X24

PART 1

CHAPTER 1

"My name is Veronica House. But everyone calls me 'Ron' or 'Ronnie'. I am

a mutant. A neko (a neko is part cat part person). From England. From a secrete world where mutants live. A peaceful world. Everyone gets along with one another. No crime. No rage or anger at anyone. No humans. That's right. No humans live in the world I lived in. We mutants don't get along with you Homo Sapiens. Why? Because some humans hate and fear us even though some of us try to help you humans. Humans try and kill us every chance they get. Mutant hatred is worse in England than in any part of the world. That's why we live in a world of our own. With no humans around at all. We live normal lives like you. We have schools, everyday jobs. You name it, we got it. But the only difference is that we are mutants. Some mutants don't understand why humans don't like us. It is because we were all born different. Because we are not what you call 'normal'. But we are. We are just mutated people.

"But humans don't believe that. the human adults don't want us to go to school with their children. That's in the United States. In England human adults don't even want us mutants to look at their children. We wouldn't, of course, do anything to them. Teenaged mutants and humans somewhat get along. They both hate and like us. It's weird, actually. Very strange. Very, very, strange. Younger mutants and humans don't understand. Adult mutants and humans don't bother with one another. Every night three young adult mutants and three young adult humans sneak out and meet at Hyde Park. I'm one of those three young adult mutants. The other two mutants' names are Alfred and Bruce Walton. They're both twins. They are my foster brothers. The humans' names are Jonathan, William, and Charles Dawes. They are triplets. We are all the same age. How cool is that!? Our parents, of course, don't know about our meetings. And it's going to stay that way. Until we get caught. Which will never ever happen. Never.

"But what if the humans turn on me and the twins? Will that ever happen? No, that wouldn't happen. We are too good of friends. Tonight me, the twins, and triplets are going to sneak out and, as always, meet in Hyde Park."

Ron put down her pencil and reread what she wrote. She thought it was very good. It was for a play that she, the twins, and the triplets made up. They didn't really have a name for it yet (all of what she said is really true about the human world and mutant world). Ron was the writer and director, the Walton twins in charge of props, and the Dawes triplets in charge of where the props go. Ron couldn't wait to get started with rehearsing. Her brothers stood in her room. They were wearing T-shirts. Alfred's had a capital A and Bruce's had a capital B. It was the only way her parents and everyone else could tell them apart. Except for Ron. She could tell them apart without the shirts.

"Mum says--" Alfred started.

"--dinner's ready, Veronica," Bruce finished.

Ron got up and walked to her brothers. They were a year older than her. "Alright. Let's go."

They headed downstairs. Ron's brothers had teleportation powers. They both had brown hair, green eyes, they were 6' 3", and were twenty-one-years-old and Ron was twenty and 5' 6". The humans were nineteen. Even though they weren't teenagers they still met every night, although. Ron had a secrete. A secrete that she would never tell her foster parents or bothers. Ron knew Wolverine. Better known as Weapon X. She knew him all her life. Knew him since she was a baby.

Weapon X Program

25 years ago:

Ron's mother held her baby close to her. Her baby was going to be one in a

few days. Ron could talk well and loved running. Ron's mum looked through the window at Wolverine. He had come back unconscious and was laying on an examination table, wires covered his suited chest. His chest was covered with bullet holes that were healing. That's what the doctors were doing. Monitoring how fast his healing factor worked. Logan was coming to and the doctors in there dragged him over to what looked like an electric chair. But it was no electric chair. The head piece was used to erase Logan's memory of what they would do to him after his "missions". But they wouldn't erase the memory of Ron. Ron was like a daughter to Logan and because Ron's mother said not to. He'd care for her while Ron's mother was working. They strapped him to the chair. They worked quickly. By the time he realized what was going on, he had no memory of what just happened. They had him unstrapped as Ron's mother went into the lab.

"How are you feeling, Agent Logan?" Ron's mother asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"What happened to me, Dr. House?" Logan asked.

"Another concussion." Dr. House lied. "It happened during your mission. Could you watch her?"

"Logan!" Ron reached out to him.

He put her on his shoulders and walked out of the lab. Ron was tall for being almost a year old. He set her down. As soon as he did, Ron took off in a run. She liked doing that. To Logan. To make him chase her.

"Ronnie, come back!"

He ran after her. She was a quick little thing. She also liked to hide from him too. She loved it. Thought it was funny. She looked behind a corner. She lost him. She turned around and Logan was right there.

"How do you find me?" Ron asked.

"Not that hard, Ronnie," Logan said. He followed her sent.

Logan had always called her "Ronnie". Dr. House always called her daughter "Veronica". Logan only called her "Veronica" when he had to go away or if something bad was happening or about something serious. Ron always responded to both. And still does. She loved Logan to death. He loved her like a daughter. She loved him like a father. Ron's father were not with them. Her mother wasn't doing to well. She was getting sick. It was getting late and Logan took Ron to her room. He set her on her bed. Logan sat on the bed and read her a bedtime story. Bedtime stories never helped her fall asleep. But when Logan sang a lullaby, Ron drifted off to sleep. Logan was a good singer. He got up and headed for the door. He looked back, turned off the light, closed the door behind him, and headed for his room.

Logan awakened in the middle of the night, a small voice saying his name. He looked to his right and saw Ron standing right beside his bed looking up at him. Logan asked, "What is it?"

"Mommy," she said. "Mommy won't wake up."

Logan got up and picked the girl up. "It's late, Veronica, she's tired."

Logan hoped that he was right. He arrived at Dr. House's room and went inside. He put Ron down and looked around. He found her on the floor on the other side of her bed. He knelt beside her. She was still breathing, but was unconscious. He picked her up and set her on her bed. He took Ron back to her room. He told her everything was fine and to go back asleep. She did so and Logan went back to Dr. House's room and found her still breathing. She had a certain illness and everyone hoped it would go away, but that may not happen. Dr. House had long brown hair, green eyes, was skinny, and tall. She was at least four inches taller than Logan. Logan thought that she was beautiful. So did the other men. Logan started to leave but stopped. Logan turned on the bedside lamp. She was a tint of yellow. Her liver was failing. He took her to the hospital wing.

Logan set her on an examination table. Another doctor came up beside him.

"Her liver is failing," Logan said. "I also found her on the floor beside her bed."

"I'll see what I can do," the doctor said.

Walton residence

London England

Today

Ron and her brothers finished dinner. Mrs. Walton had cooked it. She was a very good cook. Mr. Walton was a business man. Mr. and Mrs. Walton had found Ron when she was fifteen wandering the streets of the human world. She was wearing a Mickey Mouse T-shirt, shorts, hightop Converse, a Boston Redsox cap on backwards, and a backpack at the time. They knew she was a mutant because they just knew. Ron has stayed with the Waltons for five years so far. Only because they wouldn't let her leave. They said it was too dangerous for her to be out on her own. She stayed with them that long because she needed to keep track of where she had been so she wouldn't double back. She went all over the world looking for Logan.

Ron had a big world map on her wall. She had crossed out where she had been. She had been to Asia, Australia, Europe, Africa, South America, parts of North America, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. It was time for her to leave for the United States and smell him out. She had a belt buckle that belonged to Logan. She smelled his scent on it. The aroma on it was still strong. She took the belt buckle everywhere she went. It was just about the only thing Ron had left of him. She also had a photograph of Logan and her. It was taken 25 years ago when she was five. Before her powers. Before Logan's claws and skeleton. Before the time she would never see him again.

Ron planned to leave in a few days, but she didn't know how she would. She could run away in the night or she could tell the Waltons, but they wouldn't want her to leave. But what could they do? Ron wasn't a child anymore. She was grown up. She could do what ever she wanted. But she did live in their house. Under their rules. She would also have to tell the mutants. She'd tell the twins instead, but they'd want to go with her. It'd be fun to have them go. She'd want company on her journey. Ron went to her brothers' room and went inside. They were making a video on their computer. They were recording themselves spinning around in office chairs. They were having a fun time. They ended the video and were really dizzy. Once they were no longer dizzy they realized that their foster sister was standing in the door way.

"I got something to tell you two," she said, closing the door. "But you can't tell your parents."

"What is it?" they both asked

"I need your help finding a person. His name is Logan."

"Who is he?" Alfred asked.

"He's someone that was like a father to me until 15 years ago," Ron said. "He disappeared when I was five and I've been looking for him since I was 15. That's why I've stayed here. To look for him here in the U.K. But now I must move on to the United States to look for him. Will you accompany me in my search?"

"Sure we will!" Bruce said.

"When do we leave?" Alfred asked.

"In a few days," Ron said. "Be sure to pack some clothes. And get all your life savings from their hiding places. We will need money to get food and for laundromats."

"How will we tell Mom and Dad?" Alfred asked.

"I don't know," Ron said. "Leave a note I guess. But don't tell your parents."

"We won't," Alfred said. "But what about those humans that we meet?"

"We'll tell them tonight," Ron said. "Who knows? They might see us off to the airport."

Later that night Ron was working on a device while waiting for Mr. and Mrs. Walton to go to sleep. The device would hide her mutation. Her mutation was a neko. Her face was cat like. Her eyes were like a cat's. Her nose the same, teeth like a cat's, feet the same. She even had cat ears and tail. That's why she's called Neko (she doesn't get the name until later). That's just the side effects. She was born with a healing factor, too. The healing factor affected her age when she turned 17, so she still looks that age. Ron was trying to make the device work. One touch of a button and she would be the same, but her appearance would be human. She didn't know what she really looked like when she was five, so that she can make the device work. Another touch of the button and she would return to her normal look. The device was disguised as a watch. It was the perfect device for mutants to use in England because of the hatred. But she had lots of trouble making it work just right. There's was always some sort of glitch every time she fiddled with it. But the major problem was that the human disguised wore off pretty quickly. It would only last sixteen minutes instead of all the time. That would be pretty bad if she was out in the human world and it wore off with a whole bunch of Homo Sapiens around. She didn't really like humans. She hated that they hated mutants. She could take a human on any day, any place, any time. She wasn't afraid of them. Those Homo Sapiens. She did have a whip that she liked to use. It was one of her weapons. She would use it to defend the innocent. Even the the humans. Though she hated humans she would still defend them if the were in trouble. Of course, Ron would were a costume to hide her identity, so she wouldn't endanger the mutant world. The other mutants didn't know about her being a vigilante. That was a very good thing. She would be in very big trouble. So would her brothers. They helped her with the saving the day and all. The humans that were saved liked Neko. They would just call her Cat-lady. And the helpers. Her brothers are also called Jumpers. It's another word for teleporters. She had been a hero since she was fifteen.

Ron timed to see how long the device would do it's course. It only lasted two minutes this time. It wore off pretty quickly. She didn't have anytime to look at herself in the mirror to she what she looked like without the cat mutations. Mrs. Walton said that Ron needn't a device to hide her true self. That Ron should be happy with the way she is. But Ron tried to explain that it was going to be used for when she was in the human world. Mr. Walton took Mrs. Walton's side of the argument. And the twins took Ron's side. It was three against two. Mr. and Mrs. Walton were out numbered. They gave up and Ron started making her device. She didn't have a name for it. She kept on thinking of names, but none of the names sounded cool enough. And she didn't like them. She would need some help figuring out a name. And with fixing the device so that it would work when ever she wanted. But who could she get help from? Who knew things like what she was making? That she didn't know. But she did need to find help from someone. Her foster brothers and parents didn't know a thing about that kind of technology. Maybe someone in America did. She would have to find that person while she looked for Logan.

For now Ron would have to use her hiding her-cat-mutations thing. But that was kind of hard to do now. Because her shoes didn't really fit now because of them being cats' feet. Neither did some of her clothes because the mutation made her a little bit muscular and made her clothes tight. The only place to buy the kind of clothes that Ron would wear is in the Human world. She had some money saved up and she would have to go into the Human world tomorrow. Tonight Ron and the Walton twins will sneak out to meet up with their human friends, the Dawes triplets.

It was ten o'clock at night when Alfred and Bruce knocked four times on Ron's bedroom door. She opened it fully dressed, she let them in, and closed the door. They grabbed each others hands and Alfred teleported them onto a tree in Hyde Park. They waited twenty minutes and the Dawes triplets arrived at the tree. Bruce teleported them up onto the tree branch. It was a very big pine tree in the middle of the park. It was the perfect place to meet. The trunk of the tree was enormous. They had carved a hole into the trunk and made their secrete base. The pine also had branches so low that anyone passing by would not notice that anyone was there. But they do sometimes hangout on the branches and just talk. The triplets had red short hair, green eyes, freckles, and their shirts were the same as Alfred and Bruce's. But John's had J, Will had W, and Charlie had C. It was time for Ron to tell the triplets about her and her brothers leaving.

"John, Will, Charlie," Ron said. "There's something I need to tell you.

Ron told them what she and the twins were going to do.

"So, you are going to leave?" John asked. "How long will you be gone?"

"I don't know," Ron said. "But I'm going to start my search in New York and I'm going to use my enhanced senses to find Logan."

"How?" Will asked.

"With this." Ron took a silver belt buckle from her bag. "I found it in his room when he disappeared. He's been in parts of the world as I looked for him. I'd be close to finding him, but then the scent would carry off to some other place."

"Why New York City?" Charlie asked.

"Because it's my favorite city," Ron answered. "He might be there or somewhere near there."

"Well," John said, "we'll see you when you get back. But I got this feeling me and my brothers were being followed when we left."

"Now you tell us?!" Alfred and Bruce said.

"It's probably--" Will started.

"No." Ron sniffed the air. "There's a scent. Someone else. no''-- she sniffed the air again--"two people. We're being followed. There."

Ron pointed to the front of the park. No one was there. From what the other five could see. Two people were there. Ron could smell them. Her heightened senses could smell and hear at very far distances. She growled. She knew they wouldn't be safe here tonight.

"We should go," Ron said, not taking her eyes from the front of the park. "We're not safe."

"Don't worry," Charlie said. "We'll be just fine."

"I have heightened senses," Ron said. "I can smell what brand deodorant you were wearing this time last year, so don't say we're gonna be just fine. We are in danger. Especially you humans. You will be in a load of trouble. We lot will be in a load of trouble. We will be in deep, deep trouble. We need to leave now."

"Don't get your panties in a bunch," John said.

Ron growled at him. "Fine. Have it your way. Get in trouble. Get us caught."

"Are you certain, Ron?" Bruce asked.

"Very," Ron growled. "I said what I needed to say, humans, now It's time for us to go."

"I think you are right about those other scents," Will said. "You guys go. But hurry. It wouldn't be good if someone found you, Ron. Tell us everything that happens when you guys get back."

"I will try to write to you," Ron said. "I think that Logan may be at a place, but I doubt it. The place I think he may be at is Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters."

"I've heard of that place," Will said. "It's some sort of prep school."

"Right," Ron lied. But it's not what you think. "I will send letters. There will be a return address if I'm there at the school. See you!"

The mutants and humans left the park and headed in different directions. Tomorrow would be the day she and the twins would leave for the States. She lied because she couldn't risk telling the humans about Xavier's mutant school. Some of them may go to high school, but they also have to learn to harness their powers after. She wondered if Logan stumbled into the school at all. She wondered if he was even there. Is he there? Did he already go there and leave? What am I gonna do when I get there? I'll just sneak into the school at night and go find him. It'll be easier to bring my brothers with me. And we won't be seen and won't be thought a treat. I've been studying the school and they have a tough security system, Ron thought.

They returned home and Ron told them to pack everything and that they were going to leave at three o'clock in the morning because her brothers wanted to go sight seeing first. Ron left a note on the fridge for Mr. and Mrs. Walton. Ron and her brothers would get a few hours sleep. They didn't have passports, but that wouldn't stop them from getting to the United States. Her brothers didn't need to see where they were going. they just thought of where they wanted to go and they'd teleport there. Of course they needed to see what the place looked like first. They had pictures of where they wanted to go. The statue of Liberty, Empire State building, Times Square, and the Museum of Natural History. Ron couldn't sleep at for the few hours she was supposed to. She had a lot on her mind. She sat on top the covers, still fully dressed, and looking at the belt buckle in her hand. She sniffed it making sure she knew his scent well. There wasn't anything special about it. It was just a plain, silver, oval belt buckle. She also looked at the picture of her and Logan together when she was five. It showed him holding her on his shoulders. She only remembered Logan and what happened to him. She doesn't remember anything else. She sighed and put the picture in her pocket along with the belt buckle. She didn't remember what happened to her when Logan left. She only remembered a lab, her appearance after that, and running away at the age of fifteen. But memories started coming back, but they didn't answer her questions. And she was angry. Maybe she could talk to the head master of the mutant school about it.

When three o'clock came, Ron was up and so were her brothers. They had their backpacks stuffed with clothes and had their money in their hands. Ron quickly counted the money, put it in a pouch, and put the pouch in her pocket. There was three hundred dollars total. They held hands and. . .

"Wait!" Ron went into her room and came back out. "Forgot my image thingy."

"Now are we ready?" Alfred asked.

"Yeah," Ron said.

"Wait!" Bruce ran back to his and Alfred's room and back. "Forgot my costume."

"Ready?" Alfred asked

"Yes," Bruce and Ron said.

They teleported and instead of going where they wanted Alfred accidently teleported them to a bar in the human world, filled with loads of humans. They had landed on a table. Right on some tough guys' game of cards. The music stopped and everyone looked in their direction.

"Hey, you three!"

They turned around and a police officer was walking up to them. Actually, three police officers walked up to them. The three kids jumped off the table and backed off.

"Uh-oh!" Bruce said.

"Nice going, Walton!" Ron said. "Now they are going to kill us! Especially me! Now teleport us out of here! Now!"

"I can't!" Alfred said. "It won't work!"

"Neither will mine!" Bruce said.

"Bloody perfect," Ron said.

As they backed off all the people in the bar were getting up and walking their way with guns in their hands. They were saying stuff like "Kill those mutant scum!" "Those muties will give us a disease!" "Kill them!". Ron stopped where she was and said, "Go my brothers! Hide! I'll catch up with you two!"

"Are you crazy?!" Bruce said. "They'll kill you!"

Ron's claws popped out with a snikt! "No they won't."