Hey everyone, here is another chapter for all you adoring readers who want to see Kale get his scaled ass destroyed. just kidding

Mareo and Anime: oh, so you like the sound of her; don't be surprised if she bares a startling resembalence to a certain movie character. You back to your trademark statement, YES! ignore me and and read please.

iamhollywood: Yeah, the inturlude was just to give readers a glimpse of how twisted these people had become. When they meet with the X-Men, the fight will mainly be Kale, Todd, Logan and a upcoming gueast fending them off while the kids try not to get killed. But blood being spilt, dont think in drops, think in pints on Kale's and Todd's behalf.

Lecheecopae: Uh, a little worried about the ILY and i think i will have to worry about my girlfriend getting jealous now (eeps). Sorry to hear you being sick, but great chapter up. and here is the next chapter

What happens?; Kale gets advice from Todd and makes a decision. Need more?; read the stroy. NOW

Asking Her Out

Two days later…

Kale shifted and tightened the grip he had on his katana, the blade held perfectly vertical by his right hand in front of him as he paced around a small circle. Todd was opposite him with his own sword horizontal, his hands firmly holding the sword as his brow dripped with sweat.

It was five o'clock after school on a Thursday, the third day after his first day at school, and he and Todd had finally figured out where they could spar without being interrupted on the Wednesday.

They couldn't train at Mansion because of the fact the Todd had a reputation of being a troublemaker and Logan wasn't ready to lie to the Professor; School was out of the question because everyone would think they were trying to actually fight each other and Kale didn't know any of the local Sensei.

The answer had been kind of oblivious to them until Kale had seen the Brotherhood house and had seen the forest off to the side. After scouting it out for a few hours, Todd had found a small clearing and it was perfect for them to train.

Like today, since Kale had brought his sword and Todd had dug his own katana up from the depths of the Brotherhood house basement, hidden so the rest of the community wouldn't know his past.

Snapping the sword off to the side and raising it above his head, Todd lunged and swung down with all of his weight and power put in the attack. Kale turned his sword to the side and blocked the on coming attack, rotating off to his left side and swinging at Todd's back.

Back flipping over the blade, Todd barely had time to block Kale's back swing when he landed and kick Kale in the head with a roundhouse kick. Knocked to the floor, Kale rolled on the ground and sprang to his feet faster than a cat.

Standing up and holding his swords blade down, Kale ran at Todd and brought his sword in an upward slash. The amphibious mutant parried the blade successfully, but Todd wasn't able to reposition his sword in time when Kale switched grips and pressed the blade against his throat. After a few moments, Kale lowered his sword and stepped from Todd with a half grin he always has while Todd mimicked the grin.

"Not bad, you remembered to keep your sword up instead of always dropping it down." Kale said as he sheathed his katana and pulled his shirt off, wringing the clothing dry of the sweat. "You haven't lost much of you sword skills. It's impressive."

"Yeah, well since I only have a brown belt in Iaido and you have a frickin' grandmaster belt, I think I did really well." Todd retorted, sheathing his own sword.

Kale smirked as he watched Todd pull his shirts off and tightened his belt around his pants, his own savage picture of scars being reveled. The long slash mark from his collar bone to his waist, cord burns wrapped around his chest and the top of his biceps, three gunshot wounds near his shoulders, five stab wound on his stomach; Kale knew each wound that he had received and what had cause them. It was a privilege of being the Squad leader to know everything that happens to your team.

"Come on, Treefrog; let's check out you hand to hand." Kale said, resting his sword on top of his shirt.

"Sure Kale, just give me minute."

Walking back to where they had been fighting, Kale stood waiting for Todd and cracked his body joints. Todd walked towards Kale and stopped when they were about three feet apart, bowing respectively. Slowly, Todd extended his right leg and bent it up so his foot was on his toes; he brought his hands up, open handed and leveled them with his chest.

"Cat stance" Kale said, recognizing the position.

Sliding one foot in front of the other, Kale held his arms up by his head with his left arm closer to his face than his right; his left hand was open but his right hand was closed. The pair of them stood in the stances for several minutes before they did anything. Throwing both of his hands in Kale's face, Todd spun around and thrusted his leg backwards into his stomach, feeling his left foot connect with Kale's stomach.

Kale fell back onto his shoulder and rolled up in time to block Todd's next kick, catching the powerful leg in one hand. Kale pulled his brother off balance and smacked the back of his fist against his stomach.

As Kale's blow doubled Todd over, Todd hooked Kale across the face and made him flip over himself. Swinging his legs around, Kale wrapped his ankles around Todd's neck and pushing himself onto a handstand, Kale slammed him on the ground. Untangling his legs, Kale stood and hoped up, avoiding the ground sweep that Todd tried to use.

Todd began to throw jabs, hooks, roundhouses while Kale could only really use his forearms to bock, using his elbows and knees on the odd occasion. Todd was extremely quick when it came to hand and foot work, matching Kale's hand eye coordination almost to the letter; so with out powers they would be a perfect match even though they had studied different martial arts.

As Todd hooked with his right fist and brought around his elbow, he also swung his tongue around. Kale was smacked across the face and had to use both arms to block a kick. Spinning around, Kale swung with his right leg and then lifted his body in the air as he kicked with left leg, trigging his mutation while airborne; His tail shot out and hammered Todd in the chest.

When he land, Kale used both arms to chop down on Todd's shoulders and then smack him on either side of the face. The blows forced Todd to his knees and he barely raised his head to see Kale raise his fist, triggering the first reaction that he had been taught; his right fist shot out into Kale's gut and then, using Kale's body to pull himself up, hammered him in the jaw with his elbow.

Kale staggered and rubbed his jaw, as though it had just been a stray punch that had hit him but Todd knew different; Kale could take a hundred beating and still ready to take on anybody. The blow he had just landed would have broken any normal persons jaw, but kale wasn't normal by any stretch of the imagination.

"Good shot there with your elbow, bro, your skills haven't faltered yet." Kale said, using Todd's Japanese name as he pulled his shirt back on, transforming to his human state.

"Thanks but you always hold back, like you did with the X-Geeks and that Scottish girl." Todd said, walking up beside Kale and nudging him in the ribs.

Kale looked at Todd in bewilderment and Todd cracked up at his face, walking ahead of Kale. Kale sighed deeply and saw the tribal wings on Todd's shoulders, almost exactly like his wolf paw.

"How did you possibly know that?" Kale asked, picking up his sword and putting it in the traveling case ha had for it.

"I listen in on what the X-Geeks say." Todd said as he pulled his shirt of his scar worn body; he added later. "I also used Kimaguare to see what had happened to you."

"You know that if you use Kimaguare to view the past for yourself, it could punish you right?" Kale asked, his longer stride allowing him to catch up with Todd. "The only time it's safe to do that is when you show someone else a past, or to see the future.

"I know, I'm sorry" Todd said, but soon had a mischievous smile on his face. "So, are you going to ask her out?"

Kale stumbled at the question and found himself at a loss for words; he knew he was talking about Rahne, but Kale wasn't sure if he should honestly answer Todd. He wanted to ask Rahne out, but every time he tried to he got terrified and just fell into his normal pleasant self.

"I don't know." Kale said softly, sliding the carrying strap over his shoulder. "It's just what I feel, it terrifies me…"

"Whoa, time out and back up, bro." Todd said, as a face of amusement appeared on his face. "You, Kale Nority, one of the most feared and a deadly assassin, my blood brother, is afraid to ask a girl out on a date; now I've seen everything."

"This payback for what I did to you and Decibel, isn't it?" Kale whined, dropping his head.

"You better believe it, bro." Todd said nudging Kale in the ribs.

Kale sighed heavily and kept walking, his hands shoved into his pants pockets. Todd looked at Kale and saw the look of lost desperate loving smeared all over his face, finding himself understanding completely what he was going through.

"Listen Kale, you can't live in the past where your mistakes rule your life; Phoenix played you, yes, we understand, now get over it. She belongs in your past and in hell, so let her stay there." Todd said, grasping his brother's shoulder warmly. "Take a chance with the girl, Kale; God knows you deserve it."

Kale heard the uncertainty and repulsion when Todd said the Lords name and he sneered at the mentioning of creator. Todd and Kale had once been very strong believers in the Catholic Church, but after witnessing what had happened one night; a night that had changed the religious views of the entire Genesi Squad.

As they neared the edge of the forest and stepped on to the road, Kale sighed at the fact that it was good that he had a brother to talk things over with. Sure Todd was a bit of dipstick at times, but he meant well and tried to bring others up.

"Thanks for the advice, shit for brains." Kale said, smiling as they playfully insulted each other.

"Any time, wolf fucker." Todd said, dodging a playful swipe from Kale as the departed.

Kale then took off towards the Xavier Mansion while Todd went across the road and hopped up to his bedroom window, slipping in the house like a shadow.

What they didn't see was the snake that had followed them and coiled on the side of the road where they had been. It had been watching them train for the past two days, with intense interest.

It lifted its charcoal scaled head, its red star markings glistening on it head as the rest of its back was covered in red stripes. It opened its eyes and orbs of green gleamed out form under the lids. Slithering back into the forest, it went into a particular dark region of the woods and stopped when it reached a figure.

The extended an arm and the serpent rose up and wrapped around the fore arm; slowly it began to sink into the skin, joining with the person and left an extensively detailed snake tattoo.

"Interesting." A soft voice said, shoulder length green hair matching gleaming green eyes with serpent like slits. "Very interesting indeed."

Kale walked around the mansion, stretching his slightly burning muscles and shook his head. He had gotten home relatively quickly and was just wandering about. Suddenly, he got a whiff of Rahne scent and felt that she was coming around the next corner; jumping up to the ceiling, Kale hung on as she passed beneath him.

Dropping down behind her silently, Kale silently walked behind her for a few minutes and then grabbed and gave a quiet bark in her ears. She leaped up and whirled around with her fist raised while Kale fell to the ground laughing.

"Kale! Ye damn dragon buffoon, ye nearly gave me a heart attack." She said, rubbing her chest from where her heart was drumming loudly.

"I doubt it Rahne, yer too young and beautiful to have any of them yet." Kale said as he stood up, the words he spoke impacting both metamorphic teens.

Rahne blushed a furious scarlet and Kale went crimson as his eyes started to glow, his hands running nervously through his hair while she wrung them. Kale had never outspoken how he felt for her or said anything like that before so it startled Rahne to hear them from him.

"Hey, Kale ye up for a hide and seek match." She said craftily.

"Sure, you just gotta do something for me." Kale said leaning close to her.

"W-What?" She stammered slightly.

The fact that he had come so close, Kale felt a wave of nervousness and anticipation as his draconic side tried to take over; the dragon in him made him lean closer to her ear and breath heavily in her ear, which made her involuntarily shudder.

"Catch me first" Kale said huskily in ear, smelling her scent along her neck.

Kale then bolted down the hallway out the front, his dragon form showing in all it's glory. It took Rahne a few minutes to gather her senses before she transformed and went after Kale.

After about running for six minutes solid, Kale leaned against a tree and took deep breaths as he tried to still his racing heart beat, his pulse pounding with excitement rather than fear. He looked around and silently made his way to the small pound on the Xavier mansion. Kale didn't want to complete lose him Rahne to find him and he knew she would use his scent against him.

When he reached the edge of the pound, Kale pulled his shirt off and rubbed it roughly against his chest and threw it in nearby bushes; he then slipped into the pound with such skill that he barely made a ripple. Taking a deep breath, Kale submerged himself and waited.

He held onto underwater roots and used his superhuman hearing to listen out for Rahne, his red eyes softly glowing as he looked out of the water as well. After about twenty minutes of waiting, Kale saw a wolf-like shape walk by the pound and heard Rahne's breathing pattern.

Kale smirked, he had everyone he knew memorized by scent, breathing patterns, footsteps and the pheromones they gave off. Transforming into his draconic state, Kale also extended his wings for the first time since he had been at the X Mansion.

Rising up so he was like a crocodile with only his nostrils and eyes above the water, Kale smirked underwater as Rahne crept towards the bushes where his shirt was; silently he swam under water with his wing and tail until he was maybe a foot away from her, keeping pack with her walking figure.

She suddenly lunged on the bushes and Kale fought every muscle in his body to not laugh. Rahne slowly came up and was holding Kale's shirt, giving an exasperated groan with her back to Kale.

"RAAAAAAAAR" Kale roared as he cupped his wings in the water and lunged out of the water, his wings flapping towards her and dumping the water all over her.

Rahne let out a terrified shriek as what she thought was monster made of three tons of water was dumped on her. Whirling around, she saw Kale was roaring with laughter and was trying not to fall back in the water, his massive wings folded behind his back were slowly being pulled back into his body.

Kale looked at Rahne with a hug grin splattered across his face at the sight of her; there she was in her green shirt and jean, absolutely soaked to the bone and her body visible dripping from all the water

"Ye cheated, Kale; ye know I can't track yer scent in the water when we play hide and seek." Rahne said as she shook herself dry.

"Aw, did we get a wee bit, love?" Kale asked innocently.

Growling, Rahne ran and leapt at him, tackling him head on. Catching her around the waist, Kale pulled her back with him as he fell into the pound and when he surfaced, he was still laughing. At first surprised he was still laughing, Rahne slowly joined in and splashed him with water, which he responded with his tail; this of course started a full out water fight.

"Hey Kale, ye didn't tell me that ye had wings." Rahne said as they calmed down.

"Well you never did ask, Wolfhound." Kale responded, dodging a playful slap from her. "But, yeah, I have wings; can do a few cool tricks with them."

"Like what?" Rahne asked as they walked in the water to the bank.

With his half grin Kale dropped under the water and seemingly vanished, the few ripples he left behind disappearing quickly. Rahne watched as a large ripple from the other side of the pound zipped around and darted from side to side with impressive speed. Suddenly, the large ripple dropped back in the water and the whole lake went still.

Rahne looked around hesitantly and was a little unnerved that Kale was so good at hiding himself. It was like he could become a ghost and just faded in and out of existence and the amount of calmness and control he had with his powers was amazing to her.

Rahne didn't want to admit it to anyone but she had found Kale to be so attractive and when he had seemed so scared about her seeing his scars, she had just want to hold him and show her own scars that she had received from back home in Scotland.

Kale was just so powerful, but also weak and unafraid to say he was scare to do some thing that she had just wanted to kiss him at times and at other to take him where he stood. Rahne just couldn't understand the complexity her animal side was making her feel, the human side told her that she should wait to get to know him, but the wolf side told her he was perfect and she should have made her move the day she saw him.

Since Rahne was so wrapped up in her thoughts, she screamed when a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her out of the water. She heard a flapping of wings and was soon propelled into the air, a thick green tail wrapping her and Kale close together.

"Sorry about the tail; just don't want to drop you." Kale said as she rotated her around so he could face her.

Rahne saw he was transformed and now she could see his wing extending out of his back better. Protruding from his shoulder blades where pair of large leathery wings, at least thirteen feet long and five feet wide. They flapped powerfully and gracefully against the wind and continually pushed them higher in the sky. It was then she realized how high they were.

"Oh my God!" She squealed and throwing her arms around d him, tightened her grip around Kale's neck.

"Oh you like the view up here?" Kale asked, looking down at her as she shut her eyes and buried her face against his chest. "Well, at least I found one way to get you in my arms."

Rahne cracked her eyes open and saw that Kale had stopped rising, hovering on some rising winds; Rahne had flown in a plane before but this was something much more wild and in a way, more uplifting. They were soon flying in the clouds, his wings skimming the fluffy tips of the clouds.

Rahne looked into Kale's red eyes and saw he really meant what he said, instead of joking with her as he had sounded. Rahne could help but feel like a giddy six year old at the prospect of knowing that he actually liked her.

"So Drákōn, can do any neat flying tricks?" Rahne asked craftily and was a little worried by a gleam in his eyes.

"Hold on, Wolfhound, ye might regret that in a minute." Kale said, his body starting to tilt upwards.

Rahne smiled as he tightened his arms, but soon was screaming when he closed his wing and leaned back; they went plummeting down to grounds, the wind screaming in their ears and the mansion came into view. Twisting his body so they twirled around like a acrobat, Kale opened his wings when they were a foot from the ground and flew an inch from the ground upside down, so that Rahne was upright.

Banking to his left, Kale rose up into the air and spiraled around like a fighter pilot. He then lowered them down again, this time over the pound and he let his clawed feet trial in the water. The water rose up in three foot waves on either side of the pair and they flew in between them with a feral grace.

Kale decided it was time to end the ride and redirected himself over to the mansion, shifting Rahne so she lay across his arms. Flying upwards for an instant, Kale pulled his wing back into his body and flipped around until he gracefully landed on his feet.

As he put her down, Kale saw she had a large smile that seemed to brighten up her whole and she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank ye, Kale." Rahne squealed and made her way into the house. "I'll be back once I get changed."

As Rahne seemingly skipped as she went inside and up the stairs, Kale stood there with a star struck and dazed expression on his face; slowly his mouth slid into its first full blown smile as he slowly walked in and plopped down on a random chair, with one thought finally hitting home.

She kissed me He thought, his eyes starting to burn bright and his scales clicked softly. Maybe Todd was right, maybe I should take a shot with her; God knows that the animal in me wants to.

Kale closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair, groaning as the chair creaked; since he was part animal he had always hoped to find someone that would be able to at least accept his animalistic side. Anytime his human side had found someone interesting and attractive, his draconic side had often found itself being held back and unable to truly be free with his emotions

With Rahne, she was an entirely different case; since she was half animal as well, his draconic side had instantly been attracted to her canine side. But it wasn't just his animal that was attracted to her, it was the way she went out of her way with him, how she helped with things he didn't understand and then there were his scars.

Kale shuddered and crossed his arms over his chest; when he was in the Genesi Squad and he had been rescued by Tempest, Gabriel and Link, Kale had managed to set free a Chinese teenage girl called Katie Kuang who had powers and abilities that resembled a feline. Katie was very grateful to Kale because of it and was attracted to him as well. They had a tender relationship for a while, but it ended abruptly when she saw all of his scars and how they governed who he was. And Phoenix, well she had been part of the reason for him to get so many scars.

Rahne hadn't run from Kale when she saw his scars; yes she had been scared but she asked what had happened to him for him to receive such horrific wounds. Sure he had milked over the truth a lot and he told her he wouldn't tell her all of the truth yet, but Rahne was happy with the fact that he found trust in her to explain hem to her.

Kale remembered how she had even touched his scars fearlessly and shuddered at the memory of her soft delicate finger gliding on his skin. For some reason, although Kale had tried to not have any relationships after his screw ups at the Genesi Squad but when he met Rahne, it was such a weird feeling; especially with the way his animal wanted to leap out and take her in the danger room and in the hallway.

Kale suddenly stood and ran up the stairs, his stride taking three steps a time; Todd had been right, he had to stop living in the past and move on with his life. He had been punishing himself for at least three years about something he had no control over.

"Rahne!" Kale yelled as he jogged around the corner following her scent.

As he went around the corner, he saw Rahne walk out of the room that she had just gone into and was slightly surprised by Kale running to see her with a shirt on; she smile as she blushed, with not so innocent thoughts of Kale running in her mind.

"What is it, Kale?"

"I was wondering…what you were doing this Saturday night." Kale asked, his breathing a little heavy.

"Um…nothing, haven't any plans or anything." Rahne said nervously fiddling with the door frame. "Why do ye ask?"

"Would mind…going on a date…with me?" Kale asked nervously, his teeth biting on his lip worriedly.

Rahne felt her heart stop and seemingly explode with excitement; she had been want to ask Kale but had been too terrified for rejection to ask him. But here he was asking her out and she thought she had died and gone to heaven.

She resisted the urge to do a hundred back-flips and to careen all over the room, screaming like a six year old who had just gotten what she what all her life; it was also taking a lot of willpower not to grab him a kiss. She took a few deep breaths before she could think straight.

"Aye, I would love ta Kale." She said with a shy but bright smile.

Kale couldn't help but give a full smile, revealing several slightly sharp canines and his red eyes gleamed happily. He resisted all the primal urges to roar for enjoyment or to hug her, the temptation nearly proving too much for Kale.

"Okay, around six, six thirty, sound okay?" Kale asked nervously, his hands shaking slightly.

"Okay" Rahne said softly with a blush. "I canna wait."

"Me neither. See ya tomorrow." Kale said, slowly walking away from her door.

The moment the door had closed and Kale had gone around the corner, Kale leaped into the air, doing two back-flips. When he landed, Kale went down on one knee and pumped his arms in the air. At the bottom of the stairs, Kurt and Rogue watch the Irish teenager demonstrate his joy, with impressed expressions.

"Someone is happy, lil' bro." Rogue said as they watched Kale dance down the corridor to presumably his room.

"I guez so, I vonder vhy?" Kurt said, scratching his head.

Let's ask Rahne, she tends to know what goes on inside his head." Rogue said as they walked up the stairs.

aw, looks like the two might be getting together. the fluffy stuff might lasst and chapter before Serpentina makes her grand apperance.

And as always; please review with comments, concerns, quenstions and suggestions. They really help.

Lin