The Last Son, Book Two: Reckonings

by The Writer with No Name

AU Season 2. Crossover with Superman. In his second year at the Institute, the young Man of Steel must deal with new friends, new foes, and growing public curiosity. Rated T for now. Author's Note inside.

24. Hexed

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: HEXED

New York Mental Institution, April 6, 2008

The waning red light of the sun cast eerie shadows over the New York Mental Institution, only adding to the oppressive feeling that pervaded the building. Within its walls, four orderlies headed down a hallway, each carrying a pole with a loop at its tip; the kind of pole used to restrain very difficult patients.

"Aw, jeez," one orderly muttered, "we have to move her out again? Man, I ain't gettin' paid enough for this!"

"Hey, don't be talkin', pal!" a second said. "This is nothin'! I used to work at Arkham Asylum!"

"Holy..!" a third exclaimed. "The Arkham?! The one in Gotham City?!"

"The very same." the second replied. "This kid is cake compared to some of the nuts over there. There's that guy in the question-mark getup, Riddler, and then there's Arnold Wesker, who calls himself "The Ventriloquist," on account of how he's got this dummy on his arm – Scarface – that's always bossin' him around...but the creme-de-la-creme has got to be that 'Joker' nutbag; before, the guy was probably some kinda demon that got kicked out of hell for bein' too friggin' twisted. Even worse, he's always bustin' out; compared to guys like him, this little kid is nothing. I'm glad I transferred here; better to get blasted by some kid than to get gassed by the Crackpot Clown Prince of Crime!"

"Amen to that, bro." the fourth agreed. "Bein' in the asylum business is gettin' too dangerous, these days, with all these crazies that are poppin' up."

"We gotta get a new line of work." the first said. By then, they had reached the patient's cell. "Okay, fellas; it's go-time. Remember; do not let her move her hands!" The other orderlies nodded, and readied their poles. "Okay: on three." the first said, reaching for the door. "One...two..."

Suddenly, the door exploded away from its frame, sending all four orderlies flying, as a lean, slender young woman of 17, clad in a loosened straitjacket and white pants, ran out.

"She's gotten free of her jacket!!" one orderly cried, and he promptly hit the hospital alarm.

The alarm klaxon made the fleeing girl freeze in her tracks, her bright blue eyes darting around, peering out from under her mid-length, midnight-black hair, which was now unkempt, partially covering her eyes. She saw several orderlies rushing towards her, and her eyes narrowed in utter fury, as she simply pointed at them.

Instantly, the walls caved in on the orderlies, pinning them, before the wall-tiles fused to the floor, making sure that they didn't get up. The young woman then ran down the hallway, opened a door...

...and came face-to-face with the person who had come to see her.

Charles Xavier's expression was sad as he looked at her. "Wanda...again?" he asked mournfully. "Trying to escape won't solve anything..."

Wanda Maximoff's eyes narrowed in rage. "The sooner I get out of here..." she hissed, "...the sooner I can find him!!!"

"And kill him?" Xavier asked gently. Wanda's hateful expression said it all. "Wanda...that is not the answer..."

Wanda let out a scream of pure rage, as blue-black energy condensed around her hands; the entire room started to shake, threatening to collapse around them...

Xavier didn't so much as bat an eye. "Do you hate me, as well?" he asked gently.

At that, Wanda stopped, her rage dissipating; she had every right to hate the man who had put her here, but no right to take that hatred out on Professor Xavier, the man who, for the past year, had been trying to help her.

Xavier's expression grew sadder. "I just wish that I had found you sooner, Wanda." he said. "I want to help you, but I can't when you do things like this. I've been trying to get the hospital to release you to the Institute's custody, but your outbursts just make it harder."

Wanda didn't speak, at that. The only thing she wanted more than to be free of here...was to get revenge on the one who had locked her here, in the first place.

Xavier smiled gently. "Tomorrow, I have a session with another patient, and then I plan to speak with the Dean, Wanda. With any luck, I might convince him to let you attend the Institute on a limited basis; it's not ideal, but it's a start."

Wanda nodded. "Okay." she said softly. With that, she turned to go, followed by Xavier.

The instant Wanda stepped out, the orderlies swarmed towards her. "It's alright." Xavier assured them. "She's going back to her room, now." At that, the orderlies calmed, and let her pass. As Wanda headed back into her room, she heard the Professor's powerful-yet-gentle telepathic voice echo in her mind: 'I'll see you tomorrow, and I hope to show you the Institute.' Wanda simply nodded, and headed inside, closing the door behind her.

One more day, and she could leave.

Outer Space

Deep in the blackness of space, a single, curve-winged craft darted past the planet Saturn, heading further into the system, towards the third planet from its sun.

Inside the small ship, the pilot read the scans that her ship was taking, and nodded to herself.

'A Kryptonian power-signature.' she thought. 'And from a Trans-Warp event.' Her own people's most gifted scientists had been theorizing about Trans-Warp, but they were nowhere near being even close to creating a Trans-Warp engine.

But that was wide of the point. Now she was sure that there was a survivor from Krypton in this system, as her people had suspected.

Quickly, the pilot tapped a few keys on her control console, prompting her ship to release a cloud of Xerodyne gas, which bound to the exhaust-molecules of the recent Trans-Warp event, eliminating them. She knew that Krypton had enemies – most notably the Kree – that would surely try to destroy this sole survivor of that great people, should they learn of this.

Her work done, the pilot continued on her way, towards the planet called Earth. There, she would carry out her objective...

Xavier Institute

Evening had blanketed the Institute by the time Kurt had finished his homework. With the rest of his evening free, he'd decided that a little chat with his liebe was in order.

"So, 'Mandy, how did you find classes, today?" Kurt asked over the phone.

"Ugh! I swear, Kurt, my Physics teacher has it in for me!" Amanda lamented. "But, other than that, classes went okay, today." She giggled. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm okay." Kurt said. "And you're right; zat teacher in Physics is nuts!"

Amanda giggled. "Do you think you can convince Kal to give us a tutorial? This stuff has to be easy to a member of a people that's licked quantum theory!"

Kurt laughed. "Vell, 'Mandy, I'll ask him, but some of zhe stuff he teaches might make our heads explode!"

Amanda laughed, as well. "Yeah, you're probably right!" she agreed. "So, how's Ali holding up? Is she okay with...her 'discovery'?"

"Ja, liebe; Alison's doing okay." Kurt replied. After the revelation of Alison's Kryptonian heritage, Dazzler had been mildly stressed – both from the sheer surprise and from the symptoms of her more advanced Kryptonian powers starting to wake up – but his teammate was starting to come to terms with it. "Kal's helping her deal vith her new abilities, as they show up."

"Yeah; I mean, since he's been through this kind of thing, he's the best one to help her deal." Amanda said. Then, shyly, she added, "Um...Kurt? That's...that's like the second or third time you've called me 'liebe'..."

"Oh." Kurt said, his face flushing darker under his blue fur. "Uh...y-yeah, I guess it is..."

"I...I looked that up on the Internet." Amanda said. "I...think that it means...'love,' if...if I'm reading it right..."

"You're...you're reading zat right, 'Mandy."

"Then...then you...feel that way about me?" Amanda whispered, hopeful.

Kurt froze, his emotions all jumbled up inside him, as he tried to answer. "'Mandy..."

Suddenly, there was another voice in the background; Amanda's mother, Kurt guessed. "Kurt, I'm so sorry; I have to go! We'll talk tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay." Kurt replied. "Bye!"

"Bye!" Amanda replied, before she hung up.

As Kurt put the phone down, he let out a tiny sigh of relief. It wasn't that he was afraid of saying the 'L-Word,' he just didn't want to say it until he was sure he meant it. 'Do I love her?' he thought.

Kurt had never really been in love, before; he honestly didn't know what it felt like to want to be with someone forever. 'If I loved Amanda, I'd notice the little things about her, like how she twirls a lock of her hair when she's nervous, or like how her laugh sounds like bells chiming...' He paused. 'Not only that, I'd go to any lengths to keep her safe, even if it meant...facing a pack of demon-lizards...like the ones at the Sadie Hawkins Dance...' Kurt stopped in mid-thought again. 'Still, even then, I'd probably have thoughts about a future life with her, like how perfect a family we'd have, even if our kids ended up fuzzy...' Kurt froze once more. 'And...and I'd probably think of how wonderful my life is since I've met her, and how bleak it would be without her...'

It hit him harder than a brick wall.

'Dumkopf!!' Kurt berated himself. 'I do love her! How could I not' Now, all he had to do was tell her; he would tell her, tomorrow...

Just then, his phone rang. 'Maybe that's her, now!' Kurt thought. He quickly picked up the phone. "Amanda?"

No answer. "Hello??" Kurt asked.

"Kurt?"

Kurt's eyes widened in sheer shock; the tone of the voice was softer, gentler...but there was no mistaking its owner.

"Mystique?" Kurt whispered.

There was a pause. "I...I should go..." Mystique whispered.

"No!" Kurt exclaimed, both nervous at who he was speaking to...and anxious to hear why his birth-mother had called. "It's just...vhy did you call?"

"To be honest...I don't know."

"Oh." Kurt said, disappointed; she hadn't called to tell him anything. "I...guess I'll let you go; you must have more important things to do..."

"No!!" Mystique cried. "I-I didn't mean it that way, Kurt. It's just...I've been thinking about...about speaking with you for a while; I've been fairly busy, and I only just worked up the nerve to talk to you, just now."

That made Kurt feel a little better. "So...how are you?"

"I'm...okay." Mystique replied. "And you?"

"I'm okay, too." Kurt said. "Zhe Institute is a great place."

"I'm glad for you, Kurt."

Kurt lightly smiled. "And...I met a girl, fairly recently."

Mystique lightly chuckled. "So I gathered." she said. Taking a deep breath, she added, "Kurt, I know this sounds strange, but...can we meet? I just...want to see you."

The request threw him. "Uh...I don't know if zat's a good idea."

"I see." Mystique said softly. "That's okay, Kurt; I understand why you don't want to see me..."

"It's not zat." Kurt said. "It's just...how do I know zat zhis isn't a trap?"

Mystique chuckled sadly. "I thought you might say that." she said. "I'm not working with Magneto, anymore, Kurt. If you don't want to meet me, that's fine; it's just that...there are some things that you should know – that you deserve to know."

Kurt was silent for a few moments. "Okay." he whispered. "Vhere vill ve meet?"

"Tomorrow, at the old playground in Bayville Park, just after sunset." Mystique replied. Then, Kurt could hear the tearful smile in her voice, and knew that he'd made the right choice. "Kurt...thank you..."

Kurt nodded. "I'll...see you, tomorrow...Mother..." he whispered. At that, Mystique let out a soft sob, before she hung up.

Sighing to himself, Kurt flopped down on his bed, blankly staring up at the ceiling. 'Why does my life have to be so complicated?' he thought. Staring beyond the ceiling, towards the heavens, he said, "Mein Gott, if zhis is Your idea of a practical joke, it isn't very funny."

Morning took a long time to come for Wanda.

After eight years – or possibly nine, Wanda couldn't always remember – inside a cell completely without windows, she had learned to tell time completely on her own, without needing so much as a watch. Still, after learning of a chance for freedom, Wanda found that the minutes took agonizingly long to pass.

Just then, the door opened, and light flooded into the room, momentarily blinding Wanda. Then, an orderly walked in; Wanda's eyes narrowed in fury as she recognized him: the head orderly, one of her longtime tormentors. The orderly simply walked over to her...

...and undid the straps of her straitjacket.

Instantly, Wanda got to her feet, blue-black energy coalescing around her fists; she'd long since learned that, when she was angry enough, her powers just...made things go her way. And she really, really wanted this bastard to just keel over from a heart attack on the spot...

...but then her rage quelled, as she got a better look at the orderly. His eyes were wide, and seemingly glazed over, like he was drugged, and his expression was completely blank. Wanda's previous anger was quickly replaced by confusion. What was going on?

"Well? Aren't you coming?"

Wanda's eyes narrowed in distrust as another young woman, around her own age, walked into the cell. She had long, chestnut hair, dark, emerald-green eyes, perfect skin, and ample curves, clad in skintight green pants and a revealing green top, which trailed partially behind her arms. She was one of the kind of picture-perfect girls that had tortured Wanda through grade-school, before she'd been thrown in here. "Who are you?!" Wanda snapped.

The girl smiled. "Your new best friend." she purred. "Now, don't you want to leave this wretched place?"

"What, are you crazy?!" Wanda said – a statement that, in this place, sounded really stupid, she admitted. "Those orderlies will pump both of us full of tranquilizers before we even get near the exit!!"

The girl just smiled. "Oh, don't worry about that." she said. "I'm very persuasive." To the orderly, she added, "Leave us, and make sure that none of the other orderlies are anywhere near the west exit."

At that, the orderly simply turned, and walked out of the cell. Wanda's eyes went wide. "You're...you're like me, aren't you?" she murmured.

The girl smiled. "My name, Wanda Maximoff, is Anita LeRoux." she said. "If you wish, you may call me Siryn."

Wanda slowly relaxed, her blue-black energy bolts dissipating. "Okay, 'Siryn,'" she said, "what now?"

Siryn chuckled. "First, my dear girl, we must get you some proper clothes and get you cleaned up, and you're likely starving, aren't you?"

"That can wait." Wanda hissed. "First I need to find my 'dear' father."

"Patience, Wanda; patience." Siryn said. "There are a few things that we must take care of, first. Your vengeance will come, soon enough. Now, just follow me." With that, she vanished into a cloud of green haze; the cloud then engulfed Wanda, as well, taking them both away.

'Okay,' Dazzler thought to herself, 'I can do this.'

It was fairly early in the morning, which, of course, meant early-morning training. For Alison, however, it meant it was time to work on her developing Kryptonian powers – this time, she would be working on her thermal and X-Ray vision, as well as her eye-rays.

Sitting at her feet next to her was Krypto, panting happily, wearing his little cape – which he looked just adorable in, Dazzler thought with a smile. Up in the control room was Clark, along with the rest of the X-Men, as well as Storm, Wolverine, and the Professor. "Okay, Diva," came Logan's gruff voice, "you know the drill: we cut the lights, and you use those new super-peepers of yours to blast the targets, but first you gotta pick out the right targets for Pooch to go after."

"Got it." Dazzler said. Basically, this session was target-practice; the lights would be turned off, meaning that she would have to use her thermal vision to hit the targets. In addition to that, however, several targets were "tagged" with very trace amounts of radium – totally harmless, but enough for her X-Ray vision to tell the difference. Those targets were meant for Krypto to attack, but Clark had instructed Krypto not to go after the targets until Alison said so.

"Just take your time, Ali." Superman said over the speaker. "Just remember what I taught you and you'll do great!"

Alison smiled. "Thanks." she cooed. These past couple of weeks, Clark had been helping her learn about her new powers. A few days ago, she'd had the absolute worst fever she'd ever had; Clark had stayed with her until it had broken – he'd told her that her immune system was just kicking it up a notch, clearing all the pathogens out of her system, like his system had done when he was younger. When her hearing had been going crazy, he'd just held her close, and told her to focus on her own heartbeat and nothing else – he was teaching her to concentrate on only one sound. It worked, though, on occasion, her hearing got close to overwhelming her...but her tausha was always there to help her.

"Okay, Dazzler, get ready." Cyclops said over the speaker. "Good luck!"

"Thanks, Scott." Dazzler said. To Krypto, she added, "Ready, boy?"

Krypto barked, panting happily. With that, the lights dimmed, as the simulation started.

Dazzler's eyes narrowed, as she heard Krypto let out a low growl of alertness. 'Okay...I just have to focus...concentrate on seeing beyond.' Her eyes flashed electric-blue...and then went back to normal...and then started to glow steadily.

Her normal vision instantly went from seeing nothing but darkness to seeing the entire Danger Room in hues of blue, silver and black. She could now see clearly: ten metal poles had jutted up from the floor...and four of them were glowing brightly.

"Krypto!" Dazzler called. She pointed to one of the glowing targets. "Second from the left!"

Krypto instantly went from good-natured pet to fearsome war-hound; he snarled in sheer feral fury, and pounced at the target, biting it in half with one bite. "First from the right!" Dazzler called, and Krypto leapt at the target with inhuman speed, biting it and ripping it to shreds with his razor-sharp teeth. "Middle target, and then farthest from the right!" Krypto pounced, bit, and then leapt off, shredding the final two targets in mere seconds.

"Good boy!" Dazzler exclaimed, as Krypto scampered back to sit next to her, panting happily, his feral rage gone. 'Okay...now it's my turn...' Alison thought. 'Have to focus...see the warmth.'

Her X-Ray vision instantly gave way to a world of red, yellow, orange, blue and violet hues, as her vision now perceived the infrared end of the spectrum. The six remaining targets were glowing bright orange – easy targets. Dazzler's eyes narrowed as she focused, her eyes starting to glow a brilliant gold...

The high-powered beam lanced from her eyes, utterly incinerating the first two targets in one inadvertent sweep, as the recoil from said beam knocked Alison flat on her rear. 'Okay...used too much power...Clark said that might happen...' She concentrated, took aim, and fired again, getting three targets in one sweep, as the recoil pushed her back a few feet. 'Better...only one more to go...' She aimed, focused, and fired at the final target.

The beam sliced through the target seconds after the ending timer sounded, as the lights switched on. "Time's up, Diva." Wolverine said. "Five out of six, this time; not too bad."

Dazzler groaned. 'I had that target, and he knows it...stupid timer.' she mentally muttered, hoping that the Professor didn't overhear her thoughts. The first time she'd tried simulations with her new eye-beams, she'd almost fried the entire Danger Room...except for the targets.

Well, at least she was making progress.

As she and Krypto walked towards the elevator, Jubilee headed out of it; it was her turn, now. "Ali, you were awesome!" the younger girl exclaimed. "I think it's so cool that you're part Kryptonian!"

Dazzler lightly smiled. "Thanks, Jubilee." she replied. "Good luck!" With that, she and Krypto took the elevator up to the control room, leaving Jubilee to her session.

As she entered the control room, Superman turned to her, smiling. "You did good, Ali." he said. "Your control on your eye-rays is coming along nicely."

"Thanks." Alison cooed. Then, she frowned. "But I'm still not any faster or stronger than I was before..."

"Your powers are just developing on a different schedule." Superman assured her. "The first power I started to show was my strength, and I didn't get my eye-rays until years later. You're doing fine, Ali; don't worry."

"I hope so." Dazzler replied. Smiling, she added, "But I can't wait for flying lessons!"

"Terrific." Wolverine muttered. "Now we've got two flyers to worry about. As if havin' one didn't attract enough attention; you're gettin' careless, Flyboy."

"Logan, that isn't fair!" Storm half-scolded. "People are simply more curious about Clark's existence, so they're trying harder to learn the truth..."

"No, it's okay." Superman said. "Wolverine is right; I need to be extra careful."

"We all should exercise greater caution." the Professor said. "Human curiosity is nearly boundless; we must take care not to expose mutants' existence until humanity is ready for us."

"We'll be careful, Professor." Cyclops agreed. With that, Wolverine started Jubilee's simulation.

Before too long, morning training was over, and they all headed back to their rooms, to change out of their uniforms. Since there had been relatively few simulations, there wasn't a line-up to the shower; Alison quickly changed into her bathrobe and made a beeline for the bathroom, before she darted in. Once inside the bathroom, Alison slipped out of her robe, turned on the shower, and got in, simply letting herself relax as the water glided over her skin. Training in the use of her Kryptonian powers was tiring.

Alison smiled to herself. Her Kryptonian powers. She'd been somewhat freaked-out on initially learning that her ancient ancestor had been Kon-Lir – who wouldn't have been freaked to find out they were part alien? But, after she'd calmed, she couldn't help but feel just a tiny bit giddy, knowing that she was sharing the world of the man she loved more than anything; like it was their secret, and no-one else's. Not only that, she felt proud of her heritage; she wasn't knocking humanity or anything, but if her Clarkie was any indication of his people – their people, she corrected herself with a smile – then she had plenty to be proud of.

Alison's smile only grew as she thought of Clark. The revelation of her origins had also resolved another problem they'd been worried about. After further tests on her physiology, Mr. McCoy had discerned that her immune system wasn't the only thing kicking into overdrive; her metabolism was adjusting to match that of a Kryptonian's. Now that her mutant powers were constantly transmuting sound energy into light energy, her metabolism was "waking up," making use of all the energy, just as a normal Kryptonian's would. Also, from what Hank had observed, her life-span would be the same as any other Kryptonian female's would be under a yellow sun; as long as she had sound energy, she'd be just fine.

And that was the issue that they – though mostly Clark – had been worried about. Alison would have been happy to spend all of her mortal life with him, even if Clark would live forever. Now, they had an eternity to look forward to.

That thought was somewhat sobering. While their friends and families withered away, she and Clark would go on, unchanged by time. 'Whoa...that's kind of scary...' she thought to herself. Clark had been dealing with this issue for longer than she had, and he'd been training with his powers for much longer than her.

It gave her a whole new respect for him.

Then, Alison frowned sadly to herself. 'Did Dad know? Did Mom?' The fact that her parents might have known about this – and not told her – was unsettling. Her Mom had been MIA for years, and she'd been trying to contact her father for the past two weeks, with zero luck; Alison wasn't too surprised – he'd told her about the huge case his firm was working on, and he'd said that he'd be unavailable for weeks on end. She just hoped that she could talk to him before the dinner-plans she and Clark had tonight with her father and Aunt Embeth.

Alison looked stricken at the thought of Embeth Blaire; she still harbored the fear that, after five minutes in her Aunt's "glorious" company, Clark would be so offended, he'd dump her right on the spot.

'You're being silly.' she told herself. 'Clark and I love each other; we can take whatever Evil Embeth throws at us. Not only that, Dad and Mr. Kent were old friends; Dad knows Clark! Once he sees what a fine young man Clark is, Dad'll just love him, and then Embeth will just have to lump it!' With those thoughts, Alison finished her shower, and got out, before toweling off, donning her robe, and leaving the bathroom, to prepare for school.

Bayville High

After getting a ride to school with Remy, Rogue headed to her locker, to gather her textbooks before classes started. She had plenty of time to get everything together...

"Hey, girl."

Looking up, Rogue smiled as she saw Risty walk up to her. "Hey, Ris'." she greeted. "What've ya been up to?"

"Oh, just the usual; visiting the family back in England." Risty replied. "So, has that Cajun of yours been behaving himself?" she asked with a smile.

Rogue chuckled. "Remy's been great; now that we're together, he ain't quite so annoying." she joked.

Risty's smile became a tiny bit shy. "We haven't just hung out in a while, have we?" she asked.

Rogue nodded, her expression guilty. "Ah know; Ah've been kinda busy..."

"So have I." Risty said. "Hey...do you want to just go do something, tonight? I hear there's going to be a poetry reading in the Bayville Park, tonight!"

"Sounds cool." Rogue said. "Count meh in!"

"Great!" Risty exclaimed. "Meet me tonight at the old playground, just after sunset. See you later!" With that, Risty hurried off.

"Dere be somet'ing funny 'bout dat girl."

Rogue turned to see Remy leaning absently against the wall, his black glasses hiding his eyes. "What?"

"Chere, don' y' find it jus' a li'l bit funny dat y' friend Risty be gone t' see 'er folks fo' weeks on end?" Remy asked. "An' don' forget de Dance; didn' she seem t' be jus' a li'l too cool about 'elpin' us wit' dem lizards? All de other students was runnin' fo' dey're lives, but Risty jus' whacks one lizard like nobody's business, like not'ing was wrong? Remy got t' say, chere, but somet'ing smells fishy."

Rogue's eyes narrowed. "Risty is mah friend, Remy!" she snapped. "So she goes to see her family often! So she was cool about the whole 'Dance' incident! That doesn't make her one of Magneto's goons!"

"Easy, chere, easy." Remy defended. "Remy didn' mean t' get y' all riled up. All Remy was sayin' was dat, jus' maybe, Risty knows more den she's lettin' on. Remy didn' mean t' imply dat she was one o' de bad guys."

"Well, that's what it sounded lahke." Rogue said.

Remy smiled apologetically. "Remy be 'appy fo' y', chere." he said. "Remy jus' don' want y' t' get hurt, is all." He looked worried. "Lately, Remy been 'avin' a feelin' in 'is bones dat somet'ing bad's gon' 'appen. Remy's Tante Mattie used t' get feelin's like dat back when Remy was wit' de Guild, an' she was always right on de money!"

"Ah'll be fahne, Remy." Rogue said.

"Okay, chere." Remy said, lovingly taking her hand in his. "Remy jus' don' want anyt'ing bad t' 'appen t' y'; y' be de mos' import'nt fille in Remy's life."

At that, Rogue couldn't help but smile. "Damn Cajun...ya just had to say that, didn't ya?" she teased. "Ya make it impossible ta be mad at ya!"

"Guess dat's jus' part o' de LeBeau Charm." Remy said, grinning. Chuckling, Rogue gave her boyfriend a quick kiss on the lips, before heading to class.

Morning classes passed fairly quickly for Kurt, and soon, lunch time had come around.

Sighing to himself, Kurt headed to his locker, to pick up his lunch, while still thinking about the phone call he'd gotten. 'What am I supposed to do?' he thought. 'I can't tell the others; they'll never understand...and if I don't go, I may never know why Mystique wanted to see me...'

Suddenly, a pair of silk-soft, chocolate-hued hands clapped over his eyes. "Guess who?"

Kurt automatically smiled as he turned to hug his girlfriend. "Hey, 'Mandy."

"Hey, Kurt." Amanda cooed, smiling. "I'm so sorry I had to cut things short, last night." She frowned. "My parents are so strict, sometimes; my Mom thinks I'm still too young to date – it took me ages just to convince her to let me go to the Sadie Hawkins Dance."

Kurt smiled. "I'm glad you did."

Amanda went a tiny bit rosy. "So...about last night..."

Kurt sighed. "Amanda, I'm so sorry; I just have a lot on my mind, right now." he said. "After you hung up, last night, I got a call from my mother."

"Oh, that's nice." Amanda said absently. "So, what's she doing over in Germany?"

"Zat vasn't vat I meant, 'Mandy. I meant my birth mother."

Amanda blinked. "Oh!!" she exclaimed. "W-Wow, that is something! So...what's she like?"

Kurt gulped. "As far as skin tone and eye color go, she's like me."

Amanda lightly smiled. "You must take after her side of the family."

Kurt grimaced. "Zat's vat I'm afraid of, 'Mandy." he said. "She used to vork for Magneto."

Amanda looked stricken. "Hey...I'm sure she's not all bad." she said quickly. She smiled. "After all, she gave birth to you."

Kurt smiled warmly, his worries momentarily dispelled. "Zat's vat I always thought!" he agreed. "She vants to meet me, tonight; she said she needed to talk to me."

"And you're worried that your friends might not approve?" Amanda hazarded. Kurt nodded. Amanda smiled worriedly, and put her hand to the side of his face. "Only you can decide what to do, baby; just promise me that you'll be careful, okay?"

Kurt smiled, and nodded. "Okay." he said softly. His smile grew. "I am one lucky elf, to have such a smart girlfriend!" With that, Kurt leaned in and kissed his giggling girlfriend, savoring her soft, happy sighs. After a few blissful seconds, their kiss ended, as they headed to lunch, holding hands.

Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House

Shortly after school had let out, Pietro and his pals returned to their run-down home. The second they had stepped in, Fred headed to the couch, sat down, and switched on the T.V., while Todd had remained outside, to catch flies, to Pietro's growing nausea. 'How Tolansky can stomach munching on bugs is beyond me...'

"Lollygagging around, as usual, I see."

Turning, Pietro saw Anita walk in the door, in uniform. "Oh, hey, Boss-Lady." Fred said. "What's up?"

Anita frowned at being addressed so familiarly, but she ignored it. "I just wanted to be here for Pietro's 'family reunion'." she said. Smiling slyly, she simply stepped aside, as a young woman, around Pietro's own age, clad in black leather pants and a scarlet sleeveless vest, walked in. She was around his height, and slender, with light skin, mid-length ebony hair, a bit messy...and the same shade of cerulean eyes that he had...

Pietro recognized her in an instant...and froze in utter horror. "W-Wanda?!!" he cried.

Wanda's eyes widened in recognition. "Pietro?!!" she cried. Unlike him, however, Wanda's eyes narrowed in sheer rage. "AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!"

Wanda's scream seemed to shake the house, as blue-black energy formed around her hands. "I'm outta here!!" Pietro cried, as he darted off as fast as his legs would take him.

"Oh, no you don't, you little puke!! Not this time!!" Wanda hissed, as she gestured; instantly, the nearby closet door opened just as Pietro passed it, knocking him flat on his rear.

"Hey!!" Fred bellowed. "Leave my pal alone!" He started to stomp towards Wanda, but Wanda just snarled, and gestured again; Fred's shoelaces spontaneously came undone, causing him to trip and fall flat on his face. With another screech of rage, Wanda sent a blast of blue-black energy at the two of them, knocking them against the wall.

"Ex-girlfriend?" Fred asked Pietro.

Pietro looked positively terrified. "Worse! Sister!!"

Just then, Todd walked in. "Hey, what's all the hubbub, yo..." he began, but he stopped dead at the sight of Wanda, who turned to glare at him. Instead of cringing in fear, like Pietro would have done if he'd been on the receiving end of that glare, Todd just blinked...and then his face turned up in a positively goofy – almost love-struck – smile. Wanda just hissed in fury, and sent a blast of blue-black energy at him, slamming him against the wall.

Siryn laughed at the sight. "Splendid!" she exclaimed. "Your raw talent is amazing, Wanda!"

Wanda slowly calmed. "When I get my hands on 'Daddy dearest,' then you'll see 'raw talent'."

"Remember, my dear; patience." Siryn said. "Our first strike against Magneto will happen tonight; you'll get your chance. For now, I believe that there's another room upstairs; do make yourself at home!" At that, Wanda nodded, and headed upstairs.

When Wanda was safely out of earshot, Pietro whirled on Siryn. "Are you CRAZY?!!" he exploded. "You let Wanda out of the asylum?! Did Doom drop you on your head?!! Wanda is a complete PSYCHO!! She has no control over her powers!! Why do you think my father tossed her in there in the first place?!!"

Siryn shook her head in exasperation. "That, Pietro, makes her a perfect berzerker." she said. "Wanda's presence will disrupt our enemies' focus, diverting their attention from our real plans..." her eyes narrowed, as her voice turned commanding, "...so don't mess this up; I've managed to convince her that the X-Men and my dear future husband are working for Magneto. You three will prepare yourselves; tonight, we're going to have a little party." With that, she vanished in a cloud of green haze.

Pietro grimaced to himself; as appealing as the thought of Super-Dork dealing with his twisted twin was, the thought of dealing with Wanda's anger was horrifying. He could remember Wanda's temper all too well from childhood; only his speed had enabled him to evade her hex-blasts...most of the time.

All the while, Todd had been gazing dreamily up where Wanda had gone. "I never knew angels flew so low..." he murmured.

Pietro's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "'Angels??'" he repeated in utter incredulity. "That's no angel, Tolansky! That was my psychotic twin sister!"

Now Todd's eyes went wide. "Your sister??" he exclaimed. "Dude! Why didn't you tell me you had a Goth goddess for a sister?! I thought we were friends!"

Pietro rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Tolansky. Whatever."

"Hey, you guys wanna order a pizza for tonight?" Fred suggested.

"Sure, Fred; knock yourself out." Pietro muttered, as he plopped down on the couch, to watch TV.

'Between the Last Dork of Crap-Tun and my own sister, I don't know what'll kill me first.' he thought. 'It's official: my life sucks.'

Upon returning to the Institute after school had let out, Alison headed up to her room, and picked up her phone to call Clark at the Bugle, to let him know of what she was doing. She promptly dialed Clark's desk number, and seconds later, someone answered. "Hi, Clark!" she greeted.

"Uh...sorry, Ali; Clark's not here."

Alison blinked in momentary confusion before she recognized the voice. "Oh, hey, Pete!" she said. "Sorry about that; I was expecting Clark."

"Hey, no problem." Peter replied. "Your boyfriend just had to step out for a little while; business, you know."

"Right." Alison agreed, understanding completely. "Well, when you see him, could you give him a message for me?"

"Sure."

"Thanks!" Alison said. "Tell him that I'm going to be dropping by the New York Mall to pock up my dress and his tuxedo from Febrise, so he doesn't have to worry about picking them up for tonight; Scott and Jean are going to be going into the city, and they said they'd give me a lift."

"Got it." Peter replied. "So, what's the occasion?"

"Clark and I are going to dinner with my Dad and my Aunt." Alison replied.

"Uh, boy." Peter groaned. "Meeting the family; an occasion that's struck fear in the hearts of many a man."

"I know." Alison chuckled. "But my Dad's great; I know he'll love Clark. It's my Aunt Embeth that'll be the problem."

"Why?"

Alison sighed. "Picture a female, condescending, older-than-middle-aged, post-menopausal version of Mr. Jameson, and you have Aunt Embeth in a pleasant mood."

Peter was silent for a few moments. "Oh my God..."

"Yeah."

"Holy...Clark's a braver man than I am." Peter murmured. "Well, I'll be sure to give him your message...and to wish him luck; he'll need it."

Alison smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem, Dazzle; see you later." Peter answered, before he hung up.

Alison sighed as she put down her phone, her previous worries momentarily flaring up. She was sure that Aunt Embeth was going to say something to insult Clark, there was no questioning it. One way or another, she'd find something 'wrong' with him and just harp on it and harp on it...just like she had when her mother and father had first met.

Thoughts of her parents made Alison remember her 'family secret'; had her parents known of their relation to Kon-Lir? She looked to her phone, debating whether or not to try her father one last time...and then she picked up the phone, dialing his cell-phone number.

"Hello? Carter Blaire speaking."

Alison lightly smiled. "Hi, Dad."

"Oh, hello, sweetheart! This is a nice surprise! I was just thinking of calling to see if everything is okay for this evening!"

Alison's smile grew. "Everything's fine, Dad." she said. "I just...needed to ask you something."

"Of course, honey." her father said.

Alison took a deep breath. "Dad...does the word 'Kryptonian' mean anything to you?"

Carter was silent for a few seconds. "Alison..." he whispered, "...where did you hear that word?"

Alison's eyes narrowed. "Then you knew!!" she accused. "God, Dad, how could you? How could you have known about this and not told me?!"

"Please, sweetheart, calm down." her father soothed. "Alison, I only suspected. Yes, I'd heard some ancient family legend about how an ancestor of ours had fallen from the skies, but that's all I thought it was! I thought it was just some nonsense...but, apparently, it's true."

"It is." Alison said, calming. "I had a DNA test done, Dad." That was basically the truth, though Clark and Hank had run the test. "Our ancestors...aren't from around here, Dad."

"I know, Alison, and I'm sorry" Carter said. "It was just so...so fantastic and outlandish a notion, I just couldn't believe it."

"I almost didn't, either."

"But, Alison...how did you find out about this?" Carter asked.

Alison looked stricken. "I'll...I'll tell you tonight, okay?"

"Okay, sweetheart; I'll get the four of us a private booth, where we can talk without anyone listening in."

"Thanks." Alison said. Then, a sudden fear overtook her. "Dad, could we also not use Clark's real name, tonight, in front of Aunt Embeth? Can we just call him 'Kal'?"

"Sure, honey; knowing that sister of mine, telling her his real name might not be a good idea." her father said. "I'll see you, tonight."

"Okay, Daddy." Alison said. "I love you."

"I love you, too, sweetheart. I'll see you soon." With that, he hung up.

'X-men: report to my office immediately.'

No sooner had Alison put the phone than she heard the telepathic summons of Professor Xavier, and she promptly headed to their mentor's office, meeting up with the rest of the X-Men as she went.

The Professor was waiting for them, as well as Logan and Ororo, and he looked grave. "Everyone, I have disturbing news." the Professor said. "Earlier this morning, I was supposed to have a meeting with a young mutant at the local mental institution; her name is Wanda Maximoff."

"Maximoff?" Evan repeated. "Is she..?"

"She's Speedy's twin sister." Logan said. "And brother, is she a handful, if Chuck's experiences with her are any indication."

"Wanda's mutant ability enables her to modulate probability as she sees fit." the Professor said. "She can make absolutely anything happen; I believe that her powers are actually a combination of sorcery and the X-Gene, making her very powerful."

Remy whistled. "She don' sound like anybody dat Remy would care t' meet in a dark alley."

"So, what's the problem, Professor?" Scott asked.

"As I said, after my weekly session with Dr. Banner in helping him reconcile with his Hulk-consciousness, I was supposed to meet with Wanda," the Professor continued, "but Wanda had escaped."

"Uh-oh." Kitty murmured.

"Anybody else think that this smells bad?" Rogue muttered.

"Magneto." Jean agreed.

"I somehow doubt that." the Professor said.

"Why?" Kurt asked. "Vouldn't he vant to free his daughter?"

"Not when he was the one who committed her." Ororo said.

No-one spoke at that. "You're kidding." Lance said. "He locked up his own kid??"

"Yes." Professor Xavier said softly. "Even I hadn't thought that Erik had fallen so far. Regardless, Wanda now harbors a deep grudge against Magneto, and now that she is free, I fear she will do whatever it takes to take revenge against him, even if it puts mutants at risk of exposure. That is why we must try to locate Wanda, and try to convince her to stop."

"Why not use Cerebro?" Alison suggested.

"I tried that." the Professor admitted. "Something is blocking Wanda from my scans."

"Terrific." Rogue said.

"We'll have an eye out for her, Professor." Scott said.

"If you encounter her, exercise caution." the Professor urged. "Wanda's powers are very dangerous, enough that the hospital placed her in the wing reserved for violent patients; with her strength and her anger, she is incredibly dangerous."

"We'll definitely be careful." Jean said.

"Good." the Professor said. "Dismissed." With that, everyone left the Professor's office.

It hadn't taken Wanda too long to settle into her new room; she wasn't planning on staying long, and she didn't really have anything to unpack.

After settling in, the first thing she'd done was take a pair of scissors and head into the bathroom. There, she'd proceeded to cut off most of her hair, shortening it considerably, almost to a cru-cut style. Once she was done, Wanda looked her reflection over. 'I didn't know my hair had natural red highlights...' she mused to herself. It was true: there was a natural reddish tinge to her ebony locks – it was very slight, but it was there. Wanda lightly smiled: her mother had had red hair, she thought.

"Wanda?"

Wanda's smile instantly turned to a scowl as she turned to see Pietro. "What do you want, Pietro?" she snapped.

"Just to talk." Pietro said.

"I have nothing to say to you." Wanda hissed. "You're just as guilty as him. You're just lucky you left him when you did." 'You could have stopped him. You could have gotten me away from those orderlies...if you weren't so damn obsessed with being his little yes-man.'

"Wanda..." Pietro said, "...don't you think that maybe he regrets it? That he feels bad about..."

"Monsters like him don't have feelings." Wanda snapped. "And neither do you." With that, she turned to go, heading downstairs.

As she came downstairs, Wanda spotted the bigger guy – Fred – just watching TV. She hadn't even stepped off the stairs when the other guy – Todd – zipped over to her at a speed that would've made Pietro envious. "H-Hey, Wanda. Did you...did you want me to get you anything?" he stammered. Then, he paused. "Oh...you cut your hair."

Wanda's eyes narrowed. "Why?" she asked archly.

She'd been half-expecting Todd to say that she shouldn't have...but Todd just smiled stupidly. "You're even prettier than before..."

Wanda rolled her eyes. 'Oh, God...' she thought. "I'm going out." she said.

Pietro instantly zipped down. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"Out." Wanda said, her eyes narrowed, her fists glowing. With that, she walked towards the door...and groaned to herself as Todd zipped ahead of her and opened the door for her. Shaking her head in exasperation, Wanda walked outside.

"Leaving so soon?"

Wanda turned to see Siryn standing to the side of the door. "You know, tonight's going to be a busy night." she commented.

Wanda arched an eyebrow. "And?"

"Your powers are impressive, Wanda, but without control, they're useless." Siryn continued. She smiled. "Up for a bit of training?"

Wanda frowned to herself. There it was; her father's "reason" for locking her away.

"This is for the best, Wanda; your lack of control makes you as much of a danger to yourself as to others."

Wanda's eyes narrowed in fury. 'You thought I was dangerous without control, Magneto? You haven't seen anything, yet.'

She turned to meet Siryn's gaze. "Sign me up."

"Excellent." Siryn said, smiling slyly. "Well, we'd best get started, shouldn't we?" With that, she conjured a cloud of green mist, teleporting them both away.

It was getting close to sunset when Clark returned to the Institute; after taking care of a fire at a hydroelectric plant in Portugal, he'd flown back to the Bugle to complete his last bit of paperwork, where Peter had delivered Alison's message. As he walked into the main hall, he passed by Logan, who was leaning against the wall, sipping a beer. "Just made it, Flyboy." Logan said. "Diva's up gettin' ready for yer little date."

Clark smiled. "Got it. Thanks."

Logan chuckled. "From what Diva's been sayin', yer in for it, tonight."

Clark's smile turned sheepish. "Hope I can make a good impression." he replied. With that, he darted upstairs, to his room.

As he walked into his room, he saw his tuxedo lain out on his bed, by Alison, no doubt. Quickly, Clark changed out of his work clothes and into the tux, opting to leave his glasses and image-inducer behind. Once he had donned the tux, while keeping his uniform on underneath, he decided to leave the tie behind, as well as leaving the top-collar button open. 'Not bad.' Clark thought; he really wanted to make a good impression on Ali's father...as well as Ali's Aunt Embeth, though he had a sneaking suspicion that the latter goal had a slightly higher probability of not happening.

His change of attire complete, Clark stepped out of his room...and was greeted by the vision that was Alison.

His taushi was now clad in a long, slim, shimmery violet evening gown, which hugged her curves with perfect elegance, slightly pooling around her feet. The gown's single strap looped around her throat spaghetti-strap style, leaving her shoulders and much of her slender back exposed, a look that she had complemented perfectly with a simple blue shawl. Her strawberry blonde tresses had been woven into a perfect French-twist, with several golden tendrils framing her face, her flawless pink lips curved up in a sweet smile. She wore simple, single-pearl earrings in her ears, with the pendant he'd given her at Christmas laced around her throat.

"Wow..." Clark whispered.

Alison's smile grew. "Febrise has done it again!" she laughed. "Although I would just love to be able to get dressed as fast as you can, Clark!"

Clark chuckled. "Hey, you just might, one day!" he joked. "But gosh, compared to you, I look plain!"

Alison's smile became a bit shy. "Hey, if you're going to face Evil Embeth, you deserve a little eye-candy."

Clark instantly picked up on her unspoken insecurity. "Taushi," he soothed, gently taking her in his arms, "your Aunt is not going to make me head for the hills."

Alison's expression became terribly sad. "You say that now..." she whispered.

"...because it's true." Clark said.

"You don't know how horrible Aunt Embeth is!"

"But I know how wonderful you are." Clark parried. "I am not leaving you, Alia Ka-Lir."

The use of her Kryptonian name brought a weak smile to Alison's face. "Really?" she whispered.

Clark smiled. "Taushi, I never lie."

Alison's smile grew, and then her expression became sad, again. "God, Clark, I wish you didn't have to meet her." she muttered. "I absolutely hated it when my parents made me visit her; thankfully, they only made me go once." Her eyes became misty. "That mean old witch belittled me at every turn! The day I got home, I just went to my room, and I just cried and cried!"

Clark blinked. "Ali...when did this happen?"

"When I was eleven." Alison whimpered. "It was the start of summer, just before we went to visit you and your family." She buried her head in his chest. "The only time I cried more...was the year that you left, Clark."

Quickly, Clark took out a handkerchief and lovingly dried her tears. "God, Ali..." he whispered, "...why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I was ashamed!" Alison sniffed. "I actually believed what Embeth said to me! My self-esteem plummeted during that visit!" She lowered her eyes. "That was why I always hung around you, Clarkie; you were always so nice to me..." She looked up at him, smiling weakly. "I'm just sorry that all your friends made fun of you about it..."

Clark chuckled. "Ali, don't worry about it." he said. "Lex, Arty, Wally, Vic and Ollie would've ribbed me about something else if you hadn't been there. Besides, it was just good-natured ribbing; nothing major."

Alison's smile grew. "I'm glad." she cooed.

Clark smiled back. "Now, let's get going, shall we?"

"Okay." Alison replied, happily lacing her arm around his elbow, before they headed downstairs, to call a taxi, to take them into the city.

Within the hour, the taxi had arrived at the Institute, and taken them into New York City. After arriving at the restaurant – a fairly ritzy-looking place – Clark and Alison quickly headed inside before anyone could recognize Alison. That was part of why they had opted for a taxi: no-one would have expected pop-sensation Alison Blaire to take a cab. Once inside, they both walked up to the maitre'd. "Table for four, under the name 'Blaire'." Clark said.

"Hmm...ah, yes." the maitre'd said. "Please, follow me." With that, he headed further into the restaurant, and Clark and Alison followed.

The maitre'd led them to a fairly secluded booth for two, next to a window, where Mr. Blaire, in a tuxedo, and an older lady of around 60, with mid-length greying hair, cold amber eyes, and wrinkling skin, clad in a conservative blue skirt and blouse, were waiting. Alison smiled. "Daddy!" she exclaimed, rushing over to hug her father.

"Sweetheart! You made it!" Carter exclaimed, returning his daughter's hug. Then, his gaze met Clark's. "Why...you're that young man who talked some sense into me on Christmas Eve!"

Clark smiled. "Kalvin Elward." he said, extending his hand. "I'm glad you took my advice, Mr. Blaire."

Carter smiled, and shook his hand. "A firm handshake...I like that, son!" he said.

Then, Clark swore he felt the temperature drop as Embeth Blaire's gaze fell on him. "And who are you, exactly?" she asked.

Clark remained calm. "I'm Alison's boyfriend, Mrs. Blaire." he said. He politely extended a hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Embeth didn't take his hand. "Really."

"Now, Embeth, Alison had told us that she was bringing her boyfriend." Carter said.

Embeth arched a snowy eyebrow. "She did?"

Alison frowned. "Yes, Aunt Embeth," she said, "I did."

"I see." Embeth replied. "Well."

Alison frowned, and then whispered so only Clark could hear her, "She always does this..."

"Well, let's all sit down, shall we?" Carter suggested, defusing a potential disaster. At that, everyone sat down; Alison sat next to Clark, while Carter sat next to his sister. "So, Kalvin..." Carter began.

Clark smiled. "Call me Kal."

Carter smiled, and nodded. "Okay, then, Kal...what do you do for a living?"

"Well, right now, I'm in university, studying Journalism." Clark said. "I'm in my second year, with an internship at the Daily Bugle, though I'll be finished that in the next few weeks."

"Ah." Carter said. "Now there's a noble profession."

Alison smiled, and nodded. "Kal practically lives for Truth." she cooed.

Clark smiled back at Alison. "And where Truth goes, Justice isn't far behind."

"An idealist." Embeth said flatly. "How charming. I trust that sort of work pays well?"

"Aunt Embeth..." Alison said, frowning.

"It's a fair question." Embeth replied.

Clark stayed calm. "It would pay well enough, I guess." he answered.

"And I'm given to understand that you do...'charity work'." Embeth continued. "So, essentially, you're unemployed."

"Embeth!" Carter said. "That was not called for."

"I'm still in school, Mrs. Blaire." Clark said. "My career is still 'in development'."

"Kal's brilliant, Aunt Embeth." Alison said. "Not only that, but he worked to get as far as he has." She lightly smiled. "You do know about work, don't you?"

Embeth frowned at the shot.

"So, how did you two meet?" Carter inquired.

Clark chuckled. "A friend of mine had won a chance to met Alison backstage, and dragged me along for the ride." he said. He smiled at Alison, and added, "And boy, am I glad she did."

Alison smiled back. "Me, too, baby." she cooed, lacing her hand with his under the tablecloth.

"Hmm." Embeth said. "Tell me, Alison...exactly how long have any of your previous 'relationships' lasted?"

Alison frowned. "My past mistakes have nothing to do with my relationship with Kal." she said. She smiled at Clark. "None of those other creeps can hold a candle to him."

"Of course." Embeth said flatly.

By then, their menus had arrived, and the four of them promptly placed their orders. Once their orders were placed, the waiter headed off with the menus. Alison sent a saddened glance to Clark, wordlessly apologizing for her Aunt's behavior, but Clark gave her hand a light, reassuring squeeze, while he braced himself for more of Embeth's condescension.

It looked to be a long evening.

Bayville Park

The sunset over Bayville Park was quite breathtaking, but Kurt was too nervous to enjoy it.

After looking around, making sure the Park was empty, Kurt switched off his inducer, before walking into the old playground. "Hallo?" he called. "Is anyone here?"

"Kurt??"

Turning, Kurt's golden eyes widened in surprise as he saw who it was. "Rogue??" he exclaimed. "Vat are you doing here??"

"Ah outta ask you that!" Rogue replied.

"I think I can clear that up."

Kurt and Rogue both turned to see Risty standing beside the merry-go-round. "Risty?" Rogue asked.

"Vat's she doing here??" Kurt exclaimed,

"She asked meh ta meet meh here." Rogue answered.

Risty looked sad. "Rogue...I'm so sorry...but I just can't lie to you, any more..." With that, she lowered her eyes...and started to change.

Her hair turned bright red, as her body grew taller, older, her eyes turning an eerie yellow...and her skin turned blue.

When her change was complete, Mystique looked at them regretfully. "I should have told you before..."

"You..." Rogue murmured. Her eyes narrowed in sheer fury. "It was you?! All along?!"

"Rogue..." Mystique began.

"You USED meh!!" Rogue yelled, her eyes growing tearful. "You used meh ta get into the mansion a few months ago! That's how ya did it!!"

"Rogue, that's not why I befriended you..."

"Whah, then?!" Rogue shouted. "Whah can't ya just stay outta mah lahfe?!!"

"Because you're my daughter!!" Mystique cried.

Rogue and Kurt both froze, at that. "Was..?" Kurt murmured.

Mystique nodded sadly. "It's true." she said. "That's why I asked you both here." Her eyes started to mist over. "You're my children..."

Rogue's eyes narrowed. "That's the best ya can come up with?" she snapped. "Gawd, lady, if yer gonna lie, make up a better one."

"Think back, Rogue!" Mystique shouted. "Remember when you were a child, when you were with Irene! Don't you remember how one woman always used to visit you every month?"

Rogue blinked. "Well...yeah..." she murmured, "...but...how would you..?"

"That was me, Rogue." Mystique said. "I adopted you, years ago, but my...'work' would have put you in danger, so I left you in my old friend's care...and I visited you whenever I could."

Rogue was silent at that, prompting Kurt to speak up. "Und me?" he whispered. "Vhy didn't you vant me?"

Mystique's eyes welled with tears at that. "I did, Kurt." she murmured. "Oh God, giving birth to you was the happiest moment of my life." Her tone turned grave. "But I was working with Magneto even then, and he had developed a treatment to enhance a mutant's powers – an early version of his device at Asteroid M. He had assured me that you would be fine..." She lowered her eyes. "Before the treatment, you were blue-furred, but with normal hands, feet, and no tail. But after..." She looked away.

Kurt looked at his hands and his feet. "Zhis is vat it did to me." he murmured, in realization.

Tears started to flow down Mystique's eyes. "When I saw what it had done, I took you and ran." she said. "Magneto chased us...and I tripped...and you fell into the river..." She suppressed a sob. "I'd thought I'd lost you..."

Kurt didn't speak at that.

"Years later, I had heard of a circus in Germany that featured a blue-furred creature with a tail." Mystique continued. "I had to be certain, so I went to a show."

Kurt smiled. "Before settling in zhe countryside, zhe Vagners vere performers in zhe Munich Circus, und zhey let me perform as zhe Incredible Nightcrawler!"

Mystique smiled. "I...saw you with them." she whispered. "I saw how happy you were...and I knew that you were better off with them."

Neither Kurt nor Rogue spoke for a few painfully long moments. "Vhy now?" Kurt asked. "Vhy come to us now?"

Mystique took a deep breath. "After Asteroid M – and seeing exactly how far Magneto was willing to go – I couldn't be part of his 'vision,' any more; I didn't want that for the two of you." she said. "I turned myself in to S.H.I.E.L.D., with the hope to get immunity for my role in his plans in exchange for what I knew about Magneto." She sighed. "Unfortunately, ever since Superman appeared, Magneto had been confiding in Doom more and more, so what I knew wasn't that much. Instead, General Fury agreed to pardon me if I infiltrated an organization that S.H.I.E.L.D. was watching – one that is up to something big." She took another breath. "That was why I broke into the Institute: to get information that the organization wanted."

"But Kal stopped you." Rogue said.

Mystique nodded. "Yes, he did, and he spoke to me about you, Kurt."

Kurt smiled, in dawning understanding. "He got to you, didn't he?"

Mystique sighed, and nodded. "He can certainly make a...powerful impression." she admitted. "Ever since that talk, I thought about contacting you two more and more."

Rogue chuckled. "Flyboy does have that effect."

Mystique looked at them. "I have been the absolute worst mother ever." she murmured. "Rogue, Kurt...I am so sorry; I'm sorry that I wasn't there when you were crying; I'm sorry that I missed all the times you were happy and I wasn't there to tell you how proud I was of you...and I know that it's going to take a lot more than just this talk to get you both back...but I want us to...to be a family, again."

Neither moved, at first...and then Kurt walked over, and hugged Mystique. "I forgive you...Mutter."

At that, Mystique looked ready to cry.

Slowly, Rogue walked over to Mystique, stopping a few feet away. "Ah'm not quite ready ta forgive ya," she said softly, "but...Ah think Ah can."

Mystique smiled. "That's fair enough." she replied. Slowly, she released Kurt from her hug. "I'm so sorry...but I have to go, now; I have to get back..."

"Ve understand." Kurt said.

"I'll...I'll talk to you whenever I can." Mystique said. "Good-bye...I...I love you both..." With that, Mystique shifted her form into that of her namesake, a raven, and flew away.

Kurt and Rogue were left alone. "Wow." Rogue said. "Ah was not expecting that."

"Ja." Kurt agreed. He smiled slyly. "Zat means you're my sister!"

Rogue chuckled. "Just what Ah need: an annoyin' little brother!"

"Hey!" Kurt laughed. "I'm zhe same age as you!"

"Coulda fooled meh, Fuzzy!" Rogue quipped, prompting Kurt to laugh.

Just then, Kurt's cell-phone started to ring, and Kurt answered it. "Hello?"

"Kurt, it's Scott. Both you and Rogue need to get back to the Institute; we've got trouble."

"Got it." Kurt said, before he hung up. "Ve have to get back; something's up." He lightly smiled. "Need a lift, Sis?"

Rogue chuckled. "Whah not?" she replied. At that, Kurt took her hand, and 'ported them both away.

'Oh, God, this is even worse than I imagined.' an absolutely mortified Alison thought grimly to herself.

They were all just about finished with their meals...and all through the meal, Aunt Embeth had done nothing but insult Clark at every turn, despite both hers and her father's attempts to get her to cut it out. And Clark had just sat there, refusing to take the bait, prompting Embeth to escalate, making each of her insults more condescending and offensive than the last.

Alison's previous insecurities resurfaced with a vengeance. 'Dumpsville, here I come...' she thought miserably, trying very hard to stay composed.

Finally, the meal was done. "Okay." Clark said, putting his cutlery down. "I'll go get the bill. I'll be right back." With that, he got up, and walked to the counter.

As soon as she thought Clark was out of earshot, Embeth said, "Alison, you cannot be serious."

Alison frowned. "Oh, I am." she retorted. "I love him, Aunt Embeth."

"Don't be stupid, child." Embeth snapped. "That boy is practically spineless!"

"Embeth." Carter said. "That's enough. Kal is a fine young man, and your behavior has been inexcusable."

"There's a difference between being spineless and being mature enough not to sink to some people's level, Aunt Embeth." Alison retorted.

"Carter, don't be absurd!" Embeth snapped. "It's no wonder that this child hasn't grown out of her frivolity, with your parenting, and with that ridiculous 'institute' she goes to! Frankly, it's high time she stopped all this nonsense!"

"I am not a little girl anymore, Embeth." Alison said, her voice rising.

"You certainly fooled me." Embeth said. "Good heavens, child, it's time you stopped these ridiculous games of yours and looked for a respectable young man, like that nice Shaw boy!"

"Are you kidding me?!" Alison shouted. "Even if I wasn't with Kal, I wouldn't date Shaw if he was the last guy on Earth!"

"Well, you'd best buck up, girl, because there aren't many who would want you when they learn what you are." Embeth snapped.

Alison froze. "What?"

"Carter, you said she knew." Embeth said. "She has the same curse that all our family has! And it's all because of that...that thing that came here, 500 years ago!"

Alison instantly understood. "You're talking about Kon-Lir."

Embeth glared at her. "What?"

"That was his name, Embeth." Alison said. "He was a man, and his name was Kon-Lir."

"It wasn't human, Alison." Embeth hissed. "And because of it, our entire family line has been polluted with its filth!"

"Shut UP!!" Alison hissed, angrier than she'd ever been. "Just shut UP!! You don't even know what happened, you miserable old hag!! He was stranded here! His ship crashed! He had no control over that! The only crime he committed was that he fell in love, which his people already punished him for!!"

Both Carter and Embeth were silent at that...and Alison clapped her hands over her mouth in horror. What had she done?

"How do you know that?" Embeth said slowly. "How do you know that, girl?"

"Alison..?" Carter murmured.

Alison couldn't speak.

Embeth's eyes narrowed. "It's him, isn't it?!" she snapped. "He's like us, isn't he?"

Just then, Clark walked back over to them. "Did I miss anything?" he asked calmly.

Embeth glared at him. "Don't play dumb." she hissed. "You're like us, aren't you?!"

Clark arched an eyebrow. Alison looked at him, her expression one of saddened horror. 'I'm so sorry...'

Clark calmly looked to Embeth. "I think, Mrs. Blaire," he said softly, "the right way to look at it is that you're like me."

Embeth's eyes widened in shock. "What??"

"I'm from the same place that he was from." Clark said. "My name is..."

"Don't speak." Embeth hissed. "Not one word out of you, you filthy creature! You had no right to come here, to...to mingle with our kind!! I will not permit our family to be polluted by any more unnatural fil – "

SMACK!!

Alison's slap caught Embeth completely by surprise, leaving a red imprint on her face, cutting her tirade off completely. "Don't you dare." she hissed. "Don't you DARE say one thing about him!! I don't know what your problem is Embeth Blaire, and frankly, I don't care, but I will NOT let you insult the man that I love or my friends! Any single one of my friends are worthy ten thousand of you, except Kal, because he's worth FIFTY thousand!! Frankly, I'm damn proud to be who I am! I'm sorry that you feel the way you feel, but if all you're going to do is snipe at me, my tausha, and my family, then, to be perfectly honest, I NEVER want to see your face ever AGAIN!!"

Embeth's face was frozen in utter surprise, and then hardened. "I have never been so insulted in my life!" she snapped. "Carter, we're leaving!"

"You can leave if you like, Embeth." Carter said flatly. At that, Embeth just huffed angrily, and walked out.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my aunt the bitch." Alison said. She then looked to Clark. "You're going to dump me, now, aren't you?"

Clark smiled. "Are you joking?" he exclaimed. "Ali, that was awesome! You sure showed her!"

Alison blinked. "But...but I blabbed your secret..." she murmured. "What if she goes public?"

"No, Ali; all she knows is that I'm an alien." Clark said, whispering. "She doesn't know about my powers, my Kryptonian name, or even that I'm from Krypton. Plus, I don't think she'll go public, because she can't rat me out without ratting herself out, and even if she does, she'll be laughed right out of the news building."

"'Krypton'??" Carter repeated softly. "Is...that..?"

Clark nodded. "Yes." he answered quietly. "That's...where Kon-Lir and I are from." He took a deep breath. "Ali's told you that I had found out who I really was, and she was right; my birth-name is Kal-El, and my parents were Jor-El and Lara, who sent me here...to escape Krypton's destruction."

Carter was silent for a few moments. "You mean...they're all...gone?"

Clark nodded. "I'm afraid so."

Carter smiled lightly. "What...what were they like?" he asked. "Your...I mean...our people?"

Alison smiled, immensely glad that at least her father was accepting of their heritage...and of Clark. "They were pretty much one of the most advanced races in the universe."

Clark chuckled. "Ali..."

"Well, it's true!" Alison laughed, keeping her voice down. "Your father alone developed a way to travel faster than light!"

Carter smiled. "I wish that Krypton had survived; it sounds like humanity could have learned a lot from them." he said. Sighing, he added, "Kal, I'm so sorry about my sister; I had no idea that she would behave that way."

"It's okay, sir." Clark answered. "I can understand...why some people might not like...what I am."

Alison's heart ached at that statement, as she looped her arm around his, leaning her head on his shoulder. "It's her loss, baby." she cooed.

Carter smiled, and then picked up the bill. "You two kids just let me pay for this." he said. "After what that sister of mine has put you through, it's the least I can do!" With that, he got up, and headed off, to pay the bill.

Alone, Alison, looked to Clark. "Are...we okay?"

Clark smiled. "We always were." he assured her, and with that, he started to lean in closer to her. Alison smiled happily, before closing her eyes in blissful anticipation...

Suddenly, a familiar beeping cut the air, shattering the tender moment. Clark froze, before smiling apologetically, and took out his belt-computer, snapping it open. "The Fortress is picking something up on its scanners." he said. "Something's re-entering the atmosphere."

"A meteor?" Alison hazarded.

"No...it was moving too fast through space...and the trajectory is all wrong; whatever this is...it looks like it's adjusting course for a stable landing, a few miles off the East Coast."

Alison's eyes widened. "A ship!"

"It looks like fighters are scrambling to intercept it." Clark said. "They might need help..."

"Kal-El?"

Alison looked up in sheer surprise as she and Clark saw the glowing blue astral form of Doctor Strange floating before them. "Do not fear." the good Doctor assured them. "None but the two of you can see me."

"What's wrong, Doctor?" Clark asked.

"There is a considerable disturbance in the fabric of magic occurring several miles off the East Coast." the Doctor said. "I would investigate myself, but this disruption is capable of negating magic itself; my powers could fail me, were I to investigate directly. If need be, I could guide you to the spot, but no more than that."

"As it happens, Doctor, that won't be necessary. I'll look into it." Clark replied. Nodding, Doctor Strange's astral self vanished. Clark's expression became apologetic. "Taushi, I'm so sorry..."

"Don't be. This sounds serious." Alison assured him. "There's a back entrance; just hide your tux somewhere in the alley – I'll pick it up before leaving." She chuckled. "Febrise would pitch a fit if something happened to one of his best tuxedos!" At that, Clark smiled, and quickly kissed her, before discreetly getting up and heading towards the back entrance.

By then, her father had returned. "Where's Kal?" he asked.

"He had...an assignment for work." Alison half-lied. "Last minute."

"Oh."

Just then, Alison's cell phone started to ring, and she answered it: it was Scott. "Dazzler, it's Cyclops. Get back to the Institute as soon as you can; we've got trouble."

"Got it. I'll be there, soon." Alison said, before hanging up. "I'm sorry, Dad, but I have to go, too; Institute stuff."

"I understand, honey." her father said. "Take care." With that, he kissed her forehead. "I love you, Alison."

"I love you, too, Daddy." Alison replied, smiling. "I'll talk to you soon, okay?" Her father smiled back, and nodded, before Alison promptly headed out the back door. After finding Clark's hidden tux in the empty back-alley, Alison generated a hard-light hover-board, before taking to the air, heading back to the Institute.

Her friends needed her.

In minutes, Superman had taken to the air, flying out to sea, towards the object re-entering Earth's atmosphere. "Krypto! Here, boy!" Superman called out, before whistling for his pet; in less than a minute, Krypto was flying beside him, ready to help his master.

The two of them flew across the Atlantic at top speeds, before Superman spotted the falling object: it was a ship, all right, small enough for only a single pilot, with two graceful, forward-curving wings, almost bird-like in design. It appeared to have stabilized its descent, though still glowing red from the heat of re-entry.

Superman's eyes widened as he recognized the design.

Then, Superman also caught sight of the two pursuing F-13 fighters, hot on the craft's tail...with three letters emblazoned in white on the tail-fins of the fighters.

F.O.H.

Suddenly, the two fighters each fired a single missile at the dying craft. "Krypto! Grab one of those fighters!" Superman instructed, as he zoomed forward, firing an eye-ray in a sweeping motion, detonating both missiles early, though the explosion from the second weapon was too close to the ship, shattering its shields, already taxed by re-entry, and sending it into a death-spiral.

By then, Krypto had caught up to the first fighter, grabbed its tail-fin in his jaws, and held on; it was almost funny, the way the jet was trying to fly away from Krypto, who just held on tight...until the fin came away, as the fighter started to spin out of control, before the pilot ejected, his parachute opening safely, as he slowly descended towards the water.

The pilot of the dying craft seemed to have the same idea; the cockpit burst open, and the pilot shot out...before she unfurled her large, feathery birds-wings.

'A Thanagarian.' Superman thought. Thanagarians, native to the planet Thanagar, were closely related to the Avians, the race that composed the vast majority of the Shi'ar Empire; both peoples had descended from birds...but unlike the Avians, the people of Thanagar had retained the bird-wings of their precursors.

The Thanagarian woman was around the same age as he was, with an elegant-yet-athletic frame, light skin, fierce green eyes, and long red hair under her helmet, which resembled that of a hawk. She wore a yellow tank-top, tight green pants, and black boots – the uniform of the Thanagarian military – and she carried a large, silver-metal mace that crackled with white electricity.

Just then, the remaining fighter came around, and fired its machine-guns at the Thanagarian. Instantly, Superman intercepted the bullets, turning his body into a shield, as the projectiles harmlessly bounced off of him. As the fighter passed, the Thanagarian's eyes narrowed in fury, before she flew at the fighter with a fierce battle-cry, smashing her mace into the fighter's wing, knocking it clean off. The fighter spun out of control, before the pilot ejected.

The threat neutralized, Superman hovered in front of the Thanagarian, who was hovering by flapping her wings repeatedly, and hoped his grasp of the Thanagarian language was still as good as it had been after learning it in the Fortress. "Raekir al enarta?" he asked pleasantly, which meant, "Are you well?" the standard Thanagarian greeting.

The woman's eyes widened in surprise, not expecting to be greeted in her native tongue, before she lightly smiled, and nodded. "Il riku enarta." she replied. I am well. Then, she reached for her belt, and took out a small, almost badge-shaped device, which bore the sword-bearing eagle-crest of Thanagar – it was a Universal Translator. After clipping it to her shirt, the woman said, "Do you understand me?"

Superman smiled, and nodded. "Yes, I do."

"Good." the woman said. With that, she snapped to salute. "Lieutenant Colonel Shayera Hol, Thanagar Special Forces."

"I am Kal-El, of Krypton." Superman replied. Then, he smiled as Krypto came over, sniffing Shayera cautiously. "And this curious fellow is Krypto."

"I know." Shayera said. "I've been tracking a Kryptonian Trans-Warp signature to this planet; we had hoped to evacuate you."

Superman's eyes widened in surprise. "Why?"

"After what your people did to save ours, we had to make sure that, if there was a survivor from Krypton, we had to ensure their safety, lest the Kree or the Skrulls find out."

"Has there been a Kree or Skrull ship through this system?" Superman asked, feeling dread build in the pit of his stomach.

Shayera shook her head. "No; they don't appear to have been through this system for centuries, but we didn't want to risk it. As I passed through, I masked the Trans-Warp signature, so no future ships could detect it." she said. "We assure you, you'll be safe on Thanagar; after your people saved ours, it's the least we can do."

Superman knew what she meant; years ago, the Shi'ar Empire had wanted to use the Kryptonian World-Gate network to expand their empire...starting with the forceful annexation of Thanagar. Krypton had refused, and locked down the Network, starting the Krypton-Shi'ar War. "Well, Colonel, I appreciate your people's generosity, but I must decline." Superman answered. "Earth is my home, now; I can't leave."

"Oh." Shayera said, surprised. "Well...if that's what you want..."

"There is one thing I'll need your help to address." Superman continued. "A friend of mine felt a disturbance, here, where you were landing; if you could just come with me, we could get this cleared up."

"Of course." Shayera said.

"Thank you." Superman replied. To Krypto, he added, "Krypto, you can head home, now; I'll take it from here." Krypto barked in agreement, before he flew off, heading for the Institute, as Superman and Shayera flew towards New York.

Before long, they had both reached New York, and were discreetly flying over Greenwich Village. As they passed over the Sanctum Sanctorum, a pillar of light shot up towards them, engulfing them both...and depositing them in Doctor Strange's inner sanctum. The good Doctor looked a bit strained. "Well...that took a bit more effort than usual. Thank you for your assistance, Kal-El."

Shayera bristled, readying her mace. "No, it's okay." Superman assured her. "This is Doctor Strange; he's a friend of mine." To the Doctor, he added, "Doctor, this is Lieutenant Colonel Shayera Hol, of the planet of Thanagar."

The Doctor lightly bowed. "A pleasure to meet you, Colonel Hol."

Warily, Shayera returned the gesture. "Likewise."

Superman chuckled. "I trust you and Clea have patched things up, Doctor?"

Doctor Strange smiled. "Yes, we have reconciled, my young friend." he said warmly. "We're sharing our duties over our respective realms; currently, Clea is settling a dispute back at her home – nothing major." The Doctor then turned to Shayera, looking a bit queasy. "I believe the disturbance I felt was your weapon, Colonel; tell me, is it made of Nth Metal?"

"Why...yes." Shayera said. "My people have long mastered crafting weapons of Nth Metal; dark sorcery has long plagued our world – every soldier of Thanagar carried such a weapon."

"I thought so." the Doctor said.

"Nth Metal?" Superman asked.

"A very rare element, Kal-El." Doctor Strange explained. "Arguably the rarest metal in the cosmos; it has the ability to completely negate any magic it comes in contact with – for a magic-user, this element is Kryptonite." He looked a bit uneasy. "I hope I do not offend you, Colonel, but simply looking at that weapon of yours makes me somewhat nauseous."

Shayera looked apologetic. "I am sorry." she said, before she twisted the handle of her mace, causing the shaft to retract into itself, as the crackling energy dissipated. "Is that better?"

Doctor Strange started to breathe a little easier. "Much better, thank you." he said. "If you do not mind, Colonel, I would like to examine your mace a bit more closely, as opportunities to analyze Nth Metal are incredibly rare, around here; would you mind remaining here for just a little while?"

"Not at all." Shayera said. "Although I do need to contact my people fairly soon, to update them of the situation; there is a larger ship waiting for my report at the edge of this system."

"I understand; this should not take long." the Doctor said. "I hope to..." He suddenly stopped, putting his hand to his forehead. "Kal-El, your friends are in grave danger." he said. "I am sensing a considerable disturbance in the warehouse district!"

"Where?" Superman asked.

"The disturbance is coming from the south side." the Doctor said. "It would be unwise to go alone, given your vulnerability to the mystic arts and the considerable mystic strength I am sensing; I would assist you, but I cannot leave the Sanctum with Colonel Hol's weapon here – it is taking considerable effort to dampen its effects, even when it is inactive."

"I'll go!" Shayera said.

Superman smiled. "Thank you, Colonel."

Shayera smiled. "Call me Shayera."

"In that case, call me Kal." Superman replied. "I'll go on ahead; you catch up when you can."

"Be careful." the good Doctor cautioned. "May Oshtur watch over you."

"Thank you." Superman said, and with that, Doctor Strange teleported them both out of the Sanctum. At once, Superman took off towards the warehouse district at top speeds, as Shayera followed as fast as she could.

New York City, Warehouse District

By the time the X-Men arrived at the old warehouse district, night had blanketed New York. "Everyone, be on guard." Cyclops warned, as everyone got out of the X-Van. "The Brotherhood could be anywhere, around here."

A short while ago, the Professor had detected the Brotherhood in this area of New York, and they had gone to check it out. "I'm getting something..." Jean said, concentrating, "...they're inside that warehouse!" She pointed to one particularly run-down warehouse.

"Why do bad guys always have to hang out in spooky-looking places?" Shadowcat muttered.

Avalanche chuckled. "It's practically in the job description, Pretty Kitty." he joked. With that, everyone headed in.

The entire warehouse was pitch-black, and coated with cobwebs. "Dazzler, we need some light." Cyclops said, and Dazzler promptly made herself start to glow, illuminating the warehouse.

"Gambit don' like dis, chere." Gambit muttered. "Dat feelin' in 'is bones jus' got a lot worse."

"Ah can't argue with ya, there, Cajun." Rogue said. "This is creepy."

Suddenly, a silver streak zipped through the darkness, heading straight towards them...and stopping right next to Dazzler.

"Hi, babe. Miss me?"

Dazzler's eyes narrowed in fury as the smirking Quicksilver put his arm around her shoulders, and zipped off before she could blast him. Just then, Blob rushed at them, roaring in rage, prompting the X-Men to scatter to evade his charge, giving Toad the opportunity to fire slime-globs at them while he hopped around them.

At once, Jean raised a TK-barrier, repelling the slime globs. "Gambit, Spyke, Dazzler, you three take Quicksilver." Cyclops instructed. "Avalanche, you, Nightcrawler and Shadowcat handle Toad; Rogue, Jean and I will take on Blob." At once, the other X-Men nodded, and picked their respective targets.

"What's the matter, babe?" Quicksilver mocked, as he circled around Dazzler. "Too fast for you?" Dazzler just smiled slyly, as she focused, while her two teammates set their trap.

Instantly, an image of Superman appeared a few feet away, out of nowhere. Quicksilver snarled in fury as he saw his hated rival. "You're not messin' up our plans this time, Super-Dork!!" he yelled, as he ran towards Superman, ready to punch him...

...just as Dazzler had expected.

Pietro's punch went right through the holographic Superman, causing him to lose his balance. Instantly, Spyke went into action, firing bone-spikes ahead of Quicksilver, which stuck into the ground; Pietro couldn't slow down in time, as he tripped over the spikes, and landed flat on his back. As he tried to get up, a circle of eight glowing cards surrounded him, flicked by an expert hand. Pietro's eyes widened.

"Oh, crap."

The blast from the cards sent Quicksilver flying, to land hard, out cold. Gambit chuckled. "De 'ouse wins." he said, as he glanced to his teammates. "Tres bien, mes amis."

As Toad hopped around, firing his sludge-globs, Avalanche concentrated, and caused numerous pillars of pure concrete to shoot up out of the ground around Toad, forcing him to drastically alter the path of his hops. Instantly, Nightcrawler 'ported in, slamming Toad with a mid-air kick, before leaping to a stone pillar, pushing off, and kicking Toad again, to leap to another pillar and repeat the process. Before long, Toad was getting batted around like a badminton shuttle, before Nightcrawler booted him towards a pillar.

As Toad drew near the pillar, Shadowcat reached out from the pillar, and grabbed Toad, before pulling him through the pillar, and then phasing out, leaving his torso stuck in the concrete, as his feet kicked helplessly. "HEEEEELLLLLPPPPP!!!!" Toad wailed. "Get me outta here!!"

Cyclops rolled to the side as Blob charged at him, before firing an optic blast as he went by, knocking him off-balance. That was Jean's cue; she instantly levitated Rogue, and sent her flying towards Blob, where Rogue hopped onto Blob's back from behind, pulled off her gloves, and touched Blob's face, stunning him and copying his powers. Blob stumbled back as Rogue hopped off, and then quickly recovered...only to get slammed in the gut by a punch from the powered-up Rogue. As Blob staggered away, Jean sent a telekinetic pulse at him as Cyclops fired another optic blast; their combined force sent Blob flying, to land flat on his back, where Rogue knocked him out with another touch.

With their opponents downed, the X-Men regrouped. "Zat vas easy." Nightcrawler said.

"Yeah." Spyke agreed warily. "Too easy, Fuzzy."

Suddenly, Jean's eyes went wide. "Uh-oh." she said, looking into the shadows. "We've got trouble..." At that, the X-Men all turned, to see their new opponent...

From a shadowed corner, cloaked by Siryn's magic, Wanda watched her teammates fight Magneto's goons, with Siryn next to her. Wanda had exchanged her previous outfit for a deep red vest with matching pants, and a scarlet trenchcoat, with dark red fingerless gloves; her new battle-gear.

"Why don't we help them?" Wanda asked.

"Not yet, dear girl." Siryn said. "We have to wait for Magneto's cronies to become tired, to make our victory all the more crushing. Not only that, but you need time to study our foes."

That made sense, Wanda had to admit. She took a closer look at her foes.

They didn't seem to be the kind of people who would work for her father...but Pietro was living proof that appearances lied.

"Don't worry Wanda; I won't let Daddy hurt you..."

Wanda's face twisted in fury as she remembered her brother's childhood words, the very day that her father had locked her away...while Pietro did nothing. 'Liar!!' she mentally fumed.

She almost smiled as she watched those three take her brother down.

They worked well together; they knew each other's strengths, as well as their opponent's weaknesses, and formulated strategies in a matter of seconds.

Wanda almost felt bad about having to cream them.

Almost.

"Now, remember," Siryn said, "simply channel your rage at your opponent; your powers will do the rest. Of course, I will later teach you to have a finer degree of control over your powers, but for now, that will do."

"Don't worry." Wanda said, her eyes narrowing. If there was one thing she had plenty of, it was anger.

"FATHER!!!" an 8-year-old Wanda screamed as the asylum orderlies dragged her away, tears filling her eyes. "FATHER!!!!"

Magneto simply stood there, his expression completely neutral, with an 8-year-old Pietro standing fearfully behind him. Wanda erupted in a fresh set of sobs, as the orderlies dragged her inside, the asylum doors closing behind her, shutting the light out forever...

The memory of that day sent fresh waves of rage through Wanda. 'I hope you're watching, Magneto...because I'm going to do worse to you.'

"Wanda?" Siryn asked. "I just have one teensie favor to ask you." She pointed towards one of Magneto's cronies. "See that blonde one? When the time comes, I want you to disable her; any way you like." Her voice hardened. "After that, you just leave her to me."

Wanda arched an eyebrow. "Okay." she said. "Wait...isn't there supposed to be one more?"

Siryn smiled to herself. "Oh, don't you worry about that." she purred. "Once that little blonde twit is out of the picture, we should have a new teammate, if I have my way."

Wanda rolled her eyes; now she remembered. The missing goon was that alien guy that Siryn had the hots for, or so she'd gathered.

Then, Siryn's smile grew. "Wanda?" she said. "Show time!" At that, Wanda nodded, and walked out of Siryn's stealth-spell.

It was time to kick some ass.

The X-Men could only watch as an angry-looking, scarlet-clad teenage girl walked out of the shadows, glaring at them. "Who are you?" Cyclops asked.

The girl's eyes narrowed, as she simply gestured towards Cyclops, her hands glowing blue-black.

Instantly, Cyclops' optic-blasts went off, as he unleashed a sweeping-blast towards his teammates, prompting them to duck. "Scott?!" Jean cried. "What are you doing?!"

"It's not me! It's her!!" Cyclops shouted.

Shadowcat looked stricken. "Uh-oh...I think we just found Wanda!!" she cried...seconds before she screamed, as she started to phase into the ground.

"Kitty!!" Avalanche cried, as he used his powers to loosen the ground around her...only to create an earthquake that sent both of them flying.

Trying to take advantage of the distraction, Nightcrawler tried to 'port towards Wanda...only to come out of the 'port outside the warehouse. "Vas??"

Jean tried to levitate Wanda...only to levitate herself, before falling towards the ground, where Scott managed to catch her. At Wanda's gesture, Spyke started firing spikes wildly, prompting Dazzler to raise a light-barrier. Wanda's eyes narrowed, as she pointed at Dazzler.

Dazzler's barrier exploded in a violent burst of light, causing Dazzler to scream, covering her eyes. At that instant, Siryn walked out of the shadows. "Nicely done!" she said. "I'll take it from here." With that, she started to stalk towards Dazzler.

Gambit took out his card-deck, to charge it, but ended up charging his coat, instead. "MERDE!!" Gambit yelped, rapidly taking it off and tossing it before it blew. "Damn...Remy lose more coats, dat way."

Her eyes narrowed, Rogue walked towards Wanda, ready to drain her, but Wanda sent her flying with a blue-black energy bolt. With all her foes dispatched, Wanda started to calm.

"Cuddlebumps, you rock!!" Toad cheered from his stone prison, before smiling sheepishly. "Uh...a little help?" Wanda rolled her eyes, and gestured, causing the stone to crumble...and Toad promptly hopped over and hugged her. "Strong and beautiful...where have you been all my life?" he exclaimed happily.

Wanda's eyes narrowed, as she hex-blasted him into a wall. "Never touch me again."

By then, Blob had recovered, and he hurried over to help his friend. "You okay, little pal?"

Toad just stared dreamily at Wanda. "What a woman..." he murmured, before he passed out, a goofy smile on his face.

Siryn glared at her blinded rival, before firing a fire-spell at her, driving her back. "I warned you." she hissed, before firing another spell, prompting Dazzler to raise a barrier around herself, as her sightless eyes darted around. "You were stupid to cross me, Blaire! Kal-El was destined to be mine, and you're about to learn that!!"

Dazzler tried to focus on Siryn; her eyes were blurry from Wanda's attack – she couldn't see clearly to aim an attack...

Siryn's face twisted in fury as she fired again, causing Dazzler's shield to falter. "I was always superior to you, Blaire!!" she shrieked. "I am royalty!! You are nothing to me!! Nothing!! You dared to think you could take what is mine?!"

Dazzler's mind raced; her barrier was weakening, and unless her vision came back, right now, she couldn't fight back...

Suddenly, she had an idea. 'The practice drill!' she thought. She focused, concentrating...

She could almost hear Clark's advice in her mind: 'Focus, Ali...see the warmth.'

Her barrier dropped, and Siryn smirked. "You lived as nothing, and you will die as nothing." she sneered, as she raised her arm to cast her spell...

Dazzler's vision instantly changed from a muddle of blurs to hues of red, orange, yellow, and purple...with a orange-red outline of Siryn directly ahead of her, readying an attack.

As Siryn fired, Dazzler leaned to the side, evading the attack, taking Siryn completely by surprise. This was her chance; she had to take advantage of it...

She had to go faster...

Dazzler darted towards Siryn at mind-numbing speed, faster than she'd ever moved, before focusing sound energy into her gloves and punching Siryn in the stomach, causing her to start to double over, though she seemed to be moving in slow motion, from Dazzler's perspective.

Siryn's arrogant tirade had really ticked her off; she wanted nothing more than to deck that little brat...

Dazzler pulled her other fist back and slammed Siryn right in the face, sending her flying a good forty feet, crashing into a support girder.

Only the most reflexive of barrier-spells saved Siryn from a broken jaw, but the impact of the punch had still crushed her lips to her teeth, sending a trickle of red leaking from her mouth. Siryn's expression was one of fear...but was quickly replaced by arrogant rage "You DARE touch me?!!" she shrieked. Hissing, Siryn readied a spell...but quickly conjured a barrier as Dazzler fired her eye-rays, slamming her against the girder again.

Now Dazzler was drained, as she dropped to her knees; her Kryptonian powers rocked, but they were so draining...

Siryn recovered, and took aim. "A valiant effort...but ultimately futile!" she sneered, and she cast her spell.

Dazzler was too tired to dodge it...as she heard the faintest echo of a sonic boom off in the distance...

It took Superman a matter of seconds to fly to the warehouse district, where he scanned the warehouses with his X-Ray vision...and his eyes widened in horror.

Instantly, he flew towards one warehouse at top speed, bursting through the roof, and swept Dazzler into his arms, causing Siryn to miss entirely as he darted by in a blue-and-crimson blur. "Ali, are you okay?" he asked softly.

Dazzler smiled, her eyes a bit glassy. "I'm okay." she cooed, as he set her down. "My eyes are just stinging, and I can't see well, but they're getting better."

Superman smiled. "I'm glad."

Siryn looked dismayed. "You still choose her?!"

Superman glared at Siryn. "I'm getting tired of repeating myself, Siryn."

Siryn's eyes narrowed angrily. "Stubborn Kryptonian!!" she shrieked, as she cast a spell-bolt at him, but Superman simply dug in his heels and braced himself; the spell pushed him back a few feet, but he was otherwise fine.

Superman's eyes narrowed. "My turn." he said, as he inhaled, and started to unleash a burst of gale-breath...

As he exhaled, his burst seemed to come back at him, surprising him. Superman promptly stopped. "Okay...that's a new trick..."

Dazzler looked stricken. "The Brotherhood has a new member: Wanda Maximoff." she said. "She can warp reality with her hexes; be careful, baby!"

'Great. Another magic-user.' Superman thought, as he evaded another blast from Siryn...only to get hit by a blue-black hex-bolt from the scarlet-clad girl, Wanda. The bolt knocked him back a fair distance, but he easily recovered, thought it stung. As Siryn readied another spell, Superman fired his eyes-rays to deflect it...but instead of hitting the spell-bolt, his eye-ray angled away at the last second, as if the air itself was refracting the beam, prompting him to dodge again.

"Sheesh, Wanda!" Pietro shouted. "What are you waiting for?!! Quit sand-bagging that loser and blast him!!"

Wanda's eyes narrowed in exertion. "I'm trying!" she snapped. "I don't get it; it's as if my hexes just can't get a good grip on him! He ought to be flat on his butt, by now!"

'Thank you, X-Gene immunity.' Superman thought; some protection was better than none at all.

Siryn frowned. "Well, he still can't use his powers as well, so that's something."

"Yeah!" Quicksilver sneered. "How do you plan to beat us now, Super-Geek?!"

Superman chuckled, as his hearing picked something up. "The same way we always do, Pietro." he said. "Teamwork!"

At that, Shayera flew down through the hole in the ceiling, landing beside him, brandishing her mace, crackling with energy. "Did I miss anything?" she asked.

"No, you're right on time." Superman said, grinning. "Brotherhood of Mutants, meet Lieutenant Colonel Shayera Hol; Shayera, Brotherhood."

Wanda's eyes narrowed, as she fired another hex-blast...but Shayera slammed it with her mace, sending it fizzling away to the side, harmlessly.

Shayera's eyes narrowed. "I'll take the brat in red." she growled. "You take the brat in green."

Superman nodded. "Fine by me." With that, they closed on their respective targets.

Superman braced himself as Siryn unleashed her sonic scream, bearing the brunt of the vocal blast. Siryn then tried to strike him with several spell-bolts, but his eye-rays deflected every one, unhindered by Wanda's powers, now negated by Shayera's Nth mace. Then, before Siryn could attack again, Superman unleashed a gale-burst, sending her flying, to land hard on her rear.

Shayera closed on Wanda, who fired hex-bolt after hex-bolt at Shayera, but every single bolt was deflected by the Nth metal mace, negated completely, as Shayera's fierce war-cries started to make Wanda's blood run cold. Finally, Shayera was within striking distance, and whirled into a spin-strike, not with her mace, but with her wings.

Wanda had assumed that those wings were soft, like down, and to an extent, she was right...

...but underneath that down-soft layer of feathers...there was iron-solid muscle.

Shayera's wings slammed into Wanda's stomach, sending her flying a good twenty feet, to land hard on the floor, feeling as though she'd been hit by a cannonball. Shayera promptly closed on Wanda, and like the soldier she was, raised her mace to finish off her opponent...

...but Superman stopped her. "No, Shayera." he said quietly but firmly. "That's not how we do things."

Shayera blinked. "She's the enemy..."

"It's not that simple." Superman said. To Wanda, he added, "we're not going to hurt you. Go home." As Wanda, confused, slowly got up, Superman finished, "That goes for all of you."

Then, he turned to Siryn, glaring at her. "And as for you, Siryn, I suggest you get out of here before I decide to sic Krypto on you!!"

Siryn's eyes widened in horror. "You wouldn't!!" she cried. "You wouldn't dare!!"

Superman's eyes narrowed. "Try me."

Almost instantly, Siryn 'ported herself away, as the Brotherhood slinked away.

By then, the X-Men had recovered. "Way to bring zhe cavalry, Big Blue!" Nightcrawler exclaimed.

Superman chuckled. "I try."

"Oh my gosh, I love your wings!" Shadowcat exclaimed, zipping over to Shayera.

"Um...thank you?" Shayera replied. "On Thanagar, they're really quite ordinary..."

"'Thanagar'??" Shadowcat repeated. "Is that another planet??" Shayera nodded. "Oh my gosh, that is so cool!!"

Chuckling, Cyclops extended his hand to Shayera. "Thanks for your help, Colonel Hol." he said. "You really helped save our butts."

Shayera simply looked at his hand, before she got the idea; she smiled, and shook it. "Any friend of the survivor of Krypton is a friend to Thanagar."

Superman then hurried over to Dazzler. "Are your eyes any better, taushi?" he asked.

Dazzler smiled, and nodded. "They're just about back to normal." she replied.

"So, Colonel, what will you do, now?" Jean asked.

"Well, I was going to notify my people to pick me up," Shayera said, "but I think I might stick around, at least for now; my people don't know much about Earth – it might be good to have someone stationed here."

"That would be so cool!" Kitty exclaimed. "Earth's newest heroine: the Hawk-girl of Thanagar!"

Rogue groaned. "Gawd, Kitty, do ya hear yerself?!"

But Shayera looked thoughtful. "Hawkgirl...hmm..."

"Well, take care, Shayera." Superman said.

Shayera smiled. "You, too." she replied, before she flapped her wings, taking to the air, and flying out through the hole in the ceiling, as Superman and the X-Men headed out of the warehouse.

As they exited the warehouse, the Professor and Logan were waiting for them. "Are you all alright?" the Professor asked.

"Well, yeah, considering we got our butts kicked." Cyclops said.

"Even Kal had trouble with Wanda around." Shadowcat said.

Superman nodded. "Fortunately, I had brought backup."

"Well, I am glad that you are all safe." the Professor said. "And perhaps this will be a valuable lesson to us all."

"Oh, it was." Cyclops said. "As of right now, we're stepping up training."

"After our bruises heal, right, Fearless?" Spyke joked.

"Do you think Wanda will ever join us?" Dazzler asked.

The Professor sighed. "I have sent for an old friend of mine to talk to her; someone that she might relate to, better." he answered. "But, for now, I do not believe so."

Superman then listened carefully...and his face became determined. "Maybe not," he said, "but I'm game for one more try. You guys go on home; I'll be back soon." With that, he took to the sky, as the X-Men piled into the X-Van, while Logan helped the Professor into his car, to head back home.

After leaving the warehouse, Wanda had left the others and started looking for Magneto; if his cronies had been there, he couldn't have been far. She just had to find him...

"Hi."

Wanda's eyes widened in surprise as she saw the alien guy – "Superman" – slowly float down to stand in front of her. By pure reflex, Wanda readied her hex-bolts...

"I only want a few minutes of your time. After that, if you want me to leave, I will."

Wanda was about ready to laugh in his face...but he seemed to be serious. Slowly, she calmed. "Alright."

"I've been told you don't like Magneto." Superman said.

Wanda scoffed. "Well, duh!"

If Superman was offended, he didn't show it. "Well, if that's the case," he said calmly, "you have funny taste in friends."

Wanda's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"Well, for starters, just ask yourself: is your brother really the type to turn against your father?"

Wanda thought about it for a moment. "No." she muttered. "But that doesn't prove that you don't work for him!!"

"Maybe not." Superman agreed. "But I just spared you a moment ago. Think about it, Wanda; if I were working for Magneto, why would I have spared someone who would want my alleged employer dead?"

Wanda paused at that. "Say I believe you." she said. "Who do you work for?"

"We don't 'work' for anyone." Superman replied. "Our mentor is Professor Xavier."

Wanda's eyes went wide. "Then you're from..."

"...the Institute." Superman finished. "And you can join us, Wanda."

"I can't." Wanda said. "It's too late for that."

"It's never too late."

"I can't go back." Wanda said. Her voice turned deadly. "Not until I kill him."

Superman sighed. "I can tell I'm not going to change your mind."

Wanda looked regretful. "But...I'm sorry I attacked you." she said. "Professor Xavier was always kind to me; please tell him I'm sorry."

Superman nodded. "I will."

Wanda's eyes narrowed. "Siryn lied to me." she hissed. "Well, I'm definitely going to pop that little zit, next time I see her."

Superman suppressed a chuckle, before his voice turned serious. "Wanda...I know I can't say I understand how you feel, but if you ever need to talk, I'll be there for you, to listen."

Wanda blinked. "You actually mean that?"

"Why would I say it if I didn't?"

Wanda laughed mirthlessly. "God, Pietro would keel over dead if he ever said a thing like that." she muttered. "He hates you, you know...almost as much as I hate Magneto."

"I kinda figured that."

Wanda nodded. "That's part of why I can't stand Pietro; he can be your best friend and your worst enemy in the same minute." she muttered. "He couldn't tell the truth if his life depended on it." She chuckled. "I bet that's part of why he hates you; you remind him of his weakness."

"I guess so." Superman said. "I'll let you go, but I'll be there to listen if you need me."

"Okay." Wanda said. "But...how will I find you?"

Superman smiled. "I'm always around." he replied, before he took to the sky, flying off at a speed that would've made Pietro green with envy.

Wanda chuckled to herself. 'And that's probably the other reason why Pietro hates him.' she thought, as she walked off.

Several hours after the warehouse incident, Anita had returned to her hotel room, poring over her spell-books, to prepare herself for the next time...and to figure out just where that little twit had gotten that boost in power...

Suddenly, her door exploded inward, as Anita found herself encased in a blue-black hex-field.

"You LIED to me!!" Wanda exploded, glaring hatefully at Anita. "I just paid a visit to my 'darling' brother, and I leaned on him a bit; he told me that you're WORKING for Magneto!!"

Anita paused for a second...before she chuckled. "My dear Wanda, he's dead wrong." she said. "I'm working for my father, Victor von Doom, who just happens to be your father's associate...for now."

Wanda kept glaring at her. "You used me." she snapped. "You used me to get rid of that Blaire girl! You were never going to help me!!"

"Oh, I am sorry about that, Wanda," Anita said, "but you do know what they say about love and war." Then, her eyes hardened. "But as for helping you...let me tell you a story, Wanda: a story about a little girl named Anita LeRoux. Anita's parents always left her with a mean, cruel nanny named Elizabeth, whose hobby was making Anita cry, and seeing if her precious dog could make Anita cry. One day, Anita was so mad, she told Nanny Elizabeth to take her dog and go jump out the window."

"And she did."

"Anita was a mutant; her voice could make people do things." Anita continued. "Anita was so happy, she wanted to show her parents. 'Mommy, Daddy, look what I can do!' she exclaimed, hoping her parents would be proud of her...but her parents weren't proud. Not at all."

"And so, Anita's parents tossed little 6-year-old Anita into an asylum, just like your father did with you, and left her there. Anita thought she would die there."

"But she didn't."

"Anita was rescued, by a man who became her new father: Victor van Damme, who later became called Doom." Anita finished. "He took little Anita in, and gave her a much nicer home, made her his heir...and taught her to use her voice, as well as all the sorcery that he'd taught himself. And Anita grew up, and her new Papa was so very proud of his new little girl...who decided to call herself Siryn. And one day, Anita found her old parents...and she made them sorry. She made them give her everything they had, completely breaking them."

Wanda was silent at that. "That...was you..?"

Anita nodded. "You're saying that I won't help another child who was screwed over by good-for-nothing parents. You're saying I don't approve of your vengeance." she hissed. "I know what you feel, Wanda...and I say, 'Good for you.'"

Slowly, Wanda released Anita from her hex-field. "Where's Magneto?" she asked.

"I don't know." Anita said.

"I can't stay here." Wanda said.

"I know." Anita said. "Do what you have to do. Just stay one night at the Boarding House; get a fresh start for tomorrow."

"Okay." Wanda said. "Good-bye." With that, she turned and left.

Once Wanda had left, Anita smiled to herself, and picked up her phone. "Papa?" she said. "The berserker is in play..."

"So, how did things go with your Mom?"

Kurt smiled as he sat next to Amanda on the couch in the living room. "It vent fairly vell." he replied. "Mystique vants us to be a family again...oh, und Rogue is my foster-sister."

Amanda smiled. "Wow, that's great!"

"Not zat great." Kurt groaned. "After finding out vat ve did, Logan gave Rogue und I extra Danger-Room sessions for a month."

"Ouch." Amanda said. Then, her smile became shy. "So...about yesterday...look, I was pushing you..."

"Ich liebe dich."

Amanda froze. "W-What?"

Kurt smiled. "I...I love you, 'Mandy."

Amanda didn't speak for a moment...before she smiled radiantly, and pounced on him, kissing him with a passion that curled his tail. "Oh, Kurt...I love you, too." she cooed.

Kurt smiled goofily at that, before he returned his girlfriend's kiss. He briefly looked up to the sky. 'I will never doubt You, again.' he thought, before continuing to kiss his beloved Amanda.

After returning to the Institute, Alison had promptly taken a shower – after everyone else had done the same – and changed into her blue bra and panties with Clark's crest, her undisputed favorite sleepwear, before sitting down on her bed with her current favorite mystery novel, to do some reading before turning in.

She hadn't gotten very far into the novel when she felt a pair of strong, wonderfully warm arms encircle her waist, lovingly pulling her close against an equally warm, inviting chest, as her lover sweetly kissed the back of her neck. Alison sighed happily as she put her book down. "Hi, baby." she cooed.

"Hi." Clark replied, smiling as he held her close, having changed into a white t-shirt and black boxer shorts. "Are your eyes better?"

"Yes, Clarkie; they're completely fine." Alison replied. "So, did you talk to Wanda?"

Clark sighed. "Yeah." he answered. "I don't think she's going to attack us, anymore, but I couldn't convince her to join us."

"You can't save everyone, Clark." Alison sweetly admonished.

"Maybe not." Clark said. "But that doesn't mean I'm giving up, anytime soon."

Alison giggled. "I suppose that's part of what makes you the man that I love." she teased. Her smile grew. "I used more of my new powers, today; super-speed and strength – I really knocked Siryn for a loop, before I got tired!"

"That's my girl! I'm so proud of you!" Clark laughed. "Now, what did I tell you? You'll have the hang of your powers in no time!"

Alison giggled. "So I'll be able to help you in your crime-fighting?"

Clark chuckled. "Not quite yet, Ali; you're getting there, though." he said.

"Okay." Alison replied. Then, she looked down at her lover's arms wrapped around her. "So, what do you want to do now?" she cooed.

Clark chuckled. "I think you know, already, Ali." he said. And with that, he released her, as his hands moved to her back, tenderly undoing the strap of her bra, letting it fall away from her, as Clark wrapped her in his embrace again, his hands lovingly cupping her bare breasts, giving a gentle squeeze, as he pulled her even closer to him, lovingly kissing the side of her throat.

Alison softly moaned, as pure bliss saturated every single one of her senses, until she didn't think she could take any more; when her lover paused in his sweet ministrations, Alison turned in his embrace and pounced on him, kissing him with every ounce of passion in her ecstatic heart. When her loving fervor ebbed, she stopped, gazing into his eyes. "I love you, tausha." she whispered.

"I love you, too, taushi." Clark replied. "And no crazy Aunt or jealous witch is going to change that." Alison smiled happily at that, before she leaned into Clark for another kiss...

Clark suddenly froze, and Alison sighed to herself. 'Figures.'

"Don't worry, Ali; it's just a cat stuck in a tree – it won't take long."

Alison giggled; even though it occasionally interrupted their 'alone time,' she couldn't help but love her Clarkie's Good-Samaritan routine. "I'll be waiting." she cooed flirtatiously. "You'd better make it up to me."

Clark grinned, and gave her a kiss that promised to do just that and then some, before he darted off, to save the day once more.

Alone again, Alison put on her blue bathrobe, as she absently took out the sketches she'd done to design her uniform. She still liked it, but now that her powers were growing, she felt like she was starting to...become more...

Slowly, an idea started to form, as she took out a pencil, smiling to herself, and started to sketch.

As morning came to the Boarding House, Wanda walked outside, her few meager things – and some supplies – in a duffel bag. She looked around, as she started to leave...

"You're leaving?"

Turning, Wanda saw Toad, in his street clothes, standing in the doorway. "Yeah." she answered.

"Kinda figured that you would." Toad said. "Which is why I wanted to give you this." He held out a small object wrapped in red cloth.

Wanda took it, mildly confused. "What..?"

"Pietro's birthday was a while ago, so I know it's kinda late, since you're twins and all..." Toad said sheepishly, "...I...did the best I could, with the short notice, and all, so...Happy Birthday, Wanda!"

Slowly, Wanda opened the package...revealing a simple cloth doll, with black stitched eyes and a stitched smile, with black wool hair, wearing a red stitched coat – like hers – and a beautifully stitched red pointed hat on her head. "Toad..." Wanda murmured.

"My Granny used to be in the theater, an' she taught me how to make puppets and stuff...until my folks tossed me out." Toad – no, Todd – said. "I figured that the nights alone in...that place had to be kinda scary; now, you won't be alone, any more!" He paused, fearful that he'd said something stupid. "Look, if you don't like it..."

"No!!" Wanda cried, clutching the little doll close to her. Slowly, she smiled...which she hadn't done in years. "I...I love it, Todd." she added. "Thank you."

Todd smiled back. "No problem, Snookums."

Wanda groaned. "Oh, God..."

"Sorry." Todd said. "So...don't be a stranger, okay?"

Wanda lightly smiled. "Okay." she whispered. And with that, she walked away.

As she walked, Wanda tucked the little doll into an inside pocket of her coat. Todd might have been a goofy little wart...but he was a really sweet guy, she had to admit, and he had a good heart...

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Wanda looked up in surprise, seeing an elderly lady, clad in a long, simple dark robe, sitting on a bench to the side of her. She had long, mist-grey hair, tied in a conservative bun, and eyes so dark, they seemed to be spaces between stars. "Who are you?" Wanda asked.

The old lady smiled pleasantly. "My name, dear child, is Agatha Harkness." she answered. "Charles Xavier is an old acquaintance of mine, and he told me you were passing through."

Wanda frowned. "If you're trying to convince me to go to the Institute, I'm sorry, but you've wasted your time; I can't go there."

"I know." Agatha said, standing up. "I understand the journey you must take; I simply want to be your guide, to help you control your powers as you go."

Wanda arched an eyebrow. "Siryn said pretty much the same thing."

"And perhaps she was sincere." Agatha chuckled. "But, honestly, child, what kind of tutor would you prefer; one with a few years experience...or one with a few centuries' experience?"

Wanda's eyes widened in amazement. "You're..?"

"Retired." Agatha said. "After a career as...lengthy as mine, teaching should be a welcome change." Then, she sat back down on the bench. "It's up to you, though."

Wanda smiled. "I'm up for it."

"Good." Agatha said, standing back up. "Now we'd best get under way, Wanda."

Wanda then thought of the little doll Todd had given her...and of her powers...and she smiled. "Call me...the Scarlet Witch." she replied.

Agatha smiled. "A fine choice." she said. "Lead on, Scarlet Witch." With that, Wanda continued on her way, with her new teacher following her.

Author's Note: Wow. That took longer than I had expected. I hope you all enjoy it!

On a side note, I tried putting in dividers, to separate the scenes, but for some reason, they vanish during the upload, even when I edit them in on this site. For those who have inquired about this issue...sorry.

Coming Soon:

A blast from Krypton's past compels our heroes to make a little trip.

But between the metal visitor and the locals, the Man of Steel and the X-Men will have their hands full…as 'inhumanity' takes on a whole new meaning…

Be there when it happens in "Space Case," coming to your computer soon…