[indent][indent]Scott Summers wished he could do it himself. He wished that he, Jean, Kitty, Jubilee, and, yes, even Logan, could put their spandex on and go and do it themselves. They couldn’t though; they were associated with a lot of memories, and the general public chose only to remember the bad. All they ever did was fight to be recognized as [i]human[/i].

He had hoped that after the X-Men stopped, that it would all sort of fizzle out. Most mutants he knew of were at the institute anyway, and there weren’t any anti-mutant or even pro-mutant extremist groups at the time; there was no one left to fight, so what was the point? The X-Men program died with Charles Xavier, and it was only the extreme circumstances rising around them that brought it back.

Scott was not Charles Xavier. He wasn’t sure he was the guy that could go in front of the kids and the one to ask them to do all the things he needed them to do. He wasn’t comfortable stepping forth and telling them he wanted them to fight a war they probably weren’t interested in. Who could be comfortable when making a request like that?

With the help of Jean, he’d picked the next group of X-Men, the people who would be his legacy not unlike he was part of the Professor’s legacy. Hopefully, they’d be able to live up to the expectations. He had high hopes, most of the selected few were valuable in their own ways, and all could contribute to a team.

Through his ruby quartz sunglasses, he looked out over the group of gathered teenagers, and decided to just go for it. [color=0048ff][b]“You’re wondering why we’ve gathered you here. Well, I’m sorry to say that isn’t good news. I brought you all here, because I want to make a request of you,”[/b][/color] though Logan was nowhere to be found, Scott could still hear the groan in the air. Scott’s speeches tend to have a dramatic flair that Logan wasn’t exactly pleased with, and he didn’t suspect this would have been much different. [color=0048ff][b]“If you’ve been paying attention to the news lately, you’ll notice a shift in the balance of the already shaky world that we live in. Anti-mutant groups are on the rise again — particularly? The Purifiers. For those of you who don’t know, the Purifiers were an anti-mutant extremist group, led by William Stryker, up until about six years ago. After his death, they disbanded and dissipated. There were a few sects remaining, but nothing major. I am unfortunately standing in front of you with the information that they seem to have been started again, and are openly taking responsibility for the disappearance of eight mutant children.”[/b][/color]

He paused, and let it sink in for a moment before he pressed on, [color=0048ff][b]“this has also stirred up pro-mutant resistance. Though Magneto disappeared shortly after Charles’s death, and we have no reason to believe that he has returned or has anything to do with this, a group claiming to represent the Brotherhood of Mutants attacked and murdered someone who publicly supported the Purifiers in their, ahem, ‘crusade.’ That’s what we know. Again, I’ve yet to answer the question of ‘why are we here, Scott?’ I’m getting there. You might also be wondering why the Avengers aren’t getting involved. Because, like always, the Avengers have something better to do. I called Stark. Nothing they can do right now.”[/b][/color] He should have done this inside. Then he could have had a way to show them everything they knew; the propaganda videos posted by both the new Purifiers and the new Brotherhood on the internet, for a start.

[color=0048ff][b]“There is a group of humans and mutants alike who intend to peacefully protest against both groups at the Xavier Memorial in Central Park. Their leader is a mutant, not much older than the eldest of you, and both groups think he could lead people, like Charles once did himself. Needless to say, this has attracted their attention. The group, and we, have reason to believe that the Purifiers and the Brotherhood will get involved here, and their leader contacted myself looking to see if the X-Men could act as protection for the protest. I had to tell him that… I would see what I could do. Myself, Jean, Logan, even Kitty and Jubilee aren’t really X-Men anymore. The X-Men, as it stands: doesn’t exist.”[/b][/color] 

Finally, it was time to get to the point. [color=0048ff][b]“The protest is in three weeks time. I gathered you here to ask… to make a request that you could be the X-Men. That you could be the good guys, and fight for people who can’t, or won’t. Who wants to be a hero?”[/b][/color] There, that seemed clean enough. Good, old fashioned speeching. Now, he just had to wait for them to react in either jest, joy, or negativity. [color=0048ff][b]“You’d have three weeks full of training, and a helluva lot less schoolwork.”[/b][/color]

Hey, that worked on Kitty and Jubilee, way back when.[/indent][/indent]