Kitty and Jean had already left the store with the crowd, trying to find Kurt and the twins. They found him tied to a pole with a gag in his mouth. "Where are they?" Jean asked, while untying him. "Toad, vas after zhem. Quicksilver had me dragged over here. "Some baby-sitter I am." He said with remorse. "Nonsense, it's hard to keep track of everyone when you're being attacked. I can find them. Hold on." She closed her eyes in concentration. "They're really scared. Toad still hasn't got them, but he's close. Maybe I can help them..."

*Erick, Erica?* Erica comes to a screeching stop and clutches her head in pain. "OWOWOWOWOWOW!" She yelled in pain. Her tail flickered in and out of her hologram. Toad nearly landed on her when hopping. He reached into his bag. "One down, one more to go..." he said to himself. He reached for her, then... Erick rams into him at full speed, turning himself into a minature furry cannonball. "LEAVE MY SISTER ALONE!!!!" The force, fueled by anger and beginning telekinesis, sent Toad flying into the wall.

*Erica? What's wrong?*

*GET OUTTA MY HEAD! YOU'RE HURTING ME!!* Erica screamed mentally. Jean snapped out of her trance and broke the connection. Sweat beads dripped on her face. "Like, what's going on? You look like you just ran a marathon." Kitty asked. "It's Erica...she can't take telepathy."

"vhat are you talking about?"

"I-I tried to talk to her, but it hurts her. She was in a lot of pain, and it was my fault." Tears clouded her green eyes. "We like, should split up and find them." Jean nodded blearily. "I'll contact the professor." The others agreed and ran off into different directions.

Erick walked wearily to where Erica was sitting. {What are we going to do?}

{I don't know. I think I caused at least a thousand dollars worth of damage. Once this is all done, I am never going to go shopping again.}

{Me too. Where's Kurt?}

{I don't know. But I think I broke my holowatch.} Erica stared in fascination at Erick's hologram as it faded away. {You OK? You sounded...hurt.} Erica nodded and shuddered. "Jean vas talking to me...like you do sometimes. But you don't hurt. She did." She massaged her head. Erick helped her up and they started stumbling towards the exit.

"Erick, Erica? Vhere are you?" a familiar voice called out. The twins brightened up as they heard Kurt. "Ofer here!" Erick yelled excitedly. Kurt stepped out behind some clothes. "Hey vhere were you? I couldn't find you anywhere." The kids ran up and hugged him. Erick froze the moment he touched Kurt's arm. "You're not Kurt..." Erica jumped back, and despite Nightcrawler's warning, teleported back a few yards. Erick was not as lucky. Before he could react, 'Kurt' touched his pressure points on his neck, and he went limp. Erica stared at him in horror and backed away. 'Kurt' paused for a moment to put some sort of ring around his neck and laid him on the floor. Then he began to get closer. But strange to say, he grew taller, turned the same color blue, and he became a she, for Mystique was coming to get her. "Come, my child. We have much to talk about." She said with a vampire grin.

Meanwhile, the real Kurt was teleporting ahead. Kitty decided that she could find the twins somewhere else. All of the X-men are split up, trying to find the twins. The rest of the Brotherhood is supposed to keep them from doing this. (I said 'supposed to be' because Toad is out for a count) Starting from the ceiling, Kurt makes up his own route. He hears somebody yelling in German-English. Probably the twins. Hopefully it isn't too late. Following the sound, he manages to pick up on the trail. Some distance away, he spots them. They were in some weird-looking chains. And, a tall, blue lady was hauling them. Kurt groaned. Of all times Mystique had to be here...

Erick was still unconscious as Mystique picked him up. Erica followed her with great reluctance as Mystique dragged her by the arm. She dug her heels into the tile to try to keep her captor from getting any farther. Mystique glared at her and gave a hard yank. Erica tripped and tumbled to the ground. "I tried being nice, but you seem to be too stubborn to listen to me. You will pay the price for your disobedience." She wiped a trickle of blood from her mouth. Erica just stuck her tongue at her. "Leave us alone..." she started to say, but then she broke down into tears as she realized that escape was virtually impossible. She had already tried to teleport and nothing happened, and Erick was out cold. Deep down inside, she started fuming. She was mad at herself for not being able to get out, mad at this creepy person who hurt Erick, and all the other people who keep on ruining her life. Tiny sparks of electricity danced around her and Erick. Mystique jumped as a spark hit her. She turned at looked at Erica. The small child was no longer moving. She stood straight up, and when she saw that women, her eyes turned from yellow to a bright light. Mystique dropped Erick and faced her, ready to fight. A ball of light forms between Erica's hands, glowing intensely. It grew and grew until it was almost as tall as Mystique herself. She stood in front of it, hypnotized. Then, just as she decided to make a break for it, Erica hurled it towards her. The sheer force sent her through the wall. For a split second, the twins glow like stars, and their chains evaporate into thin air. Erica stands still for a moment, then collapses onto the ground in dead faint.

During this whole episode, Kurt watches from the ceiling, dodging a couple of stray blue sparks. Shocked, yet fascinated at the sight, he can hardly believe that it is little Erica doing this. *BAMF*

"Erick, Erica, are you guys OK?" He ran over to Erick, who was the closest to him. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Erick stirring slightly. "hmmmmmm....Kurt? Izzat you?" He opened his eyes and sneezed at that familiar stench. 'Ja-It's me. For real.' Erick gave Kurt a lop-sided grin. "Guess you know our secwret. Wo ist Erica?" Kurt's smile was quickly replaced by a look of concern. Something most people don't see everyday. 'Stay here. I'll bring her over here.'

"An hurry!" Kurt dashed over to where he saw Erica fall. He froze as he saw her small, frail form. He knelt down next to her and gently scooped her up. {Erica...It's me, Kurt. Are you all right? Say something if you can her me.}The only way to tell if she was even still alive was the slight rise and fall of her chest. {Bring her over here!} Erick called out. His voice seemed very weak. Trying not to jostle her, he teleported to where Erick lay. "I fink I can do zhis. Ve have a link between each other. I fink I have an idea. Here, put her next to me." Kurt gently laid her down next to Erick. He looked at her, then and Kurt slightly nervous. Erick placed his hand on Erica's forehead stroked her face softly and thought about all the times they had a blast together. A small shudder went through her whole frame, followed by coughing. "She lives!" Erick exclaimed happily. Erica sat up straight, nearly colliding into Kurt's face as he peered closer at her. "Uhh..my head. I fink I need a new body too...' she moaned, cradling her head. "Are you OK?" Kurt asked. "Relax....it only hurts when I laff..." She stopped talking and doubled over in pain. Erick grabbed her by the shoulders. {Quit lying and tell the truth!} Erica looked up at him and gave him a thumbs up.

{I'm all right! Really! Who is that really weird-looking mean person that tricked us?}

{She is a shape-shifter. That means she can make herself look like anything she wants to be. Her name is Mystique. She works for Magneto.} Hearing the name, Magneto, started the twins to shiver in fear. A loud, and I mean LOUD crash sounded through the mall. {What was that?}

{Sounds like somebody needs some help. I hope that Jean and Kitty are OK.}

{Me too!}

{Me three!} Erick stood up stiffly and helped Erica up. She wobbled for a moment, the leaned heavily on him. {Not ready...yet.} She murmered. Kurt grabbed her and started to carry her in his arms. "Hey!" she protested. Kurt looked down at her. Her yellow eyes glared mutinously at him. Her image inducer had broken down long ago when she wrestled Mystique. "You can't walk." He grinned in her face. A sharp jab in the side made glance at her again. "I don't care." Erick sighed and ran along side Kurt. "The noises are getting louder." He grasped Kurt's hand tightly. "Let's go!" *BAMF*

(Radio Shack)

Kitty desperately needed some help. Running and phasing, and phasing while running at the same time was taking a toll on her. Why oh why did she have to run into Blob?! He was picking up and throwing anything in sight. Sooner or later she would be too tired to phase. Tripping over some previously destroyed objects; Kitty fell to the ground. She had no more energy left, and was too tired to move. Uh oh... Blob had found a TV and was heading straight towards her...

Meanwhile Kurt and the twins found part of the debris of the fight between Blob and Kitty. Whispering quietly to each other, Kurt quickly laid out the battle plans. {This is what's going to happen. I'm going to leave you two right on top of that directory. Crouch down where you won't be seen. I'll go and get Kitty. Whatever happens, don't move from this spot.} With that, he *BAMF*ed the kids to the top of the directory. Then, he *BAMF*ed to his lady's rescue.

Kitty was counting the moments to her doom. In this case, it was about the longest wait ever, with Blob as her executioner. Just before he dropped the TV to seal it, she heard a noise that she would never forget. *BAMF* She disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving behind a confused Blob.

*BAMF*

"Thank you sooo much! I would have totally been creamed if it weren't for you. My hero!" Kurt blushed as she hugged him tightly. "It vas nothing, Keety. You vould have done the same for me." Secretly, he was pleased. Now maybe, just maybe, he can ask her out...

"Where's the twins? Did you like, find them?" "Ja. But I had to leave them someplace safe before I came to, umm... your rescue." An earthquake came through, nearly knocking them down. "Safe place, huh?" Kurt nearly croaked. Of all times that Lance had to decide to be following him! Now he ruined everything. Lance was going to pay... "Let's go!" Grabbing Kitty's hand, he quickly *BAMF*ed.

When Kurt left the twins, they did as he told. They stayed where they were. In fact, they would have been there if Lance hadn't been following them since after the incident with Mystique. Lance, feeling confident when he trailed them, nearly cursed when he spotted the kids on top of the directory. Deciding that there was nothing to lose, he made a big earthquake, causing the directory to lean over and the kids to fall off. Before they hit the ground, however, Lance slid under them, caught them, and ran. He didn't anticipate any problems. After all, they're just pip-squeaks compared to him. Instead, he got more than he bargained for. The twins squirmed, wriggled, slithered, and bit him. With one kid, he would have dropped him. With two kids in his arm, he fell down backwards, trying to keep them under control and trying to find the chain he had with him. Around he rolled, until it became a mass of blue fur and skin. He had long ago given up. Trying as hard as he can, he tried to break free. No such luck. Erica, in trying to stop the fight, was looking for Lance's neck, where the most sensitive nerves are. If she could find them, then the fighting would stop. Once again, it is really difficult to find another's neck in the midst of fighting. Moving as fast as she can, she finally finds his neck. Placing blue furry fingers around him, she searched for the weak point. Lance, feeling this starts panicking. Great....now the kids were trying to choke him. Earthquakes rolled throughout the mall. Then suddenly he blacked out. Erica had finally succeeded. The twins were sitting upon Lance, looking like champions of the wrestling ring.

"Vhat happened here?! Zhere are earthquakes everywhere! You are supposed to be on the directory! Vhy are you here?"

"Whoa, Kurt. Look at what they are sitting on." Kurt took a closer look. "Vhy is Lance here?"

" Cuz 'e attacked uz!"

"Ja! 'e starting up jinormus rumblez, and ve falled off!"

"Zhen 'e catched uz!"

"Zo, zhen ve deciding to teaching 'im a lezzon!"

"Ve rolled 'round an' round!"

"Zhen ve viggled and try tae go avay. Good zhat ve are likkle!"

"Ve even bited 'im!"

"I finded a veak spot, at neck. I pushed it, and all rumblez go away!"

"Oh....!" Kitty exclaims. Kurt looks at the twins in disbelief. "I thought that you lost all your energy!"

"Ve get better faster zhen you!"

"Ve got rid of...zhe blue person, zhe stinky dood, and zhe rumblez. Iz zhat very good?"

"The blue person?" Kurt sighs and translates for Kitty.

"Mystique."

"The stinky dude?"

"Toad."

"The umm, rumbles?"

"Lance."

"Ohhhh! Like, what are we going to do about Quicksilver and Blob? And where's Jean?"

"Good question."

Erick pipes up. "Jean iz vif faster dood. Zhe needs 'elp. Now! By zhe Cinnabunz!"

"How do you know that?" Erick smiles. "Cuz I'm zpecial!"

"Let's go! I know where Cinnabunz is!" Kurt grabs everybody with his hands and tail and swiftly *BAMF*s.