A/N: Here we go, the first chapter to take place outside the mansion. It shouldn't be too hard for you to figure out who the "he" is that John and Mystique refer to in their conversations. And yes, he will be appearing in a future story.

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or anything except John and the storyline!

Chapter 8 – Mystique

John walked down the wide main plaza of the Bayville Train Station. He was dressed in the exact same clothes he'd worn when he arrived at the mansion the night before, though Storm had washed them, so the blood on his shirt and jeans had been removed. He had managed to acquire a new pair of sunglasses, which were now hiding his eyes, as he stepped up to the ticket counter. "One ticket to New York City on the next available train, please."

"You want round trip?" The lady behind the counter seemed to be bored with her job, John noted. He decided that he was in a hurry, though and simply shook his head.

"No, one way. I don't think I'll be coming back here." The lady pressed some buttons on her computer and a ticket was printed out of a machine nearby.

"OK, that will be $58." John simply nodded and handed her the money, then took the ticket and looked at it as he left the line. The ticket said that the train left at 9:30 pm, just over two hours away. John sighed and made his way for the foot court, located off to the right side of the main plaza.

It wasn't long after John left the ticket counter that Kurt made his way though the station's plaza searching for his friend. The blue-skinned mutant had turned his hologram on, so he appeared to be a normal person as he wandered through the maze of people. Unfortunately for him, being short as he was made it difficult to see much around him. Dammit, where is he? Kurt didn't like crowds, since if he accidentally bumped into someone, he ran the risk of them noticing the fur that his hologram was hiding.

Kurt was lucky for one thing. His sense of smell and hearing was heightened over most people, and because of that, he could tell that John had been here very recently. He decided to go up to the ticket counter and ask about him.

"Aren't you a little young to be traveling by yourself?" It was the same lady that had sold John his ticket, though Kurt didn't know it.

"Actually, I'm looking for my older brother. I think he would have been here ten minutes ago. He's taller than me, had on a long coat, hood, red shirt."

"Oh, yeah, the sunglasses guy. He bought a ticket and then went down that way." She pointed to the right, toward the hallway John had disappeared down.

"Thank you." Kurt commented quickly as he rushed off to catch up to his friend.

John was now walking down a hallway near the food court. He had gotten a small bag of fries, and quickly finished it, before purchasing a drink, which he was now sipping as he went. Knowing he still had well over an hour before his train left, he decided to just wander the station until it was time to go. Doing so also gave him a chance to think about what had happened to him the last 24 hours. He was lost enough in his thoughts that he didn't even realize that he was being followed until a man's voice spoke up behind him.

"Excuse me, sir, but would you please come with me?" John looked up, and turned around to see the voice, knowing it was directed at him. What he saw was a man in his 40's, wearing a security guard's uniform. Sighing, and not wanting to cause a scene in public, he nodded and followed the guard to a nearby room. Once he was in the room, the guard closed and locked the door behind them, and John realized quickly that this wasn't an interrogation room. In fact, it was a storage room, and a guard that looked exactly like the one who had brought John in here was laying on the floor in a puddle of blood. He knelt down before the guard to examine him, but realized quickly that the man was dead. Before John could think too much of it, the guard spoke again.

"So, you're John Kerogi." The guard scoffed at this thought. "I don't know why he wants you so badly. You don't look like too much to me."

"You're a mutant, a shape shifter." John hadn't turned his attention from the dead guard yet. "Mystique, I presume?" Now he turned to face his captor. "You know, you really should show your true face, since it is just us here now." The guard smirked at John, and the skin and clothing began to ripple, turning a dark blue in some areas, black in others. The bald head was replaced with shoulder length red hair. Once the transformation was complete, Mystique stood there, her black dress hanging just past her knees. Now it was John's turn to scoff. "What is it with mutants in this area and blue skin?"

Mystique laughed at his comment for a short period. "So, you've been to Charles' place. Can't say I'm surprised. What happened, they a little bit too good for your liking?"

"What makes you think I've left them?"

"You're leaving Bayville using public transportation, rather than one of his vehicles." John had to admit, that logic was fairly obvious. "Besides, I've read your file. Given what you've been through, I'd imagine your views are more in line with ours than theirs."

"Ours? You mean the Brotherhood's?" John had heard of the group, and its leader, when he was still with the Organization. He knew that Mystique was one of the top people in the group. The female merely smiled at him.

"Of course. Humanity should be running and hiding from us, not the other way around, John. Join us, and together we will make sure that justice is done for you, and all others of our kind."

John seemed to consider Mystique's comments carefully before responding. "It is true that the war you and your boss see as coming is much more likely than the utopia that Professor Xavier wishes for." John stepped toward the blue mutant as he spoke. "But if I had a choice, I would prefer to live alongside humans rather than enslave them. Nobody deserves to live like that."

"You would side with them over us?"

"I would prefer peace. I've seen far too many lives lost already in this fight. But if the fight comes to my door, I will stand up for what I am and what I believe."

"Then you would side with us in the war, and help us destroy the humans."

"Perhaps, but there is one small problem with your idea." By now John was standing directly in front of her, and before she could react, he grabbed her by the neck and threw her against the wall. "People like your boss do far more harm to our people than good. I would NEVER work with a terrorist like him." Mystique's eyes began to roll back in her head as John was cutting off the oxygen to her brain as he spoke. "You tell your boss that if I do see him, it won't be as friends, only enemies."

With that, he let her go and stormed out of the room, leaving Mystique gasping for air as she slid down the wall. As she caught her breath and her mind began to function once again, her fear turned quickly to anger. "Nobody says no to us and lives." She swore to herself as she grabbed a bag that had been hidden nearby and left the room herself. In her haste, however, she failed to notice that the dead guard's gun and radio had gone missing.

"DAMMIT! What is with the traffic tonight?" Logan was stopped in the middle of the main road through Bayville. He'd managed to get about halfway to the station, when all the cars around him slowed to a stop. Logan wanted to get off the road, but he was currently pinned in with cars in front and behind him, as well as to his left, and a concrete barrier to his right. Chuck?

I hear you Logan. I'm a little busy monitoring things at the station. Thought you'd be closer than that by now. Logan had to scoff at the professor's comments. He figured that Charles was keeping an eye on things as well as he could, but not being able to see John's location was making it tough.

Yeah, well, the traffic on the main road is terrible, especially for a Monday night.

Charles was silent for a little bit, but the mutant knew he was only checking things out. It seems that the road ahead is blocked by a large tree. I doubt it was put there accidentally, however. Logan grumbled at this news, but before he could say anything, Charles continued his telepathic conversation. Logan, you need to hurry. Mystique is at the station, and she is angry about something.

Dammit Chuck! At this point, the car next to Logan had begun to move forward, and Logan turned his own car into the spot vacated, turning around in the middle of the road and heading back the way he'd come. He was familiar enough with the city to know alternate routes to the station, he just hadn't had a chance to take any of them since he'd been stuck in that spot for the last twenty minutes. This is going to be a long night.

I hope you're wrong, Logan, but I believe I'll have to agree.

Kurt was walking through the main plaza of the station once again looking for John. He had thought he'd seen him at least three times, but each time, he'd been wrong. He knew that John was still around, because he had been able to catch his scent a couple of times. He had almost given up when he spotted a long black coat and a red hood about thirty feet ahead of him. The man was walking the same direction he was, so he had to quicken his pace to catch up. A few times he lost sight of the man for a few seconds because of the crowd, but he always managed to catch him again.

After pursuing the man for a few minutes, Kurt ended up along the wall across from the station's entrance. As it was, he realized that the man must have turned, but Kurt couldn't find him. He started walking along the wall, and was startled when he was grabbed and pulled into a niche in the wall. The man forced him against the wall, holding him to it as he spoke. "You know, I really don't like to be followed, and I almost didn't recognize you, Kurt. You're lucky I didn't try to hurt you."

As soon as Kurt recognized John, he stopped fighting him and relaxed. "Sorry, mein friend, I wasn't sure it was you." John smiled at this and turned to walk away, with Kurt immediately following.

"So, you woke up and came here to see me off?"

"John, what you're planning is suicide. You've said so yourself. I can't let you do this, not alone. If you're going, then so am I."

John stopped at Kurt's statement and turned to face him. "No, you're not."

"And why not?"

"Because where I'm going it's not going to be safe. I'm going to start a war, and odds are I'll do things that I really shouldn't. You aren't a soldier, and your place is here, in Bayville. Besides..." John smiled and held up his ticket. "You aren't going to get on the train without one of these."

Before John could react, Kurt grabbed the ticket out of his hand. "And now, you're not going anywhere either, mein friend!" He placed the ticket in his pants pocket, aware that John couldn't take it from there even with his powers without the teen noticing. John simply sighed and started walking again, which got Kurt to move as well.

"So, why do you feel that you need to run off?"

John sighed, but continued walking. "Because I shouldn't have come in the first place." He paused for a second, then added. "I knew that coming to the mansion was going to bring trouble down on you. I just didn't realize how much of it would be at my hands." He glanced at Kurt. "I put you in the hospital, pissed off Logan and Kitty, and probably made the Professor think I'm twice as bad as anyone he's ever met!" He sighed once again. "It's pretty obvious that my being here has been an issue, and that I'm not wanted at the mansion, so why stay?"

"Because that's not true. I want you to stay." Kurt's voice was filled with sadness, which surprised John a little bit. "I don't blame you for what happened to me, it was my own stupidity. Kitty just takes things way to personally sometimes, and Logan's always pissed off." John smirked at Kurt's comment, and the two continued walking.

Unknown to either of them, they were being watched. Across the plaza, on a walkway that was closed to the public, a lone person laid on the ground. The person was dressed in full police gear, including body armor. In their hands was a sniper's rifle. "All right, John, just a little further, and you're mine." As he spoke, he looked through the scope of his rifle, and seeing John pass behind a pillar, unlocked the safety.

John's senses had been heightened ever since his earlier confrontation with Mystique, and as the sniper had readied his weapon, suddenly John was able to sense the danger. Quickly he grabbed Kurt by the back of his collar as he walked past, pulling him back against the pillar just as a shot rang out. The crowd began to scream and panic, many of the people diving for the floor, anticipating more shots, though none immediately came. "What the..?" Kurt started to speak, but John just pointed to the hole in the wall right where Kurt had been a second before.

"Mystique." Kurt's eyes went huge at this word, and he simply shook his head. At this time the radio John had attached to his belt blared to life.

"We have shots fired in Plaza A! I repeat shots fired in Plaza A!"

"This is Bayville SWAT Officer Jack Dolan. The shot fired was mine. There is a terrorist hiding on the platform. He is armed and dangerous, and has already taken out at least one of your security officers. Shoot on sight, and shoot to kill."

"Yes, sir."

"Dammit, Mystique." John rolled his eyes and stood there for a second, before looking at Kurt. "You all right?"

"Ja, I'm fine."

"Good, teleport back to the mansion. This isn't going to be pretty."

"There's too many people around, I can't teleport without revealing myself to them." John realized he was right, and also that there were several guards heading to their direction.

"All right. Stay here, and stay down. I'm the one she's after, so I'm gonna have to draw her fire." John poked his head out from behind the pillar, and immediately jerked it back behind, as a shot bounced off the side. "Shit, she's a good shot." At this point, guards had begun to flood the plaza, and John decided to get up close to them, so that he wouldn't have to dodge their bullets as well.

Charging at the first to come through the hallway leading further into the station, he ducked another sniper shot from the disguised mutant as he knocked the man down before he could draw his weapon. He then spun around, kicking the next guard square in the jaw, knocking him to the ground and out cold. Ducking yet another shot by Mystique, John used the momentum to swing behind a third guard, giving him a shot to the back of his head, then hurling him into his partner, who was standing behind the two.

One more guard came up the steps, and John simply grabbed him by the shirt, using his telekentic power to throw the man into the air, then jumping up himself, kicking the man in the side and sending him into the wall as a bullet whizzed between the two airborne men. As John landed, he pulled out the pistol he'd swiped, and pointed it in the direction the shots had come from.

At this point, he took a glance around the room, and noticed the people cowering and trying to hide. "Everyone clear out of here! NOW!" At his voice, all the civilians began to scatter out of the main plaza, leaving John, Kurt, and Mystique alone.

John could sense that Mystique was still lying there, her gun pointed right at him. Her anger and frustration at not being able to hit the mutant was causing her to project despite her mental barriers. "I know you're still there, Raven. Come on down and face me or I'll put you down where you are."

Mystique was surprised at John's statement. Several thoughts were running through her mind at once, most of them on the situation she now found herself in. How can he tell where I am? Can he really hit me from there with that gun? As she thought, a security guard tried to sneak up to her and subdue her, but she was too fast for him. She grabbed him by the shirt, spun him around, and kicked him through the wood paneling that she had been hiding behind. Then she jumped down after him.

"I have to admit, I see now why he wanted you on our side so badly." Her body and voice were that of a man, but John was able to sense the difference. He also knew that she wasn't about to give up or surrender to him, even as she walked toward him with her arms held out.

John didn't lower his gun, well aware by now that there was more to her than it seemed. "Yeah, and yet you seem hell bent on destroying me."

The mutant smiled at his remark. "We have a philosophy, you're either with us or against us. And if you're against us, you're dead." By now she was close enough to John that when she'd finished speaking she was able to kick the gun out of his hand. She tried, in her disguised form, to punch him, but he was fast enough to dodge it, grabbing her arm and spinning her around before landing a punch of his own, which knocked her back away.

"You're gonna fight me like that?" John smirked at her current form. If she was going to play the part of a man, he had no problem treating her as such.

"Too late to change now. One thing we do agree with the Professor on is that it's too dangerous for us to reveal ourselves, and there are far too many cameras here." John couldn't sense the cameras, but he had figured there were some monitoring everything that had been happening. It made him wonder for a second why there weren't more security forces, but he couldn't ponder it long as Mystique charged at him again with her fists.

Again, he was able to dodge or block her swings and come back with a punch of his own, this time to her gut, before kicking her in the head and knocking her down. Both warriors realized quickly that while Mystique was in her current form she wasn't nearly as quick or agile as she would be naturally. However, her natural strength was increased with the increase in muscle mass.

Though Mystique was knocked down, she didn't stay there long, swinging her foot around to try to trip John. This move had actually surprised the psychic, and he found himself knocked to the ground by it. Both of the mutants scrambled to their feet, and John blocked another punch, this time holding on to the arm as he punched the "officer" twice in the gut, then a right hook to her face, sending her stumbling down again.

As Mystique got up this time, she spat out some blood from her mouth. Damn it, bastard knocked my tooth loose. She jumped to her feet and tried a roundhouse kick to John's head, but he ducked and swept her other leg out from underneath her. She landed awkwardly and laid there stunned for a few seconds, before groaning as she slowly started to pull herself up again.

Meanwhile, Logan had finally arrived at the station, and seeing several dozen people standing around outside, he could only assume that the fireworks had begun within. Grumbling to himself about missing the party, he kicked the doors open and went inside.

John's telepathic senses caught Logan coming in, as well as the obvious anger within him. This new sensation distracted the mutant long enough for Mystique to get to her feet, pulling a knife out and stabbing John in the gut as she did so. The sudden pain caught John's attention and he turned back to the other mutant, slugging her in the jaw with his right hand and knocking her back down. As she fell, her hand was still clutching the knife, and the blade scraped across John's gut as it was pulled out, creating a rather large and deep gash.

John was unable to stand for more than a few seconds, before falling to one knee, and holding himself up with his hands. Mystique glared at him angrily as she got back up, holding the bloody knife in her right hand. "Hah, if you're this easy to kill, maybe we don't need you after all." She raised the knife to finish the job, but Kurt sprung out from his hiding place, causing her to stumble sideways a few steps before she shrugged him off. The disguised mutant then sneered at the teen.

"You must be one of Xavier's brats. Guess I'll just finish you off first." She raised the knife again, aiming to throw it at the grounded mutant. John took what energy he had left and threw a fireball at the knife, hoping to disarm the mutant. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was the ball of flame hitting its mark.

The fireball did hit the knife, but John had miscalculated slightly. When it struck the knife, the energy within it exploded, causing Mystique to howl in pain as she grabbed her face. She then turned and stumbled down the hallway leading deeper into the station. She hadn't been gone only a couple of seconds when Logan appeared in the entryway. By that time Kurt had recovered enough that he crawled over to John to check him. To the blue mutants horror, he almost couldn't find a pulse! He then noticed Logan, as the other ran up to him. "Mystique went down there. Go get her." Before Logan could say or do anything else, Kurt and John teleported away.

Logan grumbled, then noticed the blood pool where John had been laying. Realizing suddenly that he'd missed a lot more than he thought, he ran down the hallway after the shape shifter. About twenty feet down the hallway was a set of stairs leading to another set of platforms deeper underground. When he got to the lower platform, he realized that it was as deserted as the top. To make matters worse, once he stepped onto the platform, he lost Mystique's scent, which he'd been following up to that point. He spent the next half hour searching for her scent, or anything that would tell him where she'd gone, but in the end, he was forced to give up and return to the mansion.

A/N: Well, the story is almost at an end. I have an epilogue chapter that will have a few surprises. I don't know how long it'll be, but it will be dialogue heavy, so it'll probably depend on how long the conversations are.

I had actually planned on the Mystique fight being longer, but when I got to writing it, I'd run out of steam, so I had to shorten it. Besides, she'll be back, so maybe I'll do a longer one down the road.

As always, I do appreciate reviews and comment!