Here's the next chapter. A little peace, some new friends, and a new threat in this one. Enjoy!
"Text"-talk
Text-thought, reading, or vision
New Friends and Confrontation
The reporter on the TV monitor shuffled papers before him as he read the report before him. "It's only been six days since the Brotherhood forces launched their invasion of Illinois. They suffered more losses than they ever had before fighting the Sentinels, but still only lost a fifth of their attack force. Because of this great success, mutants who had still been in hiding and those who had been living with the Brotherhood army rushed to join Magneto's forces. Their original strength quadrupled to nearly six, maybe even seven hundred thousand.'
"The mutant leader, Lord Magneto, decided to use this time to launch an all out offensive against our military forces. Starting from his bases in the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Iowa, he has sent forces out in all four directions. His southern forces have pushed into Colorado, Nebraska, and Missouri. His western forces have almost taken Idaho completely and it is feared they will resume their western push soon. His northern forces have invaded Canada's territory in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario. Finally, his eastern forces have surprisingly not been pushing as fast as the others.'
"They seem to be going slow enough to search every town they come across. They have spread out to begin searches in Michigan, Indiana, and Kentucky. The reason for this is unknown but may have been in large part for this video released to us just after the invasion of Illinois." The reporter stopped as a video began to play showing Magneto and some of his masked lieutenants behind him.
"We know you're out there Lieutenant Nightcrawler and Private Twilight. You have deserted us and killed your own kind. By my declaration, you are traitors and no better than humans. If you have any shred of mutant pride left, you will turn yourselves in. Glory to the Brotherhood."
The video ended and the reporter continued. "Because of this statement, the two mutants in question are being sought out by the military and Brotherhood. Do these two intend to defect and work with humans? Are they tired of the war? Do they intend to seize power on their own? Only time will tell."
Kitty stood up and stretched after the news ended. She and the others were hiding out in an abandoned house in a small town in Indiana. Sam and Mark were the ones who would head into town for supplies every so often. Christie and Heather kept inventory of their supplies and keeping their temporary home in order. Alexis had finally revealed what was in the second duffel bag she had brought. She had filled it with every scrap of cash her parents had hidden around the house. Kitty and everyone were eating a small lunch and waiting for Kurt and Sarah to return.
"So, any idea why the military wants them?" Heather asked.
"Think about it. Two mutants who used to be apart of the Brotherhood forces desert and are labeled traitors by Magneto? Add in the fact one of them was a lieutenant and wouldn't you try and learn all you could from them?" Mark answered.
"Right." Heather said. Two figures suddenly appeared behind the group. "Hey guys! What's up?"
"Brotherhood forces are searching for us near the northern border between Indiana and Michigan. A small company is making its' way here with some tanks supporting it, but they're still about four days away." Sarah answered. Kurt removed his helmet and sat down in his well known favorite spot. Right next to Kitty. The group knew both liked each other a lot, but neither had admitted to dating the other or being in love yet despite how close they were. "Does that mean we have to get moving again?" Alexis asked.
"Not just yet. Ve can stay here for a few more days. Remember how I said our helmets could pick up mutants in a five mile radius? Vell, ve picked up one not too far from here and I want to go get them."
"Looking for recruits?" Sam asked.
"No, I just don't think it vise to leave a mutant behind that vill either be recruited by Magneto or killed by the military."
The group agreed. Kurt went out with Mark and Sam to look around the area for the mutant. The girls continued to make the space more livable. Well, except for Sarah, she was insistent on turning the house into a mini fortress and was spending much time outside. Kitty was helping Heather and Alexis put away some food they bought earlier when they heard a loud scream. Before they could react, Christie ran inside drenched in water.
"What happened?" Heather asked. They were trying not to laugh, but were failing miserably. Christie shot them glares as Sarah bamfed into the kitchen with embarrassment showing clear across her furry face.
"Sarah here decided to build a couple of water trapdoors around the house. She didn't tell me when I went outside to try and tell her to take a break and I fell in one." Christie cast Sarah an accusing look.
"Sorry, I just can't help it. Brother was a prankster and as you guys know, I pretty much kept mimicking him and developed a sense of building traps to pull pranks myself. Traps work just as well for defenses as they do for pranks." Sarah said while looking down to her hands at the tool she was now fidgeting with.
The three girls finally couldn't keep from laughing and just let it out. Even Christie did so, which brought a smile to Sarah's face. She returned outside and continued to work another hour before she came back in with a dog following her.
"Sarah, what's up with the dog?" Alexis asked. The dog looked like a white wolf, but they all knew they weren't anywhere near a place a wolf would call home. She held out a hand to the dog and let it sniff her before petting it.
"He showed up whenever I was putting up my last trap. He seemed a little scared so I asked him to follow me and he did. Isn't he just cute?!" she asked.
Everyone did admit he was rather cute. He wasn't a full grown dog yet. He seemed just a little bit bigger than a pup. The girls settled down around their little living room (or what passed for one) and just started talking. The pup as they called him was curled up in Alexis's lap and sleeping.
"Hey, Sarah. Why do you call Kurt your brother?" Kitty asked. She had wanted to know ever since Sarah had joined them.
"Even though it was one of the worst experiences I've ever faced in my life, its' one of my favorite memories." She smiled at them and positioned herself to see all of them. "It was just after Kurt rescued me from the humans in my hometown in Italy."
"You're Italian?" Christie asked.
Sarah nodded. "All teleporters come from Europe for some reason. Anyways, Kurt and his team stopped some drunken humans who found me hiding in an abandoned church. I was so scared as they began to beat me and then they noticed I was a female. They tried to have 'fun' with me. Before they could, Kurt had bamfed in with three others and tore them apart. He had the medic take care of my wounds and he personally carried me on his back all the way back to the helijet waiting for us.'
"On the way back, he kept me cradled in his arms saying 'don't worry, I'll protect you'. Because of how emotional I was, I stayed like that the entire time. I remembered before I finally fell asleep asking him if he'd protect me like my big brother used to before he died of a severe illness. He smiled at me and said yes. Later, I woke up to find him sitting beside me while I was in a fluffy white bed. He had patted me on the head and walked off after muttering something in German.'
"It was then I realized I was surrounded by his friends, both those of his cell or the other lieutenants. They instantly tried to make friends with me and needless to say they succeeded. Later, once most of them had left, a red haired girl with white bangs who called herself Rogue hugged me. I was confused and she explained to me that anyone Kurt called brother or sister was hers' as well. Ever since then, Kurt and Rogue have been the best siblings anyone could ask for."
"Did you ever figure out what he said to you in German?" Christie asked.
"Yeah. He said, 'Glad to see you're alright my sister. Know that no matter what, you're my sister and I'll protect you always.'"
The girls couldn't help but smile at Sarah's story. Their unofficial leader, who only loosened up if Kitty was around, had a soft spot for family.
"I'm a little surprise you didn't fall for him. He acts so sweet and understanding." Alexis commented. Sarah raised an eyebrow at her and laughed. "What's so funny?"
"Do you guys realize how old I am?" Everyone shook their heads. "I'm only fourteen. Kurt's nineteen."
The girls all had shocked expressions on their faces. Kitty held a hand up to her face to cover the blush that appeared on her face. He's only a year older than me? I never thought to ask!
It was at that moment that the guys walked in through the front door with another guy in tow. He had black hair spiked up and tan skin. His gold eyes shifted around him nervously as they entered the house.
"Hey girls, we're back!" Sam announced. He wrapped an arm around the new guy's neck. "Meet Zach! He's the mutant Kurt detected earlier. He's an orphan and he's been moving from town to town working until he was discovered."
The girls introduced themselves and waited for the guys to sit down. Kitty noticed Kurt staring at the dog in Alexis's lap, but decided to leave it. "So, what's your special power?"
The boy looked at Kurt, who simply nodded, and held out his hands. They turned into solid metal and traveled halfway up his forearm. He meshed his hands together and when he separated them a small bracelet was set in his hand. He returned his arms to normal, but the bracelet remained. He held it out to the girls who were immediately entranced by the small designs on it.
"You make jewelry?" Christie asked with confusion on her face. "Why would anyone try and kill you for that?"
Zach closed his eyes and turned his hands into metal again. "That's just a small petty thing I can do." His hands began to move at an incredible speed that no one could match or even keep up with except for Kurt and Sarah. When they stopped, everyone's jaws dropped. Lying before him were several swords and rifles with stacks of ammunition next to them. "I'm a one man war factory."
The girls were in awe and in fear of his ability. He turned his power off again and picked up one of the swords he made. They were all katanas like Kurt's, but somehow each one looked different. He handed it to Sarah who immediately nodded and began to inspect the blade. "As a metal shifter, I have the ability to produce my own metal and use it to create whatever I can think of. Along with this, my eyes can read a person's…characteristics and traits I guess would be the way to say it. I use it to craft my objects so that they match the person's tastes as well as their abilities. For instance…"
He stood up, walked over to Kurt, and pulled out the blade on his back. "Kurt's katana here isn't his actually, but an old friends'. The blade is a little too heavy for him and the designs on it depict something you'd find from a teleporter with a love for oceanic settings."
"So that's why you put some ancient Roman designs on my blade!" Sarah said while she was still examining the blade he handed her. "Thanks!"
Kitty looked at Zach as he handed Kurt back the blade. His face said he cared for his creations, but he would rather create simple things like the bracelet Christie was admiring. It was then that Kitty noticed during the whole thing, Kurt hadn't taken his eyes off the dog in Alexis's lap. "Kurt, why're you looking like you're going to eat the dog?"
"Vhere'd that dog come from?" he asked. He got the quick story from the girls. He stood up and grabbed the pup from the back of it's' neck. "Alright little guy, you can stop hiding now. No ones gonna hurt you. As long as you don't try anything that is."
"Oh crap, you mean I let in a lycanthrope?" Sarah asked as she stood as well. Seeing the two teleporters stand everyone else did the same as well. Kitty took another look at the dog and could've sworn it smiled. Then it changed.
The pup grew into a thirteen year old boy with white hair and white eyes. He had lightly tanned skin and wore nothing but black clothing. Kurt still held him up off the floor by the back of the boy's shirt collar and the boy seemed to just continue to smile.
"So, you don't think I'm a freak?" the boy asked.
"Kid, you're sitting in a room with two of the occupants looking like demons. You really think we'll consider you a freak?" Kurt replied. The boy just let his smile grow wider as Kurt put him down with a smirk on his own face. "Course, we'll need to know your name."
The boy's smile faltered at that. He looked down embarrassed and muttered something. "Speak up man, I can't hear you!" Sam yelled jokingly. The boy remained silent and Kurt put an arm around his shoulder. Kurt had a look of worry that could only come from an older sibling.
"He said he doesn't have a name."
"What?!" everyone shouted.
"I got my powers earlier than any other lycanthrope mutant at the age of four. My parents thought I was a curse on them and threw me out. I've been on my own ever since, scrounging around for scraps or following people home and living with them for awhile. I eventually forgot my name and I never bothered to get a new one."
The group was silent for a moment before Alexis spoke up. "How about Faolan?" Everyone looked at her for an explanation. "It's an Irish name meaning little wolf. I thought its' kinda cute." She blushed at this statement. The boy looked up at her and saw the blush which made him blush as well.
"I…like the name too." he said.
"Great! Then from now on you're Faolan!" Kitty said. The entire group agreed. He turned back into a wolf and ran around the group playing a game of catch me if you can. Kitty sat next to Christie as the others played and Zach was also sitting down. Christie leaned over to Kitty.
"Did you notice that whenever it turned out that Faolan was a boy, Alexis couldn't stop blushing?" she whispered. Kitty recalled how Alexis looked and couldn't help but smile at her. She must've realized she was petting a cute boy in her lap the whole time.
Later the group settled down and began getting ready for bed. They all slept in the living room since there weren't any beds, spread out over the whole area with blankets. During their prep, they noticed Kurt wasn't among them. They found Sarah sitting outside a door and heard muttering coming from inside. She held a finger to her lips indicating that they keep quiet. She tossed them a memory chip and made a motion for them to leave.
Once they returned downstairs, Zach made a simple projector to display whatever was on the chip. It turned out to be a recording. They were seeing a large extravagant church and inside were several dozens of mutants. They were all teleporters like Kurt and Sarah. Along the back, they could see other mutants watching the event taking place. A voice sounded from behind the camera.
"If anyone actually winds up watching this, my brother's cell is performing what they call a service of forgiveness. For some reason, teleporters only show up in Europe and are extremely religious. They can act like true demons towards their enemies and have shown it to only a few of us. Once a month, my brother has them gather together to remember their fallen as well as those whose lives they've taken." The camera zoomed out even further to show several more teleporters in the church. "There are about two hundred of them here and Kurt's speaking in what I think is Latin."
"Abbas, tribuo nos vestri vires huic vices bellum. Permissum nos exsisto mucro quod contego pro nostrum frater quod sanctimonialis ut fio obscurum. Nos specto vestri cado angelus quisnam mos plumbum nos quod terminus is bellum ut oraculum civitas."
Kurt was speaking rapidly but softly. His friends and fellow teleporters listened with their heads bowed. It was then Kitty noticed that they didn't have any weapons or the Brotherhood uniform on. They instead wore loose clothing of black cloth and kept their heads bowed. Then as one they replied, "Nos es exspecto Abbas. Tribuo nos patientia necessarius quod nos ero fidelis ut vestri vox."
"In vestri nomen quod per vestri mos amen." they said at the same time with Kurt. Then they all stood and began chanting something that couldn't be understood and Kitty felt something strange. It felt familiar to her for some reason. Then just as quick as the feeling came, it vanished. The teleporters began to leave the room and the image changed as whoever was holding the camera put it down. It now showed Kurt walking up with Sarah and hugging a Brotherhood soldier. She had red hair with white streaks that were at the front of it.
"You know guys, I still don't understand why ya'll do this." the girl asked.
"Sorry, sis, but you know its' just something we feel we need to do. Can't explain it." Sarah commented. Then the trio left and the video ended. The group seemed confused and jumped when they heard a bamf in the room.
"Kurt's almost done with his prayers." Sarah said. She came over to the projector and ejected the chip. "We are very religious, but Kurt takes it to a whole new level. Right now, he's reciting the name of every soldier, both human and mutant, he's killed or lost. This is the first time he's recited names of mutants that he's actually killed."
Kitty thought back to the girl who recorded the video. She asked Sarah who she was. Sarah smiled. "That was Rogue. She's Kurt's sister, adopted but no one cares, and has taken me in as her sister as well."
"What about that last bit? About the can't help but do this thing?"
"Don't know. We feel like we're called to do it. We can't resist it."
Kitty pondered that, but if even they didn't know, then she couldn't really press into the matter. She grew sleepy and yawned. Everyone else saw her do this and felt tired as well. In a matter of minutes, everyone had fallen asleep.
Sam and Mark were on sleeping bags on either side of the TV. On one of the couches was Christie and on another was Alexis with Faolan in his wolf form sleeping on top of her legs under the covers. Zach was sleeping in an armchair with it facing the front door. Heather was sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag as well (she's a tom boy) right next to Christie's couch. Sarah had made a nice comfy pile of blankets and was currently curled in a ball with a smile on her face. That left Kitty on her own couch.
She had woken up again when she heard Kurt come back into their huge bedroom/living room. She snuck a peek through one eye and saw him look around the room. He walked over to Faolan and, with a small smile, laid a blanket around him. He next walked over to Sarah and lifted her head slightly to put a pillow underneath her head. He surveyed the rest of the group and finally looked over at Kitty. She closed her eye as he came over. He adjusted the blankets around her and fluffed her pillow slightly. Then to her shock, he leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.
He smiled at her and walked away to his own pile of blankets and curled up. Kitty heard him start sleeping almost immediately. She felt her cheeks flush and she couldn't help but bury her face into her pillow. She smiled into it as she drifted off into her dreams that revolved around one particular blue fuzzball.
The Next Morning
Kitty woke up to find that Kurt, Sarah, and Zach were gone. Sam and Mark were helping Heather clean up their sleeping area. Kitty got up and was about to leave when she noticed Christie hovering over Alexis. Kitty walked over to her and saw she was taking pictures. She looked down at Alexis to see that while they had fallen asleep, Faolan had moved up to lay down right next to her and his muzzle was right on her shoulder. The funny thing was that he was inches away from her face.
"Why're you taking pictures of them?" Kitty asked.
"Just cause…" Christie squat down to bring her level with Alexis's head. "Hey Alexis, time to get up. Alexis."
Alexis slowly opened her eyes and she stared at the wolf face directly in front of her for a minute. As soon as realization hit her, her face turned bright red. She got up from her couch, walked outside, and a moment later they heard her give a scream of surprise. This caused Sam and Mark to drop the pile of blankets they were carrying and woke Faolan up who seemed to jump ten feet off the couch and landed in his human form.
"What just happened?" he asked. Alexis walked back inside and went off with her duffel bag into the bathroom. Everyone shot him a look saying they knew what was up. "What?"
Everyone burst out laughing. He quickly got up and went to wait for Alexis. Christie leaned over to the others. "Who wants to bet they're crushing on each other?"
"Bet? There's no doubt!" Kitty replied and got agreements from everyone. (Just so everyone's aware, Faolan is 13 and Alexis is only 15)
Everyone heard a bamf and turned to see a teleporter in full Brotherhood uniform and helmet. Kitty smiled and waited for them to take their helmet off. When they didn't, Kitty knew something was wrong. She started backing away slowly. Something told her to run. Everyone looked at her in confusion.
"Kitty, what's…" Sam started to ask when he stopped as several more bamfs sounded around them. They looked around to see several teleporters standing around them. They each stood there staring straight at them. Some began to slowly grip their sword hilts or pistols. One strode forward until he was inches away from Kitty.
"Where is he?" the man asked.
"Wh…Who?" Kitty stammered.
"Don't play games with me! You know exactly who I mean! Where is he?! Where's Nightcrawler?!" he yelled.
"Who're you?!" she shot back. He removed his helmet and glared at her with his golden eyes and barred his fangs. His hair was in a military cut.
"I am the new lieutenant of the teleporter cell. My name is Vengefulnight and I come to bring Nightcrawler back to the Brotherhood. He's been poisoned by you foul humans and needs to be healed."
"Who says that?!" Kitty yelled. Her friends were backing up towards one another and she saw Faolan standing in front of a now terrified Alexis while letting out a small growl.
Vengefulnight laughed and a new person bamfed into the room. He was a teleporter as well, but his fur was a deep red instead of blue. He looked very similar to Kurt in his features except that his hair was longer. He had black eyes and bared his long fangs. He wore a white version of the Brotherhood's black uniform.
"I say so. I saw him kill mutants for you weak inferiors. You have tricked him and his nest sister Twilight into leaving the Brotherhood. That is a crime that can't be left unattended." He leaned in to whisper something to her. "Even if this crime is committed by a Fallen."
A what?! Kitty was confused beyond all known possibility. The newcomer drew a wicked looking knife and muttered something in Latin. He raised and was about to strike her, but two things happened. One a loud crack mixed in with a bamf echoed in the room. Second, Kitty felt a set of strong arms wrap around her and pull her close. Kitty looked up to see Kurt holding her. To his left was Sarah and on the right was Zach. They all looked a little beat up and extremely pissed.
"So, the blasters couldn't keep you occupied?" the red teleporter asked with an amused smirk. Kitty looked back to see that Vengefulnight and him had been sent hurtling to the other side of the room and were getting up. "Interesting. You are stronger than the rumors say."
"Lay a hand on any of them and I'll show you my true strength." Kurt threatened.
"Sir, please stop this! Come back to the Brotherhood! If you want, I can ask Magneto to let you keep these humans as pets!" Vengefulnight pleaded.
"Please sir!"
"We can't fight you!"
"Don't make us kill you!"
Kitty saw the hurt on Kurt's face as well as the same look on Sarah's. She realized that Kurt had been on friendly terms with all of his teleporters and that he considered them family. He's already killed one teleporter. How will he react to so many of his friends here as his enemies?
What will Kurt do? Who is this new teleporter? What does he mean when he calls Kitty a Fallen? REVIEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!