Take the Long Way Home Chapter 22: Blue Eyes, Meet Blue Wings!, a x-men: evolution fanfic

Take the Long Way Home

Chapter 22 concludes what I began last chapter. Plus Kitty and Rick meet Coyote. Can't wait to see what their reactions are? Then read on.

Soulstress- *Salutes* Aye-aye!

LW- Hey man, thanks. And don't worry, they may try and get to me, but I always bounce back.

AzureDragoness- Sorry it took so long. And put the spatula down…slowly.

Animeluvr- Thanks. Yeah, Todd is Coyote's favorite. AWWW, how'd you guess?! But don't tell anyone! I don't think a live Lockheed will make an appearance; you'll just have to settle for the stuffed one. And Razor falling in love with Lockheed?! I don't think so; he's to smart to not be able to tell the difference between a stuffed animal and a real one. But I like the attack idea. Good idea about Lance too, I'll use it.

-AAA- Translation

AAA-telepathy

AAA-self debate, or conversation with feral side in Shawn and Rahne's case

Disclaimer: iugflukfhujfkyvyk(Make sense of that evil lawyer people!)

Chapter 22- Blue Eyes, Meet Blue Wings!

(AN: Again, just about half of this chapter, up to a point, is Animeluvr's work. I've changed and added a few things though.)

It was a normal day at the Institute.

"I can't believe Tabby's in jail AGAIN!" Rick laughed.

As normal as it gets in a household of mutants, one half demon, and an infant Velociraptor anyway.

            "This is what, the seventh time?" wondered Roberto.

            "Shut up."

            "You MUST have broken some sort of record by now" Kitty said, leafing through the Guinness Book of World Records.

            "I'm just in the wrong place at the wrong time!"

            "Sure Tabby"

            The girl glared, grabbing something from Rahne's hand. She rolled.

            "Ha! A four and a two! And the streak continues!" Rick shouted triumphantly.

            Tabby looked at her little car Monopoly piece in dismay.

            "Can you quiet down? I'm TRYING to read" Jean yelled at them from behind her book.

            "Talk about your cold shoulders. . ." Bobby trailed off, and the game continued.

            The next day, the new recruits were enjoying a game of Battle Tag out on the front lawn. Jamie ran backwards, trying to keep his back away from Ray, who was chasing him, who, in turn, was being chased by Razor. Suddenly, he slammed into Jean. She was covered in a pile of Jamies in a matter of seconds. Ray and Razor skidded to a stop just short of the mass.

            "Jesus, Jamie, will you WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING?!" Jean shouted, getting up and stalking off.

            "Did you see that?" one of the Jamies asked Ray.

            "See what? Queen Jean acting pissy?"

            "No, no, not that. . . I could have sworn her eyes turned blue for a second there."

            "Musta been your imagination, squirt."

            With that, the two returned to the game. Razor however, stayed where he was, watching Jean's retreating back. If he had had hackles, they would have been standing on end. Something was wrong with the Red Lady, his instincts, programmed through they were; were screaming at him to be on guard.

*That Night*

Scott lay down in bed, thinking of recent happenings. Jean was acting really strange lately, and he was fairly sure it wasn't her 'time of month', so to speak. He slipped on his sleeping goggles and closed his eyes.

*Jean's Dream*

Scott wondered where he was. He had been dreaming of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and now, bam! It was gone. Well, at least he wasn't going to eat part of his pillow again…that had been embarrassing.

He wandered around the dreamscape until two voices wafted to his ears. Jean and… Jean? But while one was using her soft, melodic voice, the other was growling. Scott realized he was inside Jean's head because of their bond. He followed their (her?) voice(s?).

"They're out to get you."

"No, they're not! They're my friends!"

"Friends? With you? No, they're friends with Miss Popularity. The perfect one. Not you."

"You're wrong!"

"Am I, Jean? Just give in. I'm stronger and you know it."

"Get out of my head! Leave me alone!"

Scott froze, but then realized she meant the other Jean, not him.

"Leave you?" the other Jean laughed. "Leave you? I AM you!"

"You're not! You're all in my head. I can make you go away."

"I'd like to see you- ah."

"What?!"

"It seems we have an intruder."

Scott felt himself being pulled into a vortex of pure mental energy. Suddenly, the two Jeans were standing right before him.

"Scott!" the one he assumed to be 'true' Jean called out.

The other one frowned. She had forgotten of the mental bond with the boy. He went up to her.

"Look, whoever you are, I don't know you and I don't want to. Now get OUT of Jean's head, NOW."

"Don't know me?" the evil one laughed incredulously. "You've known me since you were seven years old."

"No." Scott snarled. "I've known JEAN since I was seven. Not you." The evil one smirked, and Scott noticed a key difference- this other Jean had blue eyes.

"Fine, if that's how you want to play it. Call me Madelyne Pryor. Now, YOU get out." Scott looked at Jean, who had been silent. Her eyes were glazed over again.

"I said GET OUT." Madelyne glared.

Scott stood firm.

"Fine." Madelyne lifted her hand, and Jean fell to the floor, hands covering her temples in a vain attempt to stop it.

"IT NEVER ENDS!" she cried out in anguish.

Madelyne brought her hand down again, and Jean slumped to the floor, silent. The blue eyed monster turned and faced Scott, and he felt as if he were slipping. . .

Scott sat straight up in bed.

"Oh god."

            The next morning, Scott kept a constant lookout for Madelyne. He informed the others of what was going on, but none believed him.

            That is, until he and the other X-Men walked into the kitchen for lunch.

            Suddenly, Jean's jaw clenched, her eyes wide and staring. "It…it …" she stammered.

            'It never ends,' Thought Scott, 'Isn't that it, Jean? It never ends.'

            But to his surprise, she said something else. "It's coming. She's coming. I can't stop her!"

            Scott rushed to her side. "Fight her, Jean! You have to!"

            "Can't… too strong… I can't… control her…"

            Scott looked up at the other students. "Someone go get the Professor!" he barked. Bobby bolted from the room.

            "Jean?" Kitty asked, inching closer.

            Jean stopped shaking, and looked up at them with cool, confident blue eyes. "I am not Jean."

            "Who are you, then?"

            The redhead opened her mouth to respond when Scott spoke.

            "Her name is Madelyne Pryor. And she doesn't belong here."

            "You always have an answer, don't you Scott?" Madelyne sneered. "Ah yes, Scott, fearless leader. The responsible one. You're not worth my time, or anyone's time for that matter. Being Cyclops is the only thing that makes you worthwhile. Not even goody two shoes Jean Grey gave you the time of day unless you were suited in spandex."

            "You're lying" Scott said, his stomach rolling with unease.

            "And who are you to judge the truth, Scott? Who are you to tell me what I know, what to do?"

            "Shut UP!"

            "I'm not Jean, but who, Scott, are YOU? Ah, Scott, pole up his butt, they say you live for the fights- you're hiding in them."

            "From what!?"

            "From facing your failure, facing the loneliness, facing the fact you live a lie."

            Scott opened his mouth to protest, but Madelyne wasn't stopping.

            "Of course you live a lie- and we all know it. You're always preaching to us not to be numb, not to give up, but that's how you thrive. You pretend to create and observe, but all you're doing is detaching from feeling alive."

            'Don't listen to her.' Scott instructed himself. 'She lies. She's mixing it with the truth to take me down- well I won't fall easy. It isn't true.' But a little part of his mind was saying 'it could be a LITTLE true. . .'

            "Scott, maybe ve should-"

            "And Kurt!" Madelyne said, turning. "There's so much self-hatred in you I can TASTE it. I wonder, Kurt, how many secrets are hiding behind that carefree facade of yours? How many times, Kurt, were you almost burned at the stake?"

            Kurt cried out and fled from the room.

            "You BITCH!" Ray yelled, charging his fists.

            Madelyne turned to him. Her face twisted, as if to resemble someone else. "Get out of this house, you disgusting mutie" she said, her voice a low rumble completely not her own.

            Ray stumbled back. "…Dad?"

            "I can't believe I raised a freak." She growled in that foreign voice.

            Rick stepped forward, Shawn at his side. "Hey, whoever you are, why don't you shut the hell up?!"

            She glared at him, and you could almost see her will pushing outwards to strike him. But Shawn intercepted, stepping in front of his friend and raising his arm as if he wore a shield. There was a sudden clang, as if a something had hit something metallic. Shawn gave Jean a grim smirk, his eyes turning reptilian. He opened his mouth to speak, but the voice that came from it was not his own.

"I think that's enough of that, girly," Bahumut snickered. Rick and the others drew back from their friend as a misty form began to take shape around his shoulders. They formed into transparent blue wings. Suddenly, Shawn seemed to take a step forward, while standing still at the same time. A ghostly, jean clad leg emerged from his own leg, followed by an armored torso emerging from his chest. Finally, Bahumut stood before the astonished teens, stretching. On his right arm he carried a circular shield, while a short sword rested in the scabbard on his right.

"What the hell are you supposed to be!?!" Jean snarled.

"An old friend," Shawn smiled, his eyes turning back to their normal shape. He looked at the form in front of him and gave him a thumbs-up. "Props on the entrance Bahumut." His eyes changed back as Bahumut spoke through his mouth.

"Thanks kid," the half-dragon returned the thumbs-up. "Now," he said, returning his attention to a fuming Madelyne, "Do you want to give up now, or do I have to get medieval on your blue-eyed ass?" Rick couldn't suppress a snicker as the ghostly dragon-man crossed his arms, looking both bored and pissed at the same time, and pulling it off beautifully.

"What makes you so confident?" Madelyne sneered.

"Simple. I, have backup. You, do not." The X-men that were still present were beginning to get whiplash from turning their heads back and forth so much.

"Backup?! HAH! What type of backup could you possibly have?" She swung her arm to indicate the X-Men. "These rabble? I could dispose of them easily!"

Bahumut looked over his shoulder at Shawn. "Ohhhhh Smmmmaauugggg," he called in singsong voice.

Ray looked at Kitty in apprehension. "Wasn't Smaug the dragon from 'The Hobbit'?" he asked. She nodded.

As he spoke, yet another form began to take shape in the air in front of Shawn. This time, it looked like a cavern opening, two huge, crimson eyes visible within its depths. A deep rumbling growl emanated from Shawn's throat as his eyes turned crimson for a moment. Bahumut smirked. "So," he asked in a conversational tone, "Do you really wanna rumble?" As he 'spoke', Bahumut drew his sword, pointing the transparent blade's tip meaningfully towards Jean/ Madelyne. The possessed girl stared at him, struck speechless by her fury. Rogue took this opportunity to march up and get into her face.

"Look Jean, I know you're still in there, and you better get it together! This bitch is nothin'! You just can't take this lying down! Now get your rear in gear and kick her the hell out!" Madelyne stared at her. Not only was Shawn presenting not one, but two direct challenges to her power, but Jean was beginning to revolt inside of her head. Luckily, the professor rolled into the kitchen at that moment. He gaped at the sight of the insubstantial cavern mouth and Bahumut, but quickly focused on the problem at hand.

"What's going on here!" he demanded.

"It's Jean! She's not herself!" Scott cried. Madelyne opened her mouth, but Bahumut got up into her face, phasing through Rogue, before she could even draw a breath.

"Say one fucking word and I will personally go in there, rip you the hell out, and feed you to Smaug!" Madelyne stared at him for a moment, and then began to laugh crazily. Bahumut turned and looked at the assembled throng. "This gal's about as stable as the Tower of Pisa's foundations!" With Bahumut providing a distraction, the professor entered Jean's mind and, with Jean's assistance, wiped Madelyne out of existence. As they entered the real world, Jean took one look at the misty figure in front of her, and fainted. Bahumut at least had the good grace to catch her.

He looked at the unconscious girl in his arms, and shook his head in disbelief. "Well I'll be damned; I can interact with the physical plane now!"

He handed Jean off to a worried Scott, before beginning to fade away. Shawn however, had other ideas. "HOLD IT!" he snapped. Bahumut stopped in mid-vanish. Smaug's cavern entrance however, had already vanished. "You are gonna explain this to these guys, because I hardly understand it myself!" Bahumut looked at all the confused and slightly fearful faces around him, and sighed.

-The Hood House, half an hour later-

*KNOCK KNOCK!* (AN: Great sound effects, uh?)

Lance got up from where he was watching TV to answer the door. Imagine his surprise to see Kitty, Rick and Tabby on the front step. His face lit up as he saw Kitty though. "KITTY! Ummm, sorry. But what are you doing here?" Kitty just looked at him for a second.

"Ummm, Lance, would it be okay if we spent a few hours here? There's some really, really weird stuff going on at the Institute, and I kinda needed to get to someplace that was at least semi-normal." As Lance invited her in, he shot a questioning look at Rick and Tabby. Tabby sailed right past him, chatting a mile a minute about how the place hadn't changed since she had last been there. Rick began to look embarrassed.

"Ummm, sorry. I should probably stick around, and make sure that Tabby doesn't blow anything…" *BOOM!!!!!!!!* "Up," he finished as the house shook. Lance winced a little at the noise, and Kitty noticed.

"Are you like, okay? Is it like, the headaches again?" Lance nodded, but smiled tiredly.

"Yeah, but ever since I started some special meditation exercises, they've been coming less and less, and are getting weaker and weaker." Pietro raced by, cackling, at that moment, with Wanda in hot pursuit. "Of course some headaches never go away," he groaned. As Pietro sped past the kitchen door, a wiry, tanned arm shot out and lifted him clear off the floor. The arm was attached to Coyote, of course. Kitty and Rick's jaws dropped at the ease that he had caught the speedster. Coyote looked up from Pietro and nodded in the two teens direction.

"Kitty, Rick. Lance, why don't you show them the backyard or something; Freddy's cooking right now, and you know how testy he gets if people bother him in the kitchen." With that he turned his attention back to the squirming silver haired bundle in his grip.

"Okay Speedy, what'd you do this time?" he asked calmly.

"He was reading my diary!" Wanda accused. Pietro squirmed in Coyote's grip some more.

"No I wasn't, I thought it was a novel!"

"Liar!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am-guck!" Pietro's retort was cut off by Toad sliming his mouth shut from his position on the ceiling.

"Thank you Todd," Wanda called sweetly.

"No problem Wanda," he called back, before assuming a position that didn't look all too comfortable on the wall.

"That's enough for today Todd, you can come down now," Coyote called. Toad nodded as he hopped down. Kitty was still shocked about the new addition to the 'Hood.

"Lance," she said faintly, "Who is this?"

"This is Coyote. He's training us." Coyote nodded at the girl.

"Oh, by the way, if you're looking for Tabby, she's in Mystique's old room. I asked her if she would incinerate some things for me." Lance looked at him for a moment.

"The box of…" Coyote nodded. Lance sighed in relief. "Thank god! I'm still having nightmares from when we found it!"

As the Lance herded the other two upstairs, Kitty shot an accusing glare at Lance. "Why didn't you like, tell me about him?" she asked coolly. Lance looked a little sheepish.

"I'm sorry Kitty, but Coyote wanted to keep the fact that he was training us a secret. Besides," he continued defensively, "He's really helped us to master our powers. And he's even teaching us martial arts!"

"But how do you like, know that he's who he says he is. He could be Mystique in disguise you know!" Lance looked out the window as screeching brakes sounded in the drive. His face contorted to a look of intense anger.

"I think you're theory just got disproved," he said bitterly. He moved aside to let the other two see out the window. Outside, Raven Darkholme got out of her car, and gave a sinister smile as she looked at the Brotherhood boarding House.

---To Be Continued---

Oh SHIT!! Mystique's here and the shit is about to hit the fan hard! Let's see what happens when our favorite spirit guide faces off against a shape-shifting biotch! And this little confrontation will have more observers than you think. Who else is watching, and who exactly do they work for. All that and a bag of chips next time, but until then, Read & Review!