Chapter Five: One for the scrapbooks

The Doctor, Amy and Scott stepped inside the roomy office. Behind the oak desk was an old, bald man sat in a wheelchair. Amy didn't say anything, but she was rather disappointed. Having seen the flying topless man and the rather hench Scott Summers, she had subconsciously made the assumption that everyone at Xavier's was both young and good-looking.

"I can assure you that you would've thought me kind of groovy back in my day, Amy Pond," the Professor said with a slight chuckle.

Amy was taken aback and raised an eyebrow, "how did you do that?"

"I read your mind," Professor X calmly replied, still smiling, "It's what I do, you see. I read minds."

"A telepath. Brilliant! With the psychic paper and everything, oh I should've known. It's lovely to meet you. Professor X, right? I'd tell you my name, but my bet is that you already know it."

The Doctor went to shake the telepath's hand before turning to his companion with a wide grin on his face, as if in gleeful anticipation of the adventure that he knew lay ahead. This was going to be one for the scrapbooks, he just knew it.

"Please, call me Charles. And I'd just like to let you know, Doctor, how pleased I am you could make it to my school."

"Ah yes. This school. Quite the curiosity. I'm going to hazard a guess and say that everyone in this school has some sort of special ability or, I guess you could say superpower? Xavier's gifted youngsters, am I correct?"

Charles moved to the window and looked outside where the children were still exercising, "Yes yes, my pupils are indeed gifted. This school is a place where young mutants can live and learn with those like themselves, where they can test the limits of their mutation and, more importantly, how to use it responsibly, all without fear of persecution from the outside world."

"Mutants, you say? So we're talking about the next link of the chain of human evolution?"

The Professor turned to the Doctor and slowly nodded, "Indeed we are. I am a geneticist who has been researching the emerging race of homo superior and, for the most part, am the leading authority in mutant matters. It is not without its difficulties, of course. In the beginning I was mocked for my research, with many people doubting our existence. And although the world slowly begins to accept the reality of mutants, there is still some prejudice and hate directed towards us."

"Ha! And it doesn't help that Magneto and his cronies insist on antagonising the general public. They think we're all like him. Hell-bent on turning regular folk into the underclass or something!"

Amy jumped, having forgotten the fourth member in the room. A pointed silence descended slowly, leaving the young man's harsh words hanging.

"Now Scott, you know that's not true. The general public are smart enough to realise that Magneto is not representative of the whole mutant population." He spoke calmly, suggesting that this was not the first time he had had this conversation.

"But don't you see? Their fear of him turns into the hatred of us. They don't differentiate in their minds the difference between a 'good mutant' and a 'bad mutant'. When they look at us, all they see is the enemy. How are we supposed to train these kids to live alongside humans, when the humans don't even wanna know anything about us?" Scott seemed more deflated than angry now, and Amy sensed an opportunity to diffuse the atmosphere and change the topic.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's your special ability?" She had to admit, she was slightly curious. Even having witnessed the most amazing things on her travels with the Doctor, the concept of real superheroes was still exciting.

"Well… I, er, I can shoot optic blasts from my eyes." He was blushing, almost as if embarrassed by his mutation. Amy dared to continue probing, "So is that what your funky red glasses are for then? To stop your laser beams from chopping me in half?"

"Amy, don't be so rude!" reprimanded the Doctor, "though I am curious, it's ruby-quartz, right? The beams are somehow being contained through the lenses."

"Err… Yeah. I can't control it, you see. The glasses make life that little bit easier. Not having to worry about slicing and dicing anything accidently." He laughed at his joke.

"Interesting. I knew some Ood with red-eye once."

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understand."

"That's alright Scott, I'm just talking out loud. Now Charles, I hope you don't feel as though I'm being rud-"

"You're one of us, that's why. I had to call you here to tell you that you're a mutant."

The Doctor made an expression of confusion, followed by a smug face, once again followed by one of confusion, as the gravity of the Professor's abrupt statement sunk in.

"Now, now, call me flattered, because I am, really, but I'm not a mutant. I mean. I'm just not. And even if I was, how would you know?"

It was now the Professor's turn to look smug, as he pointed to a large satellite dish on the edge of the school grounds. "That, Doctor, is Cerebro. I can use it to amplify my telepathy and thus find those possessing the defining X-gene in their body. Yours, evidently, popped up near Times Square. I've never had reason to doubt otherwise, so I contacted you."

Considering this for a moment, the Doctor whipped out his sonic screwdriver and aimed it at Cerebro. The whirring filled the room, as he took readings. Checking the results, his eyes widened. "Wow. That is a beautiful bit of gear you've got there. So elegant, yet so powerful. I simply must meet its creator."

"All in due time, Doctor," the telepath replied, "but perhaps we should first determine how your mutation has revealed itself in you? Naturally, it could be something completely harmless, but in the world of homo superiors, quite simply anything is possible.

The Doctor smiled, "Oh yes, I almost forgot. I'm a mutant now. Mutants are cool."

Sorry this update took so long. Kinda just forgot about this story. I'm glad I came back to it though, because I've got some funky ideas about where this story's gonna go. (Though if you've got any ideas about the eventual resolution of this story, I'd be happy to implement them. I'm not really a very imaginative soul.) This chapter's kinda boring too. So sorry about that as well. Action to come later! Probably...