Hehehe. . .so I took the summer off. . .I'm entitled right? I was working. . .and still am so don't expect too much from me. . .junior year ya know. . .some people think this is the one I should pay attention to. . .

But I made this effort!!! I put aside math and english and environmental and american (but then again I always do) and band – wait band? No not band – for this. I got as much enjoyment out of it as you might. It's turning out to have a better plot then I thought it might turn out to be. But then again, I only know about half a chapter ahead of everyone else. You think I write these things in advance? Ho ho ho!!! (that was a jolly laugh. . .) But seriously, I'm making an effort again to work on this, cause it's the only thing I'm writing right now. . .

So!!! It's time for the traditional disclaimer!!! If I owned X-Men Evolution. . .Rouge would have poofy hair (as well as Ms. Marvel powers). In an effort to be nice Bobby wouldn't die. . .just have an attitude adjustment. Gambit would be the real Gambit and have the accent to go with it, Kurt would stop this elf obsession and be the monk we know he is inside, Phoenix would die a horrible death (as well as Jean herself), and - as final icing on the already too large cake – Mystique would look more like the movie. . .She was pretty cool looking in the movie.

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The Questing Beast

Jamie ran and ran, hardly looking behind him, afraid of what he might see, afraid of who he wouldn't see. He was deep into the woods before his pace slowed to a walk. All four of them, the multiples and Jamie, breathed heavily after running all that distance. None would meet the other's eyes; all were too saddened by the events of the night. Finally Jamie spoke up.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm tired. There's no one here and never was anyone following us. I'm laying down right here and sleeping until it's morning."

The other three gave weary nods and collapsed where they stood. Jamie leaned his back against a tree and before he could say "good-night" he was asleep.

When he woke he was alone. It was morning and the birds sang their hearts out. Jamie sullenly gave them a horrible look, thinking equally horrible thoughts directed at them. Everything ached after last night.

Last night. Last night was a blur. There were bright lights and lots of action. Now it was morning, and Jamie had some serious thinking to do. Where should he go from here? Raven only told him to go so far as the trees and he was well past that now. Maybe she was waiting for him there.

Jamie stood up and dusted off his pants, removing the pine needles and dirt that clung to him. If it hadn't been for the strange location he had been in when he woke up he would have thought he imagined the whole thing. But things had seemed real enough at the time, like the multiples. Was he really seeing them, or was he only crazy?

Grabbing his bag, he set off in search of Raven.

*****

He reached the corn field where he had parted from Raven only ten minutes later. There was no sign of her, but Jamie still held hope she was waiting somewhere for him. He grabbed and ear of corn off the stalk, thinking it might be good for a breakfast, since he was stranded in the middle of New York. By the road stood the empty shell of the bus. A few people had remained, crawling about it like insects around the carcass of some dead beast. Those who had feared the mutants fled in the night.

Jamie looked at each one of them, hoping Raven was hiding amongst them and had just been waiting for him to come to her. But she was not there. He looked down both sides of the road, guessing the way to the nearest town. There was nothing in sight, apart from the corn fields and barns. The road was desolate.

"If your looking to go the way they all did, you wanna head down thata way." Jamie turned to see a man leaning against the upturned bus. He had a vicious cut on his shin; the blood was still leaking down his leg.

"Thank you," he replied, nervously watching the man, as if to judge his truthfulness by sight. He looked reliable enough, and after all, what did Jamie have to lose by taking his advice? Any direction was better than staying here.

"They all ran after them muties showed up," the man continued. "Havin' a regular old war, they were. Damn freaks." A chill went down Jamie's spine. There was something in the way he spoke that scared Jamie. Who were these mutants that everyone was cursing? Up in Old Town, no one ever mentioned them. Maybe they were some sort of New York thing.

Jamie cleared his throat nervously. "W-What are the mutants?" His voice was so tiny now, trying not to upset the man, but curious enough to overcome some of his fear.

"The Muties? Where you been comin' from, the moon?" He gave a snort. "They's a bunch of freaks of nature who got lots of 'gifts' as they call 'em. Really, they just were born with guns strapped right onto 'em. You seen what they did here; it's what they always do. They come and blow stuff up and hurt us regular, normal humans and disappear before anyone can get their justice on them." The man's face was grim and dark.

Jamie was worried about these freaks. What could stop them? It wasn't right that they could do this and get away with it. Look at this man standing here, his leg bleeding and nothing to fix it with, just because some muties got a bit exited last night. It made him mad too. He wouldn't stand for it.

Deciding that it was time to get out of here, this awful place the mutants had destroyed, Jamie called out, "Thanks." Turning towards the town Jamie told the man "I'm going to try my luck heading that way," pointing to the way the man had said the passengers had gone.

"Good luck." The man gave him a careful look. "Watch out for those X-Men if you see 'em. They're the worst."

And so, with an ominous cloud over his back, Jamie set off for town.

*****

It turns out, the dark cloud wasn't just a figure of speech. By ten in the morning it was pouring and Jamie had never remembered being so miserable. He had reached the town but there was no one around. In fact, it looked deserted. But Jamie supposed that was due to the rain. If he had a choice, he would have preferred to be inside, perhaps taking a nap with about five blankets wrapped around him.

He stepped in a puddle of mud; wet, cold mud that soaked his shoe all the way through. He groaned, feeling more than a bit disheartened.

How would he ever find Raven? She could have gone anywhere! She could be back in the forest looking for him while he was here looking for her. It really was hopeless. He found a wall that was covered by a falling down awning. It kept the rain off, which was what Jamie most cared about now. Next to him was a window, which he glanced into.

Inside was a woman reclining in a chair. Her back was towards him and he could only see her long red hair. Around her were people dressed in the strangest clothes Jamie had ever seen. Really, who wears spandex?

The woman turned and a jolt passed through Jamie. She was blue! Not a pale, deathly cold blue, but a deep blue from her head to her toes. Mutants. The man lied; there are mutants here. Jamie could only think one thing. He had to run, and run fast.

His feet slipped on the mud and he fell, giving a loud shout of shock. Sure that the mutants would have heard, Jamie dashed away, faster than he ever remembered running. But they were after him. He heard them chasing him through the rain. How they got out so fast, Jamie had not idea, but they were behind him. He glanced over his shoulder but through the rain all he saw was three figures chasing him. How could he ever face three of them? They blew things up and made the ground spit rocks! There was no way he would escape if they caught him.

They were just behind him now, each step reverberating in his head. Just a bit closer and they'll have me…I can't let them get me…Jamie would not go down without a fight. A hand glanced against his shoulder and Jamie felt the strange sensation of being pulled against his will backwards. It was almost as if…as if he was drawn to the person, like his multiples.

Jamie stopped dead in his tracks and the remaining two figures halted their progress as well. They were indeed the multiples, gasping for air just as he was.

"Jamie." Pant, pant. "Why did you run from us?"

Jamie was embarrassed. "I thought you were the mutants."

"Why run from them either?" the other asked.

"Yeah," the first added. "It's not like we even know anything about them."

"They might not be as bad as the guy said."

Jamie was red in the face, feeling shameful for his hasty actions. "It's not like he was that far from the truth! You saw what they did to the bus! If they're so friendly then why were all those people hurt? If they're just great guys then why am I traipsing around Nowheresville, New York in the rain, searching for Raven? Nice people don't have private wars on highways."

The other two were silent. Jamie felt bad for exploding at them like that. "Sorry," he said.

"It's ok."

"We understand."

And Jamie knew it was the truth. They were part of him. Everything they said was something he knew deep inside. He was just upset with himself, literally.

*****

The rain let up after a while and Jamie found a semi-dry alleyway to stay in until the weather cleared completely. The two multiples crawled into the dry space with him. Not for the first time he found himself wanting to know if they were just hallucinations of a damaged brain.

"Are you real?" he blurted out. He slapped his hands over his mouth, wishing he hadn't thought out loud.

"We don't know, Jamie. You don't know, so how should we know?"

"Even if the answers was hiding somewhere in our mind, as long as you don't know, neither do we."

Jamie sighed, resigned to not getting a helpful answer. "Do you suppose I knocked my head too hard?"

"I hope not. That would mean I don't exist."

"Remember that time we fell off the bike and smacked our head on the concrete?" the other Jamie asked hopefully.

Jamie nodded, wincing at the memory.

"Well that fall was, like, ten times harder than Harold threw us against the wall. We must be ok." The smile he gave seemed too hopeful.

The first Jamie seemed stuck on his own idea. "Yeah, and I think, therefore I am."

Jamie was sure he read that somewhere. He was too distracted to remember. "I hope both of you are right."

"We do to."

Jamie yawned wide. The rain and excitement had made him tired. As the last of the rain disappeared, Jamie fell asleep curled next to his multiples.

*****

His dreams were strange. They seemed so vivid, almost too real. He had never dreamed anything like it.

The mutants were in it. They circled him, bearing down on him; coming ever closer and closer. He wanted to burst out. Their silence was overpowering.

Then one spoke. "Jamie," it said.

Jamie screamed.

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Well there it is. . .Hope it pleased. . .thanks to all my reviewers, especially the cookie giving ones. I'll be hearing from you all. . .RIGHT?!?! After devoting my homework time to you, the least you can do is write me a little bitty note. . .for example:

Dear Sadge,

Thank you for writing this (chapter)/(thing)/(holy work). I shall (show my appreciation)/(devote my life to you)/(praise your greatness) by sending this (review)/(pointless message as I didn't read it anyway)/(prayer to Your Holiness). I have read (all your chapters)/(none of your chapters but it sounds cool)/(chapter 3 verse 40) and would like you to (write more)/(trick us into thinking you wrote more)/(write it dammit)!

Your (reader)/(glance-at-work-er)/(devoted subject),

_______________

(your name here)