prompt post: round ten
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CLOSING AT 3,000 COMMENTS
RULES POST
(PLEASE READ BEFORE COMMENTING)
<< ROUND NINE | ALL ROUNDS |
POSTING GUIDELINES - PLEASE READ BEFORE COMMENTING
Updates Post (WIPs only)
Fills Post (completed Fills only)
damalur's firstclasskink on Delicious.
Volunteers always welcome.
Please use the Discussion Post if you want to talk about ( Read more... )
AU! There are individuals in the world with superpowers called "mutants," who use their powers as professional superheroes to serve society. This is achieved by getting corporate sponsorship, which in turn bankrolls and markets the superheroes through the publicity generated by MutanTV, a reality program that documents the exploits of the heroes foiling crimes (kind of like Cops). Through the program, the mutants engage in a friendly competition by earning points depending on civilian rescues, event bonuses, and capturing criminals, etc. These ultimately go towards determining a mutant's rankings in the periodic popularity polls (which in turn intersects with the business perks of the industry).
Charles Xavier is a powerful telepath who teaches part-time at the Mutant Academy and works as a professional hero. But due to his pacifist nature and because his powers aren't nearly as flashy as other mutants', Charles tends to rank at the bottom of the popularity polls. While Charles was generally fine with this, because he's an idealist, believing wholeheartedly that mutant powers are meant to be used to help people and points and stuff like that aren't important, it causes his corporate sponsor to drop him, which effectively cuts Charles off from doing what he loves. But then another corporation approaches him with a proposal: they want to market Charles as the sidekick of a two-man team with their newbie hero, Erik.
Erik, while powerful with a lot of potential, needs guidance in developing his powers. And beneath that cool demeanor are a lot of issues: he's spent the last 20 years trying to track down his parents' murderer, which drives him to do what he does. But all he's got to go on is one word: "Hellfire."
Showing how these two go from the odd couple to a functioning partnership and friends (and perhaps more??) would be ace, along with as much intersection between superhero tropes and business acumen that you can throw in: ridiculous eye catching costumes, secret identities, gimmicks and catch phrases, publicity stunts--that sort of thing.
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A young girl looks up from her Big Mac and quickly smacks her friend. "Ow, Liz! You almost made me get ketchup on my scarf!" Liz, unable to speak around her burger, just points to the television, which had just flashed its "MTV" logo and was now showing a car chase.
-Robbers have stolen an armored truck from downtown Westchester County.- scrolls along the bottom screen as an overhead helicopter shows a truck being chased by 3 cop cars.
"That truck has more than half a million dollars inside! The cops are trying to keep up, but the truck is getting away quickly!" the announcer excitedly reports. The truck in question took a sharp turn off of a wrong exit, causing cars to screech and pull over quickly.
"We still haven't spotted any Mutants yet. Here at Mutant Television we bring you LIVE coverage of New York's favorite mutant super heroes straight to your homes!"
The entire restaurant is watching the television now, waiting for what they know will be an entertaining show.
"Each week we tally up the points our mutants have accumulated from protecting our city, and at the end of the season we announce the Mutant Monarch!"
A streak of red light bursts across the tv. "And here's our first mutant on scene!" The camera shifts to focus on a motorcycle shooting past the now stopped cop cars.
"Havoc is smoothly catching up to the armored truck! Oh wait- he's passed it??" The motorcycle's tires seem to swerve out of control. "Havoc seems to have lost control of his new Tron bike! Havoc, it's the other way!" The announcer yells getting ahead of himself. The camera swings back to the truck, which seems to be speeding towards something blue.
"Is that-? Yes, it's another mutant! It's Beast! I wonder what he's planning to- oh he's jumped onto the truck!" The camera zooms in to show a feral-looking blue Beast tearing the roof of the truck back. He reaches inside but lurches forward off the truck. The truck starts to flip over head-first, and Beast barely rolls out of the way.
"What's this? Oh! Darwin has stopped the truck!" The screen zooms in on a boulder on the highway. Ten points flash across the screen under Darwin's name. The boulder uncurls to show a slim but strong man in a loose dark blue jumpsuit. A matching mask covers his eyes. "Darwin hasn't been doing too well lately. He's been off-air for a while now. Maybe this is his come-back at the end of the season?" Darwin opens the door to the truck, but the robbers have already jumped out the other side. They hop into a nearby car, throwing the driver out.
"The robbers have now hi-jacked a nearby car! Will they get away?" The camera zooms out to show something black hovering over the stolen car. "And Banshee makes it onto the scene! Better cover your ears folks!" No sooner had the announcer spoken, a loud shriek blew through the television speakers. The windows of the stolen car shatter, and the car spins out of control for a moment before stopping. One of the robbers jumps out of the car and Banshee swoops down and grabs him, pulling them both high into the air.
"Banshee has caught one of the robbers!" the narrator announces cheerfully, as 200 points flashes with Banshee's name. "But there are still two more!" The other robbers run out of the car in the opposite direction. "Wait, three more?" The camera zooms in to show that there are indeed three robbers running away, including the one that had been caught by Banshee. The third robber grabs one of the others and slaps themselves together with a pair of handcuffs.
"What's this? One of the robbers has arrested the other!" The third robber suddenly changes. "It's Mystique! She's caught the second robber!" Another 200 points flash across the screen as the now blue Mystique bows, dragging the robber into a bow with her.
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As if knowing he were lost, a voice rings in his earpiece. "The robber is heading for the monorail station, Professor." Charles quickly turns and runs in the other direction.
"Could you please not call me that, Moira? We've been working together for three years, surely you could call me Charles," Charles pants.
"When you're Charles I'll call you Charles. Right now you're Professor X, and you better get to the scene quick. There's only one left to catch."
"Right." There was no point arguing now. He was near the monorails, and could see one of the trains coming out of the station faster than it should. That's not good.
Charles (not Professor!) jumps onto one of the tracks, trying to get to the one the monorail was on.
A different woman's voice sounds through the earpiece. "Professor, hold on we're going to commercial." It was Emma Frost, their producer.
"What? Now??" Charles was almost close enough to touch the minds on the train.
"Yes don't do anything until the commercial's-"
"There are innocent people on that train!" Charles yells and runs at the train. He hears a "Dammit!" and a click as he nears the train. He can almost- yes! He can sense their minds! The robber is holding the conductor at gunpoint inside. Charles jumps into the mind of the robber, making him throw the gun away and then concentrates on the conductor. The conductor pulls the emergency brake through Charles' control.
The train stops before him, and Charles is dismayed to find that the robber had busted open a window and had jumped out. The robber is clinging to the rails, inching himself further away.
"Damn." Charles can't reach his mind. Or can he?
Charles climbs out the window to follow the robber, ignoring the cries of "What the hell are you doing?! Get back in the train!!" in his head from Moira. The robber notices and begins crawling away faster. The robber's hand slips and he yelps.
"Save me! Save me!" the robber yells.
"Hang on, I'm coming!" Charles yells back to him. The robber's eyes grow wide.
"Not you! Don't come near me!"
Charles is confused. "What? Who else is going to save you? I'm the only one-"
Charles was cut off by a large gust of wind, followed by a "Riiiip-TIDE!" The robber gets swept away by a sudden tornado of wind. Charles turns his head to see Riptide, the Mutant Monarch of the last season, flying towards them on his own tornado. The gathered crown below cheers as Riptide brings the robber safely to the city below.
"I guess no points today..." Charles sighs. He turns his head further to get a better look of Riptide saving the day, only to realize he's turned to far. His hand slips.
---
Charles is falling. He knows it's the end. Telepathy is his mutation, not flying. He closes his eyes and readies himself for the coming rendez-vous with the pavement.
Oof. ...oof? Shouldn't it be "crunch?" or something worse? Charles feels a sudden warmth around him. He takes a venture and opens his eyes. A man with green eyes looks down at him.
"Huh? Who are you?" Charles asks.
The man lets him down. "Don't push yourself too hard, Professor." The man smirks and floats away before Charles can say anything.
---
The customers at McDonalds are at the edges of their seats, cheering wildly. The man on screen lifts off his helmet and salutes the camera casually.
"This season ends with a new mysterious hero!" the announcer yells.
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- OP
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Hopefully I can get to writing more soon. (School and all, bleh)
So glad you like it! :D
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Only if you want to, of course. There seems to be some concern that some of these fills will disappear from this comm, and I'd hate to lose the beginnings of such a fun fic :)
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I don't really understand the whole comm and fills so just to be safe I'll do both. (really new to fic writing on lj)
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Charles watched as the “new hero” posed in front of the camera. The man had taken off his helmet to grin at the camera. Charles rolled his eyes. He couldn’t imagine revealing his identity. Kids these days. Then again maybe Charles’ reasons for keeping a secret identity were more personal than ideal…
“Professor?”
Charles’ head snapped up. A young student stood in front of his desk, looking slightly worried. Class had ended and most of the students had filed out of the classroom. Right. Charles had just finished teaching.
After regaining his composure, he responded , “Yes, Bobby?” Charles rubbed at the back of his neck; something had apparently twanged when he had looked up too quickly. Was he getting old?
“I was just asking when we were going to get our quizzes back. I was worried about how I did.”
“Oh. Yes, yes of course. I’m halfway through grading them.” His grading had been interrupted by the robber the night before. “I’ll have them back to you by next class.”
Bobby ran off with a mumbled “Thanks, Prof.” Charles sighed and looked down at his wrist. His “call” band poked out from underneath his tweed jacket. It was how Mutant TV and Moira got in touch with him when “Professor X” was needed. He sighed again. Today would be his last day to wear it…
---
It was 7:13am when Moira had called that morning. Charles remembered distinctly because he never woke up before 8am. (Being a part-time professor had its perks.) Charles rolled over and smushed the phone to his face.
“ ‘ullo?”
“Charles?” Charles quickly sat up. That had gotten his attention. Moira rarely called him Charles.
“What’s wrong?”
“Well… the company is dropping you.” Moira was never one for beating around the bush. It was one of the many things Charles liked about her.
“Dropping me? What do you mean?”
“Y’know, like in baseball, when a player gets inju-“
Charles cut her off. “I know what dropping is, Moira. What I want to know is why I’m being dropped.”
“Oh. The company thinks you’re not cut out to be a Mutant and they don’t want to waste money sponsoring you anymore.” Nevermind, maybe that’s what Charles hated about her.
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He sighed. There was nothing he could do about it now. The sponsor’s word was final. Charles knew he shouldn’t let it bother him. It’s not like he didn’t have another job. He could just teach full time. He laughed bitterly to himself. His step-father would be thrilled…
Kurt Marko was the dean of the Mutant Academy. He was seen as a humanitarian and he was loved and respected by everyone. The truth, however? Kurt DESPISED mutants. The only thing he could possibly feel stronger about was his love of appearances. He would lie about loving mutants every day until the day he died if it meant keeping his status.
The world wasn’t alone. Charles had also believed the lie as a child. Charles’ real father had died soon after he was born. Kurt had worked with Dr. Xavier, and Charles mother had quickly remarried. Charles had seen Kurt as a kind and supportive man, and had easily accepted him as his father.
When Charles’ powers had developed, he had run into the kitchen, excitedly projecting his thoughts, “I’m a mutant, Dad! I can hear thoughts!” But instead of the smile that Charles had expected to spread across Kurt’s face, it had been masked in shadow. Charles had stopped in the doorway, frozen. Something wasn’t right. A long silence followed.
“…Dad?”
Something snapped. A garbled yell escaped from Kurt as he rushed forward. Charles flinched back, but Kurt already had him by the shirt, shaking him violently. “Do. Not. Call. Me. That.” Kurt snarled with each bone-shattering shake. Tears filled Charles’ young, ocean-blue eyes.
“Dad, what are you talking about? You’re… hurting me…” The tears were now falling down the young boy’s cheeks.
“I am NOT the father of a FREAK like you!!” Kurt punched him across the face. Charles fell back against the kitchen wall. He scrambled back up as he saw Kurt reaching for the knife drawer.
“Get out!” Kurt screamed as he threw a knife in Charles’ direction. “GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!” Charles dashed into the hall, trying to escape the insane man that had once been his father. He could feel the hatred in Kurt’s thoughts as the man chased him out of the house. One of the knives had caught him in his right shoulder as he ran out of his house and into the night.
---
Charles ran a finger along the scar on his shoulder as he looked into the mirror. He shook his head and splashed his face with water, as if to wash away a bad memory. He pulled his cardigan back over his shoulder, snapped on his call band, and was soon out the door to face his last day as a mutant.
Wow, totally not what I meant to write about, but I guess some back story is important
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There was Darwin, sitting on the end of the bench, pulling at the loose threads of his BRIDGESTONE logo. Riptide and Beast were chatting excitedly to each other in Spanish. (Janos didn't speak English. Well, he knew a few phrases like "Thank you," which he would repeat incessantly.) Havoc was pacing near the door. He never could stand the events MTV held. He hated staying in one place too long. Banshee was happily humming to himself next to Mystique who was brushing her hair absentmindedly. Charles sighed. He was really going to miss them.
Havoc had stopped, and was now peering through the door.
"What's up, Alex?" Banshee walked over to peer through the door as well.
"I dunno. There's some guy out in the hall. Looks like he may be a Mutant."
That brought Charles out of his reveries. He reached out into Havoc's mind to see who they were talking about. A purple cape flashed through Havoc's mind.
A thrill ran through Charles that he chose to ignore. 'What was he doing here?'
Charles was suddenly jerked out of Havoc's mind. The door had been swung open violently, knocking Havoc and Banshee over like dominos. Emma Frost stood in the doorway
"Let's go."
---
“Ladies and Gentlemen!” The announcer waved his arms dramatically. “Your Mutants!!”
The crowd thundered again, reverberating loudly throughout the stadium as the mutants filed out onto the stage. Charles stared out into the crowd. He tried to absorb the cheers; memorize them. His thoughts were interrupted by the announcer.
“The points are in! And our new Mutant Monarch is…” The giant screen behind them flashed from the MTV logo to show the results:
Riptide 8980
Mystique 5610
Havoc 3140
Banshee 1625
Beast 1500
Charles 470
Darwin 230
“RIPTIDE!”
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Riptide stepped forward as the WINDTUNNEL logo flashed across the screen in an artful display. The crowd cheered again as Riptide addressed them. “Thank you! And thank you!” Charles shook his head. A man of so many words…
“And now, the President of MutanTV, Sebastian Shaw, will make an announcement!” The announcer yelled, bowing away as a middle-aged man in a neat suit walked up to the podium. A zoom shot of the man had replaced the WindTunnel logos.
“Thank you all for watching MutanTV.” Shaw waited for the cheers to die down before continuing. “As you know, it is the job of our Mutants to keep this city safe.” He flashed a sly grin. “We have a new Mutant, who wants nothing more than to protect us and our city.” Something hit Charles’ shoulder, and he turned to see him walking past to stand next to President Shaw. “Let’s welcome, Magneto!”
‘Magneto’ pulled off his helmet and flashed a toothy grin at the crowd, which once again was filling the stadium with cheers. Charles huffed and rolled his eyes. Kids these days…
“Magneto’s power is magnetism. He can move any metal to his whim. Let’s just hope that he’ll be saving us and not needing saving himself!” The stadium filled with laughter. Magneto put his helmet back on and walked back to the line of mutants. He smiled at Charles as he went to stand next to him, which Charles blatantly ignored.
Shaw continued to woo the crowd with promises for the upcoming season, and Charles let the words wash over him. As superficial as this show was, he really had been helping people. Giving this up was going to be hard.
Shaw finished his speech and the mutants filed backstage once more. The others passed Charles as he walked, caught up in his own thoughts. Beast clapped him on the back with a grin, and Charles managed a weak smile back. Hank McCoy had always been a good friend of his, and knew how hard this was for Charles.
Charles saw Darwin changing out of his costume, and made his way over to him. He was cut off however, by a flash of flamboyant magenta and purple. The man extended a hand to him.
“Charles Xavier, if I’m not mistaken.” Charles shook the hand given him. “Erik Lehnsherr.”
“Nice to meet you.” Charles may not like this kid, but that never stopped him from being polite. “I guess I should also thank you for helping me yesterday.”
“Saving you, you mean.” Lehnsherr chuckled. “And you’ll have plenty of time to make it up to me.” Before Charles could ask what he meant, he had turned away with a swish of his cape.
“Xavier!” Charles turned to see Moira running towards him.
“Moira, what are you doing here?”
“Here,” Moira handed him a card.
“What’s this?” Charles looked down at the card. Oliver Platt - NTK Bank.
“It’s your new sponsor.” Moira smiled wide. “You’re still a Mutant!”
If Charles wasn’t gay he would have kissed her.
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