Hey y'all, 'tis I, with the next chapter to the Brotherhood Arc, one I'm excited for. Why's that? Well, as you saw in the previous chapter—and the title for this one—it's time for a…MIRROR MATCH! Mimic v. Mimic! With assistance from Shadowcat and Nightcrawler, of course. After this there'll be three more chapters before the end of the arc, then we'll get the Blue and Gold Arc, which will go from 2015 to 2016. It's gonna be a great arc, 'cause that's when the universe will really explode, and we'll finally get the Spider-Man chapter you've all been waiting for since the beginning of the story!

On a non-story note, I'm thinking about streaming on Twitch before starting a YouTube channel. I was wondering, what do you guys think I should stream for the first time? I was thinking League of Legends. If you've got recommendations please, tell me in the reviews.

That's all from me up here, let's get on with the story!

Mirror Match

Just as Shadowcat phases away with Nightcrawler in tow, B-Mimic teleports behind me, attempting to get in a surprise hit. That won't work for him. Using my Polaris powers, I quickly lift a metal sheet between us, but I forgot that he has multiple powers instead of one. His fist phases through the sheet and hits me in the back of the head, forcing me to stumble forward.

I hear him chuckle followed by the familiar 'BAMF' sound. He kicks me in the back before teleporting again, punching me in my side.

Annoyed, I let out a roar before throwing my hands out, the room shifting and changing due to my magnetic powers, sharp edges, blunt surfaces and the like forming from every direction. For a moment, it slows him down, and that's all I need. During the opening I send a small metal ball towards his head, getting a hit in that causes him to flip before falling over. While he's on the ground I create metal shackles over his wrists, ankles, and tail, I then step on his back and smirk down at him. "Won't lie, you're good. But not good enough."

Almost immediately his skin returns to normal, now he doesn't look like Nightcrawler. Hm, looks like they've gotten out of range. "Please, "not good enough"? I can copy multiple powers! You can only copy one, I have the advantage," He boasts.

I can kind of see his point, if we were closer to the hangar, I'd definitely have a problem, but we aren't, so I don't. "Yeah, you can use more than one power, cool. But that's only from people in close proximity, whereas I can copy any powers I see once forever, no distance limit whatsoever."

B-Mimic growls as he thrashes, trying to get out but to no avail. It's sad to watch, honestly. I mean, he looks to be about late twenties, early thirties, and he wants me, a fourteen-year-old kid dead, talk about sad. As he continues to struggle, I shake my head in disappointment. "Dude, what's up with you? Why do you hate me so much?"

"Because you stole my name!" He shouts.

I sigh in annoyance as I scratch my head. "That's gonna get old," I mutter. "You need to elaborate, I mean, I've never heard of you until today, dude."

He's silent for a moment, for a second, I was hopeful that he thrashed himself asleep. Alas, it was not so. "A year ago, I fought the original five X-Men, I even shouted out my name. But in the end, they threw me in prison, and they seem to have forgotten about me," His anger comes back. "That is why I am angry with you. You take the name, and no one seems to mention me! I mean, I've seen you on the news a few times and they make sure to call you Mimic, whereas I was known as a crazed mutant monster!"

I just stare blankly ahead at his story. Not as tragic as Magneto's and his kids, that's for sure. The same metal ball that got him in this predicament floats above his head, high enough to knock him out. "Whatever man. Have a nice nap."

I drop the metal ball, but instead of hitting his head it hits the ground. He then phases through the shackles and punches me away from him. I slam into Shadowcat just as she phases through the wall. "Hey, Mimic."

"Hey," I reply. "Nightcrawler's safe?"

I help her get up. "Yeah. His injuries aren't too bad, he should be up soon," She then looks at B-Mimic before glaring at me. "Why's he still up?"

I feel a cold sweat drip down the back of my neck as the two of us avoid a kick and a punch from him. "Wanted to see why he was so mad at me," I duck a punch and headbutt his outstretched arm in the elbow. "It's stupid."

Shadowcat just continues to glare at me. "What's stupid is that you didn't take him out when you could."

B-Mimic goes to punch Shadowcat but using my magnetic powers I'm able to shift the floor she's standing on away, causing him to overextend himself. I then raise a pillar that catches him in the chin. He then phases through more metal; I grit my teeth in annoyance. Other than shifting the floor to knock him off balance these magnetism powers aren't the best against him.

He goes for a kick against my chest, but by swapping to my Shadowcat powers I'm able to phase through the hit. While he's confused the actual Shadowcat jumps on his back and punches his head repeatedly, her fists phasing through every now and again.

I then help by punching him in the abdomen and chest, sandwiching him between two angry teenagers. Hey, that's pretty funny, an adult getting jumped by two kids. "Hey, loser! Two fourteen-year-olds are beating your ass up! How's that make you feel?" I shout.

Shadowcat gets in a good double-fist slam on top of his head. "I don't know about you, but if I were him, I'd feel pretty bad."

B-Mimic lets out a shout of annoyance before jumping backwards, his feet kicking me in the chest. He then lands on a metal pillar, keeping Shadowcat between him and it as the hit forces the air out of her lungs. He then turns around and grabs her by the top of the head, and then punches her face, sending her flying back a few feet.

B-Mimic takes some deep calming breaths before turning around to face me. "This is a battle between me and you. No outside interference of any kind."

Is what I think he said. After he punched Kitty in the face, I started seeing everything in red and my hearing became a little fuzzy. Before he can continue with his bullshit speech, I hit him with an optic blast, knocking him off his feet. I keep the barrage going, but he phases and slips by, expecting to hit me from the side, but thanks to Cyclops' powers I have amazing special awareness, so I see his attack coming and quickly whip my head towards him, hitting him pointblank.

I eventually stop, taking some deep breaths to calm down. From the corner of my eye I see Shadowcat getting up, rubbing her head and mumbling who knows what. I quickly hurry to her and help her up. "Hey, you okay?"

She shakes her head lightly before giving me a grateful smile. "I am now. Thanks, Nol."

I feel a similar smile grow on my face, sadly, the moment's ruined. An optic blast slams into my chest, sending me slamming into the wall behind me, barely avoiding some jagged metal. I'm sorry, what the fuck?

Shadowcat flips out of the way, phasing through whatever attacks she can't dodge. Getting off the wall I walk forward to see B-Mimic's eyes glowing red, the optic blasts coming from him.

"Hold up! I thought you said he can only copy the people nearby. Is Cyclops around?" I ask, looking around, hoping to find a clue about our leader's location.

Shadowcat tackles me out of the way just as he fires on my position, barely avoiding the blast. "I think it's you," She says.

"Clarify," I say.

I hit him with an optic blast, causing him to stumble back, but not fall over ultimately. He brings his head back down and fires bursts at us. I meet these attacks with equal force, which creates small concussive explosions throughout the room.

"When you swap to the other powers, he can use you instead of the actual owners of the powers," She clarifies. "Well, that's my theory, at least."

Instead of replying I swap to the powers from Rahne. Immediately, B-Mimic's optic blasts stop, and he then becomes a blond werewolf. A blond werewolf who can turn intangible. Fun.

Shadowcat and I share a quick glance and she gives me a look that I think means. 'Theory solved.'

B-Mimic and I snarl before leaping at each other, but before we collide, he phases through me. Once behind me he lashes out and kicks me in the back. He then phases through me to stand in front of me and punch me down, my back slams into the floor.

I bring my legs in and snap them out, connecting with his legs, causing him to trip over. I then get up and feel a weight on my back. Sniffing the air, I realize it's Shadowcat, going for an out-of-nowhere piggyback ride. "He has both of our powers," She begins explaining. "So, if we work together, we'd have to beat him, right?"

I nod. "Right."

She smiles before kicking my sides, her right arm pointing at B-Mimic as he slowly gets up. "Onwards, Mighty Mimic!" Shadowcat shouts excitedly.

A smile grows on my face. While I'm running towards B-Mimic memories of Kitty and me playing knights and dragons as kids flashes through my mind, my smile growing wider.

B-Mimic phases his left claws through my side, as a way to catch me off guard as his right claws go for my face. I back up so that his left arm is out of my side, and dodging his swipe, allowing for Shadowcat to phase us into a similar state. I then reach forward and swipe at his face, getting a successful hit in, if the blood splashing on the floor is any indication.

He then reacts with a headbutt, slamming his head into mine. B-Mimic follows up with a shoulder charge, thankfully Shadowcat reacts fast enough to phase us through the wall. At least we didn't do it the hard way.

"You need to change it up," She advises.

She phases us through another claw swipe. "Any ideas?" I ask.

B-Mimic goes for a stab to my side, but I grab his arm and punch his side twice before he phases out of it. He then charges towards me, but I dodge out of the way last minute, he slams into the wall behind me face first.

"Telepathic powers could prove problematic, he'd take me out, creating more problems for you," She muses. "Wait, I've got it! Invisible Woman!" Shadowcat whispers. "Your invisibility and my intangibility would give him a hard time finding us, we can use that to our advantage."

"And when he realizes what powers I have?" I ask, ready to swap at a moment's notice.

"Swap. Keep changing your power set to keep him on his toes. But make sure you don't choose any telepathic powers, got it?" Shadowcat says.

I nod. "Got it."

I then start running towards a now recovered B-Mimic. He puts his arms up to block, just before I hit him, I change my powers and turn invisible, much to his confusion.

While invisible I move quickly around B-Mimic, punching him everywhere before he can react. I throw a punch to his right side. She follows up immediately kick his left shoulder. My elbow hits his jaw. Shadowcat would kick him in the gut. The two of us work well together.

Eventually, he catches on and becomes invisible as well, but not for long. I then switch to the powers from Human Torch and hit him with a blast of flame, forcing him to bring his arms up to protect himself.

Shadowcat then jumps off my back and quickly kicks his sides a few times, forcing him to bend down and grasp at his sides. I then go for a backflip kick, but my foot goes through his head, no damage done. B-Mimic then holds his arm out towards Shadowcat, launching some fireballs at her. Shadowcat phases through the attacks but B-Mimic doesn't stop, in fact, it seems like she's his primary target now.

Reacting quickly, I switch to the powers from Marinna, my skin becoming green and my eyes turning pitch black. Using my enhanced strength, I'm able to tackle him into the wall, forcing the air out of him. I hit him once on his left, but my punch to the right misses as he phases through the wall and into the nearby hallway.

Before we chase after him, I turn to Shadowcat. "You okay? Looks like he's going after you now."

She nods before fixing her ponytail. "Yeah, I'm fine," She shakes her hands before looking down the hallway he ran down. "I think he's going after me so you can't go use another power set and go intangible."

"Yeah, makes sense," I then turn to her, apprehensive about my next suggestion. Fuck it, may as well say it at least. "Maybe you should wait with Nightcrawler."

Her head slowly turns to me, her eyes boring into me. "What?"

Yup, totally regret this. "I-I mean, just to-"

"Nolan, no," She interrupts. "We're taking him down, not you alone. And besides, it's my plan that you're using right now. C'mon, let's go kick his ass."

Shadowcat marches down the hallway, intent in kicking B-Mimic's ass. Dammit. I run forward and stand in front of her, swapping to her powers just to make sure she doesn't phase through me. "Okay, yeah, we'll take him out, I promise. But can you at least check on Nightcrawler, Kitty? Just make sure he's safe, please."

Her glare lessens as she steps back and crosses her arms. "He's fine, I'm sure of it."

I tilt my head at that. "You sure? I mean, just recently there was that massive shaking that rocked through Asteroid M, he could be hurt."

Shadowcat keeps eye contact with me, but eventually she sighs and averts her eyes down. "You're right," She mutters. "Alright, I'll go check on him, but as soon as that's done, I'm coming back to help you, got it?"

I feel a victorious smirk on my face. Without thinking I lean forward and kiss her on the cheek, my smirk growing at the blush on her face. "Got it."

With one more resolute nod Shadowcat turns around and runs towards wherever Nightcrawler is, phasing through some walls in her way.

I slowly turn around and take another deep breath, looking down the hallway B-Mimic went. I switch to my Quicksilver powers and run down it, finding him, well, quickly. Using my speed, I run around him, creating a tornado that traps him in place, I then rapidly punch and kick him. B-Mimic puts his arms up to protect his face but that just leaves the rest of his body open, which I use to my advantage.

Twenty punches to the kidney, which is definitely going to hurt tomorrow, I would know. Well, I actually took one punch to the kidney from Wolverine during a training session, but that was definitely more than enough. Anyways, I then slam both of my fists into the back of his left knee, causing him to land on it, and then punch his back rapidly.

Eventually he copies the powers and turns around quickly, punching me in the throat. I immediately stop and grab at my neck, choking for air. B-Mimic takes advantage by grabbing me by the back of the head and slamming my face into his knee, probably breaking my nose and making my new scar bleed. Lovely.

After finally recovering I push him back and switch to my Polaris powers. Maybe this time it'll work better if he can't copy Shadowcat's intangibility. Using the wall right next to him I create a metal fist that juts out, hitting him in the side. Another metal fist erupts from right under his foot, knocking him backwards into a metal casket made by yours truly.

He isn't in it for long. The casket explodes outwards, forcing me to bring up my arms to protect my extremely handsome face. B-Mimic then uses his magnetism to hold two pieces of the casket, forming them into disc-sized round blades. He then swipes the two razors at my face, I dodge the first two strikes, but the third gets me under my left eye, going to my scar and stopping there as I back away from him.

Goddammit, two new scars in the span of a few months, something tells me that's going to be more common as my time with the X-Men goes by.

He goes for my chest, thrusting the razors at me, but using my powers I toss them aside before shifting to my Havok powers, hitting him pointblank with a concussive blast before he can react.

B-Mimic flies down the hallway, slamming into a water fountain on the way before falling out of my attack. I then slowly approach, ready to leap away at a moments notice. As I get closer, he leaps up and attacks with a similar blast, just as I expect. I roll towards him, and while low, kick his legs out from under him. I then quickly get up and stomp once on B-Mimic's chest before he fires a blast which sends me flying in the air momentarily before slamming down headfirst, disorienting me.

He slowly gets up and stalks towards me, wiping blood off his lip before stomping on my chest. I think he cracked a rib. He digs his foot in, causing pain to flare up from my chest. Yeah, he cracked a rib alright.

"I'll admit," B-Mimic begins. "You know how to fight, but I'm better. How about this: give up now, and I'll stop mopping the floor with you now. What do you say?"

I just glare up at him.

B-Mimic chuckles before leaning down. "If you don't, I might hurt your friends. Especially the little brunette," He threatens.

My glare intensifies and I totally intend to hit him with another concussive blast from my chest, but I don't need to. Don't know how, what with the smell of brimstone and all, but Nightcrawler and Shadowcat teleport above B-Mimic, her hanging on some bars and him sticking to the ceiling, all without him noticing.

"So," He says, bringing my attention back to him. "What do you say?"

I keep my attention on him, but I can see Nightcrawler's tail slowly coming down. "You wanna know what I say? I say, NOW!"

Nightcrawler's tail wraps around his neck, he then drops down and does a quick backflip, sending B-Mimic down the hallway and slamming into a bench. Oooh, that looked like it hurt. Let's add to that. I charge up a quick blast and hit his prone body, sending him and part of the bench through a door that leads into an open area.

Nightcrawler puts his hands on our shoulders and teleports us into the room. In here we find ourselves on a balcony overlooking what I'd guess to be their training room.

B-Mimic recovers from his tumble and fires up at the balcony, hoping to knock us down. Nightcrawler just teleports us right behind him, there Shadowcat kicks his spine, and once he drops down, I punch his face hard, feeling his nose break under my fist.

B-Mimic then realizes that Nightcrawler and Shadowcat are here. He then gains a fine coat of golden fur and a tail, his eyes become a deep blue before teleporting away from us, sticking on a wall in above us. His tail lashes around as he glares down at us.

One 'BAMF' later and B-Mimic's behind us, hitting me and Nightcrawler with a concussive blast. Shadowcat phases through the attack, but as soon as she becomes tangible again, he hits her with the flat end of the deceptively strong tail, sending her skidding towards me and Nightcrawler.

I turn to Nightcrawler to see him wobble slightly on his feet. "You okay, man?"

He shakes his head and then bounces in place. "Ja, perfectly fine."

I nod before looking at B-Mimic, the four of us circling each other. "Y'know, I sometimes forget you can stick on walls," I comment.

"It's not your fault, I sometimes forget too," Nightcrawler agrees. "I don't use zat a lot," He then pauses and looks up at one of the corners in the room. A rather dark corner. A smirk then grows on his face, his fangs prominent. "I vill teleport up there, hide in ze shadows, can ze two of you survive without me?"

"We've done it before," Shadowcat assures. "When you find your moment make sure it takes him out."

Me and Nightcrawler tilt our heads away as B-Mimic fires a provocation shot at our heads. "Why does he have to take him out," I whine playfully. "He wants to fight for the title, it should be me who beats him."

Shadowcat turns to me with a not-so-serious glare. "You could've taken him down earlier, you know."

At that moment B-Mimic lunges towards us and a whole bunch of things happen at once.

Nightcrawler disappears, Shadowcat drops a fucking smoke bomb from out of nowhere, and he and I shoot at each other with our blasts, creating an explosion that knocks the three of us away from each other.

While still on the ground I turn to a groaning Shadowcat. "Where the hell did you get a smoke bomb?"

"Walked past an armory on our way back to you," She reaches into her utility belt—which she didn't have earlier, how the hell didn't I notice it—and pulls out some more smoke bombs and other miscellaneous tools.

B-Mimic teleports right in front of us. I tense, ready to hit him with one more blast but Shadowcat just pulls out a small canister. She aims it at B-Mimic's face and sprays it, he rears back and clutches at his eyes while screaming out in pain. "Pepper spray," She answers.

"Why would-never mind, let's kick his ass," I say.

The two of us attack with a flurry of carefully aimed punches, all thanks to Wolverine beating the lessons into us. Literally.

At the end of our barrage we hit him with two double-fisted punches aimed at his chest and abdomen. He then leans down and uses his knees as support, and at this moment Nightcrawler teleports in and uses B-Mimic's head as a springboard, slamming the Brotherhood mutant's face into the ground and leaping into more shadows to hide in.

I then swap to my Puck powers and wait for him to get up. And as soon as he does, I strike. Coiling my legs and bringing an arm up for maximum effect as soon as B-Mimic stumbles into a standing position I leap forward, far faster then he can react.

I feel my body connect with his entire upper body, and I feel some of his ribs crack under the pressure of my attack. Grabbing his shoulders, I then flip over and knee him in the back, just as Nightcrawler teleports down and kicks him across the face.

"Close your eyes!" Shadowcat shouts.

Immediately after I hear a flashbang go off and B-Mimic shout in annoyance as he then jumps around, slamming me into the walls and ceiling of the room we are in. I slam into the walls a couple of times, but it doesn't hurt thanks to my nigh invulnerability.

But it does hurt Nightcrawler. As we jump around at high speeds B-Mimic ends up slamming me into his leg, I can hear it break to, along with his scream of pain. Alright, I've had enough. Time to knock his ass out.

This little pinball game of ours ends when he slams face first into the ground, causing it to erupt and change due to the impact. I then switch to my Iceman powers and freeze his body over, but he quickly copies those powers. B-Mimic uses the ice shell to his advantage and makes spikes all along the surface of it. The spikes then shoot outwards, clipping Nightcrawler's arm, causing him to groan in pain to the added injury. Shadowcat barely dodges a few, but somehow one bounces off the floor and stabs into her right shoulder, she cries out in pain and clutches at the wound.

B-Mimic starts laughing. "Would you look at that, your friends are hurt," He looks back at me with an insufferable smirk. "Should've given up when I gave you the chance."

My breathing becomes heavy, the mist of my breath crystallizes the air. I tighten my fists and switch to my Pulse powers; my eyes then glow yellow and B-Mimic begins to shiver. He tries to get out of the prison but to no avail. "W-w-w-what the h-hell did you d-d-do to me?" He shivers.

I lean down, grabbing him by his hair as I raise his head up. "Turned off your powers, asshole."

Gritting my teeth in anger I then bash his face into the ground a couple of times. How many? I don't know, I wasn't keeping count. The small pool of blood stops me from continuing. Raising his head, I see his eyes are closed, and he's moaning in pain before I slam his head down one more time.

Before I can do anything more to him that I'd regret in the future I close my eyes and take some deep breaths. After a moment I open my eyes to see Shadowcat nearby Nightcrawler, nursing her bleeding arm, the shard of bloody ice on the ground a few feet away from me.

I slowly walk over to them and sit next to Shadowcat. "You guys okay?"

Nightcrawler scoffs before grimacing in pain as Shadowcat helps him up. "Please, mein friend, it'd take more zen some ice and a broken leg to defeat the Amazing Nightcrawler!" Even though his answer's excited he looks drowsy, think he might pass out due to the pain soon.

Shadowcat shakes her head with a smile before taking my hand with her uninjured arm. "We're fine, Nolan," Her face then becomes apprehensive as she looks at the currently beaten and bloody B-Mimic. She looks back at me and rubs the top of my hand with her thumb. "Are you?"

"Yeah, why?" I ask.

"Because what you did to him was pretty…" She trails off, unsure what to say.

"Brutal," Nightcrawler finishes.

Shadowcat sighs before reluctantly nodding. "Yeah, that, brutal. You could have just punched him in the face and be done with it, you know? Why the extra hits?"

"B-because he hurt you, both of you. What kind of friend would I be if I just let that slide?" I ask.

Shadowcat opens her mouth to respond, but Nightcrawler beats her to the punch. "Ve can talk about zis later, right now ve need to join ze others, ja?"

She looks at me one more time before nodding. "Yeah. Here, let me help you up," Using her good arm she's able to lift Nightcrawler up, I help on the other side. "Think you can teleport us up there?"

He shakes his head. "Vith a broken leg? Zat may not be the best idea, Kätzchen," Nightcrawler tiredly answers.

I shift to my Nightcrawler powers, my skin is covered by a fine coat of black fur and my eyes have an icy clue glow about them. I look towards the door and teleport towards it, two 'BAMFs' going off.

I then hear some light snoring right next to me. Turning our heads, we see a sleeping Nightcrawler barely standing, even with assistance from a tired mutant (me) and an injured mutant (Kitty).

With small smiles from the both of us we go through the doors to the training room and immediately stop, I don't know about Shadowcat, but I feel my heart skip a beat for a second.

On the other side of the door we find Mystique and Destiny, both in a similar position as ours, Mystique carrying a limp Destiny in her arms. Mystique quickly gets one of her guns out and aims it at us, somehow not dropping Destiny in the process. Her golden-yellow eyes glare at us before they widen once she sees Nightcrawler's injuries.

"What happened to him?" She demands.

I roll my eyes. "Wow, if you care for him why not care for the two of us," I mutter.

The three ladies just glare at me. Well, Mystique and Shadowcat do, I'm not so sure with Destiny, what with her golden mask and all. Definitely would've preferred if I could see her glare.

Mystique sighs deeply before a sarcastic smirk is on her face. "Fine. What happened to you guys?"

"Why do you care?" I ask.

"Nolan!" Shadowcat shouts. I flinch and mutter a sorry as she turns to the two. "If you want to know what happened to him ask your b-list Mimic, he caused all of Nightcrawler's injuries."

Mystique's amused look becomes one of righteous anger after hearing Shadowcat's answer. "Thank you, child. I'll be sure to ask him," She aims her gun at my head, the safety turning off. "After I take you two out."

My instincts have me switch to my Thunderbird powers.

"No," Destiny softly mutters.

Mystique arches an eyebrow and stares at Destiny incredulously. "What do you mean "no"!? They're right here, just asking for us to take them down."

"And if we take them down, so does Kurt, further aggravating his injuries," Destiny counters calmly.

Shadowcat and I share a glance. Did we ever say Kurt's name around them? Maybe back at Germany. Then again, things were so damn crazy then so we wouldn't have even noticed.

Mystique reluctantly turns on the safety of her gun and puts the weapon away. She then walks around us and enters the training room, but before they get any further Destiny speaks up. "Go up a floor, take the first left and the second door on your right is the medical bay, use that to tend to your wounds."

The two then walk further into the room, but before they get far, I hear Destiny whisper to Mystique. "You never answered Nolan's question."

Now that stops me in my tracks. I definitely don't remember telling Mystique my name, which would make less sense if Destiny did. But then I remember, precog, she probably knew my name before I was even born. Damn, that's weird to think about.

Mystique grumbles before turning around. "Hey," She shouts to grab our attention. Once we turn around, curious to hear her answer she sighs before shaking her head, muttering. "This is a bad idea," She raises her head and nods towards Nightcrawler. "Take care of my son, alright?"

And with that the doors to the training room close.

Everything's silent as Shadowcat and I stare at the door, in shock at the bombshell Mystique casually dropped on us. Slowly, we turn our gazes to our sleeping teammate, and it all starts to make sense. Although his fur's indigo it still reminds us of her, and his golden-yellow eyes look just like Mystique's. Damn, how the hell didn't we see it before?
Shadowcat gulps before leaning her head forward to look at me. "Please tell me she was lying."

I slowly shake my head. "I was using my Thunderbird powers, and her heartbeat didn't fluctuate one bit," We then look back at Nightcrawler, seeing him in a new light. Not sure how Shadowcat sees him now, but I feel a new connection with him, what with Mister Sinister being my maternal grandfather and all. "Wonder how he'll react to this."

"Yo! Guys!"

Looking up, we see Iceman coming towards us on an ice slide. Once he gets near, he hops off and stumbles forward, nearly tripping on his face as he does. He struggles to stand up straight, but once he shifts back to normal, he stumbles in place, my quick reaction stopping him from falling flat on his back.

"Thanks," He says. Iceman then finally notices Shadowcat's and Nightcrawler's injuries. He quickly walks over and gingerly places Shadowcat's uninjured arm over his shoulder. "You guys okay?"

He then places his hand over her wound and creates an ice covering over both sides of her wound, doing the same for Nightcrawler. Shadowcat nods her thanks. "Yeah. Well, physically at least, mentally I'm not so sure."

I nod. "I'm in the same boat as you."

Iceman looks between the two of us as we enter the elevator. "Why? What happened?"

Shadowcat and I share a look before she shrugs her bad arm, wincing and hissing in pain. "Go ahead, Nolan."

I look at Nightcrawler, prompting Iceman to do the same. "We found out that, uh, Mystique's kind of his uh…she's his mom."

Iceman's eyes widen comically before he looks up, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Makes sense, now that I think about it. His fur's a similar color to her skin, and he has the same eyes as her. Damn, how didn't I see it?"

I take the first left and enter the second door on the right, the four of us entering the medical bay. We walk over to two empty cots, Iceman and I then go to grab the necessary supplies to help, but before he can do any more Shadowcat puts her hand on his arm. "Hey, Bobby? Think you could help Kurt? I, uh, wanna talk to Nolan. Alone."

Iceman's face flashes with an unknown emotion before he has a sly smirk, lightly elbowing Shadowcat on her good side. "Right, I totally understand," The ice around the wound melts. He then gingerly picks up Nightcrawler and flashes a smile towards me. He then heads towards a cot at the end of the room.

I turn around to see Shadowcat gently smiling as she holds her injured arm up. "Well? It won't wrap itself up, you know."

I let out a quick laugh and walk forward with some cotton balls damp with alcohol. I gently touch around the wound with the cotton balls, stopping once I notice her flinch in slight recoil. "It's fine, Nolan. Besides, not as bad as getting an ice spike through the shoulder," She reassures. Shadowcat's eyes then widen and she softly gasps as she traces just below my now extended scar. "What happened?"

"Oh, uh, when I was using Polaris' powers B-Mimic made some razor discs and ended up cutting me, it'll be fine," I explain. For the next few minutes things are silent in the room, the only noises being Shadowcat's hisses as I clean the wound. Eventually I decide to break the silence. "Why'd you want me to do this? I'm pretty sure Iceman's got more experience than me in this stuff, Shadowcat."

"Kitty," She corrects. "We're not in any immediate danger now, are we, Nolan? Just call me Kitty."

I nod and continue the procedure. "Right. So, why'd you want me to do this, Kitty?"

She looks at me with half-lidded eyes and a smile that makes my insides feel hot. Not like when I use my fire related powers. "I wanted to talk about last night. When I kissed you."

I finish wrapping the bandages around her wound and sit on the cot after she scoots to give me space. "I thought we'd talk about it after this is all over?"

She nods as she tilts her head and plays with her ponytail in an incredibly cute manner. "We could, yeah, but I just wanna do it now, when things have slowed down, you know?"

"I know, trust me, I do. So, what do you want to talk about exactly? How I felt about the kiss?" I ask sarcastically.

"Yes."

Oh. Huh, why didn't I see that one coming?

As my mind goes back to last night, I feel a smile grow on my face, a blush as well. I let out a quick chuckle before turning back to her, a blush on her face as well. "There never was a girl after you. I mean, I've had some crushes, made some attractive female friends, but I never could go any further with them, I always wondered why. Until recently, that is."

"What changed?" She asked, her head resting on her good shoulder.

I could say it, it'd be easy. But what would happen after? I mean, what if that kiss was just nerves kicking in? She could just want to be friends, nothing more.

What the hell are you thinking, Nolan Belmont? Of course, she feels something, just look at her very visible blush, or the way she's looking at you! Fuck it, do what you do best, man, just go for it, goddammit.

"You," I simply answer after a moment of inner turmoil. Her blush intensifies and I feel my smile grow. I slowly reach out and hold her hand, her thumb immediately rubbing the top of my hand. "So, what do you say? After this we go on a date?"

With her other hand she cups the side of my face and pulls me in. "I say yes."

My smile becomes a victorious smirk. The two of us go in for a kiss but are then interrupted by a loud, nearby bang. We jerk back, she winces and grabs at her shoulder.

Iceman runs over to us, barely avoiding a fall by grabbing on to the bottom of Kitty's cot. "The hell was that?"

I slowly get up and listen carefully. Nearby I hear snarls, skin being sliced apart, and what sounds like a…jungle? Using my sense of smell I recognize one of the scents. "It's Logan, he's fighting in a nearby indoor jungle. And if the other scent's any indication I'd say he's fighting Sabretooth right now."

Iceman nods and attempts to ice up, but he can't get any further than his knees. He slumps over and takes deep, gulping breaths. "Dammit, that fight took more out of me than I thought," He takes more deep breaths before turning to me. "Hate to ask, but think you can go help Wolverine?"

I squeeze Kitty's hand lightly before hopping off the cot. "You can count on it. Just make sure these two are safe."

Iceman nods.

"Whoa, no!" Kitty interrupts. "Nol, Wolverine would always talk about how dangerous this guy is, you shouldn't hop in on the fight."

I let out a laugh before switching to my Wolverine powers, my scar setting in and the injuries from my fight with B-Mimic beginning to fade away. "You worry too much. Besides," I pop my claws. "I'll be fine."

She looks like she's going to continue arguing, but then decides against it. "You'd better come back to me."

I give the two a quick salute as I step through the door. "We've got a date, remember? What kind of boyfriend would I be to miss that?"

Iceman's face twitches as Kitty blushes and finally nods.

The door closes and my jovial demeanor becomes serious.

Okay, time to fight a psychopathic mutant with Wolverine's powers. No big deal, right?

Psylocke

Psylocke grits her teeth as she tries to push through Mastermind's impressive mental defense. After a few more pushes of immense effort she causes some more damage, but Mastermind retaliates with even more ferocious hits, causing the deadly mutant to fall towards the wall, using it as support.

'Either he's extremely powerful or I'm just out of practice,' Psylocke thinks to herself. 'No, that second one can't be a thing, and Marvel Girl and Mimic have told me how average Mastermind's telepathic powers are, they were sure I could take him on. So, what's so different now?'

Psylocke attempts another mental bombardment on Mastermind's defenses, but again she barely makes a dent whereas he tears through yet another wall easily. Psylocke physically recoils and grabs her head, throbbing in pain. She then grits her teeth and exits the mental battle, using her energy almost entirely on defense, while searching for Mastermind and the captive X-Men.

As she walks down the hallway Psylocke would occasionally cry out in pain or flinch as Mastermind continues his assault, but now that she's focusing all of her offense on defense, he has a harder time causing damage.

Psylocke grits her teeth and continues to march forward, ignoring the occasional pain from her cut leg. While she walks down the hallway Psylocke checks another dead zone. "Pyro's room I'd guess," She whispers. Psylocke then reaches out to Marvel Girl mentally. "I need some help."

Psylocke can feel Marvel Girl's split attention and her annoyance. "You'll need to make it quick, kind of in the middle of something that needs all my attention," Marvel Girl replies.

Psylocke understands and goes right into it, flinching due to a quick strike from Mastermind. "Our telepathic friend's a lot stronger than we planned. And there are telepathic dead zones. Most are the private quarters for the Brotherhood, but one room's different from the others, I just don't know which one."

Marvel Girl mentally hums. "That different room must be where the Professor, Forge, Magneto, and Mastermind are. And Mastermind's power boost might be because of some enhancements we don't know about," Marvel Girl is quiet for a moment. "When I can I'll send you what info I can, until then, stay strong."

"Thanks, Marvel Girl," Psylocke replies, closing the link.

As soon as the call ends Psylocke can hear a mental chuckle from Mastermind, a noise that annoys her to no end. "Are you done with your call? If so, can you try to put up better defenses? I'm bored with running through these ones."

Psylocke frowns as she checks another dead zone. Surprise, surprise, it's a bedroom. Avalanche's if the posters of swimsuit models, unmade bed, and drum set is any indication. "If you're running through my defenses why aren't I down now? Maybe I'm stronger than you thought."

"Arrogance is one hell of a fatal flaw," Mastermind growls.

Psylocke scoffs, both physically and mentally. "Pot, meet kettle, have you met?" Psylocke looks into another room that more than likely belongs to Mystique. "The X-Men have told me all about you, and how arrogant you are. Especially Mimic," She taunts.

Mastermind bristles in anger and stops his assault, giving Psylocke a much-needed rest. "That child wouldn't know a thing about being a telepath! He was just lucky last time, and that Unus the Untouchable was nothing but a buffoon."

Psylocke smirks as she continues the dead zone search. Seems like every room down here's the private quarter of a Brotherhood member. Must be up a few floors. "Think you could take him on now?"

Mastermind scoffs. "Please, with The Crown I could defeat any telepath."

Psylocke narrows her eyes as she enters the elevator. 'So, that must be what gives him his power boost, this "Crown". I should tell Marvel Girl,' Psylocke thinks. "Marvel Girl, you there?"

For a moment all Psylocke hears in the mental landscape is Mastermind's rant about how he'd beat Mimic in a telepathic battle, then he'd prove himself superior over herself, Marvel Girl, Professor X, and any other telepath. Psylocke didn't care.

Psylocke tries again. "Mar-"

"Sorry! Scarlet Witch is really strong, it's hard focusing on two things at once. What's up?" Marvel Girl answers.

"I found out why Mastermind's so strong, he's using something called "The Crown". I'd say it's their version of Cerebro," Psylocke informs.

"Makes sense. Now I'm beginning to wonder why they didn't just use that to take us out when they could," Marvel Girl brings Thunderbird into the call. "Thunderbird, Psylocke's trying to find the Professor and Forge, think you can find where they are?"

"Yeah, if Colossus and the others can keep these Multiple Man clones off me, I can probably find them," He answers.

While he searches Marvel Girl leaves the call, but not before making Psylocke the call holder. As Thunderbird continues to search Mastermind notices Psylocke's lack of attention towards him. "A-are you ignoring me!?" He shouts indignantly.

Psylocke sighs in annoyance. "Oh my god, he's a literal man child," She mutters. "Yes, darling, I'm ignoring you. Now, shut up and let me talk to my friends. It won't take long."

"Found them," Thunderbird announces.

"See? Didn't take long," Psylocke says. "Where are they?"

"Floor above you, once you enter the elevator it'll be straight down the hallway. It's also the only room up there, but be careful, Magneto and Mastermind are there also. Wait for backup," Thunderbird answers.

With a powerful psychic pulse aimed towards the Brotherhood's telepath Psylocke is able to knock him out of her head momentarily. "Sorry, luv, but no can do," Thunderbird begins to argue but she interrupts him. "Don't worry, I only plan on taking out Mastermind and securing a path to the room, nothing more. Thanks, though."

"You're welcome," Thunderbird replies. "Now, I've gotta fight a living avalanche. Good luck," And with that he telepathically disconnects.

Psylocke then puts all her power into defense, which actually holds back Mastermind far better than she expects, but it still causes some head pain every now and again when he strikes. She then enters the elevator and goes up to the top floor of Asteroid M, again hiding in the corner, prepared for an attack as soon as the doors open.

Bullets immediately fly into the elevator. As soon as the bullets stop Psylocke hears reloading actions. She dashes out of the elevator and punches Mastermind in the face, the suddenness of the attack and her speed sending him flying backwards.

As Mastermind slowly gets up, he's stopped by a psionic blade to his neck. "What's the matter?" Psylocke whispers. "I thought your "Crown" was going to help you defeat me."

Mastermind grits his teeth as he attempts to stealthily pull out another clip, but Psylocke sees his subtle movements and stabs the psionic knife into his hand, pinning it down and causing his head to explode in pain.

Another psionic knife is placed lightly on his neck, ready to go in deeper at a moment's notice. "Seriously, what happened to your crown?"

Mastermind growls in annoyance before he brings his head forward and rears it back at an angle, catching the side of Psylocke's face and forcing her to step back in pain. Due to her disorientation the psionic knife disappears, freeing Mastermind's hand and allowing him to quickly reload his gun. He almost drops the clip a few times before eventually getting it in, he then aims the weapon at her.

"I don't need it to beat you," He breaths.

Psylocke looks around, finding ways to get a tactical advantage on him, but the gun he has aimed at her doesn't bode well, if she were to move the wrong way, he could just pull the trigger. Yeah, she'd more than likely be able to avoid the bullet, but it'd still hit her from her disadvantageous position, giving him a leg up on her.

She then smirks. Mastermind has a pride about being a telepath, may as well play with it. "You don't need the gun, either."

Mastermind's eyebrows furrow, and he lowers the gun a little bit, this time aiming at her legs. "What do you mean?"

Psylocke tilts her head and hits Mastermind with a critical stare. "Would a real telepath use a gun to win a fight, or their all-powerful mind?" She then looks at her nails as if she were bored. "I mean, if you wanna shoot me, go ahead. I'll just send out one quick message to everyone that Mastermind, a powerful telepath, would prefer a gun to proving his strength."

Mastermind narrows his eyes and growls, making Psylocke think her plan didn't work. But in fact, it did. Perfectly.

Mastermind turns on the safety before tossing his gun aside. Psylocke then feels his presence in her mind. "Just remember, the gun would have been quicker," He warns.

Psylocke smirks as she stands up, getting ready for the coming mental battle. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say," She replies. On the inside her smirk is even larger, her small victory improving her mood. "Hook, line, and sinker."

Next time: Mentality of the Beast

It's been a while since I had a chapter like this, one where the story just writes itself. At first it only had about one thousand words, then the Tuesday of the week this chapter's published I finished the Mimic section and started the Psylocke part of the chapter.

But yeah, a lot happened this chapter! Nolan has beat B-Mimic, they have now learned about Nightcrawler's relation with Mystique, and the romance between Kitty and Nolan has officially begun! It's going to be a rollercoaster from here on out.

There's something I'd like to point out, also: so, I've made a couple of subplots that you can see in this chapter, hell, this arc, and they'll all be resolved throughout the story at different points, but there's one thing I want to talk about, Nolan's powers. I won't say much, 'cause spoilers, y'know? But I will say this, his mimicry powers are special, you'll see in the future.

That's all from me! Please leave a constructive review and remember to stay awesome! See you next Thursday!