As he walked down the streets, Logan tried to think of where Kurt
would go with his new disguise. He really didn't know anything about the
guy except that he was German and was a lot smarter than he let on
sometimes.
He went to all of the old movie plazas first, after he found out that their specialty was movies like "Captain Blood" and "Robin Hood", the ones with the Nazi sympathizer that Kurt seemed to idolize. He described the hologram of Kurt to all of the tellers and it turned out that Kurt hadn't gone to the movies.
He tried as many stores as he could, having split the job up with the rest of the team.
Tilting his head up slightly, Logan took a deep breath and tried to catch even a particle of Kurt's scent.
He got Ororo's scent instead as she walked up and touched his shoulder lightly, looking around.
"A woman says she met our friend in the park." She said. "He was being his charming self when he heard a child weeping. He left her to help the child find her parents."
"Did she say where they were headed?" Logan asked.
"She said they went over to the older part of town." She answered. "I think something may have happened over there."
"Then let's go." ***
The older part of town was filled with abandoned and condemned buildings. There were a few people around and a few of them remembered a young man being led towards the old church by a little girl.
"Why would the child lead Kurt to an old church?" Ororo asked.
"I'm not sure." Logan said, tilting his head back and sniffing the air. His eyes suddenly grew wide and with an enraged growl he ran towards the church.
"Logan! Logan, what is it?" Ororo shouted, running after him.
"Blood!" Logan said, unleashing his claws. "And lots of it!" He sliced through the locks and smashed open the door, the smell of blood hitting him like a fist in the gut.
Someone had taken down the figure of Christ from the large cross that hung above the altar.
They replaced the figure with Kurt.
His body was trembling badly and down his arms and chest was blood. His side had been cut with something small that still drew enough blood to cover his bare abs. Barbed wire had been made into a crown and it was piercing Kurt's head, small lines of blood falling into his eyes and onto his lips.
Kurt's head lolled to one side and when he opened his eyes slowly, he made a whimpering sound like an animal.
"Help me take him down!" Logan said, using his claws to cut the cords that kept the cross up. Ororo tried to use her powers and when she found that she couldn't, she looked at her hands in surprise.
"Ororo!" Logan shouted. Shaking her head, Ororo ran up and helped catch the cross, lowering it down gently. Logan removed the barbed wire and held Kurt's head in both of his hands.
"Breathe, Kurt!" he hissed. "You have to breathe!" Kurt whimpered something in German and Logan shook his head. "I don't understand you! I only know Northern German! English, Kurt!"
"Hurts..." Kurt cried. "Chest... and hands!"
"What are we going to do about the nails?" Ororo asked.
"Try to get them out of the wood, but leave them in his hands and feet." Logan said.
"Leave them in?"
"Trust me."
Ororo worked as fast and as carefully as she could. She winced when she finally got his hands free. The nails were long and looked like fangs from an animal. When he had his feet free, Logan carefully cradled him in his arms as if he was a sleeping child and not a bloody young man.
"Are you sure we should leave the nails in?" she asked, looking at Kurt worriedly.
"For a while I lived in Sri Lanka." Logan said, heading for the doors. "These things happened a lot out there." ***
They had to call Hank in to get him to help with Kurt's wounds. Kurt needed shots to avoid getting any major infections and the minor ones were treated with peroxide. His hands and feet were worked on the most, wrapped in peroxide soaked in bandages when it was all done.
The one thing everyone wanted to know was what the hell happened to him. Xavier assured them that he would find out when Kurt's body and mind were strong enough to give them the answer to that.
Maybe Xavier could wait, but Jean couldn't. She could feel pain coming from Kurt's mind and she needed to see what happened to make it stop for him.
She snuck into the med lab while everyone was sleeping. Kurt was making noises in his sleep; whimpering and flinching at something only he could see. Jean walked up beside him and rested her hands on his temples, closing her eyes in deep concentration.
Gasping, she screamed as the memories came flooding into her. Her powers went berserk and everyone in the mansion was woken up as they also saw Kurt's memories from the day he left in their mind's eyes. ***
Kurt was walking down the sidewalk, smiling at everyone who passed him by without giving him a second glance.
Well... Except for a few beautiful ladies.
Kurt winked at a black haired woman who he saw staring at him. He couldn't help but laugh aloud at his situation.
No one was screaming in terror, no one was getting ready to kill him, and better still, the women here were quite lovely.
He had always loved nature and he remembered Scott saying that the park here was really nice. He went to the park, looking up at the green trees with a smile as children and young people passed him by.
He tilted his head to one side as he heard two girls talking.
"Men are such pigs!" a red-haired woman said to her brunette friend.
"Oh I agree. I'll never go out with another man for as long as I live!" her friend agreed. "They're rude, obnoxious, and always horny!"
"Ach, surely not all men are like that!" Kurt sat down beside the brunette, his eyebrows raised slightly. "I mean [i]ja[/i], some men are pigs but not all of us."
"Excuse me?"
"Ach, where are my manners?" Kurt laughed. Taking the brunette's hand, he kissed it lightly. "My name is Kurt Wagner,[i]liebe[/i]." They couldn't help but laugh softly at Kurt's charm.
"You see? Not all men are such pigs!" he said. Standing up, he held out his hand to the brunette. "May I walk you around the park?" Smiling, she took his hand and nodded, letting this handsome German young man lead the way.
"Tell me, who is the fiend who has upset you?" Kurt asked. "And what has he done to make such a lovely mouth frown so?"
"Oh it was an old boyfriend of mine." She said. "He tried to win me back with a Taco Bell coupon!" Kurt raised his eyebrows in surprise, looking at her with such a strong expression of confusion and shock that she just had to laugh at how cute he looked.
"That's exactly what I thought!" she said. "My name is Halle by the way."
"Halle, a woman of your beauty deserves more than a coupon!" Kurt said. "Back in Germany a woman of your beauty would be showered in splendid gifts from the best in chocolate to the loveliest of flowers!" Looking around, he found a flowering tree and he took down a few flowers and placed them behind her ears.
"You really know how to charm women!" Halle laughed. Smiling, Kurt shrugged.
"It is what I do." He said. "I..."
That's when they heard the child weeping.
Frowning in concern, Kurt looked around and they found a little girl sobbing behind a bush.
"What's the matter, honey?" Halle asked, resting a hand on her shoulder.
"I can't find my mommy or my daddy!" she said. She looked up at Kurt and instantly took his hand. "Will you take me home?" she asked, looking into his eyes very intently.
"If you can show me the way." Kurt said gently.
"I can, but I only want [i]you[/i] to take me!" Gently Kurt picked her up, looking at Halle with a faint smile.
"Perhaps we will meet again?" he asked. Halle nodded, smiling at him.
"Take her home safely."
"I will." ***
Kurt was a little worried about the place the little girl was leading him to. It was so decrepit and old... She would be better off somewhere else. Perhaps he could take her back to where he lived? There were a lot of nice people there to help her! There was this nice woman with white hair who knew the best games and...
But she insisted that she wanted to go to her home. It was an old church, and Kurt was surprised at how seriously she wanted to go there.
When they went inside, there were candles lit all over and a cross was lying on the ground with large nails waiting beside it.
"What?"
In a flash the girl drew a knife and struck him in the side, drawing blood and making him stagger back, looking at her in surprise and horror.
A metal bar struck him in the small of the back, knocking him onto his knees. Whoever had struck him used the bar to pull his head back, holding it by both ends and pressing it against his throat.
A man dressed in black walked up and looked down at him with cold gray eyes.
"He doesn't look like a mutant, Clara." He said.
"He's wearing a disguise." The child said. "His watch!" Kurt's image inducer was removed and the man in black smiled as his true form was revealed.
"Perfect." Kurt lashed out with his tail, knocking the man holding him over and running for the door, too scared to teleport at the moment
The bar was thrown as hard as it could be and it hit him upside the head, knocking him down with a thud and a clatter. ***
His head was throbbing when he woke up. He found himself looking at Clara and he moved to back up when he found that he was bound to something. Turning his head to one side he found that he was bound to the cross.
"Untie me." He told Clara. "Why are you doing this to me? What is going on here?"
"They said I could find a replacement." She said simply.
"Replacement?"
"Clara is also a mutant." The man in black said. "She can spot other mutants and identify their powers. We were going to use Clara for the crucifixion but we decided to let her find someone else. You'll do much better!" Closing his eyes, Kurt tried to teleport and he found that he couldn't.
"What did you do to me?" he whispered.
"This stops all mutant powers." The man said, showing him a vial of glowing green liquid. "It comes from a lovely plant. Nature's answer to its own mistake really. Remarkable!"
"Why are you doing this?" Kurt asked, pulling on his bonds.
"Mutants need to have their sins paid for." The man said. "Another crucifixion is needed to wash your sins clean and make you acceptable in the Eyes of God."
"Jesus all ready did that for us." Kurt said.
"He died for [i]humans[/i]. Jesus was like a [i]human[/i] so he died for [i]humans[/i] A [i]mutant[/i] is needed to die for [i]mutants[/i]!"
"You're crazy." Shrugging, the man took the crown and pressed it down on Kurt's head, making him cry out in pain.
"You have me mistaken for someone who cares! Now just let yourself be crucified! How else will you mutants be Saved?" Stepping back, he gave his men the go ahead. Kurt tried to fight, but the barbs bit into his flesh and soon the nails did too.
He howled like an animal, his head thrown back and his tail thrashing around like a whip. ***
Jean collapsed, her body trembling from the intense pain and images that had just gone through her. Kurt's body was still thrashing around, screaming wildly as his arms flailed at his foes that nailed him down. When Jean got to her feet, he suddenly became very still, his tail falling limp.
"Jean, what have you done?" Looking up, Jean found Xavier in the doorway, looking at Kurt fearfully.
He went to all of the old movie plazas first, after he found out that their specialty was movies like "Captain Blood" and "Robin Hood", the ones with the Nazi sympathizer that Kurt seemed to idolize. He described the hologram of Kurt to all of the tellers and it turned out that Kurt hadn't gone to the movies.
He tried as many stores as he could, having split the job up with the rest of the team.
Tilting his head up slightly, Logan took a deep breath and tried to catch even a particle of Kurt's scent.
He got Ororo's scent instead as she walked up and touched his shoulder lightly, looking around.
"A woman says she met our friend in the park." She said. "He was being his charming self when he heard a child weeping. He left her to help the child find her parents."
"Did she say where they were headed?" Logan asked.
"She said they went over to the older part of town." She answered. "I think something may have happened over there."
"Then let's go." ***
The older part of town was filled with abandoned and condemned buildings. There were a few people around and a few of them remembered a young man being led towards the old church by a little girl.
"Why would the child lead Kurt to an old church?" Ororo asked.
"I'm not sure." Logan said, tilting his head back and sniffing the air. His eyes suddenly grew wide and with an enraged growl he ran towards the church.
"Logan! Logan, what is it?" Ororo shouted, running after him.
"Blood!" Logan said, unleashing his claws. "And lots of it!" He sliced through the locks and smashed open the door, the smell of blood hitting him like a fist in the gut.
Someone had taken down the figure of Christ from the large cross that hung above the altar.
They replaced the figure with Kurt.
His body was trembling badly and down his arms and chest was blood. His side had been cut with something small that still drew enough blood to cover his bare abs. Barbed wire had been made into a crown and it was piercing Kurt's head, small lines of blood falling into his eyes and onto his lips.
Kurt's head lolled to one side and when he opened his eyes slowly, he made a whimpering sound like an animal.
"Help me take him down!" Logan said, using his claws to cut the cords that kept the cross up. Ororo tried to use her powers and when she found that she couldn't, she looked at her hands in surprise.
"Ororo!" Logan shouted. Shaking her head, Ororo ran up and helped catch the cross, lowering it down gently. Logan removed the barbed wire and held Kurt's head in both of his hands.
"Breathe, Kurt!" he hissed. "You have to breathe!" Kurt whimpered something in German and Logan shook his head. "I don't understand you! I only know Northern German! English, Kurt!"
"Hurts..." Kurt cried. "Chest... and hands!"
"What are we going to do about the nails?" Ororo asked.
"Try to get them out of the wood, but leave them in his hands and feet." Logan said.
"Leave them in?"
"Trust me."
Ororo worked as fast and as carefully as she could. She winced when she finally got his hands free. The nails were long and looked like fangs from an animal. When he had his feet free, Logan carefully cradled him in his arms as if he was a sleeping child and not a bloody young man.
"Are you sure we should leave the nails in?" she asked, looking at Kurt worriedly.
"For a while I lived in Sri Lanka." Logan said, heading for the doors. "These things happened a lot out there." ***
They had to call Hank in to get him to help with Kurt's wounds. Kurt needed shots to avoid getting any major infections and the minor ones were treated with peroxide. His hands and feet were worked on the most, wrapped in peroxide soaked in bandages when it was all done.
The one thing everyone wanted to know was what the hell happened to him. Xavier assured them that he would find out when Kurt's body and mind were strong enough to give them the answer to that.
Maybe Xavier could wait, but Jean couldn't. She could feel pain coming from Kurt's mind and she needed to see what happened to make it stop for him.
She snuck into the med lab while everyone was sleeping. Kurt was making noises in his sleep; whimpering and flinching at something only he could see. Jean walked up beside him and rested her hands on his temples, closing her eyes in deep concentration.
Gasping, she screamed as the memories came flooding into her. Her powers went berserk and everyone in the mansion was woken up as they also saw Kurt's memories from the day he left in their mind's eyes. ***
Kurt was walking down the sidewalk, smiling at everyone who passed him by without giving him a second glance.
Well... Except for a few beautiful ladies.
Kurt winked at a black haired woman who he saw staring at him. He couldn't help but laugh aloud at his situation.
No one was screaming in terror, no one was getting ready to kill him, and better still, the women here were quite lovely.
He had always loved nature and he remembered Scott saying that the park here was really nice. He went to the park, looking up at the green trees with a smile as children and young people passed him by.
He tilted his head to one side as he heard two girls talking.
"Men are such pigs!" a red-haired woman said to her brunette friend.
"Oh I agree. I'll never go out with another man for as long as I live!" her friend agreed. "They're rude, obnoxious, and always horny!"
"Ach, surely not all men are like that!" Kurt sat down beside the brunette, his eyebrows raised slightly. "I mean [i]ja[/i], some men are pigs but not all of us."
"Excuse me?"
"Ach, where are my manners?" Kurt laughed. Taking the brunette's hand, he kissed it lightly. "My name is Kurt Wagner,[i]liebe[/i]." They couldn't help but laugh softly at Kurt's charm.
"You see? Not all men are such pigs!" he said. Standing up, he held out his hand to the brunette. "May I walk you around the park?" Smiling, she took his hand and nodded, letting this handsome German young man lead the way.
"Tell me, who is the fiend who has upset you?" Kurt asked. "And what has he done to make such a lovely mouth frown so?"
"Oh it was an old boyfriend of mine." She said. "He tried to win me back with a Taco Bell coupon!" Kurt raised his eyebrows in surprise, looking at her with such a strong expression of confusion and shock that she just had to laugh at how cute he looked.
"That's exactly what I thought!" she said. "My name is Halle by the way."
"Halle, a woman of your beauty deserves more than a coupon!" Kurt said. "Back in Germany a woman of your beauty would be showered in splendid gifts from the best in chocolate to the loveliest of flowers!" Looking around, he found a flowering tree and he took down a few flowers and placed them behind her ears.
"You really know how to charm women!" Halle laughed. Smiling, Kurt shrugged.
"It is what I do." He said. "I..."
That's when they heard the child weeping.
Frowning in concern, Kurt looked around and they found a little girl sobbing behind a bush.
"What's the matter, honey?" Halle asked, resting a hand on her shoulder.
"I can't find my mommy or my daddy!" she said. She looked up at Kurt and instantly took his hand. "Will you take me home?" she asked, looking into his eyes very intently.
"If you can show me the way." Kurt said gently.
"I can, but I only want [i]you[/i] to take me!" Gently Kurt picked her up, looking at Halle with a faint smile.
"Perhaps we will meet again?" he asked. Halle nodded, smiling at him.
"Take her home safely."
"I will." ***
Kurt was a little worried about the place the little girl was leading him to. It was so decrepit and old... She would be better off somewhere else. Perhaps he could take her back to where he lived? There were a lot of nice people there to help her! There was this nice woman with white hair who knew the best games and...
But she insisted that she wanted to go to her home. It was an old church, and Kurt was surprised at how seriously she wanted to go there.
When they went inside, there were candles lit all over and a cross was lying on the ground with large nails waiting beside it.
"What?"
In a flash the girl drew a knife and struck him in the side, drawing blood and making him stagger back, looking at her in surprise and horror.
A metal bar struck him in the small of the back, knocking him onto his knees. Whoever had struck him used the bar to pull his head back, holding it by both ends and pressing it against his throat.
A man dressed in black walked up and looked down at him with cold gray eyes.
"He doesn't look like a mutant, Clara." He said.
"He's wearing a disguise." The child said. "His watch!" Kurt's image inducer was removed and the man in black smiled as his true form was revealed.
"Perfect." Kurt lashed out with his tail, knocking the man holding him over and running for the door, too scared to teleport at the moment
The bar was thrown as hard as it could be and it hit him upside the head, knocking him down with a thud and a clatter. ***
His head was throbbing when he woke up. He found himself looking at Clara and he moved to back up when he found that he was bound to something. Turning his head to one side he found that he was bound to the cross.
"Untie me." He told Clara. "Why are you doing this to me? What is going on here?"
"They said I could find a replacement." She said simply.
"Replacement?"
"Clara is also a mutant." The man in black said. "She can spot other mutants and identify their powers. We were going to use Clara for the crucifixion but we decided to let her find someone else. You'll do much better!" Closing his eyes, Kurt tried to teleport and he found that he couldn't.
"What did you do to me?" he whispered.
"This stops all mutant powers." The man said, showing him a vial of glowing green liquid. "It comes from a lovely plant. Nature's answer to its own mistake really. Remarkable!"
"Why are you doing this?" Kurt asked, pulling on his bonds.
"Mutants need to have their sins paid for." The man said. "Another crucifixion is needed to wash your sins clean and make you acceptable in the Eyes of God."
"Jesus all ready did that for us." Kurt said.
"He died for [i]humans[/i]. Jesus was like a [i]human[/i] so he died for [i]humans[/i] A [i]mutant[/i] is needed to die for [i]mutants[/i]!"
"You're crazy." Shrugging, the man took the crown and pressed it down on Kurt's head, making him cry out in pain.
"You have me mistaken for someone who cares! Now just let yourself be crucified! How else will you mutants be Saved?" Stepping back, he gave his men the go ahead. Kurt tried to fight, but the barbs bit into his flesh and soon the nails did too.
He howled like an animal, his head thrown back and his tail thrashing around like a whip. ***
Jean collapsed, her body trembling from the intense pain and images that had just gone through her. Kurt's body was still thrashing around, screaming wildly as his arms flailed at his foes that nailed him down. When Jean got to her feet, he suddenly became very still, his tail falling limp.
"Jean, what have you done?" Looking up, Jean found Xavier in the doorway, looking at Kurt fearfully.
