A Tidy Arrangement

Posted on Mon Jan 3rd, 2022 @ 2:05pm by Charles Xavier & Margo Stone

1,037 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 1: X-Odus
Location: X-Mansion
Timeline: July 3, 1990

On a bright and shimmering day at the beginning of July, a shining black car pulled onto the property of Xavier's school with a very important man inside. It was the day after the fiasco with the Brotherhood and the day scheduled for a new arrival at school. Quietly, the car pulled around the fountain in the front of the mansion and came to a stop.

The iron gates had parted with a groan of effort. The flagstone driveway had significant gaps. The terrain itself had been torn up like a rugby game in the rain. Even the mansion looked worse for wear, what with an entire wing of the second floor defaced and open to the elements.

Beneath the portico entrance and its spacious columns was Professor Xavier, seated in his chair with hands folded over his lap. The look on his face was an expectant one. Clearly he had seen them coming from afar. How else would he have descended the stairs so fast?

"Greetings," he said with a boisterous welcoming tone once the car doors swung open. "You will find no greater welcome than at Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters."

A tall man with severe features stepped from the back of the perfectly polished black car. He was dressed in a fitted suit and a stark red tie. His hazel eyes scanned the surrounding yard, falling on every imperfection, divot, and sign of struggle. Finally, his gaze landed on the mansion and the professor.

“You might have cleaned up a bit if the welcome were so important to you.” The man said as he opened the door wider to reveal his daughter. She was far shorter than him with a beautiful face, short blonde hair, and many tattoos. She didn’t look at all like the sort of girl who traveled with a man like this.

Professor Xavier narrowed his eyes at the belligerent man for a moment before pressing his fingers against his temple. "This school is a beautiful campus," he said with no small impetus.

"It's very beautiful here," agreed the man.

"Your daughter will be safe in our care," the Professor continued.

"You'll be safe here," the man said to the girl.

"If I may have a word with your daughter?"

The man simply nodded. It was not a question despite being posed as one. Charles turned a friendlier face onto his new student.

"Pardon the renovation," he said warmly. "I can assure you the interior accommodations are well in order."

Margo's eyes flitted between the Professor and her father, a man who was hardly every compliant with anyone who didn't have power over him.

"I don't care what it looks like, sir. I just want to get away from home," she lied, her eyes darting directly away from her father. "It's not like I'm wanted there anyway."

Teenage angst. There was nothing else in the world like it, so fickle and so strong. It never failed to bring a smirk to the Professor's face. "Your father is just doing what he feels is best...however misguided," Xavier added. "But we are eager to have you join us. In time, perhaps you will come to think of this mansion as a second home."

Margo looked around at the damage, her mind racing as she tried to imagine what kind of thing went on in this place that could do such powerful harm. She looked at the professor again, this time, prepared to question him.

"What the heck happened here?" she asked, more rudely than she'd planned. "It looks like a bomb went off."

"You are not far off from the truth," the Professor said, adding cryptically, "though the bomb was a metaphorical one."

She seemed to consider his words for a few silent moments as she looked over the chaotic environment outside the mansion.

"Well, okay." she remarked, seeming to give up on that line of questioning. "well what do I need to know to make it in this place? I'm assuming I have a room and a roommate? Some classes, blah blah.."

The Professor quirked his eyebrow at Margo. "Margo, I feel I should ask just where and what it is in which you believe yourself to be? More to the point, what do you expect to get from your time here?"

Margo looked at the man, considering the question. There was so much swimming around in her head about what she wanted out of life. She didn't quite know which to pick and which was best to express. Information could be a powerful weapon, after all. She decided, after a beat, to opt for the honest route.

"I've gotten pretty good at pretending to be other people, Professor. With just a thought, I can impersonate you or, my father, and any other random person on Earth. I can change my voice, my eye color, my clothing; I can add bodyparts or take them away. I've even learned to be a chameleon on the inside as well, getting into people's heads and understanding how they think. But...honestly? I now have no idea who I am, and that's pretty terrifying. I want to master my abilities, sure, but my biggest hope is that people who are like me..." she said, trailing off and allowing her eyes to flicker resentfully at her father. His comments about her being a freak stung deep. "might be able to help me find myself too."

On one level, Charles knew that she was telling him what he wanted to hear. It was true that her boast on that front was not empty. But on the other, there was truth to it as well. Best to let the girl know she was welcome.

"I am delighted to hear that, Margo, for you, the real you, is who we are committed to discovering here at this school." He moved his chair toward the entrance. "Come. Let us find your room."

She watched as the professor moved ahead for several seconds and then followed him as she had been bidden, using all of her willpower avoiding turning around to steal one more glance at her father. He was probably dying to get away from her anyway.

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