Okay, this is a little long due and it might be a little annoying its taking so long to write. But at least I updated in the new year.

Lecheecopae: I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as you did. I think Phoenix I will know to watch out.

pauloj1983: Right, pardon me while I gag. What happened to Katie is when the next round of bad guys come into the scene.

iamhollwood: You have a whole lot a favorite chapters don't you? I'll try and do more work with past and present scenes and I'll send you a soundtrack I'm working on for the story.

Well, not much to say about this. A weird dream, a lovey dovey scene, a memory and training of a Toad. Hope you like it.

Compassion Heals All and The Past Prepares the Future

Fire roared across the streets, the buildings in ruins and people screaming in chaos. The ground shook and split, people and mutants trying to help each other.

The sky had turn a swirling and clashing mix of red and white, black smoke rising high into the sky.

Kale Nority stood in the centre of the street, blinking his eyes rapidly. Kale looked around in confusion, his dragon body only covered in a pair of pants and his scars and tattoos were glowing weirdly.

Wind whipped around him and debris flew around him, but the draconic mutant was unable to move

Turning to his right, Kale saw a figure made of pitch ink black standing there. The red eyes of the Irish teenager widened when he saw it was him.

The being was his dragon form, the scales blacker than the smoke around him and golden spikes on his forearms, back, neck and head, curling along his tail. His wings were huge; instead of Kale's normal thirteen feet, the wings were like twenty three. It also looked like Kale's body had been inflated; veins crisscrossing over the biceps and forearms were also on his chest.

In his right hand was a massive long sword, the blade design was so it the two separate blades instead of just one and the handles was another blade, and in it's left hand was a ball of black and red flames.

His clothes were savagely torn but the body showed no sign of damage, the maw of fangs opening to speak as spittle flailed everywhere.

"Darkness will consume you! Darkness will unleash you!" The dark voice bellowed, spittle flying from his mouth. "The fires of Hell burn in your veins!"

A sudden flare of bright light came up on Kale's left side, causing Dragon to turn to see what this new sight was. And if it were possible, his eye got wider

Standing opposite to the dark version of him, down another street, was the exact opposite.

The being was almost identical to Kale, the being not swollen out with muscle like his dark version was but there was still a feeling of amazing power. The scale looked like they had been bleached snow white and wings were the same size; his bare arms and head still covered in golden spikes but were subtler and looked strangely royal.

His right hand was turned to the side and held behind him a long staff, one end with long double ended sickle and the other with a knot. The left hand was bent at the elbow, the open palm holding a sphere of red and white flames

His clothes looked like the black roes of choir singer, the sleeves removed as the long cloth fell over his legs. His mouth opened to speak, the fangs there but not as savagely as before hand in the darkness.

"Lightness is in your heart and soul. Lightness will heal you." The voice was kind, wisdom in his words. "The flames of Heaven run in your blood."

Kale watched as the white dragon suddenly rose up and flew at him, spinning around to see the black dragon already making its way to him. Kale reacted out pure instinct and charged up two balls of fire, the dragon moving faster than he knew he could even if he pushed himself.

One orb of black and red on one side and another of red white suddenly collided and everything exploded in a screaming, skull splitting pain.

Kale flung up right, his back rigidly straight and one of his fists clenched so tightly he could feel the blood coursing in his hand. Kale shook his head as he wrapped his fingers around his face and leaned forward, his hand reaching up to grab his hair.

He had never had such a dream; one that vivid and so…believable.

Moving off his bead, Kale changed out of the pants from the medical room he had worn the other day and pulled on a pair of green pants, unzipping the legging so they were shorts.

Yawning, Kale opened the door and walked out, the sun light falling on his bare back. He really didn't have the mentality to care about what people would think, his body sporting several very apparent bruises. What was on his mind was the dream, though it was quickly fading.

As he moved to the stairs, Kale turned slightly when he heard a door open and sleepy Kitty walked out. Yawning, the small mutant pulled her hair back and gently bumped into Kale's arm.

"Mornin' Kitty, sleep well?" Kale asked, smothering a yelp of pain when the girl touched one of his bruises.

"Morning Kale, yeah, like a baby." She said offhandedly; she suddenly did a double take and her jaw dropped. "K-K-Kale? You're up?"

"I was out long?" Kale asked, stopping with the valley girl and the girl bit her lip as her eye widen with his turning body.

Kale knew what it was, the tattered body of his always granted fear and pity. The bandages that had been attached to his new wounds had started to unstuck from his skin, so Kale began to yuck them off. He didn't notice that Kitty flinched at the sound of each tearing of tape against his skin and she watched as Kale walked off to the kitchen, muttering about irritating people.

Kale reached the landing as Kitty came up behind him and heard her gasp as the metamorphic mutant hopped over the railing, thudding on the ground as he landed in a crouch. Kale moved to the kitchen, pausing while glancing over his shoulder to see Kitty faze through the stairwell and onto the floor.

"Kale, what happened to you?" Kitty asked in a hushed whisper

"I existed." Kale said quietly, walking away from the valley girl.

Rahne let out a long sigh as she lifted her head, her eyes opening slowly and looking up to see her boyfriend.

Needless to say, she was shocked to see her desk and be under the covers. Flinging the covers up, Rahne began to change out of her clothes and into different ones when she caught his scent; Kale's scent. Her eyes widen when she realized what that meant and yanked a red sleeveless shirt on with some random blue jeans.

Pulling her hair back as she fumbled about the room, the wolf girl pulled it into a sing ponytail, instead of her trademark two. Racing out of the room, Rahne ran to his room and slammed his door open. It was obvious he had been in the room and with her enhanced senses, Rahne transformed into her wolf from as she bolted down the hallway.

As her paws rapidly thumped against the stairs, Rahne could smell him in the kitchen and head butted the door open. Kitty was the first person she saw, the Professor and Logan next as she transformed back to human. Walking into the kitchen, Kitty looked at the Scottish girl with disbelief.

"I think you need to tell your boyfriend what is supposed to behumanly possible." Kitty said, making Rahne crease her brow in confusion.

And then she saw him; he had found a white vest and pulled it over his chest, not that it hid any of the bruises; the fabric was pulled tightly over his chest, so the sides of his pectorals showed and a slight amount of his upper chest did too.

His green shorts just barely overlapped his knees, the red scarring continuing down his calves. Kale let out a lazy yawn as he looked over the paper, his scruffy unshaven face and his red eyes blinking before reading.

"Kale?" Rahne asked, touched his shoulder lightly and as he turned his head to face her. "Ye're awake?"

The Irish mutant smiled and gave her a peck on the check, Rahne's cheeks burning bright red. It was amazing that his fire could do that to her still, even after them dating for nearly two weeks.

"Course I am" Kale said, turning his whole body and he took her right hand in his. "Thanks to staying with me; although, I'm not sure how long I've been out."

"A day and a half; yer lucky you got a thick head there, Scales." Logan said good naturedly as Kale laughed.

"Not as dense as yours though, metal head."

This time everyone chuckled, even Xavier had to smile with Logan at Kale's antics. Rahne smile and then slowly wrapped her arms around Kale, her body suddenly small against his. Kale returned the hug tenderly, his muscles squirming were her arms lay, and stroked her back as he head tucked against his neck, small sobs slowly coming from Rahne as he did so.

"Hey, hey, hey." Kale said softly, his hands moving closer around him as he leaned back to see her green eyes tear streaked. "I'm sorry, love. I didn't mean to make you worry, Rahne. I'm fine, really; well, a bit banged up but none for the worse."

Rahne took shuddered breath as Kale brushed her tears aside, his powerful hands so tender and gentle with her. Unknown to the couple, Xavier and the others let, knowing that they needed the privacy.

The dragon shh-ed softly in her ear, rocking her back and forth as he tried to comfort her; he had no idea that he had made her worry so much and now a taste of self disgust welled up in his mouth. He had never wanted to put her through this worry.

"I-I thought ye weren't going to wake up, Kale." Rahne said in a heaving breath, her arms pulling her against his chest. "I don't want to lose ye."

Kale rested his head on hers as he held Rahne closer and stroked her hair, his eyes becoming confused when he felt the ponytail. Sighing, Kale grabbed Rahne firmly by her arms and lifted her into his lap. Rahne re shifted her arms to around his neck, but pause when she felt his finger on her lips.
Rahne looked at Kale and froze when she saw tears in his eyes, two trickles escaping from his face. His throat bobbed up and down as he looked at her, eye pleading her to wait and listen. She stared at him, realization dawning on her; he had been scared for her.

"I fought as fiercely as I did for you, because you were in danger." Kale said quietly, his eyes lowering to his lap. "I don't know what I did or what happened to me, but I did everything I could to save you."

"Ye mean when ye went all black?" Rahne asked

"If that's what I did; I've never had control at that point in my powers so I don't know, it was just instincts. A deep, primal, animal instinct to protect you." Kale said, smiling slowly.

Rahne watched as he lifted his hand and pulled her so close that there was literally no space between them, a heat rising up in Rahne's chest as he turned to give her a soft kiss on the cheek.

Rahne turned her head and planted her lips on Kale, her tears still falling as he loosened her in his grip. Kale sent a torrent of fire through his hands and mouth, the tears searing off of the two.

"I'm not leaving you anytime soon, Rahne. Hell, I think you might be stuck with me for an extremely long time." Kale said softly, making Rahne giggle at his antic. "Are you going to be able to stand me?"

"Oh, I think I'll manage." Rahne said in her sniffles, tears long forgotten. "Ye just have to meet my family and me mummy."

Kale paled and gulped, the reactions making Rahne squeal in laughter. A large smile soon replaced his worry at the sound of her laughter and Kale hugged his girlfriend tightly. Rahne let out a relieved sigh and the two jumped when a bright flash suddenly lit up the room.

"Awwww; that was soo cute!" A slightly accented voice said.

"Alright Kale, you scored big time!" A well known Boston accent that belonged to Bobby rang out.

"Alright girlfriend, you snag that sexy lizard" And they both knew Rouge's voice, her cat call heating both their cheeks.

Kale and Rahne both looked at the door and saw the entire New Mutants team and the X-Men. Jubilee had a camera in her hands, as did Amara and Kitty, the two metamorphic mutants growling. They didn't particularly like Bobby's comment, not that Ray's or

Kale gently lifted Rahne off his lap and surprised everyone who hadn't seen him yet by standing up.

They had thought that he would have been too tired to move but it was obvious that he was moving just fine. His eyes blazed a bright red and flashed a set of canines, his hand rising up to show four clawed fingers.

"You have four seconds to run." Kale growled.

The doorway was suddenly cleared, except for the four teachers, Scott, Jean and Jamie. They watched as Kale shook his head and let out a strained groan, his face showing pain for the first time that morning. The dragon mutant rubbed his head as Xavier wheeled up to him.

"Let me guess; there are some thingsweneed to talk about, right?" Kale asked.

"I'm afraid so, but take your time getting dressed and meet me in my study when your done."

"Thanks, all that talking I think over did me a bit." Kale looked over his shoulder with a pleading look. "Sorry love, going to have to postpone the rest of the good morning."

Rahne smiled and walked next to Kale, taking his hand as he left the room. Jamie went with them, his questions coming thick and fast while Jean and Scott laughed with Logan and Ororo, Xavier and Hank getting more coffee with smiles.

September 5, 2002

The drone of the helicopter blade droned above the building as Todd looked out the building, his amber eyes watching the aircraft move to the roof. Turning around, the teenager nodded to the three men stationed outside a door and one of them went inside while the amphibious mutant rubbed his forehead.

Unlike the three men, Todd was dressed in black pants with a black turtle neck and a forehead band wrapped under his hair. His jacket concealed his two sidearm pistols, but his sword was over his shoulders and let everyone know that he could kill with it in ease.

Todd had been assigned to make sure a Russian scientist was safely escorted to the Pentagon. The job didn't have him worried; that was the easiest thing in the world, something any private could have done with their eyes closed. He worried instead about Kale.

It was now two month and two weeks since anyone had heard from him or anything about his ambushed recon. The Hassassin's Blade was doing all they could, he understood that, but why did it have to take so long? If Kale was safe and Todd had been captured, it would have taken him a week at most to find him.

And Todd felt like he was failing him as his brother.

"Toad, this Gabriel; do you copy, over?"

"I hear you loud and clear, yo. You ready to pick us up?" Todd asked as the man came out.

He was maybe an inch taller than Todd and had thing gray hair, his large spectacles not able to hide his fear. His white coat said Dr. Rimsky-Korsakov and he nervously wrung his old hands together, making Todd sigh with a smile.

"We'll get you out, sir." Todd said, patting his shoulder. "Have a little faith."

Toad led the four men out of the room and looked around the office as they walk behind him, his amber eyes studying everything closely. The floor they were on was under construction and the section the Genesi Squad had chosen to use was a cubical office space.

This meant there was a lot of hiding space and Todd knew that someone might try and do stop them. The scientist was supposed to be constructing a kind of lethal gas and he wanted to get the antidote to the Americans before mass genocide occurred.

As Todd brought up the rear, the elevator began to move. Toad stopped and looked at the metal doors, pointing slowly to the men to move.

"Get him in the copper. I'll deal with this." Toad said and then tapped his comm. set. "Gabe, I need to know who is here NOW."

The number started counting up, three floor lying between him and who ever was coming up. Todd reached into his coat pockets and pulled out a string of grenades, wrapping them in a bundle with a cord wire. Taking a swinging wind up, the amphibious mutant threw the clump of explosives at the door.

"TOAD! There's an extremely heavily condensed source of metal in the elevator, almost as if the person was made from iron." Gabriel's voice said.

"Or adamantium." Toad growled, pulling out one of his guns. "It's X23."

"You are going to need backup, Toad." Gabriel said, the elevator dining and Todd lined the shot up. "Answer me, dammit!"

The doors slowly opened and standing there was X23. Her outfit was the same as the last time she tangled with Toad and Dragon; tight leather pants, tighter leather vest and leather wrist guards. Her face was so pale and white it reminded Todd of a porcelain mask, featureless and emotionless.

Her green eyes met his amber eyes and Toad pulled the trigger back, a single bullet flying from the chamber. X23's eye widen when she looked down and the grenades exploded, sending her flying out the back of the elevator.

"Nah, I'll be fine, yo" Todd said, slowly walking to the wasted elevator.

As he moved between the cubical offices, Todd shoved the muzzle of his gun into his pants and held his sword around his neck. He then threw his jacket off and pulled his other firearm out with his other while swinging his sword back in place, leveling them both at the open doors.

As X23 started getting up, the elevator slide down a bit and revealed the metal cables. Todd leveled his shot and fired. The cable snapped and the car went flying down, the mutant clone screaming as it went down. The silence following should have been relaxing but Todd knew better. He fucking well knew what she was doing and what she was going to do.

A hand with two metal blades suddenly slammed on the floor and X23 heaved herself up, freezing with her legs dangling at the sight of Todd. Her heavy breathing and wide eyes told Todd that she was caught off guard.

"How's it feel, X?" Todd asked, his eyes flaring. "Being defenseless while caught half assed?"

Todd suddenly shot around the metal frame, the girl's eyes watching him unflinchingly as his own. The chambers clicked empty and Todd dropped the guns to the floor, cocking his head to the side until he beckoned her to get up.

Very slowly, X23 hefted herself up and watched Toad with apprehension. She didn't pull in her claws, not that it would have made a bit of difference. Todd watched as he body healed itself, sighing as he slid off his gun holsters. The weapons he now had was his sword and his mutations.

"Why are you here?" Toad asked coldly. "I didn't that your boss wanted chemical weapons, not with you as his favorite plaything."

X23 clenched her hands in anger, her green eyes changing to a bright orange and she bared her teeth to the amphibian. Toad raised an eyebrow to her and waited as she flexed her body.

"They want him for another reason; he has information on a electronic configuration we need." X23 said harshly, her face finally showing the confusion he had since she saw him. "How did you survive being that frozen popsicle?"

Todd smiled with a chuckle, which X23 only returned the smile very slowly returned. It wasn't really funny but now that he looked back he had been pretty stupid, making a stupid mistake.

Kale, Tempest and he had been checking out a facility that was rumored to have been reanimating bodies with tissue sample from the legendary Wolverine and they were sent to check it out. X23 was sent to make sure that there now threat but the two teams met by accident.

X was had still been furious at Kale for kicking her ass before so lay down a fierce attack. Along the lines of the battle, X23 tore Toad's jacket off and kick him in a pool. Now, Todd still got out but his tongue froze for some reason and even though it was painful, it gave him a weapon.

But as he fought his body froze and seized up, until after he kicked her out a roof he couldn't move. They were lucky Kale had thawed him out in time and got him back to the base.

"I have mysterious ways, X" Todd said, watching her nod very slowly before they both hardened up. "You can't have him. He has a lot of good to do."

"Good? The man is a chemical weapon specialist, who in fact has made on of the deadliest substances known to man!" X23 yelled at Todd, "What good he'll do, will be for us."

As the mutant clone began to move past Todd, the amphibian sigh was sounded like an "I'm sorry" and suddenly spun around in spin kick. His shin collided with her face and sent her sprawling across the floor. Rolling on the ground with the momentum she got from his attack, X23 leapt up with arching slice that Todd narrowly missed.

Todd managed to push her first jab above his head but had to catch her left wrist, her claws just barely scratching the cloth of his shirt. Letting her body fall back, X23 slammed her feet in his ankles and then kicked him in the face. The sudden change in direction made Todd flip mid air and crash on his back.

Hopping on her feet, X23 swung her foot up and intended dropped her heel down on his head. Toad caught her foot as his tongue lashed around her throat and kicked her other leg out. Now that she was suspended by his strength, Todd threw her with his tongue into a cubical.

Todd spun up and landed in a crouch while X23 hack the office to pieces and charged at him. Toad was able to step to avoid the first swipe, but the second one managed to graze his shoulder as he spun away. Her foot blade suddenly popped out and as she tried to kick Toad in the head, Toad kicked her leg right back down.

Using the momentum of that kick, Toad spun his body into a powerful kick and watched as X23 dodged his attack. Her metal elbow suddenly smacked his head and then her knee smashed his ribs, both blows in opposite directions. Doubling over, Toad spun around until he had his back to her again and planted his on the ground as he moved.

His right leg flew up and around in a Capoeira kick, smacking her away. Toad then back flipped to his feet, dropping in a crouch to avoid her flying claws. He pivoted his body to the side as he claws raked down through the air and snapped his body up right in time to avoid her feet, a long blade shooting out of her toe as it rose up to his face.

"Hold the fuck still, you asshole!" X23 screamed as Toad twisted to the side from her claws, a lock of his hair the only thing that was caught by her deadly blades.

"Wish granted, bitch!" Todd responded, his fist driving straight into her face as he straightened up.

The cloned mutant's head snapped back and her left hand claws swished in the air but her right hand sliced his cheek open. As her nose healed, Todd hammered his foot at her chest and although it connected, she caught his foot at well; snarling, she raised an arm to slice it off but Todd back flipped to give a kick to the jaw.

Todd landed on a desk while X23 merely tilted her head back and the two soldiers looked at each other. Todd bellowed and launched himself though the air, legs bent and right arm curved behind him with his left in front of his chest.

Todd crashed on the ground in a crouch, sliding on the autumn leaves a foot or so by the momentum of his leap. Whirling around in a sweep kick, Todd let his body be lifted up by the momentum with a stream of leaves following.

As he jabbed in the crisp air in the wooded space behind the Brotherhood house, Todd used his fight with X23 to train his body with shadow boxing. His torn jeans flew in the air with a gifted precision and control of a ballet dancer and a gymnast; his long sleeved shirt rolled up to his elbow and tucked in to give him a cleaner view of what he was doing.

Todd took on step, and then threw his leg in a drive kick mostly used for kicking down doors, smashing into a tree trunk with deadly force. He had forgotten how much his legs could lift, but he did remember holding a container truck up.

The bark beneath his shoe splinted, sinking his shoe in an inch. Todd lashed his tongue around the tree trunk and began to kick the tree in a rapid succession with both feet. After he had hit the trunk enough times to reshape it with dents, Todd slammed both feet against the tree trunk to send him in a back flip.

He didn't land on the ground though; his body was sent higher up than before and he landed on a branch. Todd wiggled back and forth as he tried to balance, a chuckle rising up in him as he sat down and leaned against the main trunk. Looking up, Todd closed his eyes as the glow of the sunset fell on him and Todd sighed as he watched the sun set across and through the treetops from the roof top, his amber eyes sparkling with remembrance.

The amphibious mutant leaned back with a smile; he did this as a way to pay respects to Katie and it was a sight he truly enjoyed. It did still pain him that Katie was no longer by his side, but he accepted that it was time to move on as Kale had.

But not with Wanda.

The blissful ignorance of liking her even when she blasted him across a room was shattered long before Kale showed up, when she actually found out the truth of her father. She freaked out big time, her memories conflicting so violently that her powers started to take control of her mind and body.

Todd stretched his arms and rolled his body off to the side of the branch, his body twisting in time to land on his feet. Humming a small song, Todd pulled his sweater over his head and smoothed down the fabric. He had learnt the hard way how painful craps and muscle problems could be.

As he knelt down to retrieve his sword, Todd looked and saw there was a car parked near Lance's jeep. It was a gray Mitsubishi Lancer and by the looks of things, it was recently bought. Shrugging, Todd pulled out the sword; he would do fifteen more minutes and then have a warm shower.

Smiling at the thought that presented itself to him, Todd thought he had only better ten minutes more as his blade sliced the air.

Lance furrowed his brow in confusion as there was a knock at the door, standing up slowly and walking to the door with annoyance. They had seldom visitors and salesmen knew not to come here after Wanda hexed their objects after them.

When Lance opened the door, he knew the woman there wasn't a sales rep. She wore the clothes that told him she was might be a lawyer, her black slacks leading down to stiletto shoes and her black blazer was open to show her green-gold blouse. Her glass were place carefully on her nose and her hair was pulled in a ponytail.

"Hello, young man; I am looking for Todd Tolanski." She said, her British accent giving her nationality away. "Is he around?"

Lance's jaw dropped; this woman was definitely attractive and if he wasn't so love crazed over Kitty he might have made a pass at her. He blinked his eyes a few times before his brain got into working order.

"Um, just who are you, lady?" Lance asked defensively; despite the fact Todd proved he could take of himself, Lance had always seen him as a little brother.

"I am Jessica Serpent. I am his new Social Service Worker and I have just come by to check up on him." The woman said sweetly, her serpent flashing unseen behind her glasses.

This is going to be fun she thought as she walked into the house

I promise, fight scene in the next chapter will be long and as brutal as i can make it.

Please tell me what you thought; this includes all readers, members and visitors to the site. I like all of your opinions equally and use them equally.

Until next time

-Lin