X-men Evolution: Shadows within the Night Chapter 2
Middi: Hey guys! Yeah… I know what your gunna say. "Why the hell did you end it there dammit?" I was bored and I wanted to make you squirm.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own X-men. Marvel does, so if you say I own it you will be in some serious trouble.
* * * * *
"Sheistrike*!" The fuzzy blue German shot up from his bed confused and pained. He started whispering many German profanities. He wiped sweat from his forehead. Kurt let his heart rate and breathing patterns calm down before he laid down back on his bed.
Kurt's strange dream was different from the usual stuff he has nightmares about. But he didn't know if he should classify the dream he had as a nightmare. Usually he awoke from dreams of his past. Ones where the villagers came after him, screaming about demons, freaks, and abominations. And some where he was being burned on the holy cross for being who he was meant to be. None of his dreams ever came like this; it was like a two-part horror film.
He saw three girls covered in dirt, sweat, and dried blood. The expressions were pure fury and disgust. Kurt knew the expression well. Their hair was messed in all different directions. They were standing in a sorta triforce like position. The two girls in the back turned away disappearing into the void of darkness. The last girl just stared at him, as if willing him to come closer, to comfort her. She held out her hand, and he was about to grab it, but then she fell backward, alarming him. Everything he saw then started being covered up with dark spheres. Then, it was an entirely different dream.
Everything was dark, but there was a light that lit up the dream world Kurt was in. It seemed he was watching, from his perspective, but wanted nothing more than to be rid of this realm of darkness and anger. Unfortunately, Kurt has never gotten his way in his dreams. There was fire, black flames surrounding 4 people. 3 of them were girls he could tell, and the last was a male. One of the girls was lying on the ground, bleeding, but glaring up at the man.
At that moment Kurt wanted nothing more than to go and protect that wounded girl. From the way she was trying to get up, both her legs were broken but there was still a spark of hope and defiance. The other 2 girls were silently crying behind their…friend? They looked similar in the regard that they all had long flowing brown hair and all were small built. But the thing that caught Kurt's attention the most was the man standing in front of the young girls.
It was like he was an exact replica of our fuzzy hero. Just like Kurt, he was fuzzy and had a tail. With three fingers and two toes, but with almost black fur. He was bigger in size, but not by much. He still looked about the same size as him, but there was the difference, and Kurt could tell that the man had many more years of experience than he did. But the thing that Kurt really looked at on his hard to see face, was that his eyes were blood red, and filled with bloodlust, anger, and insanity. The last part of his dream was the man lunged at the wounded girl, lifting her by the neck by his tail, Kurt seeing the beautiful cobalt eyes of his Katzchen, and pained expression on her beautiful face, and sadness in her voice, staring straight at Kurt, telling him in her eyes, the confident oozing cobalt eyes, "I'm sorry Kurt…I've failed…goodbye…a…nd…I…lo…ve yo…u."
He heard malicious laughter and then a deafening crack.
Then, nothing but darkness.
That was when he woke up, covered in sweat and panting furiously. He quickly 'bamfed to Kitty and Rouge's room to check if she was alright, he would have gone ballistic if she wasn't. She was just fine, he concluded, after stalking the area, making sure Kitty was fast asleep, and there were no cuts or bruises. Just Kitty, asleep, she had such a peaceful look in her face. And looking none the more beautiful as when he first met her. Before he left, he gave her a kiss on her temple.
"Ich Liebe Dich mein Katzchen*." Kurt whispered to her before 'bamfing away.
She was repulsed by him in the beginning, and many of his other friends were too. He truly looked like a demon sent from hell, and many people, human AND mutant, no matter whom they are, 'cept Professor X, always judge a book by its cover. Albeit that this cover is a navy blue fuzzy fanged three fingered two toed pointy eared golden eyed tailed being from hell. The first time Rouge took his powers Kitty was the person he woke up to though. She had been taking care of him while he was unconscious, just being with him, the demon, making sure he was all right. That was the first night in a long time where Kurt actually slept with good dreams at night.
It had been a few years since then, and Kitty and Kurt grew more inseparable by the days. She made sure Kurt did all his homework; his chores were done, and yelled at him till he got up on time for school. Kitty made sure that the fridge was always stocked with Kurt's most favorite foods and her special vegan diet foods. She also made sure he got to the Danger Room sessions before Logan skinned them. She was the most understanding when he had nightmares; she just stayed with him, suffering in silence. She played pranks on him and with him on the other students. With her beauty and harmonic voice, doubled with the fact that she was the most kindest and gentlest (WHEN NEED BE) person he knew. She was also first person to accept him for his bottomless pit, blue and furry exterior, and gentleman chivalry. She truly was his Angel.
He didn't deserve such an angelic person to be graced in his life. He was a mutant, a freak, plus the fact with his grotesque looking body was that of a demon. Nothing as pure and innocent as Kitty should be even allowed to have the thought about him grace her delicate ears. But he couldn't stop wanting her. Her little giggles made Kurt's stomach go wild, and not of hunger. The smiles were ones to be worshipped, and frowns and glares were enough to send the calm collected Professor X into submission. Her outbursts were enough to make the great Wolverine cower in fear.
He needed to talk to someone about it, not just his nightmare, but his feelings for Kitty. Kitty was definitely out of the question, and so was Rogue. Evan was a maybe, but he'd have to catch him and kill him first before he had the thought of telling someone. It would be too embarrassing to talk to your little sister about who you were in love with. Bobby and Jubilee couldn't know anything about it; the two gossipmongers would blackmail him into the next century. Jean and Scott were two plausible choices, but he would have to stop Scott from laughing himself into the hospital and Jean, Jean would put out too many outcomes if Kurt told her his feelings, and some of them probably ending in putting himself into a coma.
Even though Rahne was younger than him, the young werewolf was more mature than half of the seniors in Bayville High, he could trust her. Ray, Sam, Forge, Amara, Alex, Jamie and Roberto were impossible to tell. One- because of their immaturity and two- because one of them would blab and tell either Bobby or Jubilee and then he would be screwed. Logan, if he knew, would laugh so hard, and then tear him to shreds for even thinking about going after Kitty. He was very protective over Kitty.
So that left Hank, Ororo, and the Professor.
Hank would talk in a language of 1's and 0's and literature stuff he'll never understand. And as much as he looked up to the other older blue mutant, half the stuff he says, even WHEN he simplifies it, Kurt doesn't understand. So that left Ororo and Professor X. Ororo was very kind, but she just wouldn't sympathize with him well. She was treated like a goddess in Africa, where he was… He would just end up feeling even sadder than before.
So that left one option. Going to his mentor and long time father figure Professor X.
* * * * *
It was about ten-to-six on a Sunday morning, and Kurt knew that he would already be up. He 'bamfed in front of the Professor's study and decided to do the polite thing and knock.
*knock knock*
"Ahhh Kurt come in." the Professor told Kurt in his mind.
"Now what has you riled up on a Sunday morning Kurt? More nightmares or just want to talk with someone?"
'The Professor knows me too well.'
"Talk Profezzer."
"Alright then. Please take a seat Kurt. Now, what seems to be troubling you? It doesn't seem to be the normal things we chat about if it has you waking up before noon on a Sunday."
'How am I going to phrase this…?'
"Well Profezzer, I just had this dream, and…it wasn't a normal one."
Kurt opened his mind to let the professor look at his dream. He closed his eyes and dropped his head to analyze what was disturbing Kurt so much.
Charles Xavier looked into the young mutant's mind. He saw the three girls, the ones that left, and the one that fell. He saw them have fear and fury in their eyes, and the blue man, wrapping his tail around her neck, the confession, and then the evil laughter. He looked up and saw a look as shame on Kurt's face. The man looked so much like Kurt if was frightening, but not enough to answer the questions that swarmed the Professor's mind.
"Kurt, do you think…you are the mutant in your dream perhaps?"
"Ja, I zhink I am. Who else vould it be?"
"Kurt, realize something important I am about to tell you!" Kurt looked up to see Charles's head with nothing but true words being spoken. And a look of determination to tell him what he was.
"Kurt, whatever you think you were in the past, you aren't! You are a wonderful student and a prankster extraordinaire, next to Bobby and Jubilee. You speak with such care and longing in your words to remind you of your past, mentally telling yourself to try and not get hurt again. By a certain girl if I'm not mistaken…"
Kurt froze. 'How would the Profezzer know about that?
"Kurt I'm sorry but it is plainly obvious. And I'm not reading your mind right now, or ever on the matter with Ms. Pryde."
Kurt looked nervously at his mentor. 'Does everyvone know?'
"You are nothing like that man. For one thing Kurt if you look in your dream, that man has red eyes, full of bloodlust and evil, your eyes are kind, full of friendship and a pure gold color. You would never, if you could in any way, make a girl, let alone Kitty, cry or hurt them. Ever. You are too free spirited a soul, and have too many true friends to even think about being a cold hearted beast. And I know it would be too hard a burden to bear for you. The weight on your conscience would eventually destroy you."
He knew the Professor was correct. But it wouldn't stop him from worrying about Kitty though.
"…You know Kurt, why don't you talk to Kitty? And if you feel up to it…I heard about the senior prom dance at the school. Why not take Kitty? I'm sure she would be thrilled."
"Take Keety to prom…?" He tilted his head to the side. Kurt's face was a blank canvas; full of confusion and a stare of blank 'I don't know what you're talking about'
Then Kurt's brain went into overdrive.
"WAIT VAS? PROFEZZOR ARE YOU CRAZY? I…I can't take Keety to prom." First loud then unbelievably quiet.
The Professor said with a smile on his wise face, "Kurt, just talk to her. It'll lift a weight off your shoulders. Just stay calm. And I don't do this much but I think you'll need it."
He picked up car keys from his desk and tossed it to Kurt.
'Car keys? Vhat does he want me…to…do with?'
Kurt facepalmed his face. KEYS! CAR KEYS! How stupid can you get?
Kurt was about to 'bamf outta before the Professor told him,
"Kurt, also before you go to school tomorrow, talk to Storm."
Confused, Kurt 'bamfed to his room. In an attempt to get even a few more hours of sleep before the entire house was woken up for a 'get your homework done before Ororo see's and scorns you' blitz and Logan yells at Bobby for freezing his body cold last night.
* * * * *
Angry as hell, Kurt was trying not to destroy his pillow in rage on a Monday morning.
In his room at the institute, Kurt was mad. And the reason was Lance. Kurt, tried as he might, could not contain a snarl of fury from emitting from his mouth. He loved Kitty a lot, but how could she have been stupid enough to go back to him? He pretty much broke her heart, and while happy that she didn't have to go through that, maybe, with him, he was still furious at the fact that Kitty was even thinking about getting back together with a rock head. Fangs bared, he decided to go for a walk outside.
The little forest around the institute was one of the few places where Kurt could actually go to think. He bolted into the forest on all fours, letting his animalistic tendencies loose. If a human were to see him, they would think he was a demon. His fur looked dark blue, almost black, glowing golden eyes, and his fangs were bared, looked quite menacing if you were alone at 5:30 in the morning. Kurt was just running through the forest, not caring about the world right now.
He was going to run to his special tree*. It was on top of the hill overlooking Bayville. It wasn't as good as the ones in his beloved Germany, but they were okay. If he hurries, he could see the beautiful sunrise going over the Institute and the lake/cliff that surrounded it. He dubbed the tree…Tree Friend. Kurt was having an off day; he was exhausted and didn't really care. He liked Tree Friend, he always listened and in the fall, apples, Kurt's favorite fruit* came falling down.
Today was different though. He heard from Rogue that Kitty got back with Lance last night at dinner. He had wonderful dreams of strangling the boulder nut last night. He knew he wasn't supposed to leave the mansion this early on a school day, but he really needed to clear his head. And it had been almost an entire month since he'd seen the sunrise here.
He had just gotten to the top of the hill when he heard something beautiful. He heard a girl singing, on his hill, on a breathtaking hill that looked over a sun rising town. He remembers the song from an old time. Before he started to get so emotional with Kitty, he heard this song, but, Kitty sang this song. What was happening? Was she here?
***
'I can almost feel it…
That dream your dreaming, but…
There's a voice ringing in my head sayin…
You'll be caught in it…
Everything you go through…
Everything I don't know though…
Lost with no redemption…
You say you're fated, but I…
I'm gonna be strong…
Gonna keep making sure your strong…
There's always gonna be another battle…
I'm always gonna make it through…
Always gonna be a mutant hero…
Sometimes I'm gonna have to chew…
Through something I've never noticed…
Through something I've thought about all al-oooonnngggggg…
It's the truth…
The struggles you're facing…
Something I'm breaking…
Yeah they'll knock you down but…
No you're not faking…
I may not try to…
But I've almost killed you…
With my insane muffins that…
Have actually really hurt you…
But I, I gotta be strong…
With all my cool X-friends…
There's always gonna be another battle…
I'm always gonna make it through…
Always gonna be a mutant hero…
Sometimes I'm gonna have to chew…
Through something I've never noticed…
Through something I've thought about all al-oooonnngggggg…
It's the truth…
There's always gonna be another battle…
I'm always gonna make it through…
Always gonna be a mutant hero…
Sometimes I'm gonna have to chew…
Through something I've never noticed…
Through something I've thought about all al-oooonnngggggg…
It's the truth…
Keep on 'bamfing…
Keep phasing…
Keep the spyke, wolvie…
Stay without…
Stay without…
The truth…
Stay without…
The truth…
***
(A/N You guys'll get it later in the story)
Kurt was awestruck. He wanted to see the face that went with that angel's voice. Whoever it was had an amazing voice, nothing compared to his Katzchen's though. At least he could say that Kitty's voice was second to none compared to the voice of God. But he was without his image inducer; Kurt would probably freak out the girl with an angel's voice.
So he decided to stalk in the trees. He jumped into a branch on his tree easily with his insane acrobatic skills. Whoever was here, they wouldn't know he was there until he decided to reveal himself. And unless it was Kitty, or another mutant who knows of his…appearance…being in the tree's dark green leaves was his best option for a stealth mission.
When he saw the familiar brown hair of Kitty he decided to scare the living daylights outta her!
'bamf
"Fuzzy?"
'bamf
"AHH!"
"Guten morgen Katzchen"
"Little bastard…stupid 'bamfing…stupid not paying attention Kitty"
"Katzchen! You vound me so!"
"Yeah Yeah. Suck it up Fuzzball."
Kitty's hair was in her signature ponytail, and that meant she had been up for a while now. She had small, but distinct ringlets around her eyes by the lack of sleep. He had frowned at that for a fraction of a second, but decided it wasn't totally important because finals were quickly approaching, so Kitty, ever "A+++ Student of the Year" would be studying late into the night to review all of her notes. She was wearing a different set of pajamas from usual. Usually they were a baggy pink shirt and short pink shorts, today, they were a sky blue tank top and baggy navy blue sweatpants*. If he looked at her shoulder/neck line, he could tell she wasn't wearing a camisole or bra, earning a blush, turning him purple.
"So vhat may I ask, is my beloved Keety doing here?" A blush still on his cheeks.
"…"
"Keety…"
"You're gonna laugh…"
"Keety, lizten, I vould never, unless it vas absolutely hilarious, laugh at you." Kurt's German accent cutting into his words a little more than usual.
"I was up here talking to…Lockheed."
"Lockheed?"
She pointed to the tree above her.
"Lockheed. My main tree green friend. Y'know I'm a vegetarian right? I come here to clear my head, and to talk to Lockheed. He doesn't talk back at me, thank God! But he is a good listener." She smiled.
A shocked Kurt looked at Kitty. Did she ACTUALLY KNOW how much they had in common with each other? Was she blind to his feelings? And Lockheed…that's an awesome name…a lot better than Tree Friend…Was Kitty REALLY that dense to his feelings?
"What? I know I'm not the ONLY one who talks to plants! I mean Ororo talks to her flowers, and I saw Logan once yelling at the ferns! C'mon Fuzzy! Am I really that weird?"
Kurt was flat out laughing his head off now. She was perfect for him! There was nothing particularly wrong with talking to plants, he just thought it was funny she comes here to talk to the tree too! Everything about her just shocked and amazed him!
"Nein Katzchen. You and the Fuzzy man have that in common-"
"What do you call him?"
"…Vhat? Mein Englizh iz not very understandable azk me in my native tongue vill you?"
"Kurt." Kitty warned. She didn't want to be the only freak, besides having powers, that talks to the plant species. "What. Do. You. Call. Him? I mean, I call him Lockheed, after the sweet little dragon plushie you won for me at the annual school fair*. So I wanna know what you call the tree," Her tone was beyond asking, just telling, ordering.
"You can't lie to me and say you don't have a name for him, so just tell me."
"…ree…and."
"What was that? SPEAK LOUDER!"
"…ree…rend…"
"Kurt!"
"OKAY ALRIGHT! His name iz Tree Friend!"
He could see that Kitty tried to reign in her giggles, but failed horribly. So she just burst out laughing. Between her laughter, he could just get a few words out of her.
"You…Tree Friend! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
"Humph! Monday must be abuse ze elf day."
"Awww Kurt! You know that everyday is abuse ze elf day! And you also know Monday and Tuesday are pancake days back at the institute. So why aren't we there?" Kitty grinned playfully.
"Because, mein Liebechen, I needed to clear my head. I needed to get out of zhat cramped house and to talk to…my Tree Friend. Nightmares last nacht, not fun stuff." Kurt was reminded of his poor Katzchen being taken by the neck…he shuddered.
Kitty frowned at that. Kurt had always been the most optimistic of the group, always fun loving and hyper. Kurt had things in his past no one should go through, ever. Kitty never heard about what happened other then that he doesn't want to tell anyone about it. She felt that when he was ready, he would explain what his nightmares were about.
"Y'know Kurt. You aren't alone anymore; you have friends who will always be there for you now. There's no way in hell that I'd accept anything less than you blinding me with your smiles, not scaring me to high hell because you're moping." A gentle smile graced her lips. Kurt noted how pretty she looked today. "C'mon Fuzzy! Snap outta it!"
"…I know that your right Liebe*, but I can't find it in myself to zink ozerwize. You know I've zbent most of my life running from my appearance, but never does anyvone understand vhy!" Kurt said exasperated.
Kitty just looked at him. Being silent, just being there. Unlike herself, who needed words of reassurance, all Kurt needed was someone who wouldn't leave. She brought him in for a hug, relishing the warmth of his fur on her skin. He looked out onto the distance and gave a small smile.
"Kurt, you must come here for another reason then to talk, so what's another reason. I mean I sometimes come up here to watch the sunrise. I favor the sunsets here more though. They have a bit more fire and spirit to them. And they're the ending of the day, but the beginning of something we may or may not foresee. But the sunrise is something that gives the world light, and meaning…a purpose…" She stopped for a moment, and frowned, probably remembering something.
Kurt never knew how deep Kitty could really be. He didn't even realize that something was about to happen, something that, like Kitty said, they may or may not have foreseen.
"Sorry Kurt! Rambling on and what not! Let's get, like, back to the institute, you must be starving!" Kurt grinned wolfishly.
"Before zhat, ve're vatching ze sunrise. And if you don't vant to vatch, Poor Katzchen, because I'm not returning till I see it!" Kitty giggled at that while Kurt chuckled.
"Alright then Fuzzy, but if we get in trouble YOU took me here okay?"
Kurt nodded his head, still chuckling.
"Ja Katzchen, vhatever you say. But just so you know, if I get in trouble because YOU ate all the ice-cream, I'm bailing you out."
"Gasp! Then I better get rid of the witness to cover up my crime! Die my Fuzzy!"
Kitty bombarded Kurt with so many tickles that Kurt started weeping on the ground in front of his 'Tree Friend' her 'Lockheed'.