Reina Royale

Not necessarily a complete list, but this is all the students I have so far.

A lot of them do go on field missions, but they're not like the missions Freedom Force goes on for S.H.I.E.L.D..

Alpha Squadron

Victor Borkowski/Anole

Paras Gavaskar/Indra

Lazaro Kotikash/Kidogo

Alani Ryan/Loa

Shilpa Khatri/Trinary

Andrea Margulies/Rubber Maid

Chevaliers

Nick Shelley/Flubber

Roxanne "Roxy" Washington/Bling!

Sidney Green/Onyxx

Stan Finch/Silicon

Corsairs

Adam Neramani/Adam-X

Armando Muñoz/Darwin

Cal'syee Neramani/Deathbird

Gabriel "Gabe" Summers/Vulcan

Petra

Suzanne "Suzi" Chan/Sway

Exemplars

David Alleyne/Prodigy

Joshua Foley/Elixir

Laurie Collins/Wallflower

Noriko Ashida/Surge

Sofía Mantega/Wind Dancer

Generation X

Angelo Espinosa/Skin

Clarice Ferguson/Blink

Everett Thomas/Synch

Gaia

Jonothon "Jono" Starsmore/Chamber

Mondo

Paige Guthrie/Husk

Theresa Rourke Cassidy/Siryn

Hellions

Brian Cruz/Tag

Cessily "Cissy" Kincaid/Mercury

Haroun ibn Sallah al-Rashid/Jetstream

Jennifer Stavros/Roulette

Joshua Zachariah "Jay" Guthrie/Icarus

Julian Keller/Hellion

Kevin Ford/Wither

Marie-Ange Colbert/Tarot

Santo Vaccarro/Rockslide

Sharon Smith/Catseye

Sooraya Qadir/Dust

Marauders

Callie Betto/Dryad

Dallas Gibson/Specter

Jonas Graymalkin

Maxwell Jordan/Quill

Paladins

Adewale Ekoku/Stalwart

Andy Hartnell/Cryptid

Benjamin Deeds/Morph

Edward "Eddie" Tancredi/Wing

Hisako Ichiki/Armor

Jia Jing/Sprite

Nathaniel Carver/Hindsight

Paragons

Benjamin Hammil/Match

Hope Abbott/Trance

Mark Sheppard/DJ

Nicholas "Nick" Gleason/Wolf Cub

Special Class

Alice MacAllister/Malice

Dean Boswell/Dummy

Ernst

Iara Dos Santos/Shark-Girl

Martha Johansson/Cerebella

Michael "Mike" Columbus/Basilisk

Robert Herman/Glob

Trevor Hawkins/Eye-Boy

X-Force

Abraham Verne/Caput

Guy Smith/Orphan

James Hutchinson/Sycamore

Moonbeam/Dead Girl

Myles Lee Alfred/Vivisector

Thomas Williams/Mant

Unsorted Field Students

Alisa Tager/Cipher

Belén

Ben Goldendawn/Yeti

Broo

Celeste Frost/Tourmaline

Chance

Crosta

Davis "Davey" Cameron/Slipstream

Douglas Ramsey/Cypher

Eileen Harsaw/Phantazia

Elizabeth "Lizzie" Guthrie/Amazon

Eric Gitter/Ink

Esme Frost/Ruby

Eugene Walker/Flood

Eva Bell/Tempus

Heather Cameron/Lifeguard

Heather Tucker/Tempo

Hong Lianje/Eosimias

Irmine "Irma" Frost/Amethyst

Jaime Vanderwall/Elsewhere

Japheth/Maggott

Jebediah "Jeb" Guthrie

Jesse Aaronson/Bedlam

Jordan Lewis/Gloom

Katie Atkinson/Iolanthe

Lawrence "Larry" Trask

Layla Rose Miller/Butterfly

Liam Bremner/Cudgel

Lin Li/Nature Girl

Melody "Mel" Guthrie/Aero

Megan Gwynn/Pixie

Mermaid

Miranda Leevald/Ripcord

Miranda Manuel/D-Cel

Monet St. Croix/M

Nezhno Abidemi/Gentle

Phoebe Frost/Lazuli

Quintavius Quirinius “Quentin” Quire/Kid Omega

Rico/Scorpion Boy

Sally Blevins/Skids

Samuel Paré/Squid-Boy

Simon Hall/Neophyte

Sophie Frost/Spinel

Susanna Lauren “Suzy” Sherman/Ultragirl

Takeshi "Taki" Matsuya/Wiz-Kid

Tanya Trask

Tommy

Warlock

Yvette St. Croix/Penance

Zachary/Amp

Ziggy Karst

Non-Field Students

Abeni

Alistair

Amber

Anders Noble/Imp

Anne Moore/Lipid

Ariel

Arthur "Artie" Maddicks

Ashley Martin

Bo

Carlo Brewster/Gelatin

Christopher Muse/Triage

Claudette and Nicole St. Croix/M-Twins

Dorian Lee/Leech

Erik Hallgrimsson/Crater

Evelyn/X-Cow

Irina Clayton/Choir

Jorge Lukas/Saurus

Leong Cao Mạnh

Lila Cheney

Markus Tucker/Forearms

Michaela Ladak

Michelle/Amp

Nga Cao Mạnh

Oscar

Raymond Keyes/Audio

Reuben O'Hara/Tantra - Power changed to emotion manipulation

William Hanover/Longneck

Winston Frankowski/View

Every good story needs a good antagonist. Or a few.

Friends of Humanity - An anti-mutant "activist" group that helps keep Bolivar Trask's Sentinel project going following his arrest.

Wilhelmina Kensington - An 18-year-old pageant queen and heiress to an international hotel chain. Develops an infatuation with Lance after he rescues her purse from a purse-snatcher. She sees Kat as an obstacle in her relationship with him, and would do anything to split them up.

Riley Finn and Sidney White - 16-year-old mean girls who immediately clicked with Wilhelmina after they moved to Boston for their families' businesses.

They think Lance is a waste of Wilhelmina's time and efforts, but will gladly help break him and Kat up if it means upsetting Kat.

Kade Kilgore - 18 years old and Wilhelmina's acquaintance since childhood. He's one of those people who thinks being smarter than everyone makes him better than everyone. Romantically, he claims he's only interested in people who are also crazy smart. For this reason, Maddie Pryor has caught his attention, even though she's firmly uninterested.

"Professor, we need to talk." Jean says.

"How was Boston?" Xavier asks.

"It was... informative." Scott says. "We talked to Wanda."

"You did?" Xavier asks, surprised. "How is she?"

"Better, now that she's no longer under your care." Jean says angrily. "The way you treated her was inhumane!"

"I know it seems that way, but I didn't have a choice." Xavier says. "She was too powerful."

"Then how can other people handle her just fine?" Jean asks. "You didn't care about Wanda, you just wanted to control her powers!"

"Jean, you need to calm down." Xavier says, raising his hand to his temple.

"Don't even think about it." Emma says, entering. "I told you he'd try it if you got angry."

"You were going to use your powers... on me?" Jean asks in horror.

"Just to calm you." Xavier says.

"More like to control her." Emma says. "That's always been your problem, Charles; you never did learn how to handle emotions. Yours or others'."

"Strong emotions with powers like ours can be a volatile combination." Xavier says.

"Strong emotions are part of life, Charles." Emma says. "Especially in adolescents. You don't learn to handle them by locking them away all the time."

"She's got a point." Jean says. "It's not healthy to be so emotionally repressed."

"I'm perfectly fine." Xavier says.

"But the people you've treated aren't!" Jean says. "Can you even call yourself a doctor if a patient turns out as bad as Wanda and you don't care?"

"Of course I-"

"Stop!" Jean exclaims. "You said you should've prepared us to fight her. You never once took responsibility for her mental state. And you should have! You kept her from her family!"

"They were a negative trigger-"

"If I had been angry instead of scared when I came to you, would you have treated me the same way?" Jean asks.

Xavier doesn't answer with words, but his face gives it away.

"That's what I thought." Jean says. "The only difference between me and Wanda is that she was angry and I was scared."

"Jean-"

"How could you treat anyone that way?!" Jean asks angrily. "When I become a doctor, I'm definitely going to be a better doctor than you!"

Xavier looks genuinely terrified.

"Guess I'm too angry and dangerous for your school now." Jean says. "I'm leaving."

Jean leaves, followed shortly by Emma.

"Jean, wait-"

"Don't." Scott says. "There's nothing you can say that would fix this."

"And I suppose you're leaving as well?" Xavier asks, though he already knows the answer.

"I am." Scott says. "You made me leader and told me it means looking out for my team. I can't do that from here because they're all leaving."

"All of them?" Xavier asks, shocked.

"Yup." Scott says. "You can't expect them to trust you after what they've learned. But, despite everything you've done, I still wish you the best."

"You do?" Xavier sounds genuinely surprised.

"Of course I do." Scott says.

"You were like a father to me." Scott thinks loud enough for Xavier to hear.

And Xavier could've sworn he saw a tear slide down Scott's cheek as he turned to leave.

"Are you two leaving as well?" Xavier asks as Hank and Storm enter the room.

"You hired us as teachers." Storm says.

"We can't teach if there's not students." Hank says.

"I understand." Xavier says.

Storm and Hank leave to pack.

Where did I go wrong?

Perhaps I'm in need of an education as well.

I might know just the place for it...

---END---

Final installment in this series! I will probably write other stories at some point.

Xavier is someone who can't handle strong emotions, even the normal ones that come with adolescent development, so his go-to method for calming down emotional outbursts is to use his powers. It's wrong, obviously, but that's just another flaw that makes Xavier interesting.

Scott ended up in Xavier's care shortly after his plane accident, so it's been roughly 8 years. Xavier was like a second father to him, so Scott's hurting a lot, but he is kind of emotionally repressed so he's going to have a hard time dealing with it.

Hank and Storm are loyal to the students more than Xavier, it just took something like this for them to realize it.

For all of Xavier's faults, I don't think he's evil and irredeemable, this version just hasn't been called out on his faults enough yet. Having the children he loves and adores abandon him gives him pause and a reason to reflect, so he's going to Boston to understand what they think he did wrong.

"I go by Kat these days." The girl once known as Kitty says.

"And my name is Anna Marie. Rogue is just a codename."

"When did you get an actual name?" Sam asks.

"Birth." Anna Marie replies dryly.

"But you've always gone by Rogue." Jean says. "What changed?"

"Other than your hair." Amara says.

Rogue's Anna Marie's hair has grown out and gotten curlier.

"Once I got control over my powers, I started rememberin' things from my childhood, like my name." Anna Marie says.

"You can control your powers?" Scott asks. "Since when?"

"Shortly after I got here." Anna Marie says. "Turns out, it's just a mental block that a skilled enough telepath can remove."

"If the Professor had known, he'd have-" Jean starts.

"He did." Anna Marie interrupts.

"How do you know?" Jean asks.

"I got a letter invitin' me here to learn to control my powers shortly after the concert." Anna Marie says. "I talked to him about it. We had an argument. He accidentally touched my arm. I found out that he already knew why I couldn't control my powers, and just didn't fix it because then I'd leave."

"Another messed up Xavier story." Joanna says. "He's starting to sound like a control freak."

"What's your story?" Cal asks Kat.

"I wasn't being taken seriously." Kat says. "I was just the cute and adorable member of the X-Men."

"That's it?" Leyu says. "What's wrong with cute and adorable?"

"Nothing." Kat says. "But I was bringing up genuine concerns and getting brushed off."

"Name one." Scott challenges.

"The Brotherhood just disappearing with Tabitha and no one hearing from them for over a month." Kat says. "Or Rogue acting weird after a meeting with Xavier."

"Okay, that's two." Scott says. "But The Brotherhood and Tabitha were fine."

"We had no way of knowing that!" Kat says. "And, most importantly, you wouldn't have cared if they were!"

Scott and Jean at least look guilty.

"It felt like my feelings didn't matter." Kat says. "So, when I caught my roommate sneaking out and learned why, I left with her. I mean, even if none of that had happened, I'd still go with her."

"Really?" Leyu asks. "Why?"

"She's like a sister to me." Kat says. "I can't let her do something that dangerous by herself."

"Aaw!" Leyu says.

"Anyways," Anna Marie says, "those are our stories."

"The more we learn about why people left Xavier's, the more I want to leave, too." Leyu says.

"I highly suggest transferring." Kat says. "They have way better vegetarian options."

"None of us are vegetarian." Carmen says.

"Oh." Kat says. "That's okay, too."

Anna Marie just rolls her eyes as everyone else, minus Scott and Jean, start filling out transfer paperwork.

"What are we going to tell The Professor?" Jean asks Scott.

"I wish I knew." Scott says.

---END---

It's weird to me that the show never even tried to give Rogue control over her powers. That facet was never explored. So, I'm exploring it.

If cartoon!Xavier is powerful enough to delete entire personalities, the mental block keeping Rogue from controlling her powers should be no problem. So, he either never tried to figure out why she can't, or knows why she can't but has some justification for why he can't just fix it for her. Because Xavier does make questionable decisions, I'm going with he latter.

I'm a bit upset that gifted and talented Kitty from the comics is turned into the bubbly airhead we see in the cartoon. Granted, she's still smart, it often feels like her airhead traits overshadow that.

"Evan!" Jean exclaims happily. "We didn't expect to see you here!"

None of them expected to see Evan at Massachusetts Academy. Last they heard, he had joined the Morlocks. But he's looking better now.

Even if he is keeping bad company.

But they can ignore The Brotherhood for now.

"Yeah, well, this place found a cure for the condition cause by Pow-R8." Evan explains. "So Callisto made me enroll."

"You're a student here?" Scott asks in disbelief.

"Yeah." Evan says. "And they didn't need to blackmail me into joining."

"What do you mean?" Gary Walsh asks.

"I was blackmailed into joining Xavier's." Evan says. "I was being held in jail for a crime the X-Men knew I didn't commit, and they only agreed to get me out if I joined them."

"That's messed up." Cal Rankin says.

"Do you guys have any idea what they'd do to black kids in juvie?" Joanna Cargill asks.

Scott and Jean at least look ashamed.

"Scott even said 'abuse your powers and suffer the consequences', like I was the one misusing my powers in the first place." Evan says.

"That's a really messed up thing to say." Jeffrey Garrett says. "Why did you only agree to help an innocent kid if he'd agree to join your cause?"

"It's really important that he get training." Scott says. "His powers are dangerous."

"But you're supposed to be the good guys." Leyu says. "What you did was blackmail. Or coercion. Or something else not good."

"You should've been willing to help him because he needed it," Gary Walsh says, "not just because you needed someone else to join your cause."

"Would you have approved of that method if it had been your brother sitting in that jail cell?" Carmen Cruz asks.

"Of course not!" Scott exclaims, shortly before a look of horror crosses his face as he realizes what he said.

"As fun as this was to watch," Pietro says, "I want it to go on record, Mystique and my dad didn't have to resort to such dirty tricks to recruit people."

"Seriously?" Jean asks in disbelief. "How'd they do it?"

"They'd ask us if we wanted to join a mutant rights organization." Johnny Allerdyce says.

"More like a mutant terrorist organization." Scott says.

"To-may-to, to-mah-to." Johnny says. "They were pretty clear about the expectations from the beginning."

"Yeah. Lucky them." Evan says. "I still never got why enrolling in the school automatically meant I had to be an X-Man."

"Because..." Scott starts, but realizes he doesn't have an answer.

"Is that not the case here?" Jean asks. "Because I've seen training uniforms."

"They're just for training." Evan says. "Most students are given a choice on whether or not they're field agents."

"And the ones who aren't?" Joanna asks suspiciously.

"Not allowed in the field under any circumstances." Evan says.

"Oh." Joanna says. "Why not?"

"Could be many reasons." Pietro says. "They could have powers that aren't very good for field work."

"They could have a medical condition that makes field work dangerous." Lance says.

"Could be somethin' else we ain't thought of yet." Todd says.

"That's actually reasonable." Carmen says.

"More reasonable than Xavier." Cal says under his breath.

"Look, someone's got to handle dangerous and hostile mutants." Jean says. "Humans aren't equipped for that."

"But I didn't sign up to be an X-Man." Amara says. "I just wanted to learn to control my powers, not fight bad guys."

"There's bad people out there who won't care that you don't want to fight them, they'll still try to hurt you." Scott says.

"Teaching them to defend themselves is fine," Lance says, "but that's completely different from sending them into dangerous situations on purpose."

"And why is Xavier recruiting children for this, anyways?" Fred asks. "Can't he find adult mutants to make a team with?"

"To be fair, everyone we worked for also recruited children." Pietro says.

"It's still kind of messed up." Wanda says.

"You guys were terrorists!" Jean exclaims. "Forgive us if we don't place a lot of value in your opinions on the Professor!"

"How about my opinion?" Wanda asks. "I was his patient."

"What was that like?" Leyu asks.

"I was kept in a straight jacket 24/7 so I couldn't move my arms to use my powers." Wanda says. "Fractured several ribs, couldn't eat or use the bathroom on my own. My room was a metal box where the sides could move away in an instant. I was experimented on a lot to figure out the source of my power to try and control it. I begged him constantly to enroll me in his school, but because of my anger, he decided I was too dangerous for his school and kept me locked up. He didn't even allow my own family to contact me for several years."

There's just horrified silence over the group by the time Wanda's done telling her story.

"Everything you described is just messed up." Sam says.

"There are no words for how messed up that is." Ray says.

"Professor sucks." Amara says.

This is the part where Jean would normally chastise Amara for that, but she's in shock.

"Jean?" Scott asks while gently shaking here. "We don't know she's telling the truth."

"She is." Jean says. "I checked."

"Thanks." Wanda says dryly.

"Sorry." Jean says, sounding not all there. "It just sounded... unbelievable."

"I'll forgive you." Wanda says. "Eventually."

"Thanks." Jean says.

"There's two other people you should hear from." Evan says.

"And who would that be?" Scott asks.

"Kitty and Rogue."

---END---

After Scott and Jean get back from filling out their college applications, they run into Evan, who has a story to tell the New Mutants and New Recruits.

That was a seriously messed up thing for Xavier to do. It'd be different if Evan was guilty, or they had at least thought he was, but they knew he was innocent, so it's messed up that they only agreed to help an innocent kid if he joined their cause.

Evan is someone who questions why enrolling in the school automatically means becoming an X-Man. The question is never given a satisfactory answer. I feel there are others who question this arrangement, Evan's just the most vocal about it.

It's a bit messed up that Xavier recruits primarily children for his cause, but so did Mystique, Magneto, and (in my AU) Fury, so I'll let that one drop.

"Explain." Jean says.

"What if I lived with my dad?" David says. "But I told him I was uncomfortable with him bringing a bunch of strange children into the house?"

"Well... he..." Jean doesn't have an answer.

"He would've convinced me that the needs of strange children were more important than my feelings." David says. "And opened the school anyways."

"Maybe..." Jean says. "But you'd probably learn to like the school."

"Or I'd grow to resent it." David says. "Could've gone either way."

"I guess that's fair." Jean says grumpily.

"Or if he had known about me but I still lived with my mom, what would've been different?" David asks.

Jean and Scott don't really have an answer.

"That's what I thought." David said. "My mom left him for a reason."

"You're being unfair." Scott says. "He loves you."

Gwendolyne Adriana "Gwen" Parker.

Made by Jackal using DNA from Gwen Stacy, Adriana Soria, and Scott Summers. Legally adopted by Peter Parker

(S.H.I.E.L.D. pulled some strings.)

Slightly different power set than in canon.

(Added some other powers.)

Questioning her orientation. Uninterested at the moment, but thinks that'll probably change for the right person.

Bioengineering major in college. Academically brilliant, struggles socially due to inexperience.

Physically she's 17. Technically, she's less than a year.

Loves mysteries and puzzles. And STEM fields. And photography.

Eats bugs in addition to regular food.

Sensitive to changes in air pressure. Weak to ethyl chloride.

Loves new experiences, even ones she ends up not enjoying, as they help her figure out who she is.

***

The Freedom Force from the comics had a Spider-Woman on the team, so I thought of adding one. However, it's really hard to incorporate one into this version of Freedom Force...

...until I heard about Gwen Warren. Her origin story works well for joining this version of Freedom Force.

Lance and Kat are bisexual but devoted to each other, so it doesn't come up much. Illyana sometimes tags along on their dates, but doesn't do romantic relationships despite being pansexual.

Todd is straight, but can admit when a guy is attractive.

Fred, Angelo, and Betsy are all bisexual and polyamorous.

Pietro is not straight, but isn't interested in any labels other than that.

Wanda and Jericho are demisexual. As is Amanda.

Tabitha, Ashley, and Jubilee are lesbians. And not interested in each other.

Pyro is gay.

Rahne is bisexual but has a hard time figuring it out due to her religious upbringing.

Lorna, Alex, Anna Marie, Kurt, and Evan are straight allies.

Gambit is bisexual, but devoted to Anna Marie/Rogue, so it doesn't come up very much. He has a lot of exes, though.

Webber is asexual aromantic. As is Lucia. And Rita.

Maddie is undecided. She has a lot of suitors of varying genders and sexualities, but isn't interested in any of them at the moment. However, she refuses to discount the possibility that she will be one day.

Sebastian is undecided because it's not something he's ever considered before.

Laura's undecided because she's only ever been attracted to Julian, and that's hardly enough to make a decision.

David is pansexual demiromantic.

Sarah/Marrow is undecided because she didn't know she could experience attraction before Evan.

Ruth is demisexual demiromantic.

Danielle is undecided, but definitely attracted to Rahne.

"I did love you." Mystique says. "I still do."

"Then why did you never go back for me?" Kurt asks.

"I'm not exactly a good person." Mystique says. "You were better off without me."

"I was almost burned at a stake because of my appearance." Kurt says.

"Trust me, it still would've been worse with me." Mystique says.

"You raised Rogue just fine." Kurt says bitterly.

Mystique sighs.

"I had a lot of help with Rogue." Mystique says. "And I left a lot. But, you're right. The truth is, I didn't think I could love you the way your parents did. The way you deserved."

"And you could love Rogue that way?"

"No." Mystique says. "But she didn't have any better options. Not with the powers she was going to develop."

"And?" Kurt asks. "Do you still think that you can't love me the right way?"

"For all that I do love you," Mystique says, "I'm still not sure it's the way you deserve."

"But you do love me." Kurt says. "And you want a relationship with me."

"I do." Mystique says. "I'm willing to try."

"Then, I'm willing to try, too." Kurt says. "And, by the way, I love you too."

And if Mystique cries at that, no one else has to know.

---END---

Shortly after Kitty and Rogue move to Boston, Kurt goes there looking for them. Before he decides whether or not to stay, he runs into Mystique and finally gets to have a heart to heart with her.

As stated in my previous story, I like happy endings and healing, and having Mystique fix things with her kids is meant to show that it's not impossible for Xavier to do the same.

I see Mystique as someone who has been very damaged, and doesn't think of herself as capable of healthy, honest relationships. But, for her kids, she's willing to try.

"I'm sorry." Mystique says.

"I didn't know that phrase was in your vocabulary." Rogue says.

"I had to learn to lie and manipulate from a young age to protect myself." Mystique says. "I guess I don't really know how to have an honest relationship."

"That's not an excuse." Rogue says.

"I know." Mystique says. "But I do love you, so, for you, I'm willing to try."

There's a long pause before Rogue speaks up again.

"That does mean a lot." Rogue says. "But I'm not sure I can trust you yet."

"That's fair." Mystique says.

"But I'm willing to give you another chance." Rogue says.

"Thank you." Mystique says. "I'll try and make sure you don't regret it."

"Just be honest this time." Rogue says.

"I'll try." Mystique says. "And, for the record, I didn't just want to keep you away from Xavier because I wanted you on my team. Between his own brother and Wanda, I was worried about what he'd do if he ever decided you were too dangerous and powerful to control."

"If you had just explained that to me, I'd have listened." Rogue says. "I'd have stayed on your side."

"No, you wouldn't have." Mystique says. "We weren't good, and you are. But you might've stayed away from Xavier."

"I guess that would've been enough for you." Rogue says.

"Not really." Mystique says. "I'm a bit controlling, too."

"At least you're admitting to it." Rogue says. "First step to solving a problem."

"You're so wise and mature." Mystique says. "Someone raised you right."

"Gee, I wonder who that could be." Rogue quips.

"Probably Irene." Mystique says.

"Definitely her." Rogue says.

"I still remember your favorite breakfast." Mystique says. "Let me make you some."

"I'd like that." Rogue says.

"I'll have some, too!" Kitty calls from the next room. "No meat, please!"

"The rest of you can come in as well." Mystique says.

One by one the rest of the former Brotherhood files in, along with Tabitha, Jubilee, Rahne, a girl with curly green hair, a girl with long straight blonde hair, and Alex Summers.

"I guess I'm making breakfast for everyone, then." Mystique says.

"We didn't know you can cook." Todd says.

"She's actually really good." Rogue says.

"Can't wait!" Fred says.

As the room fills with chatter, Rogue and Kitty can't help but feel like they might have made a good choice after all.

---END---

The morning after Rogue and Kitty arrive in Boston, Rogue finds out Mystique followed her there, and they have a long overdue heart to heart. This one goes a bit better than in canon.

Rogue doesn't completely forgive Mystique yet, but since Mystique decided to do something out of character and actually apologize and be honest for once, Rogue is going to give her one more chance.

I'm not sure when Mystique found out about Cain, but it must've been pretty early since the episode she first released him in was early in the series. Then she finds out about Wanda and, honestly, what's she supposed to think? Even a not-so-great mother would be wary about having their teen daughter around Xavier if that's how he handles them.

Mystique sucks for a lot of reasons, and admits that she's not exactly good, but watching the show always gave me the vibe that, she also really wanted to be a mom but didn't know how.

"We have image inducers," Emma Frost says while showing the X-Men around Massachusetts Academy, "but no one uses them."

"Why not?" Jean asks. "Don't you care about their safety?"

"I care more about their safety than you could possibly imagine." Emma says. "But it's not a matter of just refusing to use image inducers, they just genuinely wouldn't work for some of our students."

"They worked for Kurt." Jean says.

"Until someone touched him and figured out he was actually fuzzy." Emma says. "Or that he doesn't have the 'correct' number of fingers."

"Well..." Jean trails off.

"And that would be precisely what I'm talking about." Emma says. "We have several students who can't hide that they're mutants because image inducers only change your appearance, not anything else about you."

"But they worked for Kurt." Scott says.

"He wasn't on fire like Benjamin Hammil is." Emma says. "That's a lot harder to hide."

There's silence from X-Men as they expect Scott and Jean to answer. Unfortunately, neither of them has a response.

"And he's at least human-shaped, unlike Carlo Brewster and several other of my students." Emma says. "Even if an image inducer could hide Rueben O'Hara's trunk, there would still be problems because of that."

Once again, the X-Men look to Scott and Jean for a response.

Once again, Scott and Jean don't have one.

"And, ultimately, you can't expect people to accept that mutants exist and aren't a threat if you go to great lengths to hide their existence." Emma says.

"Hey!" Jean says.

"That's not fair." Scott says. "The Professor has done more for mutants than you ever have."

"Like what?" Emma says.

"He opened a school to train them." Jean says.

"Did you not just tour my school?" Emma asks. "Regardless of whichever school you feel is better, that's not doing more than me."

"And her school is better." Amara says.

"Amara!" Jean exclaims.

"Well, it's bigger, for starters." Amara says.

"Living spaces are separate from class room buildings." Sam says.

"They have so many extracurricular options." Jamie says.

"And actual chefs preparing the food." Bobby says.

"Guys," Scott says, "while those are all valid reasons to think this school is better,"

"Scott!" Jean exclaims.

"They are!" Scott exclaims. "But that's not the point, is what I was going to say!"

"I believe we were discussing image inducers." Emma says. "Or perhaps how I'm not doing enough for the betterment of mutantkind."

"Right." Jean says, taking a deep breath. "What all have you done?"

"Successfully had Boston declared a sanctuary city for mutants." Emma says. "Legally, they can't be discriminated against for being mutants here."

"Frost: 1, Xavier: 0." Ray says quietly. Jean still glares at him.

"Successfully petitioned the courts, with help from the Mutant Rights Coalition, to have Pow-R8 factories shut down until they can prove they're no longer a danger to mutants." Emma continues. "And worked with some of the best minds to develop a cure for the condition caused by them."

"That counts as 2, for anyone keeping score." Joanna Cargill says.

"How'd you get the courts to agree to that?" Leyu Yoshida asks.

"I asked them if they really wanted to make mutants more dangerous than they already are." Emma says.

"That's horrible!" Jean exclaims. "We're trying to convince people we're not a threat!"

"Not everyone's going to be convinced." Emma says. "Some people, yes. But not everyone. Most importantly, I'm a telepath. I chose what to say based on what I knew would guarantee me a victory in court. It might not help change their minds, but it'll keep a lot more mutants safe, so I refuse to feel bad about it."

Jean is speechless.

"You used your telepathy in court?!" Jean exclaims, shocked.

"Not gonna lie, that's kind of cool." Amara says.

"Amara!" Jean exclaims.

"Don't you remember how nice it was getting to use our powers to help others without worrying so much about rules?" Amara asks.

"It was nice..." Jean says fondly, "but the world isn't going to be nice to mutants who break rules."

"The world isn't going to be nice to mutants, period." Emma says. "Playing by their rules is only going to lead yourself to slaughter. No one ever got their rights by asking for them nicely."

"That's... true." Jean says.

"I feel like we've lost the plot." Scott says. "What do you do instead of image inducers?"

"Successfully made it illegal to discriminate against someone for being a mutant around here." Emma says. "Luckily, that doesn't happen often anymore."

"Why not?"

"People just got used to mutants." Emma explains. "They're just a part of life now."

"That... sounds nice, actually." Scott says.

"It... does." Jean says.

"The colleges around here don't discriminate, either." Emma says.

"Are you serious?" Jean asks hopefully.

"If you need help filling out applications," Emma starts, "the Academic Counseling Office would be happy to help."

"Right." Jean says. "I used to have so many accomplishments."

"Used to?" Emma asks.

"When I was outed as a mutant, the school revoked all of them." Jean says.

"Put them on your application anyways." Emma says. "And now you have a topic for your admissions essay."

"That might work." Scott says. "You earned them fair and square. Even if Principal Kelly refused to believe you."

"Thanks." Jean says. "Which way is the Academic Counseling Office?"

Emma gives them directions and then they're off, leaving the X-Men behind.

"So... would anyone like transfer paperwork?" Emma asks.

Everyone raises a hand.

---END---

After the X-Men have a falling out with Xavier, they're invited to visit Massachusetts Academy for a weekend.

Yes, Emma has an ulterior motive for inviting them. She makes it clear she wants them to consider transferring to her school when they arrive.

Emma: "Is it really an ulterior motive if I tell you immediately that's why I invited you?"

During the tour, the topic of image inducers for some of their obviously non-human students comes up, and the conversation continues from there.

Xavier really was more of an activist in the comics than in the cartoon. It's disappointing.

And it needs to be called out that cartoon!Xavier isn't doing much for mutants. The two greatest victories for mutants (Senate, Bayville High) were won by other people.

Yes, they were people he trained, I'll give him that, but his personal approach is passive, which won't work all the time. And I feel that needs to be addressed.

It's canon that they're going to face more adversity and challenges, so they need a leader who doesn't just blindly trust others when they're posing a risk to mutants (Guy Spear) and will advocate for his students when they need him (Jubilee, Rahne).

"He's a self-detonating mutant known as 'Nitro'." Fury explains.

He looks around the room. It's a big job, so he needs to assemble a big team to deal with it.

Lance Alvarez aka Avalanche. Vibration powers. The leader.

Todd Tolansky aka Toad. Toad physiology. Smarter than he seems, but only academically.

Frederick Dukes aka The Blob. Immovable. Virtually indestructible.

Pietro Maximoff aka Quicksilver. Fast. Very fast.

Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet Witch. Powerful but mentally unstable.

Tabitha Smith aka Bombshell. A rebel with explosive powers.

Johnny Allerdyce aka Pyro. Another self-proclaimed rebel. Fire powers.

Ashley Crawford aka Big Bertha. Strong. Durable.

Jubilation Lee aka Firecracker. Gymnast. Explosive powers.

Rahne Sinclair aka Wolfsbane. Lycanthropy. Bit of a wild child.

Lorna Dane aka Polaris. Magnetokinetic.

Illyana Rasputina aka Magik. Portal-maker. Very useful.

Alexander Summers aka Havok. Laser blasts. Cyclops's younger brother.

Why is he here and not at Xavier's?

Anna Marie Carlyle aka Rogue. Power absorption. The jack-of-all-trades.

Katherine Pryde aka Shadowkat. Intangibility.

Remy LeBeau aka Gambit. Kinetically charges things. Not sure he can be trusted yet.

Kurt Wagner aka Nightcrawler. Teleporter. Definitely need him.

Webber Torque aka Arcade. Technopath. Has been useful in the past, but might have to sit this one out.

Madelyne Pryor aka Anodyne. Healer. Will definitely need her on this one.

"Each time he explodes, he causes a lot of damage." Fury continues to explain. "Including to people."

"So why not call the X-Men?" Lance asks. "Why us?"

"I need a team that's willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done and save everyone else." Fury explains. "The X-Men aren't it."

"Be blunt." Kat says. "Not all of us understand double entendre."

"He's recruiting us because we'd kill the guy if we have to." Tabitha says.

"No offense, but why should we?" Pietro asks.

"Some of you have criminal records." Fury says. "I can make them disappear if you successfully complete this mission."

"We'll do it!" Kat says.

"Kat!" Lance says. "That should be a group discussion."

"Sorry." Kat apologizes. "But you guys could actually go to college if we pull this off."

"But there's significant risk involved." Lance says. "We need time to think about it."

"Do we really?" Fred asks. "We know we're eventually going to agree to help. Why not skip to that part?"

"Freddie's got a point." Tabitha says. "We're, unfortunately, good people at heart, so we're probably going to help anyways."

"Is that your answer?" Fury asks.

Lance looks around at the team before answering.

"It is." He says, sighing.

"Well, then," Fury says, "let's get started."

---END---

The mission goes well enough, Nitro lives, and those members with criminal records get a clean slate.

After this mission, Fury asks them to become S.H.I.E.L.D.'s official team for dealing with mutants, stating that if they don't, human authorities will. They agree.

Emma Frost - Headmistress

Sean Cassidy - Headmaster

Selene Gallio - Sex Education Teacher

Logan Howlett - Self-Defense Teacher; Drama Teacher

Akihiro Logan - Self-Defense Teacher; Hired for his immunity to pheromone powers

Avery Connor - Science Teacher

Kyle Gibney - Academic Counselor

Christian Frost - Economics Teacher

Ellie Phimister - Gym Teacher

Yvonne Chilton - Counselor

Dog Logan - Security

(He lives in the woods and alerts them to suspicious activity. Usually with a warning shot.)

Barnell Bohusk - Home Economics Teacher

Angel Salvadore-Bohusk - Home Economics Teacher

Absolon Mercator - Handyman

Amelia Voght - Nurse

Annika/Book - Head Librarian

Augustus Madison - Test Proctor

(He's uniquely qualified to keep people from cheating on their exams.)

Broadband - IT Supervisor

Bruin - Records Office Manager

Dr. Cecilia Reyes - Doctor

David Bond - Driver's Ed Teacher; Art Teacher

(He's the reason Kat's getting better at driving.)

Granny Smite - Daycare Worker

(MA has some wards who are too young for school, so Granny Smite watches over them during the day.)

James Proudstar - Survival Teacher

John Proudstar - Survival Teacher

Jovius - Records Office Employee

Dr. Kavita Rao - Biology and Chemistry Teacher

Madison Jeffries - Tech Teacher

Maximus Jensen - Gym Teacher

(He has to remember that only one student can do "trunk exercises".)

Maya Lopez - Dance Teacher

Saucier - Food Service Supervisor; Chef

Sanji Yamamoto - Chef

Telford Porter - Math Teacher

Tessa Karisik - IT; Other Jobs

Xuân Cao Mạnh - French Teacher; Librarian

Gloria Muñoz - Spanish Teacher

Cain Marko - Security

Tom Cassidy - Wood Shop Teacher

Candra - Nurse

Craig Farnsworth - Art Teacher

Ernest Scope - Music Teacher

Gene Bitner - Geography Teacher

Gracie Smith - Social Studies Teacher

Lucy Robinson - Home Economics Teacher

Simon Lestron - Physics Teacher

Tad Carter - English Teacher

They've got some new recruits to replace the people who left. And just because I felt like adding new people to their team.

Their new official roster is:

Charles Xavier/Professor X

Ororo Munroe/Storm

Hank McCoy/Beast

Scott Summers/Cyclops

Jean Grey

Ray Crisp/Berserker

Bobby Drake/Iceman

Amara Aquilla/Magma

Jamie Madrox/Multiple

Roberto Da Costa/Sunspot

Forge

Warren Worthington III/Angel

Piotr Rasputin/Colossus

Gary Walsh/Spike

Leyu Yoshida/Sunpyre

Cal Rankin/Mimic

Jeffrey Garrett - In this AU, his powers are teleportation and intangibility.

Carmen Cruz/Feint

Rita Wayword. The cyborg.

Recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. to help develop a cure for a techno-organic virus. Got infected, but modified the virus so she could keep the powers with none of the drawbacks, like losing her mental faculties.

It was the best she could do.

Rita: "Personally, I think it's an upgrade, but I understand not everyone will agree with me."

19 and has degrees in Cybernetics and Genetics.

Was working as a stunt woman when S.H.I.E.L.D. recruited her.

Thinks being a hero is the coolest job, but does look for other work just to have a more steady income.

Gillian Blythe/G'illian Blax'zthor. The Deviant Skrull.

Faked her death shortly after being sent to Earth for her military service. S.H.I.E.L.D. found her and offered her protection, and she eventually asked to join Freedom Force to make good use of her powers and military training.

She moves to Boston afterwards, where she's not the first mutant alien in town, so she's accepted pretty easily there.

Her Skrull shapeshifting is not subjected to the same limitations as the rest of her species. She can grow to giant size and stretch to great lengths in addition to regular Skrull shapeshifting.

Defines her sexuality and gender as "fluid". Skrulls can just change gender at will, so it was weird for her to stay in one gender for so long for her disguise.

Majoring in Visual Arts and minoring in Business of Creative Industries.

Ruth Aldine. The precognitive.

Origin story is the same.

Has a bad habit of reading minds without permission. Working on it.

Likes the feel of bohemian style clothing. Has long bangs to cover her lack of eyes.

Outspoken activist. Shy in any other situation.

Does believe in modern medicine but also believes in crystals and herbs.