So, I promised you'd see the original story I put Valerie in, and here it is! It is set after Blind Alley in the series, and will only somewhat follow the series. The next notable one you'll probably see is The Toad, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Oh! In case you all were wondering, or didn't notice, in Written in Ashes, I had everyone a little OOC. However, this time everyone SHOULD be in character, and you'll all see the real Valerie I've created. Well, enjoy!

Warning(s)

Violence

Cursing

Rated- T

Disclaimer- I don't own X-Men:Evolution.

Evolution: Legion of Shadows

Chapter 1

TEN YEARS AGO

SOMEWHERE IN GERMANY

"Valerie's gone!" a woman wailed as she burst into the living room of her home. She'd just come from the upstairs rooms, her mission being to fish her biological daughter out of her room to eat some dinner, only to discover the girl gone. Obviously, she was very distressed, her normally perfect hair escaping the bun she'd pulled it into and flying in all directions Her husband looked up from where he had been playing with the strange, mutant boy they had fished out of the river about six years ago. He might not have been their child, and he might have looked like a demon, but they loved him regardless. Said blue furred boy blinked confused golden eyes, looking up at his father in confusion as the man stood up in alarm. He didn't understand. Had something happened to older sister Valerie?

"What do you mean, 'gone'? How can she be gone?" he demanded angrily. He wasn't really angry at anyone specifically, more upset that their daughter had disappeared without them noticing. She had disappeared into her room hours ago. How long had she been gone? They should have checked on her earlier instead of leaving her to wallow in her self-pity.

The woman shook her head, tears starting to form in her eyes. The man became worried, beginning to pace around the small living room. Where could she have gone? Perhaps she'd run into town for something? No, she would never do that; she hated the town. Ever since their new son had come along, she had hated everything.

"Hide Kurt. I'll get the police out here." True to his word, the father wasted no time on calling the local authorities, who came, searched their house, searched the town, they looked everywhere, but they could not find the seven-year-old girl they were so desperately looking for.

No one thought to hunt down the circus that had been in town, but little seven-year-old Valerie was disappointed her parents hadn't come after her. Truly, they did not love her, it seemed. It was all Kurt's fault! That freak had come into her life when she was barely two, had been given the same birthday as her, just a year behind, and then stole all the attention that was rightfully hers! Her parents no longer cared what happened to her, or where she was.

As she cried herself to sleep each night, each night she also vowed revenge. Revenge against the mutant freak who had ruined her life before it had barely begun.

TEN YEARS LATER

BAYVILLE

The explosions rocked the mall, and people ran away, screaming, from the black-haired girl causing all the stores to explode. A devious smirk was written across her face, and with a wave of her hand, another store exploded in a flash, of not the normal fiery explosion, but of the color black. Laughter rang in the air as the evil girl tossed her long tangled hair over her shoulders and out of her face. Their was a crazed glint in her eyes, for she knew her goal was close at hand.

"Someone call the cops!" a voice screamed. However, the voice was barely distinguishable over the explosions. The person who screamed wasn't sure if anyone heard, or if anyone would call the police, but that didn't matter. They were so terrified and couldn't think straight, and the ruckus was so loud, there was no way the police wouldn't come eventually. And that was true, for soon there were indeed sirens in the distance.

Since mutants were discovered, this was the first real attack the authorities had been called in to deal with.

The girl smirked as she saw the flashing lights pull up, and all of a sudden, four people halted, were spun around, and forced to walk back towards her. Tears were streaming down their faces as they were forced to stop in front of the girl, her ice blue eyes glinting with malicious intent. A crooked and evil smile stretched across her face as they were forced to a halt.

The police came in slowly, guns pointed right at the girl, speaking loudly and clearly through a megaphone. The girl decided to ignore them, turning and walking towards another store, humming to herself, and her captives followed her simply because they had no choice.

One cop shouted something, but the girl once again ignored the police. The guy scowled, and fired a shot from his gun, as he'd had enough of these mutant freaks running around as though they owned the world, dspite the voice nagging him in his head saying this girl was different than all the other mutants they'd come across. Stronger, meaner, cruel, evil, and purposely causing chaos. The girl didn't turn, but suddenly a shadow shot up from the ground and deflected the bullet, turning it back towards the man who had fired it, and hitting him in the arm. This time the girl turned around, a smile still on her face. Nothing added up. Almost every mutant in Bayville claimed they wanted peace, but this girl...she seemed to want to be caught.

"Nice try. But that's not going to work. Nothing you foolish mortals ever do will work. It is in vain to attempt anything, so just don't. However, I offer you this: Bring me the X-Men, and these people will go free. But only if you do what I say. BRING ME THE X-MEN!"

XAVIER INSTITUTE

"X-Men, please meet at the X-Jet. We have a major problem." That was what the Professor had said a few minutes ago, and now the group of teens were on their way to the Bayville Mall.

"Professor, what is this about?" Nightcrawler asked. Shadowcat, Jean, Cyclops, Spyke, and Rouge were also rather confused, so they were grateful that Kurt had spoken up.

"Kurt, this may shock you, but your sister, Valerie, is at the mall, causing chaos. She has demanded we come and battle her, but mostly, she has demanded that you come before her, and battle her one-on-one, in the ultimate fight to the death," the Professor explained. Those had not been her exact words, but he was a telepath, and knew what the girl had been thinking when he detected her powers with Cerebro.

"Valerie?" Kurt asked worriedly, unsure what else to say. Valerie Wagner had been missing for ten years. Why would she show up here, now, all of a sudden? It was completely out of the blue, random, and now, of all times? The time when mutant status was at its most uncertain, his loose cannon of a sister had finally reappeared. Why? That was all he wanted to know.

"Don't worry, Kurt. She won't get anywhere near you. We'll make sure of it. I mean, she can't take us all out, right? That whole Wanda thing was a one-time fluke. We weren't ready for that, but we're ready now," Cyclops stated confidently. Even after that deal with Wanda and the Brotherhood, Scott's over-confidence had come right back. He never seemed to learn. After being knocked down a peg or two, he still seemed to believe himself better than everyone. Honestly, sometimes it got annoying.

"It's not her threats I'm worried about; it's the fact that she's here at all. Valerie disappeared ten years ago, and we all thought she was dead. How she found me, the fact that she is alive, I'm confused. She was always a little unstable, but I just..." Kurt stopped and shook his head as the X-Jet landed on the ground, just in front of the Bayville Mall. Valerie Wagner may not have been his biological sister, and she might have been very hostile towards him for the six years he'd known her, but he still cared for her. They all got off the jet, and Scott walked over to talk to the chief of the police force while the other X-Men gathered around.

Kurt was wringing his blue hands nervously, glancing towards the entrance of the mall with a pained expression, no doubt assaulted by memories both good and bad.

Suddenly the glass doors exploded outward, and a seventeen year old girl, who looked about 5'3" tall, and was wearing all black stepped out of the mall, an evil grin on her face. Her hostages were right behind her, looks of terror on all their faces.

"Kuurt~. My brother, I've found you. Aren't you so glad to see me?" Valerie mocked, walking down the steps, her lace-up Goth boots thudding dully against the cement as she went. She wore a black sleeveless decorative corset that didn't even cover all of her stomach, and she wore black skinny jeans tucked into her Goth boots. Kurt couldn't believe that was his sister standing there. She'd gone from the awkward seven-year old to this confident, beautiful young woman. He wouldn't of recognized her if he'd seen her on the streets, and he probably would of tried to hit on her if he had happened to see her.

"Valerie, what are you doing here? Why are you here? ...What happened to you?" Kurt asked, stepping towards his sister hesitantly. The shadows exploded outward, as though pulsing a warning.

"Don't call me Valerie! I am Gloom! As for what happened to me, I ran away and joined the circus as their knife act. I came back three years later, feeling homesick, but I saw that none of you had cared or noticed I was gone! I got so mad I just...caused a blackout. The sky went dark, the shadows bent to my will, and I ran. I ran until I couldn't run anymore, and I snuck aboard a cargo ship headed to America, where I hid for a while. When I saw the news, and a familiar blue-furred freak on the news, I knew I'd found my brother, which leads me to the why," Gloom stated as she walked the rest of the way down the steps, her shadow-bound hostages following her unwillingly. She was grinning evilly, a crazed glint in her eyes.

Kurt took a step back as his sister stepped closer. "I'm here for revenge. Everything I am, everything I suffered, it's all because of YOU!" Gloom shouted, and then the shadows exploded again, swarming towards Kurt.

Kurt quickly teleported away, and Jean lifted Valerie off the ground telekinetically. Valerie turned now pitch-black eyes on Jean, and with a wave of her hand, Jean's shadow rose up behind her and attacked her. Jean struggled against her shadow, to no avail, so Spyke moved forward, throwing bone spikes towards her, but more shadows burst upwards from the ground, and wrapped around the projectiles, stopping them and tossing them aside.

Then more shadows wrapped their way around each X-Man in turn, even as more shadows exploded further outward, destroying several squad cars.

"Brother, come out come out wherever you are!" Gloom called with a laugh. Kurt did not appear, and Gloom frowned slightly. "You can't hide from me forever, Kurt!" Gloom shouted.

Suddenly Valerie screamed and grabbed at her head desperately, the shadows melting away from a few of the X-Men, who gasped for breath. "Valerie, all this rage is eating you from the inside out. You have no need to be angry, or afraid, or sad, ever again. Let me help you. Let US help you. Join the X-Men and you will be saved from your self-inflicted hell."

Gloom faltered, looking up at Xavier with tears streaming from her slowly darkening eyes. Something he said had gotten through to her, and it showed on her face. It was the expression of someone who felt hurt, giving him hope that perhaps the small child she once was might still be in there somewhere. Then that vulnerable expression on her face was gone, and her countenance once again twisted with rage as she screamed, "Get out of my head!" The shadows exploded outward and knocked Charles Xavier away from her.

Something inside Kurt snapped at that, and he teleported right in front of his sister.

Big mistake.

Valerie grinned fiendishly as her brother appeared in front of her and then she slammed her fist into his face before he could strike or change his mind and get away, knocking him back several inches, for despite her size, she was still quite strong. Valerie walked forward, still grinning, and punched Kurt again, knocking him back again. By this time, Kurt was gasping for breath from the vicious and powerful onslaught.

"How's it feel, Kurt? How's it feel to be the one who can't catch your breath? Running and hiding and fighting for ten years, you don't get a lot of time to stop and catch your breath. You don't have time to make friends, to fall in love, or talk to your family. And yet, here you find friends. Here, you get to be safe, and talk to my rightful parents! I bet you even found love! It's just not fair! Why do you get everything and I get nothing?" Gloom screamed, and punched Kurt mercilessly in the face, this attack knocking him all the way back into a tree.

Her concentration was slowly falling apart in face of her elation that she was finally beating up her hated brother, and that's why she didn't notice that the shadows binding the humans and other X-Men had melted away. They didn't interfere at first. As she grabbed her brother by the front of his uniform and lifted him off the ground, she grinned before slamming her fist right in his face, and Kurt finally fell unconscious. Gloom grinned, and would of hit him again, but suddenly, a beam of red light hit her from the side.

Gloom dropped Kurt, and shouted out in alarm as she was slammed into the side of the mall with the force of the attack. She fell to the ground with a thud, and lie there, dazed.

Suddenly the police were moving forward, slapping cuffs on Valerie's small wrists and dragging her upright. Valerie managed to shake off some of her confusion, enough to shout, "This isn't over! I'll have my revenge! As long as I'm alive, I'll hunt you Kurt! I'll hurt what you hold most dear, and I'll keep going until I finally win! There's no prison that can hold me for long! This isn't the last you've seen of the shadows!"

By this point, the dazed mutant was shoved in the back of the police car and as their sirens clicked on, they drove away, even as Kurt slowly awakened, having heard some of his sister's shouts. "V-vas?" Kurt asked grogily as Evan dragged him upright.

"You okay, man?" Kurt managed a nod.

"Your sister, she's really strong, and she really did a number on you there," Scott commented as he held Kurt steady. Before Kurt could reply, they heard the police sirens screech to a halt, and gunshots, then nothing. Worried, the X-Men raced to where the police had gone, but when the got there, they saw the car holding Valerie had a huge hole in the side, the police were all knocked out, and Gloom was no where to be seen.

"Oh no...she's escaped."

BROTHERHOOD BOARDING HOUSE

"So why did Magneto have us pick up this girl?" a voice asked.

"How should I know? He may be my dad but I can't read his mind! He doesn't tell me anything other than what I need to know, and all he said was that we were supposed to grab this girl and have her join the Brotherhood," a second voice replied.

"Man, why it gotta be a girl? We're the Brotherhood, yo," a third voice chimed in.

Valerie's eyes snapped open and she sat bolt upright, shadows exploding off her, causing the three in the room to jump in shock. "Where am I? Who are you? I demand answers or you're all gonna die!" Valerie shouted as she stumbled to her feet. She shook her head. Damn. Why was she so dizzy?

"You're at the Brotherhood Boarding House. We're the Brotherhood. I'm sure you've heard of us," the second voice said. Valerie's eyes trailed to the mutant who'd spoken. He was tall, kind of skinny, and not bad-looking overall, really. Although the white hair was a little weird.

Valerie found herself nodding, "I've not heard of you, but I have a friend. A friend who gave me all the files on all the known mutants in Bayville. I read about you mutants causing a big mess and exposing us all. Let's see...you're Quicksilver, I think." Valerie's eyes trailed to the short, scrawny, and smelly boy. "You're Toad." Her eyes then moved to the last person in the room. Also, not bad-looking, just weird with the mullet, which, by the way, was completely out of style, and this boy didn't seem to realize that. "And you're Avalanche."

"Got that right! Hey, Freddy, get in here! This girl's actually heard of us! We're famous!" Quicksilver shouted. Apparently he hadn't heard Valerie when she said she'd read the files. One more person entered the room, a great big teen who shook the ground slightly every time he took a step. This was Blob; Valerie had heard of him as well.

Valerie let her eyes travel over each and every Brotherhood member, and came to the conclusion that they hadn't freed her out of kindness. Quicksilver's eyes shone with greed, as did Toad's, while Avalanche and Freddy didn't seem too bad, but one could never know.

"Okay, obviously you didn't spring me out of jail out of kindness, so who is your boss, and what does he want with me?" Valerie demanded, crossing her arms over her rather large chest and glaring at all of them. She'd always considered herself a very no-nonsense kind of person and never beat around the bush.

No one said anything for a moment, as though they hadn't expected to be caught on that, and then Quicksilver stepped forward with a smirk on his face, "Clever girl. Okay here's the deal. My father, our boss, Magneto, wants you to join the Brotherhood. He knows how powerful you are, knows how much you hate your brother, and he feels you would have won that last battle if you only had some backup. So, you stay loyal to this team, and you get team support in return. Sounds like a great deal, yeah?"

Valerie was already shaking her head, "Sorry, no, Gloom works for no one. I fly solo." She waved a dismissive hand and turned to walk out, but was stopped when she saw a red-eyed man standing in the doorway, shuffling a deck of cards.

"Mon ami, you either take the deal, or we throw you back in jail," he stated, glancing up at the girl with a small smile. Valerie scowled and clenched her fists, causing the shadows to swirl around her feet slightly.

"This was a setup! Your master,"she spat the last word, "played me like a violin, and I fell into the tiger pit."

The red-eyed man smiled and said, "Correct, mon ami."

Valerie slumped, the fight suddenly draining out of her as she mumbled, "I guess there's no choice then. I...agree to join the Brotherhood." Then her head snapped back up, and that fire from before was once again blazing in her ice blue, almost white, eyes. "But the best room in the house? It's mine!" she snarled.

The other chuckled and nodded. "Of course, mon ami. I am Gambit, and welcome to the Brotherhood."

Valerie Wagner has joined the Brotherhood! Oh no! *gasp* What will happen next? And where is Wanda, you might ask? We shall find out more in the next chapter! Review please!

"mon ami" is "my friend"