Chapter 23

"You know, when I was in school, we didn't have enough of a fatality rate that we needed our own private cemetary..."

"I'm afraid schools catering to mutants face a good deal more difficulties than what you experienced during your own teenage years, Mr Ginnungagap..." Xavier says in a sombre tone as we stand in front of the small graveyard at the back of the mansion, where the X-Men bury not only their own members who fall in battle, but also the unfortunate kids who simply had no families that wanted their remains back.

There's a depressing amount of the latter example here.

Half the mansion residents have turned up outside once word spread about my offer, even with the teachers trying to convince the students to stay inside. Some of the students currently living at the mansion were dormant mutants who's powers manifested when I reactivated the x-gene, and thus had no previous connection to the school, but most of them lived here when M-Day hit and know atleast one person currently buried in the field. Unsurprisingly, Santo, Mercury and Dust are in the audience, considering that their friend Tag's remains are kept here as well. A sour-faced Quentin Quire lurks in the back, notably standing alone. Apparently Glob Herman doesn't hang around with him much anymore, he was one of the mutants who's powers I modified to allow him to not look like a fucking monster all the time, and the two had a falling out over Herman "selling out". Which of course just gave the annoying brat another reason to hate me.

"Just so we're clear, I'm only about to resurrect the kids who are actually buried here, if you want anyone who isn't kept here back, you'll have to contact their families first and have them bring their bodies here."

Xavier nods "I'm aware, we're already contacting the parents of departed students to obtain their permission and assistance, but we're the only family these students have left in the world. If it's permission from me you're waiting for-"

"No, just doublechecking. Alright kiddos, naptimes over, you're not getting out of school that easy!" I slap my hands together, and for a moment nothing seems to happen... then the burial plots begin to glow! I hear the students watching behind me gasp, and even Xavier seems at a loss for words. Figures begin to form in the light, pale and ghost-like at first but quickly gaining substance, becoming real even as deep beneath the ground, the bones buried in the cemetary vanish, their matter being used to recreate their owners original bodies.

Finally, the light fades, and in the once-empty cemetary stands a large group of confused-looking teenagers, blinking at the daylight like they've just been abruptly woken from a deep sleep. No one speaks. Then, two girls with long, blonde hair dressed in a school uniform steps forward.

"Professor Xavier? Miss Frost? What happened?"

"SOPHIE!! ESME!!" Three identical girls pushes their way through the crowd and embraces their twin, and I finally recognize them as Emma Frosts creepy clone daughters, the Cuckoos or whatever they were called. Frost herself breaks away from the other teachers and rushes to greet her as well, and that seems to snap everyone else out of their stupor, people rushing over to find their resurrected friends. A black boy with long dreadlocks gives a surprised grunt as he's pulled into a bearhug by Santo.

"BRIAN! Holy shit, it's actually you! I'd never thought I'd see you again!"

Brian just blinks in confusion "What-what happened? The last thing I remember was the bus, and- Wait, who are YOU?"

"It's me, man! It's Santo! Rockslide!" Santo says with a sheepish grin.

"Santo? You're so much less... of a rock than I saw you last! What's going on?"

"Oh man, you're not going to belive the shit you've missed, it's been crazy! Come on, the rest of the gang is here too!"

Brian shakes his head, but just as he's about to answer, he spots Professor Xavier and his eyes widen "Is that the professor? He can walk now?!"

Xavier lifts his fingers to his head, and sends out a telepathic message to reach everyone over the noise of the crowd "Everyone, please, I understand that many of you are confused and afraid, but you have no reason to fear. Something wonderful has happened, and you have been brought back to us when we thought you all lost forever. Much has transpired in the time you've been gone, but all your questions will be answered. Please, let us return inside and get you all resettled first."

The group reluctantly begins to break apart as the X-Men starts leading the newly resurrected students back into the mansion, reunited friends and mentors clinging tightly eachother. However, as the Cuckoos walk towards the mansion, they come to a halt when they spot Quentin, who looks torn between trying to talk to them or making a run for it. Sophie breaks away from the group and walks up to him. The two stare at eachother in silence for a few seconds.

"Sophie. I...missed you."

Sophie gives him an unimpressed look "Quentin. I can still read minds, you know. And I can see you're still a jerk." With that, she turns on her heel and walks back to her sisters and Frost, the group heading back inside and leaving Quire behind without looking back. He turns around and gives me a furious glare. I glare right back.

"This doesn't prove anything, old man! The others, they'll see you for the poser you are eventually! I don't care how powerful you are-OW!!" His rant is cut off as I grab him by the ear and begin dragging him back into the mansion.

"Kid, I'm 15 years older than you and twice your size, I don't need my powers to give you a whooping if you don't cut the crap! The professor said back inside, so get your ass moving!"

....

The rest of the morning and most of the day is spent with various teary-eyed reunions, as well as an impromptu speech from Xavier on what has been going on since M-Day. Unsurprisingly, learning about their own untimely deaths leads to reactions ranging from anger to fear and back to anger again, though a lot of it is mitigated by the fact that the depowered students have their abilities back. It's well into the afternoon by the time everyone has calmed down enough to let me talk to the X-Men again. Emma is unsurprisingly absent from the meeting room, but Xavier is there, along with Wolverine, Summers, Storm and McCoy.

"Mr Ginnungagap, once again you have done us a far greater service than we could ever possibly repay" Xavier says, and I notice he's not sitting down at the table with the rest of us. Apparently the novelty of having his legs back hasn't worn off yet. "We've contacted the families of the remaining casualties of M-Day, and most have already agreed to return their childrens remains here, though many of them were understandably skeptical at first. It's not every day someone offers to bring your lost children back from the dead."

"What I'd like to know is why ya didn't do this the first damn time you were here!" Wolverine says with an unpleasant growl. Storm gives him a disapproving glance.

"Logan, he does not owe anyone free use of his powers. It is up to each of us to decide how to use our gifts."

Wolverine just scoffs but doesn't argue any further. However, McCoy seems less than pleased as well "I was under the impression that you had not intended to perform any further resurrections after Genosha? Did you simply change your mind about that as well? Do you intend to wander the world and bring back every victim of anti-mutant violence after all?"

"Right, because I can tell you right now, the boneyard out back doesn't even scratch the surface" Wolverine adds and Summers rubs his eyes in annoyance.

"Logan, Hank, this really isn't the time-"

I cut him off "Okay, what is the fucking deal with you two exactly? Every time I've been here, you two have treated me like garbage, I literally brought your students BACK TO LIFE and you're still trying to pull this crap with me?! What does it take with you two?!"

"Fine, you wanna know what my "deal" is, fat boy?" Wolverine says with a snarl "I don't trust you. I don't trust anyone who just shows up out of nowhere with this kind of power and just offers to make all our problems go away! I've been around for a long time, and I can tell ya right now, there is ALWAYS a catch. I don't know what kinda scam yer running, but I do know that yer gonna slip up eventually, and it'll be the rest of us that will be paying for it, like always!"

"Somewhat simplistically put, but true enough" McCoy adds "Am I the only one here who remembers Xorn? He also seemed too good to be true, and as it turns out, that's exactly what he was! Too good to be true. And while I appreciate what you have done out of seeming benevolence, even if it might not look like I do, I agree with Logan when I say that I dread whatever bill we might be seeing from it. If you'll excuse me, I better get back to checking on the revived students, to make sure they aren't suffering any side effects." With that, he gets out of his seat and lumbers out the door.

"And me... well, I just don't want to be around ya anymore. I'll see the rest of ya later." Wolverine follows him, the door closing as he stalks out. Xavier clears his throat awkwardly.

"I would apologize for my former students behavior, but I'm afraid in Logan's case I wouldn't have time in the day for anything else" Xavier says with a weary sigh. "I'd like to say these would be isolated instances, but I think you've already had a taste of how the world will treat those it fears, and being a victim of said fear is no guarantee someone won't become an accuser themselves."

"I don't agree with them, but I do understand their concern" Storm adds "We X-Men have encountered mutants with your kind of powers before and I fear that they haven't been the most stable or pleasant individuals. Some, like poor tormented Proteus, were simply driven mad by their own powers, while others were... well, rather uncouth to start with."

It's actually a good point, the comics were never very clear on wether or not simply being a reality warper is what drove them all bonkers, or if the power set just tended to go to the worst choices. I checked up on the Jim Jaspers of this dimension, and while he's a real jerk, not much more so than your average conservative politician. Maybe his powers brought out what was already there, maybe not.

Still, I should probably keep my eye out in case I start quoting Alice In Wonderland or develop megalomaniac tendencies.

I shrug "I can't force anyone to change their minds about me and I'm certainly not going to hide just so no one will feel threatened by my powers. We all have the best interest of mutantkind in mind, and I intend to work towards it in my own way. My way just happens to include less spandex."

Summers chuckles "In our defence, the costumes seemed like a much cooler idea when we were all 15."

...

"Hey man, I hear I got you to thank for interupting my unscheduled dirt nap"

I open my eyes and see Brian, AKA Tag, standing over me, blocking the sunlight against the patio chair where I sat down for a quick rest in front of the mansion pool. A little further away, I see the rest of Santo's little group, along with Ellie who looks oddly smug about something. "Don't worry about it, just try not to get blown up again, I might not always be on hand to fix it."

"Yeah, I'll... I'll try to keep that in mind. Oh, and thanks for getting my powers back too, I think that was actually worse than dying."

"Brian!" Dust says, sounding horrified.

"What? It's not like I felt anything, the last thing I can remember was a giant friggin boom, then the next thing I know, I'm standing in the backyard and Santo is trying to give me a heimlich the wrong way!"

"Heh, sorry 'bout that man, I got a bit over excited."

"So you don't..." Mercury looks at Ellie awkwardly, before turning back to Brian "I mean, both of you died, you don't... you know, remember what it was like? At all?"

Both Brian and Ellie look at eachother hesistantly. Ellie is the first to speak. "...no. I don't think so anyway. Before... before the attack, I'd been having these dreams, the same dream about my own death, over and over again. I was sitting in Miss Frost's class, and then there was a loud noise... and I remember pain... and then I wake up on the beach, and this guy I've never seen before is standing over me. Nothing in between, it's like no time passes at all."

Brian nods "Pretty much the same for me. BOOM, nothing, that guy."

The group grows silent as they process this. Finally, Santo speaks "Well, guess I don't have to worry about going to church on Sundays anymore. My attendance has been spotty for a while anyway, they weren't crazy about the whole "rock monster" thing"

I get up from the chair and stretch, feeling my spine give a satisfying pop "Well, you can skip it if you want, I don't think it matters, but if it's the afterlife thing you're worried about, I know for a fact it exists."

"...wait, WHAT?!"

"Just remember, if a guy who smells like sulfur and calls himself Mephisto try to offer you a deal, don't take it. That's a bad deal."