Chapter 8

Mutants

It was the next day. Minogue's parents had lent Folken one of the rooms in the basement of the castle. That's where he would stay, for he didn't enjoy the rooms that were offered to him. He wanted to stay away from it all as much as he could.

As for Minogue, she was being fitted for her dress, for the ball. Her friend Gwen joined her. Gwen sat and watched the tailor measure her friend. Something was up, and she wanted to know what it was.

"Minogue…"

"What?" Minogue looked over at Gwen.

"Something is up. What is it?"

Minogue was a little shocked by her acusation. Minogue looked over to her side, the oposite direction of Gwen.

"What makes you think something is up?"

"You're acting…like somebody else…and that usually happens when something is bothering you. What's bothering you Minogue?"

"Well…you know that Folken guy?"

"Yeah."

"He's just so…so…odd. I mean, he keeps away from everybody, and he has that tear drop tattoo. Who has a tear drop tattoo?"

"Is it that guy who was supposed to be king of Fannellia?"

"Yeah him. He just bugs me because he hides everything. In addition, he's always acting like nothing is wrong. Like everything is normal. I hate it!"

"Sounds to me like little Minogue has a big crush on Folken…" Gwen taunted.

"I do not!"

Minogue almost fell over if hadn't the tailor been there to stop her. Minogue went red with embarrassment. Both Gwen and the tailor were laughing.

"It's not funny! I don't like him!"

"Sure it is Minogue. It's quite obvious. I mean, you have that far off distance in your eyes whenever you think of him…"

"So?"

"So you do think of him!"

"No! No no no no!"

Gwen couldn't help but laugh even more. She walked up the door, ready to leave.

"Hella good. I'm gonna go now, see you later."

Minogue was still angry after her friend had left. The tailor would giggle every now and then, though it was getting on Minogue's nerves.

________________

"Phoenix, where the hell are you?!" shouted Minogue through the small inter- com.

"I'm on the other side of the castle, where the garden is, where are you?" replied a voice, from the small box.

"Well…I should be standing three feet away from you, but you're no where in sight!"

"Alright, just come and find me, I'll be right here."

"I just…how are we supposed to do these things when no one co-operates?" Minogue asked herself.

Minogue sighed and started walking towards her left. There, 'Phoenix' was supposed to be. You see, Minogue wasn't your average princess, no she was far from it. There were more like her. More mutants, I suppose you could say. Gwen was one of them. Along with a few others who only had nicknames, no one shared their real name. Even though everyone knew what it was, they just couldn't say it whenever they were on a mission. Tonight, they were training for a mission…

"I'm here Kitty Pryde!" Gwen popped out from the bushes.

"Sheesh, don't scare me like that!" laughed Minogue. "Do you know where NightCrawler and the rest of them are?"

"No. They should be around here somewhere. I'm just not sure."

A rustle in the bushes startled the two, and then some talking of which was not familiar. Gwen and Minogue crouched down low and peered through a few bushes to see who was there. It was two men, obviously Folken's. They were Dragon Slayers.

"Damit!" whispered Minogue.

"What?"

"They work for Zaibach. I wasn't expecting them to be here. That's Miguel. I don't know who the other one is, but I recognize his voice. Oh my gosh! He was the one that knocked me out cold!"

"I'm sorry, I missed something."

"We'll attack them. Night Crawler, come in!" she talked through the small box once again.

"Yeah, I'm here. I see them too. Shall we launch a full attack or, sneak up on them?"

"Let's show them we can outnumber them. No one makes my family look like a fool!" she whispered the last part to herself.

"Phoenix, lets go!"

The two seperated and went different ways, both leading to the same two people. The quickly snuck up on the two, throwing them to the ground.

"Who are you!" shouted Minogue.

The two look at the girls. Masks covered their faces. A small mask covered Minogue's eyes; good enough to tell it wasn't here. The same with Gwen.

"She asked who you are? Tell her now, or I'll slit your throat!" warned Gwen.

The one with silver hair growled at the two. He stood up and smirked. The boy then drew his sword grabbing Minogue, asuming that she couldn't get out of it.

"Tell me who you are, and I won't hurt your friend!"

"Phoenix. This is Kitty Pryde. And uh…if you think she can't get out of your little "sword lock" you've got another thing coming to you," laughed Gwen.

"What-"

Before he could say anything else Minogue phased through him, causing him to feel sick. She started laughing as the others showed up. Some looked like beasts and monsters and others look perfectly normal. Some were blessed like that when they were born. Others were not.

"Miguel…" moaned the boy.

"Lord Dilandau!"

Miguel rushed to 'Dilandau's' side to see if he was all right.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine by tomorrow. Phasing makes people sick."

"And touching them too long can kill them as well, right Kitty?" joked Gwen.

"You bet. By the way, if I ever catch you here ever again, I will hurt you…even if you think that could never happen because I'm a female and you are a male. It can happen, I have powers you could never even imagine having," warned Minogue.

Dilandau just growled at the girl, as Miguel was literally shaking. These 'freaks' were really threatening, and dangerous. And he knew that. He knew the power of these people. Jajuka was once one of them.

"Just because you're a freak, does not mean that I am going to be afraid of you," Dilandau hissed.

"I didn't think he had to come down to this." Minogue took off her gloves. "But, if you want to push us fine. You won't remember a thing…"

Minogue quickly grabbed Dilandau and put her hand on his face, causing him to pass out completely and Minogue receiving all of his painful memories. She quickly let him go, to make sure she hadn't killed him.

"Kitty, are you alright?" Gwen ran up to her friend.

"Yah, I'm fine."

Unfortunatly, she was lying. Minogue then passed out completely. Then receiving all of Dilandau's painfull memories in her dreams. In her nightmares.

"What shall we do with the other one?" someone spoke up.

"I'll put him to sleep," said Gwen.

Gwen walked up the frightened boy. She smiled sweetly.

"It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you," she whispered.

"Then why are you doing this?" he was trying to hide his trembling voice. Pretending he wasn't afraid.

"We're not doing anything bad. Bad to you, but good to the people. Good night."

Gwen lefted her hands and palced them on Miguel's temples, causing him to fall asleep. She sighed and walked up to Night Crawler, who was holding Minogue.

"He's kinda cute. Even more cute when he's asleep," Gwen laughed, looking down at Miguel.

"Come on, let's take sleeping beauty back to her bedroom. I have feeling once the others see those two, there's going to be a major worry all over the castle. Mutants from another planet come and take over Gaea!" mocked Storm.

"Really. I can see it now. Anyways, let's get going."

Author's Notes: Whatch ya think? Pretty big plot twist right there, huh? I mean, it may not seem like it, but trust me, it's a HUGE one! Anyways, I know X-Men and all that, but hey, I love Marvel Comics stuff! I'm seeing Spiderman tonight! Anyways, like you could care… Please R&R!!!