Disclaimer: I don't own shit. Animorphs belongs to the writer and the publisher and X-Men: Evolution belongs to Marvel. I do own the story line and the pairing.
Warning: The following story is fem-slash, and is not recommended for people with heart disease, liver problems, or homophobia (especially the latter).
A/N:
I would like to apologize for not updating. I've been busy and I finally found the time to finish it. Hopefully it won't take this long for Chapter 3.
Anyway, I would like to address an issue:
Not too many reviews. Come on people, give me some help here! I need fresh ideas and outside opinions! I know more people read than reviewed! Those of you that reviewed rock! Give me some ideas next time.
SPOILER! I want to warn you so I don't offend anyone: this scene is one of the reasons this story's rated M. And it is NOT a pleasant experience for her. It's rape, in case you're wondering. Or at least attempted rape. Don't read if you don't like.
Oh, and I'm gonna see if I can make Kurt's accent a little, Germanyer. Just to see if I can.
Enjoy, or suffer! (yes, this is now my catchphrase)
Chapter 2: The Fight
Cassie had been having the usual nightmare: A termite growing in a tiny piece of wood. She cried for it to stop, hoping the others had gotten away. She continued to grow, then suddenly, a wave of warmy glowness (I love my articulation) spread through her. She began to grow slower and the wood seemed to expand. Then she felt it again, and then the wood was gone altogether. Then, she was floating in an endless white void that reminded her of Z-space, kissing the most beautiful girl she had ever seen. More beautiful than Rachel!
The girl had short red hair, and dazzling green eyes. Cassie had never felt this way about anyone, not even Rachel! She knew this was pure, unadulterated love. And from the way the red-haired girl was kissing her, she felt the same. Cassie knew it was all a dream, but still… It was a good dream! However, the dream-girl had a solid feel. Cassie pushed that thought away, and lost herself in the warmy glowness (love this phrase!).
Suddenly, she was alone. The warmy glowness feeling gone. Cassie forced herself into wakefulness. When she looked around, there was no one there. She felt a slight breeze and noticed the window was open. She walked over to it and saw a car driving away. She dismissed it as she closed the window.
When she went back to sleep, she had no more dreams. The dream-kiss had erased all chances of nightmares that night.
When she awoke again, she noticed that she felt strangely alone. She looked around and saw some red hair at the foot of her bed.
*Gasp*! Wolfy! She looked around the whole room, but saw no sign of her. Maybe she's downstairs? she thought. She opened the door and went downstairs where her parents were doing their usual things. Her mom was making dinner and watching Animal Planet, and her dad was reading National Geographic.
"Hey, Mom," Cassie said. "Have you seen Wolfy?"
"Not since last night. Why?" her mother asked.
"She wasn't there when I woke up. Dad, have you seen her?" she asked.
He looked up from National Geographic. "Same as your mother. What do you mean she wasn't there?"
"I mean she wasn't there!" Cassie said, clearly upset. "Gone! The door was closed, but she was gone!"
She stormed out. Obviously her interrogation of her parents was useless, they didn't know anything. Which was no more than usual for her, seeing as they suspected nothing of her other life.
She walked out to the barn, the most likely place Wolfy could be. Nothing. Nothing but the sick and wounded animals of the night before. She walked back to the house slowly, thinking about what could have happened to her. On her way she saw footprints on the ground. And they were not hers. As she studied them, she saw that there was only one set, and they were headed away from the house. If it had not been for the obvious human shape to them, she might have thought them to belong to Wolfy.
She wondered who's they were. They were too small to be either of her parent's. Hell, they were too small to be hers. She followed the prints and they ended at the road, leaving no visible tracks on the pavement. She wondered if it had anything to do with that car she heard the other night.
Her stomach growled and she decided to leave those thoughts for another time. Right now, her waffles were probably still a little warm, so she needed to hurry before they got cold…
***
"Rahne, are you sure you want to go out so soon after returning?" Professor Xavier asked, the worry clearly visible on his face.
Rahne sighed. "Aye, Professor," she said. "I'm sure. Besides there are no bears at the mall, now are there? If there were, I would never go there. Now, can I PLEASE go now? The others are probably ready by now, and I don't want to get left behind!"
Xavier hesitated, and then gave his permission. If Rahne hadn't been in a hurry, she probably would've hugged the bald telepath. He rolled to the window and watched most of his students climb into a few cars to go to the mall. Some had been there the day before, but it had been cut short because of the search for Rahne.
Once they were gone, he felt a presence. He hadn't sensed it before because all the students had been there. But now there were only a handful of students left, so the presence stuck out like a sore thumb. He looked out the window and traced it to a Red-Tailed Hawk sitting in a tree. Usually he would have dismissed its presence, but it felt much more intelligent than other hawks. He scanned its mind, and nearly fell out of his chair.
It was intelligent. In fact it used to be human. It had a name as well. And it had enemies. Powerful, dangerous enemies.
Xavier sent a mental "suggestion" to him, and he flew off in search of food. Xavier then turned his attention to Logan.
Logan, I need to speak with you, he said.
This had better be good, Chuck, Logan thought to him angrily. I'm trying to fix my bike from the last time Rouge took it for a joyride.
It is of the gravest importance, Logan.
Xavier heard a mental sigh from the metal-boned mutant. I'm on my way, he thought almost reluctantly.
After sending a similar message to Ororo and Hank, all the official "adults" of the mansion had assembled.
"Thank you all for coming," he told them. "Something has come to my attention. A few minutes ago we had an unusual visitor. He kept himself scarce because he didn't want us to know he was there. However he didn't count on a telepath being here. I took the liberty of scanning his mind and what I found was rather unsettling. His name is Tobias Hawking, and he is a member of a group that fights against an alien threat to Earth called Yeerks."
"Pull the other one," Logan said.
"Logan, I am quite serious," Xavier said sternly.
"Are you sure?" Ororo asked.
"What do they use to fight them?" Hank asked. "Alien technology? Are they mutants? Do they have allies with other races?"
"In order," Xavier said, "yes, no, and yes. They use a type of technology by a race called Andalites to fight them. In fact, that technology is what allowed Tobias to infiltrate us so easily."
"What does it do?" Logan asked.
"It is a genetic technology that allows whoever obtains it to become any animal they can touch. Tobias was in the form of a Red-Tailed Hawk when he came here. However it does have its downsides. One can only be in the form for up to two hours, no more. If you do, you remain permanently trapped in that form. And you can't change from one form to another. You have to change to your natural form, then change."
"Even with the downsides," Hank said, "the technology's amazing! I would like to study it."
"There is one more downside," Xavier said. "In order to become an animal, you must first touch the animal and absorb its DNA. Meaning becoming fighting animals is very dangerous."
"What about that time limit?" Hank asked. "Are you sure there's no way around that?"
"Quite sure," Xavier said solemnly. "The reason I'm sure is, in the early days of the battle with the Yeerks, Tobias had to hide in the hawk form he's in now, and was trapped."
"How sad," Ororo said.
"How old are these guys?" Logan asked.
"Surprisingly, they are about the same age as the average student here," Xavier said.
"What?!" Logan said. "You mean to tell me the Earth's in the hands of a bunch of kids?!"
"Do their parents know?" Ororo asked.
"No, they do not," Xavier said. "They are still unsure of whom they can trust. They already identified their leader's brother as one of them, as well as the principle of the school they attend."
"What school do they attend?" Ororo asked.
"The same one our students are going. I've already identified one of them. She's the one who saved Rahne when she was missing. In fact they had a meeting about us."
"Do they know what we are?" Hank asked.
"No. Only that we have what they and their enemies consider advanced electro-magnetic cloaking. They have a spy on the inside and were able to find out that we were building underground as well."
"How much did you scan of this kid's mind, anyway?" Logan asked.
"A relatively small percent, considering all they've encountered. I just focused on the technology they use and recent events."
"Is he still here," Hank asked.
"No. I placed a mental suggestion in his mind so he would search for food. However, once he realizes this notion is false, he will return, more curious than ever. I would like to speak with him and learn about these Yeerks from him himself rather than invade his mind take what I want like a pirate. No if I did that I would be no better than Magneto. Logan, when he returns I want you to talk to him and bring him here."
"ME?!" the clawed mutant asked. "Why me? How am I supposed to bring him here? What about Storm? Why does it have to be me?"
"Because I said so," Xavier said firmly, leaving no room for argument. "When he returns it will be at that tree." He pointed at the large oak tree by the outer wall through the window. "Go there and wait for him." Logan growled and grudgingly walked out to wait. "Ororo, Hank, I would like to speak with him alone this time."
"Of course, Professor," Ororo said. She and Hank got up to leave when Ororo remembered something. "Oh, someone will need to go buy some food. We don't have much and I doubt it'll last long."
"I'll get Logan on that when he's sent Tobias to me." With that the other two left, leaving Xavier to think about the questions he would ask when he spoke with Tobias. This would certainly be interesting.
***
When Tobias decided to get some food, he also thought he should tell Jake what he had seen so far.
He spotted him walking out of his house and waited till he was a good bit away from it to talk to him, so there was no chance of Tom hearing them. They had known Tom was a Yeerk from the beginning, though Jake had some trouble admitting it then. In fact, he still had some trouble dealing with that now. Once he was a good ways from the house, Tobias perched on a lamppost and called Jake.
Hey Jake. How's it going? he asked.
Jake looked up to look at him. "Good. Cassie called to tell me Wolfy's disappeared."
Really? How'd that happen?
"Don't know," he said. "She said she woke up and she was just gone."
Weird. Anyway, I wanted to tell you what I've seen so far at that mansion.
"Okay, what'd you find out?" Jake asked.
First, it's finished. Second, it's some type of school or something. Tobias said.
"What do you mean?"
A lot of kids live there. Most of them about our age. Remember those guys we saw at the mall yesterday?
"Yeah."
Well they live there too! There's about three adults. One is a rough looking guy, another is this African woman, and the other is a bald guy in a wheel chair. So far I haven't found anything of major interest.
"You came all this way to tell me that?" Jake asked, confused. This was good info, but he could've waited until the scheduled switch time to tell that.
Actually I was hungry and decided to tell you what I've found before I ate.
"Didn't you eat right before you went there?" Jake asked, even more confused. Hawks didn't just get hungry on a whim like people.
Tobias thought about this information. Whoa, you're right! That's weird.
"What happened?" Jake asked.
I was there for a while, then most of them took off for the mall or something. Then there was this buzzing in my head and then the thought crossed my mind that I was hungry. Tobias informed him.
"Must've been some sort of reaction to the EM field. Be careful when you go back," the fearless leader of the Animorphs said.
I will. Hey, how're things going with Cassie? Tobias asked. He was curious if Cassie had told him yet.
"Great!" Jake said with a smile. "I asked her out yesterday before the meeting, but Wolfy needed more care so I asked about next Saturday. She said rain-check, but that's another way of saying yes, right? I mean, that's what Marco told me."
You should know better than to listen to Marco, man! Tobias said, a bit disappointed. He had known about Cassie for a while now. In the early days of the Animorphs, he had seen her sneaking glances at Rachel. He had found that odd, but didn't piece it together until he accidentally overheard her telling Rachel the truth. Tobias, in turn, told Ax, who didn't seem surprised. Apparently, such a thing is common on his planet, and he was curious if it was forbidden amongst humans. No one had told Jake because Cassie said she wanted to do that herself, and no one told Marco because they all knew what he would do.
Anyway, he said, I gotta get back. Good luck with Cassie. Cassie, tell him soon.
With that he flew off toward the mansion. When he got there he noticed the large gruff leaning against his tree. Tobias decided to ignore him being there but kept his eye on him. The gruff man glanced up at him and mumbled something. Then he reached into a bag he had with him and pulled out a bottle of water. Tobias looked around to see if there was anything worth seeing. He saw a girl arguing on the phone (though it looked like she was talking to the phone itself and not someone on the line) and two girls making out in a statue garden. He did a double take of the latter. Hm, guess I know where three lesbians live!
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of metal cutting plastic. He looked at the gruff man and saw the bottle with the top cut off. The man downed the drink with the top in the other hand. Once he was done he gave a satisfied grunt and threw both the bottle and the top into the nearest recycle bin, which wasn't hard since there were dozens of them around so he didn't even have to get off the tree. Having finished that he looked up at Tobias and said, "I was wondering when you were gonna get here, kid."
Tobias nearly fell out of the tree at hearing that. Is he talking to me? he wondered. He considered flying off but decided to pretend he didn't hear him.
When he didn't respond the guy said, "Hey, don't try playin' the dumb animal routine on me, Tobias! The Professor just wants to talk to ya."
Tobias was shocked when he heard his name. Well, if he knows, might as well ask. How do you know my name? Tobias asked.
"I can do better than that," he said. "You're trapped in that bird form because of the stupid time limit on your morphing power, you and your kid friends are fighting against an alien invasion and your leader's brother is on the other side."
How can he know all that?! Who are you? What do you want? Tobias asked.
"It's not what I want, kid," the man said. "It's what the Professor wants. And he wants to talk to ya personally."
Ok, where is he? How do I talk to him? Tobias asked.
Then the man looked distracted, like he was listening to something else. He growled a little like he heard something he didn't like. Then he was back and said, "The window's open. It's the big one up there." He pointed and sure enough, there was a large two door window open. "Now if you'll excuse me, I apparently got some shopping to do." With that the man walked toward the garage mumbling about kids eating too much.
Tobias took flight towards the open window, still wondering if this was a good idea. When inside, he saw a perch on the other side of the room. Obviously he had been expected. He flew over and perched in a way so that he could see the large desk that was he flew over to get there. When there, he saw the old bald man in the wheelchair he had seen sitting behind the desk.
The man smiled a warm smile and looked at Tobias. "Welcome, Tobias. I hope Logan didn't scare you."
Kinda. he said. What's that guy's deal, anyway?
"He is a violent man, with a good and caring heart," the man said.
Reminds me of Rachel. Tobias thought to himself.
"I don't know who Rachel is, but she must be violent to be like Logan," the man said with a smile.
You can read my mind?! Tobias said, shocked.
"Yes." I can do many things with my mind.
Whoa, and I thought we were the only ones who could do that! Tobias said. How do you know so much about me?
"I took the liberty of reading your mind when you were here earlier," he said. "I think I have a right to know who is spying on my school."
Yeah, sorry about that. Tobias said, a little embarrassed. Lucky for him hawks can't blush.
"No matter," he said. "On to business. My name is Professor Charles Xavier. And this is my school for mutants."
"Mutants"? What's a mutant? Tobias asked.
"A mutant is someone born with unique talents that set them apart from other people. They have a special gene called the X-gene, which is dormant in most people. Mutants are simply people born with an active X-gene. The X-gene, however, doesn't truly reveal itself until the teen years, in a state of stress."
So, it's like a puberty thing? Tobias asked.
Xavier smiled. "Something like that."
So, wait. Let me get this straight: everyone in this entire school is a mutant?
"Yes," Xavier said matter-of-factly.
...HOW MANY MUTANTS ARE THERE?! Tobias nearly screamed. There were a lot of people in this school, and he shuddered to think how many others there were.
"Many," Xavier said gravely. "And unfortunately, not all of them are good. Some of them, like my former colleague Eric Lehnsherr, also known as Magneto, have a certain distaste for humanity. But that isn't why I asked you here, Tobias. It is because I feel this alien threat may threaten the welfare of my students. But before I make that assumption, I need you to tell me everything you know about them. In turn, I'll tell you everything there is to know about us."
This might take a while. Tobias said.
***
When the students got to the mall, those that hadn't gone were as amazed as those who had gone the day before. Tabitha and Amara decided to stay home this time, seeing as they now had more room to do whatever it is they do (hint hint).
When they got inside, they stared in amazement at the size of the inside. To some of them, it looked bigger on the inside than the out.
"Wow," Kitty said, suddenly feeling small. "This is their mall?"
"Ja," Kurt said. "Vould you like to see zhe food court? Zhey have zhe most delicious cinnamon bun place I have ever tasted!"
Kitty smiled at her boyfriend's cinnamon bun obsession. "Sure, Kurt! I'd love to!"
Kurt smiled and led her to the food court. A few of the others followed, including Rahne, Jubilee, Rouge (who, after much convincing and drain threats, decided to come this time), Scott, and Peter. The others (Ray, Bobby, Sam, Roberto and Jean) decided to go their separate ways and see what else was there. Personally Ray, Bobby and Sam hoped there was an arcade for them to check out, Roberto decided to look for girls, while Jean hoped there was a book store.
When the ones that went with Kurt got to the food court (there wasn't as much distress or headache this time), they split up for a second to get their food. Kurt was surprised when he saw the people they had seen the other day, sitting at the same table as last time. The only difference was two of the guys were missing and there was an African American girl with them this time. And Ax wasn't eating yet.
"Zhat's zhe guy I vas tell you about, Kitty," Kurt said, pointing at Ax.
"That's him?" she asked.
"Yep! Vanna go meet zhem?" he asked.
"Sure!"
They walked over to them and Kurt was the first to speak. "Vell, vell, vell. If it isn't mein arch enemy!" he said, smirking a little. "Ax, right? Remember me?"
Ax looked up at him and smiled a little. "Yes. Yeeesssss. YYYYYesssss. Sssss. I remember you. Member. Remmmmemmmmberrrrr."
Kitty looked a little shocked. "Does he, like, always do that?" she asked.
"Unfortunately, yeah," the blonde girl of the other group said. "We don't know how to stop him! I'm Rachel by the way. Nice to meet you!" She stuck out a hand for her to shake.
Kitty took it and shook. "Kitty Pryde. Nice to meet you too! I'm Kurt's girlfriend."
"Dude, you got good taste!" the smallish one of the other group said. "Although I might have gone for one without the vallygirl accent." Saying that earned him a killing glare from Rachel. "But that's just me!" he added quickly. "I'm Marco. Are you new around here? I haven't seen you before."
"Yeah, we, like, just moved into town," Kitty said. "The school board is having a meeting because there's going to be a lot more students now. That's why school's out on Monday."
"So, wait," Marco said. "You're the reason school's out?"
"Yep," Kitty said.
Suddenly she was almost choking when Marco somehow managed to grow enough to wrap his arms around her breathing area. "THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!" he almost screamed.
"Yo, man!" Kurt yelled, yanking him off. "Hands off zhe girlfriend!"
"Sorry," Marco said, blushing a little. "I just really appreciate it!"
"Wow," Rachel said. "'Appreciate.' That's a big word! Congratulations!"
"Shut up, Xena!" he said. Then when he tried to sit down he winced. "Damn butt! I hate dogs!"
"She was a wolf," Rachel corrected. "Not a dog, Marco. I think that's what made her bite you to begin with!"
"I didn't think she could understand me!" he cried, managing to sit down again.
Kitty heard a giggle from behind her and saw it was Rahne. Kitty thought it was kinda funny too, so ignored it. She turned her attention on the last one of the other group: the African American girl. Kitty noticed a somewhat sad look on her face.
"Hey, why the long face?" Kitty asked.
The girl glanced up at her. "I-It's nothing," she said.
"She's upset because the same wolf that bit Marco disappeared sometime last night," Rachel said. "I'm kinda bummed too because that won't be happening again, and I am not biting his butt myself!"
"You know you wanna!" Marco teased.
"Shut up," Rachel said simply. "That's Cassie by the way. Her family's barn heals wounded wild animals and then sets them free. That's how she found the wolf. It showed up yesterday and she fixed it. Healed pretty quickly from what she told me. And she had the most amazing green eyes! And her fur was the reddest I've ever seen!"
At that, the X-Men took sideways glances at Rahne. But she didn't notice. Or if she did, she didn't care. She was busy watching Cassie intently. Did my leaving affect her this much? she wondered as she observed her savior's sad state.
"Well good riddance I say!" Marco said, rising a little to rub his sore ass. "I'm gonna have trouble sitting for weeks!"
"Marco," Rachel said. "Go fuck yourself." Her friends stared at her agape, the X-Men too. "What?" she asked.
"She kinda reminds me of Mr. Logan," Kitty muttered. Her friends nodded their sentiment.
"Introductions aside," Kurt said, changing the subject in what he hoped was a positive direction. "Ready for round two, Ax?"
Ax smiled. "Yesssss. Yeeeeesssssss. Sssssssss. I ammmm."
Kurt went over to get the food trays and encountered the same counter person (sorry, don't know what their called) as before. "Hey, I remember you!" the guy said. "You know you had an advantage since he had already eaten a lot, right?"
"Zhat's vhy ve're having round two!" Kurt told him. "Now can you get our food and stop trying to ruin my day?"
***
While the Kurt guy looked like he was restraining himself from a murder charge, Rachel got a call from her mother.
"Hello?... Oh, hi Mom.... No, I'm not busy....WHAT?!... Come on Mom! Can't you get one of the neighbors?... What do you mean they're all busy?!... But I... Fine! I'm on my way. I'll be there in a few minutes!" She hung up. She couldn't believe it! She was going to miss round two of the greatest cinnamon bun eating contest in the world, all because her mother couldn't find a decent babysitter while she went to court. Just her luck!
"Sorry, guys," she said. "Mom says I gotta babysit the brats."
"Hm," Marco pondered. "Xena on babysitting duty? I feel sorry for them! Don't throw your chakram at them, I think you'll get in trouble for that!"
Rachel gave a good kick to his chair, causing him to fall on his sore ass. "OW!!" he cried. She smiled as she walked away, saying her goodbyes to Cassie and their new friends.
As she walked out, she noticed a rather odd group headed the opposite way: a white haired scrawny kid, a big fat guy, a hunched smelly guy, a girl in red, and a bad-boy. But she ignored them, as they did her. But the guys did run their eyes down her backside when they passed her. She turned around and gave them the finger, and the red girl grabbed them by their ears (two in each hand if you can picture it!) and dragged them off.
Once she was out she noticed that the parking lot was strangely empty. There were only cars filling the lot. She looked around and saw a group of thugs hanging out on the wall. She was nervous because the way home meant going past those guys, and the way they eyed her made her more nervous. She repressed her fear and walked toward them. If they try anything, I just do a half morph thing and scare them! she thought. It worked before, it can work again!
She walked past them without being bothered. At first she thought she was safe, but then she heard them following her. No problem, she thought. Just keep walking and when you turn the corner run for it. They aren't even going that fast anyway! Indeed, they were going a little slow, as though they were trying to keep quite. But she knew better. She always had a keen sense about these things. They had something planned.
When she turned the corner, she found out what! There were more guys there waiting for her! She tried to make a break for it, but they grabbed her from all sides. The ones behind her caught up and assisted, except for one who seemed to be the boss. Some grabbed her arms and legs, while others just grabbed what looked nice.
"Goin' somewhere, gorgeous?" he asked, in a nonchalant way.
Rachel struggled, but they had her. "Yeah," she said. "Home!"
He smiled. "Beautiful in body and voice! Nice. And no, you're not goin' home. Not yet!"
She glared at him, feeling the adrenaline rushing through her. She let out a low growl, startling her captors. She growled whenever she was really angry or stress, feeding Marco's teasing about her being some sort of wild animal inside her beautiful body. He said on occasion that she liked the morphing because it takes her closer to what she was meant to be. She hated when he did that.
The leader just smirked at her. "It seems we got us a fighter, eh boys?" he asked. They responded by laughing a little and feeling her up. She considered screaming, but then she felt a hand over her mouth. "Now we don't want you to cause a commotion. We just wanna have a little fun!" He then reached down for the zipper of his pants.
She considered doing the elephant thing she had done the last time something like this happened, only then they hadn't been holding on to her. They she felt the cold blade of a knife on the back of her neck and froze, her eyes widening.
"Don't be afraid," the leader said. "Mitch won't hurt you unless I say so. So as long as you cooperate, you'll be just fine. A little broken, but alive." He then pulled out a seven-inch long dick. She stared at it, her eyes beginning to tear up. She was finally understanding the magnitude of her situation. She couldn't morph something big to scare them without jamming that knife into her skull, and she couldn't morph small to try and escape because if he saw something wrong, he would have her killed. She was trapped, and there was no one to save her.
He took a step closer and the men holding her began to feel her more vigorously. One of them even reached under her shirt and groped her breasts. Another lower one reached up her skirt and played with her pussy. She began to squirm a little, squealing as she still tried to escape. She looked as the leader came closer, and the head of the dick almost reaching for her.
When he reached her, the guy with his hand over her mouth removed it. But before she could scream, something else clogged her mouth. She stared up at him with pleading, tearful eyes. But when she did, all she saw was evil lust.
"You bite, you die, whore!" he said to her. She nodded in teary agreement. She slowly began to suck on the intruding member as he thrust it deeper into her mouth. He groaned in satisfaction and thrust harder, causing her to gag for a second, but a look from him forced her to continue. Tears were streaming down her face as she was groped relentlessly as she sucked on the unwanted member.
She felt her shirt lifted up and her bra ripped off so that her breasts were in full view. Several hands fought for them as they groped and kneaded them. She also felt the hand playing with her pussy push aside her panties for better access. If she hadn't been scared before, she was now. She was going to be ravaged and there was nothing she could do about it.
Suddenly, she felt the member get pulled out of her mouth, only to be replaced by the hand again.
"Good," the leader said. "Now lift her up, boys. I want to see just how innocent she is!" They did as they were told, though electing a groan from the guy who had been playing with her pussy.
They lifted her up so they were keeping her off the ground and spread her legs in a spread eagle of sorts. He positioned himself in front of her and was about to take away her innocence, when a voice said:
"HEY, WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!?!"
She turned her head so she could see who had spoken. It was a rather large, gruff man with his hair sticking up a little on the sides. He was wearing dark leather like a biker. The one thing even a blind man could notice about this man was: he was PISSED!
The leader looked over at him and sneered. "This ain't your problem, old man!" he yelled at him.
The man growled like Rachel had, only much louder and more frightening. This caused Rachel's holders to flinch.
"It is now, kid!" the man said to him. They had no idea who they were messing with!
***
Logan had just picked up the food the Professor asked him to buy after he sent Tobias to him. When he got to his bike he heard a sound. It sounded like squealing. Like muffled screaming against a hand.
He sniffed the air and sure enough, there were elevated hormones coming from nearby. He sniffed and smelt sweat, sex, and fear. He knew each scents well enough, since he lived at a school full of hormone driven teens that fought battle simulations in the Danger Room. But all of them mixed together meant one thing: rape.
He followed the scent and got there just as the guy pulled out of her mouth and told them to lift her. He looked at her and watched the look in her eyes to see if this wasn't some weird, voluntary sex game. But the look in her eyes erased that notion. She was terrified. Hm, he thought to himself. They always seem to go for the blonde ones with blue eyes. Can't these idiots try something original? He decided to stop it before it went any farther.
Which brings us to now.
Logan was staring down the tugs as they attempted to do the same. The girl watched intently and Logan could've sworn he'd seen her somewhere before.
But he pushed that aside as the leader came to his senses and told two of his boys to attack Logan. The two groaned because the places they were holding weren't for restraining her. They got up and pulled out their weapons: brass knuckles and a lead pipe.
The first one to attack was the brass knuckle guy. First he punched Logan in the stomach, then across the face with his other fist, throwing Logan to the ground facing away. Logan had decided to play along with the first few punches before he really got started. He started to get up, acting as though he were straining.
He heard the man coming, and just before the punch hit, Logan quickly turned around and intercepted the fist with his own. There was a metal clang as brass hit adamantium. The punch put a major dent in the brass knuckles and broke the man's hand. Logan then threw another punch into the man's face, sending him flying back. He landed at the feet of the lead pipe guy. The guy looked down at his friend and then at Logan, and then at his friend's hand.
Drawing up courage, the man charged Logan and brought the pipe down on Logan as hard as he could. The blow, though causing a little headache, did little damage, as did the knuckles. It did, however, put a dent in the pipe.
Logan growled. Now he was annoyed. Time to end this! he thought. He drew out his claws and slashed at the pipe, cutting it down to size. The man looked at the pipe and backed up to the rest of the group, the leader of which was noted to have gone flaccid out of fear.
Logan stood up and growled again. "Who wants some?" he asked, drawing out the claws of his other hand. The thugs considered. Then, sharing the same thought, took off running, yelling about monsters and freaks. This didn't bother Logan, for he'd heard worse.
He hurried to the blonde girl, who had been simply dropped in the rush. He helped her to a sitting position. "Are you ok?" he asked.
The girl looked at him, then burst into tears. "I couldn't stop them! There were too many! I wasn't strong enough!" She threw her arms around him and cried.
Logan, rather shocked at this, hesitantly returned the embrace. The girl was almost raped, he thought to himself. She's emotional. And she needs comfort. I could've sworn I've seen her somewhere!
She cried for about two minutes, before pulling herself together. After releasing him, she stood up and fixed her shirt and skirt.
"You gonna be ok, kid?" Logan asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," she said, still a little shaky.
"You want me to call the cops for you?" Logan asked, wanting to make sure she was fine.
"No," she said. "Thanks, but no. I'll be fine. Really. I've been through worst, trust me. I'm Rachel, by the way." She stuck out her hand for him to shake.
Logan took it. "Name's Logan," he said. "Listen, if you ever need anything, I live up at that new mansion that way." He pointed at the mansion, slightly visible on the horizon. "Got it?"
"You live up at the mansion?" she asked, suddenly intrigued.
"Yeah. You heard of it?" he asked.
"Kind of," she said. "A friend of mine told me about it yesterday."
Logan grunted a little. "Anyway, if you need me, just ask for Logan, or Wolverine. Got it?"
"'Wolverine?'" she asked.
"Long story," he said. "Don't ask. You got it or not?"
"Yeah," she said. "Got it. I gotta be getting home anyway. I'm way late!" With that she turned and took off. She paused a moment and looked back at him and waved. "Bye, Mr. Logan! Thanks for saving me!" And then she took off again.
Logan watched her leave, wondering where he had seen her before. He couldn't remember anything past ten years ago, thanks to Stryker and his stupid Weapon-X project. He let it go and went back to the bike. He dreaded having to explain why he was late.
***
Things were running smoothly. Kurt was losing the bun eating contest, no one was using their powers, and no one was attacking them. All was well.
That is, until the Brotherhood showed up.
Lance has been sore ever since Kitty broke up with him. While he used to be able to tolerate them at school, he now despised every fiber of their being.
"Well, well, well," Pietro said as they walked up to them. "If it isn't the X-Geeks."
"Friends of yours?" Marco asked Kurt.
"Hardly," he said, wiping his mouth of the cinnamon. "Vhat do you losers vant?"
"Watch who you're talking to, you blue monkey!" Lance said, grabbing Kurt by his shirt.
"Lance! Leave him alone!" Kitty said, tearing her ex-boyfriend off her current boyfriend.
"I still can't believe you dumped me for that loser, Kitty," Lance said.
"Ex-boyfriend?" Marco asked the person nearest him.
That person being Rahne, who had been edging closer to Cassie. "Aye, you have no idea," she told him. "She used to have a thing for him, but when they were actually together, she left him for Kurt. I hear when she first moved to the mansion back in Bayville, he had a little crush on her."
"Lucky him," he said. "Are you Irish?"
"Scottish," she corrected him. "Jeez, is it that hard to tell the difference?!" For a moment she considered biting his ass again, but decided it would look too weird. Luckily for Rahne, the commotion had drawn Cassie out of her fantasy land.
Cassie looked over at Marco and Rahne, and froze when she saw Rahne.
Rahne took advantage of her attention to talk to her.
"Hi," she said, sticking out her hand. "What's your name again?"
Cassie half-mindedly took the hand and said something really intelligent. "Uh."
Rahne giggled as she did most of the shaking. Had this been the first time she had seen Cassie, neither one would have been able to say anything to each other.
"Nice to meet you, Uh. My name is Rahne," she said.
Cassie blinked and shook herself out of her daze. "I'm Cassie," she said. "Nice to meet you." She noticed Rahne's casted arm. "What happened?" she asked.
Rahne shrugged. "I can be a klutz sometimes," she said.
Then Cassie noticed the fight that was beginning to accumulate among Rahne's friends and the Brotherhood. "Did I miss something?"
"I feel like that a lot," Marco said under his breath.
"My friend Kitty dumped Lance for my other friend Kurt, and Lance is still a little sore," Rahne informed her.
"Come on, Lance," Pietro said. "He ain't worth it. We'll settle this some other time, X-Geeks!"
Lance, however, had other ideas. While the rest of the Brotherhood turned to leave, he decided to take charge and tackled Kurt.
"LANCE!" Kitty cried. She rushed over to pull him off when a hand clamped down on her shoulder. She turned and saw Wanda standing there.
"Going somewhere?" she asked.
"If Lance's gonna get in trouble," Pietro said, "we're gettin' in trouble too!"
With that they paired off. Pietro took on Scott, Freddy took on Peter, Todd (much to his distress) was targeted by Rogue, while the Wanda took on Kitty. Jubilee took off to find the others, and Rahne started towards Kitty.
However, a hand grabbed her good arm and stopped her. She turned and saw Cassie standing there.
"You can't go fight," she said. "Not with that arm."
"But-" Rahne started.
However Cassie wouldn't have it. "You're in no condition to fight," she said, worried. "Your friend went off for help, so right now we wait."
Rahne didn't like it. These were her friends, her family. She couldn't just sit by while they fought. But Cassie's grip on her arm would have none of it.
Soon enough, Jubilee returned with the others, as well as security. After Ray, Sam and Roberto pulled Lance off Kurt (who was being choked), security pulled him away. Seeing the reinforcements, the rest of the Brotherhood decided to bail. However they were intercepted by more security. Not wanting to reveal mutants to the world yet, they went along.
"I'll get you, you blue-furred freak!" Lance yelled at Kurt as they were hauled off. "Then I'll Kitty regret having broken up with me by breaking your neck!"
After they were gone, Jean and the others wanted to know what they missed. While they were getting the rundown, Rahne realized Cassie was still holding her arm.
"Um, Cassie?" she said. "The fight's over. You can let go now." However she was in no hurry to have her let go.
Cassie blushed at this realization, and quickly let go. "Oh! Uh, sorry!" she said.
Rahne giggled a bit. "It's no problem," she said. Then she turned to her friends who had fought. "Are you guys alright?" she asked them.
"Yeah, like, no problem," Kitty said, holding her arm. Kitty turned to Cassie. "Cassie, right? Nice call not letting Rahne fight," she told her.
Cassie blushed a little. "No problem," she said.
Scott got everyone's attention. "Hey guys," he said. "Maybe we should head home. We've caused enough damage today as it is." The others nodded their agreement.
Rahne turned to Cassie again. "Well, I guess I'll see you later?" she asked.
Cassie blushed. "Uh, yeah!" she said. "Of course!"
With that said, Rahne turned and left with the others.
***
Seeing her go was almost as hard as finding out Wolfy was gone for Cassie. She had looked exactly like the girl from her dream! And she had the same eyes as Wolfy.
When they were gone, the Animorphs looked around the food court. It was trashed! There were tables turned upside down, tables that were broken, food everywhere, and trash spilling out of trashcans.
Jake walked up and looked around. "Um, did I miss anything?" he asked.
"Yeah!" Marco said. "Remember those guys from yesterday? The ones with the guy that beat Ax in that contest? They came back! Apparently they live at the new mansion. And they found the girl that was missing, too. Anyway, apparently Kurt's girlfriend dumped some other guy. His name was Lance and he was pissed! He and his buddies showed up when Ax and Kurt were having a rematch. Then suddenly, Lance jumps Kurt and starts strangling him! The others paired off and they were duking it out! It was AWSOME! If Kurt's other friends hadn't shown up with security, Lance would've killed him! You should've seen it! Also, Lance kept calling Kurt blue-boy, or something like that. Weird, huh?"
"Yeah," Jake said, taking another look around. "Man, they really trashed this place, huh? Anyway, I'm not surprised they live at the mansion. Tobias already told me."
"Tobias left his post?" Ax asked. "Pooooost. Ssssst."
"He said he was hungry, but then he remembered he had eaten before he went there. We figured it must've been a reaction to the EM field."
"Your assumption is probably correct, Prince Jake," Ax said.
"Don't call me 'Prince,'" Jake said automatically. Then he noticed Cassie standing there, still staring. "Hey, Cassie, you alright?" he asked her.
She stared blankly for a moment. Then she blinked and shook herself out of it. "Huh, what?" she asked.
"You were staring," Jake told her. "You alright?" he asked again.
"Oh, yeah," she said. "I'm fine." She looked in the direction she had last seen Rahne. Except maybe Rachel, she had never felt this way about anybody. Being around her made Cassie's heart flutter, and the butterflies in her stomach go crazy and filled her with a sense of warmy glowness.
Jake, however, just thought she was still sad about Wolfy. "Look, Cassie," he said. "If you want we can go looking for Wolfy."
"No, I'll be fine," she told him. She decided it still wasn't time to tell him. "Look, why don't we all go home. I'm a little tired and I also need to feed the animals."
"Ok," Jake said. "Look, if you ever want to talk, I'm here, ok?"
She looked at him, and saw the care in his eyes. This made her feel even worse. "Thanks," she said simply, and turned and walked away.
The others followed closely behind.
Once they were outside, they separated. Ax hid and demorphed, then morphed to his owl form. Marco walked with Cassie, since his house was on the way to hers, though not as far, and Ax flew above them since the forest was beyond her house. She didn't mind walking. She needed to think.
"You know, Cassie," Marco joked as they walked. "The way you were staring at Rahne, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were gay!" She said nothing, just continued walking. "What, aren't you gonna deny it?" he asked, somewhat confused. "Call me an idiot? Punch me in the face? Kick me in the balls and call me a pervert for saying that?" Still, she said nothing. "Wait, you aren't, are you?"
She glanced at him, but said nothing.
Then he caught on. "Wait a second!" he said, stopping. Cassie stopped too, and Ax perched on a lamppost. "I thought you had a thing for Jake!"
"No," she said. "I don't. I never did."
It is true, Ax said from his perch.
"Wait another second," Marco said. "You knew? Who else knows?"
"Tobias and Rachel," Cassie told him. "The reason I hung out with you and Jake was because I had a crush on Rachel. I made it look like I liked Jake so she wouldn't suspect. I was nervous about how she would react. Not long ago, I told her. She didn't hate me for it, and she didn't stop being my friend. She did tell me that she didn't like me like that, and that I should tell Jake. Tobias had accidentally overheard them talking and we made him swear not to tell Jake. I wanted to tell him myself."
Tobias told me, and made me swear the same. Ax said.
"But why didn't anyone tell me?" Marco asked. "Why didn't I find out?"
"Because you're an idiot," Cassie said. "And everyone knew you'd make fun of me."
Marco thought for a moment. "Look," he said eventually. "I may make jokes a lot, but I know when to be serious. I'm not gonna make a big deal about this. It's not that big a deal. I won't tell Jake, but you should. The longer you wait, the more it'll hurt him when you tell him. And of course I'm gonna make jokes. I joke about everyone, remember? I'll try not to make them hurtful, and I'll try to refrain when Jake's around. But when you tell him, and you will tell him, I'll support you."
She looked at him and smiled. "I think that's the most words you've said in a row without complaining about something," she joked. "And thank you. That means a lot."
"Any time," he said. "Now let's get moving. I don't live that far from here, and you got some walkin' to do."
Wait, Ax said. I just remembered. I have to switch with Tobias to watch the mansion. Goodbye. And he flew the other direction.
With that out of the way, they continued. Now Jake was the only one on the entire team that didn't know about Cassie. She smiled at Marco's promise of support. Now that she thought about it, she had support from almost the entire team to back her up. Maybe telling Jake wouldn't be so hard with friends like them backing her up!
***
Now that Tobias had told Xavier everything he knew, and Xavier had told him everything they had been through and about mutants, Tobias noticed it was almost the switch time.
Well, Professor, it was nice meeting you. Tobias said. Maybe we can talk again. My schedule's usually clear.
Xavier smiled. "Yes. I would like you to meet the other adults. You already know Logan, and Hank would like to study your technology a bit."
Sure, Tobias said. I'm coming tomorrow again to "spy" on you, so I can meet them then.
"That would be splendid," Xavier said.
Well, I gotta get going. Ax'll be here soon. With that, he flew out.
Good luck, Tobias. he heard Xavier say in his head. And don't tell your friends about us. Not yet. He agreed and flew back to the tree and waited for Ax.
When he got there, Ax informed him of Marco and Cassie's conversation. Tobias was glad Marco had taken it well, cause it meant Jake might not take that bad. After that, he lied about not having seen much.
With that, he took off towards home. He had a lot to process and needed some sleep. Also, he was actually hungry.
A/N: Well? What'd you think? You have no idea how long it took me to write this! I would like reviews as soon as humanly possible, and I'll be starting on the next chapter as soon as I get more time. I'm a busy person, you know!
ONE MORE THING! Reminder. Any and all reviews are welcome. Suggestions, compliments, insults, confessions of true love, and uncontrollable lust, the usual. But please, do post! They fill me with a sense of warmy glowness!
ONE MORE THING! BTW, warmy glowness is mine, and I don't wanna see anyone using it without my permission! Get it, got it, good!
