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Okay, I know this is short and bad but I've lost pretty much all ambition to write. Buh. Send reviews. Maybe it'll renew my desire to finish this story.

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I don't feel like writing any silly accents or disclaimers 'er nuttin. I'm not a machine you know!

I don't own the X-men. I know. It's a shock.

Here's the magical key to weird symbol thingies:

** = telepathy

-- = intercom

~~ = thinking/thoughts

"" = talking, duh!

:*O = guy with a spider on his face

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"Stop! Stop this raht now!" Rogue threw down her com-device.

"Whoa, whoa. What's going on over here?"

"Rogue's like totally spazing out again Cyclops," Kitty said in a huff.

"Why can't we ever have a normal training session," Scott mumbled, his hands massaging his temples.

"How can we when you keep using ma brother as a target?!" Rogue shouted back.

Kitty glanced at the simulated form of Kurt they had just encountered. A chill ran down her back.

"Rogue. We have to be prepared for the unexpected. We have to be ready for whatever Mystique might throw at us and right now our biggest threat is him." He pointed savagely at the demonic looking hologram. "We've already been beaten by him once; we can't let it happen again."

Rogue completely ignored his attempts at reason. "You don't understand! You couldn't possibly know how ah feel!!"

"Rogue, we know what you're going through. We know how hard this is for you. Please don't make it harder," Jean pleaded.

"Yeah. You like, could have made it a lot less hard for us all if you hadn't like, let him go…" Kitty muttered to herself.

"You have no idea what it's like fahtin' your own brother!" Rogue yelled and ran from the Danger Room.

Scott folded his arms and sighed. Jean glared at Kitty.

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-Scott Summers, please report to the principal's office immediately.-

The nasal voice of the secretary was shrill and metallic over the intercom. Scott gulped as he walked slowly down the empty hallway. It was only the first day of school, what could he possibly have done already?

*Scott, what happened? * Jean asked telepathically.

*I dunno Jean, I'll sort it out. *

*Just be careful…*

*I will. * He answered her bravely, but inside he didn't feel the slightest bit of confidence.

~Principal Kelly hates me. What the hell can I do? ~

Trying his best to look as innocent as possible, he opened the door to the front office.

"Mr. Kelly is waiting for you dear," the plump secretary bubbled, motioning him to that most dreaded of rooms: the principal's lair.

He stepped into the darkened office and waited. "Hello?"

No answer.

"Principal Kelly?"

No answer.

"Huh." Scott shoved his hands into his pockets. Hadn't there some notice about the principal being away for the first couple days of school?

The door burst open behind him and Principal Kelly, looking harassed and angrier than usual hustled through and quickly took a seat at his desk.

~Guess he got back early. ~ Scott dismissed the matter.

"Uh, you wanted to see me sir?"

Mr. Kelly shuffled a few papers around absentmindedly and rose, his hands behind his back.

"Yes Scott. I've been concerned about several things and I wanted to discuss them with you."

Taken aback by Kelly's friendly, almost paternal tone, Scott felt a tiny twinge of suspicion in his gut. One of the mottos he lived by was, 'know thy enemy' and he knew Principal Kelly better than to think him capable of a fatherly conversation with a mutant.

"Uh…yeah. What about what sir?"

"Well, you see…" The older man sidled towards Scott.

Now Scott was feeling very uneasy.

The Principal placed a hand on his shoulder, "It's just that…"

The grip on Scott's shoulder suddenly tightened. He grabbed Kelly's arm in an attempt to remove it but the man slammed him backwards into the wall. Hard.

"Mr. Kelly!" The teen yelled loudly, hoping the secretary would hear him.

An evil sneer spread across the man's face. His hands shot to Scott's throat and began to tighten.

"Mr. ….gugh…what…grlgh…" His eyes widened in shock as the form of Principal Kelly began to dissipate and reform. Replacing him stood Mystique. She curled her lip in disgust and dug her fingernails painfully into his neck.

"Where is he," she hissed, loosening her grip enough to let him speak.

"What? I don't know what you're talking about."

Wrong answer. Her eyes blazed with contempt and her fingernails sank deeper.

"Where is my son!" She was almost screaming.

"I don't know…guck…" The fingers tightened.

"Liar." She whispered it into his ear, so coldly he felt himself shiver.

"He escaped just under a week ago. We haven't seen him since." Scott tried to say calmly, "The professor's been watching for him on Cerebro but there have been no traces," he added for good measure, as if to prove his point.

A maniacal look had entered her eyes. She kneed him the stomach and he gasped at he pain. Hands over his abdomen, she let him sink to the floor, before she grasped his hair and shook his head viciously, then hit it against the wall.

For almost a week she'd searched for her son. She'd hunted the forest for him, called to him, cried for him, and still he was lost. Now all of her fury surged out of her and into the unconscious form of Scott Summers. An unearthly scream of sorrow and rage escaped her throat; she kicked him again and again and again. Her fury at the world seemed to consolidate into passionate and terrible hatred for the teenager.

After a minute her psychotic energy was spent, and she panted heavily. She frowned and straightened her shoulders, re-assuming the form of the secretary, and then walked casually from the office, leaving someone else to discover the beaten and bloody form of the X-man.

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Burning white light consumed his vision. He winced and recoiled into a corner. The air was thick with the smells of chemicals and antibiotics. He moaned. All of his body ached dully, it hurt. How long had he been here? He sobbed and huddled against the stainless steel wall.

"Has the final sample been prepared?"

"Yes, but I want to run some more diagnostics and tests before we introduce it to the subject."

The woman's voice was unemotional and flat. Kurt winced at the sound of the metal door opening. Strong hands seized him and he was dragged from the warmth of the room into the white-hot light.

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Oh, yeah. Thank you, all of you people who have reviewed! :P