Kurt was very confused by his recent transformation. He felt no different, no pain, no discomfort. He flexed his hand for the hundredth time in front of his face, each individual finger, and he could control them all, as easily as he controlled the two he was born with. He shivered a little, his body unused to the cool air, as he tried to listen to the teacher as she tried to teach Biology, but his attention was diverted, and he was afraid. He was half afraid his new transformation would fade, and without his holowatch, he easily be spotted in the school classrooms and hallways. He shivered again, but tried to remain calm. I have a spare holowatch stashed in my locker, he thought. I can get it after class.
The classed ended as the bell rang, and most students filed out eagerly to lunch, some skipping early to escape for an unannounced three-day weekend. Kurt wove his way in and out of the passing jocks and cheerleaders to his locker, his hand jittering a little nervously as he turned the knob.
Thus, the hand that touched his shoulder, nearly sent him three feet into the air as he whirled around in surprise.
To his vast relief, it was only Amanda, and he smiled.
"Amanda, don't do that… you scared the heck out of me," he said.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to… how are you Kurt?" she asked, leaning in and giving him a quick squeeze-hug. He returned it, purring softly, a sound that never failed to send shivers down her spine.
"I'm having an… interesting day," he said at length, opening his locker and changing his books, slapping on his holo-watch, though he left it inactive to save power.
"Oh?" she asked as they walked with each other to the lunch court. "How so?"
"Vell… its kinda of hard to explain… here," he added reluctantly, placing his hand over hers, half fearful of her reaction.
"Kurt…?" she asked, rubbing his fingers, feeling the smooth skin, the four digits. They both paused in the hallway, alone save for a few students who were gathering their lunches from lockers or speaking with teachers about how their great aunt-sister's-cousin's-husband's foster son had died and they'd had to attend their funeral, could they please make up that final exam?
Amanda leaned in closer, running a hand along Kurt's features curiously. Kurt smiled, thinking back to the time he'd first shown her who he really was, and she'd done much the same thing. Her fingers traced along the smooth, rounded edge of his ears, along his smooth cheekbones and chin, and even, after a quick glance around, down his backside, searching for his tail. That certainly caused him to jump.
"Amanda!" he gasped out, swatting her hand away, a little shocked she would be so bold. In public, no less.
"Kurt what's happened to you?" she asked, looking up at him fearfully. "How'd this happen?"
"I've no idea," he replied, his voice dropping down low. He didn't want the others to overhear. "I woke up like this… I just didn't realize it until Kitty pointed out I'd forgotten my holowatch this morning."
"Then… this wasn't intentional?" she asked, smiling just a little.
"Nein, why?" he asked. Her reply was a soft peck on the cheek.
"I was worried you were trying to be something you aren't," she replied shyly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Filthy mutants… I know they're up to something. I just don't know what… yet."
Principle Kelly stood, imposing, in his office on the upper levels of Bayville High. He'd been watching, as he had every morning, the arrival of the Institute mutants, always searching for an opportunity to expel them, get rid of them, and keep the normal students safe. Something strange had indeed happened today, but not what he'd expected. He'd seen the mutants, the Pryde girl, and Grey. They hadn't used their powers, even though they seemed to be trying to.
An act, it had to be. To lure normal people into a false sense of security before the mutants struck and destroyed everything. Kelly frowned again, more deeply, and went back to his work as the last of the mutants arrived and went to their classes, pretending to be normal people. He had more important concerns right now… like planning graduation. His speech would be very important, and he needed to properly sum up the final years for some of Bayville's finest accurately.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kurt and Amanda opted to join the other Institute students for lunch today, something for which Scott was grateful. It would've been something of a pain to try and track down the two lovebirds. As always, one spot at the table was left open by unspoken agreement. It was their way of saying that Evan would some day return and rejoin them.
"Kurt, glad you could join us… we just got some news from the Prof," he said, putting his cell phone away.
"Vas is da news?" asked Kurt, curious.
"Well, turns out you, Kitty and Jean aren't alone… everyone at the Institute changed the same as we have. Xavier doesn't know what to make of it, figures we can find out more once we get home, which is where we've all been told to go immediately after class."
"Awww…" grumbled Kurt, glancing at his girlfriend. Scott smiled.
"I'm sure we can take a few minutes to drop off Amanda, Kurt," he added.
"I owe you, meine freund," replied Kurt as he low-fived Scott and then engaged in his second-favorite activity in the world: eating.
"Well that's a relief," added Amara, sitting with the others. "I've never felt so vulnerable in my life… its like part of me is missing."
"I agree," replied Jean, glancing around at everyone who passed by. Not that many did, the "mutant table" was generally given a wide berth by the rest of the student population.
"Hey its alright," said Scott, placing a hand over Jean's hesitantly. He was still getting used to thinking of the pretty redhead as his girlfriend. "Whatever happens, we'll get through this… and hey, we might even be able to enjoy this for a while," he added.
"Then why're you still wearing your sunglasses," she asked with a playful smirk.
"Yeah, I vas vondering about zat, Scott," added Kurt.
"My mutant power isn't working either, if that's what you're wondering," he replied, shifting uncomfortably as he became the center of attention. "I just… feel more comfortable with them on."
"Come on Scott you said we should enjoy this…" replied Jean with a smile. "Show me those baby-blues."
Scott could never resist that smile.
Scott reluctantly, slowly, slipped his glasses off, keeping his eyes downwards in case, by some freak occurrence, his powers had returned. When he opened his eyes, nothing happened, and he could see… truly -SEE-. It had been so long since he had seen color, everything was so incredibly bright, he blinked a little as he lifted his head up. Everyone crowded around, curious to solve the mystery of what color Scott's eyes were.
Blue.
"Wow… they really are baby-blues," remarked Kitty. She, Kurt and Amanda started giggling. Jean and Scott had eyes only for each other, as if it was the first time they'd ever truly seen what the other looked like.
"Wow…" they both murmured in unison under their breath. They would've been even more surprised if they could've read the thoughts of the other at that moment.
I never realized he/she was so beautiful, they were thinking.
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Professor Charles Xavier had once used the term "headblind" to describe non-telepaths, unable to sense the thoughts of others. Though he'd often fantasized what the feeling was like, he'd never actually experienced it since his thirteenth birthday when his powers had begun to emerge.
Until now.
Now his thoughts were his own, and only his own. Charles was scared, yes, but he did not show that. He needed to be strong for his students sake, and calm.
"This… phenomenon," he stated slowly to his staff, the senior X-Men. Beast, Wolverine and Storm. "Seems to be, for the moment, permanent. And I think we all can agree it is not natural."
Ororo shook her head emphatically. Beast was beside himself. Though he had woken up and been greatly surprised to see a strangers face in the mirror, he was first and foremost a scientist. The whole thing fascinated him to no end.
Logan just grunted. He'd been in a great deal of pain most of his life, half-remembered and confusing, due to the experiments of the Weapon X project, but he'd learned to ignore it. Now, it'd come back in force. After asking Hank to run a diagnostic x-ray on himself, he'd found he still carried the adamantium laced along his skeleton, as well as the claws. But he couldn't bring them out, and they weighed heavily upon him, if only in his mind.
"I think we all know who is behind this, Chuck," he stated.
"No Logan, he would not… it does nothing to further his goals of mutant supremacy…"
"Unless he has found a way to apply this… phenomenon only to mutants of his choosing," added Hank.
"Perhaps, though I do not think it likely… Eric was my friend. I know how he thinks, and this is simply not in his nature."
"So then the question remains… how did this happen, and how do we fix it?"
"For now, it seems," replied Xavier, wheeling his chair over to face the window. "We will have to wait and see..."
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"Phase Two initiated, Doctor. We'll be seeing results very soon."
"Good work."
"Sir, if I may ask... how is the subject doing?"
"Subject?"
"The captured mutant sir... its only a child after all..."
"It is the enemy. And we are at war. Remember that."
Authors Notes:
After seeing X23, I've come to the conclusion that the old comic information about Wolverine is correct. That he did have bone claws before the Weapon X procedure, but was simply unaware of them until his bones were laced with adamantium. As such, now that he and the other physically-mutated mutants are normal, his bone claws have vanished, but his metal ones remain. They are, of course, useless to him now. Beast and Kurt (and for that matter, any other physically altered mutant) has assumed human form. It is not just their powers that have been suppressed. You'll find out why in a few chapters, though I'd love to hear some reviews if anyone thinks they know who/what's behind all of this. Oh and I borrowed the term "headblind" from the X2: X-Men United book.
Snitter in Rivendell: Thanks for the first review. Hope you enjoy what's to come. And let me say, I love all the Evo characters, but like the producers of XME, I have to juggle around them all. Expect more appearances from everyone you've seen before, even if only briefly. As for Magneto's experiments, I don't know what to think… besides, wouldn't he have focused on the X-genes? Makes sense to me.
Elisabeth Braddock-Grey: Glad you like it. I like your stories too, and I hope we can see good ol' Psylocke in Evo soon. If we do maybe I'll slip her into the story later.
Fantasy Cat: You think they're in trouble now? You ain't seen nothin' yet.