An X-Man Arrives

Her mother looked at her dubiously. "Stacy, I'm just an English teacher. I don't understand any of that nonsense, and I don't want to. Especially not after what happened to your father." She looked downward and sighed. "I told him that being involved in things like that wasn't healthy and wouldn't do any good, but he just wouldn't listen. He was too damn stubborn for his own good. That's why I loved him. I just wish there was something I could have done." She started sobbing softly.

She held her mother's hand comfortingly for about a minute. Her memories told her that her father had merely died in an industrial accident [16626], but she decided now wasn't the time to press the point. "Mom," she eventually said, "you ever hear of anything like this happening to anyone before?"

"I don't think so, honey. Well, come to think about it, several years ago this one creepy woman did try to barge into my house and tell me that she was from another world and warn me about some terrible threat to the whole universe or some nonsense like that. I last saw her when I went to visit you once and she was just outside Dr. Strange's place."

"Who's that?"

"You've never heard of him? He was this famous surgeon who was greedy and full of himself until he had this terrible car accident, then went off to Tibet to find himself or soemthing and turned into a New Age kook. I think they were meant for each other."

Before Stacy could answer, a knock on the door interrputed her. Stacy felt her hackles rise--literally. "Mom, who do you think that is?"

"Beats me," said Stacy's mother. "It could just be Lenore, but it could be some government agent or something. I have to be honest, I'm scared now. Things have gotten so much worse for mutants ever since what happened with the Statue of Liberty..."

Stacy nodded--she'd ask about it later, right now, she'd just concentrate on dealing with whatever was happening. She walked over to the door and cautiously opened it. She felt her claws unsheathe. On the other side of the door was a tall, lanky, brown-haired man who seemed bland yet threatening. Maybe it was because of those weird red goggles he wore over his eyes. "You're Stacy Jones?" he asked brusquely.

"Yes," she answered cautiously. "Who are you?"

Her mother's jaw dropped. The coffee mug she had been drinking from fell to the floor and shattered. "That's... that's one of them. The Mystery Mutants."

The mutant smiled wryly. "That's a little tacky," he said. "You can call me an X-Man if you have to, though." His smile immediately hardened into his usual blandly neutral expression. "I need to talk with both of you. Don't worry, there are people who are trying to kill both of you, but I'm not one of them. My name is Scott Summers."

1. Stacy talks to Scott Summers.
2. Stacy doesn't trust him and tries to escape.

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