Alright, this chapter has been written for the last couple of weeks. I've been meaning to update it but, in all actuality, work has taken over my life. i'm only working part time, but the 8-hours-a-day-4-days-a-week thing is enough. oh, good news, i've had this job for two months now which is a great relief to me. i love my job and i love my bosses.

okay, a couple of disclaimers. You know I don't own either X-Men or MewTwo. I only own some of the modifications to MewTwo. Also, there are some references to X-Men: Last Stand in here. and the anti-mutant virus i mentioned is the Legacy Virus. ONE MORE THING: i have a couple of references to body parts. in particular, sexual body parts like sphincter and genitalia, nothing major or erotic (if it was erotic, this would be m). as this is a teen story, and i know how teans act when they hear these words, i ask that you be professional about this. i was a teen myself at one time and i know the awkwardness of hearing those words. i used them as scientific basis only. so, i ask that you not snort or giggle about this when you see it.


Chapter Four
Purposes


The contents of Hudson's lab computer had proven most helpful. Professor Xavier scanned through hours of information. Most of it was superficial stuff: finance records, employment history, employees on the payroll, and the like. While that was all well and good, Xavier was only interested in the Mutant currently in the infirmery.

Where are the records on you, my little friend? Xavier thought, pulling out a flash drive and flipping it aside. He selected another one and plugged it into the USB port.

He waited a few minutes while the computer scanned the contents of the drive. Then he opened a window and searched though the various folders. In one folder entitled "Journals", Xavier found several months worth of entries, all stuffed away in more folders, each titled with a month. Xavier perused the folders until he found one journal entitled "Subject Perogative". Curiosity got the better of him and Xavier opened it with his word processor.

Subject: Genetic Experimentation; Project 48
Company: Hudson Genetics Corporation, HGC
Overseer: Niles Hudson, Sc.D. [1]; Blaine [2] Calhoon, Ph.D. [3], Sc.D.
View: To establish an understanding of Mutants with the Human culture

The rest of the document was written in what Xavier had come to call "business code". It was written as a presentation for other businesses in a way only other business men could understand. But Xavier understood it plentily enough, having written quite a few entries like this himself before. He scrolled through the document, marvelling at the sheer genius of Niles Hudson, who described his efforts of creating a Mutant to be a means of understanding. But Hudson completely disliked Mutants. To him, their very existence was one that went against creation and the views of God—Hudson was no holy man, openly proclaiming himself agnostic, but he shared this view with everyone who asked of him.

Xavier leaned back against his electric wheelchair as he reread the last sentence.

"Mutants have been living amongst us for many centuries now, hiding in plain sight and masquerading as us for a great deal of their lives. Through this experiment, I hope to learn about them and the similarities they share. I hope to learn whether or not a Mutant can be assimilated into the human culture or if they are dangerous to the entire human existence."

Xavier shook his head. How so like Hudson this sounded. Both a researcher and a business man. Yet, he had the gall to lump Mutants together into a category. Mutants were just like humans in their own way. Some were dangerous to society and others weren't. But, to Niles Hudson, the idea of a good Mutant in the world, one who wanted to live in society as an equal and be accepted, was laughable.

Xavier nursed a growing headache. He knew this wasn't research, though Niles had tried so hard to convince the others as much. So, what was it? What was the purpose of the infant Mutant now sitting in the infirmery? Surely the babe had powers that could overwhelm Niles! Possibly even destroy him if it so desired!

Destroy?

Xavier sat bolt upright. Working quickly, he switched ot of the business letter and perused the various entries. All were typed out in a more understandable format, worded in a harsher candor that sounded more like the Niles Hudson Xavier knew. Hudson raved on and on about "idiot workers" and "damn, ignorant, klutzy scientists who should never have earned their degrees" and the like. The only time Hudson ever got excited about anything was when he was talking about the experiment . . . a test tube baby Mutant he lovingly named MewTwo.

"MewTwo?" Xavier said, aloud; staring at the name.

He wasn't mistaken. The word "two" was, indeed, capitalized which could only mean one thing: the babe was a clone. If that was the case, then where was the original? The thought it was running around loose in public sent chills down Xavier's spine.

He kept reading and found out the original had died many years ago. Nearly a couple thousand years ago. Hudson had extracted "Mew's" DNA from its remains—which had been found in the deserts of Egypt—and used human DNA to fill in the blanks.

Xavier was, again, taken aback. Human DNA? He didn't use his own, did he? Futher reading answered Xavier's question. Niles hadn't used his own. He had, instead, used the DNA of a girl who had died only a few years ago; extracting her remains from the burial plot nearby. Xavier couldn't believe Hudson would stoop so low to desicrate a grave to get what he wanted.

Whose grave did he disturb? Xavier wondered.

He back-traced thoughthe data until he found the name: Kassandra Alexis Summers.

Xavier frowned. He knew of young Kassie, though none of the Summers siblings would talk about her. No doubt, Kassie had the Mutant-X gene, just like her brothers and sister did. But for Hudson to disturb her grave and defile her corpse like that . . . it was despicable! Worst yet, Xavier had yet to decide whether or not to tell Scott, Kitty, and Kurt of Kassie's apparent resurrection as a Mutant clone. Not just as a clone, but as a double clone. Xavier knew how Scott would react to this news. Scott would yell and scream and use harsh words to describe Hudson's character—not that Xavier could blame this studen of his. Kurt and Kitty would be in shock that someone would defile their sister's grave. The would all want to know why it happened.

"Why, indeed?" Xavier said, putting his fingertips sagely to his lips. "What was the point to all this, Dr. Hudson? Why choose Kassie's grave over all the others? Surely there were plenty of Mutants in that graveyard to choose from, yet he choose Kassie. Why?"

To find an answer, Xavier dove deep into his research. The more and more he read, the more appauled he became. It was about to get worse.

-X-

"It took a lot of work, but I finally figured her out." Beast said.

The X-Men, along with Xavier, gathered in the conference room to discuss "MewTwo's" future. The baby Mutant, in question, was among them, sitting in Logan's lap in absolute comfort. The burely Mutant had no problem with its proximity to him and actually seemeed quite smug about it. Meanwhile, the babe's purple eyes roved the faces of everyone around it; one pair of hands gripping Logan's pants in anticipation.

Beast stood up and ambled twoard the enormous smartboard mounted on the wall. He plugged in a flashdrive containing his research on MewTwo, waited for the computer to finish scanning, then opened the x-rays and ultrasounds.

"Her anatomy is vastly different from ours. In fact, it is so different, we dare not eveen call it 'human'. Her skull is feline in appearance, so are the tail and legs. In fact, most of her bones are in her tail." Beast said.

"Just like cats." Said Sarah Rushman, AKA "Marrow", who knew a thing or two about bones.

"Exactly like a cat, Marrow." Beast said. "But, that's where the similarities end and the differences begin."

He grabbed a marker from the tray and drew circles from the neck down to the pelvis.

"These bones are arranged like a human. The spine has the correct number of disks. There are twenty-four ribs—including the two floating ribs—six cervical vertebrae, twelve thoracic vertebrae, and five lumbar vertebrae."

He selected another pen and marked each individual verebrae as he counted them, starting below the skull and working his way down. Then, he marked the calpula, seccrum, coccyx, illium, and femur.

"After that, the similarities to humans ends, too. See, she actually possesses two pairs of shoulder blades—the scapula—hense the reason why she has two arms and each hand has nine phalanges—finger bones—and both feet only have four." Beast continued. "It's really very fascinating just how her structure differs from ours."

"Sure it is, Doc." Wolverine said, gruffly. "What else did you find?"

Beast cleared his throat. "Her anatomy, on the other hand, is only slightly closer to ours than her skeletal structure." He manuevered into the next slide show. "What do you see?"

Out of all the Mutants in the room, only two—besides Beast—understood anatomy. Xavier being one, and Phoenix the other. Xavier rolled his chair close to the screen and examined the bits of organs. He pointed to each organ as he listed them.

"Heart, lungs, kidneys, pancreas, stomach . . . and another stomach."

"Wait! It has two stomachs?" Kitty said, rising. "What's the purpose to that?"

"I can only assume the second one is actualy a stomach-bladder." Beast said. "About three hours ago—before my research started—she was fed a mostly-liquid soup. Very little substance, but since she hadn't eaten since her birth, I figured that was best."

"Get on with it, Bub." Wolverine snarled. MewTwo looked up at him, quizzically, and a smile played on her thin lips.

Beast immediately forwent the remainder of his ramblings. "What I meant was, two hours later, she spat up a black spone. I analyzed the stone and found traces of chicken, carrots, celery, and pasta—all deprived of nutrients. Apparently, her stomach breaks it down and her intestines draw out whatever he body needs. Her second stomach focres it out of the body through her esophogus—see how it y's off at the bottom?—and she spits it back out."

"Why doesn't it defecate like the rest of us?" asked Phoenix.

"Because, as you can see, she has no true bladder. No sphincter, no urethra. She doesn't even have a genitalia. She is, in all actuality, genderless." Beast answered.

"So, why do you keep calling it a 'her'?" asked Bobby Drake, "Iceman".

"Inside the womb, you are inherently female." Xavier said. He studied the photos more intently. "At one time, you were a girl, Bobby."

That answer received a laugh from Kurt. "You were a girl, Bobby!" Kurt chortled.

"So were you, Nightcrawler!" Iceman shot back.

Nightcrawler stopped laughing as he understood what was being said.

"Damn!" He said. "I vas a girl!"

Everyone else laughed. Even MewTwo cracked a smile, though it barely understood the differences between gender.

"How does one become genderless?" asked Rogue in her Mississippi accent.

"I figured someone would ask that." said Beast, opening a presentation. "Within each of us, there are two chromosomes that decide male or female. Males are XY and females are XX. During the stage of reproduction, the woman gives one of her X chromosomes to the fetus and the man gives either his X or his Y chromosome. It is, essentially, the male chromosome which decides gender. To be genderless, the lap simply denies the presence of either chromosome."

"Ah. So they denied 'her' the chance to be male or female. How did they expect for her to reproduce?" asked Storm.

"They didn't. I'm sure they would have cloned her if they still needed her." Xavier answered.

"Cloned?"

Only those that had been in contact with the babe before, jumped at the question in their heads. Those who couldn't hear it stared at the others, perplexed by the reaction.

"Cloning means they would make a copy of you. An exact replica of who and what you are. In the case of a Mutant, this would include duplicating your powers." Xavier said to MewTwo.

"Did she say something, Professor?" asked Amara Aquilla, "Magma".

The professor studied the dark-haired girl. "You couldn't hear that?"

"Hear what?" Ray Crisp, "Berserker", asked.

"She asked a question about cloning." said Wolverine. He regarded them all with an intense stare. "You didn't hear any of that?"

Those that hadn't shook their heads. Wolverine turned to the professor and the doctor.

"What's the problem? Why couldn't they hear her?"

"When was the first time you heard her?" Xavier asked Logan.

Logan thought back to the dream he had at the hotel, the one involving the beaten lab and the babe in his lap. He idnd't know why he had a dream about a baby Mutant and was quick to decide she was calling for help and he happened to be close by. Within telepathic range. Whether she was just calling out to anybody that could listen or was looking for someone with similar characteristics was undecided.

"You saw her in a dream?" Xavier said, turning away from the scans.

Logan sighed. "You know, Charles, I really don't appreciate you running around in my head, uninvited."

"Your thoughts weren't exactly quiet." Xavier said with all seriousness.

Logan grunted but said nothing to that. Instead, he nodded in response to Xavier's question, knowing it would be met with a barrage of questions. Questions he couldn't answer. As expected, rith away, every X-man present roared out inquiries. How did he see her in a dream when he never met her before? How did no one else see her? Why did Phoenix, Beast, Xavier, and Wolverine hear her but no one else? Beast was prepared to answer the last question for himself.

"She touched me before talking ot me." Beast played with his spectacles a moment, eyeing each person intently. "As for Jean and the Professor, I believe it is their psychic abilities which allow them to hear her."

"Yes. That very well be." Xavier said, agreeably.

"So, it takes skin-to-skin contact for it to work?" Said Rogue, worriedly. Everyone could understand why she would be anxious. For Rogue, skin-to-skin contact was dangerous. She absorbed the life-force, powers, memories, and even appearance and personality of the people around her. She already knew MewTwo was strong enough to worry the professor. She didn't want anything to do with those powers.

"Probably not direct contact." Phoenix said. "She might need to extract a tiny bit of DNA before communication is possible. Whether she can hear what's going on in your head, however, has yet to be determined."

"Exactly." Xavier said, again agreeable. He directed his piercing gaze to MewTwo, whose purple eyes were not intent on him. "Can you read the minds of everyone here?"

MewTwo nodded.

"But you can't speak directly to them without touching them?" Xavier added.

A headshake was all that was needed.

"Thank you." He said. He turned back to Beast, after witnessing a polite head inclination from MewTwo's end. "What else have you learned, Hank?"

"Not much. She doesn't have a very dense bone structure and the muscles are only developed for basic movements only. In fact, like her bones, most of her muscle structure is in her tail." Beast answered. "Killing her would be easy . . . if you could get passed her mental capabilities, that is."

"Yes. Formidable as they are." Xavier said.

"She doesn't look very strong." said Samuel Guthrie, "Cannonball".

MewTwo blinked at him; a frown playing at the corners of her mouth.

"I think that was the illusion Hudson wanted." said Xavier. "If you have a mind with enough power to send someone in a vegetative state—or destroy them completely—then you would only need a body that can contain it."

"Exactly. She looks vulnerable, but she's not necessarily so. If anything, she can repulse you with her powers if you so much as prick her finger. But the hardest bones in her body are her sternum, ribs, and skull—probably to protect her vital organs." Beast said.

"Had a bit of an experience with the repulsing power, eh, Hank?" Wolverine asked.

Beast smiled. "Yes, actually, I did."

MewTwo griamced. "I said I was sorry. I don't even know how I did it. It was out of—reflex."

Beast wandered to MewTwo's side and ruffled her head. "I know. I should've warned you that you would feel a prick and a sting. That was neglectful on my part. I apologize."

Xavier remained silent. "Out of reflex" she said. Already, this Mutant was acting on impulse. If her powers grew beyond control, they may end up destroying her.

"You don't really want to do that, do you?"

The question came on so suddenly, Xavier hadn't even expected it. He was inused to someone being able to read his mind like MewTwo was, now. Nor was he used to telepathic responses to non-verbal questions.

"No. Of course I don't." He answered, pushing it into MewTwo's surprisingly-thick skull.

"Charles, what did you figure out?" Beast said.

Xavier quickly launched into his explanations; telling them about Niles Hudson's blatant plans to make "the ultimate weapon". He explained Hudson's position against Homo Sapien Superior—as Mutants were now classified—and that anything this strong could only be dangerous to Mutant kind if in the wrong hands.

"So, what do we do, Professor?" Cyclops asked. His question was met with a chorus of "yeah's" and "what do we do's".

Xavier waited for silence, then turned to Beast. "Due to your examination, what do you say we do, Hank?"

"I say she's quite capable of learning about us and all we have to offer, same as any Mutant child—or human one at that. I don't see her as a threat, really." answered Beast.

"What if she is? What then?" Marrow said.

"Then we destroy her!" Cyclops said, raising a fist.

Xavier looked grave. "I do not think you want to be the one to do it, Scott." He said.

"Why?" Cyclops said. His question was repeated by his younger siblings.

"Because . . . MewTwo is a clone. A genetic reproduction of an ancient Mutant named 'Mew' . . . and your sister, Kassie."

Scott clenched his fists so tightly, his fingernails bit his palms and blood trickled onto the table. His eyes, always hidden behind the red-quartz glasses that contained his power, darkened with fury, and tears ran down his cheeks at this revelation.

"Kassie." He breathed.

He looked at Kitty and Kurt, remembering how the triplets looked together. Kassie had been the clue that held them together. When she died, the remaining Summers children were devistated. They avoided her grave because of the painful memories involving her.

Scott stood up. "You say he used Kassie's DNA for this? That bastard deflied her grave and used her? That's disrespectful!"

Kitty stared at MewTwo, who was returning her gaze. She was stunned into silence. Was Kassie the baby Mutant everyone was so terrified of, now?

"Who does that man think he is?" Kurt said, pounding the table with a blue, furry, three-fingered hand. "How dare he defile my sister's grave like dat? Vot gave him de right to do such a thing?"

"You must understand, Kurt. Niles Hudson is a man with a code of conduct all his own. I don't know why he chose Kassie's grave out of all the others to defile, but he did." Xavier said.

"That explains it." Beast said.

"Explains what, Doc?" Wolverine asked.

"When I took a blood sample from her, my electronic microscope showed me her entire DNA structure. Only pieces of it looked a little out of place—probably Hudson's way of filling in the gaps left over during replication. Those fillings were an exact replica of DNA belonging to one Mutant in particular. You, Kitty. Your DNA matched." Beast answered.

Kitty nodded. "Yeah. If MewTwo does contain Kassie's DNA, that would make sense. Kassie and I were identical."

"Jah. You were." Kurt said, remembering his same-age sisters and how they acted towards him; ganging up on him. But Kassie acted as mediator. She also ganged up on Kitty with Kurt and all three used to pull pranks on Alex and Scott. For both Kitty and Kurt, losing Kassie was like losing themselves.

"Where'd you get my DNA anyway?" Kitty asked.

"Remember that Anti-Mutant virus a few years ago?" Beast said.

Kitty shuddered, as she had been one of those effected by it resulting in Beast having to put her under heavy sedation until a cure could be found.

"I had to draw some blood then to keep testing for a cure. The computer remembered your DNA and matched it to MewTwo's."

"That doesn't explain why he used Kassie's genetic code!" Scott said.

"We will probably never know." Xavier said.

"What do we do with her, then?" asked Jamie Madrox, "Multiple".

Xavier was silent, his light eyes on MewTwo's purple ones. He didn't see the monster he had originally painted her as, nor did he see her as tainted. Hudson had yet to leave his mark on her and Xavier hoped he never would.

"She will be allowed to remain here." He said.

Wolvering and Beast smiled. Other students shrugged it off as no surprise—Xavier was not prone to turning away Mutants who needed some TLC. Jean looked upset and Scott appaulled—knowing MewTwo possessed some of Kassie's DNA made the babe an abomination is his mind.

"But . . . Professor!" Jean said. "If MewTwo is the product of hatred, is it really wise to keep her in an environment where there're the people she's supposedly meant to destroy? What if Hudson comes back and tries to use her? What if she turns evil? Sure, she looks innocent and pleasant now, but even the worst serial killers had good beginnings!"

"You're right, Jean." Xavier said, agreeably. "There is that possibility. I fear I may be throwing a wolf in with the lambs just by doing this. But there is also that distince possibility that she may not as dangerous as we think. That is why I am willing to keep her here for the time being."

"I won't be under the same roof as that monstrosity!" Cyclops said, angerily.

"Scott! She only possesses pieces of Kassie's genetic code. She is not Kassie." Xavier said, reading Scott's mind. "While she may be bits and pieces of two separate people and was grown in a factory, she may not be dangerous. I ask that you at least be kind to her. If not kind . . . civil."

Cyclops muttered something that sounded like "whatever" and left the room. Xavier shook his ehad at this student of his, then turned back to the others.

"Now. To figure out a suitable living arrangement. Who would like to room with her? This is all voluntary, of course. I won't force you to donate half of your room to her." Xavier said. No hands went up and Xavier stared at them with disappointment. "No one?"

Toward the back, Marrow fidgeted; avoiding the professor's probing stared.

"Sarah. Do you mind watching out for her?" Xavier asked.

"Me?" Marrow looked at him.

"Yes, you." Xavier responded with the smallest hint of a smile. "I'm sure you two would get along just fine. She'll have to sleep on an air mattress for the time being, but we'll figure something out."

Marrow rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever." She said.

"Thank you." Xavier said. "Meeting adjourned."

As everyone filed out of the room, Marow stopped at Wolverine's side and took the baby Mutant by the hand. She went stock-still as MewTwo whispered something to her mind, possibly a word of gratitude. Marrow glowered at her and muttered something about "Don't make me regret it" before dragging her off toward the housing sector.

Only Xavier, Logan and Hank remained. Logan stood up and approached Xavier.

"Listen, Chares. I don't often do this, but there's eomthing I need to do." He said.

"What is it, Logan?" Xavier said.

Logan ran his fingers through his hair. "MewTwo doesn't have a family to call her own yet." He said. "So, I want to claim MewTwo as my dependent."

"You want to adopt her?" Hank asked, stopping in the middle of gathering his tools.

"Not exactly. More of like, I want to be her godfather is all." Logan said. "Is that okay with you?"

"I see no problem with it." Hank said. "Do you, Charles?"

"No. And considering that he and MewTwo both have complicated beginnings, I can see how this relationship would work." Xavier said. "Very well, Logan. I grant you permission to be her godfather if you so desire."

"Thanks Charles." Logan said. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and left.

"That was interesting." Hank said.

"It was, wasn't it?" Xavier, agreed.


[1]Sc.D.-Doctorate of Science

[2]Blaine- Pokemon Red, Blue, Green Arc (Manga)

[3]Ph.D.- Doctorate of Philosophy