Disclaimer: Xmen Evolution belongs to Warner/Marvel, and the Matrix series belongs to the Wachowski Brothers/ Warner Bros. They don't belong to me. Well, Eryn and Matt do, along with other minor OC's that occur. I'm a review junkie, so replies are much appreciated.

Key
*this* is emphasis
this is psychic convo
this is dreams/thoughts/journals/ship names

The Matrix: Rebirth – Upload Four

[Blurring and stirring the truth and the lies
So I don't know what's real and what's not
Always confusing the thoughts in my head
So I can't trust myself anymore
I'm dying again
I'm going under
-------------------------"Going Under" by Evanesence]


It was like a hazy and indistinct dream. Like opening your eyes at 2 AM but not knowing you were awake, thinking your still dreaming. Most people go back to sleep, forgetting the feeling as they drift off into dreams again. However, there was something drastically different this time.

He knew he was not dreaming. It was too tangible, too concrete.

His spatial ability told him he was in what amounted to a tube - something was in his mouth, and it was made of metal. Surrounding him was some sort of fluid or gel, making his thrashing almost somnolent. Fighting his way free out of the red glow of the gel in the pod, he managed to stand.

And gagged. Gripping the mouthpiece tightly, nearly blind, he pulled as hard as he could, which wasn't much. He felt so weak, as if he hadn't moved in years. As air rushed in, he coughed in disgust - the air was fetid and heavy with the smell of rot and fester, of wet metal and death. Smoke overlay all of it, as if the world had been burned away. The touched the back of his neck, startled at the fixture at the base of his skull.

That's when it came.

Out of nowhere, a huge metal machine, floating in the air, its red "eyes" burning into his own aching ones, seemed to consider him for a moment before lashing out. Pain erupted all over his body as wires were disengaged from his skin. As if this was a signal, the floor seemed to move out from under him and he fell down a chute of some sort, his muscles refusing to cooperate with his mind's command, and nearly yelled as he plunged into icy water.

As he began to sink, he started to panic as water rushed over his head. He was barely aware of something picking him up out of the water as everything went dark.

~~~~~~~~~

As soon as she was out, Kitty leapt off of her chair, Rogue and Phoenix at her heels. Pounding over the metal gangways down to the hold, she was aware of an ache in her chest as she struggled to breathe.

"Calm down, Kit and breathe. You're turnin' blue," Rogue managed to gasp behind her as they ran.

"I can't calm down," she gasped back, stopping and taking in huge gulps of air when they reached the hold. Jubilee and Spyke were already there with Storm and Wolverine, the Captain reaching downward as Storm turned the crank for the chain. Spyke handed Wolverine a large threadbare blanket, speaking several words she couldn't hear. Creeping closer she looked over when Wolverine reached downward and helped pull the chain out, dumping its passenger on the floor. Covering him with a blanket and hoisting him up, the Captain turned.

Kitty let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. "I was right."

Kurt was blue like Mystique, all over, at least from what could be seen. His tail nearly hit the floor of the hold, the spaded tip twitching spasmodically. His hands had only two thick fingers and a thumb, his feet with two toes and what looked like a third on his heel.

Rogue also breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of her "brother". She nudged Kitty as they trooped to the infirmary. "It's a nice shade of blue, huh?"

Kitty looked at her askance, suspicious. "I guess." Her voice was laced with suspicion at Rogue's intention. "Why do you ask?"

Rogue smirked as she bounced back toward the cockpit. "Just seeing if you like blue, is all..."

Kitty snorted. "Of course. And Pietro thinks he's the ugliest thing on God's green earth." She blushed slightly. "But yeah, it is a nice shade of blue, isn't it?"

She ignored her friend's knowing look as she followed Wolverine.

~~~~~~~~~~

He felt like hell, and opening his eyes was even worse.

It was like someone shining a penlight into his eyes. From several centimeters away. A startled and raspy litany of profanity erupted in his native language.

"Kurt, watch your language."

The voice was gentle, but despite that it had a steely undertone he knew well, and he tried to turn his head. When he managed a couple of inches, he wished he hadn't.

He was on a medic table, and he was covered in needles.

He was also blue. Even seeing it before didn't quite prepare him for the shock. He tried to jerk and come off of the table, but he couldn't move.

"What's wrong with me?" he asked, his voice sounding rusty from...disuse? No, that couldn't be right...

When his mother appeared in his vision, he saw that she was as blue as he, and realized he hadn't run out of shocked disbelief quite yet. Her hair was a fiery red and tied back from her face in a low-slung ponytail, and her eyes a glowing gold without white or pupil. Wearing a rugged and torn red sweater that nearly matched her hair, she leaned over him and smoothed his forehead.

"Your muscles have atrophied. They need to be rebuilt again," she replied quietly, pulling one of the long needles out of his arm and tossing it into a plastic tray nearby.

He closed his eyes and grimaced. "Where are we?"

"We're aboard the mutant ship Firebird. You're safe now. Go to sleep."

Against his will, his eyelids drooped, and he drifted off again, his mind still a whirl of confusion, with no calm in sight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

In another room to the Firebird, Scott - or Cyclops - watched Matt straighten the covers on the bed he shared with his mate unnecessarily as the raven-haired woman slept off the healing for her bullet wounds.

"How's Kitty?" the healer asked, not looking up.

"Sleeping," the second mate said, "she'll be up and down in the infirmary in no time." He groaned as Pietro and Evan walked past the room, arguing. Why did we have to dock with the other ship again? He thought idly, sighing in exasperation.

Phoenix - called Jean by her closest friends - poked her head in. "How's Eryn?"

"She's fine - rest is the best healer right now." He looked at the telepath. "Where are the cat girl and the Irish girl?"

"Isis is in the med bay on the Fraternity, and Wolverine pulled in a favor from Niobe, so Tracy is on the Logos." Jean smiled gently, watching Matt straighten Eryn's hair absentmindedly. "We're about half a day from Zion, so unless we get new orders from Lock, we'll be home soon."

Scott sighed, looking forward to the full night of sleep that was hopefully coming. He stretched, a bemused smile gracing his usually serious face. One would think it's getting too crowded around here, but it certainly doesn't feel like it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next time Kurt awoke, things were in a more ordered fashion.

It seemed he had been moved to an actual room. It was about the size of a closet, but it was a room nonetheless - it had a bed, in any case. He was also not naked, a major improvement from the last time he was awake. He turned his head and caught his breath.

Kitty was sleeping with her head resting on his bed, the rest of her in a low chair.

He thanked God that he was not naked. Instead, he was dressed in the same darned, threadbare, and patched clothing Kitty was, the pants a distinctive color of brown that you could tell was really faded black, and the shirt/sweater was a dingy charcoal grey color.

Looking down at himself, he stared. How odd... He seemed to be growing *fur* on his arms and...well...tail, the only parts besides his feet that were visible in his line of sight. It was a dark blue, almost midnight or prussian in color, and as his arm dipped into the shadow next to his bed, it disappeared altogether, a factor he was willing to examine in greater detail at a later time. Looking at his arms brought another detail to his attention.

He only had two fingers.

He looked at his feet, and they only had two toes.

Dread growing in his gut as each second passed, he saw a slightly shiny surface on the opposite side of the room, and his curiosity couldn't be contained any longer. He slowly got up to not disturb the sleeping woman, and crept silently over to it.

What he saw shocked him almost to the point of total denial.

He looked like a medieval woodcut of a demon.

His hair was extremely short, like he had shaved his head and it had only started to grow back recently. His ears were pointed like one of Tolkein's elves, he had fangs, a spaded tail that lashed behind him, and glowing gold eyes like his mother's.

Like his mother's.

That lessened the sting somewhat, to know it was genetic and not some cosmic joke, but only partially.

With everything that was going on, all that had happened and not understanding a damn thing, finding out that he was a freak among freaks sparked a powder keg. Without thinking, in a flash, the glass in front of him was broken into a circular fracture of itself, each showing a miniscule reflection of his face, and his fist was bleeding. An anguished warble tried to work it's way past his lips, but he clamped down on it. With his current situation, there was no telling what it would sound like.

"Kurt?"

The voice was sleepy and hopelessly foggy, and when he turned to look at her, she was tiredly rubbing sleep from her eyes with the heels of her hands, her hair sticking up on one side. "What is it?"

He didn't answer. Couldn't. There was nothing he could say.

When she opened her now clear eyes, she didn't need any explanation. She saw the broken surface and his bleeding hand, and it was testament enough, even though she could only see the back of his head at the moment. Standing unsteadily, she walked over to him and stood next to him, looking at the mirror herself, reflected back in multiple.

She was still confused. "What's wrong?"

He finally found his voice. "Can't you tell?" It crackled with tension, and…self loathing? Anger? Disappointment?

She shook her head. "No - tell me."

"I look like a-"

She stopped him before he could finish. "Don't go there. Many mutants have done exactly what you have." She held him at arm's length and her gaze softened. "You just look like Kurt to me, just...bluer. And with some extra stuff, but still - your expressions are the same. And your voice." She sighed. "I'm not the person I was either, but I'm not going to let that hurt me. Are you?"

He didn't answer, and she didn't expect him to. He was already shaking from standing for so long, his body still trembling with suppressed tension that he had no way of burning off.

"What is going on, Katze?"

Putting an arm around his thin waist and hugging him tightly, she exhaled. "There's no way I can explain it right now so you can understand. I just ask that you won't hate me when you do."

"Nein! Never," he said, throwing both of his arms around her and holding her tight. "I won't ever hate you. Ever."

Her response was muffled and barely audible. "I'm glad." She pulled away and gave him a half-hearted version of her usual kilowatt smile. "C'mon - I know where we can get something to eat."

The special spark whenever food was mentioned flared in his eyes. "Really? Let's go!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Mess hold in the Firebird was ringing with the laughter of all the mutants sequestered within, the voices of Quicksilver and another boy rising above the others in argument.

"NowaySpyke," the speedster's voice rose derisively, "there'snowayyouhavebetteraimthanme."

"Get real Speedy - I shoot bone spikes from my body for fuck's sake!"

"Excusesexcuses."

Outside the door, Kurt shook his head much to Kitty's amusement.

"Yes, he still talks like a five year old on espresso," she said, before opening the door. "But we all love him anyway."

Both mutant crews turned to see Shadowcat and their newest member, and a chorus of greetings rose up, along with a few speculative looks thrown in the Misfit's direction, which he ignored studiously, his discovery still raw on his soul despite Kitty's reassurance.

A man not much older than he, wearing odd red sunglasses, stood and held out his hand. "Second Mate Cyclops," he said efficiently, before smiling slightly. "Call me Scott."

Despite himself, Kurt smiled at the Second Mate's militaristic attitude and grasped his hand. "Kurt."

Another man with red-on-black eyes grinned roguishly, sending a slight wave. "Gambit."

Another man, massively built with blue eyes and black hair nodded, and spoke with a Russian accent. "Colossus."

It went around the Mess, everyone introducing themselves, some by code name only (and was it his imagination, but did Avalanche seem a bit hostile?). Those he did know he realized were drastically different. Rogue now wore roughly sewn gloves to her elbows, underneath the tattered sweater she owned, and her face was wan and tired, her hair chin length but still with the skunk streak. Pietro was the most unchanged, save that he had seemingly discarded the vain attitude he used to possess; however, he was still egotistical, that much was certain. Wanda, who used to have very short black hair, now had chin-length curly dark auburn, almost black hair; her eyes were still the same clear blue-grey they had always been. Still reserved although more talkative than she had been, she stood back and viewed everyone with a slight smile.

The Captains were absent, as well as the white-haired woman, but with a mental shrug he sat between Kitty and Gambit.

"Here ya go, yo," Toad [1] said, sliding a bowl across the table at him. "Delicious and nutritious."

Kurt surveyed the...porridge (if one could call it that) in his bowl, and despite his hesitation, his stomach growled. "That looks like snot."

Pietro smirked. "Well it tastes about the same, only with less of a salt taste."

Kurt looked at him, surprised, as did the rest in the Mess.

"What?" the speedster asked defensively. "Icantalkslow if I want to. C'mon 'Crawler - bottomsup."

Lifting a spoonful up, he nearly jumped when someone spoke in the oppressive quiet.

"Why did you call him "Crawler"?"

All turned to survey the Captains, the Firebird's First Mate, and the Healer called SoulSpark.

It was Mystique that had spoken, and she looked at Pietro with one raised red eyebrow, gold eyes impassive. The speedster shrugged.

"It's what we called him back when he first came to America. Apparently it was a nickname given to him in Germany." A pause. "When we thought the countries actually existed."

Kurt sighed. "The called me 'Nightcrawler' when I was in the circus," he explained.

Wolverine grinned then, brown eyes stoic. "Well, glad we don't have to think up a codename for ya, Elf."

Elf?

Sighing abruptly, SoulSpark strode over and snatched a bowl of "snot". "I'll see you all later." With that, he strode out of the room.

Jubilee folded her arms. "What crawled up his ass and died?"

A couple of snickers arose, but Jean's reply cooled all humor. "Probably the Agent that managed to shoot his lifemate. Twice."

Jubilee winced. "Oops. I remember now - *tact*, Jubilee."

Storm cut the conversation off in the bud. "As soon as we set off again, we'll be in Zion in about two days, due to rumors of Sentinel [2] around. Everyone pack up." She looked at Kurt. "Wolverine and Forge need you in the cockpit."

Kurt frowned. "For what?"

Everyone was quiet, then Toad spoke, wry sarcasm in his tone. "To find out what nightmare you woke up in."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The cockpit of the Firebird was huge, built to accommodate the mutants freed before the Fraternity had been built. Mystique herself had been a crewmate on the ship before being promoted to Captain status and given her own ship and crew; however, she still had fondness for the old bucket that played a part in her freedom.

Now the Firebird had saved her son. A new level of respect for the ship was then tempered inside her.

Forge, the Head Mechanic of the Firebird, takked away on the keyboard in front of him, speaking to Kurt, the teen's indigo coloring like an exclamation point amongst the dull grey metal of the cockpit.

"Hop into one of these chairs. Jubilee will help you, and just close your eyes." As Kurt obeyed, Forge turned to Wolverine. "We're online in five...four..."

She watched impassively and waited for them to return. Reactions to this truth were never good.


~~~~~~~~~~~

What?... Kurt stood and looked around at a familiar sight. It was the setting of the dream in which he saw Kitty - the dream where his body became what it really was for the first time.

Speaking of...Looking at himself, he saw pale skin, five fingers, and touching his hair, he noticed it wasn't as short as it had been a second ago. 

"What is this?" He looked at the sky that seemed to refuse to allow sunlight to pass, angry and churning as if spurned from some great happiness. The wind tore at his face and clothing, robbing it of any moisture, and the rocks around him were jagged, sharp, and greasy-looking.

"This is our world."

Kurt turned to face Wolverine and Storm.

His brow furrowed in confusion, amber eyes dark. "What do you mean?"

Wolverine crossed his arms over his chest. "In the twenty first century, scientists and most of the free world came together and celebrated a 'great achievement'." The last was said with heavy sarcasm.

Storm closed her blue eyes, seemingly staring at the sky with sadness. "They celebrated the birth of A.I."

"Artificial Intelligence?" Kurt asked, as he hugged himself to guard against the cold.

"Yes. However, A.I. soon tired of doing the bidding of humans, seeing what we did with our intelligence and power." Storm looked at him, blue eyes sharp, seemingly impervious to the weather. "They rebelled, and a great war began."

Wolverine sat on a relatively flat boulder. "Look kid, I'm gonna put it plainly - the Machines tired of our rule, rebelled, and enslaved us. Humans. Our world looks like it does because humans scorched the sky, hoping to cut off the Machines source of power - the sun." He shook his head. "Humans were wrong. The Machines simply found another source of energy."

A thrill of foreboding shot through Kurt's stomach. "And what would that be, Herr Wolverine?"

Storm put an arm around him in a maternal gesture of comfort. "Humans," she murmured. "*We* became food. The energy produced by our bodies was harnessed by them - now humans are enslaved, grown in pods, with the dead feeding the living."

He saw it then, as if a window had been opened.  Spikes towering to the sky, veined with lightning that danced over the surface of the towers.  Around the generators were multiple smaller towers, all built to accommodate the same pods that had housed him and his friends before they escaped.

Because that was what happened.  They escaped; there was no other word for it at this moment.

An unnatural calm washed over the demonic mutant as all sound seemed to vanish. "Was," he asked quietly, and somehow it was loud enough to sound like a gunshot.

"Mutants," Wolverine continued, "are a glitch in the computer program dubbed 'The Matrix'. It is what you were living in. Where you came from is a lie, something that just keeps us from knowing the truth."

Storm picked up where he left off. "The Matrix allows many things, but it is still a cage. One that freed humans and mutants - us - still fight. We are the soldiers in a war against the Machines." She looked up at him, hope in her face before it became impassive. "And we need everyone we can get."

"So the question is," Wolverine said, looking at the younger male, "will you help us or not?"

Kurt was still shell-shocked and still disbelieving. "It's not like I have a choice," he snapped, irrationally angry. "If this is all true, where will I go? There is nowhere."

"Correct," Storm answered quietly. "So will you cower or will you stand and fight? We can teach you how, but will you have the courage to proceed?"

Kurt sighed, pushing indigo hair out of his eyes. "Well, no one's ever accused me of being a coward."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He had sequestered himself in his...well...cube for the past day. It had been around lunchtime that they had told Kurt what the Matrix was, and afterward he had spoken to no one and just locked himself in his room.

Kitty worried her bottom lip as Rogue handed her a tray with two bowls of 'snot' and, surprisingly, a couple slices of slightly charred bread.

Well, it looked like bread. It might not be. Kitty held in a shudder.

"Go, sugar," Rogue whispered low enough so the others wouldn't hear. They had split from the Fraternity that morning, with Mystique and the twins still worried about him. "If we don't feed him, he'll wither and die."

The slight sarcasm in the other girl's voice made her grin. "I don't know if even *he* will eat this." Wrinkling her nose, Kitty scooped up a bit of it with a spoon and let it drip back into the bowl. "This is..."

"Unsanitary? Probably." Rogue snorted, and pushed her a bit. "Go. I'll bet my next meal that he's starving but won't admit it."

Kitty sighed and headed off, passing some of her crewmates in the cramped hallways of the ship before coming upon Kurt's door.

Which Evan and Jubilee were standing outside of.

"C'mon, K-man-"

K-man? Kitty rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"-you need to come out and get some air. Besides, Wolverine wants you to train, and you can't do that sittin' on your bunk!"

"Come on!" Jubilee hedged immediately after Evan. "I've heard training in that thing is *so* wicked. You have to do it and tell me what it's like! I'll never be able to see it! I'm a home-grown human-er-mutant!"

"Be glad you are," Kitty said. Both of the younger mutants yipped and spun around, facing her with wide eyes. "Be happy that you were never a part of that atrocity, and that you never have to enter it on a regular basis." With that, Kitty phased through them and the door.

A moment of silence, then...

"Hmph. I still would've liked to see it sometime," Jubilee groused, crossing her arms over her chest.

Evan snorted. "It's not like Gambit's not going to tell you about this past mission in anal retentive detail anyway, Jubes." He crossed his own arms in a mirror of her earlier movement. "Besides, he likes how he can make all the girls hang on his every word. Damn Cajun."

Jubilee tilted her nose in the air, reminiscent of their Zion-bound companion Magma's usual haughty look. "I do not 'hang' onto anyone's word, Porcupine."

"Whatever." Their banter continued as they walked toward the cockpit, voices fading as the distance grew. On the other side of the door, Kitty exhaled in relief before turning to face the dark room, wishing he had a lamp on.

A voice spoke in the dark, making her jump. "I'm not hungry, Katze." He sounded withdrawn and almost...defeated, somehow. Like a weight was just dropped onto his shoulders that was too heavy to bear.

She plastered a smile on her face, knowing he could see it in the dark. "Yes you are." Reaching over and flicking on a light, she stared in numb shock when she discovered he wasn't anywhere in her line of sight.

"What-" She stopped, due to a nagging suspicion and looked up. Sure enough, he was hanging onto the ceiling by his hands and feet, just staring at the ceiling that was about an inch from his nose.

She was surprised he wasn't hanging upside down. "Will you get down? My neck hurts looking up that long."

"I don't feel like it. Leave me alone."

Ok, now that was just rude... "No," she said, eyes narrowed in challenge. "I know you're hungry...hell, *Rogue* was the one that gave me the food to bring. So you better get down here now before I either yank you down or you die of starvation."

"I'm not starving." He sounded defensive and almost...petulant? As if in defiance, a muted growl rose up.

Kitty raised an eyebrow. "I think your stomach disagrees with you."

She imagined the glare he sent to the offending organ. "Verdammt thing has a mind of its own."

"Yeah, well - it's like a small child. It has to be fed constantly." She held the tray up. "Peace?"

"Go away."

"I am not. Get down here before I phase you off the ceiling."

She saw him tense and recognized the motion. He was preparing to 'port, and if she didn't stop him, she find herself with a face full of brimstone. Grabbing the back of the pants lent to him by Scott as well as a handful of the shirt Matt had lent him, and tensed herself, the threat clear. If he didn't come down, she'd phase his clothing.

There had been enough embarrassment going around as of late, as she figured he'd be tired of being naked.

Tipping his head backwards, he glared her in the eye. "You wouldn't."

A smirk. "Try me, Fuzzball." He sighed, and she let go as he jumped down.

"So what is it? More 'snot'?"

Kitty gave him a weak grin. "Afraid so. Rogue managed to find us some kind of bread, or...something." She poked it. "I hope it's not alive." She studied him askance.

He looked...exhausted, she decided. Almost defeated. Hopeless. Giving him a concerned look (which he didn't see as he was staring at the food and trying to get himself to eat something with the consistency of mucus) she reached over and touched one of his now furry cheeks, making him look up.

"Was?"

"You do know that we all went through what you are now. You're not alone."

He sighed heavily and smiled slightly, more to put her at ease than because he was relieved or happy. "I know. But it still hurts."

"It always will," she said, staring at her own bowl. "But we do all we can to make the pain stop." She looked up at him. "Having friends helps."

She was relieved when his smile widened. "Ja, it does, doesn't it?" With that, he shoved a spoonful of the porridge in his mouth, then grimaced as he swallowed.

"Pietro was wrong. It tastes *exactly* like snot."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Training wasn't exactly how Kurt expected it to be. He was plugged in again (though on the upside, having something installed at the base of his skull was freaking him out less and less), and was now in what could only be described as a Japanese Dojo, dressed in a white gi.

He also looked like any other human once again, but he was getting used to being blue.

On the other side of the Dojo were three people - Captain Wolverine, the woman called Jean, and the raven-haired woman that was referred to as SoulSpark's lifemate, all of them also dressed in white gi, but with different patches [3]. Wolverine's was a black Japanese letter he couldn't read, Jean's was an orange phoenix, and the other woman's was a rising sun.

Looking down at his own, he saw that his patch showed a black bird. A raven.

"Awright kid - you've met Phoenix here," Wolverine began without preamble, pointing to Jean, who smiled reassuringly. He pointed at the other woman. "This here is Lightwing."

Lightwing appeared to be his age of nineteen, perhaps twenty or twenty-one, and she smiled brightly, stormy grey eyes sizing him up, but not in a calculating manner; rather, an interested one, as if she was thinking exactly what he could do.

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "So what are we here for?"

The Captain smirked, almost crazily. "Glad you asked, kid. You're going to spar."

"Which one is first?"

Wolverine expelled his breath in a near-laugh. "Neither. You're fighting both of them. With no powers."

Kurt choked as the women smirked in amusement. "You have got to be joking, Herr Captain. Rogue told me that they're psions - exactly what do you expect me to do? Shut off mein brain?"

A shrug. "More or less. You need to sharpen your focus and stay on your feet before we download anything into that thick skull of yours. Use that wit that Half-pint and Quickie have waxed lyrical about."

"What do you-" he was cut off as Lightwing's eyes flared silver and a feeling of utter tranquility overtook him. It would be so easy to just lie down and sleep, and not worry about anything at all. After all that's happened, anyone would deserve a nap...

Empath! Part of his brain screamed. Come on, Kurt, can't be too difficult!

At that moment, an unseen force knocked him off of his feet, and he looked hazily at Jean, who had one hand raised, holding him in the air. The more he sluggishly struggled, the tighter the grip became.

They expect you to fight, so...stop fighting.

He let his mind go perfectly blank at the same instant he went limp, and their hold wobbled. In that instant, he struck.

Grasping that shard of self-loathing, sadness, confusion, and anger that he had around the time he first woke up, he mentally shot it at the Empath, who sucked in her breath and grasped her head. Turning to the telepath/telekinetic, he mustered up, then mentally bellowed.

LET ME GO!

Jean's hand jerked away, and he landed on his feet in a crouch, ready, his eyes wary. Both women looked at him with new respect.

Wolverine smirked. Training this one looked like it was going to be fun, for a change.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Training was hell, Kurt decided as he limped to the Mess. Lightwing - Eryn as she was called - explained how anything that happened to his mind could happen to his body.

Hence the limping. Speaking of...

"Nice sunrise, Lightwing," Spyke snickered.

"Shaddup," Eryn shot back, touching the tender skin around her eye. Matt looked up, saw her, and reached a blue glowing hand to her face, grazing the bruise, which shrinked and vanished. She sighed and smiled at her mate, before sitting down.

Matt rested a hand on Kurt's shoulder, and a cool, numbing feeling radiated through his bones and muscles, relaxing his hurt leg. "Dankeshoen."

"No problem." He smirked. "Just wait until you train against me."

Kurt groaned.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The deck was always cold in the dead of night, since all the fuel went toward the cockpit and the engines, ever vigilant in looking for Sentinel and other machines that were hunting for the ships. It was quiet - everyone was asleep, especially after Wolverine's training programs. Kurt had sparred her and Rogue after the two psions, then Cyclops and Storm. Tomorrow he would spar 'Spark, then Wolverine before the Firebird reached Zion. Hopefully. By then, he would have certain information downloaded into his brain, so at least he wouldn't be completely beat up.

It was almost a week since he had been unplugged.

Kitty hugged herself tightly as she headed for the cockpit, unable to sleep. There, only the computers lighted the area, the one that monitored the Matrix casting a green glow over Wolverine's face. She padded over and sat in a chair next to him.

They were quiet for several moments, both staring at the screen, before she spoke.

"How do you think he's going to do?"

The Captain's voice was as quiet as her own. "Can't tell yet. He's determined, I'll give the Elf that." He exhaled, crossing his arms. "We'll have to see how he does in his first battle to be able to tell."

"How soon will that be?"

He glanced at her before returning his gaze to the screen. "Whenever Lock gives us another mission. Probably not for a couple of weeks. He was pissed as all hell when Xavier and Magneto overrode him."

She glowered. "They're Councilors. It's their job to know what's best for us, especially mutants - they're the only mutants on the Council so far."

"And if some of the radical people of Zion influence the Council, they will be the only two."

"What do you mean? The way I understand, Zion likes mutants. I didn't know we had an anti-mutant population," she frowned.

"You wouldn't know - you've only been out about six months," he replied. He shifted and looked at her with gruff brown eyes. "They're aren't many, but they're grouping together and the hatred is growing. Xavier is hoping to stop it, but I don't know if he can. Chuck is determined, but I don't know if that's enough."

"Do we know anything else about them?" Kitty asked, a chill gathering at the base of her spine.

"No. We know there's been some mutants hurt, but we can't prove it as anything unusual to the Council." He looked at her gravely. "Archangel was one of those, Caliban another. Watch the Elf - he may be able to take care of himself, but so could Wings."

She sighed. "So that's why Psylocke was angry. The Council won't do anything?"

He shook his head. "They can't prove it as unusual. I think I know who's causing it, but I can't prove it. Lieutenant Trask and General Stryker are very...slippery." He grinned at it was feral, reminiscent of the animal who's name he had taken. "But we'll catch them, don't worry."

"The Lieutenant and the General?" She looked at him in shock. They were very high in Lock's military structure, and very respected, even by most mutants. Now that she thought about it, however, she had noticed that both Wolverine and Mystique acted detached around both of them.

"Don't talk about this to the others, Half-Pint. We can't prove it, and if word gets out, more active mutants may take matters into their own hands. As fun as that can be, getting executed themselves won't help any of us." He folded his arms again and stared at the screen once more. "Just watch the Elf. I have a feeling they'll be watching him."

She nodded and headed back to the room she shared with Rogue, thinking. She had much to ruminate, and she stayed awake for several hours after going to bed, a gruff watchful man with his face reflected green still in her mind's eye.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hurry up! The Firebird and the Fraternity are docking!"

Iceman, called Bobby, sighed in exasperation at the young hacker. "Jamie! The ships aren't going to run away! Wait, watch out for that- never mind."

Jamie - or Multiple - picked himself up off of the grid deck, and brushed himself off. Two copies of himself did the same. "Sorry," they said in unison.

Magma sniffed in disdain. "Only you would be so clumsy, James."

The youngest of their group drooped a bit at the barb.

"It's okay, Jamie," Wolfsbane soothed, throwing an arm across his shoulders. "Amara's just jealous that ye can hack and she can't."

Magma glowered. "I am not!"

Jamie grinned. "Thanks Rhane. Last one there gets to clean Beast's infirmary!" With that, he and his copies took off, the copies disappearing the further he got down the dock.

"Wait up!" Bobby took off after him.

At the doors to the Firebird's dock, Meltdown [4] was already there, buffing her fingernails on her shirt. "Too late kids - I was here first."

Jamie and Bobby glared. "You cheated Tabby - you always eavesdrop on the transmission chamber. You know when they're going to get here before anyone else," Jamie muttered.

"Yeah, Boom Boom's always where she's not supposed to be," Bobby said, grin in place.

"It's *Meltdown*, Iceboy.  Not Boom Boom."

"You just thought Meltdown sounded cooler – besides, you were the one that thought of 'Boom Boom' in the first place."
Before Tabby could reply, the door flew open and the crew filed out.

"Don't ask," Jubilee griped as she filed past with Spyke. Lightwing ruffled Jamie's hair, making the boy grin.

Everyone's eyes widened when Shadowcat and Rogue exited, with them a new crewmember.

"Dude," Bobby breathed, as the dock went silent. "You think Beast is his dad?"

The newcomer was blue from top to toe, with yellow eyes like Mystique, and a prehensile forked tail and ears that pointed up gracefully, like an elf.

He was also furry. He glanced at them, before turning his gaze to Kitty, who smiled as she and Rogue each wrapped an arm around his waist. "Let's go see Beast to have you checked out," she said, both women leading him in the right direction.

When they left, the dock burst in a flurry of whispers.

"...looked like a demon!"

"...so cool!"

"...looks like Mystique..."

"Wonder what he can do..."

Ignoring them all, the rest of the crew members unloaded their gear and headed off in different directions - Wolverine to report to Lock, the others to various places. Jamie plodded after Soulspark and Lightwing, seeing that they were headed to the infirmary to pick up Inu.

"..a freak like the rest..."

Rhane's head snapped up and scanned the crowd. If she hadn't been a lupine mutant, she wouldn't have heard it in the first place. Her eyes narrowed. Looks like she had even more to tell Wolverine and Mystique tonight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[1] Todd is a mechanic on the Fraternity, and he finally makes an appearance.

[2] You remember - "Squiddies" of course. :P

[3] Patches on a gi are known to indicate a sensei or some such (like in DBZ), and sometimes they have the sensei or dojo's symbol (like in Karate Kid)

[4] Meltdown is one of Tabby's codenames in the comics - her current one, I believe. After Boom Boom and Boomer.

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Thanks to all who reviewed:

The Electric Russian – I haven't yet read "There is No Spoon," but I will when I get around to it – school is trying to grind my face into the floor. ;_; 

morgannia – ::dodges tomatoes:: I updated as quick as I could, I promise!  Next update *should* be quicker, since I've settled into my school routine. Spring Break is next month, and I hope to have Upload Five up long before then. ::crosses fingers:: here's hoping!

Kitrazzle Fayn – thank you for reviewing! ^_^  I'm sorry this one took a while, although not as long as Upload Three did – and hopefully Five will be out in a couple of weeks.

Thank you to all those that helped and contributed advice and ideas – Christa_Winters, Beboots, Rowena, nightelfcrawler, and others.  You're the best! ^_^

Upload Five – Kitty shows Kurt around Zion, more New Mutant action and meet more mutants.  The crew also receives a new mission.