There was a loud crack and the front doors slammed, but Scott ignored it and ran up the stairs. He found Kurt and Storm in the medical wing, hovering over Jean, who was prone on a bed. Scott nearly hit the bed, unable to stem his speed, as he gasped out, "Is she okay?!"

Storm gently sat Scott down, saying, "Yes. She is fine. The chloroform simply put her to sleep. A few hours of rest and she'll be as good as new."

Kurt was leaning against the wall, looking convincingly worried and scared. As soon as they had been out of sight of Duncan's house, Scott had told Kurt to get Jean to the mansion. He would have gone along with Kurt, but it had been Kitty, Jamie and Evan who had gone to the party as well. Evan and Jamie couldn't drive and Scott would rather suffer third-degree burns than let Kitty drive his car.

Kurt sighed deeply, watching Jean on the bed. Apart from a few bruises on her thighs where Duncan had groped her, she was unharmed. But still, Kurt fumed, muttering angrily in German. Suddenly he cried out something in his native language.

Storm couldn't speak German, but could easily guess what the blue mutant had said and said sternly, "Kurt!"

But Kurt didn't apologize, saying angrily, "Well, he is!" He stalked to the window, saying heatedly while Scott looked on in surprise, "I just want to…" He stood still, quivering, before suddenly slamming his hands on the wall, leaving a dent and a smear of blood, giving voice to a cry of rage.

Scott stood up and quickly went over and held Kurt's hands, since the mutant had been ready to smash the wall again, saying, "Kurt! Calm down." The blue mutant looked at him, golden eyes blazing, but also wet and watery. Scott then said soothingly, "Believe me, I feel the same way. But Duncan's run off, the coward. We'll find him later. Okay?"

Kurt looked down, and then asked softly, "Can I go in the Danger Room?"

Scott immediately said, "No." He knew exactly what would happen. Kurt would run himself ragged and might even hurt himself. Scott then shoved Kurt towards the door, saying, "Go for a walk."

Kurt looked indignant, sputtering, "What?! But…"

"Now." Scott's tone made it clear there was no changing his mind. Kurt's shoulders slumped, and Scott said in a gentler tone, "And go to that buffet place in town you like so much. You need it." Kurt stood there a while longer before Scott gave him another gentle push, saying, "Get your spare watch and go! I know it's late, but don't worry about it." Kurt nodded and walked out.

Heat… Wetness… Darkness… A sense of death and no escape.

He squirmed, whimpering, but the sensations didn't stop. They got stronger.

He opened his eyes and saw white daggers hovering over him. He screamed and rolled over…

Pietro let out a moan as he fell out of bed, hitting his head on the floor. He sat up, rubbing his head. What the heck that that been about? He looked at the clock, reading 1:48 AM. He groaned but then remembered why he had woken up. His dream.

He shifted gears and changed to be shivering and hugging his chest. He'd been having that dream every time he tried to shut his eyes, ever since yesterday afternoon, when he'd fallen asleep on the couch. Dreams of darkness and death. And those white daggers…

He shuddered and hugged himself tighter. There was a knock on his door and it opened to reveal a sleepy-looking Todd, asking softly, "Pietro? You okay?"

Pietro sat up, feeling his shirt stick to him, matted with his sweat. Again he felt a thrill of déjà vu, freezing his heart briefly. He shoved the feeling aside and muttered, "Yeah. I'm fine."

The other mutant didn't get the hint to leave and asked, "You sure?"

The speed demon snapped, "Why wouldn't I be, Toad?"

Todd then said innocently, "Cuz you screamed like a girl just now, yo. You only do that when you're really scared."

Pietro swelled, saying angrily, "I don't scream like a girl!"

Suddenly Todd's form was towered over by Lance, who rubbed his eyes, asking sleepily, "Pietro? What's going on?"

Todd looked up at the taller mutant, saying, "He had a nightmare, yo."

Lance looked surprised, asking Pietro, "You did?"

Pietro swelled up a little more, saying indignantly and firmly, "No! Anyway, I'm fine now." He then walked out past the two boys, saying softly, "I'm getting a drink."

Pietro walked down the stairs into the dark house, rubbing his head again and sighing deeply. Todd, despite his looks, wasn't one to lie, and Pietro was pretty sure he had screamed shrilly. And with good reason, he thought to himself. He shivered again, hugging his damp PJ shirt closer to him as he walked into the kitchen. He found a glass already on the counter and picked it up, walking to the sink.

But then he froze. A glass… That sparked something in his mind. Why was a glass important? Or rather, why was this particular glass sending him such feelings of déjà vu?

He suddenly felt scared of the glass and put it down, staring at it, feeling a thrill of terror course through him. He then growled in frustration. What was going on? He then went to the fridge, thinking instead to have a midnight snack. He grinned softly, thinking of the sandwich he had saved. But reaching into the fridge, he found it gone.

Pietro's brow furrowed. He should be angry that someone had stolen his stuff, but yet again, those inexplicable feelings of fear flowed through his veins, making him sweat. He climbed up and sat on the counter, thinking. Something was in his head. And he wanted it out! It was driving him crazy!

Then it hit him. He'd go to the x-geeks! They were suckers for people who needed help. The professor may have kicked the bucket, but Jean was still there. Tomorrow, he'd cozy up to them, play innocent, get his head fixed and then run like hell. It was perfect!

Kurt got himself another plate, thinking to himself. He had gone to the restaurant, wanting to cool his anger. The anger in the medical room hadn't been fake. He hated Duncan and hoped Todd was making the boy suffer horribly before finishing him off. Kurt got back to his seat, and began to eat the Lo Mien on his plate, chewing moodily.

And Duncan had once liked Jean! Imagine what other people will try to do, the one's who hated mutants from the start! Kurt's fur ruffled, but it wasn't visible through his hologram. Stupid humans… He took a drink and ate a little more, cursing humanity to burn and die.

Wait a sec… He was the last one in the restaurant, a Chinese food buffet place, and the only other ones in the building were the cooks in the back and the little waiter, cleaning up. Realizing this, Kurt began to grin. He looked left and right, then carefully dug into his pocket. Grinning with a more evil tone, he pulled out one of the two jocks. The boy was still unconscious, but he woke up plenty quick when Kurt dropped him into his plate.

For a minute he just lay there, trying to understand why he was looking at a stewed mushroom as big as his chest. But then looked up. Kurt grinned down at him, and picked up his fork.

The jock screamed and tried to escape, but slipped in the sauce and fell flat on his face. Kurt smiled, and calmly lowered the fork to the plate. The jock tensed, curling up and shivering, and then heard a metallic thud. He peeked hesitantly and watched as the speared mushroom lifted into the air. He followed the mushroom as it was deposited into Kurt's mouth, and then turned pale as Kurt chewed, jaws moving soundlessly. Kurt swallowed and repeated the action, and this time a carrot was devoured. The jock quickly realized that when the veggies were gone, he would be next. He got to his knees, begging, "Please. I don't know what I did to deserve this! Help me!"

Kurt frowned, and said softly, "You don't know? How about trying to rape my teammate!"

The jock froze and then scrambled aside as the huge fork came down again, spinning around to get a bunch of noodles. It too was swiftly eaten and Kurt paused for a drink.

The jocks eyes grew dangerously big as he watched Kurt comfortably drink a few gallons of liquid all at once and began begging again, promising riches. Kurt chuckled softly and picked up his fork again, and swiftly pressed the jock to the plate. He bent over, saying softly, "Save it, you jerk."

Then he scooped up a huge mouthful of noodles, the jock forced inside as well. He then grinned and began to chew. At first, he could tell he was just crushing the soft noodles. The jock was squirming around to keep clear of his teeth, but then Kurt crunched into something fragile, like biting a very brittle cherry stem. He heard a wail from in his mouth, yet fortunately, it wasn't audible from the outside.

Kurt smiled and noticed a new taste blending with the food in his mouth. It was warm and coppery and very, very tasty. Kurt bit again, and more coppery liquid flowed into his mouth and he heard another cry of anguish. Kurt then chewed rapidly, and soon there were no more screams. Just warm liquid copper, mashed-up meat and noodles in his mouth.

Bliss…

Kurt swallowed and let out a soft purr without meaning to. Wow… That had been excellent!

Kurt lost no time in digging out the other jock and dumping him on his plate. Kurt then got up and hurriedly went to the serving bar, covering the groggy jock with more Lo Mien. Kurt then calmly went back to his place and began to eat. He poked his fork into the noodles until he felt resistance, and chuckled as he heard a soft yelp of pain and surprise.

Then he backed off, swirled up a bunch of noodles and slurped them down, grinning at the now exposed jock. Kurt hurriedly cleaned the plate of everything except the jock and then said softly, "Think of this as payback for attacking Jean Grey!" Then he plunged his fork right into the jock's midsection.

Fortunately, for those critical seconds of lifting him to his mouth, the jock was shocked into silence, but once Kurt had shut his lips and withdrew the metallic prongs, then the screams started.

Kurt ignored them, and simply sucked at his prey, drawing out the warm liquid, drinking it down happily. But then Kurt decided he needed to get going and swallowed hard, feeling the jock's feeble struggles as he slipped down his throat. Kurt finished his meal with some pineapples from the fruit bar and then signaled for the tab.

He opened his fortune cookie and as he crunched the shell, read the little message; "You are about to embark on a most delightful journey!" Kurt laughed and brought the check to the register and paid, adding on a decent tip.

Kurt walked out of the shop, grinning as he sniffed deeply of the night air, purring softly in contentment. That had been nice, two at once. He should do that more often! Suddenly Kurt smelled something familiar and casually walked to the park. He lounged on a bench, letting himself relax and purred as the scent approached, "Hello, Toad."

Todd dropped out of a tree, landing ten feet away from Kurt. The frog-mutant paused and said in surprise, "Dude. I can hear ya purrin' from here."

Kurt laughed and responded while rubbing one hand on his belly, "I had a nice dinner." Todd chuckled and came closer and Kurt saw that Todd had traces of blood around his mouth. Kurt smiled widely, saying as he sat up, "And it seems you did too."

Todd nodded saying in excitement, "That was awesome, yo! He was begging! Begging!" Todd did a happy little dance, saying, "It was so fucking sweet! Duncan scared of me! I love that feeling, yo!" He then cleaned his mouth, grinning widely.

Kurt decided to overlook Todd's foul language and asked softly, "You liked it, eh?"

Todd nodded eagerly, like a puppy, as he said, "Oh hell yeah, fuzzy!" Then he looked at Kurt with pleading eyes, saying excitedly, "Can I tell ya?"

Kurt smiled gently, saying, "Sure. Why not?"

Todd giggled shrilly and launched into his tale, saying eagerly, "Well, when he woke up, he was all shocked, ya know? And then he saw me. First he started cussing and stuff, but then he saw me snatch up a fly and he got all quiet. It was hilarious, yo! Then he started begging, saying he'd give me anything if only I didn't hurt him. As if! Right then and there I picked him up and bit off a foot. You shoulda heard him squeal, yo! Told him that it was for all the times he'd ever hurt or humiliated me. He started crying and he wet his pants! That made me laugh! I went and washed him off, right, then chomp… the other foot. He was getting kinda quiet by then, so I popped him in my mouth and chewed! He was so good!"

Kurt laughed, but then said warningly, "Careful though. You can't leave hint or anything. Did any blood hit the floor?"

Todd shook his head, replying, "Nah. It fell on my hands and I licked 'em clean."

"Good." Kurt said in approval.

Suddenly the night exploded with bright lights as flashlight beams were shined into the boy's faces, making Kurt wince in pain as his sensitive eyes adjusted instantly, yet a little painfully while Todd just crouching down, covering his head. A stern voice then said, "Freeze!"

Kurt stood up, saying, "What is the meaning of th…" but then, with a soft whimper, Kurt fell over.

Todd saw a dart in Fuzzy's arm, and without thinking muttered, "Fuzzy!" He looked up and saw that the flashlights were being held by a whole bunch of angry looking men. Todd grinned weakly, muttering, "Um… hi." No one smiled back. Todd then reverted to his survival instincts and cried out, "I'm not with him!" before leaping away.

But then, just as he landed outside the ring of light, a man said firmly, "Hold it, Mr. Tolansky."

Todd, shocked, stopped and turned, asking, "You know me?"

The man nodded, saying, "Yes. Listen carefully. You are to go home, go to bed and forget this happened. Understood?"

Todd started to nod, but then saw some men pick Kurt up, and said meekly, "But… fuzzy?"

The man then growled, "None of your concern. Now get!"

Todd was long gone by the time the man's rifles had reached their shoulders.