Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men.

BW: So, for the next little bit of this story, I'm thinking the focus is going to shift more onto another character. Not going to say who, but hopefully the idea that I have in my head turns out alright. We'll see where it takes us. :)

He Died

Kitty first woke up when she felt someone shake her shoulder gently. She was awake but didn't open her eyes. The person shaking her shoulder paused for a minute before giving it another shake and whispering her name. "Katherine."

Kitty opened her eyes slowly and saw Peter peering at her. "Katherine?"

Kitty opened her eyes fully. "Yeah, I'm awake." She stifled a yawn and rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hands. "Why'd you wake me up? I was having a nice sleep...."

Peter smiled slightly. "Sorry, but I wanted to make sure you were okay. Last night you were very upset."

Kitty nodded and sat up. "I'm okay now." She yawned and stretched. Jubilee appeared after closing the door, and stood nearby the door with Bobby. The two boys must have come in together. To Kitty's surprise, Jubilee was fully dressed. Usually the other girl refused to get out of bed until Kitty was fully dressed and pulled her from under her blankets. It must have been all the excitement the day before that caused the girl to forget about sleeping in.

Kitty pushed her blankets off and stood up, making her way across the room to her dresser and pulled out clothes. "Give me a minute to get dressed and we can head down to breakfast. Okay?"

There was murmured agreement and the nod of heads so Kitty went into the bathroom and got changed as fast as she could. She gave her hair and teeth a quick brush before stepping out.

Kitty smiled when she looked over and saw the Peter had made her bed. "Thanks." She said as he stepped to her side and took her hand. "Let's go eat!" Kitty wanted to try and stay positive and distracted so she could forget about the nightmare that had been the previous day.

Kitty led the way out of the bedroom with Peter beside her and the four students started down the hall to the elevator to take them to the main floor. The only got halfway down the hall when Pietro bolted out of his bedroom, and pushed past them as if he didn't see them.

Jubilee turned to give him a rude comment, but he was already gone up the staircase. Lance came out of the bedroom a second after him. He followed Pietro at a much slower pace, but his feet were still moving at an urgent speed. He walked past them, though not as rudely as Pietro. He had a faraway look on his face, as if he didn't see them.

"Lance?" Bobby called. "What's going on man?"
Lance turned to look at them briefly, shuffling backwards. "I don't know. The Professor just asked everyone connected to the Brotherhood to come upstairs."

Pyro and Wanda were soon in the hall running after Lance. "Did you get that message?" Pyro asked. Lance nodded and they headed to the stairs at a quick pace.

Kitty looked at the other three and as if they came to a silent agreement, they headed to the stairs as well and saw a crowd of the adults and old and new Brotherhood members gathered in the wing where the current Brotherhood were residing.

Jean was in front of the door, calling into the room. "Toad! You have to open the door so we can help you!"

Mystique came over and pushed past the red-headed telekinetic. "Let me handle this." She muttered, then yelled sharply. "Toad! Open the door this instant! As your-"

Mystique was cut off as the door flung open and Toad jumped out of the room to the other side of the hall, jumping onto the ceiling so he was out of reach of everyone.

Mystique glared at Toad sharply. "Now, what is the-"

Toad let out a dreadful wail. "He's dead!"

Magneto looked up at the frightened Toad. "Who? Who's dead?"

"Blob!" Toad yelled before covering his face in shock.

"FRED?!" Lance yelled and tried to run into the room as if he wanted to see this for himself, but Tabitha and Julia held him back, each gripping an arm.

Pietro didn't say anything but his eyes widened in shock.

X, who had followed the crowd upstairs, bit her lip, taking a step back out of the crowd, looking nervous.

Pyro and Wanda gave each other confused faces. How could Blob be dead? He was perfectly fine yesterday....

Mystique narrowed her eyes and spoke what they were thinking. "What?! How is that possible? We all saw him yesterday. He was fine! He couldn't have just died overnight!"

"Well he did!" Toad yelled, his voice cracking at the last note.

"How?" Mystique challenged.

"I don't know, man! We were talking last night. Then he said he felt really tired so we went to sleep, I got up this morning and... Just go look at him yourself, yo!"

Xavier, Jean and Betsy went inside the room, Magneto following closely, beckoning for Mystique to follow. The five entered the room and looked at the bed Blob was lying in. His blanket was tucked right up to his chin. He looked perfectly fine. As if he was just sleeping.

Magneto observed as a dark crimson liquid dripped from the sheets onto the floor. Mystique, however, didn't appear to notice anything as she stormed over to the bed and yanked the blanket back.
Betsy couldn't help herself as she let out a small scream. Then both her and Jean slapped their hands to their mouths in shock.

Mystique gaped at the body and Magneto just wrinkled his face in disgust. Mystique backed away from the body so she could stand next to her boss.

Xavier sighed as he took in the full damage done to Fred Dukes. There, in the middle of his torso, were several stab wounds. There was a single slice across his neck, which no doubt was the fatal blow.

Jean took in all the injuries before turning to Xavier. "Professor... Look at the wounds." She paused and took a step closer. "These holes are all the exact same size. They're the exact same size as Logan's claws. War must have done this."

Betsy shook her head. "He couldn't have for several reasons. One, we would have detected him. I mean, three telepaths in one building. One of us would have sensed him. And two, how would he have gotten here? Pestilence or Death would have had to have brought him here. And neither is exactly quiet, being as destructive as they are."

"Then who could have done this?" Magneto challenged.

There were tiny footsteps as Kitty entered the bedroom, Jubilee, Peter, and Bobby close behind.
Xavier turned his around to look at Betsy. Jean used her telekinesis to make the blanket cover the body before any of the teenagers saw.

Xavier turned back to his student. "Yes Kitty? Do you have some information or thoughts on this matter?" He asked kindly.

Kitty took a deep shuddering breath in an attempt to calm herself somewhat. "I know what happened to Fred. Or Blob. Whatever his name is." She stuttered and got flustered in her fear. She took another breath. "I know.... because I almost died too." She forced herself to take a calming breath and continued. "Death came after me.... in my dreams...." Kitty explained her dream and feelings of despair in a rush.

Mystique narrowed her eyes. "If everyone else in your dream died, how come we're still alive. Why only Fred? Clearly your dream was nothing more than a dream." Mystique snarled.

Kitty lowered her head. She hadn't thought of that. If everyone else in her dream had died, why had only Fred been the dead one on the morning? Her head shot up with the answer. "Because after I woke up, Death must have gone after him."

Betsy shook her head. "Dreams are just images your brain sends you during your sleep."

Xavier was in deep thought. "Alright Elizabeth." He raised a hand to silence her. "Thanks for bringing this to my attention Katherine. You can go now." Kitty grabbed Peter's hand and led her friends out of the room. Xavier turned back to the group. "Kitty presents an interesting point. Death has all the mutations of everyone in this school..."

Magneto continued his train thought. "With the right combinations of power say, Mirage's ability to project illusions, and Jean's power to enter others minds, she could very well kill us in our sleep."

Magneto and Xavier shared a quick glance and through their gaze they came to a mutual agreement. Death had to be stopped.... by any means necessary.

Outside the room, X watched the crowd slowly thin out, as everyone left, not wanting to believe that someone, more specifically, Death, had broken into the school and was going to pick them off. One by one.

"Hey X! Let's go! You're getting left behind." X looked up to see Pietro and Wanda looking at her and beckoning her to come.

She didn't reply, she just nodded and caught up to them, then let them guide her downstairs. She wondered what would happen if it wasn't Death who was killing them.

AN: Questions? Comments? Please Review!! I will love you forever! :)