Kitty was laying on her bed, face down buried deep inside her pillows that she clung onto very tightly, the tears from her eyes falling off of her cheeks, creating pools of moisture on the pillow themselves. Her bloodshot eyes shown just how much she was really upset, and just how long she had been crying for. Scott, trying to be the ever present "older brother" that he is, sat on the edge of her bed, rubbing her back gentle, trying to calm her down. "Shhh...." he whispered softly to Kitty, "it'll be alright. Kurt will be back and he'll be completely alright. You know him, come tomorrow he'll be porting around, setting up tricks and traps for each of us to fall into." It was a complete lie, and he knew it too. This time Kurt wouldn't just come back randomly with a villainous smile on his face, who knew where he was now. He had taken off during the first periods of the school day and by now it was already well past sunset. Scott took a quick peek out the window, but he couldn't see anything. The darkness outside only cast his reflection in a perfect mirror created by the light from the inside.

"No, it's not like that," Kitty sobbed, her voice being muffled by the pillows still shoved against her face. "This is all my fault, I should have been able to help Kurt when he needed me, but I didn't. I'm the reason he took off."

"Hey Kitty, you shouldn't say such things like that," Scott continued his case to try and keep her calm. "There is nothing that you could have done to help this." Scott was just as much in the dark about Kurt's disappearance as everyone else, he was merely mumbling out generic remarks to try and keep hope, keep Kitty from total deflation. This was not like Kurt. He was upset before, but just that morning he had been bright and perky, that same villainous smile on his lips and a smirk look that would put a laugh and a grin on everyone else. "How can you say this is your fault? We tried our best."

"No, you don't understand Scott, you just don't!" Kitty turned to face Scott, her face still burning red and her lips trembling with anger, although not at Scott, but at herself for being such a failure. Ever since she came to the Xavier Institute she was always messing things up for her and her teammates. Not once could she ever do anything to help anyone or save anyone. With a sigh she just gave up her anger, more of anger at herself and not something she could hold towards Scott. "Kurt came to me last night all upset and uptight over something. I must have fallen asleep at my desk cause he woke me up thinking I was still up." Kitty sighed and looked down, the quick fall from anger to deep depression to a hatred of herself catching her all at once. "He kept asking me questions about him not sleeping and about being human. I tried to answer him back, get him out of his horrid mood but I must have screwed it all up. He mumbled something about being cats and humans and took off again even worse than when he showed up to me."

"Why didn't you mention any of this before?" Scott inquired.

"Because he showed up this morning all bright and cheery that's why!" Kitty's anger broke out again. "I thought he was fine, back to his normal self. I am not going to go around stirring the pot when there's no stew inside to stir. That's why! Forgive me for trying to have an optimistic mind and not running back to report every negative thing that could happen in a day! I thought it was just best to keep this to me and Kurt and not break it into anything more, but obviously I shouldn't really be thinking then should I?!" Kitty just snapped, loosing control of her emotions, she threw her head back down in her pillows with fresh tears streaming out of her face to flood over the past tears, still wet on her pillow.

Scott gave a sigh and stood up making his way to the door, leaving the room with a shake of his head. "Well that certainly sounded like it went over well," Rogue was snickering, sitting on the floor next to Kitty's door. "glad to see that Kitty's feeling better too."

"Rogue, this is not the time," Scott gave her a glare and turned on a quick pivot down the hall. He stopped infront of Kurt's doorway which was down the other end from where Kitty's was. With a turn of the handle he opened the door into the pitch black room that just screamed out the owner of the room just from the senses of it. The sight, the smell, the touch, it was all trademark Kurt.

"And just what do you think you're doin' Red Boy?" Rogue questioned him, following him down the hall, standing outside the open door, but looking in. Scott just ignored the southerner behind him and made his way to the desk in the corner of the room, opening each drawer and looking carefully through them one by one. "Hey, just what are you doin'?" Rogue demanded again from the open doorway. "It's not nice to go through other's things without their permission, and especially not while they aren't here. Isn't something of privacy what Kitty just yelled at you for."

"Listen Rogue, I know there's something in here that might be able to help us find Kurt and help him," Scott continued his search, coming up with nothing. "If it's in Kurt's best interest, I'll go through his stuff if it'll help find him and help in what ever is troubling him."

"Maybe what's troubling him is just this lifestyle," Rogue shot back. "Look at all the people he's got watching him from everywhere to make sure that he achieves perfection. One little slip up and he's got people all over him, his privacy ruined, and no thought to Kurt himself."

"I'm doing this for Kurt!" Scott was not loosing it, just not being able to put up with another argumentative girl at the moment. He slammed one of the drawers shut, not finding what he was looking for. He turned and looked around the room to where it could be hidden.

"You're doing this for yourself and you're doing this for the team, but perhaps you don't see how someone can do anything for another individual. You find that so easy to do fitting into society both here and outside in the world." Rogue shot back. "Perhaps you should think for everyone, including those that don't fit into your world!"

"Do you think this is easy on me? Do you think I'm less of a mutant than anyone else here? Do you think I want a different dream than that of what we set out for, to allow mutants and humans to co-exist together in perfect harmony?"

"That's your problem Scott, you think far too largely in the scare of the world, and not in the scale of the people that sit infront of you." Rogue turned in disgust and disappeared down the stairs of the mansion. Scott could only just give a sigh and reach in a small space behind Kurt's bed, pulling out a small red notebook. Flipping through the pages, Scott offered himself a bit of a grin, finally finding what he was looking for and left the room himself with the success of his hunt.

*****

Days continued to pass by and still no sign of Kurt showed itself, only heightening the worry of the residents of the Xavier Institute. Kurt was still just a young man, especially out there in the world that he had just begun living in Bayville as a normal teenager hiding behind his holographic imager. Even worse, what would become of him if the imager, which wasn't perfect, broke or began to go on the fritz again? He would have no back-ups and would be stuck and exposed as the blue furry creature that he is. Although the occupants of the mansion tried not to think of it, the idea that perhaps Kurt wouldn't ever come back, or that he might not even still live lingered over all of them.

Two of the elder residents at the institute, Logan and Xavier himself, sat together in a room with computer beeping and flashing lights all around, screens completely covering one wall with metal frames over the other three. "Now Charles, you're sayin' that even Serebro here can't pick anything up on our fur ball?"

"No, I'm sorry Logan. The computer can only pick up mutant activity when it is being used, and that is not always 100% correct. I mean it doesn't pick up mutant activity all the time when used," the professor replied from his wheelchair, noticing the angered look that was vintage Logan. "It's only a computer after all, it's not God, and it can't even play God."

"And what about your super brain powers huh? You can pick up a cockroach in Bombay but not a fuzzy blue kid just lost somewhere?" Logan mocked.

"Even my powers have their limitations Logan, as do all our powers. You know that full well."

Logan turned in disgust and walked out the door, "I'm getting out of here, I'll be back sometime."

Xavier just let him walk, there wasn't much unusual about Logan storming off, he'd been doing that since Xavier had first ever met the man known as Wolverine. Xavier looked to his watch, the dull lights inside displaying it only being 9:15 at night, although it had been a hard day and a hard past few days with Kurt's disappearance. Everyone was taking it hard in their own ways at the mansion. Evan's been trying to hide his depression from loosing his friend, but it's just obvious to see on his face and in his mind. Scott took Kurt's disappearance quite hard, although he also tried not to show it. He had a role to play as the "big brother" to all the others and had he shown his depression and hurt, it would fall like a trickle down effect, leaking into everyone else in the house. Although lately very little had been seen of him, except for a night when he went out to try and find a German-English dictionary. Ever since then, he'd been in his room, working constantly, sometimes till late at night, working harder at deciphering the notebook than his own school work. Kitty however might be taking it the hardest of all. Even though it had been days, closer to a week, since Kurt's disappearance, she has not gotten any better, still blaming herself for the reason of his leaving. Most times her once precious and beautiful eyes were scared by the bloodshot marks and the redness of around her eyes, giving her away to her crying that she just couldn't help but commit. Oh sure Kurt was a pain, always picking on everyone, especially her, but he was always just concerned with a laugh and getting others to smile. Even Kitty laughed most of the times under the grimace she had whenever the jokes were played on her. It was just so odd having *Kurt* missing. Kurt was always there and always just so lovable, it's just impossible to ever see him gone for so long and even gone for a moment from his home and friends. Rogue on the other hand was the complete opposite. Who knew what thoughts she had in her head or what she cared about anything or anybody. She was always a loner, and cared for herself more than others since no other else cared for her, why should she care for others? Her constant look of ever-present brooding kept here away from others, even the other members of the Xavier compound.

This loneliness that Rogue shared with herself brought her inside a local 7-11 store when coming back from school towards the Xavier mansion. She was late enough as it was, although it's not as if she cared at all. She merely wanted to walk into the store and get nothing more than a drink to help carry her over her walk towards the institute, however she was in for a little more when Freddy "The Blob", and his buddy Toad were inside the store as well. "Well, well, well, look at what we got here," Freddy laughing seeing Rogue's entrance, he himself loading up on jukefood in his arms that would probably last him a day or so.

"Hee, yeah, as if this place couldn't get any darker or gauntly," Todd joined in the mockery.

Rogue shot around pointing her index finger threateningly at the two, reaching for her glove to remove just as back-up. "Now I did not come in here to listen to you two mindless dimwits." She sneered going to the back freezers and pulling out a simple 20 ounce coke, bringing it up to the register for check out.

"Hey," Todd just couldn't help but get his words in, coming up right behind the southern girl. "Heard something happened to that blue freak. Hea... haven't even seen him around town or in school. Did he die or something?"

"Shudup frog face and get out of my sights!" Rogue turned and gave him a rough elbow to his sternum, sending The Toad into his friend's Freddy's stomach, obviously just bouncing off that to the floor.

"Why don't you watch what your doing," Freddy fired back at the goth girl, still miffed at her from when she stole his powers earlier in the week. "Cant'cha just be kind to a guy for asking a simple question? or maybe..." Freddy drew in his breath his a sly grin on his face, "maybe that was that freak of a fuzz ball on that paper."

This caught Rogue's attention. She turned quickly, gazing a fire into the fat boy's eyes and soul. "Paper? What paper, let me see."

"Nah, I don't think we should letcha see, ya might try and pound on us again," Todd was back off the floor, mocking her once again as if she might really hurt him. "I don't think we should let the likes of you see. Ya might call up your alligator powers and have your swamp boys try to attack us with their spears and turtle shells." The two boys broke out hysterically to the joke on Rogue's original southern home.

Rogue was quick, catching Todd of guard who was laughing too hard at his own joke, and before he knew it, Rogue had her fist around the collar of his shirt, lifting him into the air. "Now, are you boys' goin' tobe nice and show me this paper or am I going to have to take it out of you?" She reached for her glove again, although this squealed out Todd, who didn't want to pass out on the floor.

"It... It's over there... that one on the bottom," Todd pointed out.

Rogue dropped him for the moment and went over to look at the one that was pointed out. "The National Inquirer, do you think I'm really that stupid frog face?"

"Just read the headlines and find out for yourself Lucifina," Todd shot back.

'Satan's Demon Terrorizes German Black Forest'

Rogue quickly picked up the paper and threw it on the counter with her drink, paying the register and hurrying out the door to read it away from Mystique's two dingbats. Wait a sec, why did Rogue care so much. Why was she suddenly so interested in Kurt and his well being? That didn't matter, she had to read this article, truth or not. What are the odds that this thing has anything to do with Kurt or if it was even true. It was positioned next to another article titled 'Nine Headed Cow Gives Birth to Triplets, Each With Three Heads.' Yeah right, there is going to be anything about Kurt in the article... but it made such perfect sense. A blue evil demon that is torturing the black forest of Germany? Even more bits came into sense as Rogue continued to read on about the demons glowing yellow eyes that gazed at travelers through the trees. The demon's ambush on people when hanging from his tale off of the large trees in the forest. The demon's cat like reflexes and agility as well as it's appearance and movement, not walking like a human at all. How sure Rogue was not that it was Kurt... but what did she care? She should just leave this to the other X-men, they actually care enough to go out and do something about it, but they'd just mess it up and throw him into a kind of hypnotizing optimist course like they'd been trying with her. Scott with his tyrannical theory's, Jean with her ever-present thought of always being so all knowing like she should be worshiped as an oracle or something to that nature, Kitty just... geez someone's got to wipe that smile and laugh off her face. Although now it's almost the exact opposite since all she does is just cry pitifully over Kurt's leaving, just being a complete mess. 'Helpless girl' Rogue thought.

Rogue couldn't put Kurt up to this torture, not even he deserved it. But why was she thinking of doing what she was doing? Why? There was no rhyme, no reason, this wasn't her style, this wasn't anything that would have her gain anything at all. What was the point?

*****

Rogue looked at herself and just shook her head as the lights flashed past her on the train going from Bayville south into New York City, and specifically JFK airport. Someone's watch nearby chirped 3 am. Rogue opened her bag and pulled out a small bag filled with a few hundred dollars that she stole from the Professor that night when he was sleeping like everyone else in the manor. She'd been there long enough to figure out the security system and how to dodge around it. Her plane from JFK airport to Heathrow would take off soon and from there she could catch another flight to Hamburg and somehow find this "black forest." She looked in her bag again, carrying besides the money only a few spare clothes to change into, the National Inquirer with the article on the demon, a red notebook and a German-English dictionary, the last two she picked off Scott's desk when he was fast asleep before she took off. What a surprise it will be to them when they find what she took and note she left.

Professor Xavier,
I found a lead into where Kurt might be. Be gone for a while.

-Rogue

Yup, nice and short and sweet. No details about where she was going, when, and what she took. They'd find out eventually, but by then it'd be already too late. Of course it'll be too late before any of them even wake up. Rogue took the notebook and opened it to the first page, flipping through the German-English dictionary and tried to kill time by reading just what was so special about this book.


***** ***** *****