Stepping Up

Nick and Scott sat alone in the headmaster's (masters'? since Emma and Scott are in charge) office. Apparently, Emma and Mei kept Nick coming to live at the mansion as a surprise for everyone else which caused a tremendous amount of drama.

Alex and a few others who had issues with Nick vehemently refused to allow him to stay in the mansion, even though he was a mutant which should have guaranteed him a spot in the estate. After all, they were an endangered species and trying to stick together. Most thought he was too irresponsible and violent.

'Wonder what they would think if they knew Emma put me in charge of training the next gen,' Nick thought to himself when Alex made this point.

Then there was the other side that were those that wanted him there since they were family or friends. This really only consisted of Emma, Mei, Alexis, Stella, and Gabriel. Lorna was also in this faction but she didn't speak up either way.

And then there was Nick's fan club that also wanted him to stay. Even though he was not a hero, Nick had still been slightly active over the years. He was a writer, musician, singer, and reluctant fighter. As the son of a member of the royal family of the Inhumans and... well just being a mutant, there were plenty of people that had gone after his life over the past 5 years.

Few of those lived to tell the tale.

His mutation meant that physical attacks were pointless while his Inhuman abilities made mental attacks difficult. As for offensively, both his telekinesis and voodoo-ish mutation meant that he could bypass many defenses.

Many younger heroes and villains looked up to him the same way some comic fans enjoyed the more hardcore heroes. He was an avenger and was not afraid to kill but he never went out of his way to kill others. Most younger heroes agreed with his methods while the younger villains could respect him not going out of his way to go after them as long as they stayed away from him.

In fact, there was one time when a villain was robbing a bank that Nick was at. As soon as he noticed Nick, he immediately gave up. But what Nick did next was unexpected to everyone.

"You haven't caused any trouble yet. Just don't hold up the line any longer."

And under everyone's surprised gaze, the villain nodded before turning around and walking out the door like nothing happened. This became a new topic for a week with many news outlets, especially the Daily Bugle, calling out Nick and telling him what a shitty person he was but that didn't stop him from gaining more fans.

The fact that he also regularly performed with the likes of Dazzler and Lila Cheney and posted music on Youtube also attracted a large number of fans. So even though he was no hero, Nick was not lacking compared to the likes of Spider-Man (never forget the hyphen) or the Fantastic Four.

All 3 sides argued for over 10 minutes while the neutrals and Nick watched on from the side. It was only after Scott stepped up and called Nick to his office that they all finally quieted down.

Scott looked at Nick and felt conflicted. He had Emma and his youngest brother on one side while he had his other brother on the other. There was also the fact that Nick didn't have the best personality of would regularly get into conflicts with others cause of his mouth.

But last thing should have been enough for Scott to not allow Nick to stay but there was something else that Scott had to consider.

The future of mutants.

And with Nick's abilities, he would feel more secure about his plan.

"Nick. Emma told me that she made some conditions for you to stay here, one of those being that you will be the supervisor for the New X-Men, correct?"

"Yep," Nick replied, not sure what Scott was getting at

"I also have some conditions I need from you. Your personality is like a time bomb. One without a counter so we never know when you would go off. But I could use a time bomb in these desperate times," Scott started to reveal his thoughts, confusing Nick even more

"What do you want?" Nick asked, already tired of the idea of living here. But if he wanted to be involved in Stella's life and get rid of the ghosts of his past, he needed to be at the mansion.

"Emma got three things from you, and so do I. I want you to be on the X-Force Team, on the Extinction Team, and you will have Alex and Lorna assist you with training the New X-Men."

Nick immediately wanted to reject the terms. Although he didn't know what the Extinction Team was, he knew about X-Force.

X-Force was the black-ops team of the X-Men. They were sent on missions where deadly force was not only allowed but even encouraged, unlike the normal X-men. They had to see the worse side of humanity constantly.

'I can't deal with even more shit bothering me,' Nick thought to himself

And the fact he really didn't want to have Lorna and Alex by his side so often made him not want to accept the conditions even more.

Scott could see that he held up his hand to stop Nick from rejecting him outright.

"Look, before you reject me, just hear me out. You are a very powerful mutant and we need that to keep our people safe. I need your strength.

The Extinction Team is going to do what the Unity Team of the Avengers never did. Show humanity why mutant lives are important by dealing with global threats. I need to most powerful mutants I can find to do this. To fight bigger fights than we have ever fought before. And I need you for that.

As for the X-Force team, you have already shown your... resolve yesterday during that battle and in the past. I need someone who will not hesitate to do what is necessary for the safety of the children.

And as for having Alex and Lorna on the team, I can't just let you supervise it all on your own. There would be a literal riot if I did that. Both of them are experienced leaders who will be able to help raise the next generation of X-Men," Scott laid out all his cards. He knew he had to convince Nick to join the two teams because there were few people with powersets and skills like his.

Nick could also tell that Scott was not just trying to praise him. He was being as honest as Nick had ever seen the man. And that made it impossible to refuse.

"I get my own bedroom and we have a deal," Nick stated a term just so that he could say it was a proper negotiation and he didn't just agree as he did with Emma.

Scott nodded before standing up from behind the desk while Nick did the same. Both men shook hands, sealing the deal and the fate of mutants.