Evolution 1/2


Disclaimer: I have a headache, so no funny disclaimer. Wait! I disclaim any ownership of this headache! Whoever is the true owner, please let me know so I can give it back to you poste-haste. Oh yeah, I also disclaim any ownership of Ranma 1/2 or X-Men: Evolution.
Chapter Nine
A freshly-laid blanket of white snow covered the ground, illuminated into a pale blue by the full moon that hung large and heavy overhead. Standing proud and tall throughout the area were hundreds of wraith-like trees. An ominous air haunted the area, punctuated the by the random eerie howls echoing throughout the wood as the wolves searched for elusive game.

A harsh breeze flowed between the bare branched of the trees, swirling specks of snow along with it as it whipped through the night air towards the looming castle that stood tall and bleak on the edge of the wood. A flash of neon green burst from the high window of one of the towers crackles of energy arcing outwards. The bitter wind moaned as it whipped around the tower.

"MONSTER! What have you done to him!?"

A pair of shadows faced off in side the tower among the bubbling beakers and cluttered machinery. The savage crackling of the green energy as it broke out seemingly at random the only source of light. One of the shadows fled, not even waiting for an answer from the other.

The shadow's footsteps echoed throughout the ground floor of the dark castle. Stepping into the pale moonlight that managed to shine through, the shadow resolved itself into a cloaked figure carrying something close to it's chest. The garments were too think and heavy to determine the sex of the wearer, but the high-pitched cries identified the bundle held to it's chest. Stopping for a moment, the figure glanced back for a split-second before running even faster along the dark purple path that ran along the length of the room. The child's cries echoed throughout the empty rooms of the castle.

"COME BACK AT ONCE!" An echoing and almost metallic voice demanded as the cloaked figure burst through the pair of heavy wooden doors at the end of the path. The second shadow floated in the air slowly behind the cloaked figure, it's long cape billowing slightly against the breeze.

The cloaked figure did not heed the demand is it continued it's escape through the snow and into the forest. Feminine gasps and groans revealed the figures gender as she slipped on a patch of snow, quickly righting herself again and not ceasing her forward motion.

Several wolves growled hungrily as the figure passed. They had found their game for the night. Following behind at a slow gait to savour the feeling of the chase. They ran faster as the woman increased her speed, realizing she was now being pursued by more than just caped shadow.

The cloaked woman hesitated for a split second as she came to a rickety wooden bridge that crossed over a deep canyon. The water that flowed down the edge of the cliff faces created a reverberating echo as it hit the river far below. A minor hesitation, but ti was long enough for the pack of wolves to surround her, cutting off her flight.

The caped figure stopped in midair before the woman as she struggled to keep her child away from the wolves. His eyes glowed an eerie white as he watched dispassionately, the full moon behind him high-lighting his red helmet and armour, his royal purple cape fluttering slightly against the air.

The wolves closed in on the woman, and she held the child above her head to protect it, disregarding the danger to herself. She struggled to get past the beasts, crying out as one suddenly leaped up, snagging the sleeve of her cloak with it's teeth and pulling her arms down. The bundled child wailed as it fell from her hands and into the canyon below.

"NOOOOOO!!!" The woman's voice held agony as she made a futile gesture towards the falling infant with her hand.

The child fell far, landing in the rolling waters of the river below.

Rogue awoke with a scream, breathing heavily as she clutched her head in her hands. Sweat poured from her pale forehead and soaked her green-and-orange pajamas.

The scream startled her roommate awake, almost causing her to phase through her bed in surprise. Looking over, Kitty saw Rogue sitting up in her bed, breathing heavily with a look of fear on her face, only visible due to the light of the full moon that shone through their window.. Racing to her side, Kitty put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. She opened her mouth to ask what was wrong when they both jumped at the sound of a loud crash.

Ranma stood there, in female form, with her foot raised in the air, Scott and Jean behind her. A quick glance to the floor revealed the source of the crash; Ranma had kicked their door down.

Lowering her foot and leaping into the room, Ranma looked around for whatever attackers had caused the girl to scream, waking up her and the rest of the mansion. Seeing no threats present, she turned to the girls, chuckling nervously when Kitty gave him a look, gesturing towards their ruined door.

"Rogue?" Scott asked worried as he entered the room, ignoring the fact that Ranma had kicked down the door. "What happened? Are you all right?"

"Ah- Ah don't know," Rogue stuttered, shaking her head in her hands, "Ah-Ah was d-dreamin'; some kinda horrible nightmare!" She paused in an attempt to catch her breath, "With the - with these images - jus' horrible." She grabbed Ranma's arm as she slowly approached, clutching tightly to the blue-skinned girl.

"Yeah," Kitty agreed in worried tones, turning her gaze away from Ranma, "Her shrieking totally freaked me out. I nearly phased through my bed."

"Woah," Scott said, taking it all in, "Finals must be really getting to you."

"No," Rogue denied, her eyes wide. "It's not tha first time Ah had these dreams. They started when Ah came ta tha Institute, and Ah never really noticed them until Ranma's coma." She shivered, "Ah had jus' passed them off as me bein' worried 'bout him, but they've become more 'n more vivid since then!"

"Wha-What's goin on, man?" Evan asked with a yawn as he entered the room, clad in a pair of blue long shorts and white muscle shirt. Kurt was with him, dressed in a pair of red pants and a yellow shirt, his tail dragging along the floor. "Are you guy's alright?"

"Rogue's havin' nightmares," Ranma said with a blush that turned her face purple as the girl clutched tight onto her arm.

"Woah, vhat about?" Kurt questioned, stepping forward.

"Ah'm not sure," Rogue replied, her voice muffled due to it's presence against Ranma's shoulder. "There's- there's a- a castle, an' wolves, an; oh mah god, that poor lil' baby..." She choked out the last word, "Ah-Ah didn't really see his face, but..." her eyes widened and she pulled her face away from Ranma, slowly looking over to Kurt as she realized something, "Ah seemed ta kno-to know him somehow!"

Kurt, blinked, stepping back, "Vhat?" He asked, pressing a three-fingered hand to his chest, "Vhy are you looking at me like that? What's wrong?"

"It was you!" Rogue gasped out, pointing a finger at the blue-furred boy. "Somehow...somthin' tells me- Ah jus' know - it was you Kurt!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"What are you talking about?" Kurt questioned apprehensively as everyone's eyes turned to him. She couldn't possibly mean...

"In mah dream," Rogue explained a bit more calmly, "There was a baby. He was cryin'. Someone- a woman, Ah think, Ah didn't really see her face - was runnin' and she," Rogue buried her face into Ranma's shoulder again, forcing back the tears that threatened to escape, "Tha baby, he was dropped into the river!"

"And you think that baby was me?" Kurt questioned, again pointing to himself.

"Why do Ah keep havin' this nightmare?!" Rogue asked emphatically, ignoring Kurt's question.

"Maybe the Professor can help us sort this out," Jean offered, placing a hand on Rogue's shoulder comfortingly, "But it's pretty late; why don't we put this off until the morning?"

'That's all right, Jean,' The Professor told them telepathically. 'Rogue and Kurt, please come to the library with Jean,'the telepathic message continued. Then almost as an afterthought, Xavier added, 'And please bring Ranma with you. And the rest of you, get some sleep. In case you have forgotten, you all have finals tomorrow.'

"Man," Evan said as he left the room, "There's no keeping anything from that dude, is there?"

"Huh?" Ranma asked, wondering what had just happened. "Keep what from who? What's going on now?"

Jean blinked. "Oh, right," she said, "Immunity to telepathy. The Professor asked for me, you, Rogue and Kurt to meet him in the library."

"Oh," Ranma said, "I get it; that's why everyone looked up suddenly a second ago." Apparently, telepathy sounded like a voice from above. She frowned as she followed behind the other three, "But why does he want me? Rogue 'n Kurt, I can understand, and you too I guess, but I ain't got anythin' ta offer that can help with this."


"I've always known that I was adopted," Kurt said, leaning forward on one of the couches in the library. The four teens had been greeted upon arrival by their mentor who was dressed in a brownish-green bathrobe, and despite the late hour, did not look the least bit tired. "But they never said anything about me being fished out of a river."

"Don't worry Kurt," Xavier replied, "We'll try to sort all of this out. Rogue," he turned to the young woman, "since this was your dream, I think we should start with you. If you would please sit here?" he gestured towards a chair a few feet away from him.

"Now, Ranma," he continued, turning towards the blue-skinned girl who was leaning against one of the bookcases that lined the walls, "If you will please come here and nullify Rogue's powers?"

Ranma raised an eyebrow, but did as requested. "Why do ya need her powers nullified?" she asked, standing behind Rogue and placing her hands gently on the sides of Rogue's neck.

Xavier raised his hands and placed his fingers against Rogue's temples. "I am going to use my telepathy to delve into Rogue's mind to see this dream for myself." He answered, "And while I could do so without touching her, direct contact will allow for a more accurate reading. Now, Rogue," he said, looking the girl directly in the eyes, "Please relax, and try to concentrate on the dream."

Rogue watched him nervously, "This isn't gonna hurt, is it?" She asked, closing her eyes.

"No," Xavier answered, closing his eyes, "Now please, concentrate." With that, he reached into her mind.

Images flashed in Xavier's head.

A castle, with a strange lab.

A woman, running through a forest with a bundle clutched to her chest.

A pack of ravenous wolves.

His teeth clenched as the images poured into his mind much faster. An oddly garbed yet familiar man watching with cool detachment. A familiar blue-skinned woman, horror etched on her face as the child fell from her grip. The same woman lying on the bridge, sobbing as she asked the man why. The man turning away wordlessly and floating back to the castle.

Morning. The child floating down a river and being discovered by a couple. The blue-skinned woman watching from a distance, sadly pulling the hood of her cloak over her head and turning away.

The others watched in rapt fascination as their mentor and their teammate sat silently, eyes closed with looks of intense concentration evident on their faces.

Kurt stood excitedly when their eyes finally opened. "Well, did you see anything else?"

Xavier pulled his surprised gaze away from Rogue's own and sat back in his wheelchair, pressing a pair of fingers to his forehead. This was going to prove to be a very interesting turn of events. "Apparently, Rogue," he said finally, "Your dream... is not a dream. It is a repressed memory, not just a figment of your imagination."

Kurt stepped in closer, "But, if I'm in it," he said, "Why is she having the dream? Should it have been mine?"

Rogue nodded. "Yeah Professor," she agreed, "What's goin' on?"

Xavier frowned as he considered this. "I am not sure," he finally said, "My guess would be that you absorbed the memories of someone who has knowledge of Kurt's past." He wasn't sure how to tell them that he had a pretty good assumption on who's memories they were. He glanced up at Ranma, who had returned to her earlier place against the bookshelf. Seeing the boy-turned-girl nod back, he returned his gaze to the other students.

"She touched me!" Kurt exclaimed, "Back vhen ve first met, remember Rogue?"

Rogue suppressed a wince. She did indeed remember; Mystique had manipulated her by shapeshifting into the other X-Men and attacking her, leading her to believe they were her enemies. During that whole mis-understanding, she had touched Kurt and absorbed his teleportation powers. She'd have to do that again sometime; it'd been kinda fun.

"Maybe you got those memories from me." Kurt concluded.

"You were just an infant in the dream, Kurt," Xavier said, "Although... it is entirely possible you could have memories from that far back. Unlikely, but possible."

Kurt's enthusiasm didn't wane. "Probe my mind now, Professor!" He requested, "Maybe ve can find out even more! Maybe I've got even more memories, about vhat happened aftervords!"

"Yes..." Xavier said slowly, his mind still racing over the information he'd gleaned from the images. "But... not tonight. It's very late, and I think we've all had quite enough excitement for now."

"But professor-"

"Tomorrow Kurt," Xavier interrupted, turning his chair around and heading for the door. "After school. I promise."

Kurt sighed, but accepted the older man's decision. With a flash and a puff of smoke, he 'ported back to his bedroom.

Ranma pushed herself off the bookcase, yawning. "Well..." she said, heading for the door, "I should get back ta bed too. Gotta get up early fer yer trainin' tomorrow, Red," she told Jean with a grin, seeing the girl's face blanch slightly. "Oh, c'mon. Tai Chi ain't that hard t'learn."

Jean sighed, heading off to her own room. "The way you teach it, it is..." she muttered.

"Hey, Ranma?" Rogue asked as something occurred to her, "Why are ya female right now?"

Ranma grimaced. "Curse don't seem t'like me spendin' so much time as a guy," she answered, "s'been makin' me change at random all week, since I woke up. Usually at night." She shrugged, "Figured there had ta be a catch when I gained control; as long as it doesn't happen at school, I can deal."

"Huh," Rogue said with a yawn, "Well...night." She said, entering her room. After a moment, she poked her head back out. "Ranma? Did ya hafta break down tha door?" Looking around, she frowned when she saw the girl had vanished. "Aw, hell..." she cursed softly.


"Come in," Xavier said as he heard a knock at his door.

Ranma entered, softly shutting the door behind her. "Ya wanted ta see me?" She asked, "And I assume not in front of tha others?"

"Yes," Xavier said, turning to face her, "I... I feel bad about this, but I did not tell the whole truth to Kurt or Rogue," he admitted, "I know whom the memories originated from. Tell me," he said after a brief pause, "has your mother mentioned anything about having another child?"

Ranma blinked, "Uh, yeah she said somethin' 'bout a half-bro-" her eyes widened. "Are you sayin' what I think yer sayin'?"

"I do not know," Xavier replied, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "But Mystique was the woman I saw in the memory, the one who was with the infant Kurt."

Ranma leaned back against the door with a thud. "This is...damn." She finally said.

Xavier chuckled. "A succinct summary indeed, " he replied, "You were planning on meeting your mother for breakfast this morning, were you not?" Seeing Ranma nod, he continued, "If you are willing, I was wondering if you could bring up the matter when you are with her. Don't mention the dreams or our suspicions, but please try and find out anything you can. This could be very important to Kurt."

"Well, I have been meanin' t'ask her 'bout it for a while now..." Ranma frowned, considering the professor's request. She wasn't sure if that would violate the terms of his agreement with mom or not. It wasn't exactly secret, confidential information that Rogue was having dreams that were actually Mystique's memories, but... "I'll do what I can, Prof," She finally said, "But I can't guarantee anythin'."

Xavier smiled. "That is all I ask, Ranma. Now," he added, "you should get to bed. You have a busy day tomorrow."

Ranma winced an headed out the door. Training with Jean and Evan in the morning, then breakfast with her mother, then school -where she had THREE finals. Then more training with her new "Null Blast" technique - which she knew she was close to mastering, she could feel it - followed by whatever the heck else might pop up. Sighing, Ranma headed to her room to try and get at least an hour of sleep before she was forced to get up again.


The Brotherhood were thrilled when Mystique had told them training was canceled for the day, so thrilled they had not bothered to ask why. While they knew that it was helping them, they still didn't like having to wake up and be forced to move around so early. They were taking their free-time this morning to actually eat breakfast at the house when Nabiki came down the stairs.

"Well, how do I look?" she asked, striking a pose.

The jaws of the Brotherhood boys collectively dropped, along with the spoon Freddy was using to eat his cereal out of a large mixing bowl. Todd struggled to form words, but nothing intelligent came out - although, if anything intelligent HAD come out, it would have shocked the others even more than Nabiki's current attire.

The brown-haired girl was dressed in a very skin-tight, very revealing uniform. A pair of back leather boots with buckles up the sides ran up her legs, stopping at mid-cal where her legs continued up, covered in tight black leggings. Further up, she wore a tight black leather mini-skirt. Above it was her bare midriff, followed by a tight blue halter-top, showing off some very impressive cleavage. Her arms were covered with a pair of long blue gloves that reached her biceps, the backs of which were lined with metal plates. The outfit was topped off by a black choker around her neck, bearing one of the many symbols used to denote wireless networks.

Pietro was the first to react, shaking his head rapidly to clear up his surprise. "Guh..." he said intelligently, "Nice get-up, Nabs. What's the occasion?"

Nabiki smirked. "It's my costume," she answered proudly, "I figured, you guys all have one, I should too. I've been working on it all week."

"Huh," Lance said, turning his attention back to his breakfast, "Not bad, I guess."

Nabiki sighed. Looked like that was the best reaction she was gonna get. No matter. "Anyway," she said, taking her usual seat at the table and setting down the three manila folders that had been unnoticed by the others until that very moment, "here are the copies of the answer keys and the tests for the finals today." She handed one to Pietro, Todd, and Lance. "Pietro has the various sciences, Lance has the math and English, Todd has the History and foreign languages. Anyone asks for something you don't have, direct them to where whoever who has it is."

"Where's mine?" Freddy asked as he shoveled his corn flakes into his mouth.

"Remember, Freddy?" Nabiki asked sweetly, "You attract too much attention for the more clandestine aspects of this work. All you have to do is stick to your usual shakedowns." Turning back to the other three boys, she continued speaking. "Remember, tests are forty dollars, answer keys are fifty." She looked at Pietro specifically, adding, "I've heard rumours that Varnsen's Physics final exam is supposed to be hell, so up the price of both the test and answer key for that one by ten dollars."

The boys nodded, looking through the folders. "What was the take for yesterday?" Lance asked, eying the freshly-printed sheets to the English final he was to take that day.

"Don't worry about it," Nabiki said dismissively. "You get your cuts at the end of the week, worry about it then." She grabbed a muffin off the tray. "Where's Mystique?" she asked, taking a quick glance around. "I notice none of you are sporting any new bruises."

"Boss-lady told us we got the day off, sweetums," Todd told her, flashing his repulsive smile, "Said she had somethin' to take care of this mornin'."

"Speaking of," Lance said, looking up from where he was putting his folder into his bag, "Why don't you ever have to join in on the training sessions?"

Nabiki smirked. "It's in my contract," she replied simply, popping her muffin into her mouth and walking off.

The other boys exchanged looks. "We have got to get contracts of our own," Pietro finally said, the other three boys nodding in agreement.


The diner Mystique had selected was a nice, humble, and remarkably indistinct restaurant. Booths lined the walls, and round-top tables were scattered in the empty space in between. There was a counter across from the front door that ran most of the length of the building, with numerous stools set up in front of it. Behind it was the kitchen, where every so often cursing could be heard from the cooks. Waitresses in blue and white dresses circulated among the patrons, taking orders and delivering food.

Essentially, a typical, run-of-the-mill diner. Ranma was almost overwhelmed by the mediocrity of it.

The pair sat across from each other in a booth right next to the front door. Ranma was back in his male form, and his mother was wearing her Principal Darkholme persona, with the usual dark-gray woman's business suit. So far, they had talked about rather mundane things - school, hobbies, martial arts, etc. The conversation thus far had fit the mundane atmosphere of the diner itself.

Then his mother had turned the conversation towards a different topic, one he had been dreading for some time now. His fiancées.

"Mom," He said in an exasperated tone, "I toldja before, I ain't gonna marry any of them."

"I know you're not," Mystique replied as she calmly took a bite of her eggs, "I'm just letting you know that I don't approve of any of those... girls." She left unsaid that the main reason behind her disapproval was due to the lack of an x-gene in any of them.

Ranma sighed. They had been going back and forth like this for some time now, and endless cycle into a pit of despair the pigtailed boy could not find any way - hey, what was that? A shiny new change of topic! Ranma seized hold of it

"So, mom," Ranma asked casually as he cut a triangle out of his stack of pancakes. There was one thing about this mundane diner that was not mundane, and that was the food; Ranma was almost convinced they had Kasumi in the kitchen. "You said somethin' before 'bout me havin' a brother?"

Mystique froze. She had known he would ask about that sooner or later. She had been hoping it would be later. "Yes," She answered hesitantly, "I did say that. W-why do you ask?"

"I was just curious 'bout him," Ranma replied, internally wincing. He could see the pain on her face the mere mention had brought up.

"You understand this is a very hard thing for me to talk about," Mystique said after spending a few minutes collecting herself. "I was... forced to give him away shortly after he was born. For his own safety." She shook her head as she saw the question form on her son's lips. "I cannot tell you why, as it involves matters we have agreed not to discuss."

Frowning slightly, Ranma nodded in understanding. "You don't havta talk 'bout him if ya don't want to, mom..."

Mystique sighed and shook her head. "No," she said, "I need to tell you about this; if your curiosity is anything like Genma's, you won't be satisfied until you have an answer. He's younger than you, by about a year and a half." She paused, "There isn't much I can really tell you, to be honest. I never even got the chance to name him officially."

Ranma nodded. "It's alright," he said, polishing off the last of his breakfast.

Noticing the time on the clock above the counter, Mystique finished the last of her meal and flagged the waitress down. "Anything else will have to wait for another time," she said after they had received the check. "We both need to be getting to school now." She shot him a look, "You have finals today. Have you been studying?"

Ranma chuckled nervously. "Yeah, funny thing about that..."

"Ranma," His mother said in a firm voice, "I expect to see good grades on your report card." She smirked, "And I will see it, before you do in fact, so there is no way you can hide it from me."

Ranma sighed. While he'd enjoyed a fair amount of nepotism in his position as the principal's son, - he never needed a hall pass and could skip directly to the front of the lunch line - he doubted his mother would use her influence to make sure he passed his classes. She was even more insistent than Professor Xavier that he receive an education. "Yes mom..."


"GET OUT! GET OUT NOW!"

Xavier calmly turned his wheelchair towards the door, seemingly unaffected by Mystique's outburst. "In case you were wondering, Raven," he said on his way out, "He turned out to be a very fine young man."

Mystique slowly made her way over to her desk, her normally stern face carrying an expression of pain. This explained why Ranma had asked her about her other child this morning. Xavier had come here, telling her about the dreams Rogue had been having, which were actually some of the more painful memories from Mystique's past. She had put up a calm front, assuming Xavier was merely fishing, trying to bait her into revealing something.

She had managed to play it cool until the very end, when he had asked if whatever had happened in that castle - apparently, her memories didn't extend into the details of that, something she was eternally grateful for. Upon hearing that question, however, she had felt an intense anger erupt within her, and she had demanded he leave.

Slumping down into her chair, Mystique's mind turned to the overal familiarity of the whole situation. It was very similar to when Charles cad come to see her several weeks previous, in regards to Ranma. Only this time it was in regards to her other son.

Her suspicions from before had been confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt. His appearance and age matched up perfectly with her son's, and Rogue's dream - Mystique's own memory - was the ultimate confirmation.

The question now, however, was what was she going to do about it? She knew Kurt didn't like her, and he had no reason to like her; hell, if she had to admit she found it hard to like him much, despite now knowing he was her son.

Sighing as she leaned back in her chair, Mystique rubbed the bridge of her nose while she pondered how to proceed from here.


Xavier deftly maneuvered his wheelchair through the hallways of Bayville High, mentally tracking his students so that he did not accidentally run into one of them. While he did not like keeping secrets from them, he wasn't prepared to explain why he was at their school in the first place. It wasn't that he liked keeping secrets from them, it was simply there were things they were not et prepared to handle. In this case, however, it was more because this was something that really only involved Kurt, and to a lesser extent, Ranma. He would prefer it if Mystique contacted the boy herself - although, after seeing the results of her first meeting with Ranma, perhaps she might go about introducing the relationship a different way.

His meeting with the shapeshifter had gone exactly as he had imagined it would; she had refused to confirm anything verbally, and had guarded her thoughts well. Not well enough, however, and Charles had been able to confirm his suspicions. She was indeed Kurt's mother.

Oddly enough, he could sense that his words had confirmed suspicions of her own. Apparently, she had been wondering if the blue-furred mutant was the son she had been forced to give up for some time now.

As Xavier left the school building, he reached out with his mind. 'Logan, I have the coordinates.'

That was the other matter Xavier was concerned about. Magneto had done something to the boy, and it was something that might become a danger to Kurt later. Fortunately, he had also managed to gleam the general location of the castle from Rogue's dream during his brief conversation with Mystique.


Hearing Charles' telepathic message, Logan finished the pre-launch preparations for the Blackbird. "Fire away, Chuck," he said aloud, thinking the message back to Xavier.

Recieveing the coordinates, Logan finished the start-up seuence and pulled the mask of his costume over his face. Taking hold of the controls, he eased the Blackbird forward. Within moments, the state-of-the-art black jet was out of the hangar and soaring through the sky.


Ryouga was really beginning to hate this guy.

Not as much as he hated Ranma; no one could inspire that much loathing in the pig-cursed boy. But Magnus was rapidly reaching near-Ranma status on the scale of hatred.

Over a week he had been here now, most of it chained to the wall. Not uncomfortably so; the chain had quite a fair amount of slack to it, enough for Ryouga to get to the bathroom when he needed to use it. He would have simply broken the chains, but Magnus had done something to them to make them unbreakable, even when Ryouga put every ounce of his ki into his strength. Probably some special form of magnetism or something; Ryouga didn't really care. All he knew was that he was stuck here until he could find some way to escape, or even better, get lost. Unfortunately, the bathroom was as far as the chain extended, which was not nearly far enough for his directional curse to kick in.

Every so often Magnus would pull himself away from whatever super-important plans he was working on to speak with Ryouga, to the Lost Boy's chagrin. The man kept going on and on about the stupidest of things, which Ryouga had managed to distill down to two simple lines of thought:

Humans bad, mutants good.

Ryouga snorted. He honestly didn't care about any of it. So what if he was a mutant, supposedly further along the evolutionary path than the rest of humanity. Big deal. All it meant was that Ryouga had an advantage not many people had. And advantage he had hoped to turn against his hated rival.

Except now he knew Ranma had a similar advantage, and it was just the Lost Boy's luck that it was capable of completely negating his own.

But it should be simple enough to overcome, with some strategy. Unfortunately strategy had never been one of Ryouga's strong points; his preferred method involved hitting hard and outlasting his opponent. Augmenting his abilities with his massive reserves of ki was a great aid in this 'strategy', but once again, Ranma had the advantage over him. And so far, the only way he could devise to counter it was to not let Ranma touch him. Which meant falling back on his usual methods, taking his opponent out hard and fast.

And he would do that. Just as soon as he figured a way out of this damnable castle.


The bell rang, and Kurt was immediately out of his seat. Walking to the front of the classroom, he handed his completed Social Sciences final and headed out the door. He wasn't sure how well he had done on it, and to be honest, his mind had been on matter others than his final grade in the class; he was doing well enough anyway.

Walking through the hallway, surrounded by other students complaining about the difficulty of the various exams they'd had to take throughout the day, Kurt couldn't help but grin. The professor had promised that after school they would continue what they had started the night before. As wonderful as his foster family had been, he was eager to learn more about his past, and hopefully, his birth-parents.

"Hey, Kurt!" He heard Rogue's voice behind him as he made his way to his locker, and stopped to let her catch up. "Wait up. What's tha rush?"

Kurt grinned as the continued walking. "Don't you remember?" He asked, "The professor promised we would look for more answer after school."

"Right..." Rogue said, stopping as the boy reached his locker. "Are yah sure yah really wanna know?"

Opening his locker, Kurt turned to look at the girl. "Vhat? Of course!" He exclaimed, reaching into retrieve a book, "Vouldn't you? I mean, haven't you ever vondered about your real parents?"

"Ah guess so, yeah, sometimes," Rogue replied, turning away slightly. "But Irene was always a good mom to me. Ah mean, sometimes she could be real strict 'n all, but..." she trailed off.

Kurt nodded in understanding, agreeing with what she had left unsaid. "My adoptive parents were great to," he said, slipping his backpack over his shoulder, "But I always felt that they vere... keeping something from me."

"Whenever the subject of where I came from came up," He continued as the pair started walking, "They vere always vague. They never said anything like the stuff from your dream."

"Maybe they didn't know," Rogue suggested, crossing her arms, "Or... or maybe they were just tryin' ta protect you." She stopped as she said this, turning to look at the boy.

Kurt frowned, "How? He asked, a slight tone of anger entering his voice, "By hiding my past from me?"

"Kurt-"

"Listen," He cut her off, "Maybe you can live vithout knowing, but I have to know the truth!" Without even caring to make sure no one was watching, Kurt deactived his image inducer, returning to his normal fuzzy blue form. "I'm out of here," he said, quickly teleporting away.

Rogue hastily looked around, releasing a sigh of relief when she saw the only people present were Scott and Jean, who were approaching her, and another student who's view was obstructed by his open locker.

"Man, what was that all about?" Scott asked. He had managed to catch the end of the conversation, as well as Kurt's public teleportation - a major breech of the secrecy the mutant students tried to hold on to.

Rogue sighed, "He's still a lil' worked up about last night." She answered.

Scott sighed and started walking. "Well, we better go find him," he said.

Rogue turned the other way. "Ah'll meet y'all at tha car, Ah'm just gonna... go grab Ranma." From a blond bimbo, she added mentally. Melinda had P.E. with Ranma at the end of the day, and had been using this fact all week both as a way of trying to get closer to him, and as a way to annoy her rival for said boy.

Once all thee had left, the student who had been in his locker earlier looked up. He was a Hispanic boy of average height, with short black hair streaked with a bright orang in the front and in two narrow stripes along the sides. Seeing that the hall was now empty, he shut his locker and walked over to the wall; anyone who might come into the hall would not see him now, the row of lockers concealing him.

Sighing, he leaned against them a ripple passing along his body as his form shifted into Principal Darkholme. She had overheard the entire conversation between Kurt and Rogue. The former wanted to know more, wanted to know who his birth parents were. Sighing again, she pushed away from the lockers and made a decision.

She knew he wouldn't be happy when he found out it was her.


"Pleeeease?" Melinda begged, holding tightly onto Ranma's arm and purposefully pressing her breasts against it. "I want to see where you live! Why can't I come back to the Institute with you?"

Ranma chuckled nervously. He had barely changed and made it out of the locker room when the blond girl had latched onto him, pressing some very interesting parts of her body against him. Naturally, this robbed him of all intelligent thought. "I would, Mel, but - um - there are rules about, uh, guests at tha mansion." He answered lamely.

Melinda pouted. "Well, why don't you come back to my place?" She asked hopefully, "My parents would love to meet you, and you still have to see the other Rampage movies!"

"I would, but... um..."

"But Ranma has some pressin' business he needs ta take care of," Another voice entered the conversation. The pair looked up to see Rogue leaning against the wall. "Plus he has ta study fer finals." She added.

Ranma lifted his eyes to the heavens to thank whatever kami had decided fit to grant him mercy, and thus missed the cold glares the two girls exchanged.

"I'm sure Ranma can take care of them later," Melinda told Rogue in a deceptively sweet tone. "He promised he would hang out with me tonight. And he could just as easily study with me."

Rogue narrowed her eyes slightly. That was a blatant lie, and she knew it. "Unfortunately, Melinda," she said the girl's name as if it were a large slimy toad that had slipped into her shirt, "This ain't somethin' Ranma can put off. Ah'm afraid you'll both jus' havta reschedule."

"Yeah," Ranma emphatically agreed, pulling his arm out of Melinda's grasp while wondering when he had ever promised the blond girl any such thing. "Sorry 'bout that Mel, but Rogue is right. I got stuff I need ta do." He dashed off down the hall. "I gotta run ta my locker, I'll meetcha at Scott's car."

Rogue turned back to the girl with a triumphant smirk. "Nice try, blondie."

Melinda glared at her. "You're only delaying the inevitable, skunk-hair," She retorted, turning away and flipping her long braid over her shoulder, "It's only a matter of time before he sees I'm a much better choice."

"Is it possible ta get tickets ta tha fantasy world yer livin' in?" Rogue replied, turning away and heading towards the exit, "'cause that's tha only place Ranma is ever gonna be with ya." She smirked at the girl's angry 'hmmph' as she walked off.


"Are you sure about this?" Pietro asked as Mystique handed him a sealed yellow envelope, taking a second to glance down at it. "I mean, I've seen the defenses they got around that place."

"Don't worry," Mystique replied, "You're fast enough. You should be able to get in and out of there, undetected."

"Why is this so important?" Pietro asked, raising an eyebrow, "I mean, what are you telling that blue-furred freak?"

"Never mind!" Mystique answered in an icy tone, narrowing her eyes, "That is no business of yours! Just deliver it!"

Pietro shivered and sped off without another word.

Mystique frowned as she watched the silver-haired boy disappear in a blur of motion. She had originally planned to ask Ranma to deliver the message, but he had already left before she could find him. Turning to Pietro had been a last resort, but the boy would be able to get into the mansion and deliver the message without being seen. She held little doubt that he would escape Xavier's detection, however, but the bald telepath wouldn;t be able to act fast enough anyway.

Shifting into a bird, Mystique flew off in the direction of her house. She had to get ready; hopefully Kurt would follow the instructions in the message. She held little hope that he would like what she had to tell him when they met, but she had to tell him, if only to try and give him some kind of answer.


"Looks like this is the place," Logan's voice said over the comlink. "I'll set 'er down in the woods nearby and go in on foot."

"Good," Cavier said with a nod, although new knew Logan wouldn't see the gesture. The professor was siting in front of a large electronic map, currently centered on northern Germany. A blinking red dot indicated the current position of the Blackbird. "Keep me informed."

"Right," Logan's voice repsoned, "Logan out."

Xavier sat back in his chair, waiting for any other news from Logan. A moment later his eyes shifted to the side, and eyebrow rising as he his telepathy registered a new presence on the mansion grounds . Focusing his mind for a brief second, he easily determined it was Quicksilver. He frowned slightly, wondering what the young speedster might be doing here.


Pietro's speed easily allowed him to leap over the mansion gate without slowing down. Rushing through the large courtyard, he was relieved to find Mystique was right - he WAS fast enough to avoid the automated sensors and defenses. Filing that information away for later, he ran through the doors of the Institute, right past Kitty and up the stairs, concentrating on his task - both the one Mystique had given him, and the other one.

Kitty frowned as a gust of wind caused her to lose her place in her book. "Hey, who opened a window?" She commented to herself.


In his room, Kurt hung from the chandelier by his tail, staring at a picture of himself with his adoptive parents, taken when he was a child. Seeing the joy on the faces of his child-self and his adoptive parents as they posed for the photo, he pondered over Rogue's words earlier. They had been a great family, somehow able to easily look past his appearance and accept him as the child they were unable to have themselves.

Why had his birth parents given him up? Were they ashamed that they had given birth to a mutant? Were they even still alive? He didn't know the answers to any of these questions, and as he continued to think about it, he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Ignorance was bliss, after all; he had been raised by a loving family, and he knew for certain he never wanted to give them up.

Looking away from the photo as he heard a knock at the door, Kurt dropped down from his upside-down perch teleporting before he hit the ground.


Sticking his foot out, Ranma was surprised to feel something impact it, and even more surprised to see Pietro suddenly appear from no where, crashing into the wall. "Yo, Silver?" He asked in confusion. The Brotherhood wasn't allowed inside the mansion. "Whatcha doin' here?"

Pietro shook off his daze and faded into a blur as he raced away, leaving Ranma's question unanswered.

"Weird..." Ranma commented to himself. Shrugging, he continued to his room. The guy wasn't hurting anybody, far as he could tell, but he should probably tell the others about this.


Arriving outside his door, he was momentarily surprised to see no one present. Looking around, he saw no one in the area. Confused, he teleported back into his room.

On the floor next to his door, he saw a bright yellow envelope which had definitely not been there before. Suspicious, he picked it up and opened it anyway, finding a blue note inside, a message on it written in cursive.

"If you want to know the truth behind the dreams," he read aloud softly, "come to the new mall construction site at sundown. Come alone."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. Oh yeah, this was very suspicious. Very few people even knew about the dreams Rogue had the night before, and all of them were easily capable of coming directly to him if they knew anything. Obviously, though, someone else knew; whether what they knew was the truth, or this was an attempt at an ambush however, Kurt did not know.

Walking over to his desk, Kurt put the envelope and the message in the top-right drawer. Should he go? The method of delivery, the note itself, and the lack of any signature on it were all highly suspicious, and led to the theory that this might be some kind of trap. However, if whomever had delivered it indeed knew anything...

Glancing out the window, Kurt saw the sun slowly setting on the horizon. "Why not!" he declared, making a decision. Despite the highly suspicious nature of the note, and the excellent possibility of an ambush, the chance to learn more about his past was too good to pass up. Vanishing in a flash and a puff of smoke, Kurt teleported away.

Not even a second afterwards, there was another knock on his door. "Yo, Kurt," Scott said as he opened the door. "Professor X says he may have some info..." he trailed off as he saw the room was empty. Weird, he could have sworn he heard Kurt inside just a moment before.

"Kurt?" He called out into the room, thinking that the boy was maybe doing his usual 'hide-then-port-in-front-of-their-faces' prank. When no fuzzy blue figures appeared in front of him, he frowned.


"That's what the note said, I'm tellin' ya," Pietro's voice said over the communications system. "She's gonna meet that little blue creep tonight. And that Wolverine guy and the Blackbird were gone, just as you said."

"Hmmm" The shadowed figure responded as he stared at the monitor in front of him, "Just as I feared. Good work Pietro," he told the boy on the other end as the monitor revealed a sleek black jet slowly descending into the forest. "Now I need you to do something more for me. Get the others and intercept Nightcrawler BEFORE he gets to Mystique. She must not tell him what he wants to know. "

The figure's eyes narrowed as the image closed in on the jet, showing Wolverine in the cockpit. "I have to take care of a visitor."

The figure turned off the link without any further words, turning away. He had not expected something like this to occur, but he had prepared for it. Lifting his hands, he manipulated the magnetic fields in the lab. A burst of sparks and all of the equipment shorted out. With a wave of his hand, the remaining equipment smashed against the walls, and years of genetic research was destroyed with no traces. It did not matter; all of his research was backed up in other locations.

Placing an object on the wall, the figure pressed several buttons before turning away from the now-destroyed room. Rising a few feet into the air and floating down the halls, he considered his options. He had no intention of taking care of Wolverine by himself, especially when he could send others to do his work for him. Hibiki had proven resistant to his ideal, and he couldn't be bothered to take the boy with him.

He would, however, prove a useful distraction while he escaped. And in case the boy proved inept at that as well... he had no doubt the bomb he had activated before leaving the lab would kill Wolverine or the boy, but on the off chance that anything remained in the lab, it would certainly take care of that.


Pulling himself up from the side of the cliff and onto the courtyard of the castle with a grunt, Wolverine wondered if maybe coming in closer might have been a better idea. The climb hadn't been difficult in the least, but it had taken time, and he had no doubt that if anyone was here, they were well aware of his presence.

Sniffing the air, he growled as he recognized both scents and raced towards the open doors of the castle, ducking behind a column once inside. A quick glance to see that no one was there, Wolverine left his cover and raced up the stairs.

He was stopped in his path when he was suddenly caught in a field of electricity. Howling in pain as the energy crackled around him, he pushed it aside and extended his claws, forcing his way to the generator and slashing through it. The trap erupted in a shower of sparks as the field vanished. Groaning as he held his side, feeling his healing factor already repairing the damage, Wolverine continued forward a little more cautiously.

His enhanced hearing picked up the soft hum of electricity, and he dodged a red laser blast. Sparing a glance upward and seeing a pair of turrets further ahead, he had no time to continue thinking as they fired repeatedly. Dodging around the beams, he leaped into the air, bounding off of a column and flipping, destroying one of the turrets with a slash of his claws, quickly grabbing it and throwing it into the other one, causing both to explode in a shower of smoke and sparks.

Landing on his feet, Wolverine growled as he ducked behind a column, his claws still extended. Traps in places like this usually came in threes, and so far he'd encountered the energy trap and the shooting trap. Which meant either the large-rolling-thing-trap or the lackey-left-behind-to-fight-trap was coming up next. Add in the use of a dark and dreary castle as a lair, and Magneto was becoming far too predictable.

Looking around the corner wher ehe had seen a pair of large wooden doors earlier, he snarled when he saw the Ryouga boy that had escaped from the mansion exiting through them. Looks like the lackey trap after all. Growling, he leaped out from his hiding place and landed in a crouch in front of the kid, claws at the ready.

"Alright, bub," Wolverine snarled as he stared up at the boy, "Where's Magneto?"

"Who?" Ryouga asked, wondering who this strangely-garbed man was, "You mean Magnus? He left."

"And I suppose he left you behind to take care of me?" Wolverine growled, bringing one of his fists up into the ready position, claws gleaming in the moonlight. He was itching for a fight after taking down those laser turrets.

"Said something like that," Ryouga replied, "Don't really feel like it though. Got no reason to fight you, and him keeping me here has really delayed my vengeance." He clenched his fist angrily, his ki igniting around him as he walked past Wolverine. "Besides, not doing what he says will piss him off, and that thought makes me oddly happy."

Wolerine blinked, the berserker frenzy he'd managed to get himself into fading as the boy didn't leap into the attack. "Yer just gonna leave?"

"I got no reason to fight you," Ryouga replied without turning around. "I don't work for that jerk, and I don't want to."

"Ya still have a lot to answer for, bub," He replied, re-sheathing his claws. If the boy didn't want to fight, then he wasn't going to force him to. Glancing at the door, then back at the boy, he was surprised to find the latter had vanished. "Huh."

Putting the matter aside for the moment and concentrating on his mission, he approached the doors and forced them open, bursting into the room, claws again extended on the off-chance that Magneto had not already ran.

Seeing nothing but destroyed equipment littering the room, Wolverine walked down the stairs, re-sheathing his claws. When he reached the bottom, his communicator crackled.

"Wolverine, report!"

"Charles," Wolverine answered, "I was expected. Magneto was here, and I ran into that Hibiki kid."

"Ryouga?" Charles' voice responded, "Was he working for Magneto?"

"Negative on that, Chuck," Wolverine replied, "Said Buckethead left him here to delay me, but he didn't feel like it. Just up an vanished after that."

Looking around the ruined lab, he continued. "Looks like this place was some sorta," he paused as he took a sniff of the air, "DNA lab or somethin', but Magneto pulled out recently." He eyed the still-sparking equipment and added, "Real recently."

Taking another look around, his eyes narrowed as he saw a strange-yet-recognizable round device on the wall. Crap, he'd forgotten about the 'bomb-left-behind-to-clear-out-all-traces-and-hopefully-destroy-the-enemy' trap. "Sorry Prof," He said quickly as he noticed the timer on the bomb slowly ticking down, five seconds left on it, "I gotta sign off, NOW!"

Rsuhing towards the nearest window, he leaped out just in time to miss being caught in the explosion. Landing on his feet in the courtyard, he raced back into the woods as the castle came down behind him. As he ran to the spot he'd parked the Blackbird, he consoled himself with the fact that at least he got to do the cool 'dramatic-leap-out-at-the-last-second-with-explosions-behind-you' part. That was one of his favourites.


Jean was on her way to her room when she heard Scott call out her name from the intersecting hallway.

"Kurt's taken off," Scott said as he approached her, taking her shoulder. "The professor wants us to check out his room."

"So what are we looking for?" Jean asked as they entered the German boy's empty room. Figures something would happen just as she finally got around to studying for that History final...

"I'm not sure," Scott answered, checking out the far end of the room. "The Professor says he thinks Kurt might have had a visit from Pietro this afternoon."

"Quicksilver?" Jean gasped, looking up from where she was examining the desk, "Here? But how?"

"Hey, you know how fast that dude moves," Scott answered, checking out the CD-player. He didn't expect to find anything there, but maybe Kurt had hidden something with that R.E.M CD of Scott's he had yet to return. "And I guess he could get by the mansion security with no problem."

"Pietro? Yeah, he was here."

Scott and Jean looked up to see Ranma leaning against the door frame munching on an apple. "You saw him?" Jean asked as she looked through the drawers of the desk.

"Yeah, accidentally tripped him when he was running by." Ranma replied, taking another bite. "Surprised the hell outta me. Forgot all about it 'til I overheard you guys."

Scott frowned slightly. "Ranma," he said, "You really need to start-"

"Oh no!" Jean exclaimed, cutting off Scott before Ranma could find out what it was he really needed to start doing. She was holding a light blue piece of paper. "Scott, look at this." She said, holding it out to the sunglasses-clad boy.

Scott took it and read it quickly. "Get the others," he said, looking up at Ranma and Jean, "We gotta move!"

Ranma blinked in confusion as the pair raced out the door. "Gotta move where?" He asked the empty room. Shrugging, and assuming they'd tell him on there way to wherever they had to get, he ran off to do as asked.


Kurt appeared at the required meeting place, clad in his uniform. Walking slowly, he looked among the skeletal frames of the buildings-in-progress and the various items being used to build them. Whoever had set-up this meeting - or ambush - had apparently not arrived yet, as far as he could see. "Okay," he said finally, "So I'm here."

"Hello Kurt."

Kurt jumped at the sudden voice, spinning around to locate the source of it. Seeing a cloaked figure he was pretty certain hadn't been there before, he slowly walked forward, his eyes wide. "You," he said, "You're the one in Rogue's dream!"

Stopping several feet away from the woman, he continued. "Who are you?" He asked pleadingly, "Vhy don't you show yourself?"

"You already know me," The woman said, lifting her hands slowly to her hood and pulling it back. Kurt's eyes widened even further when he saw the face it concealed. A familiar blue face, with bright red hair. "Son." Mystique finished softly.

Kurt pulled back as if struck, shock evident in his features. "No!" He declared, "No, it's impossible!" Mystique? His mother? It couldn't be true! He ignored the sorrowful look on Mystique's face as she reached out towards him. "Vhat happened to me?" He asked angrily, "Why didn't you-"

Kurt was cut off by a loud grunt from above. Looking up in time to step back as The Blob landed in between the two, dressed in his usual torn vest and white wife-beater combat attire.

"Get away," Mystique ordered, grabbing Blob by the shoulder. Blob merely shoved he back with his shoulder and advanced on the other boy, grunting angrily.

Kurt stepped back as the massive boy stepped forward, only to hear the arrival of another behind him. Toad, also in his uniform - Kurt absently wondered about the purpose of the hump on the back - was crouched, ready to lash out with his prehensile tongue.

Looking to the left, he saw Avalanche. Looking to the right, he saw Network calmly sitting a ways away on a pile of steel beams, her legs crossed as she observed the blue-furred boy calmly. Both were also in uniform; at least, that's what he assumed Network's uniform must be.

The Brotherhood was completed with the - literally - instant arrival of Quicksilver, casually leaning against Blob's arm.

"Get out of here, all of you!" Mystique ordered angrily. This was not how it was supposed to go! This was even worse than when she had confronted Ranma! Dammit, was she cursed to never have a first meeting with a child ever go right? Belatedly, Mystique realized she might have been better off not using Quicksilver to deliver her message; hell, maybe it would have been better if she'd slipped the note into his locker.

Network smirked. "No can do, boss," she answered, sending early orders through the mind-link. Technically, Quicksilver was in charge of this operation, but this was what she did; hell if she was going to get in there and fight.

"Yeah," Quicksilver agreed with his own smirk, "We have higher orders. Know what I mean?" He snapped his fingers, ordering the attack to commence.

Nightcrawler immediately teleported as Toad whipped out his tongue, missing the slimy organ by mere nanoseconds. Reappearing on a large hook attached to a crane, porting again as Toad leaped into the air to grab him. "What kind of game is this, Mystique?" he asked, reappearing on the upper-section of an unfinished building.

Mystique's answer was cut off when Toad swung on the large hook, hitting the steel beam Nightcrawler was perched on and knocking the other boy to the ground, where he managed to fall into a large pile of sand. Surprised by the fall, Nightcrawler struggled to pull himself up as he was surrounded by Blob, Avalanche, and Quicksilver.

"Huh," Quicksilver remarked, "This is too easy."

"Wrong!" A new voice declared, Heads shooting up, the Brotherhood were greeted by the X-men. "It just became a lot harder!" Cyclops declared.

Network frowned. This hadn't been expected. Her eyes locked with Jean's as she prepared herself for mental combat, drawing on the mental energies of the rest o her team. She was a little worried, having never gone into a full-on psychic fight before, especially since she could tell the other girl had a lot more experience with such combat than she did.

"Get 'em!" Toad declared, landing in front of the others. Putting action to words, the boy hopped into the air, lashing his tongue out at Spyke, narrowly missing as the boy jumped back.

Growing a long spike out of his wrist, Spyke held it up in time to block Toad's second tongue-strike. "Uh-oh," Toad said worriedly, unable to retract the organ as Spyke pulled sharply on the bone, throwing Toad into a large pile of debris.

Network grit her teeth as she struggled to keep up the mind-link while simultaneously erecting mental shields against Jean's psychic blasts. This was a lot harder than she thought it would be; she quickly made a mental note to practice more with this particular aspect of her powers.

Jean frowned as she continued the attack. The girl's defenses were surprisingly great for one untrained in her abilities. Her attacks, on the other hand, were easily brushed off. Narrowing her eyes as she spared a glance for the now-unconscious form of Kurt, she pressed the attack.

"GrrrrrAAAAHH!!" Blob angrily declared as he charged Shadowcat. The girl crouched down, waiting until the last moment before leaping forward. Phasing through the boy, she delivered a hard kick to his back, using his momentum against him to knock him into a stationary cement mixer.

Cyclops smirked as he flipped the switch, activating the mixer. He stifled a laugh at Blob's protests as the mixer started rotating, the large boy trapped inside as he spun around with it.

Network groaned as the psychic assault threatened to overwhelm her. Sending a quick distress call to Avalanche, she was rewarded with the boy responding by stomping his foot to the ground, sending seismic tremors throughout the area. "Time to rock and roll!" He declared.

Jean's concentration vanished at the earthquake that sprouted below her. She looked up and gasped, seeing a large piece of steel falling towards her. She struggled to push it away telekinetically, but was unable to concentrate enough with the intense shaking going on around her. She was saved by the sudden arrival of Ranma, pushing her out of the path of the falling object.

"Thanks," She said breathlessly, shooting a glare at a smirking Network. Ranma nodded in return before racing off.

Avalanche glared at her, raising his foot again to send a stronger tremor through the ground. Before he could, however, he found himself suddenly tackled to the ground by Rogue.

Meanwhile, Cyclops was having hard time against the Brotherhood's speed demon.

"C'mon shades," Quicksilver taunted, stopping for a second and dodging just as an optic blast was fired at him, passing through the after-image he left behind. "Can't hit me!" He declared arrogantly, dodging several more blasts in the same manner, stopping long enough for Cyclops to fire but racing away before the beam could even come close to hitting him. "I'm too fast!" He announced, appearing right in Cyclops' face.

Cyclops was getting frustrated, but not letting up in his attempts to hit the speeding boy.

"Can't hit me, can ya?" Quicksilver said, speeding past Cyclops and hitting him in the back.

"I can," Ranma said, rolling his eyes as the speed demon passed in front of him, shooting his foot out at the last moment and sending a surprised Quicksilver flying through the air and into a dump truck. Looking over at Cyclops, he mock-yawned. "Please tell me it gets better than this, an' this is just them on an off day?"

Cyclops smirked. "Next time you can take them all by yourself, if you want."

Ranma grinned in response, absently back-handing Toad as he tried to launch a flying kick at his back. "Sounds like fun."

Avalanche struggled to throw Rogue off of him, his eyes widening in fear as he saw the girl's un-gloved hands come down on his face. He cried out in pain as she touched him, soon falling unconscious as his energy was drained out of him and into the girl.

Rogue winced as she stood up. Seeing Mystique fleeing, she ran as fast as she could after the shapeshifter. "Going somewhere?" She asked, stepping in front of the fleeing woman. "Me an' Kurt have a few questions we need YOU to answer!"

"It's too late for that," The shapeshifter replied, her voice distraught. This was obviously lost; after her team of morons had shown up and ruined everything, she had no doubt Kurt would never believe anything she told him. Burying the pain in a practiced manner, she turned away from Rogue. "It's too late for any answers I can provide. Far too late."

"Not so fast!" Rogue growled as the woman ran off. Using the powers borrowed from Avalanche, her eyes rolled up in her head and she stomped a foot against the ground, sending a tremor in the direction of the fleeing woman. The wrecking ball she was under began to shake violently.

Mystique looked up at the construction equipment fearfully, immediatly changing her shape into a raven, flying out of her cloak and away from the battle.

Rogue frowned as the woman flew off. Stomping a foot angrily against the ground - and sending a small shockwave through it - she turned back to rejoin the others. Arriving, she saw Network nervously looking at Cyclops, who had his visor pointed directly at her, his head ready to open the aperture and unleash a blast.

"We give up!" The girl declared. "Really, we do! My team's unconscious, and I'm not dumb enough to think I can take you on myself." Not without the mind-link, at least, and that had been cut when her team had been rendered unconscious. She frowned, muttering to herself. "There goes my bonus, and my chance to impress the higher-ups..."

"What was this about?" Cyclops demanded.

Network shrugged. "No idea," she answered. "Quicksilver came into the house saying we had to do this; orders from the top. Don't know any more than that." She slipped off the beam she was sitting on, blowing Cyclops a kiss. "Well, I'm off. Thanks for the fun time, cutie!" She declared, immediately fleeing before they could question her further.

The X-men blinked at the rapid departure. Cyclops was about to chase after her when he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Turning, he saw Jean shaking her head.

"Let her go," the redhead told him, "We need to get Kurt back to the mansion and report this to the Professor."

Cyclops nodded, and Ranma took Nightcrawler off of Jean's shoulder. "Well," the pigtailed boy said, hefting the prone boy over his shoulder as the group walked off. "That was kinda fun, I guess.


"Alright, boys," Nabiki said to the four currently lounging around the television. "That really sucked."

Todd shrugged. "Ain't nothin' new." He said, a slight tone of depression in his voice, "We never win."

Nabiki frowned. "Never?" She didn't pick the loser side, did she? There wasn't any money in losing.

Pietro smirked. "Actually," he said, "technically we won. The objective was to keep Mystique from telling blue boy what he wanted to know, and I think we managed to succeed in that regard."

"Speaking of," Nabiki said, tapping a finger against her chin, "Why did we have to do that anyway?"

"Can't tell ya," Pietro replied. He winced as he heard Nabiki's voice in his head, telling him in an icy tone, 'We will talk about this later, Maximoff.'

"You do know boss-lady is gonna be pissed with us for that when she gets home, right?" Todd pointed out.

Freddy snorted. "When isn't she pissed with us?"

"Regardless," Nabiki said, "I don't intend to lose often. It's bad for business." While she felt a little better with the knowldge that they had completed their objective - hopefully this meant she'd get her bonus - she had no intention of being on the losing side. She wasn't a fighter, but with these little battles they tended to get into, she might have to become one. She was more used to dueling on a mental level, however, while everyone else seemed to be more concerned with the physical aspect of the fight. "You guys need to get better." She finished simply.

"Yeah, well I didn't see you doin' too well against Red back there, Nabs," Lance retorted with a smirk. "I mean, that is why you asked me to bail you out, right?"

Nabiki frowned, shooting him a glare. "I underestimated her," she replied, "I won't make that same mistake again." For some reason, Nabiki really didn't like the other telepath. She was actually looking forward to their next little duel, and she would make sure the redhead knew she had met her match. Which meant she had a lot of practice to do in order to get her mental abilities up to the other girl's level.

But that could come later. CSI: Milwaukee was starting.


"So the dreams Rogue was having," Logan summarized, "were really Mystique's..."

"It appears so," Xavier replied. He, Logan, Scott and Jean were sitting in the library the morning after the battle at the construction yard. "Rogue must have picked them up from her when she touched Mystique just before she joined us."

"So..." Scott started, "Is she really Kurt's mother?"

Xavier frowned. "I am not certain, although Ranma has told me Mystique told him of a younger sibling. And the impressions I got during my meeting with her yesterday at the school would indicate so as well." He paused, then added "At the very least, she appears to think so."

"An' there wasn't anythin' left of that lab either," Logan added, "So any clues that mighta been there are gone. But before it went kablooey, it looked like the kinda place Dr. Frankenstein would have been comfy in."

"Genetic experimentation on mutants..." Xavier said softly, "I did not realize he was willing to go that far... And poor Kurt..."

Scott looked up at Logan as he stood up, walking towards one of the bookshelves. Sharing a glance with Jean, who shrugged in response, Scott looked towards the Professor. "So...what are you gonna tell Kurt about all this?" He asked.

"I'm not so sure the elf needs ta know," Logan said, looking over his shoulder at them. "At least, not yet. This is some pretty messed up stuff, and some of it could be pretty damaging."

Jean pulled her legs up to her chest and Scott slumped forward. This was pretty scary stuff; the idea that Kurt may have been experimented on as a baby. Was that what caused his appearance, or was that simply the result of his mutation? Were the two connected? Jean had no idea, and since the lab was destroyed, she doubted they would ever know.


On the balcony outside Kurt's bedroom, three figures stood watching the sunrise; well, two figures stood. the third was perched on the railing, his tail idly swishing in the air behind him.

"I still cahn't believe it," Kurt said, glancing at Ranma and Rogue, "Mystique... is my mother?"

"Who really knows?" Rogue replied, "Ah mean, that's one seriously disturbed lady. Maybe she's just messin' with .

"Hey!" Ranma said, shooting Rogue a look, which she returned with a grin. "That's my mom too, y'know." After a short pause, he added, "An' she wouldn't do that ta mess with someone; she mentioned somethin' about havin' another kid before. I asked her 'bout it yesterday." He sighed. "You got no idea how much it hurt her ta talk 'bout it, Kurt. She didn't want ta havta give ya up, but tha way she worded it, seemed like she had no choice."

"I'm not sure if I believe that, although it sounds as if you do already," Kurt said after a moment, "No offense, Ranma, but I don't trust her at all; I don't understand vhy you do, in fact."

Ranma shrugged. "She's mom," he said simply, "You mighta had a mom growin' up, even if it was one through adoption, but I didn't. All I had was Pops, an' he was hardly even a decent father mosta tha time. I ain't known her long, an' I admit I ain't seen her the way you guys have, but I've got to give her a chance."

He smirked, "And for what it's worth, I think she's tellin' tha truth; tha way she tends ta act whenever tha subject comes up, I don't think she'd lie 'bout that."

"I guess there is a certain resemblance," Kurt admitted, looking down at himself. He'd never noticed before, but the blue of his fur was the exact same shade as Mystique's and Ranma's girl form's skin. He grinned at the pigtailed boy. "I guess you know chat that means, yeah?"

"Yeah," Ranma said with a smirk, "I come to America ta find my mom, and I managed to get a brother as well."

"We still don't know fer sure," Rogue pointed out.

"Nah, I'm sure of it," Ranma said, "My gut's tellin' me mom ain't lyin' 'bout it, and I tend to listen to it more than I do my head."

"Obviously," Rogue said with a smile, "Seein' tha way ya eat, I ain't got a doubt that it holds more sway than yer brain." She laughed as Ranma stuck his tongue out at her.

"Something is telling me it's right too," Kurt said with a frown, "As much as I admit I don't like it." He shook his head. "I mean, Mystique! My mother is with the bad guys!"

Ranma waved it off. "Ya get used to it, little bro."

"Maybe," Kurt said, "But I don't think I can trust her the way you do. So don't expect me to join in on any of your little family outings for a vhile at least."

"That's cool," Ranma said, grabbing Kurt off the railing with one arm and into a brotherly hug. "Do you do know what else this means though, right?" Seeing Kurt shake his head, he grinned and brought his knuckled down against the blue-furred boy's scalp in a surprise noogie. "It means I got fifteen years wortha older brother-type things ta make up for!"

"Hey, stop that!" Kurt cried out, unable to port away with Ranma's knuckles touching his head. Reacting on instinct, his tail wrapped around the older boy's ankle, laughing as he pulled his feet out from under him.

Ranma grunted as he hit the ground. "An' you also got just as many years of annoying little brother things ta catch up on." He said with a smirk.

Grinning, Rogue helped Ranma to his feet. "Alright, enough of this brotherly-bonding junk," She said, "It's almost time fer school, and we all got finals." She shot Ranma a mock glare. "An' you still gotta fix tha door yah broke down yesterday."

Ranma groaned. "Ah, crap." He stated, following Rogue out of the room. "Don't be too long, little bro," he called out to Kurt as he left.

Kurt nodded, smiling to himself as he turned back to look at the rising sun. He didn't like Mystique, even with this knowledge that she was his mother. That would take quite a while to get used to, if ever. But having Ranma as a brother wouldn't be so bad...

Kurt rubbed his head, wincing. As long as he refrained from the noogies, at least.


End Chapter Nine
No real notes right now... I have a killer headache.

Next chapter will take place during 'Grim Reminder', but will have little to do with the actual espisode. It's a bit too Logan-heavy, the only other characters in it really are Kurt and Kitty, and I don't see how much Ranma or anyone else being added in could really contribute to the story. So just to clarify, the events will still take place, but it will all be happening, for the most part, off-camera.