A/N: HI everyone, I'm back! I don't have much to say for this chapter, except that it was originally two chapters on SD1o1's account. I just combined them into one chapter because they were a little short. Anyway, enjoy!

10/27/2013 EDIT: Still editing chapters for flow and style...

Disclaimer: See first chapter...

Chapter 2

Several miles away from the failed robbery of the truck, Mystique slammed the front door in her rage, storming through the front entryway towards the living room. Anger and frustration was written all over her face in a vicious scowl. She stalked over to the coffee table and snatched up the receiver of the cordless phone. Muttering furiously to herself, she punched in a number and waited. The phone rang only once before being picked up on the other end.

"…Hello?" A man's voice responded.

"Johnston?" Mystique barked.

"Yes…who…"

"It's Raven." She paused for a moment, gathering and concentrating her anger.

"…"

The other line went silent, except for a sharp intake of air. Mystique allowed herself a grim smile as she heard it.

"I'm guessing that you already know why I've called?" She spat.

"Uh, well you see… about that…" The man called Johnston began hesitantly.

"Where was it!?" Mystique half screamed into the phone, ignoring the man's attempts to explain. "You said it would be on that truck!"

"Uh…well, the thing is…" Johnston sputtered.

"Answer me!"

"They changed it - the shipping date. They must have done it overnight. I…I was positive it was being moved last night but they changed it…" he trailed off.

"What?" Mystique asked in harsh disbelief, "Why would they…" But she stopped in the midst of her musing. "You fool!" she yelled in outrage, "they changed it because of you! Idiot! They must have overheard you talking!"

"That…that's impossible!" the man protested, "They couldn't have! I called you from home!"

"The line must have been tapped, you delinquent!" she hissed. "They might still be listening in on us right now!"

"But, but…"

"Never mind," She cut him off abruptly, "We'll just have to be faster than them. Where is it headed now? What is the new truck's route?"

"Uh...Is it really a good idea to be talking about this? You just said that they might still be listening..." Johnston began to point out, but a wrathful growl on through Mystique's gritted teeth shut him up. There was the sound of many papers being shuffled through before Johnston answered the woman's question.

"It...it'll be there tomorrow morning. It's on its way to Bayville, to the new research facility downtown…"

Mystique didn't give him time to finish. She slammed the receiver down and hurried back to the front door, slamming it behind her as well.

XM:E

Kurt sighed and turned away from the twinkling stars outside his window, a moment later he flopped down on his bed. A glance at the clock on the wall told him it was one in the morning. He closed his eyes wearily and gave a quiet groan of annoyance. He was tired, but he knew he couldn't sleep yet. They had gotten back only minutes ago; his mother would come for him any second and they would be off again, hot on the trail of the object his mother sought.

He scowled in the dark. Stupid truck men, he thought. Why wasn't the box there? He'd searched the length of the truck but to no avail. A small knot of panic formed in his stomach. What if it had been there and he hadn't seen it? No, no, he reassured himself, if it had been there he would have found it for sure. Aside from his teleportation, he had a veritable lottery of lesser side abilities - keen night vision, the ability to stick to and crawl on things like a spider, incredible agility and flexibility, considerable strength for his size, and a prehensile tail that could support the weight of a grown man.

He laughed silently at the memory of the burly man he'd toppled to the ground. One sweep of Kurt's tail was all it took to knock him off his feet. His night vision easily picked up the look of dazed surprise on the man's face as he face-planted on the asphalt. It was true what people said - the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

"Kurt!" He jumped as his mother's voice called sharply from below, accompanied by the door slamming once again.

He ran a hand through his hair and was on his feet again. Immediately he teleported to the front entrance and followed his mother to the black Corvette waiting for them in the driveway. They slipped inside, Mystique taking the wheel, and with a soft crunching of gravel the car pulled out of the driveway and moved down the deserted road towards New York.

XM:E

The front entrance to the house for the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants rattled loudly on its hinges. Something was outside on the front stoop, pounding insistently upon it.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'!" shouted a gangly limbed, frog-like teenaged boy in annoyance as he hopped towards the door. The boy wore a set of white and tan pajamas, testifying to the small hours of the morning. In the blink of an eye his frog-like tongue shot out and wrapped around the grimy brass doorknob, turning it and swinging the door open. The boy was momentarily speechless at the sight of the person standing on the threshold.

"Uh…uh, Mystique?" he regained his voice in a nervous babble. "Where'd you come from? I thought you was in Pennsylvania…"

"Well, apparently I'm not any more." Mystique growled. "So astute of you to notice, Toad," she added, looking down at the boy as if he were nothing more than a mud puddle.

"Whatcha doin' back so soon?" Toad asked distractedly, shoving a dirty finger in his ear and picking out little bits of scum.

"None of your business," she snapped as she looked past him down the hall. "Where are the others?"

"Uh, they're around here somewhere, yo. Probably sleepin' er somethin'."

"Well, would you kindly ask them to come down?" Mystique asked. Toad didn't seem to notice the deadly edge behind her honeyed tone of voice.

He turned and yelled up the stairs, "Hey, yo! The Boss lady's back and she wants ta talk!"

Mystique rolled her eyes. "Toad, you idiot, I could have yelled just fine by myself."

"Oh, but it's so much more fun to hear when he tries it." A voice sneered from behind her.

Toad peeked around Mystique to see the speaker. "Yo 'Crawler."

Kurt rolled his eyes in disdain but didn't answer.

"Did you say something?" called a groggy voice from upstairs.

"Yes, I said if you all don't get your sorry hides down here in five seconds I'll personally have them tanned!" Mystique responded hotly, rapidly losing her patience.

"It's like four in the morning," grumbled a brown haired teenaged boy as he descended the stairs in a most ungraceful manner, wearing nothing but a rumpled pair of black loungers. Behind him a hugely fat boy and a skinny silver haired boy, also teenagers, stumbled awkwardly. They were similarly dressed in whatever they used for night clothes and trying to rub the sleep out of their eyes.

"I am fully aware of that," Mystique muttered in response to the brown haired boy's statement. Behind her Kurt yawned widely. Toad couldn't help catching a glimpse of sharp fangs, and shuddered.

"There is something I need you to do." Mystique began, getting straight to the point. She paused to make sure that the sleepy boys standing before her were listening. "At some point this morning a truck will be entering Bayville-"

The silver haired boy cut her off. "Yeah, like that's never happened before," he scoffed.

Mystique shot him a look filled with daggers before continuing. "It has something very valuable onboard. I want you four to stop it. We will do the rest," Mystique finished, indicating herself and her son.

"Hey! Look who it is! Little Boy Blue!" The silver haired boy exclaimed in a glee that dripped with sarcasm.

Kurt scowled in annoyance, his glowing yellow eyes glaring in disgust at the silver haired boy.

"Yes, Pietro, it's me. Who else would I be?"

"Hey! Didn't you two go to Pennsylvania to stop that truck?" The boy called Pietro continued, talking so fast that he was unaware of the trouble he was racing into. "What's the matter, Mystique? Did your little pet fail his-"

Pietro's sassy taunt went no further. He gave a surprised squawk when one of Kurt's three-fingered hands shot out like a bolt of lightning, catching him at the throat. Pietro choked out a protest as the hand tightened around his throat to cut off his air. Kurt leaned close into Pietro's face, his fangs bared wrathfully. He was about to speak when Mystique beat him to it.

"Kurt." That was all she said, but after a moment Kurt loosened his grip on the silver haired boy's throat, and withdrew his hand. Pietro gasped for air and shot Kurt a murderous look. Mystique glared at Pietro as well.

"Keep your loudmouth to yourself and my business to me." Mystique ordered flatly. She then turned to Kurt with a smile. "You should go rest, Kurt."

Immediately, Kurt was gone in a flash of light and puff of smoke, presumably to the large bedroom awaiting him upstairs.

Mystique turned back to the exhausted Brotherhood boys. She smiled again, though much more coldly. "As for you..." She paused for a moment before shouting with contempt, "Go back to bed!"

The Brotherhood boys wasted no time in doing as the irate woman said.