks teasingly and continued past the trio of the youngsters.

Taking his place at the back of their rag-tagged team, the youth first made sure that all attention has been drawn away from his person. He then immediately retrieved a generic travel coffee mug from seemingly out of nowhere. Ajax checked its content once and inhaled through gritted teeth while adjusting the collar of his T-shirt uncomfortably. The normally playful hooligan was obviously displeased with his findings. He was running low on his supply of gravy and the dwindling supply will most likely not last the remainder of the trip considering how slowly the team moves as a collective.

"That's a cool name. It almost sounds like it comes from the ancient greek language." Luna said making a guess on it though. She had to admit it did not sound like an average word you would use today. "It's nice to meet you as well." She added to James. Although her attention turned as well as the young male returned to the scene as he traled through the group. They were more in the middle of it as the two Pietro and Carol took up in the back as they had to deal with him next.

The blue neyaphem's ears went down as she heard Ajax's comments, mostly out of annoyance. No one should ever be called that way as her tail twitched irritantly to show even more how frusterated she was. If she wanted to get bad remarks, she may as well go back to the orphanage she grew up in. She was bothered and teased so much back then that it made her shy. Often wanting to hide to the point of where she didn't want anyone to see her. But this time she merely looked at the others, "He's so rude. Who's decision was it to bring him on the trip? Either way I'm not talking to him ever or coming in contact with him, unless he gives me an apology." She stated as she looked back at the others. Although her ears were starting to go back to normal in a more relaxed position, but her tail was still lashing about. With that said, Luna bounded after James, not taking even a thought to look back to see what Ajax was doing now.



"I'm at least glad for that. You can always tell me if they're too much for you, and I can do my best to slow them down... Okay then." Pietro said not entirely sure what was going on, but he could tell that Ajax was getting the others irritated rather easily. He had heard Carol's growl although he had to admit that was the first time he had ever gotten her mad. He just hoped he didn't have to show his anger around here. It may have been at times, similar to his own father's anger. It was something that he carried as a trait from him he figured. Another trait he had that was similar was his stubborness, he knew Magneto had that as well.

"I guess it's back to finding the Fountain of Youth then." Quicksilver said as his blue eyes looked ahead at the mountain landscape before them. They had so much landscape to cover over it seemed like it was a hard task. Of course, they were super human beings, if they were normal humans it would have been even more difficult than just trying to climb over things. There were many climbers, telepaths, telekinesis users and even more than just that. They could probably get past a lot of obstacles if they just worked together.