Hey everyone, it's acw28 back with another update of One Small Change!

I don't really have much to say, just that school started back up yesterday so I'm going to have less free time to write. I do have some good news though, I finally got my laptop fixed so I don't have to worry about finding a free spot to write.

I think my previous chapters laid down the foundation pretty well, now let's get into the meat of the story.

Disclaimer: I in no way shape or form own X-Men: Evolution, I'm not even sure who owns it anymore…


The students of Bayville High cheered as the football game went on. Much like every game this season, their boys were dominating. As the cheerleaders began another cheer, the players on the field got ready for another play.

"Blue 22, Blue 22!" Number 11, Duncan Matthews, the quarterback called out. "Hut, hut!" The ball was snapped as the teen quick fell back, looking for open receivers. Despite his teammates' best efforts, some of the players from the other team managed to blitz and tried to sack Duncan. One of his teammates managed to take down one of the players, but another still charged at the quarterback. Thinking fast, Duncan quickly spun away at the other player dived at him. Already on the move, Duncan raced down the field, the opposition on his back. Multiple camera flashes went off as Duncan neared the end zone, having to jump forward before being tackled. Despite the opposing team's best effort, Duncan still scored for the home team.

As Duncan laid down, a red head, teenage girl wearing a purple shirt, khaki pants, and sandals, leaned in closer to take more pictures.

"Hey Jean," Duncan began as he asked his girlfriend, "you taking those for the yearbook?"

"No," the green eyed beauty replied, "this one is for my personal collection."


The crowd cheered as the announcer said Duncan had scored once more. In the stand Scott Summers, still wearing his red sunglasses despite the pitch black sky, observed the scene with mixed feelings as he rolled a nickel along his knuckles. He was happy that his friend was happy, but still wished she was happy with him.

Scott's other friend, a girl with long brown hair wearing an old leather jacket, noticed his quietness and instantly knew what he was thinking. "You only have yourself to blame you know," the girl began, "if you weren't such a boy scout you could have asked her out years ago." A devious smile appeared on her face as she said, "You know I could take care of Duncan for a while, give you an opening."

"Settle down Laura," Scott began, "your dad may be traveling, but you still have to follow the professor's rules, which means no fighting."

Laura crossed her arms and pouted as she mumbled, "You never let me have any fun."


As Duncan took off his helmet to get some air, two of his teammates pointed over to the bleachers where a sickly looking teen with ripped jeans and a brown hoodie carefully looked around before he began walking behind the seats.

"Looks like Tolansky is at it again."

After observing the boy pick pocket someone walking by, Duncan smiled before asking his coach, "Hey coach, can we be excused for a second?"

The man looked at the scoreboard, showing that Bayville had a commanding lead. "Sure," the coach said as he waved the three away, "just be back soon."

"You got it coach." Duncan replied as he put his helmet back on and lead his teammates toward the bleachers, one of them laughing and saying, "We're going to have some fun."


Scott continued to watch the game while his mind was on Laura's offer. If he had a chance, could he really have a relationship with Jean? Although they'd known each other practically their entire lives, he'd managed to hide his feelings for her, the only reason Laura knew was because of her advance sense of smell, stupid hormones. But even if he'd been chasing after the girl his entire life, there was no guaranty Jean felt the same way. These treacherous thoughts were enough to make the boy lose his concentration, the nickel he'd previously been playing with sliding off his hand.

"Dang my change." As Scott saw his coin slip into the darkness underneath the seats, he saw a hand reach into the back pocket of the man sitting in front of him, removing his wallet. Having an idea who the culprit was, Scot quickly stood up as he told Laura, "Stay here." trusting the girl to listen to him for once.

Laura watched as Scott walked down the steps. After losing sight of the older boy, she counted to ten and slowly walked over to the side railing. With one last check to make sure no one was looking, the girl quickly jumped over the railing, landing as Scott rounded the corner. Not having time to deal with the Institute's resident delinquent, Scott only shook his head before walking under the bleachers.


Under the bleachers, Todd Tolansky was using his legs to stabile himself as he calmly reached for another wallet. On realizing the poor man of his cash, the boy laughed to himself before saying, "Got another one." Understandably, he was unprepared to be yanked down, landing hard on his back. The teen groaned as he looked up to see one of his personal tormentor, Duncan.

"Well, well, looks like Tolansky is collecting for charity."

Todd nervously smiled and gave a little wave before saying, "Hey Duncan."

This appeared to be the wrong thing to say as the jock grabbed the front of the younger teen's hoodie before slamming him into a nearby post, "Shut it Toad-face!" The other two players just stayed in the background and laughed. The situation would have grown worse, if a calmer voice didn't speak up.

"How about we calm down before things get out of hand?" Scott asked as he walked forward.

"Really Summers, you're going to defend this trash?" Duncan asked.

Scott didn't seem phased at the harshness of Duncan's voice, instead he said, "The wallets are still here, let's just return the cash and forget this happened."

"Yeah, we can do that." Todd weakly said as he held up a crumpled stack of Twenty Dollar bills.

"I think not Summers, I think me and my buds are going to squash this amphibian. So you and your stupid 'sunglasses at night act' can just bail." Duncan punctuated his statement by tossing his victim to the ground.

As Duncan turned his back to Scott to stomp on Todd, the teen took the opportunity to tackle the quarterback. Todd, recognizing a golden opportunity, started hopping away, covering the distance in a few bounds. Duncan's teammates quickly realized Todd escaped, and rushed off to find him, Laura steeped out of the shadows and silently followed them.

Duncan quickly recovered from Scott's surprise attack and settled into a boxing stance as he said, "Big mistake Summers." The two began their short brawl, exchanging a few fists. Scott managed to grab Duncan's jersey and was about to deliver another hit, until he heard a voice say, "Scott, no!"

It only took half a second for Scott to see Jean standing at the entrance to the bleachers, resulting in the boy freezing. Duncan took advantage of that half second to throw a heavy hit at the other teen, sending Scott into a support beam and knocking off his glasses.

On instinct Scott opened his eyes, instantly two destructive lasers from his eyes. Duncan was thrown back when the lasers first hit the ground. Trying to keep from harming anyone, Scott immediately shifted his gaze elsewhere.


Laura kicked a loose rock as she walked around the crowd. Despite her keen senses, she'd soon lost both Todd and his pursuers, the crowd making it hard to find a single scent. As the girl lamented the lack of excitement in her life, and wished the professor would let her other friend attend public school, the teen wondered close to the closed snack stand. Time seemed to freeze as the girl saw two red lasers inches away from the propane tank. In that one second, one though appeared in Laura's head.

'Fuck me.'


Although the blast was large no one was nearby, but that didn't stop the students from panicking and running away. Even with the annoyance of texting in class, living in the age of cellphones had its advantages. Within minutes of the blast, firefighters had arrived to battle the blaze, paramedics to help the few injured, and police officers came to try to figure out what happened. Almost unnoticed among the emergency vehicles, an old limousine slowly cruised along the street, its occupants observing the scene.

Under the bleachers, Jean calmly walked among the flames, searching for Scott's discarded sunglasses. Finding them near a piece of burning wood, the teen used her telekinesis to left the log out of the way before using the same power to levitate the sunglasses upward. A quick search also found Scott, his eyes firmly closed. Walking slowly to her friend, Jean put his sunglasses back on, "Here you go Scott."

Feeling the familiar weight on his ears, Scott opened his eyes before saying, "Jean, listen I…"

Only to be cut off by the girl, "I know it was an accident," She then turned her attention toward the field where Duncan was lying on a stretcher beside an ambulance, "but you should probably get out of here."

Slightly embarrassed by the situation, Scott nodded before saying, "I will after I find Laura."

"Here I am." the girl in question said as she walked away from a pile of rubble. The younger teen stopped briefly to pull a chunk of shrapnel from her leg before walking to rejoin the group.

Satisfied that her fellow mutants were unharmed, Jean said a quick goodbye before walking over to her boyfriend, catching the police officer asking what happened. In response Duncan groaned before saying his head hurt and he couldn't remember, the paramedic quickly examined the boy's eyes with a penlight and concluded he had a concussion and needed medical attention. The officer turned toward the blaze and began speaking.

"It looks to me like…"only to stop in the middle of his sentence before continuing, "of course, must have been a leak in that propane tank."

While the officer was talking to himself, Jean quickly went to Duncan's side. "Duncan, are you alright?"

"Yeah Jean, you know me. Skull like concrete." The quarterback tried to get Jean to quiet worrying about him by knocking on his head, only to wince in pain.

Despite herself, Jean gave a small smile as she said, "Ah, you poor baby."


On the other side of the field, Laura and Scott saw the short conversation, the latter forming a fist in mild anger. Cautiously walking behind the pair, Todd stopped saying, "Thanks, really. Ya know?"

Laura walked away, completely ignoring the boy. While Scott followed the girl, he spared a second to tell Todd, "Yeah, I know." As the two walked away, the remaining teen bent his legs and knees at an odd angle that to a normal human would be uncomfortable, before unleashing an extremely long tongue to catch a passing fly. After a quick look around to insure the coast was clear, Todd began hopping away.


Inside the limousine, the drive turned toward the sole occupant and asked, "Should we give the kids a ride back home?"

The man sitting in the back shook his head as he looked out the window, saying, "Scott has the situation under control, for now at least. He can give Laura a ride back, I'm sure Jean can fend for herself." Turning his attention forward, the man said, "Come now Ororo, I believe Wanda is getting curious as to where we went, moreover we have a train to catch."


Kurt was annoyed. Not because of the occasional looks he got for wearing his cloak that hid his entire body. No, he was annoyed because his mother pulled him out of the circus to attend some school in America. Carefully holding his phone as to keep his hand hidden, the teen began texting his reply to the already long conversation he was having with his mother.

'I still don't see why I need to come to this school. I looked through the pamphlet, it's for people who have problems with their powers, I've mastered mine.'

The reply came within half a minute, 'Yes, assuming you don't have a secondary mutation, not to mention you need to make some friends your own age.'

Snorting, Kurt typed back, 'I have plenty of friends my age, I make them in every town I visit.'

'Yes I know,' Kurt could almost hear the sarcasm in his mother's voice, 'I get notified every time the train gets chased out of a village because some farmer caught the 'demon attempting to steal their daughter's virtue.'

'We were only making out!' Kurt was quick to correct, although he left out the fact that the girls tended to lose their shirts before they were found out.

'You're going to the school and that's final, I'll see you in a few days.'

Although he was greatly confused by the last part of the message, Kurt didn't have enough time to reply before the train stopped. Sighing, the teenager grabbed his bags before walking onto the platform. He guessed he could give this school a try, if things didn't work out he could always teleport back home.


"Come on Jean!" Scott said as he banged on the bathroom door, "We're going to be late."

"Just a second Scott, I'm almost done." The boy only shook his head as he watched Laura walk by, how was it some girls could take five minutes to get ready while others needed almost an hour?

Growing increasingly impatient, Scott brought a hand to his glasses as he threatened, "That's it Jean. Ready or not I'm blasting down this," only to be stopped when the door opened, "door."

"See," Jean said as she walked by the boy, "I didn't take that long now did I?"

In reply, Scott rolled his eyes while muttering, "whatever" under his breath.

As the two were walking down the stairs, they heard a voice call to them, "Scott, Jean, could you join us for a second?" Walking into the room, the duo were greeted by their caretakers and teachers for the past few years, Charles Xavier and Ororo Munroe, also known as Professor X and Storm respectively, as well as their friend Laura and another girl, Wanda, who had long black hair and a red blouse and blue jeans. The one oddity was the figure wearing the grey cloak, with the hood up.

"Now that everyone is here, I'd like you four to meet our new student, Kurt."

Seeing the figure nod but make no further action, Scott took the initiative and held out his hand as he said, "Hey man, welcome to the Institute."

Kurt seemed hesitant to do anything until Ororo spoke up, "Go ahead Kurt, you're among friends here." Still unsure, Kurt no the less held his hand out and said "Hello" in a mild German accent, only to pull his hand back at Scott's stunned reaction to his blue, three fingered hand.

Not wanting to have Kurt get the wrong impression, Charles tried a little misdirection, "I was just explaining to Kurt that I set up this school to help those with gifts, some harder to control than others. Isn't that right Scott?"

Knowing the subtle punishment, Scott only nodded before saying, "Sorry about what happened last night Professor, it was an accident." Although he knew he was mostly at fault, the teenager still tried to shift some of the blame, "But what do you expect, it was a bad situation and I'm packing a bazooka behind each eyeball."

"Wow," Kurt spoke up, surprising most present as he pulled down his hood, "sounds better than being blue."

"So what else you got blue boy?" Laura asked as stretched her back.

Kurt smirked before saying, "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

Wanda blushed at the innuendo while Laura laughed. As she held up a fist to pop some of her claws, Laura smirked as she said, "You and me will get along just fine blue boy."

Kurt nodded before saying, "That's pretty cool," he then teleported beside the girl, leaning over her as he said, "but it doesn't do you any good if you can't catch some one. Isn't that right short stuff?"

There were few things that could set Laura off, chief among them someone threatening her friends or commenting on her height, she just hadn't hit her growth spurt yet! Snarling, the slightly younger girl took a swipe at the boy, only to have him teleport away. Immediately giving chase, Laura yelled between grunts, "I take it back elf, we're going to have some problems."

Not wanting a headache this early in the morning, the Professor nodded to Jean who knew what he wanted. Using her powers, the girl picked the two up and held them in the air. Already sensing the lecture coming, Laura retracted her claws and crossed her arms. "Laura we've been over this, you need to keep your temper in check. As for you Kurt, please try not to antagonize your fellow students, I'd like to keep my home in one piece." After getting an apology from both students, Charles had Jean put them down. "Now I believe that is everything, Kurt will be joining you all for classes tomorrow after the paperwork gets filled."

"Wait," Laura asked, "all of us? Does that mean?"

"Yep," Wanda smiled as she said, "the Professor believes I have control on my powers enough to attend public school."

"And of course, it wouldn't hurt to have another set of eyes on you Laura." Ororo quickly said.

Said girl grunted before saying, "Come on, I didn't cause the explosion, at least not this time!"


Not having the nicest upbringing, Todd was familiar with back ally meetings before school. Usually it was some nerd who was willing to pay big bucks for a collectable the teenager had recently "acquired," other times it was a jock who needed answers to some upcoming test. No matter what the situation called for, Todd was always up for it as long as the price was right. That was why when a man in a three-piece suit and white hair was waiting for him, Todd didn't bat an eye as he took his seat on top of a trash can.

"So," the boy began, "I'm guessin' you already know my business model. So the question is, what do you want and how much you willin' to pay?"

"You are familiar with the Xavier Institute for the gifted and talented, correct?"

"Ya, I know the place, know of a few people who go there," Todd said as he shrugged his shoulders, "Don't know why though, Scott and Laura are smart enough, but Greyson seems to be the only brainiac of the bunch."

The man shook his head as he said, "All three are gifted, like you and I." Seeing the questioning look in the boy's eye, the man held out his hand and concentrated, causing the trashcan Todd was sitting on to rise up. "Now I don't care how you do it, but I want you to confirm that a girl is staying there," the man paused to pull a picture out of one of the interior pockets of his suit, "this picture is a little dated, she'd be about your age, but it should help you enough."

Todd hesitantly took the photo, a quick look revealed a young girl with black hair wearing an oversized red coat. Sensing the man would want the photo back, Todd carefully put it in his back pocket and asked, "So when do you want this done and how discreet do you want it?"

"I want the information by tomorrow morning, by any method you deem fit."

Their business done, Todd gave a brief nod to the man before turning and walking to school.


Scott was really beginning to question what he did to mess with his karma this badly. As if last night wasn't bad enough, he'd ended up forgetting his homework for first period, he was just glad his "good student" status with the teacher let the boy off with just a warning. After that, he'd had two pop quizzes in a row, then stood in front of some people that almost blew up the lab in chemistry. At least Laura seemed to be in a good mood, practically skipping throughout the day knowing her best friend would soon be joining them. As he was walking with the girl towards the lunch room he told her to go ahead of him as he grabbed his lunch out of his locker, he had no idea how his friends could stomach the garbage the lunch ladies served.

Just as his locker opened, Scott saw something appear over his left eye. Felling something pull his glasses off, Scott quickly closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his face. Having an idea who it was due to smell, Scott held out his hand and asked, "You going to give me back my shades Todd?"

Said boy smirked from his place atop the lockers as he said, "Why don't you open your eyes and get them Summers?"

"I think we both know what would happen."

"True," the younger boy said before dropping the glasses into Scott's outstretched hand. After cleaning the lens off, Scott quickly put his glasses back on, just in time to see Todd jump higher than humanly possible. "You see Summers, you and me, we're not so different. Now a reliable source told me that you and everyone else at your mansion are a lot alike."

"Get to the point Todd."

"I was thinkin' it gets lonely bein' all by yourself, ya know? So I figured I'd join up with you."

"I'll talk to the Professor, see what we can do."

"Thanks, that's all I ask." Todd replied behind a fake smile. He didn't have time to wait and hear back from Scott, plus he liked being on his own, a king of his own domain. "Oh, and thanks for the lunch!" Before Scott could react, Todd showed off his tongue by grabbing the brown paper bag before swallowing it whole.

As Todd hopped away Scott shook his head as he pulled out his cell phone, glad that Principal Darkhölme allowed students to use their phones during their lunch period.


Kurt was walking around the mansion in the uniform Professor X and Storm had provided. As he walked into a room containing a large computer screen, he noticed the professor on the phone with someone. Once the call ended, Kurt asked, "What is that?"

"This is part of Cerebro, a machine me and a friend made to help find those in need of guidance." Turning to the boy, the man said, "I hate to ask this of you before you've fully settled in, but could you help me with an addition later tonight?"

Kurt gave a thumbs up while saying, "No problem Professor," as his stomach growled, Kurt looked sheepish as he said, "but right now I should grab lunch, teleporting burns a lot of calories." That was the only warning the man got as the blue teen teleported out of the room.

After waving away the minuscule amount of smoke, Charles closed his eyes to concentrate and find Ororo. 'Storm, are you available to help tonight?'

'Of course Professor.' Sensing some hesitation, the man waited for the question. 'I don't mean to doubt you Charles, but I don't understand why you agreed to teach Kurt, he already has a handle on his powers.'

'I suppose you could say I have an ulterior motive. There were some inconsistencies regarding Kurt's application.'

'Such as?' Ororo questioned.

'The application was supposedly sent by his grandparents, who I never meet before and no one I know could have contact with, who ever wanted me aware of Kurt didn't want to be known.'

'You think he's her son, don't you?'

'That is the most logical option, not very many people have blue skin. Raven went dark a number of years ago, no purchases, no activity, nothing. I'd like to believe she turned her back on Erik, but I can't be certain. If Kurt really is Raven's son, then hopefully she'll eventually make contact with him and we can know for sure. But for now that isn't our concern, let's focus on tonight. '


As he dodging another lightning bolt, Todd, or as he styled himself Toad when he wore his "armor", wondered if he bit off more than he could chew. It had been easy enough to hop over the iron fence surrounding the property. The teen had been jumping through the woods when he saw a shadow pass overhead, and then the lightning started. Luckily the mansion was just ahead.

Bursting through the doors, Toad expected sanctuary from the wacky weather, not to barrow into Kurt. As the two teens circled each other, Toad asked, "What do we have here? What's an Avatar reject doing here?"

"The name's Nightcralwer," Kurt replied, "and at least I know how to bathe."

"Oh that is it fuz butt, you're dead!" Toad tried pouncing on the other teen, only for Kurt to teleport and hang upside down from the chandler.

"I believe in American you say, neiner neiner neiner." Kurt said before sticking out his tongue. Already having a general idea of what Toad's powers were due to the debriefing the Professor gave him, Kurt was prepared for Toad to try and jump him. Timing it right, Nightcrawler waited until the last second to teleport to a far wall. As he sat horizontally, the blue teen taunted, "Is that really you're top speed? You'll never catch me going that slow." before crawling along the wall, deeper into the mansion.

As the infuriated Toad gave chase, Charles wheeled into the main foyer from the opposite hallway, shaking his head at the small destruction the two teens had already caused. The man was soon joined by Storm, wearing her X-uniform, who asked, "Is this really the best way to test young Todd?"

"We are able to harness our powers at their fullest when we are put in challenging situations." The Professor responded. At the sound of a bust breaking and a mirror shattering, Charles brought a hand to his head as he looked downward, "I just wish such methods weren't as costly."


It was in the course of his chase that Toad stumbled upon a door slightly ajar. Normally he'd just ignore it, but the first snippet of the conversation he heard caused the boy to stop.

"I don't know Laura, do you think it's a little too much?"

"You'll be fine Wanda, trust me. It's better to make an impression on the first day than have everyone wondering about the new girl for the entire year."

Slowly walking forward, the teen peaked through the crack. He easily recognized Laura Howlett even without her iconic leather jacket. The new girl was a mystery. Wearing blue jeans and a white tank top, Toad couldn't immediately place her. He felt his brain itching when he saw her black hair, the lower fringes of which were now dyed a deep maroon. Finally Toad got a good look at her face in the mirror, it was the girl from the photo!

As Toad noticed this detail, Wanda saw him in the mirror. Releasing a short scream, Wanda called on her powers to force the door outward, hitting Toad in the face and briefly pinning the boy to the opposite wall. As Toad pushed the door off of him, he saw Laura stalking forward.

"You dirty, stinking toad!" The girl only paused briefly to pop her four hand claws, she didn't want to ruin her boots. Upon seeing this, Toad gulped before hopping away.


'Okay, I know that girl's here, now to get outa here myself.' the boy thought as he blindly hopped down the halls. Unfortunately this proved to be his undoing as he collided with Kurt, who was looking for his lost "guest." The slight paused in the chase was all the time Laura needed to catch up and pounce on her prey. Hearing the girl's war cry startled the teleported, so Kurt reacted on instinct and teleported to the safest place he could sense, in this case about ten floors down.

After seeing her friend charge out of the bathroom, Wanda was fast enough to round the corner in time to see the three teens be teleported away. Knowing that the worst tended to happen when she was involved, the girl pulled her phone out of her pocket, "Professor, I think we may have a problem."


Kurt, Toad, and Laura seemed to hang in the air for a brief moment before being slammed down on a metal surface. Only seeing darkness, Kurt groaned as he asked, "Where are we?"

Before anyone could answer, the lights came on as a feminine voice said, "Intruders detected, initiating defense protocols."

"That don't sound good." Toad voiced his thoughts.

"It's not," Laura said before using her claws to slash apart part of the ceiling that was trying to crush her. "Gentlemen, welcome to the Danger Room. Keep moving and try to stay alive until the Professor can turn it off."

The next few minutes seemed to drag on forever for two of the three occupants. Toad used his jumping ability to stay out of the way of the gigantic saws and escape from the pits that seemed to randomly appear in the floor. Kurt was putting his time in the circus to good use, back flipping and cartwheeling out of range of the countless lasers, only teleporting when absolutely necessary. Despite the near death experience, Kurt wished he had his sabers on him before the events began, he could use the practice. Laura simple stood in the same spot as when the lights first came on, using her claws to slash any large objects that came her way, and ignoring the lasers that hit her, they stung but she healed quickly.

After what seemed like an eternity, the doors to the Danger were blasted inward, Scott and Jean, wearing their X-uniforms, stood on the other side, ready to assist in getting the younger teens to safety. Luckily this proved to be unnecessary as the Danger Room shut down almost immediately.

"This test is over," Charles' stern voice said over the intercom, "Mr. Todd does indeed possess the X-gene. He is free to join us if he so wishes."

"No way!" Toad yelled as he began hopping away, "You people are crazy! I'm out!"

Scott looked ready to chase after the boy, only for the Professor to stop him, "Let him go Scott, we can't help those who don't seek it."

"I'm sorry too Professor, I screwed up tonight." Kurt suddenly said. "Maybe I don't belong here." Before anyone could stop him, the blue teen teleported away.

Silence rained in the Danger Room before Scott said he'd go find the boy. After the boy left, Laura turned on her heel and began walking away. "Where are you going?" Jean asked the girl.

Laura shrugged her shoulders and said, "I'm going to go make sure Wanda didn't get hurt during this mess." as if it was an everyday occurrence.


No longer concerned with subtlety, Toad broke through the first window he found, unfortunately he didn't see the man standing on the other side. Although short in stature, the brown jacket and cowboy hat wearing man was made of pure muscle. Grabbing the teen by the front of his shirt, the man asked, "Where do you think you're going, bub?"

As Todd searched for an answer, Laura walked by the broken window. Seeing who was standing outside, the girl smiled as she said, "Hey pa, glad to see you're back!"

Todd momentarily forget that his life was in mortal peril as he asked, "Pa?"

In response, Logan lifted up his other hand and popped three claws. While he wouldn't kill the boy, maiming wasn't ruled out. Before he could do anything, a voice said, "Logan, let him go." Looking to the other side of the hallway revealed Charles. Although reluctant, Logan none the less dropped the frightened teen. Once the boy had hopped away, Charles said, "It's good to see you old friend."

"Good to be back Chuck." Logan then turned to his daughter and said, "You and me are going to have a talk later, what did I say about causing explosions?"

Laura released a huff before stomping her foot as she yelled, "IT WASN'T MY FAULT!"


Todd walked nervously into the ally before school, to the teen's dread the man was already there.

"Do you have the information I need?"

"Listen, I went to that place last night like you asked, but once I jumped the fence my mind goes blank."

The man seemed to consider this before saying, more so to himself than the teen, "So you were mind wiped, I suppose it was bound to happen."

Todd saw his opportunity, so as he slowly backed away, the teen said, "So me and you are good then?" The teen was unprepared for the surrounding trashcans to become shredded, their remains used to pin the boy to the nearby wall.

"No Toad we are not good, I payed you for a service you failed to provide, you know work for me." After retrieving the photo he'd given the boy the day before, the man shoved a piece of paper into the boy's pocket. "That address is your new home, welcome to the brotherhood."

After the man left, the metal holding the boy lost its strength. As he slowly picked himself up off the ground, Todd taught he'd definitely bit off more than he could chew.


Kurt, wearing his casual clothes and the image projector to seem normal, sat nervously beside Wanda while he waited to see the principle. He'd been convinced to stay with the X-Men last night after he saw their plane, an SR-77 Blackbird. Flying was always something that held his interest, but he never got an opportunity to try his hand at it. Besides that, Scott, Jean, Laura, and Wanda seemed to be a lot of fun to be around, it'd be nice to have friend's he'd see every day.

The boy was pulled from his thoughts as the secretary called his name. Walking into the large office, only occupied by some bookshelves, some chairs, and a large desk, Kurt continued to feel intimidated as he looked over the principle, a woman in a business suit, brown hair, glasses, and a stern expression.

"Let's get started Mr. Wagner." Principle Darkhölme said as she indicated a chair. After Kurt took his seat, the woman placed a large stack of papers in front of him. Quickly flipping through the papers, the woman said, "Although you're previous education was un-orthodox to say the least, it appears you have meet all the qualifications to enter your grade. Here is your class schedule, the lunch menu for the month, the event calendar, and so on and so forth."

As Kurt quickly processed all the information, he noticed on paper the principle had failed to mention. "Excuse me Principle Darkhölme, but what is this?" Kurt asked as he held up the mysterious paper.

In response the woman lowered her classes before saying, "I believe that is the petition for the fencing club you mentioned you wished to start."

"Fencing club?" the boy questioned aloud, "But I never said…"

"Is there a problem Mr. Wagner?" the principle asked. As Kurt looked in her eyes, he caught a quick flash of yellow.

Smiling, the boy replied, "No ma'am, everything is fine." As he walked out of the office, Kurt noticed that Wanda only seemed to grow more worried. "Don't worry," the boy said, comforting his friend, "she's not as bad as people make her out to be."


And that's a wrap on chapter 3 wit 13 pages. Not my longest, but I feel it's a good length.

So unfortunately, my laptop broke, again, for the same reason. Luckily I'm able to borrow one from my family, so I'm not stuck with an old clunker. However, this does mean that my update speed is going to be less, especially with what I have planned.

You see, I consider the first story I started on this site, A New Realm, to be my "A" story, the one that I try to update the most and what I tend to plan the most. Everything else is kind of a "B" story, that's stuck in an update limbo while I wait for inspiration or an appropriate time to put my "A" story on the back burner.

That's how it usually works, but recently a few ideas have refused to leave me alone. So what I plan to do is write the first chapters for The Bat and The Cat, Deathwing, Kitsune of the Moon, and Lost Legacy. Once all of those are complete, I'll post them all on the same day and see which one my audience prefers to read the most, at which point it'll be one of my "B" stories while the rest will go on the back burning until I get some inspiration. But again, due to current events, my laptop and college course, this will take some time, so I thank you in advance to those who stick with me in my madness.

With the close of this chapter, some questions are answered while others are presented, such as…

Will Charles discover the entire truth of Kurt's parentage?

Who else will join the X-Men and Brotherhood? (If you watched the show, you already know.)

Will Kurt be able to fly the Blackbird?

To find out the answers to these questions and more, be sure to read the next chapter of One Small Change!

Until then, here's acw28 saying, "until next update."