Chapter Text
David sat up in his bed, looking at his mate of a year now. “Come on, love. We have to get up early.” He said, trying to wake him up. Sykes rolled over and placed the pillow over his head, getting a chuckle from David right before he lifted it. Sykes gave David a glare at forcing him to wake up.
“My god, love. I think Eddie was easier to get up than you.” David teased. “Do we have to get up this early? It’s 5 in the morning.” He said, tracing a finger down David’s chest. “I don’t think we have to leave until 8. I can think of a much better way to spend my early morning.”
“We have the entire day to ourselves after.” David said, kissing him. Sykes groaned into the kiss as David made him get up. “Sykes, just get the hell up so I can sleep.” Randy said from the other bed in the room, next to Eddie. He had indeed joined David, Sykes, and Eddie’s relationship. Once the dust had settled with the other, David and Randy actually did start to get along.
Not only that but Randy was often in their room, in either of the beds there. It was why they chose to have two beds. It wasn’t any cause for trouble since Sykes wouldn’t be as alone as he was before. The only downside being that Sykes absolutely hated waking up early. Sykes blew a breath of cold air at him, making Randy glare at him.
“Calm now, children. I already raised a brat. I don’t need two more to add to 8.” David said, teasing them. “Oh my god. Never say those words again.” Eddie groaned. David gave a chuckle before he went into the bathroom, knowing Sykes would follow.
“Robbin, stop being a gigantic koala so I can go.” Essey said as Robbin seemed steadfast in keeping her in the bed. “You do realize you just compared me to an animal that’s seen as stupid, right?” He asked. “That’s because people are hypocritical assholes. Also, that’s my favorite animal.” She retorted.
Robbin still refused to let go. “I kinda miss when this wasn’t a regular thing.” He said in her ear. “You knew this would happen when I joined.” She pointed out before kissing him. “You and Warren have me for almost the rest of the day.” Robbin nodded and let her slip from the bed and into their bathroom.
“Spider-Monkey.” Warren said. “Shut up. I’m surprised that you’re even here considering your friend seems bound and determined to find a way to pull you away from Essey.” He said, bitterly, hinting towards Warren’s new friendship with Tanya. “She’s a friend. It’s not my fault that Essey has jealous feelings.” Warren said, dismissively.
“Homura is just a friend to you. Tanya wants you and that much is obvious.” Robbin said, his eyes narrowed in him. “I’m not going to jump her just because she has a slight crush on me.” He said. “I’ve told Essey more than once that I’m not going to leave her because I have to share her attention.”
Robbin sighed but nodded, knowing that he was right. Tanya was a fire using mutant who had been sent to Paradise City by The Ones as Stephen had called them. David had given Warren the task of training her since she lacked control and had a quick temper. It was similar to Yngwie, except she had the excuse of just now awakening her powers.
Robbin hadn’t really bothered to try and be around her. Not because of Essey’s jealousy towards her, but because he didn’t think they had a reason to. She was just a new mutant. He could admit that she was a beautiful one but his eyes stayed locked in on the beautiful girl he already had.
Warren took his silence as a victory and tried to go back to sleep. He briefly wondered if Robbin figured out that Tanya had a crush on him too. Hell, he’d seen her eying Essey more than once. Tanya was just a very beautiful woman who let her eyes stray to whoever it was that caught her eye.
She hadn’t ever caused any trouble aside from making Essey’s jealousy flare up and she’d never tried anything, so he didn’t have a reason to keep his distance. She was his student in a sense and a friend that he just felt attracted to but never panned to act on it.
Nothing could ever make him go against the girl he’s been in love since he meant her and subsequently kidnapped as Stephen refused to let him forget.
Yngwie and Joey let the water fall over them, uncaring that it’ll probably make their hair more wild than it already was. Joey tilted his head back with a silent moan as he kissed and nipped at his neck. “Love, I’ve gotta get out of this thing or I’m gonna keep you here all day.” Joey said.
“I’m sure David can’t leave without us and I don’t feel like accommodating for humans.” Yngwie said. “You promised Joe-Lynn that you’ll be good.” He reminded him. Laughing when Yngwie groaned at the mention of their mate. “I hate when you use him to get your way with me.” He muttered.
“No you don’t.” Joey said, reaching over to turn the water off. “I miss him.” Yngwie gave him a kiss. “I miss him too. Tell me again why I let him join them in the outside world?” He asked. “You can’t say no to him.” Joey said before he stepped out of their shower.
Yngwie smirked when Joey quickly went to fix his hair in the mirror, making sure it didn’t get too wild on him. He’d never seen a man worry so much about his appearance. Joey didn’t have to considering people still found themselves commenting on how pretty they found him.
A lot of things had happened in between the fight against Rudabaugh and now. Joe-Lynn chose to join ‘The Ones’ as Stephen called them, something Yngwie had rolled his eyes at, the group of mutants and humans that took up the burden of directing mutants to the city.
The fight with Rudabaugh and seeing Joey have to be healed after a bad injury was the reason he had chosen to do it. He had said that he never wanted to see Joey like that again and that he wanted to do more for his kind. The downside was that it put him at a distance from his mates.
He called them all the time but that wasn’t comparable to actually seeing them. Yngwie let his mind go to when he had seen August’s spirit. It had been the first and only time that he had seen him and it had made him go to Zyanne for information. If anyone knew what it meant, it’ll be her.
She had said that some spirits only appear only once because that’s when they’re at peace. Some of them wait around for people they loved to see them before they went to the afterlife. August had waited around after his death with the hope that Joey would see him.
Joey visiting his grave gave him the peace that he needed to move on. Yngwie didn’t have the heart to tell Joey what he’d saw. He knew that it would make him upset that his father had chosen to show himself to Yngwie instead of Joey.
When he’d asked Zyanne why August chose him, she had said that only they knew why they chose a certain person to appear to or appear to them at all but it didn’t mean he’ll never be seen again. Yngwie hoped that he would choose to show himself to Joey.
“Someone tell me why I chose to join again? I hate politicians.” Essey said. “You want me to answer that?” Yngwie asked, smirking at her when she gave him the middle finger in response. “Welcome to the club. I had to get up at 5 in the goddamn morning.” Sykes said with an annoyed look on his face.
“The consequences of us being brought out into the open due to the fight.” David said as he activated the portal.
The Council:
“Oh god.” Steve said as the numerous people in the building stared at them as they walked past. He could see that he especially got a lot of attention because some of them more than likely saw the leaked video of him, Joe, and Bruce.
Joe had promptly deleted any video they’ve ever made, refusing to ever use the camera for that again. The video and the people who lusted after Steve and Joe had made Bruce fly into a jealous and possessive rage. It had embarrassed Steve behind relief to the point that he hadn’t wanted to be touched like that for a long time.
It had taken him a long while to even let them touch him like that, too afraid that someone was somehow watching them even though he knew deep down that nobody was there considering there wasn’t a window in Joe’s room. Bruce and Joe had understood and let him decide on his own time when he felt like he could do it again.
“You’ll be alright, Steve.” Stephen said as he put his arm around his shoulder. “You’ll just walk in with your head held high, ignoring the millions of stares that you’re getting after the video, maybe threaten someone if they get any ideas about Joe and Bruce, and walk out of here like a badass.”
“That’s the most unhelpful bit of advice I’ve ever seen.” Yngwie said, rolling his eyes. He developed a fall ball in his hand when he saw somebody staring at Joey. “Don’t do that!” Stephen hissed at him. “We’re trying to build a good relationship with humans!”
“Then tell them to keep their eyes away from my husband.” He hissed back. “Sorry but I’m not the one on the same team as my mates.” Stephen retorted. They stopped in front of two large doors. “We’re head to meet the president so I want all of you to behave and show them that we aren’t the savages that the media has painted us as.” David said.
Stephen snickered when he saw David’s eyes go to Yngwie specifically. “Fuck you, Pearcy.” Yngwie retorted, an annoyed glare on his face that became soft upon realizing Joey was also snickering. Even when he was annoyed, he couldn’t find it within himself to even glare at him.
David walked through the door and ushered them inside. “President Ross.” He greeted as everyone took a seat at the table. President Ross looked around the room. They were a small group and a part of him wondered how they ran this city of theirs and how they had kept it a secret for 13 years.
Stephen stared at the wheelchair bound man who was waiting for them with Ross. He was a bald man and was wearing a suit. For a reason that he couldn’t understand, he had caught his attention. The man looked him in his eyes.
“Hello, Stephen Pearcy.” He said in his mind. Stephen’s mouth fell open. “A telepath.” He muttered. Essey, who heard him, looked at him confused. “He’s a telepath. The bald one in the wheelchair.” Stephen repeated to her quietly.
“You’re David Coverdale, I assume.” Ross noted. David nodded. “I am. The man next to me is my new second-in-command, Stephen Pearcy. The woman is my daughter, Essey. The blond man next to her is my mate, John Sykes. The other blond man is Steve Clark. The 2 men next to him are Joey Tempest and Yngwie Malmsteen. The last man is Alez Van Halen.” David introduced.
“If you don’t mind if I comment, there was more than just these people in the videos of your group.” The man said. “This is my new Council. We run Paradise City and we make sure that it’s a safe haven for mutants and. Humans.” David said. “The mutants from the video were Eddie Van Halen, Don Dokken, and Zyanne. All of them decided to give their spots to their protégés and son.”
The man nodded with a smile. “I was the one who wanted this meeting. I’ve recently come to power after the death of Rudabaugh and I feel that I must ask you: Will you be a threat.” Ross asked. Yngwie snorted. “A human asks if we’re a threat. Irony.” He muttered, looking at Joey when he elbowed him.
David gave him a warning look. “I apologize for him. He’s still young. As for your question, contrary to the video, we’re not a danger to you. We only attack those who have proven to be a threat to us. Rudabaugh has not only caused harm to mutantkind but has hurt my soulmate and Alex. He kept their mother as his hostage. He allowed another mutant of mine’s parents to experiment on a child. He attacked us first when that fight occurred. It was for the betterment to the world that he be taken out of it.” David said.
“He killed my father.” Joey said, making sure to keep his voice steady. “He had a mutant to do his dirty work by threatening people he cared about and he had him to murder my father, who was a human. That’s why I went to fight him and why I crashed him through Mr. Clark’s home.”
“Don’t forget the fight in Vegas. We were on our to Paradise City because he had ordered his men to capture my brother. We saved him and he waited until we were close enough to attack us.” Stephen said. “He had someone filmed us during intimate moments and tried to attack my father. He hurt one of my mates and attacked the other one.” Steve said.
Essey looked to David and he nodded, giving her permission for what she was about to say. “He held my father against a wall and suggested that he would take him against his will.” She said. “The only regret that I’ve ever had was that I never got to make him pay for that myself. Besides that, he tried to capture and possibly kill my mother.”
Ross and the man stayed silent. “I am sorry that he put all of you through those things.” The man said. “President Ross, I don’t think they will be a threat. From all accounts, this city of theirs sounds like a peaceful place for their kind. However, I would like to go there myself with my students to make sure. We can stay there for an entire year and make sure that this city is as safe as it sounds.” The man said.
“Excuse me?” Alex asked. “I’m the one who keeps the dome up. I think I’ll know if my city was safe.” David looked at him. “I don’t think he means it as an insult, Alex.” He said. He looked at the man. “If I am to accept your offer, I would like to meet these students of yours.”
The man gave him a smile. “That won’t be a problem. Please, follow me after we’re done here.” He said. Ross nodded his head. “I accept your request.” He said to the man. “I expect to hear of your thoughts a year from now. This meeting has reached the end.”
Ross exited the room, leaving them alone. “I have to just say it. You’re a mutant.” Stephen said. Yngwie, David, Sykes, Joey, and Alex all looked surprised. “I am.” The man said. “My name is Charles Xavier.”