-Bayville Middle School-

Marigold sighed as she looked out the window of her middle school class. The Professor had left a few day ago to see a mutant being held in some mental institution. He had gone before to see this mutant, so that wasn't the usual part. The strange part was that he had been gone for so long. Usually his business trips to visit this mutant only took two or three days tops. But he had been gone for almost a week at this point, and maybe Marigold was a little too co-dependent on The Professor (or maybe she had separation anxiety, with her past and all) Marigold was also on edge because...well she hadn't told anyone, but she was worried about her mind. There were things that she was forgetting, she would get confused. She would be doing something, then the next moment she was in another room, or another place completely and she couldn't remember what had happened. She didn't know what was going on, or if she could even trust herself. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice the pieces of paper being thrown at her by her classmate, Mike. One hit her forehead and she looked up, her face must have shown her surprised because Mike started laughing with a few of his friends. "Trying to distract yourself from the fact you don't know how to do the math work Mike?" Sandy asked with a smirk. Marigold smiled to her friend sitting beside her, Sandy always defended Marigold when she was being bullied by Mike. Mike frowned as a few of his friends started laughing at him, "I'm surprised four-eyes over there can see the numbers on the sheet with how big her glasses are." Mike shot back. Marigold rolled her eyes. "Don't antagonize him. He just wants attention." Marigold whispered to Sandy, but it must have been loud enough for Mike to hear, his cheeks red as he turned in his chair more to faced Marigold. "If anyone is begging for attention it's you. Always showing off with those freaks at Xavier." Marigold frowned. "Don't call them freaks." She said, she wouldn't accept anyone talking badly about her. Before the situation could escalate anymore the teacher walked by to check on everyone's work, Mike and his friends turning back to face the front of the classroom. "Good work Marigold! Maybe you could help some of the other students out since your already finished." The teacher complemented as she walked by, she walked up by Mike's desk and tsk'd "Maybe you would be doing better if you weren't turned around in your chair bothering the other students Michael." The teacher said before walking away. Sandy laughed, covering her mouth with her hand, but Marigold didn't miss the glare that Mike gave her as class went on.

-Later that night, Xavier Institute-

The sounds of rolling thunder filled the Institute walls as Scott and Marigold got a late night snack from the kitchen. Marigold heard a bamph from behind her and turned to see Kurt. "Whoa! Watch where your teleporting!" Scott said, turning to get a face full of blue fur. "Hiding from Kitty?" Marigold asked. "V'ea, she's called me her 'official taste tester' and I need to v'ake sure I save my mouth from another one of her muv'ins." Kurt said looking over his shoulder, as if Kitty would sneak up behind him with one of her baked goods. "Kitty can't be that bad at baking!" Scott said shrugging his shoulders. "Have you tried one of her muffins?" Marigold asked with a raised eyebrow. Scott shook his head and Kurt frowned. "There you are!" Kitty said walking into the kitchen with a tray of muffins. "I need you to tell me how these compare to my last six batches." She said holding out the tray. Scott and Marigold watched as Kurt slowly reached to take a muffin. "Kurt, Kitty, Marigold, Scott. Gather the other students and tell them to meet me in the library...it is top priority." The Professor said as he wheeled into the room. "Professor! You're back." Marigold said running over to him. "Glad to see that you're happy to see me, but I'm afraid we don't have much time for greetings. Hurry and gather the other students. "Oh man! v'uch a bummer I can't try v'our muffin." Kurt said, before quickly teleporting out of the kitchen. Scott and Marigold held back their laughter as they went to gather the other students.

-Library-

"As you know I've had several sessions with this girl. She has a tortured mind." The Professor said as the students sat around her. "And when you add that to the large power of her mutant abilities...she becomes very dangerous." He said looking to his students with a serious glance. "What is the source of all of her anger." Jean asked. "Her father. He left her there years ago when she became unmanageable." Marigold frowned at the thought of being left behind like that, feeling sympathetic for the mutant. Marigold could relate to her. She had been left in a facility at a young age as well. "So now what? Maybe she just ran away." Rogue said, shrugging her shoulders. "No, I feel as if there is someone else playing a bigger role in this. Someone who is trying to use her for their own gain." The thunder crashed in the sky outside and the students all jumped. Seems like the perfect night to go looking for a mutant. "We are not going out to find her. I'm bringing you all together to let you that we will be on-call. Once Cerebro is able to find her we are going after her, but we don't know how long that will take." The Professor told the students to be ready to go at a moments notice, then let them go about their day. Marigold walked up to the Professor and he let out a sigh of contempt when she held his hand. "If we do have to go out and find this mutant...what are we going to do once we find her?" Marigold asked. "We will do what we always do. Extend an invitation to the Xavier Institute, the ball will be in her court once we do that." He explained. Marigold nodded and turned to leave, but the Professor gripped her hand, pulling her back to him. Marigold looked at the Professor with confusion. He didn't say anything for a few seconds, his mind focusing in on hers. He felt something...off, and he didn't like it. "How are you feeling Marigold? Everything alright at school and all that?" He asked, stalling for time as he poked the girls mind. He could feel a slight anxiety from her as Marigold answered. "Everything it great! My after school lessons with MrWade and fun, and my friends are all nice to me...my grades are good too!" She said with a convincing grin. The Professor hummed thoughtfully. He didn't know what he was sensing in her mind. But something was off with Marigold. Maybe it was her trying to hide the fact from them that she was being bullied occasionally (which he already knew about), but maybe it was something more...something related with the winter soldier program. Either way he didn't have time to dwell over that at the moment with the Scarlet Witch hunt going on. "Alright. I just wanted to check in on you. If you do feel like something is going on you know you can tell any of us here at the Institute right?" He asked Marigold. The girl nodded, then the Professor let her hand go and she left the library.

-Brotherhood house-

"I say that it's time that we move forward with our plans." Mystique said walking up to Pietro. "Do you think we're really ready to take on Magneto? I know my sister is strong and all...but so is my dad." Pietro said, sounding scared. "We're almost ready, so I've prepared a small test run first. So that we can see just how strong we are. I also need to run a test of my own on one of the Xavier students as well...it will be an eventful night for sure. Tell the other brotherhood members to start getting ready." Pietro did as told. Mystique smirked as she walked into her old bedroom, pulling a book from her large bookshelf. It was a familiar leather notebook. "Let's see if the rumors about miss Marigold are true..."

- Xavier Institute-

All the Xavier students was eating in the kitchen. Marigold was sitting at the window, watching the rain pour as the news played from the TV in the background. "X-men I need your attention." The Professor said rolling into the kitchen. "What's up Professor?" Scott asked. "Cerebro has detected Wanda's location. She is with the Brotherhood boys. I've been able to track them to the Bayville mall." He explained. "So? Maybe there's a 'I'm with stupid' shirt sale going on." Evan said, making a few of the other students laugh. Marigold frowned, she had heard her bully Mike say a similar joke earlier that week. "The mall has been closed for hours. I would like for you all to suit up and go see what they are doing." The Professor instructed. "We're on it. Don't worry Professor, if the loser-hood is up to something, we'll stop them." Scott said as he and the rest of the students started to leave the kitchen. Marigold went to follow them, but was stopped by the Professor. "Marigold...are you sure your okay to go on this mission?" He asked, poking at her mind. Seeing if he felt any abnormalities like he had before. "Yea! Why wouldn't I be?" she asked. The Professor sighed with relief, not feeling anything like he had before in her head. "You know how I worry, now go and catch up with the others." He instructed. Marigold ran out of the kitchen to catch up with the others and get suited up.

- Bayville Mall-

Once the X-men got to the mall Shadow-cat phased through the door and turned off any alarms, before opening the doors for the others to enter. "Man, this place sure looks different at night." Spike said looking around. "Go ahead and go blind Marigold. Just in case we need anyone for a surprise attack." Cyclopes instructed. Marigold nodded before turning invisible and walking behind the group as they made their way into the middle of the mall, looking around for the Brotherhood. "This will be the first time I'm here and didn't buy a pair of shoes." Kitty said with a smirk. "Alright let's split up. Jean, Spike, and I will take the first floor. Everyone else check out around the balcony's." Cyclopes said. The groups split up and started searching around their designated area's.

Marigold was in the balconies with Night-crawler as the two searched around for any sign of the Brotherhood. She heard the sounds of fighting down a hall and she ran towards it, only to see Night-crawler and Pietro fighting it out. Pietro was speeding around Night-crawler, making it hard for him to breath. Marigold threw her hands up and a wall of her shield appeared beside Night-crawler, causing Pietro to run right into it. He groaned and stepped back. "What the?! - a shield! Where is that x-kid at?!" Pietro asked, looking around the room for any sign of Marigold. "I v'ouldn't v'orry about her!" Night-crawler cried out as he jumped kicked Pietro in the gut, knocking him over. The two continued to fight it out, and Marigold was about to join them, but was grabbed from behind. She cried out in surprise and was turned around to see that she was in the arms of Mystique. The woman took off her heat vision goggles and smirked. "Found you, now let's see if you recognize this." She said holding up a leather notebook. Marigold tried to pull away from her hold, but the woman blindly pushed her foot against Marigold's chest and pinned her to the ground. "Wh-what is that?!" Marigold asked, turning herself visible to glare at Mystique. "Oh you will know soon enough." Mystique said with a smirk, opening the notebook and reading from it. Marigold kicked her legs and jerked around to try and get out from under the woman's hold.

"пташка"

Marigold stopped struggling, it was like her body wasn't listening to her mind.

"Julie"

Mystique said, Marigold could hear Kurt and Pietro fighting behind her. Her legs were shaking. "What are you doing to me?!" Marigold cried out.

"топка"

"The f-furnace?" Marigold asked, her voice filled with panic. What language was Mystique speaking? How could she understand it? "That's it my child. Forget the name MrWade. I will be your handler soon." Mystique said, grabbing a fist full of Marigold's hair and pushing her head onto the ground.

"шоколадный"

Marigold's arms and legs were shaking, the more she tried to use them the more it hurt. "S-stop! Why are you talking about MrWade?! He doesn't even know we're mutants. What does a handler mean?!" Marigold cried out pressing her hand on Mystique's shoulder, weakly trying to push her off.

"Three"

Mystique held her shoulder down to the ground and smirked at Marigold reaction. "The winter soldier will no longer be his. He thought that him and his organization was the only group to have a copy of trigger sequence...how stupid of them. Did they forget that Magneto funded their whole operation?" Mystique asked her. Marigold was so confused, what was she even talking about?! "HELP!" she cried out.

"Benign"

Marigold's cry for help stopped, her body was limp, her hand fell from Mystique's shoulder and dropped to the ground beside her like a dead wight. Everything felt foggy.

"Nine"

Marigold's eyes were so heavy. It felt like she was falling asleep.

"возвращение домой"

"Just let it happen number twenty five. Just give into your commands. Like a good winter soldier." Mystique said.

"двадцать пять"

"Susan"

"Your all mine now...number twenty five." Mystique said with a smirk.

-Night-crawler's Pov-

I threw one good punch that knocked Pietro to the ground, after a few moments passed he didn't get up and I knew I won. "Take v'hat!" I said with a grin. "HELP!" I turned, hearing someone scream. "Marigold?!" I shouted, running towards the sound of her screaming. She had just been with me! Helping me take down Pietro, where is she?! "Marigold!" I shouted, finding her laying on the ground knocked out. I ran over to her and knelled beside her. "Marigold! Can you hear me?!" I shouted, shaking her shoulder. She didn't respond, and I gently picked her up in my arms. I turned to my communicator. "Guys! I took down Pietro, v'ut Marigold is down too!" I waited a few moments, but nothing came through the communicator and I got more worried. "Oh no." I heard the sounds of fighting and I teleported. I found everyone fighting someone I didn't recognize. She had dark short hair and a long red jacket on. She was crazy powerful, using her powers to fight all of the x-men at once! Cyclopes started shooting around with his lasers and almost hit Jean. "Cyclopes! What are you doing?!" Jean shouted. "I don't know! I-I can't control it!" Cyclopes shouted. Night-crawler looked down at Marigold in his arms and went to teleport to another place in the mall to put her, so that she would be safe while he went back to fight, but he ended up teleporting outside of the mall. "V'hat?! How did v'e end up out here?! V'hat kind of crazy powers does that girl have anyv'ay?" He asked, looking around in confusion. Before Night-crawler could try to go back into the mall and help with the fight the other x-men ran out of the building. "V'hat happened?! V'hy are we leaving?" Night-crawler asked. "We have to retreat. That mutant is too strong for us." Jean explained as she and the others ran away from the building.

-Xavier Institute, medical wing-

"We didn't have a choice Scott. She was too much for us." Jean said, trying to calm Scott down. He was looking through the window, watching Hank run a few tests on Marigold. The other members of the x-men team were there at well. No one knew what exactly happened to her, they were waiting for her to wake up so she could tell them herself. "Don't be too hard on yourselves. If it's anyone's fault...it's mine." The Professor said wheeling up next to the students. "I should have been training you to fight against someone like Wanda." He said, looking guilty. Scott didn't say anything, his fist punching the wall in anger before he stormed off down the hallway. "You know, handling defeat is just as much a mark of your character as coming home the victor." The Professor said as the rest of his students walked away, each of them angry in their own way. No one saying a word to him. "Apparently this is a lesson that was much needed." He said, as he sat in the hallway by himself. The door to the medical wing opened and Hank leaned out from the door. "Professor, good timing. Marigold seems to be slowly waking up." He said, gesturing for the man to follow. He did and each man stood by one side of the bed Marigold was in as she tossed her head back and forth. "My dear child, wake up now. You are safe." The Professor said, the palm of his hand resting on her forehead. He telepathically helped her wake up. She gasped, her eyes opening wide as she shot up in the bed. "Mystique!" She shouted, throwing her hands up to fight. Hank was ready, and grabbed both of her fists in his blue hand before she could hurt anyone. A moment of confusion passed for the girl, before the Professor saw relief in her eyes as she looked to Hank and himself. "What happened?" She finally asked, her body slowly relaxing from the harsh awakening. "We were hoping you could tell us. Kurt said that one moment you were helping him fight Pietro, the next you were knocked out." Hank said, helping the girl lay back down on the bed. "I was...then Mystique was behind me. She had head vision goggles on so she could see me...she kicked me in the chest, she was holding something in her hand...then nothing. I can't remember the rest." Marigold said with a frown. "It's alright my dear, it was probably a weapon of some sorts she used on you. Today the x-men lost to the brotherhood, because they had the Scarlet Witch on their side." Marigold frowned. "I wasn't any help at all..." She said looking down with guilt. "Wanda is a very powerful mutant. You all weren't prepared to take her on in battle." The Professor said. "But we will be next time. We will keep training and get stronger, next time. We will be ready." Marigold said with determination. The Professor smiled with pride. "Yes, all of the x-men will be ready next time."

-Brotherhood-

"I can't believe that we defeated the Brotherhood!" Toad said as he and the others sat around the living room. "So, how did the test run go?" Pietro asked Mystique, his voice a whisper so the others couldn't hear. "It was a success. Number twenty five belongs to the Brotherhood now." she said with a smirk.