Ever since I was a kid, I loved comic books. When I was in high school, I took a creative writing class and our term paper was to write a novelette. I wrote a series of comic book stories with each chapter being what would be an issue of the comic book. I was dressing up by that time, but had never heard of transgendered fiction. I wonder if the story would have come out somewhat as what follows. I have adapted the story, but because of the intervening years, current comic book fans may see some discrepancies. My knowledge of the more current X-men comes from watching the X-men and X-men Evolution cartoons, so there may be some discrepancies there. Please don't email me with these- just go with the stories. I also loved the Firestorm character and that is the source of some of the ideas of blending the characters. I figure give credit where it is due. As always, emails and comments are welcome, as long as they are not abusive.

 

Wildfire

by Tanyalynn

 

I was working in my lab when the professor brought her in. As always, I looked forward to working with a new mutant. I was a mutant myself, but one with a rather benign power. My ability was to help other mutants discover their power and use it. I had already become a scientist in the study of bio-chemistry when my power surfaced. I was working in a lab at a university when a girl was brought in who had exhibited some mysterious power. Xavier had caught wind of this and had asked me to come to work with his kids when he brought the girl into his school. When I learned that I would be working with the X-Men and teaching at his school, I leaped at the chance to work with them and be on the cutting edge of technology. I had been there about six months when Tanya came in. she had been exhibiting some unusual abilities when Cerebro, Xavier's mutant detector picked her up. She would display sudden, unexpected surges of super strength and agility. My job was to find the common thread and then explore the power and help her to possibly use it.

I welcomed her into my office, a nervous but very pretty 13 year old. As with all of the kids, we hit it off quickly. I had been a boy-genius, and was only 23 myself. We talked for a while, and I quickly eliminated all of the normal things. Having met with and talked to Bruce Banner, I managed to quickly eliminate the problem that turned him into the Hulk, high stress and anger or anxiety. It had happened once while she was sitting on the bench in gym waiting to bat in a softball game. She felt a sudden surge of energy and came to bat and hit the ball far beyond any child her age could hit it. the game was called almost immediately due to lightening being seen in the area, and the incident didn't get the attention it might have otherwise. There were numerous other incidents, and I quickly saw the pattern. It always happened around electrical surges. I would have to hook her up to some equipment and run some tests, but was relatively sure I had the answer. This instinct was part of my power. Her power was to turn the electricity into strength and agility. She looked relieved to know something of the source, but was now anxious to know more. I called Kitty Pride, who had hit it off with her right away, and they went off to study.

I went to my office to write up the report and then went to see Xavier. I knocked on his door and he told me to enter. I came into the room and sat down. He asked for a full report, and I gave it to him. He then asked "where do we go from here?" I suggested a controlled experiment where we fed her doses of electricity and measured her powers at the same time.

I went back to my apartment in the mansion for the evening and sat down with some work. I had a little trouble relaxing, and was a workaholic. Then there was a knock on my door. It was Logan. We had developed a strange sort of friendship during my time here. He said he saw strength in me I didn't even imagine I had yet. He asked "Hey kid, wanna go out for a beer"? I thought what the hell, why not. I put away my work and went with him out to his jeep. He told me over a beer "There is something really familiar about you kid, but I don't know what it is yet. It's something I trust instinctively, and I have the feeling you know what it is. But, I guess you'll tell me in your own time." He was right, I did know, but I couldn't tell him yet. It was in the files I had inherited from my father, who had worked with him during World War II. But, until I knew more about my father's mysterious disappearance and my Mother's death, I wasn't ready to talk to him. We shot some pool, had a few beers, and returned to the mansion. I had some trouble sleeping that night, wishing I could be honest with him, and I wonder now if that is at least partly responsible for what happened the newt day.

I woke up in the morning and went to breakfast with some of the other teachers. They noticed I was quiet, and left me alone. I met Hank McCoy at my office and we went to my lab together, where we met Tanya and Kitty. Hank would monitor the machines while I went into the chamber with Tanya and I would attempt to help her keep her powers focused while she was fed increasing amounts of electricity. She asked me "are you sure it will be alright? " I told her that I was sure it would be fine. We went into the chamber and I told her to take it easy and relax as I took her hand. As the electricity flowed into her, I helped her focus it into strength and agility and then watched as she demonstrated tremendous feats. She was excited and wanted to try more. After consulting with Hank, I agreed. There was an increase in energy, and I could feel it beginning to crackle. I thought I should tell Hank to shut it down, but maybe I was too tired. Then, there was a tremendous power surge. I could see that outside the chamber, it knocked Hank out with all of his blue fur standing on end. The power surged through the room and I felt like I was being torn apart. I could hear Tanya and myself both screaming and then I blacked out.

When I woke up, I was in the medlab with Hank and Jean standing over me and Xavier sitting next to me. I felt really weird, like my entire body was off. I tried to raise up and look, and could see that my hospital gown had two mounds where there shouldn't be. I also had light brown hair instead of my former blond. My boy genius mind began to quickly guess some things. Tanya had had black hair. Hank could see the thought process. He told me "we figure that you are about 18 right now. You are a combination of both Tanya and David. Somehow your bodies have merged." That was great, but I couldn't seem to sense Tanya in my mind anywhere. And, what the hell was I going to do in the body of an 18-year-old girl?

  

  

  

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