The living room…

Pietro Maximoff awoke slowly to the incessant sounds of Saturday morning television.  Stifling a yawn, Pietro stretched and sat up.  It didn't take the speedster long to realize that he had once again fallen asleep on the couch.  Pietro stretched again and got to his feet. 

"Todd," he droned, rubbing the back of his neck.  "Would you turn that down?  Some us were still trying to sleep around here."

"Sorry, PiaYetro."  The volume was quickly adjusted accordingly.

Pietro cocked an eyebrow.  "That didn't sound like Todd…"  Fully awake, Pietro glanced back at the television.  The screen was showing some cartoon with big eyed kids, and what looked like a ten year old boy was laying down in front of it.

As Pietro watched, the boy craned his head to look back.  To Pietro's shock, the kid's eyes were as big as those on the screen.

"So did you sleep well, PiaYetro?"  The boy asked.

Pietro blinked several times in succession.  "Kid!"  He burst out.  "What are you doing here?!"

"Watching TV," the boy simply replied.  At Pietro's expression, the boy tapped his head.  "Oh yeah, sorry.  Television.  It's like a box that tells stories.  Only the stories are like pictures and they move and have sound."  The boy smiled, satisfied with his explanation.

Pietro practically face faulted.  "I know what a television is!   What I want to know is just who in the Hell you think you are!"

The boy frowned, more concerned than surprised.

Pietro paused.  "Wait a sec.  Did I just—"

"Souta, is that you in there?"  Pietro spun around, and saw a youngish housewife looking at him from the kitchen.  "Oh, PiaYetro.  I didn't realize you were up.  Sorry."  With a slight wave of her hand, the housewife turned to leave.

For a moment, Pietro stared at her blankly.  Turning back to the boy, he noticed that the kid was once again engrossed in the television.  Unnerved, Pietro sat back down on the couch.  "Just what in the world is going on here?"  He asked himself.  "Is Lance trying to play some sort of practical…"

Pietro quietly trailed off.  The couch he was sitting on was not the same one that was in the Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House.  The room he was in was not part of the Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House.  The ten year old kid and his mother were certainly not residents of the Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House.  "Where the Hell am I?"  Pietro again asked.  Then he blinked.  "And since when do I swear?  I've never…"

Again, Pietro trailed off.  This time, he trailed off looking at his hands, whose fingers each bore a well-manicured claw.  Giving the rest of his body a look over, Pietro realized that he was wearing very heavy and very thick set of shirt and pants.  The pants were red—a color Pietro had always avoided—and were horrendously oversized.  He wore an equally oversized outer red shirt—complete with sliced shoulders—and an off-white undershirt.  He also wore what appeared to be a necklace consisting of a series of black beads and claws.

Pietro sunk back against the couch's backrest.  "What happened to me?"  He muttered.  As he lowered his head in despair, several clumps of hair fell into his face.  Pietro noted with some satisfaction that his hair was still silver, and that he still had traditional side-tresses.  However, it was about two feet longer than it should have been.  "Well," he muttered to himself.  "Looks like I've discovered another aspect of my mutant powers.  First super-speed, now super-fast hair-growth!  Gee, Dad, thanks a lot.  This'll really be useful…"

Pietro let his head fall and ran his hand along the side of his head in frustration.  Abruptly he sat straight up.  Deliberately, he felt the side of his head again.  To his dismay, he felt the exact same thing.  "I have no ears," he concluded.

"Sure you do," replied a perky feminine voice.  "They're right here."

Pietro jumped up as he felt a harsh stinging sensation somewhere atop his head.  "Do you mind!?"  He angrily spat out as he faced the new character.

The doe-eyed girl who had been leaning over the back of the couch looked at Pietro expectantly.  "Oops," she chirped.  "Did that hurt?"

"Yes!"  Pietro spat out.  "What on Earth did you do!?"

"Oh, lighten up, PiaYetro," continued girl.  Even in his annoyed state, Pietro gave the girl a quick look over.  She stood about his height, had big brown eyes and a thick crop of long black hair, and was dressed in a short skirt and a vaguely-fashionable yet still-conservative top.  "I just flicked your ear.  It's no big deal…"

Still wincing, Pietro did his best to scowl at the girl.  She remained unintimidated.

"Y'know, it's about time you got up.  It's practically mid morning."  Walking around the couch, the girl dismissively waved her hand in the air.  "Boy, give a demon a real mattress and they sleep for days…"

With the girl now standing directly in front of him, Pietro crossed his arms and scowled.  "First off, you freaky little girl, I am not a demon, I am a mutant.  And second—"

"Hey!"  Exclaimed the girl, causing Pietro to wince.  "I have a name, you know."

Pietro rubbed the side of his head, vaguely remembering that his ears were no longer there.  "Yeah, well, I must have missed it," he shot back sarcastically.

"Hmp!"  The girl scrunched her face into a pout and craned her neck forward.  "Since you've apparently forgotten, my name is Kagome.  Kah—go—may!"

Pietro leaned forward in mock imitation.  "Yeah, well mine is Pietro.  Pea—yeh—troe.  Why don't you try to get that right before you start flicking anymore ears."

Kagome crossed her arms and frowned.  "Well, somebody sure got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

 "Actually, I was sleeping on the couch.  There's really only one side you can get out of…"  Pietro shook his head and tried to walk around Kagome.  "Ya doe-eyed freak."

"Doe-eyed?!"  Kagome exclaimed.  "What's that supposed to mean, PiaYetro?  It's not like my eyes are any weirder than yours!"

Despite everything that had happened in the past five minutes, despite all the physical deformalities he had discovered, Pietro stopped in his tracks.  For a few seconds, he stood very still.  "Kagome…"  He began, purposefully keeping his voice level.  "Excuse me for one moment."

Pietro sprinted forward, moving in a blur.  In a fraction of a second, he ran into the kitchen, through the laundry room, past the hall closet, out the back door, back in the back door, backtracked to the living room, down the hall, and into the bathroom.  For one very long second, he stared dumbstruck at his reflection in the mirror.  Just as Kagome had said, his eyes were about three times the size they should have been.  His ears were gone, his mouth was normal, and his nose was noticeably smaller than it used to be.  His silver hair was bushy, with two long tresses that fell down the side of his head, and the rest of his mane sweeping back behind him.  As he stared at his reflection, Pietro noticed two white pointed dog-ears poking through the hair on the top of his head.

"If anything," yelled Kagome, from across the house.  "My eyes are more normal than yours!  I mean, mine are just brown…"  Pietro belatedly noticed that his eyes were yellow.  Fighting off a nervous twitch, Pietro sprinted back to the living room.

"Kagome," Pietro began, staring the girl in the eyes and gripping her firmly by the shoulders.  "I am going to ask you a couple of very simple questions, which I would like you answer as plainly as you can.  Okay?"  Kagome blinked.  "Where am I?"

"…My house," Kagome replied after a moment of condescending silence.

Pietro's expression remained unchanged.  "Where am I?"

"Japan?"  Kagome suggested.

"Of course!"  Pietro's voice almost hit a falsetto.  "And I suppose next you'll tell me you're Japanese!"

"Duh."

Pietro blinked, and looked Kagome over once again.  Doe-eyes aside, she could easily pass for Lance Alvers' younger sister.

Kagome reached up to feel Pietro's forehead.  "PiaYetro, are you feeling all right?"

"No!"  Pietro exclaimed, in a voice that did hit a falsetto.  "How can I be in Japan?!"

Kagome gently removed Pietro's hands and started leading him back to the couch.  "Maybe you'd better lie down.  I'll go have Mom heat you some tea…"

In a panicked flurry, Pietro jolted out of Kagome's grip and anxiously grabbed her by her shoulders.  "Listen, girl, I am not from around here!  I need to find out how I ended up in this place and then somehow find a way to—"

"You mean the well?" Kagome asked.

Pietro stared at Kagome in silence.

"The well that acts as a gateway between our worlds?"  Continued Kagome, frowning.  Pietro blinked in response.  "Uh, the one out back, in the temple that I live at?"  Pietro stared at Kagome for a moment longer.  Abruptly, he disappeared in a blur, causing Kagome to stumble back in surprise.

Gratefully noting that he still has his normal super-speed, Pietro dashed out the door and found the aforementioned well in a matter of seconds.  Without hesitation he vaulted over the side, and fell down into its depths.  As approached the bottom, the world around him faded away into a bluish light.  After a moment, the light faded, and Pietro touched down in the bottom of a wide, dry well.

Pietro looked up, and saw a light blue sky above him.  "Well, here goes nothing…"  Taking a deep breath, Pietro darted up the side of the well.  On the grass above, he took a quick look around.  He was on the slightly forested hill that made up the backyard of his home.  Nearby, he saw the familiar roofline of the Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House poking above the treetops. 

"Yes!"  Pietro raised his arms in celebration.  Then he froze.  Next to the Boarding House stood a 80-plus foot tall humanoid mech.  "…No…"  Pietro let his hands drop, and stared at the mech in stupefied disbelief.

A perky feminine voice eventually drew Pietro from his stupor.  "Y'know PiaYetro, next time you run off, you could at least warn me first."

Pietro blinked and stuck his head over the well.  Sure enough, Kagome was climbing out of it.  "Wouldn't that defeat the purpose off running off in the first place?"

Kagome gave Pietro a dirty look as she pulled herself over the top.  "Ha, ha."  She droned sarcastically.  "Anyways, you forgot Myouga."

Pietro blinked.  "Who—"  Abruptly, a dark speck—a flea—jumped off of Kagome and straight at Pietro's shoulders.  "Kyah!"  Pietro's reflexes instantly kicked in, allowing him to sidestep the insect and to smash it between his hands in mid-air.  Pietro triumphantly stepped back, and the flattened insect fell to the ground.

"Ooh," crooned Kagome.  "You squashed Myouga…"

Pietro blinked.  "You named a flea?"

Pietro heard a small popping sound, and a black speck jumped up his pant leg and onto his shoulder.  "Actually, Lord PiaYe—"

"Gah!"  Startled, Pietro smashed his hand against his shoulder.

The flattened Myouga again floated to the ground before regaining his wits and jumping defensively onto Kagome.  "Lord PiaYetro seems rather jumpy today," the flea confided.

Kagome looked down at her shoulder and nodded.  "Yeah, I noticed that too."  Dumbstruck, Pietro stared at the pair.  After a moment, Kagome noticed his attention.  "What?  You have been."

Shaking his head, Pietro began slowly walking down the hill to his house.  "Somebody's got to have a logical explanation for all this…"

"PiaYetro!"  Kagome called out.  "Wait up!"  Pietro kept walking, but Kagome quickly caught up to him.

Abruptly, Pietro's dog-ears twitched, sensing the hum of a rapidly approaching engine.  Pietro narrowed his eyes and pushed through the last grove between him and the Boarding House.

"Hey, Lance!"  A haggard voice called out.  "The Gundum is blocking the garage!  Where am I supposed to park my E-Frame?!"

Expecting the worst, Pietro walked into the clearing surrounding the Boarding House, and quickly surveyed the scene.  The house itself looked thankfully unchanged.  The giant mech, however, was a completely new addition.  Standing at well over eighty feet tall, it completely dwarfed the house.  Pietro's gaze eventually settled on a second, ten-foot tall orange biped mech that was cooling its engines in the driveway.

Lance's muffled voice answered from somewhere in the house.  "Then just park it next to the Gundum.  We'll be out in a minute…"

"Ah, whatever," replied a voice from the mech.  "I'll just leave it right here…"

Pietro blinked, placing the haggard voice.  "Sabertooth?"

A hatch in the front of the mech opened up, and a figure began to step out.  "Great timing kid.  You're just in time for—"  The speaker cut off as his head got jerked back.  Muttering to himself, he angrily pulled a plug from the back of his neck.  "Stupid uplink wire…"  Dropping the cable, the figure turned to face Pietro.

Pietro's expression contorted in surprise.  The figure was indeed Victor Creed, the Sabertooth.  Except he had a beer gut.  A massive beer gut.  He was dressed in some cross between a pilot's outfit and carapace armor, with his usual ratty trench coat hanging loosely over it.

"Talk about your fashion victim," observed Kagome, from behind Pietro.

Victor did a double take, noticing Kagome for the first time.  He quickly recovered, and a wide grin came over his face.  "Nice work, kid!  You really are you're father's son!"

Pietro frowned.  "Huh?"

Chuckling to himself, Victor turned back towards his mech and opened up the barrel that passed for the mech's arms.  "Bring up your girlfriend, too.  I brought enough beer for everyone…"

"She is not my girlfriend!"  Pietro shrieked.

"Yeah," Kagome confirmed, crossing her arms.

"She's just some stupid little girl who's been following me since I woke up!"

Kagome's expression darkened.  "PiaYetro—"

Pulling out a twelve pack, Victor smiled knowingly at Pietro.  "You make me proud, kid."

"All right!"  Declared a voice from the doorway of the Boarding House.  "Time to rock this place!"

Recovering quickly from his tirade, Pietro glanced towards the speaker.  It was Lance Alvers, and Pietro was immensely relieved to see that he still had his usual brown hair and grunge style clothing.  "Lance!"  Pietro called out.  "What's going on here?"

"Gunna watch some movies," the teen replied, smirking.  Pietro's expression contorted, as he gazed at the mech that Lance had casually walked by.  "Rombos one, two, and three!  And Victor brought the beer…"

"Oh yeah, yo!"  A small tan rodent ran past Lance.  "Party time!"

"Lance?"  repeated Pietro, dumbstruck.  "Todd is a gerbil?"

"Hamster, actually," informed Lance as he continued forward.  "But hey, it beats being a toad."

"You mean Miller Time," corrected Fred Dukes as he closed the door behind him.  Fred had dropped well over a hundred and fifty pounds, and was dressed in a meticulously clean and well pressed military outfit.  Complete with medals and shoulder knots.  This time, Pietro just raised an eybrow.

Lance whistled appreciatively, noticing Kagome for the first time.  "Hey Pietro, aren't you going to introduce us to your new girlfriend?"

"I am not that creep's girlfriend!"  Kagome informed.

Lance smiled.  "His loss.  Care to join us anyway?"

Before Pietro realized it, he had rushed across the yard and had grabbed Lance by the collar of his vest.  "Don't even think about it," he warned.

Lance smirked, and backed away in mock submission.

"Pe-tro and his girlfriend, sittin' in a tree," sang the rodent, who was perched atop the mech and shaking a pair of maracas to the rhythm.  "Kay-Ey-Ess-Ess-Ey-Enne—"  A thrown stone shattered one of the maracas and the rodent fell to the side in surprise.

Glowering menacingly, Pietro rolled another rock around in his hand.

"Like father, like son," mused Victor, handing a pair of twelve packs to Lance.  "Your old man would be proud.  Sure you don't want to join us, kid?"

Pietro narrowed his eyes and tilted his head in mock contemplation.  "Well, gee, I'd really love to, but first I'd kinda like to know what the Hell is going on here!?"

"You 'bout took my head off, yo," muttered the rodent.  "That's what's goin' on."

"Sure you don't want to join us?"  Asked Lance, looking Kagome's way.

The girl narrowed her eyes.  "Gag me…"

Lance shouldered one of the twelve packs, not even shrugging.  "Eh whatever.  Lets rock this place!"

Victor belched and started carrying a second pair of twelve packs toward the house.  The others laughed and followed him.

Pietro wrinkled his nose in disgust.  "That's it, I'm outta here."  Pietro took off in a blur.

"Sit, boy!"

Pietro was abruptly pulled into the ground, skidding a good twenty feet through the turf before colliding with a tree.  It took him a moment to regain his bearings.

"Oh, no you don't," lectured Kagome as she approached the fallen boy.  "You're not running off on me this time."

Pietro angrily pushed himself to his feet.  "How the Hell did you do that?!"  He demanded.

Kagome haughtily crossed her arms.  "Hmp.  By saying…"  Kagome let her voice trail off before yelling that last word.  "Sit!"

Again, Pietro was violently forced to the ground.  As he pushed himself up, Myouga hopped onto his shoulder.

"Just to remind you, Lord PiaYetro," the flea informed, "your collar has been enchanted by the priestess Kieta, preventing you from doing physical harm to Lady Kagome and, erm," the flea trailed off.  "And…  Halting you whenever she says the incantation—"

"Sit."  Kagome finished.

"That was totally unnecessary!"  Yelled Pietro as he pushed himself up for the third time.  "I had already gotten the message."  Sneering, Pietro looked at his necklace with a newfound disgust.  "So should I assume I can't take this thing off?"

"Yes," Myauga continued.  "That is another component of the spell."

"Figures," Pietro muttered.  The boy brushed the dirt out of his hair and then glanced up at Kagome.  "Well if you want to come along, fine, just don't complain about the ride."

Before Kagome could respond, Pietro rushed forward and swept Kagome off her feet.  Pietro moved like a blur away from the Boarding House and into the city of Bayville.  Carrying his passengers, it took him a good fifteen seconds to navigate though the (thankfully familiar) city, and to wind up at his desired destination.  Jumping the front gate with ease, he finally came to a stop on the front lawn of a very luxurious red-brick mansion.

"—Ooh…"  Muttered Kagome, as Pietro set her down.  Straightening out her skirt, she gazed appreciatively at the mansion.  "Where are we, PiaYetro?"

"Unless I miss my guess," interjected Myouga, who was climbing out of the folds of Pietro's shirt.  "We are standing before the fabled house of Xishieverre, a powerful demon, but one renowned mostly for his skills at training other demons."

"Why don't we just call it the Xavier Institute," commented Pietro as he brushed the flea off his shoulder.  "And say that somebody there can give me some answers."

"Answers to what?"  Asked Kagome, following Pietro a pace behind.  "Why you're acting so weird today?"

"Yes," Pietro deadpanned as he climbed the stairs to the front entrance.  "Why I'm so weird today…"  Pietro opened the door.

"Stay a—way from me!"

Stepping across the threshold, Pietro casually glanced around the mansion's large, open foyer.  Following the sound of the voice, he gazed upwards, and spotted Scott Summers perched in the chandelier.  Scott's face, though still visored, seemed inordinately chiseled.  His brown hair looked closer to black than it did to red, and seemed to billow in whatever wind blew up near the ceiling.  Instead of his usually preppy slacks and sweater, he wore leather boots, loose trousers, and a laced up Celtic-inspired sleeveless shirt.

"And of course," Pietro noticed, almost as an afterthought, "he's got fluffy white bird-wings."

"Oooo—ooh," crooned Kagome, much to Pietro's disgust.

"I—I mean it!"  Scott repeated.  "Keep back!"

Pietro lowered his gaze to the floor, where Scott's other observers were standing.

First, there was Hank McCoy, the mansion's resident blue furry Beast.  And apparently, the mansion's resident gun toting maniac, as he was dressed like part of come high-tech swat team, and carrying enough weaponry to make a Navy Seal shy away.  Beside him was a young girl, whom Pietro immediately pegged as Kitty Pryde.  Her features were slightly altered, but she was still a brown-haired, teenaged girl with a pendant necklace.  Next to her, however, was a strange yellow… Thing.  It supported itself on a stubby tentacle-like leg, had no arms, and had a single exposed eye that was larger than a basketball. 

"I've met some pretty weird demons around you, PiaYetro," Kagome commented, staring wide eyed at the scene.  "But…  Freak.  Out."

"You're telling me to keep back?!"  The Beast roared, banishing some sort of assault rifle.   "You're the one who should be keeping back!  You try that again and I'll—"

"Hey!"  Cried the eyeball-thing, in a unsurprisingly whiny voice.  "Careful with that thing!"

"Hank—No!"  Pietro blinked as a large yellow and black humanoid robot dashed forward and grabbed the gun from the Beast's hands.  "Will you please settle down?  He already told you, he didn't mean it!"

The Beast, who's attitude seemed quite altered by his change of attire, quickly pulled out a sidearm and pointed it at the robot.  "Don't make excuses for him Jean!  He was warned—"

"Jean?"  Pietro raised an eyebrow and eyed the robot again.  It was moving quickly, but he could make out something of a feminine quality behind its features.

Stepping away from the escalating tussle behind her, Kitty looked pleadingly up at the airborne boy.  "Scott, please, come down so we can discuss this."

"No!"  Scott yelled, his normally calm voice shaking.  "No, I'm not coming down!  You saw what happened!  I'm dangerous to be around!"

Kitty tried to make a few sincere hand motions.  "Rogue is fine!"

"Then why isn't she down there?"  Demanded Scott.  "Huh?  If she's okay, where is she?!"

Kitty sighed in frustration.  "Just getting some ice, Scott.  A little time and some ice and she'll be fine."  Kitty stepped forward and continued in a calming tone.  "All you did was push her aside.  She fell against the wall, and got a bruise.  She's all right.  We've all had worse.  Nobody is blaming you—"

"I blame you, you bullying—"

The eyeball-thing screamed and darted behind a chair.

"Hank, stand down!"  Commanded the robot.

"Kitty, listen," continued Scott, in a voice as shaky as ever.  "I can't be trusted.  I can't control my powers.  I never have!  I can't control my optic blast!  I hit Rogue with wings without even knowing it—"

"But Scott—"  Pleaded Kitty.

"And I almost plastered you after breakfast!  And I don't even know what I did!"  Scott's tirade rocked the chandelier, and the boy crouched down to regain his balance.  "Face it Kitty," he continued in a quiet voice.  "I'm a danger to myself and everyone around me…"

The robot—which Pietro belatedly noticed had several pairs of eyes on its forehead—looked forlornly at Scott.  Giving Hank a warning look, it give him back his gun, and then transformed into human-sized spider.

"Eywe…"  Exclaimed Kagome.

"…Yeah," echoed Pietro.

Scott's breathing quickened as the spider climbed up the walls and began scurrying across the ceiling. 

"Scott," it began, with a metallic voice that only remotely resembled Jean's.  "Please, relax.  Just stay calm.  You're not dangerous as long as you stay calm."

"So you admit I am dangerous," Scott affirmed, eyeing the spider uneasily.

Amusement played across the spider's techno-arachnid features.  "Only if we're unprepared Scott.  We all know about your optic blast.  That's why you wear the visor."

Pietro shook his head.  "Man, if he needs to be reminded of that…"

"You do control your optic blast," the spider continued.  "I'm sure you can control this one too.  If you couldn't, I'm sure it would have gone off more than once.  And even if it does go off," the spider raised its front pair of metallic legs, "look, I'm sure I can survive the blast…"

"Please, Scott," continued Kitty from the ground, "just come down somewhere where we can think this out."

"You're not as dangerous as you look," soothed the spider.  "You're not dangerous at all."  Again, amusement played across the spider's features.  "And actually, with those wings, you look kind of cute."

A concentric telekinetic burst shattered the chandelier, showering the room with shards of glass.  The spider flinched away, while Kitty, Beast, and the eyeball-thing dove for cover.  Acting before thinking, Pietro grabbed Kagome and dashed across the room, setting her deep in the main hallway before the first shards had even hit the ground.

"Oh, no," gasped Kagome as she steadied herself.  "The demon—"

Pietro glanced back down the hall, and saw Scott land gracefully within a cascade debris.  "I can barely control my powers!"  He yelled, not missing a beat.  "You might not be able to control yours!"

"Scott—"  came the spider's voice.

Scott dashed towards the front door.  "You're a spider, Jean.  Spiders eat their mates!  Being cute is two steps away from being a mate!"  Mid stride, Scott grabbed the side of his visor, and a crimson blast knocked down the front door.  Scott slid through the door, and leapt off the front stairs.  With his wings unfolding to their full span, he brought them together in a mighty downstroke, and began rising into the sky.  "So stay away…"  He called back.

Having quickly recovered, Kitty sprinted to the front door.  "Suezo!"  She snapped.  "Get to Scott's car!  As long as you can still see him, we'll be able to track him!  C'mon!"  With a frantic arm gesture, Kitty sprinted to the garage.  The eyeball thing followed her, hopping as fast as its one leg could take it.

"I knew it!"  Yelled Beast, hauling some munitions to the doorway.  "I knew he couldn't be trusted!  Die, you winged vagrant!"  The Beast put his gun to his shoulder, and began firing wildly.

"Hank!"  Screamed the spider as it dropped to the ground  "Stop it!"

"Lord PiaYetro," began Myouga, once again dislodging himself from the folds of Pietro's shirt.  "May I suggest that you seek out some other demons to pose your questions to?"

"Really?  Now why would I want to do that?"  Pietro mocked.  Despite his sarcasm, he quickly turned to leave.  However, Kagome stayed put, staring blankly at Pietro.  "What?"  The boy asked, noticing her attention.

"You," Kagome softly replied.  "You made sure I was safe."

Pietro blinked.  "When?"  Kagome just stared at him.  Shaking his head, Pietro grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled her down the hall.  "Stupid girl," he muttered under his breath.

"Lord PiaYetro, I would suggest that—"

"I would suggest that you shut up, you plague carrying menace," cut in Pietro.  "You obviously have no idea what's going on here, so just keep your opinions to yourself."

The flea sullenly crossed his arms.

"Are you looking for the head demon?"  Asked Kagome, as she began walking for herself.

Pietro snorted.  "I'm looking for Xavier, if that's what you mean.  Hopefully, he knows something—"

"Ye-e-e-e-es…  You back away!  As you should.  For I now posses the power of this Mini-Con!"  Pietro's pace slowed as he approached the entrance to the kitchen.  "Now I am invincible."

"I am not looking for Xavier," Pietro corrected, shaking his head and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Why not?"  Chirped Kagome.

Pietro opened one eye and glanced at Kagome.  Sighing, he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the kitchen.

"Professor!  That's my skateboard!"

"Correction, my young fool.  It was your skateboard.  Now Grindor belongs to me!"

"…Because," Pietro informed Kagome, ushering her inside, "the wise and learned 'Xishiver' is busy threatening his students with a skateboard and a tube of cardboard."  Pietro gestured to the center of the room, where the wheelchair-bound Charles Xavier was grinning like a lunatic, and pointing to a gray skateboard which had been duct-taped to his right wheel.  A long cardboard tube was taped to the chair's armrest, and was being banished like a gun.

"Professor," began a dark skinned woman, only to be cut off by a bout of maniacal laughter.

"Be wary, Lord PiaYetro," informed Myouga.  "The demon Xishieverre has many skills, and is not to be—"

"No, he doesn't," droned Pietro.

Myouga wiggled his carrot-like nose in irritation.  "Nor should you take lightly the demons he argues with.  Their complexions bode ill.  Such black skins can only come from dark magics and foul intent—"

"Stupid, and racist," commented Pietro as he flattened Myouga against his shoulder.

"Do you know those demons, PiaYetro?"  Kagome asked, speaking loudly to be heard of Xavier's laughter.

The smaller of the dark skinned 'demons,' a boy with bleached-yellow hair, white tank top and sagging shorts, heard the question and looked over.  "Pietro?!"  He spat out.  "What are you doing here?"

"I came for a bagel, Daniels," Pietro sarcastically replied.  "Why do think I'm here?"

Evan Daniels scowled.  "I don't know.  Maybe a haircut?"  The boy snorted.  "Who's your girlfriend?"

"She—"  Pietro broke off, scowling.  "She's more than you'll ever get, Daniels."

"Yeah, I'm—"  Kagome balked.  "What?!"

"Oh, go buy some hairspray!"  The young boy retorted.

Further bickering was cut off by Xavier's renewed rambling.  "Ha, ha! Already you crumble before my might!   Ye-e-e-e-es, you are reduced to bickering amongst yourselves.  Well, don't worry, I'll have time enough to crush you all!  With Sureshock powerlinked to me, you have no way to defeat me."  Xavier triumphantly pointed to the skateboard attached to his wheelchair.

"Sureshock?!"  Spat out Evan, quickly forgetting about Pietro.  "Two seconds ago you called it Grindor!"

"Your mind games will not work on me, young stripling!  I have what I came for, I can finish the rest of you later."  Laughing, Xavier wheeled back a foot or so and sat up straight.  "Starscream!"  He commanded to nobody in particular.  "Teleport me back to headquarters at once!"  As soon as he gave the order, he froze, pixelized, and disappeared block by block.

"Hmp," muttered Myouga from the safety of Kagome's shoulder.  "I told you he had great powers."

Orroro, the taller of the dark skinned 'demons,' leaned against the counter and hung her head in frustration.  "Professor…"

"Starscream!"  Yelled Evan.  "This morning the Prof was in the hanger talking to the X-jet.  He was calling it Starscream!  I'll bet that's where he is!"  Evan sprinted out of the kitchen, shouldering past Pietro in the process.  "C'mon!  We'll cut him off before he does something stupid!"

"—Er."  Corrected Pietro as Evan disappeared into the hallway.  Turning his attention back to the kitchen, he saw Orroro rubbing her temples in distress.

"You too, Pietro?"  She asked without opening her eyes.

"Yeah," Pietro replied with mock cheer.  "Me too.  And just about everyone else in the Brotherhood.  Just so you know."

Orroro sighed.  "I need to go help Evan with the Professor.  Just…"  Orroro opened her eyes and gazed forlornly at the ceiling.  "If you want, you and your friend can stay here for a bit.  I'll try to explain what we know once I talk some sense into Charles…"  Shaking her head, Orroro walked past the two teens and down the hallway.

"Was she the one you came to talk to?"  Whispered Kagome as she watched Orroro depart.

Pietro snorted.  "No.  But what does that matter?"  Pietro moved to pull out a chair, but reflexively walked past the chair and sat down cross-legged on the floor next to the counter.  By the time he noticed this, he was already sitting down.  "It's not like anything else has gone as planned," he muttered under his breath.

Silence hung in the air for a moment, and then Kagome crouched down next to Pietro.  "PiaYetro…"  She began slowly.  "What exactly did you mean back there?  When you told that demon—"

"Nothing," Pietro interrupted.  "Absolutely nothing.  I hate him, he hates me, and just saying 'Yo mamma' wouldn't have had the same effect."

Kagome blinked.  "And when the chandelier blew up?"

"What about it?"

"You rescued me," Kagome whispered.

 "…Uh…"  Pietro abruptly noticed that several drops of perspiration convalesced on his forehead.  "…I did?"

"Hey!"  Interrupted a very gruff voice.  Pietro jumped up, and found himself face to face with a short, but heavily muscled man.  The intruder wore patches of techno-Nordic battle gear, and had cybernetic-wing like apparatuses attached to both arms.  The man had blue skin below the neckline, which was concealed by a sharp, angular beard.  The rest of the man's face was obscured behind a dark and vaguely Nordic mask.   "Not so close you two," he continued with a deep Scottish accent.  "We've got enough problems around here without any teenaged make-out sessions."

Warily eyeing the large guns that were attacked to the wings, Pietro nervously raised his arms in submission.  "Hey, we weren't doing anything.  Seriously," he stammered, trying to identify the voice.  "Honest.  I mean, you know me…"

The man stepped forward and brought his hand close to Pietro's head.  Abruptly, two claws shot out from between the man's knuckles, narrowly straddling Pietro's neck.  "Aye, bub, I do know thee.  That's why you get a warning."  Pietro swallowed, and the claws retracted with a metallic scrape.  "So, bub, just what were you two doing down there, that was so nice and innocent?"

Under the man's eyeless gaze, Pietro fidgeted.  "Oh, why, we were—"  Pietro's eyes suddenly widened.  "We were sitting on the floor!  Yeah, because we're Japanese, you know.  Yes, sir, just sitting on the floor…" Pietro dashed across the room and quickly rifled through the cupboards.  In a flash, he was standing back at Kagome's side.  "And just about to enjoy some rice cakes!"  Pietro pulled a rice cake out of the bag, sat down on the floor and began enthusiastically nibbling on the edge of it.

His expression unreadable, the man silently turned to face Kagome.

"Oh, of course," the girl chirped, backing away slightly.  "Rice cakes.  My fave…"  Kagome finished with a weak smile.

The masked man drew back and frowned.  "I don't buy it, but I don't much care."  With one last snort of disgust, the man turned to walk away.  "Just don't make me come back here, bub…"

"…Freak.  Out," repeated Kagome after the man had gotten a safe distance away.  "Do you really know that demon, PiaYetro?"

Grimacing, Pietro swallowed and dropped the rice cake on the ground.  "Yeah.  But believe it or not, he was a bit less threatening last time I saw him."

Kagome smirked.  "Oh, I believe you.  That's the first time I've ever seen you cower away from someone like that."

Pietro silently glared at Kagome.

"Oh, relax, PiaYetro.  It's not like I'm going to go blab it around the countryside."  Kagome got up and took the forgotten bag of rice cakes over to the table.  "Still…"  She gazed worriedly at the door the man walked out of.  "Do you think he'd really mind if I sit at the table?  Tile floor is kind of uncomfortable."

"…Yes, it is," replied a muffled voice.

Kagome looked back and noticed that Pietro was sprawled face down on the floor.  After a moment, she frowned.  "Oops."

"Yeah, 'oops," muttered Pietro as he pried himself off the ground.  "As soon as I find whoever gave me this necklace, they are going to have a deep philosophical discussion with the sole of my foot!"

"Oh, relax," dismissed Kagome.  "There are worse enchantments to be under…"

Pietro very deliberately pulled out a chair and forced himself to sit in it.  "Yeah?  Like what?"

Kagome rolled her eyes.  "Well for starters, you could still be pinned to that—"

"Gah!"

Both Kagome and Pietro jumped at the sound of a nearby pounding.  Pietro quickly whirled around, and found himself facing a mid-sized blue pony.  The pony had a spaded tail, and had more animated proportions than any normal horse.  As he watched, the pony stomped its front hoof repeatedly against the ground.

"Since when do they let livestock in here?"  Asked Pietro.

The pony looked up at Pietro.  "Vel, normally ve don't, but…"  The pony trailed off with what passed for a shrug.  "Gah!"  It burst out, looking back to the ground.  "It's still moving!"  With renewed vigor, the pony stomped the ground again.

Turning his chair to the side, Pietro sat back down and leaned his arm against the table.  "Keep stomping if you want Kurt, but I've been trying to kill that thing all day and I haven't gotten anywhere."

The pony abruptly looked up.  "Oh!  It's yours?  Sorry about zat…"  The pony took a few steps back, and a black speck haphazardly bounded back to Kagome.

"You really asked for that one, Myouga," the girl quietly informed.

The pony gazed at Kagome for a moment, then back at Pietro.

"Not.  One.  Word."

Again, the horse tried to shrug.  "Vatever.  Say, you vouldn't have happened to see Logan pass through here, vould you?"

Pietro arched an eyebrow and pointed over his shoulder.

"Oh.  Thanks!"  With a slight shake of its head, the pony happily pranced across the room and ducked through the far doorway.  Pietro watched him leave through hooded eyes.

"He was kind of cute," observed Kagome.  Pietro glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes.  "Well you know, in that having-a-pet type of way."  Setting Myouga gently on the table, Kagome sat back in her seat.  "So what were we talking about, PiaYetro?"

"You were telling me about how things could be worse," Pietro drolly informed.

"Oh.  Right.  Well, you could—"

"Kagome," Pietro interrupted.  Kagome paused and gazed into Pietro's eyes.  "I believe you."

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