To the reviewer wondering how long this story is going to continue for, I intend for this story to continue on through X1, X2, then take a tale all of it's own!

Chapter 33

The crowds were gathering at New York harbour in celebration of the arrival of Senator Kelly, the man who promised the Mutant Registration Act. Held back by metal fencing, the groups still proclaimed their support by holding up signs and chanting their beliefs. Police stood monitoring the crowds, cautiously glancing up and down the road in wait for the Senator to arrive. They suspected mutant activity could be high at such a controversial gathering, and were prepared for the worst. But beyond the supportive groups were the stock warehouses, quiet and empty as the event went on outside.

The rows of buildings were separated by narrow walkways, which led into dark shadows. Quiet footsteps could be heard in the distance, almost disguised by the raucous supporters. Slinking into the darkness against the side of the building, Mystique backed against the wall, her luminous eyes glancing around the area sharply.

"I'll get Guyrich," she muttered quietly to Toad who loped along besides her, "He'll be out the front, I'll need to lead him away."

"Oh yeah?" said Toad, who pulled himself up to sit hunched on a crate, "How ya gonna do that?"

Mystique went quiet for a moment in thought, "I'll tell him the pilot wants a word before they go.. Say he's just stood round the back of one of the warehouses. When he comes round the corner, you know what to do."

"If you think it'll work," said Toad with a shrug, remaining sat on the crate.

"Oh, it will," she said softly with a smile, her form disappearing beneath flaking blue skin with the usual crackle of her flesh. Revealed was a stout short man dressed in a policeman's attire. An uncharismatic smirk sat on his face. Mystique turned, her new form sprinting down the dark alley of boxes, making her way to the harbour.

The sounds of the supportive crowd grew louder the closer she got, and as she stepped out into the glow of the sunshine, she could see the range of banners held aloft, proclaiming agreement to Senator Kelly, and vicious mutant jibes. Standing at the harbour was Henry Guyrich, Kelly's trusted assistant. Mystique straightened her hat slowly atop her baldhead and casually made her way towards him, "Mr. Guyrich?"

Henry Guyrich looked round curiously; giving a polite smile to the man he was addressed by, "Yeah?"

"The pilot for the helicopter.. Can't remember his name.. he round the back of the warehouse. I think there's something wrong. He asked for me to come and find you. Perhaps it's something to do with the security of Senator Kelly's transport?"

Henry quickly looked concerned, "We've only got fifteen minutes, I hope it's not a major fault!"

"Round the back, there!" said Mystique; pointing at the aisle of boxes she had just come down. Henry quickly hurried in that direction, with Mystique following behind. Henry pulled his phone out of his pocket as it rung.

"This is Henry Guyrich, hold the arrival of the helicopter to the harbour. Need to check security." He pocketed the phone almost instantly after talking and continued to run towards the back of the warehouse building. As he turned the corner he came to a halt, staring, "What the - ? Argh!" he was thrown back by a sudden slap of a long green object. As he stumbled, Toad leapt into view with a sinister chuckle, he opened his mouth and a green substance was released from his mouth as a projectile and hit Henry in the face, promptly covering his mouth and nose. Henry fell to the floor, grabbing at his face as he fought to breathe.

"Good one, Mystique."

Mystique leant against the boxes slowly, calmly watching as Toad sat on Henry's chest, his grubby hands tight around the man's neck, "We still need to find the pilot himself."

"No problem," said Toad as he pressed his fingers tighter against Henry's neck. Henry struggled and fought against the hold, whilst one hand tried desperately to pull the hardened slime from his face. "He'll be with the helicopter, I'll sort that out." Henry's defence weakened gradually, and his moving arms slumped slowly as he collapsed back against the crate side. His head lolled slowly and he fell silent. Toad rose up, nodding to Mystique, "You go as

Guyrich to the front, and I'll sort out that pilot."

"Very well," and Mystique's form changed once more to become the man that lay dead at her feet. She crouched by the body, grabbing items from his pocket that may come in useful. With a nod to Toad, she rose to her feet and turned, disappearing through the shadows as she headed back to the harbour where she would wait..

A slim black car pulled up at the harbour, the back door being pulled open by the numerous bodyguards who gathered round protectively as journalists flocked over. Out of the back of the car came Senator Robert Kelly, who raised his hands in appreciative waves to the crowd, who was cheering louder when he came into view. Mystique quickly slipped forth from the side of the road, coming alongside Senator Kelly and nodding to the awaiting helicopter. Kelly nodded slowly, making his way into the helicopter. As Mystique passed the front of the helicopter, she smirked in at the pilot as she gestured to set the rotary blades moving. Toad, disguised by the pilot's helmet, grinned to himself, nodding in a satisfied way.

Mystique pulled herself into the back of the helicopter, sitting away from Kelly and opposite him. The doors were slammed shut, and the helicopter speedily rose into the air and set off across the rooftops of New York City.

"Give me your phone," Kelly instructed to his falsely disguised assistant. And with a small smirk, Mystique plucked the phone from her suit pocket and threw it over to him. Kelly caught it, dialled the number and promptly placed it against his ear. "Senator Wells? It's Robert Kelly. I'm sure you've heard about the rise of my supporters. You still don't agree with me, huh? Senator, you favour gun registration, yes? Well, some of these so-called children posses ten times the destructive force of any hand gun! No, I don't see a difference! All I see are weapons in our schools. Well, that's fair enough. All right." He closed the lid looking surly at the brief phone call he had just made. He threw the phone back across to Mystique, who caught it perfectly between her hands.

"So?"

"It's gonna be close," he told her morosely, "A vote this loaded is always this close."

Mystique raised a brow slowly, her smirk still subtly in place, "What about the UN summit? The whole world will be watching, maybe there's someway you could use that to your advantage?"

"We're Americans, Henry," muttered Kelly, "Let the rest of the damn world deal with mutants their own way. You know this situation – these mutants? People like this Jean Grey? If it were up to me I'd lock 'em all away. It's a war. It's the reason people like me exist." He looked out of the window slowly, then frowning as he peered down at the ground below the helicopter. Nothing but miles of sparkling blue ocean could be seen. "Where the hell are we?" He slowly looked round with a curious expression. And there, before his eyes, Henry Guyrich suddenly disappear amidst crackling skin, and his appearance peeled away slowly to reveal a blue skinned young woman sat before him, her legs neatly crossed and wearing nothing but a sinister smile. "PILOT!" Kelly pushed himself up, in a bid to run to the cockpit. But he was stopped as Mystique elegantly lifted her body and blocked him with her feet. They grabbed him by the face and neck, holding him tightly.

She was not smiling now. Her face now held every ounce of anger and disgust. "People like you were the reason I was afraid to go to school as a child." And with all her energy she brought back a foot, smacking it heavily back and forth across his face, sending his glasses askew as he cried out. With both her feet, she shoved him back into his seat, where he slumped with a pained groan. She casually turned from her seat, making her way through to the cockpit where she slipped into the seat besides Toad. She pulled a headset over and placed it on, glancing across at Toad.

He merely grinned to himself, continuing to fly the helicopter towards the rocky island that lay in the distance. Magneto's home. The Brotherhood's home

Thank you for reading! You know what to do now! (Here's a teeny weeny hint: REVIEW!) XD