Kurt appeared in the lower parts of the Institute, outside the door that led to the lab he'd heard his buddy Forge was working in. So as not to scare him and cause him to break the machine, he knocked and waited to be let in. A minute or so passed, then the door clicked open and he stepped inside. The place was shiny and clean and seemingly unnatural to him, but he 'ported over to the table his friend was working at anyways. He was then standing next to him.

" How goes the experiments, Forge?" he questioned, trying his best not to sound interested. The other mutant sighed and leaned back, his arm going back to normal.

" No go," was his somber answer, " Something's missing. I don't know how to fix it. One of the parts was crushed in the accident and I can't find a replacement. It's been too long since it was made,"

" So... vhat are vou saying?"

" I'm not sure I'm ever gonna be able to change them back," as he said it, Forge poked the machine and got an electric shock, " See! It just hates me!"

" Maybe it needs a voman's touch," Kurt joked, lightly punching him in the arm. Forge gave a short laugh.

" Do you think I should tell them?"

" Vhat, are vou crazy?! Lance vould have your head!"

" That wouldn't solve anything, now would it?"

" Since vhen do the Brotherhood think ahead?" Kurt gave him a serious look that mocked him and everything he stood for. Forge punched him in the shoulder, getting to his feet and saying he wanted to check up on the Brotherhood boys anyway.

" Isn't that Quicksilver playing Evan today?"

" Sur-"

Kurt's voice was drowned out by an alarm blaring overhead. The lights turned red and beeping sounded, a female voice announcing that there was a security breech down the hall. In a flash, the two came barreling out of the lab, ready to defend against whoever was trying to steal the device or other weapons that were kept on this level. Someone was covering their ears, twisting around to see what they'd done, in the middle of the red lights as guns came out of the walls and aimed at them. A scream, very familiar, rang out as the person dodged the lasers with experience that one had to learn.

The person ran head on into Kurt, knocking him down and falling over him. They sprawled out at Forge's feet, the blue one moaning in agony and the other squeaking in horror as she sat up. A wave of tan hair fell into her stunned gold eyes as she covered her ears again and shrieked in a Jersey slang voice for them to cut the alarm. Kurt vanished and hit the off button.

Everything went back to normal as Todd Tolanksy stood up and dusted off his tight string bikini top and tiny bike shorts. Kurt felt his heart leap to his throat whereas Forge tilted his head.

" Toad?! Vhat are vou doing here?!" Kurt demanded in a kind of weak voice. The mutant coughed a little, one hand rubbing his other arm.

" Uh... I um... wuzz... uh... haha... lookin' fer Forge, as a matter of fact," he mumbled, staring dead at the ground. A hair clip pinned back the left side of his hair so his red face could still be seen.

" Oh? Is something wrong?" Forge immediately asked, his hand unconsciously changing into a metal drill. Toad squeaked again and hid behind Kurt to avoid the man made horror that scared him so, " Oh, sorry. Um.. What did you need?" his hand returned to normal and the younger mutant slipped out from behind the frozen elf.

" I wuzz... wonderin'... if it wuzz ready yet..." he said, rocking on his heels. Kurt noticed the sneakers were brand new but didn't say anything about it.

" Um... no, not yet,"

" Vhy do vou ask, Toad? Aren't vou happy with Wally?" Kurt couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice, which drew the attention of Forge. He cleared his throat and tried again, " I mean, look at vou. Vou look like a girl vho's being taken care of nicely. He obviously bought vou those clothes. And is that a necklace? Gold? Vou must be all a flu-"

" Kurt!" Forge snapped, punching him in the arm. Kurt's voice cut, a sudden feeling of shame feeling his body. Toad stared at them with absolute horror in his eyes.

A purple bruise was fading on his face. Never in all the months that the X-Men and the Brotherhood had fought, had done so much damage to each other, had Kurt seen a bruise on the ever unhurtable Todd Tolansky. True, he couldn't remember a time when he'd checked the toad's body for injuries or actually hit him clear in the face, but that didn't matter. How had the mutant been injured if the two groups weren't fighting anymore? Surely, one of the Brotherhood hadn't hit him like that.

" Toad, vhy do vou have a bruise on vour face?" he asked, pointing without thinking. All at once, Toad looked like a deer caught in headlights, his hands flying up to cover his face, his legs bending slightly. He shook violently, his composure disappearing.

" Iz nothin'! Don't worry 'bout it! I'm just stupid an' clumsy an' I fell off the roof like an' idiot, okay? I gotta go, 'kay?" with that, Toad turned and bolted from the scene before the other two could say anything to stop him.

" What'd you make of that?" Forge questioned, scratching the back of his neck. Kurt glared at the spot Toad had been standing at.

" Vhatever it is, it's not like Toad. He doesn't dress like that and he certainly doesn't act like that. Something's vrong. Very vrong,"

Kurt disappeared without another word. When he appeared again, he was standing in the bleachers next to Jean and Scott. They were arguing softly about whether or not they should go in and find out why the alarm was going off. He muttered something about a lost Brethren, then set off to find Toad in the crowd of mutants who'd gathered to watch Spyke and Quicksilver play one-on-one basketball, no powers allowed.

He could spy Fred and Lance near the front, screaming jeers and cheers in baggy pants and matching shirts that read 'Brotherhood Rulez' over their bouncing chests. Wanda was in the shade of a tree with Rogue, both of whom were pouring over a note the witch was holding. Tabby and the other new mutants made up most of the rest of the crowd, all cheering on Evan, but failing miserably to drown out the yells of the overly loud Brethren. The adults were off to one side, playing referee, although it seemed that Storm had vanished to go check on the alarm. Down in one corner of the bleachers was the redhead Kurt knew had to be Wally, as he was the only outsider around; Amanda was out of town and couldn't attend.

Just as the elf was about to head down and give that human a piece of his mind, a hand reached out and grasped his shoulder. He spun around, half expecting to see Toad standing there, begging him not to, for some reason. Instead, he found himself facing Kitty.

Over the two weeks since the Brotherhood had changed into girls, she'd morphed from the happy-go-lucky girl she had been to someone who looked on the verge of death. She was miserable and guilty and it showed in the sour expression and bags under her eyes. She just couldn't believe she'd dropped Lance again, but what was more were all the rumors from the talkative Pietro that the rock tumbler had found a rather close lesbian friend by the name of Brit. As much as Kitty couldn't take being lesbian with her former lover boy, she couldn't handle the fact that he'd replaced her even more. She couldn't deal with it and Kurt really didn't want to have to hear what she was going to say now that she could see for herself that Lance was cheerful and full of energy.

" Kurt, could you go see if... I dunno, like, Lance is just acting or something?" she begged, gripping his shoulder a little too tightly for his taste. He swallowed hard, not sure what the best course of action would be.

" Um, sure, Kitty, sure," she perked up a tiny bit as he 'ported away and appeared down at the bottom. There he saw Lance and Fred jump to their feet as their teammate scored another couple points. From what he could tell, the 'boy' in question was definitely not acting. If he was, he deserved an Oscar, because he sure looked smug and joyful hugging Fred and shouting up to Scott that he'd owe him money after this.

Sadly, Kurt shook his head up at Kitty. She looked crestfallen as she sank to her seat as everyone else stood up. Kurt turned as Pietro snatched up the basketball and marched over to where Evan was idling standing near the hoop.

" WHY DIDN'T YOU BLOCK THAT SHOT, DANIELS!!! WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU TODAY!!!" Pietro roared, slamming the ball into Evan's shoulder. The crowd went deathly silent, all hands dropping to their sides and all eyes on the two. Apparently, none of them had noticed Evan hadn't been playing to his fullest.

" What'd you talkin' about, dude? What's wrong with m-me? What's up with you? You take something this morning? You're playing awesome," Evan answered, rubbing his shoulder.

" Don't talk to me like I'm stupid, asshole," the speedster closed the gap between the two. Even as a girl, he towered over the short Evan, " Why aren't you trying to win this game? Why're you takin' it easy on me? I ain't injured. You promised this'd be a fair game,"

" I uh hurt my foot yesterday. I didn't think you notice,"

" Bullshit. You've been runnin' fine. What is it?"

" Dude, back up. Way too close," Evan took a step backwards and Pietro took two, so that there wasn't an inch between the two. Kurt couldn't imagine what it must of been like standing that close to a pissed off Maximoff.

" Answer me,"

" Dude, I just sick. Can't you just accept that you're winning?"

" No," Pietro shoved Evan backwards and the mutant hit the pole holding the hoop. The blond hovered in front of him, peering down at him with eyes so livid, the audience could see the glint, " I'm better then you. I've always been better then you. This game was supposed to prove that. I'm not walkin' away from here with people sayin' I only won because you weren't playin' your best. Now WHY AREN'T YOU PLAYING ME MAN TO MAN, AT YOUR BEST!!! ANSWER NOW OR SO HELP ME GOD, I WILL K-"

" It's because you're a girl, okay, Maximoff!" Evan spat out, like he took what the blond had been threatening to heart. The air went deathly quiet, all the females growing tense, " I can't play you when you're a girl!"

Pietro looked like he'd been hit in the gut. His eyes couldn't have been wider if he'd tried. His body was stiff, his hands clenched into fists. A shudder went up his body, so violent everyone around could see it. Evan fumbled as he backed up, spikes coming out to defend against an attack.

A flash went over Evan, blood suddenly splattering into the air and on the court. The flashes turned red as screams of Hebrew, Polish, and English rang out incoherently. People ran out onto the court, shouting and using powers to break the two up. Jean jerked Pietro away, but he desperately fought her, his legs blurs as he struggled to close the few feet between the two. Blood poured down from the countless gashes on both of the blond's arms, running in streams down his elbows and onto his shirt and shorts and the ground.

Lance and Fred grabbed hold of Pietro and lifted him off his feet as he shouted and made snatches at the air to get to the stunned Evan. Wanda rushed over, yelling for her brother to calm down and relax so Storm could take a look at his wounds. He ignored her and kept at it until she smacked him across the face and got his attention. Then he noticed the searing pain in his arms and began to sob and shriek for medical attention as his sister hugged him.

Storm hurried over, leaving the side of her nephew as he was swarmed by the X-Men, who checked him for bruises. Pietro cried to her as the blood flowed out his shaking arms faster and faster now that he'd realized he was hurt. Wanda tried to calm him, saying his rapid heart beat was causing the liquid to rush out.

" Storm?" Kurt heard himself say as he jerked away from where Evan was trying to explain that he hadn't meant to do so much damage and he hadn't meant he was sexist, that the blond had jumped to conclusions. The elf didn't hear his protests. He searched the crowd for Toad, knowing that if Storm was back, he had to have made his way out of the Institute.

Toad was trying to get over to where Pietro was going hysterical. Wally held onto his arm, above the cuff, and jerked him backwards. Toad slipped and fell, but his boyfriend caught him and cradled him protectively, his mouth moving but his words too low for Kurt to hear. The mutant let him hug him, although Kurt noticed that Toad's own arms were limp at his sides and didn't even attempt to hug back. In a moment, Wally had his arm around the mutant's tiny waist and called out to Lance that he was taking his love inside because the heat was getting to him. Then Wally basically dragged Toad inside and away from the mania that surrounded court.

Kurt felt heat rise up to his face as he watched Toad being pulled off like that. Something was going on and he knew he had to find out what it was.

Behind him, Pietro pasted out into the arms of Fred, the blood loss finally getting to him. Wanda let out a cry as her brother was lowered to the ground and Rogue called 911 and exclaimed that someone was dying at the Institute. Kurt stared as Storm tore her shirt and wrapped up the vicious gashes littering the mutant's arms before he was carried off to the front entrance. From the house, Toad came running out, blood coming from his wrist, and Wally glaring at him as he darted after the other Brethren taking his friend to the hospital.

A hand grabbed Kurt's wrist and he turned around to see Evan's tear stained face.

" I didn't do it on purpose!! She's just too pretty to play! Dammit! She's too pretty to play! I couldn't concentrate! She's too pretty!!" he wailed out, shaking Kurt hard as the elf looked back at the chaos that went with the Brotherhood.

All Kurt saw in that crowd was Toad look back with his fearful eyes. And all he found he could feel with an almost overwhelming urge to kill the red head who stood in the doorway watching.

A/N- By the way, the reason Rogue said someone was dying is that one way to commit suicide it slitting up the forearms. Gashes like the ones Pietro substained would bleed quickly and with his fast heart beat, even faster. It's a way of causing death by blood lost. His panic also sent him into shock, which causes the body's temperature to drop and can cause death.

That's all. Sai-Chan.