Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.
Mark Twain

Kaiba ran through his deck a few more times, for the sake of sentimentality. After some minutes, he sighed and set his deck aside. He stared longingly at the ceiling. He hadn't seen the sun in… how long? He's gone longer, cooped up, but in those cases he had work on his hands. Now he was either idle or fighting and training. He was starting to miss the sunlight; the annoying birds that won't stop their pestering melody; the trees that sound like rain when the wind blows; the cars that streak by and leave the smell of exhaust behind…

He sat there, still, for a long time, staring at his hands.

When Mokuba entered the classroom, the students were already hard at work, sawing at sheet metal, bending copper wire into spirals, and hammering texture into pieces of metal. He stood there awkwardly for a moment until a short woman with dull black curls ambled over to him.

"Ah, hello," she said, brushing hair out of her face. "You must be the new student I was emailed about." She grinned. "Don't get a lot of boys in this class. I'm Mrs. Bradley. What is your name again?" It was odd, standing eye to eye to someone twenty, thirty years older than him…

"Oh… Ah, I'm–"

"Mokuba!" a voice called. Kitty broke away from her station and strode over to stand next to the teacher. "I didn't know you were gonna, like, take this class! It doesn't seem like something you'd be interested in, either." Mokuba merely shrugged.

"Well, I've never done anything like it," he said. The other students had noticed by this time that he was there, and were now whispering to their neighbors. Mokuba couldn't hear them, but he could guess what they were saying – "He's so young!" "Huh? Isn't that Seto Kaiba's younger brother?" "What's he doing here?" He continued, "It seemed like fun."

Mrs. Bradley nodded and smiled again. "Yes, well, let's get you started. Since you seem to know Kitty, she can help you. Today, we're starting to use the jeweler's saw to make cuff bracelets. Kitty, I'm sure you can show him the basics."

"Sure thing, Mrs. Bradley," Kitty replied. She grabbed Mokuba's arm and pulled him over to where she had been working before. She showed him the various tools they had learned how to use over the semester so far– the chainnose pliers, for making spirals; the roundnose pliers, also for spirals; the hammer, for, of course, hammering, but also for making textures; flatnose pliers, for making sharp corners and edges; and finally the jeweler's saw, a fragile thing for sheet metal. Kitty fetched him some sheet metal, and they set to work. "So you fainted today," she said quietly. "Any reason?"

Mokuba hesitated. "I dunno. Just a big headache, that's all. And maybe stood up too fast."

"So are you fine now?" He nodded. They continued working in silence for a while before she whispered, "So tell me; why did you really take this class?"

Mokuba grinned mischievously. "It's a perfect place for trying out my new power, isn't it? Well, okay, and Jean said you were in this class. It's easier if someone I know is in it."

Kitty stared at him, and then started to giggle. "It's not for the jewelry after all," she said, fighting to keep down her voice. "At least you're too young for all the girls here."

He struggled not to laugh, his face turning red. Finally, he said, "Thank god for that!"

They each couldn't hold it in, and they started laughing. And suddenly, the entire class was laughing, for no apparent reason. Only the teacher wasn't amused, as she was going around telling people to stop and go back to work. It was four long minutes before anyone could calm down, during which the teacher's temper grew worse and worse. When the laughter died down, Mrs. Bradley's face was red from anger, and she glared at Kitty and Mokuba, the first two to start the fit of guffawing.

"You two!" she snarled. "Detention after school. Now everyone, get back to your work!"

There was dead silence for a few moments. Mokuba clutched the pliers he was holding, suddenly fuming. Detention! He's never gotten detention before. How could she? Maybe he should show her the wrath of all that was the Kaiba family…

"Mokuba!" Kitty hissed. He jumped out of his reverie and looked at her. She motioned to his hand, and he glanced at it. Oops. The pliers were bent in an odd shape that couldn't have been done naturally. "Fix it," she whispered urgently.

"I don't know if I can!" he whispered back. "It's bent so oddly. It'll be like trying to straighten a paperclip you twisted out of shape."

"Well, do something! We can't let her see it like that, but if we take it, she'll know."

Mokuba pondered that for a moment. "Well, the worst she can do is make us buy a new one and give us another detention." He concentrated on the pliers again, clenching his fists around it. He felt it crumple into a ball, and he shoved it into his pocket. Kitty puffed out her cheeks and blew air out from between her lips.

"Alright, I guess it's too late now, but you take the blame for it, 'kay?"

"Of course."

An hour later, both Kitty and Mokuba were back at the Xavier Institute, returning from a long and boring detention with five other kids who looked, in one way or another, like everyday troublemakers. They had felt really out of place there, but had to suffer for 45 minutes until the detention supervisor said they could go.

When they got back to the Institute, they were greeted by Wolverine telling them to suit up and go to the Danger Room (Wolverine seemed almost disappointed in them for getting a detention, showing it by his sniff of disapproval when they walked in the door). Since Mokuba didn't have a suit yet – Rogue and Nightcrawler had only just begun, the costume still being on the drawing board – he was given the standard gold and black one.

The group of young mutants gathered around the entrance to the aptly-named Danger Room. Nightcrawler and Rogue weren't there, excusing themselves to work on Mokuba's costume. Replacing them was Mokuba and Bobby, aka Iceman. It was these two plus Shadowcat, Cyclops, Jean, and Spyke.

"Alright, guys," Jean announced in a debriefing. "This'll just be a fighting simulation, focusing on honing our powers rather than getting to a single point, or getting through a maze, or something like that. Let's go, and always remember your team work!"

The Danger Room door slid ominously nervous, and with a gulp, Mokuba followed the group inside. What greeted him was an enormous room, made of steal and domed at the top. Near the ceiling was a glass-encased control room, in which Professor X looked down on them all.

"Wow," Mokuba said. "I can almost imagine my brother building something like this." The other mutants glanced nervously at him. "You know, if it wasn't built with so many weapons." Jean and Cyclops exchanged looks as Xavier spoke over an intercom.

"Are you all ready? The simulation will begin now."

And suddenly the room transformed. Panels in the walls and floor slid open to reveal wicked weapons, ranging from guns that shot paintballs and clay discs to writhing scissor-blades on long necks. The machines immediately targeted the mutants, and they leaped into action.

One of the scissor-blade things shot straight for Mokuba. He jumped over it as it slammed into the ground where his feet had been and grabbed onto its neck. He moved to its head and, concentrating hard, quickly bent it out of shape. Another scissor-blade machine went for him, and he was forced to roll out of the way, only for the scissor-blade machine to be blasted with a red beam issued by Cyclops.

"Not bad for a beginner!" cried Iceman as he slid by on a ramp of ice. Iceman skillfully dodged clay discs and shot ice at one of the guns, freezing it so that it couldn't shoot anymore.

Up in the control room, Xavier oversaw the simulation, Wolverine standing next to him. They watched Mokuba for a while, before Wolverine started talking.

"He's doing well for his first time," he commented.

Professor X nodded. "Indeed." He paused, frowning.

"Hey Charles," Wolverine started. "Have you come anywhere close to finding that Seto Kaiba kid?"

"Sadly, no," replied the bald paraplegic, keeping his eye on the chaos below. "Cerebro won't pick up a trace of him. It's strange. It's like he's been wiped off the face of the planet."

"What on Earth could have happened to him?" Wolverine growled. "A boy can't just disappear. If he was dead, you'd find him, right?"

"Cerebro should pick him up if he was dead, yes," Professor X mused. "There is nothing to do now except keep trying until something happens." Several silent minutes passed. By the time Xavier spoke again, the simulation was out of weapons, thus concluding. But he said, "Mokuba Kaiba, that boy intrigues me."

Wolverine cast a long stare at him. "What do you mean by that?"

Xavier paused before answering, gathering his thoughts. "He shows resistance to telepathic… attempts on his mind."

"Yeah, and what does that do for us?"

"Well… it makes me think that he may be some form of telepath himself."

Wolverine frowned. "But he hasn't shown any ability to read minds, or anything."

"Yes, but he successfully kept Jean out of his mind for a long while."

"Maybe he just has some resistance to it all. Some people do."

"Perhaps you are right." Xavier sighed before pressing the intercom button. "Alright, you are all dismissed. That was an excellent training session. Now, it would be wise to go to your rooms and finish whatever homework you have. Good night."

Wow, two updates in a row! I just had a semi-splurge of inspiration for this story. Hope you enjoyed! Cheers!