Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men.
25
In the New York State MRD Central Headquarters, Mystique sat silently at the desk of MRD scientist Diana Joseph.
Of course the real Diana Joseph had been killed two months ago when Mystique had managed to infiltrate the MRD. Her reason for doing was simple. It all had to do with the fact that Ms. Diana Joseph was one of the many scientists working on the rumored "Project Sentinel."
What, exactly, Project Sentinel was, Mystique didn't know, but, according to Magneto, it was bad. Especially for mutants and, so far, he was right. In just two short months, Mystique had witnessed some two hundred mutants being carted into various MRD labs and testing facilities.
None of them came back out.
Mystique scrolled through the files on Ms. Joseph's computer, but she was a low-ranking scientist so there wasn't much there.
Mystique sighed. She was going to have to find another role to play soon. Then the questioning would begin.
The phone rang.
Once.
Twice.
Mystique sighed again and turned on the speaker phone. "Hello, Pietro," she said. "How're things back in Bayville?"
"Not good," Pietro told her. "There's a new mutant in town called Kiara Blaze."
"And let me guess," Mystique said. "Xavier got to her first."
"You got that right, which kind of sucks because we actually could have used this one."
"Why?" Mystique said, closing out the files she had opened on the computer. "What are her powers?"
"She's a pyro. Duh. Geez, I can't believe you haven't heard of this girl."
"Should I have?" Mystique asked him.
"Yes," Pietro scoffed. "She was all over the news just a little while ago. She burned her house down and killed her dad. It was probably an accident, though, since she's playing by Xavier's rules."
"Hmm." Mystique considered this for a moment. Then she said, "That may not be true. This girl may be more like us than you think. What are the odds of her switching teams?"
"Not good. Especially considering the fact that she's all over that blue freak Kurt Wagner. She's like a lost dog or something. Wherever he goes, she goes. It's disgusting."
Mystique scowled at the mention of her son. "What else do you know about her?"
"Not much. Only that she wears an image inducer, so she's probably more than just a pyro."
"I see," Mystique said. "I'll run a search on her and see what I can find out. I'll forward the information to you afterwards."
"Why bother? What do you think you're going to find -- her high school transcripts?"
"Everyone has secrets, Pietro," Mystique said, sighing, "and there's more than one way to break an X-Man. Which is exactly what we're going to have to do if we want to take down the MRD. See what you can find out about this girl in the meantime."