Chapter 1
Few months have passed from when Apocalypse had been defeated by the famous team of the young mutants known as X-men and, in all over the world, people restarted slowly to live quietly and in the peace of a daily normalcy.
Yes, it was everything returned to the normalcy, if it could be defined "normal" a day spent to the Charles Xavier's School for Young Gifted People : the students, reconstructed once the school thanks to the help of Erik Lensher, alias Magneto, and thanks to Jean Gray, could return to study, to play and to learn to control their powers in total harmony, even if some awkward accident could often happen as it regarded to the training to become X-men and this, the blue skinned teleporter Kurt Wagner, alias Nightcrawler, knew it too much well.
It was a mild autumn afternoon and the young mutant, twenty-year old by now, taken a break by the home works and decided to crouch on the handrail of his window, that gave on the immense garden of the ownership, to observe the landscape with a thoughtful and sad expression in his face. It was difficult for him to cohabit with the knoledge of his demoniac aspect, continually envoy to uneasiness from the youngest students that, as soon as they saw him wander in the corridors, they avoided him or they started to whisper between each other, continuing to stare at him; more over, he would have wanted to live without the feeling to be unsuitable during the fight simulations in the Danger Room: before the final battle against Apocalypse, after his last teleportation in which he had made a huge effort to succeed in saving all his companions in a transfer from the jet that was falling, his power of teleportation was giving him some problem; oddly, for who knows what kind of cause, he wasn't able to control it well anymore as he did before: when he felt a strong emotion, his teleportation sometimes activated by it's own and made him reappear in some part of the masion that he known, but without not even having thought about moving seriously there. Professor Xavier told him that it was a temporary thing, probably caused by stress of the enormous change that he was facing: the trip and the definitive transfer in America, the study of a new culture and the scholastic subjects that he had never studied in private with his adoptive mother in the circus... yes, the circus, his beloved circus to Munich, his home or at least.. his first home. At the only thought of the family that he had been forced to leave back in Germany, his adoptive parents, his brother Stephan and his sister Jimaine, a tear started to rule on his cheek, tracing the lines of the scars representing of some ancient angelic symbols that he inflicted to himself for showing to humans and to himself that it wasn't wicked creature, but above all that, to proove that he wasn't a demon but one of the so many children of God that have been destined to born in unique circumstances in their kind and, in his case, also unfavorable, from the physical point of view.
- Who knows if they have realized that I'm disappeared... vhy have they allowed those men to bring me avay?! - he kept on wondering for some time without resting.
To that thought, inside of him was burning a strong feeling of anger and disappointment, so much that he allowed to escape a growl and caused of the feeling to have been betrayed or straight sold to those ignoble people, without having realized it he gave a strong punch against the handrail and... BANF his power was activated, transporting him above the roof of the masion, and, finding himself in middle air, he began to fall toward the tiles, but thanks to his formidable athletic abilities, with a flip he was able to reducing the fall and he landed without hurting.
"SCHEISSE! " he snapped in German. He wasn't the type to say dirty words, but when they escaped him, he had for sure a good reason.
"Hei, Nighty! Does something upset you? " suddenly told a voice behind his shoulders.
" Nein, I'm fine Ororo, nothing to vorry about " the young mutant Ororo Munroe, alias Storm, was fluctuating above of him and she began gradually landing and sitting to his side.
" That's not true, you said a dirty word, and when you shoot one out that's mean that something is wrong! " she exclaimed, giving him a friendly punch on the shoulder; she always had these rough manners to communicate with her friends, sometimes this way bothered Kurt, but by the way the girl was nice.
" Well, why this long face, eh? " she asked him with a sweeter voice. Kurt was reluctant to answer her, however he knew that he would have been better if he had told to someone about it, even if Ororo was not the most proper person with which to open for him, Jean was the proper person most of the time, but it was fine even with her at the moment.
" There's nothing vrong, it's just... I miss my home, I miss Germany. I miss... my family at the circus and zometimes.. I also miss to speak my language " Ororo looked at him comprehensive.
" For how much I am liking to live here, in this country, I... I don't feel integrated yet. The youngest kids alvays stare at me and lately if I'm nervous, my power makes me dizappear without I vant it seriously! " he said with an exasperated tone, sinking the face among the his that wound the knees.
" I understand very well how you're feeling, Kurt " Ororo said, surrounding his shoulders with an arm " Just like you, I've also moved here for a while by now and I am still doing the callus on it. Sometimes, I miss my home too, in Serengeti " Kurt lifted the face toward her.
" Our native countries will always remain in our hearts, but there we would never been able to live as we are living now, we were surrounded by people that hated us for our differences. Kurt, what I want to say is that there we were not safe, you were always segregated in that circus and I was always in escape to save my life, pursued by ignorant people that were afraid from my power " Kurt noticed on his friend's face a sad and thoughtful expression, he continued to listen without interrupting her. Ororo took a deep breath and she continued.
" Our life now is here, among people like us that love us, that don't judge us, that appreciate us for what we are. I know that it's hard for you, but.. believe me, you would never have lived really as God commands if you had remained in Munich. In a certain sense, those bastards have done you a favor to kidnapped you! They've allowed you to meet Raven and to be saved, in all the senses of the word! "
Kurt made a perplexed face. At the end he thought seriously about that and in fact she didn't have all the blames.
" Ja, perhaps you're right " he answered, smiling at her.
" C'mon elf, we'll face this momentary phase together, ok? " Kurt nodded.
" Dankeschen " he thanked her in German and Ororo made him to do the fist pump to seal the deal. The young girl stood up and stretched her arms.
" Jeez, I feel all crooked! What do you say about uniting us to the guys there and beating some of those baseball butts, eh? "
" Mmm.. yes, vhy not?! In fact I need to discharge me in somevay! " he answered her energetic. Kurt teleported himself down, followed by his friend, and there were Pietro, Jean, Scott and Jubilee, waiting for them.
" Hi guys, a match?! " asked enthusiastic Pietro, but before the other ones could respond, a voice until too much relative played again in their heads.
" I am sorry, students, the game must be postpones. Cerebro has individualized a particular mutant activity, I need all of you in my office immediately "
The guys looked at each other, piqued by curiosity.
" Can I also come, professor?! " asked Jubilee.
" No, I'm sorry my dear, you're not a height titled X-man yet "
" Ooooh but that's not fair! "
" Enough now, Jubilee! Don't force me to put you in detention! "
" Yesir " she said sulky, making the other companions snickering.
" As for others of you, come quickly, your first mission waits you! " At the word "mission" Scott, Jean, Pietro, Kurt and Ororo immediately went off as a strike by lightning, Pietro for sure, with the emotion that escaped from all over the skin.
All arrived in the professor's office, Raven and Hank McCoy included, the X-mens kept on wondering who was the new companion to go to recruit and they were so excited at the idea to be able to finally do it, before them there were always and only gone Raven, Hank and the professor X to go to visit the young mutants in their houses.
" Thanks to be here, guys "
" What's about, professor? " Jean asked.
"The mutant in matter is a girl " at this last word Scott and Pietro exchanged to each other accomplices and satisfied glances, while Kurt remained to listen attentively, he didn't want to lose a single information.
" She's about 17 years old, we don't know who she is, even her name and from where she comes neither " Raven said. The expressions of the guys were interrogative and curious, but also worried.
" Unfortunately her mutation has made us possible to individualize her only now that she's a woman, but we strongly believe that her powers have started to emerge since the tender age" Hank added, vague.
" Vhat type of povers does she possess? " Kurt asked. Charles, Raven and Hank looked at each other and they made to appear on the big screen of the computer few frames that the professor had succeeded to mentally save on Cerebro's database. All of them opened wide their eyes, amazed and surprised, especially Kurt: on the screen some images of a girl appeared, she had feline physical features, big lynx ears, green panther's eyes, but body, face and human mouth but she was endowed with fangs and claws on the anterior limbs, the nose was simple like a cat's one, she had excessively long and thick dark hair , and the body was covered by a thin, tabby honey color tone with darker strips and she was covered only by a pair of rags in the intimate zones to the height of the breast and on the low abdomen.
" This girl has the power to transform herself in any existing or existed feline on Earth and when she transforms, to the eyes of Cerebro she becomes invisible, as if she had always been one of those animals"
" Jeez.. unbelievable! " Scott exclaimed.
"That's amazing! " Jean said.
" Tough the girl, I like it! " Pietro said with a pinch of malice, immediately taken back by Ororo that threw him a punch in the head " Ouch! What have I said?! "
" You're such a fool! Does it seem you the proper situation to make these type of comments?! Don't you see how is reduced the poor thing?! " Pietro lowered the look, been sorry.
" V-Vhat are.. zhose signs? " suddenly intervened Kurt, with a tone until too much serious and extremely focused on the girl's images.
- Wow... it's not of him to speak this way.. it's weird - Scott thought noticing his friend's changement.
Charles sighed heavily before answering him.
" Those are slashes , Kurt "
" Vhat?! " the blue boy observed the images better and in different points of the girl's body, from arms to legs, from the back to the face, he saw an absurd number of disfigurements, some already faded, camouflaged by the stripes of her mantle and others recently made.
" Yes, unfortunately we think that she has suffered of maltreatments since she was a child , most probably from her jailers, they've certainly tried to take advantage form her mutation to make money or does only God know what "
" How they could take advantage from a mutation of that kind?! " Ororo asked upset.
" With some thefts perhaps when she was child, a small cat cannot be condemned and locked in jail for theft" Raven said " But, once became adult and less controlled... " she click on the mouse and on the screen appeared some images of fierce clandestine fights between big ransom felines. All the young X-men were horrified, Jean brought her hands to the mouth.
" How do you know she's there...in that horror? " Jean asked with a voice strangled by the sadness.
" The girl was born with a particular distinctive mark on the sternum..." Hank said magnified one of the photos into which she was turned into a panther and zooming on the symbol "… as you can see the symbol it vaguely resembles to a cat eye. It's composed of the superior part of the eye arcade and the vertical pupil and it is the only thing in everything of her body that doesn't transform, it's always well visible, suiting itself for the color of the animal's mantle in which she decides to transform"
All of them remained dumb struck. Kurt, however, began to sweat cold, to tremble and without realizing it he was tightening very strong both the fists and he had begun to snarl from anger, his amber eyes were like injected of blood, he almost had the desire to kill those accursed ones that had dared to do give so much pain to an innocent creature just because she was... different .
"Kurt, are you ok buddy?!" Scott said, leaning a hand on his shoulder. But his tail immediately raised it of back in a bad way, pushing Scott away.
" Hey.. what's wrong with you, man?!" Pietro said.
" VHAT IS VRONG VITH ME?!" Kurt yelled furios, making his friends to step backwards frightened.
" Kurt, please calm down " said clearly professor X.
" NO... I- I CAN'T BE CALM! HOW DO I DO TO BE CALM VITH THE IMAGES OF ZHIS POOR GIRL IN FRONT OF MY EYES?! " his German accent was more thich than usual. None of his companions had ever seen him so mad, even Raven, that was the one more composed and impassive, stepped backwards surprised but also intimidated by the unusual reaction of the boy.
" Why are you so upset, son?! It's not of you to react in this way " said Charles approaching to him, with a calm voice.
"I-I don't know professor! Mein Gott.. zee her reduced in that state and the only zhink that she has suffered so much zince she vas little without nobody helped her, zhat... deztroys me! " Kurt said with strangled voice, bringing his hands to the chest and began to tremble from nervousness and from anger.
"We must make zhose worms pay for it! We must save her at any cost! " he said pointing out the people in the background of the pictures.
" And we will do it, my boy. We are gathered here for this, to organize her rescue "
" Pft.. to organize ? " Kurt asked mocking, making Charles surprised of the contained arrogance in that sentence.
" She... lived a hell for all of he life, and you said that her mutation is started vhen she vas a child and you succeed in locating her only NOW ?! " he snarled, exposing the fangs.
" Kurt, as it has already been said, her mutation didn't allow us to locate her because the transformation was too much fast at the epoch, between a transformation and the other one she spent different time and she was always in a different place from the other, we never succeeded in arriving in time to save her properly. But now that she's an adult, the transformation takes some more seconds to complete because of her new and ultimate body dimensions." Hank explained him very politely. Kurt began to calm down, but he was still very angry.
" I understand how you feel Kurt, but it's not reacting like that you will help her " Charles told him leaning a hand on his arm.
" Nein, I'm zorry professor, but you're not able to understand how I feel " he said turning his cold and distant look also toward the others.
" None of you... can understand how it feels to be mutants... like us " on the last word he turned a sad and emphatic look toward the images of the girl and he teleported out of the room.
In the office lowered a tomb silence. " Holy crap... can only said Pietro, bringing hands to his hair.
" I would never have thought... that Kurt could explode in this way " Jean said.
" My dear, he's human being too, only because he's kind and you see him as the sweetness and the goodness at the pure state, it doesn't mean that he cannot become angry for some reason. Sometimes there are some days in which even I would want to kill someone, in a figured sense obviously " Charles intervened.
" Yes I know, however... it's weird to see him so... so.. " " Fierce " suddenly said Raven with a thoughtful look.
" Yes, he was totally out of mind when he saw her conditions! " Pietro said pointing out the computer screen.
" I.. I maybe know why he behaved in that way " Ororo said shy and all the others turned to her and gave her a questioning gaze. Storm told what Kurt had been worrying about for a while and the confidential talk that they had on the roof an hour ago.
" Mmmm... I understand now. Poor lad " Charles said.
" The experience in Berlin must have marked him so deeply that it made him in duty to protect all the mutants that had suffered similar treats like him. And this..." Hank said pointing out a photo of the girl in which she was inside a cage, disoriented and afraid "... is a very serious situation. More over, he must have felt in some way "tied up" to her also for the fact that her mutation cannot be hidden, just like his one "
" Considering these new events, it doesn't surprise me at all that he had such a release of anger " Charles said thoughtful, but also with a sorry tone.
" X-men, prepare the Black Bird, we will depart immediately! Hank, pick up Cerebro's mobile kit, so we can locate her more easily "
" And... what about Kurt? " Scott asked.
" He is temporarily exonerated from the mission, he's too emotionally involved for acting in a shiny and rational way. Jean, find him and try to speak to him. " Jean nodded and walked out of the office.
" As for us, let's move! " professor X ordered.
In the meantime, Kurt was closed in his room, angry, furious, frustrated and worried for the fate of that girl, so unknown at first sight but also so surprisingly equal to him. His head was terribly crowded, he felt that he was about to go crazy. He sat on the bed, he joined the hands on his wood rosary, he took a deep breath to calm the thoughts and soul and he began to recite a prayer
" Father, free us from evil, zhat is from the malignant one, the person and the power zhat is everything evil. The malignant one has been defeated by your Child Jesus, crucified and risen, and from her Mother, the Virgin Maria, the New Eva, the immaculate one. Now it hurls against your Church and against the whole humanity, because doesn't reach the zalvation. Also we are under it's pressure, we are in time of struggle. Free us from it's prezence and it's influence. Make us don't fall under it's slavery. Father, free us from evil. Father, free us from all the evil the malignant one does to us . Free badly us from the great truth of our zouls, the sin, to vhich it tries us in all the ways. Free us from the illnesses of the body and the psyche, that it causes or it exploits and make us to doubt of your love and make us to lose faith... "
The prayer was interrupted by the knock of someone at the door.
" Kurt, it's Jean! May I come in, please? "
" Just a moment! " Kurt got up from the bed and recomposed himself an instant, he rubbed his face with the hands, as if he wanted to chasing away the negative feelings.
- Ok, I'm fine - he thought. He went to the door and opened it.
" Hey, is everything alright? " Jean asked with a sweet smile.
" Of course, vhy should not be alright? " he said demolished, turning away and leaving the door open to let Jean coming in.
" Well, for what happened in the office a little while ago is not seemed to me you were fine " she said sitting in front of Kurt, which abandoned himself on the bed.
" Ja. About zhat... I am zorry if I have given show, but... something, seeing zhat girl..."
" Made you piss off, isn't it? " Kurt nodded, been ashamed by his behavior.
" Kurt, I understand why this situation hurts you, and I'm sorry and if you will ever have need to talk, you know that I'm here to help, Scott and all the others are here for you, we will always help you, you're one of us and you should know it by now! " Kurt didn't respond, he only dissuaded the gaze.
" But in future missions.." Jean continued ".. you cannot let yourself to lose control in that way "
" Ja, I know, I'm zorry for it. It was just.. a moment. I won't do it anymore "
" I'm sure about it " Jean told him leaning a hand on his shoulder.
" Thanks, Jean. I'm fine now and I am ready for the mission, I think zhat the professor is waiting for us "
" Ehm, you see... speaking about it.."
" Vhat is it? "
" Professor Xavier thinks that would be better if, for this time, you stay at home "
" Vhat? Vhy?! It's my first mission too by the vay! " Kurt asked shocked
" Do you really need me to tell you why? " in that moment Kurt understood.
" He believes that you are too emotionally involved and in mission you would not act in a rational way when will arrive the moment to save her from the jailers " there was a long time of silence, quite embarrassing.
" It is all right, I understand " Kurt finally said, resigned.
" I am sorry, buddy. But it's for your own good and for her too. I assure you that you will participate to the next mission, I promise! " Jean said trying to comfort him. Kurt smiled at her.
" I've to go now, I will keep you updated! Bye, see you later! " said so, Jean, after having greeted her blue friend, raced out of the room, direct to the inferior plans. Kurt was standing there in the middle of the room thinking about his behavior and about the situation of the mutant girl.
" I understand becauze the prof has decided to hold me here, he's right, I could commit zome foolishness, however..." he bit his inferior lip with a doubtful expression "... she zeems so frightened and she von't trust anybody for sure, not even with the guyz, more over, according to her type of mutation, perhaps she could also attach them " he thought with high voice, walking through all the room, and nervously shaking the pointed tail and disarranging exasperated his hair by the indecision on how to act. To obey or to disobey at professor's orders? Kurt decided to teleport in the office and analyze the mutant's documents.
" No! I cannot disobey, I vould get in serious trouble. However..." he observed the eyes of the girl in the image in which she was confined in a cage as a beast.
" Mein Gott, vhat should I have to do?! " he howled to the sky, as waiting for a divine sign. Suddenly, from the window, a light gust of wind entered, and made to fly to the ground some papers. Kurt, rotating his eyes to the sky in an annoyed way, he knelt down and he began to pick up the papers and put them in order again, when his gaze fell on the symbol X represented on the frontispiece of one of the documents; Kurt took it in a hand and he closely observed it. In that instant the look of the blue boy was filled with an enormous determination.
" Danke " he said turning to the sky, thankful
- I'm an X-man too, I know vhat I've to do now! - and with this last thought in his mind a sudden BANF echoed in the office, left empty.
* My first translated fan fiction! XD jeez... that was hard to write since English is not my native language. In Italian forums no one was interested in this first part of story so I'd like to try with you guys and see how it goes ;)
This is the story of one of my old OC: I invented her when I was a teenager and since I watched Apocalypse my brain just exploded and I couldn't help to think about my character every time. So I reinvented the story, improve it, make it more mature and I involved my favorite X-men ( let you guess which one of them XD ) now here it is the first part!
Anyway, I hope you like it ^_^
Please, don't ask me when I'll update the chapters, I'm the first one who doesn't know that XD
