THE REDEMPTION OF WOLVES

an X-Men: Evolution fanfic by JetNoir

CHAPTER ONE

The Xavier Institute

When Kitty Pryde woke up that morning, the warm sunlight streaming through the open curtains and hitting her in the face, she could sense that there was something…wrong. It was hardly conscious, just a gut feeling, but as she yawned and stretched lazily, it pervaded the atmosphere like a virus.

Her stretch was cut short when she gave a cry of pain, her back screaming at her. It was less than a month since a demon had plunged its furnace hot claws into her back, and she was still feeling the effects of the emergency surgery – and three-day coma.

Her fingers stole to her lips as she remembered waking up and the –

"You okay?" asked the deep southern accent of her friend and roommate Rogue, who was sitting up in her bed, set at right-angles to Kitty's own, a few feet away, looking very concerned, "It still hurts…doesn't it." Not a question but a statement. Kitty nodded and slid her feet to the ground, gingerly standing up.

"Can you feel it?" she asked Rogue, who shook her head:

"What? Your back?"

"No," said Kitty, "something else…I can't really describe it but-"

She was about to say more, when she was cut off by the telepathic voice of Professor Charles Xavier, which had entered both of their heads.

'Emergency. All students assemble in the foyer immediately.'

"No rest for the wicked," murmured Rogue.

"Or the good, for that matter," said Kitty.

--

It took just a few short minutes for the students to assemble in front of the Professor, who was sitting in his wheelchair in front of Logan. Kitty glanced around and saw a variety of sleepy faces, and mattered hair. She always hated the early morning calls.

"Good morning," said the Professor, his voice seemingly melancholy, although Kitty was unsure of whether this was due to her having just woken up, or something…bad. The Professor continued; "and I'm sorry for having to get you down her so early, but we seemingly have a problem. Rahne is missing." There was some murmuring at this; "It doesn't look as if she has been taken against her will, but of course this is a possibility. We think she left sometime in the middle of the night, but we are very sketchy on the details. I am going now to check her location with Cerebro, so that we may find, and help her. I do not know if she may want to be found. She has seemed strained the last few days…but I have no idea why she might have run off…if that is indeed what she has done. So I must urge you to eat, even though you might not feel like it, and return here in half an hour. We'll take it from there. Jean, Scott. Please may I have a word?"

The X-Men dispersed quickly leaving Kitty by herself. So…she had been right. Something was wrong, and she felt alone.

Something dark was approaching. She could feel it.

--

The large titanium doors hissed open, as Professor Charles Xavier and Jean Grey – a powerful telepath in her own right – went into the Mansion's supercomputer and mutant detection facility Cerebro. No words passed between them, none were needed. As the curved metal dome slid around the Professors head, he closed his eyes and exhaled a deep breath, fingers typing quickly the information about Rahne. Allowing his consciousness to meld with the computer's, using it as an amplifier, he sent his mind out into the world, weaving it's way through water and air, through mind and spirit, flesh and blood, in an attempt to find the one who was lost. Xavier's eyes snapped open, as a small moving dot appeared in the town of Bayville, about a mile from the Institute. Jean smiled as she relayed the information telepathically to Scott and Logan. However her smile fell as another dot swiftly appeared, some ten miles south, in woodland, and then another – locked somewhere in the sprawling metropolis of New York City.

"That's impossible," the Professor murmured, extremely confused.

"How can someone be in three places at once?" asked Jean.

"Excluding Jamie…our own Multiple Man…there must be a glitch within Cerebro…or more likely, Rahne's mental state is such is that it is transmitting false locations. Somewhat like Magneto's helmet, but this must be organic, and still gives off something."

"I'll go tell the others," Jean sighed.

--

"It seems that we are going to have to split up. Cerebro has detected Rahne's signature in three different places. That means we need to split up into four teams. The first was in Bayville; I want Jean, Scott, and Ororo there. Logan, Hank, Sam and Bobby…I want you to go to the woodlands, a few miles south with me. There's a police investigation, and I wonder if there might be something after Rahne. The last position is in New York, somewhere. Kitty, Rogue, Kurt, Tabitha, and Amara, I want you to investigate. Now…the thing I cannot stress enough, is that there might be something else at work here…you all must be extremely careful. Keep in contact…and let's go find our friend."

--

Crime Scene, Woodlands south of Bayville

The body had been discovered by the old cliché, a man simply walking his dog, just hoping for some piece and quiet – some solitude. The mutilated body had sent the dog nearly insane, and it's unsuspecting owner, into a deep state of shock.

As the Professor and Logan moved to the police tape they were both stopped by an extremely tall officer.

"Can't let you in," said the officer, "law-enforcement only."

"Yes, of course…I quite understand," said Xavier, waving, what looked to a horrified Logan, his library card, "but my name is Xavier, and this is Agent Logan. We wish to examine the body."

"Feds, huh?" said the officer, "I suppose that's okay. Sorry about that."

"That quite alright."

"What's your interest?" asked the officer.

"That is what we need to determine," replied the Professor.

After they had approached the body, Logan murmured softly,

"You know…I find that Jedi stuff pretty creepy Charlie. You sure it'll work."

"I'll wipe his mind before we leave…he'll never remember that we were here."

The body was laid out; spread-eagled, yet unmoved from where it had been discovered.

"Jesus," murmured Logan, "the body…those bites."

"They look exactly like a wolf's," Xavier said grimly.

--

Rahne, running

Still running, strong and fast, tears streaked and mattered onto her fur. She had been crying almost constantly for a very long time now, liquid spilling out of her eyes. She knew what she was.

Murderer.

Robber.

Dealer of death.

Killer.

and yet, I cannot deny that perhaps…

This is how it's supposed to be.

She wanted to disappear. Into a jungle. Laden with metallic smells, and roaring, belching metal dragons. The tears didn't stop.

But she kept on running.

--

New York City

"Why exactly were we sent here Kitty," asked Kurt Wagner, his voice puzzled, "what good are we going to do here? We have no search-and-rescue abilities, we can defend ourselves, but how are we going to find Rahne like this?"

"I think that we're a knee-jerk reaction to the problem. The Professor sent us, as we can look after ourselves, and he wants to cover all the bases…or rather be seen to cover all the bases," she replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Tabitha Smith, "Why would her only use us a ruse."

"He's failed," said Rogue, "Cerebro couldn't find her, so he sends us to the four corners of the metaphorical globe, to try and catch up with her. We're coming up to the supposed location, but it's been hours. We have no idea where she is."

"I think the Professor knows more than he's letting on," said Amara Aquila softly, "This is the second time in a month that someone's gone missing. No offence Kitty, but if this is due to Apocalypse…which I've noticed no-one's mentioned…then are we really up to it."

"It really looks like we have no choice," replied Kitty, "we have to find a way to help our friend…ow!"

A figure had just bumped into Kitty, sending her sprawling.

"Sorry!" he said, reaching down a hand to help her up so quickly, his trenchcoat flew open, and the rim of his hat was knocked back."

There was silence for a moment as the figure and Kitty regarded each other with surprise.

"Oh…" said the figure.

"You!" said Kitty.

It was The Man…


Note: Sorry about the sudden ending, but I found it was the best way to tie into the next chapter. 'The Man', for those of you who have come into this story fresh, is a mysterious person who we know very little about, except that his name begins with J and ends with R (a small joke on my part – JetNoir!), and he is a former employee of Apocalypse's. He appears in The Price You Pay, the previous story, which this is a sort of sequel too. For those of you who have read The Price You Pay, it seems that The Man's story is far (and I mean far!) from over! Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, and please review!

Disclaimer: X-Men Evolution is copyright to Warner Brothers and the story (plus original characters) to me. This story has been written on the understanding that you may read it and print it out; but you may not pass it off as your own, hire it out, or sell it for money. You also may not put it on your own or any other web page without my express written permission. Thankyou!

JetNoir