Let me respond now to a lot of reviews I get from a particular group of people, concerning my take on Kouichi's personality: I don't doubt for a moment that he's got plenty of guts. He looked Cherubimon in the eye and (in Japanese, of course) called him a bastard, after all. But when he's with his friends, I think the poor kid's got a bit of an… inferiority complex. Actually, it's more like mild depression, but I get the vibe that he doesn't really think he's up to the other's level, so to speak, and is afraid of being alone. So when he's with friends he's very subdued and hesitant, because he's afraid of being rejected if he does something to offend someone. That's just my take on his personality, and if you don't like it…TOUGH. It's the way I know him, and it's the way I've always loved him.

I miss my ability to use question marks and exclamation points in the same sentence. How am I supposed to tell the readers that they're asking a large amount of panicky questions? T.T

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or X-Men Evolution. So sue me. No wait…don't.

The X Evolution

Chapter 5: Battle

Ten minutes later, the X-men as a whole had changed and reported to the Danger Room Command Center, where Xavier, Storm, Wolverine and Beast were waiting for them. "What's up, Professor?" Asked Scott the moment they entered.

The wheelchair-bound man turned to them, nodding seriously over steepled fingers. "There's a disturbance downtown. Mutant energies, several of them. Very active."

"The Brotherhood?" Jean asked automatically.

"Indeed."

Kouji glanced at Takuya, adjusting the tight cuffs of his 'uniform'. "I take in this happens often?"

"Pretty much."

Scott…that is, Cyclops…slammed one gloved hand into the other intensely. "All right then, let's go." He said, with a perfectly straight face. "We've gotta take care of them."

"Agreed." The Professor nodded. "Head out, and be careful. All of you."

( - ) ( - ) ( - )

The location the Brotherhood happened to be trashing today turned out to be a partially-completed four-story shopping mall, which currently consisted of two and three-quarters stories, a large crane, construction elevator, and a liberal amount of debris.

The X-Men entered the site tense, but vaguely scattered in groups of two or three, just in case. There was no sign of the Brotherhood, or indeed of really anything at all.

"Are we sure there's something here?" Bobby asked, looking around.

"Quiet." Scott hissed.

Jean closed her eyes slowly, concentrating. "They're here, all right." She whispered softly. "I just can't tell…"

She cut off as the ground beneath their feet started to tumble and shake. Pieces of concrete broke free and fell, Evan and Bobby leaping back to dodge as Kitty deftly phased Rouge and herself through an extra-large piece.

A deep laughter echoed through the partial-ruins as the quake quieted. The gathered mutants snapped their heads up to find an all-too familiar bunch standing on the half-built second story above them. Blob, Avalanche, Toad, and Quicksilver, most in their 'specially-made' uniforms.

Avalanche was the one who had spoken, hands on his hips. "Well well, look who's here. Mystique's right, you are typical."

"Mystique?" Rouge growled, clutching her fists as Kurt's fur stood on end.

Logan stepped forward instead. "What's Mystique got to do with this?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Blob chortled, his huge stomach bouncing as he did. "All you gotta know is we're gonna flatten you creeps!"

As if to reiterate his terms, he launched himself from the second floor. The X-Men scattered, narrowly avoiding the huge crater left as the gigantic mutant landed. Behind him, the rest of the Brotherhood separated and scattered around the construction site in various ways and strategies.

"Everybody, split up!" Storm called, following after Avalanche to the second floor. "Flare, Rouge, follow me!"

"You've got it!" Scott called, and the group…split up. "Yin, Shadowcat, Spike! You need to go after Quicksilver! The rest of you take care of these guys!"

Half of the group stayed on the lower levels to deal with Blob and Toad, while the other half raced for the construction elevator. At the second floor, Flare and Rouge raced out with Yang right behind them, in spite of orders. Though Kouichi was hesitant as to whether or not to follow them, the remaining three did as they were asked and made their way back up to the third floor.

Avalanche met the group half-way up. "You think you losers can take me?"

"Yer the looser, earthquake!" Rouge snapped. "Whattya think yeh can do up here, huh? No ground!"

Avalanche just smirked. "That's what you think." He laughed, and opened his hands out flat.

To the group's general surprise, the ground under them began to shake. At least, they were surprised until Takuya happened to fall near a half-finished window and made an annoying discovery. "Crud! Guys, this place is built on a hill!"

"Now you tell us." Kouji hissed softly.

Lance had a wide, almost crazy grin on his face. "Now I've got you!" He laughed, increasing the seismic tremors around them. The only one who had any senses was Storm, and she was attempting to get a good lock on the boy without killing him, which was proving to be quite hard to do.

Takuya whipped his lighter from his pocket, producing his favorite ball of fire. Balancing as best he could, he reared back in a softball pitch aimed directly at Avalanche.

However, the punk was expecting that and jumped back, allowing only a fraction of a second of the tremor to break. "Ha! You think you can get me with that twice?"

Kouji sniffed slightly, reaching into a pocket attached to his belt as well. However, from his he produced a very useful little object for night time work, namely, a pen light. In the moment of semi-stillness, he clicked the bulb on and produced a beam of light into the darkness, drawing it almost instantly into his hand.

First, a ball formed there, like it had every time before. But with a flick of his wrist and a sudden grip, it shot out into a long, thin beam and became something much different…

"Hey, rock head!"

Avalanche turned slightly and barely had time to block as the white-hot light sword came down on him. He jumped back, then had to do it again as Kouji swung, marching him backwards with expert Kendo-learned skill.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" The seismic mutant exclaimed.

Kouji didn't answer him, his face twisted in concentration. "Storm…"

"I've got it!" Avalanche barely had time to notice that the African-American woman's eyes had begun to glow before he was lifted violently off his feet and into the air by a rush of high-speed winds.

"Argh…No way!" He exclaimed, pulling at the winds holding his arms, even though part of him knew it was useless.

Kouji grinned, opening his hand and loosing grip on the light sword. "Pathetic." He sniffed, and the group ran to help out downstairs once again.

( - ) ( - ) ( - )

Meanwhile, Spike, Shadowcat and Yin were attempting to take down the ever-hyper Quicksilver.

"Can't catch me!" The speedster laughed, speeding past Evan's attempts to pin him with rock spikes and leaping easily over Kitty's attempts to phase up and grab him. "No way you're fast enough! Not a chance not a chance!"

Kouichi hissed softly, pulling himself to his feet. They weren't doing well, not at all. There was too much darkness, he couldn't take it all under his control at once, he'd kill himself. But he could…yes, it was the only way. Just…wait for it…

"What'sa matter?" Quicksilver taunted as he sped around. "Can't keep up? Ever the slow poke, Evan, you'll get…"

Quite suddenly, he tripped and hit the ground with a high-speed thud! He lay there a moment, stunned, then pushed himself up and tried to stand, but found one leg held down by the ankle. He spun his head around. "No freakin' way!"

"Like, wow!" Kitty exclaimed, and Evan shared her sentiments.

The shadow had stretched out from the wall, forming a hand that reached out in a three-dimensional shape, grabbing Pietro by the ankle. Kouichi smirked slightly, his eyes only slightly glazed over, one hand stretched out as though he himself was holding the speed demon still.

Quicksilver growled. "D-Damn you! Let go, you freak!"

Kouichi didn't let go. He did, however, draw his hand off to the side. Pietro hit the ground again, on his back this time, being dragged across the floor and up a nearby unfinished wall. Soon he dangled a good five feet from the ground, the 3-D shadow holding him out an aloof.

"Awesome!" Evan gasped, a wide grin on his face.

"Like, wow." Kitty repeated, eyes wide.

Pietro struggled with the hand holding his leg, pulling at it. "Let go! Dammit, let go!"

"All right." Kouichi whispered softly, and gave his wrist a light toss.

With a cry, Pietro was suddenly loose and in mid-air. He went tumbling, head-over-heels, before landing upside down in a huge trash can full of cardboard boxes, wooden boards and other odds and ends.

"All right!" Spike cheered as Quicksilver disappeared into the rubble. "Dude, Yin, that was sweet!"

Kouichi smiled shakily, but it didn't last. His body was trembling from head to foot, arms shaking and knees growing weak as an all-too-familiar dizzying sensation closed in on his senses. Slowly but surely, his energy started to slip out of his body and into…

No…Not again…

Shadowcat noticed it first. "Hey…Yin, are you okay?"

The boy didn't answer her. He groaned painfully, wrapping his arms around himself and dropping to his knees with a painful thud on hard concrete.

"Yin!" Kitty exclaimed, racing over to put both hands on his shoulders. "What's wrong? Are you, like, sick?"

"You're not hurt, are you?" Evan asked, racing over himself. "That creep Pietro, when I get my hands on him…"

The dark-haired boy cut him off with another loud groan, screwing up his face painfully. "G-Get away…"

"Huh?" Kitty jumped back, snapping her hands away as though expecting to be burned. The shadows around them began to move, licking their arms and legs like flames.

"Dude, what is your problem?" Evan exclaimed, trying to brush off the darkness.

"GET AWAY!" Kouichi shouted at the top of his lungs, startling them both again. "You have to get away, now! Go, run!"

"What's going on?" Kitty shrieked, leaping to her feet. "What happening? Yin!"

But before anyone could answer her, the Darkness exploded around them.

( - ) ( - ) ( - )

Ground-level, things were starting to slow down, if only a bit. At least, this is what one naturally assumed after Mystique suddenly vanished (Rouge and Bobby currently inspecting the place to make sure she wasn't planning an ambush) and the Brotherhood disappeared long ago.

"Looks like they're taken care of." Cyclops grinned, turning to the others. "We should clear out before the police…"

He was cut off in mid-sentence by a sudden explosion from above. He snapped his head up as two figures came flying down from the third-floor outcrop, tumbling helplessly head-over-heels.

"Kitty!" Jean exclaimed.

"Evan!" Takuya shouted.

Storm's body tensed, her eyes changing to a glowing electric blue. The weather-controller stretched out her gloved hand so that it was flat-palmed towards the falling figures. The winds swirled from nowhere and plucked the pair from the air, setting them gently on their feet.

"You two okay?" Scott asked as the group raced up.

"Yeah…" Evan gulped, putting a hand over his heart. "Thanks, Auntie O."

Storm smiled and nodded at her nephew, but Logan frowned. "What happened, you two?" The Wolverine snapped sharply.

"Where's Kouichi?" Kouji demanded, his eyes narrowing sharply. "Wasn't he with you two?"

Kitty shook herself harshly, coming back to her senses before bursting out. "It was him! Koui…I mean, Yin! There's something wrong with him!"

"What?" Cyclops gasped, but was quickly shoved aside by a wide-eyed Yang.

"What do you mean, 'something's wrong with him'?" Kouji snapped. "What's wrong? What's going on?"

"He's flipped!" Evan insisted, motioning with his hands and arms adamantly. "We ran Quicksilver off, then Yin started freakin' out, like he was having an attack or something! He started shouting at us, then he just blew us away!"

Kouji had gone strangely pale, spinning around as Jean calmed Spike and Shadowcat down so they could explain in a bit less panicked manner. Kouji took several steps back, craning his neck up to catch a vague glimpse of the swirling darkness staring its nexus over the edge of the unfinished floor.

"Not again…" He growled under his breath. "Dammit all, not again!"

"I see…" Storm nodded, listening to Kitty's much more relaxed version of the events. "Jean?"

"I know." The redhead opened her eyes slowly, looking concerned. "I can't get into his mind to calm him down, either. He's completely lost control."

"I could've told you that." Yang snapped, heading for the elevator.

"H-Hey, Kouji, wait up!" Takuya exclaimed, racing after him. "What're you doing?"

Kouji slammed his hand down on the 'up' button of the elevator. "I need to get up there." He hissed. "I'm the only one who can calm him down."

"Vat does dat mean?" Nightcrawler asked, coming up behind them in his slightly faster down-on-all-fours mode.

Kouji didn't respond, though he did kick the doors of the elevator in frustration when they wouldn't open. "Come on…"

A much larger, stronger hand suddenly descended, grabbing him rather close to the scruff of the neck. "Easy, Flashbulb." Logan growled down.

"Just calm down," Storm soothed, landing behind Logan as Kouji turned around. "and explain to us what's happening."

Kouji took a deep breath that sounded vaguely like a snarl, calming his frazzled nerves back into their normally unemotional state as best he could. "Last time this happened, he nearly blew the roof off my house. I can calm him down, but I have to be able to get to him, and soon…"

"What exactly is going on?" Scott asked, raising an eyebrow behind his visor.

"I don't know." Kouji snapped, blood boiling as a certain prickle ran its way up the back of his neck. "He's scared. I have to get up there!"

The look in his eyes made very few people want to disagree with him.

"Fine." Storm sighed, giving up in all thoughts of disinteresting him. "Kurt, I hate to ask you this, but…"

"No problem!" Nightcrawler nodded, straightening with a wide grin. "I von't mind a bit! Vat is, iv you don't mind, Kouji."

He offered his three-fingered hand to the black-haired boy questionably. Kouji glanced down at him, the realized what he was asking and grabbed on. "Fine. Bamph away."

"Hold on!" Kurt jumped a foot, whipping around to stare at Takuya, his yellow eyes locked on the tail in the brown-haired boy's grasp. "I'm comin' too!"

"Hey…vet go!" Kurt twisted his tail as best he could to try and get it out of Takuya's grasp. "Dat's really annoying, you know?"

Logan growled in his throat. "Sparky…"

"Look, I'm going, and that's that." Takuya snapped, just as sharply, looking both at Logan and at the glaring Kouji. "If he's really lost control, you don't know what he'll do. I'm comin' along to make sure he doesn't kill you two!"

"Fine." Kouji growled somewhat harshly. "Let's go."

Storm looked rather helplessly between the three strong-minded young mutants, then sighed heavily. "Fine…Good luck."

"Be careful!" Kitty warned.

With a nod between the three boys, they disappeared in a puff of smoke.

( - ) ( - ) ( - )

BAMPH!

Kurt's usually-enveloping cloud of sulfurous smoke was blown away almost instantly, the three mutant boys thrown back a few feet before managing to hold their position against the billowing, blowing darkness.

"Voah!" Kurt exclaimed, dropping to all fours and grabbing onto an exposed pipe. "He's veally going all out!"

Kouji growled, gripping something that seamed to be a flag pole to keep his balance, squinting through the swirling, whipping darkness. It wasn't long until he spotted the slightly shadowed figure crouching in the 'eye of the storm'. "Kouichi!"

Takuya, holding onto a concrete pillar with all his might, pulled out his lighter and summoned a ball of fire into his hand. With a backhand toss, he lobbed it into the depths of the darkness. It was blown out in an instant, but not before the light glow revealed the shadowed figure.

Kouichi was on his knees, arms hanging rather limp at his sides, looking straight up at the darkness-covered ceiling. Occasionally, tongues of darkness licked his body and face like the caress of a living creature, but he didn't respond, not to the touch and not to his brother's voice.

"What's going on?" Takuya shouted above the roar. "What's wrong with him?"

"He's not conscious!" Kouji called back. "The darkness is the only thing holding him up! He can't control this!"

"Then vhat are ve supposed to do?" Kurt asked, having wrapped his tail around Takuya's wrist as some extra support.

"You two stay here!" Kouji planted his feet, pulling himself forward. "I'll get him! I have to…"

If Flare or Nightcrawler had any objections, they were lost to the raging winds of darkness, growing stronger and stronger with every step as Kouji pushed his way in. He grabbed on to anything even vaguely bolted down to drag his body through.

"Kouichi!" He shouted as soon as he could see the figure clearly. "It's me! It's Kouji! You need to calm down! Nii-san!"

To his surprise, the elder twin slowly turned his head to face him. His eyes were open, and there was a smile on his face, but…something was wrong. The blue eyes were dark, grayish and clouded over, and the smile was oddly curved…strange and unnerving. It was Kouichi's face, but at the same time…it wasn't.

"Hello, brother." He said, and the voice wasn't right either. It was deep and kind of creepy…almost mechanical, in a way.

Kouji narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"

The boy in front of him spread his arms. "It's just me. Just as I've always been." The smile stretched a bit wider. "I was just ready to wake up."

"You're not Kouichi." Kouji growled. "Where is he? What've you done with him?"

"Exactly as you said." The voice chuckled. "He's right here, fast asleep. And while he sleeps, this body and these powers are mine…"

"Shut…the hell…up!" Kouji roared, and cut off with a pained yelp as something sharp and thin ran along his cheek. The resulting break of skin was sudden and deep, a stream of blood running down his face.

The voice within his brother smirked again. "You've been cut there before, haven't you?"

Automatically, Kouji raised a hand to feel the wound. The scar running below his right eye had been reopened…The scar that had…

"Yes, I remember. The last time this happened, you earned that scar 'rescuing' him, didn't you?" The voice laughed softly. "You know, he still blames himself for that, no matter what you tell him. I can hear every word." The voice changed slightly, a mockery of the boy whose body he possessed. "'It wouldn't have happened if only I could control myself. It's all my fault…' But of course, we know different, don't we?"

Kouji growled, shoving himself forward into the depths of the calm. The voice in his brother's throat just laughed.

"Do you think you can beat me?" He hissed, like a snake curling up on your favorite chair. "Think again, boy. You can push me away all you like, smother me with your precious light, but I'll always be here. This body and these powers are mine. And next time, it will be forever."

Kouji leapt, wrapping his arms around the controlled boy's shoulders. Kouichi took in a stuttering breath, closed his eyes, and slumped, dragging them both to the ground. Kouji breathed a sigh of relief, pulling his twin close to his chest as the darkness around them dissipated.

Flare and Nightcrawler came running through the swiftly-vanishing shadows. "Hey!" Takuya called, raving his now sealed-tight lighter. "You two okay?"

Kouji opened his eyes and relaxed his grip, keeping his tender 'brotherly moment' perfectly private. "We're fine…Everything's fine now."

"Fine?" Kurt asked, looking around, then jumped. "Gah! Vou're bleeding!"

Kouji wiped the blood off his cheek and onto his sleeve. "It's nothing. Just a cut." He slipped his arms behind his brother's, pulling him up with him. "Help me out here. It's time to go home."

Takuya and Kurt exchanged a confused glance, but shrugged and did as Yang had asked.

TBC…

Well…that was satisfying. BTW, Mystique is Rouge's adoptive mother and Kurt's biological one, but there's little to no love between them. Kurt does call her 'Mother' more often than not, but it's kind of bitter. (Personally, I think Mystique loves both Kurt and Rouge with all her heart, but she can't express this because they're on Xavier's side.)

Oh, and if you're confused about the 'mall in a hill thing', it's quite simple. The mall is built on the side of the hill, in such a way that one entrance (at the bottom of the hill) is set in the 'first' floor, while the second (at the top of the hill) is in the second. There are malls like this in San Antonio, Houston, Austin…etc.