Nightcrawler-no longer Kurt, for obvious reasons- had always liked battles. They made him feel not so useless, gave him a distraction from his pain. He felt like his whole life since he was born was pure pain, simply because he didn't look human. He tried to fit in at the institute as best he could, but found himself unable to bond with anyone. They all had their own group of friends, and he was considered too mutated for them. Ironic, wasn't it? He found his thoughts yet again wandering, and it brought him to what he was finally facing. He and the other X-Men were facing off against Magneto and his brotherhood after they had done some nameless wrong-Nightcrawler really couldn't care less- and were all standing in a line ready to pounce. What Nightcrawler cared about was that he was going to fight his mother. He'd first found out about Mystique three months ago, when his and her DNA had been compared to see why his skin was blue. Needless to say, theirs was so similar it was impossible forget not to be his mother. He still remembered when he'd come to her with the information.
"Mystique?" He had called out, knowing she was in the institute. His insides burned with excitement. He has finally found his mother, and he could have a family, he wouldn't be alone. "Yes?" She called out. He walked forward cautiously and found himself standing in her room. Mystique stayed frequently at the institute, switching between Charles and Erik. "Can I come in?" Her eyes flashed over to him, and she curtly nodded. "What do you want?" She snapped. Kurt blinked, this was unlike her. "I-I don't know how to say this Mystique, but you're my mother." He averted her gaze as she sprung upwards. "Look, kid. I don't know where you got that from, but that is a filthy lie. Do you hear me? A lie!" She was inches away from his face and yelling. Kurt had never been so shocked. She was his mother, she had to love him, didn't she? "It's not a lie! Mr. Xavier! He-he compared our DNA! Please, mother!" He was frightened and angry all at the same time. "Charles did this? That son of a bitch. Just because our DNA is the same, and I may have birthed you doesn't make me your mother. It sure as hell doesn't make me want you, and it sure as hell doesn't mean anything. As a matter of fact, don't come to me about this again" he hadn't expected her to be like this. Tears pricked his eyes Ashe realized definitively that she did not want him and that she was not his mother, just someone who has birthed him. Swallowing thickly, he turned on his heel and left the room, his hopes of having a family dashed.
Nightcrawler scanned the mutants he'd be fighting, and his heart skipped a beat when he met Mystique's gaze. As red eyes met yellow, he found himself overcome by emotion. He wanted to love her, wanted to have a life with her, and at the same time he knew these urges were pathetic. He looked over at his 'friends' and nodded, signaling that he was ready. He looked at Mystique once more, but she simply looked away. Charles arrived, and the battle begun. Nightcrawler loved the chaos of it as he teleported himself in and out and randomly struck at enemy mutants. He saw kitty was in trouble fighting Juggernaut, and teleported over to wrap his tail around the man's neck, giving Kitty the needed upper hand. He was surrounded by fighting and bloodshed, but no death. The mutants did not dare to kill each other for fear of lowering their already small numbers on the earth. It was an unspoken rule among them. He was running about when he saw a green mutant attacking Bobby. Iceman was losing badly and Kurt raced over to fight off the mutant called Toad.
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" He asked, directing Toad's attention away from Bobby. Toad grinned, and leapt forward. The mutants engaged in battle, with Nightcrawler using his tail to strangle Toad, and Toad using his tongue to distract Nightcrawler. They were fighting so intensely that Nightcrawler didn't even notice Sabretooth coming up behind him. He turned around, grinning "hey kitty! I've got this little frog down-" he didn't get to finish his sentence before he felt claws ripping through him. Everything went in slow motion. Nightcrawler looked down and saw huge, cat-like claws protruding from his stomach, and felt himself being lifted slightly into the air. The battle stopped as he let out a scream of pain. The claws retracted and he fell to his knees, suddenly hearing mutants around him freaking out. "Nightcrawler! Nightcrawler! Kurt! Wagner! You'll be okay!" People were rushing over as he fell onto his side, into the prickly grass, and as Sabretooth looked on in horror. He felt himself being turned over and saw Kitty looking down on him. His hands frantically went to his stomach in an attempt to quell the bleeding. His eyes widened in fear when he saw the amount of red. "You're gonna be okay, Nightcrawler? Okay?" Kitty was holding his stomach and he felt surprisingly calm. "Ja" he felt disoriented. He wished he wasn't outside. He didn't want to die outside. "He's killed a fellow mutant! A fellow mutant has been harmed!" Magneto's voice sounded very far away and Kurt became scared at how quickly he was fading. "Let me through, let me through!" He looked up into Mystique's eyes. "Mother" before he could stop himself, he whispered it weakly. "Yes, yes, Mommy's here. Mommy's here, baby" she looked very scared and for the life of him, Kurt could not figure out why. "Mother, I'm going to die?" It came out more as a question than a statement. He tried in vain to get up, only to find himself unable to move. "No, you're not going to die. Charles, do something! Do something please!" She looked around frantically, kneeling beside her fatally wounded son. Charles wordlessly shook his head, signaling that there was nothing he could do. A crowd of mutant had now circled around the boy, even Magneto's team. "No, no! That's my son! There-there's gotta be something you can do Charles! Please!" Her voice cracked as she became more desperate. Kurt's hand found his mother's. "Mommy it's okay. I know you'll all be okay without me. I wasn't that important" Kurt's ears were beginning to feel fuzzy and his vision was blurring, he knew the end was near. 17 years. That was longer than he ever thought he'd make it. "No, NO! This is my only son! Charles, Erik, do SOMETHING!" Kurt could feel himself fading and only barely registered that his mother was now grabbing at his body, willing him to stay alive. "Please Nightcrawler buddy, stay alive" was that, Bobby? Funny how people didn't care until you were dying, wasn't it? "D-don't say that. You k-know I'd hold on if I could. That cat-really got me bad didn't he?" it was almost impossible to get the words out, and Nightcrawler leaned over to cough up something. It was blood. Mystique was still grabbing him and was now beginning to sob. What bothered him about his death was that he was not having his life flash before his eyes, he was not having any epiphanies. He felt like he always did, just gravely injured. He felt unimportant. As his sense faded further, Nightcrawler laid back down. He was, in truth, very sleepy. It felt just like he was going to take a permanent nap.