X2 sucked me into the world of comic books and a whole new level of fandom. While the canon itself is interesting enough, I find that mutants make for the most wonderful AUs. This section is divided into two parts: the fiction proper, and the narratives written for the two RPGs I was in from July 2003 to December 2004, Xenogenetic and X-Axis.

Halcyon - Storm and Nightcrawler find that perhaps the grounds of the Xavier Institute are not the best place to find peace in the wake of Jean Grey.

Roommates - An X2/Cabaret crossover. Magneto studies the visage of Kurt Wagner and marvels at certain likenesses.

Anabrasmos - A 1602 story, in which the characters of the Marvel Universe appear in the seventeenth century. While I cannot recommend reading this miniseries enough, especially as it was written by Neil Gaiman, all you need to know is this: the Old Man is bringing a great weapon to Trieste, where an agent of Queen Elizabeth's is to retrieve it. Somewhere in Thrace, the ground shakes.

Driving Directions from Sumatra (Montana) - You always have the freedom to leave. Post-X2 piece with Pyro and Quicksilver. Loosest of prequels to "The Agnihotri."

The Agnihotri - "You are a god among insects." But the lot of the fire gods is rarely happy and never simple.

Wax Wings - The new year is 1893, and Oscar Wilde, darling of London and the world at large, is made most curious by a mysterious invitation to a certain house in Shropshire. The master of the estate seeks Oscar's particular opinion on a matter of some gravity, one of many weights on his young shoulders.

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Xenogenetic ran from June 2003 to January 2004. I played Nightcrawler, Siryn, Avalanche, Gambit and Mystique.

Lance's Grand Adventure: A young terrakinetic's first trip to the Danger Room - Lance has been having a bad couple of days: he's just coming off of being used in Quentin Quire's student attack on the school, his girlfriend has cruelly dumped him, and now there's this pair of smug new residents that seem intent on driving him up the wall. Luckily, St. John Allerdyce is now a teacher, and has access to all sorts of codes...

The Breaking - Sung is not a man who will take no for an answer. He likes it when Lance fights back; he doesn't expect to be repelled.

Go Your Own Way - John tracks Lance back to Chicago after he flees the school over Christmas and coaxes him back with his words.

Here At The End of All Things - When the mansion is attacked and set alight, Kurt Wagner is on rescue duty. When Pyro rushes back into the fire, no one is certain whether he will make it out.

Not dead... - Charles and John explain to Lance why killing Pyro had to be done.

...but gone all the same - In which John is driven to the airport and let go.

The Afterglow - Nightcrawler delivers a eulogy at the funeral of Scott Summers.

Migration - Angel heads off to the Big Easy to track down his erstwhile Cajun buddy Gambit, who went missing after stealing away to try and make up with Rogue. Co-written with the amazing and wonderful Beth, a most excellent partner in crime.

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X-Axis is an AU game based on Minisinoo's PowerSwap Challenge. I co-modded from March to December 2004, playing Ariel (Jean Grey as Nightcrawler), Barnell Bohusk (as Gambit), Prometheus (Lance Alvers as Pyro) and Tempest (Erik Lehnsherr as Storm). The game is still running and accepting applications.

Talos & Prometheus - St. John Allerdyce, meet Lance Alvers.

Old Friends, Old Words - At a rally for mutant rights in Washington, D.C., Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr try one last time to make the other understand his vision.

Old Wounds - Lance's scars have many tales to tell, but it is more than a year since any of them came from fire.

Triptych: Golden Gate Park
[part one] - After chasing his friend back to California with knowledge of a prophecy predicting John's destruction, Lance finally feels he's come to the point where he can relax around John and John's best friend Dom. John has cleared his father of the charges brought against him when his own mutation manifested, and he's now become a poster child for the mutant rights movement. But no good deed goes unpunished, and when John learns of the prophecy's existence, things suddenly turn very ugly.
[part two] - Dom and Lance find their way to John's hiding place and attempt to soothe him and bring him back to the world. Unfortunately, someone else has found St. John Allerdyce, and the prophecy roars towards completion.
[part three] - Lance refuses to let his friend become a monster, and in doing so takes on the role for himself.

Triptych: Katapasis
[part one] - After an attempt of Bobby's to mend the rift between Lance and John by impersonating the latter to apologize to the former, Lance's temper snaps.
[part two] - Only Kim Il Sung seems able to give Lance a good plan of action. After all, he has been courting him for his own purposes for a long time.
[part three] - John finds Lance after combing the mansion; a cryptic conversation follows, and afterwards, a departure.

Things Learned In The Underworld - Raven Darkholme teaches Lance a lesson, and gives him an opportunity that shines like the golden apple of Eris.

Triptych: Hesperides
Inferno - Capitol Hill has been attacked, and Lance brought St. John Allerdyce down. The enormity of his actions hit him too late, and his flight out of Washington cannot part him from his thoughts.
The Homecoming - All Athena Tatakis wants is to get on with the day's work. Who is this ashen-faced youth who stumbles back into Greektown, insisting that he is a long-lost relation?
Works & Days - Too long has Lance kept his family in the dark. Uncle Pete receives his tale with a surprising reaction.

The Ambassadors - In which concerned friends convince Lance to return.

New York Below - With Tempest weak and useless after shorting out during the Liberty Island assault, Raven abandons her partner to the streets of Manhatten. Erik is then found.

Planting Ideas - The Morlocks have been good to Erik. He knows it's within his power to somehow return the favor. Note: this plot never got off the ground, but Erik's plan is to bring the Morlocks out of New York and up to Alkali Lake, where, by a patient process of terraforming, he intends on building a Genosha for his kind.

The Awakening - Moira MacTaggert couldn't say what finally brought John out of his coma, but all are agreed that the first face he saw was that of his brother.

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