Primus Scholae: Part Three

by Phil Hartman

CEREBRO FILES:

COLLECTIVE CODEFAX: NEW MUTANTS II

FILE 03:

CODEFAX: Nightstep
REAL NAME: Wagner, Alexa Katerina
AGE: 13
DOB: 9/2/87
HEIGHT: 5'4"
WEIGHT: 105 lbs
HAIR: Blue-black
EYES: Solid gold
SKIN: Caucasian; appears blue because of blue fur
POWERS: Alpha-class Darkforce generation/control, trans-Darkforce Dimension teleportation/transportal creation

9/3/2000: Mass. Acad. Chapel: 12:00 hrs EDT:

#I should've come earlier,# Alexa thought, stepping from the shadows to walk into the chapel's front hall.

She peered into the small, nondenominational sanctuary and found a pew, fingering her rosary before whispering, "Hail Mary, full of grace ..."

"As if she'd give YOU any."

Alexa looked up from her meditation in fear, seeing an angry girl in a Massachusetts Academy uniform looming over her. "I-I'm sorry ?" the blue-furred German teleporter asked, blinking.

"You should be. Some mutants are ... tolerable; they don't make a spectacle of themselves, or they have powers acceptable to the Lord," the girl - brown hair, bitter blue eyes, Caucasian - sneered. "You, though -you're pit-spawn !"

She whimpered when shadows started to lengthen throughout the room.

"How DARE you ?" Alexa breathed, standing with bared fangs. "I'm not here to cause trouble. I just wanted to worship quietly - I came here now to avoid causing a riot. I know I'm not 'normal' looking, but we're equal in God's sight. Besides, I could file a complaint about your bigoted little tirade ..."

"You think some law passed by that wussbag Kelly will protect your kind when the day of judgment comes ?" the brown-haired girl snarled. "God isn't the only judge, freak. Some of us have our own means of defense besides fiery swords and prayer !"

She stormed out, leaving Alexa alone with the shadows.

#I didn't mean ... I ...#

She cried once, sitting in the pew, the shadows fading.

#It's never been easy, but I thought, here, after O:ZT made the American Congress pass the Kelly Act....# Alexa thought, dabbing at her eyes. #I ...#

"'Lexa ?"

She looked up, smiling weakly, when Jesse Summers slipped into the pew next to her. "I was coming to drop off a book on the Bible and history ..." he said, taking her hand. "What's wrong ?"

"Oh, Jess ..." Alexa sniffed, breaking into tears. He hugged her awkwardly at first, then let her lean on his shoulder as she signed her situation to the boy.

Finally, Alexa sat up, letting Jesse see her face so he could read her lips, and said, "I've never felt like this. It's just ... silly. I put up with dumb stuff in school in Britain, when I was with Excalibur, but now it's like some people HATE me."

"We don't," Jesse tried to reassure her. "I know 'bout being different - I mean, even with other mutants." He sighed and said, "I'll never be an X-Man, just 'cause I'm deaf."

"So ?" Alexa said, smiling wider when Jesse looked at her in surprise. "Aunt Ororo was powerless for a long time, but she led the X-Men. Daredevil's blind, but he still fights crime. Silhouette's legs are crippled, but she kicks butt. Just because you've got a disability doesn't mean you're ..."

She blinked, then shook her head. "Alexa, girl, you might kick ass on a trapeze and make guys' mouths water, but you've got to get your head out of your butt," she snickered.

She looked at Jesse and continued, "Just remember what I said, kiddo. Now let's get out of here - God's everywhere, right ?"

***-

"You're kidding me !"

"She DIDN'T !"

Ray and Gail blinked, stunned, when Alexa strode out of their closet clad in a slinky, sleeveless red dress which was cut far too high up her legs.

"It's the Darkholme genes," the shadow-caster grinned, examining herself in the full-length mirror. "Let's see that skinny racist snot look THIS good. Elf-power, baybee !"

Gail bit her lip, while Ray finally broke into a giggle. "'Yana's been trying to give you ''tude lessons' again, right ?" the psi snickered.

"I've got plenty of 'tude, Raymundo," Alexa winked. "I just never tossed it around. As for 'Yana ..."

She sat on Ray's bed, nodding when her friends looked at her with concerned expressions. "It's not the Soulsword - that's still dead and gone," Alexa reassured them. "But she's been more and more nervous lately, even with Mom's counter-spell crash course. I think Illyana's scared of re-entering Limbo when her power kicks in."

"Why ? When she gave up her Darksoul during Inferno, she destroyed the Soulsword when she ran it through the Bloodstone Pendant - all of Belasco's taint was destroyed, and the demons were wiped from Limbo with it," Ray said.

"But what if we're wrong ? What if those 'Dark Ones' Belasco was working with never left ?" Alexa said. "Yeah, this Illyana's never known evil magic. But she might have some kind of subconscious rememberance of her time as the Darkchilde. And if she's scared enough...."

"She might deny her own power ?" Gail said, creating a small fire in her palm to light up the room. "I can understand that."

"Yeah, but you and Joe got over your mom's death in time," Ray said. "If 'Yana doesn't face her powers sometime, she'll be a real hazard to everyone around her. Imagine what'd happen if a stepping disc opened on a freeway or something."

[next part]

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