A/N: Hey, everyone! Welcome to Chapter 13. I have never considered myself good at writing action scenes so your feedback would be very much appreciated. Keep reading, and I'll keep posting.

Disclaimer: So... I was told to write one of these. I do not own X-men: Evo. I am not that awesome.

13.

Evan sensed that something was wrong the minute he set foot into Canton. Usually, at this time, there would be the busy morning rush as people hurried to get to their jobs. There would be sounds of people talking on their cellphones and cars honking as they speeded down the street.

But, instead, the town was silent and empty. There was no trace of life in Canton. Evan skateboarded down the street, his heart pounding. What kind of power did this new mutant have that the whole town was forced to evacuate? He spoke into his intercom. "Anyone else freaked?"

Immediately, he heard Kitty agree with him. Kurt and Rogue checked into the conversation, stating that they haven't seen anyone yet. He heard nothing from Jean and Scott.

Evan skateboarded to Logan, who had appeared at the end of the street. "Where is everyone?"

Logan sniffed the air, his claws protruding out of his hands. "They're here, all right. We're being watched." Logan subtly tilted his head to the building to his right. Evan took a quick glance upwards and caught sight of the figure of a man. He stared down at the two mutants with a fearless expression. Evan wished that he had Ravyn beside him. He knew that in one quick glance, she could tell him how old he was, where he grew up, and what his occupation could be.

Logan strode to the door of the building. He was about to touch the doorknob when Evan saw the man lift his fingers, giving a signal to unseen companions. What the signal meant, Evan couldn't tell, but alarm bells went off within his head. "Logan, no!" Evan shouted.

Dull sounds of metal being propped against wood sounded throughout the town as guns emerged from every building in the area. Logan backed away from the door and stared pointedly at the man in the window. Every window now had at least one man with a gun. They all wore the same camouflage uniform, like the ones that soldiers would wear, but they lacked the customary "U.S. Army" badge stitched onto the breast of the uniform.

Through his earpiece, Evan heard his friends all talk at once; asking for directions. What do they want? Should they use their powers? If a fight should break out, should they abort the mission? Of all the voices, the only one Evan didn't hear was Ravyn's. He sighed, his mind leaving the situation at hand. It was always her. He certainly liked the girl, but she was like a bad luck charm. The man in the window stepped forward and addressed the two mutants below him. "Surrender and you will not be harmed. Resist and we will have no choice but to open fire."

"What do you want, bub?" Wolverine spoke up boldly, his adamantium blades drawn to full extent.

"The mutant organization known as 'the X men' refused to register themselves into the mutant database. We are here to make sure they do as the government commands." The man spoke in a nasally, arrogant, voice. He was dressed in a suit and carried himself in a way that made Evan think that he had never been to a rustic town like Canton before.

"Then why would they do something this dramatic?" Rogue's voice muttered through the earpiece.

"Logan, we can take them." Scott's voice also came in, eager for a fight after hearing mobs insult them from behind the mansion gate for months.

Logan chose to answer Rogue's question. "Because they don't want us just for registering," his fingers clenched into a fist and he spoke again through clenched teeth. "They want us for testing."

Evan felt the tension radiating from Logan's body. He watched the hair on Logan's arms and neck stand up. He felt adrenaline pump through his own body as he, along with the rest of the x-men, waited for their signal. Their order.

"Does everyone have each other's back?" Logan's voice was rough and gravelly.

Logan heard a collective and eager "yes" from the other x-men.

The man in the suit, tired of waiting for an answer, yawned and lifted his hand, ready to give the order to shoot, when a spike grazed his arm. Even though he wasn't physically hurt, his precious suit sustained a long rip in its sleeve. Outraged, he gave the signal.

All hell broke loose.

There were about seventy men who opened fire on the mutants. Canton was a small town, and every man was placed in a strategic location, with the end result being that every square foot in the town was covered by at least one man's gun.

Everywhere he turned, Evan found that there was always one gun firing bullets at him. He had jumped on his skateboard as soon as the fight started, but, within seconds, a bullet hit his precious board. He was thrown off and was forced to roll in the snow, bullets penetrating the places he had once been. He was still able to hear his friends shouting into their earpieces, their voices morphing together into one mangled mess.

"I have a visual on the kid. Meet me at the x-jet." Ravyn's voice carried through his earpiece, through the sounds of battle. How she was able to block out their screams, he didn't know. She found the kid? Where was she?

He turned around and shot a spike into a window where many bullets were being fired. He heard the faint sound of his spike impaling a person before seeing the gun fall out the window and clatter to the ground. Evan changed his direction and grabbed the gift from the dead soldier. It was a large, heavy gun, not like the small handguns that Ravyn let him practice with.

"Wait for us." Wolverine's raspy voice came through the earpiece, answering Ravyn's demand.

Evan charged down a street, side stepping an over turned trashcan. He saw Rogue running in towards him in a zigzag pattern, poorly aimed bullets following her. Evan aimed at the windows emitting flashes of light and pulled the trigger to his gun. Bullets flew everywhere as he lost control of the powerful gun. At the sound of gunshots ricocheting through the alley, Rogue hit the floor just before a misguided bullet from Evan whizzed harmlessly over her head. Evan lowered the gun and fired spikes from his arm, hitting his intended targets easily. Once they were taken out, he hurried to Rogue and helped her up. He made a quick scan of her body for any misguided bullets.

"Who the hell gave you a gun?" Rogue said furiously, grabbing the gun from his limp hands. She sounded like Ravyn.

They ran alongside each other as they carried on their conversation.

"Where's Ravyn? She's supposed to be with you," Evan shouted through his heavy panting.

As if summoned, Ravyn's voice drifted through the earpiece, barely audible. "I can't."

She can't? She can't what? Evan's mind speeded back in time. She was answering Wolverine's order. She was defying him. Rogue and Evan shared a look.

Rogue pulled Evan backwards with her and pressed him against the wall. She pointed ahead at a building. Through the sun's harsh glare they both saw a gun poking out of the window.

"I'll distract him. You take him out," Rogue ordered, whispering into the younger boy's ear. Evan felt her gloved hand gently slap him on the face before sprinting out into the open, firing bullets in the air and at the building as she ran. As the gun in the window turned to her, Evan ran undetected through the door.

Rogue was a natural sprinter. Though she never did sports when she was in high school, she always knew that she was good at running. Sharpshooting, however, was another story. She found the gun awkward and an unnecessary burden, yet she kept it because it made her feel more powerful than she felt without it.

Turning a corner, she saw Scott and Jean, working together, causing havoc. Whole buildings were being destroyed by lasers emitted from Scott's eyes. Four months of pent-up anger was being released on the unfortunate buildings of gunmen. Though it was obvious that Jean didn't agree with her boyfriend's destructive plan, she did nothing to stop him. She expertly created a force field around the two of them and used her powers to force guns out of the hands of unlucky gunmen.

Jean spotted Rogue and included her in the force field. She put her fingers to her temples and concentrated on holding up the larger force field, as Scott spoke to Rogue.

"Is everyone alright?" he asked Rogue, showing her his broken earpiece.

Rogue shook her head. "Ravyn may be in trouble."

Immediate anger flared behind Scott's glasses. She could've sworn that she heard Scott call Ravyn names that she had never heard him utter before. Jean reduced the force field enough to allow Scott to have a free shot at a gunman. His lazar eyes were able to take out the gunman and half of the building.

"You two are out of control. You're destroying half the town! Stop!" Rogue shouted as she ran through the force field and back into the fray. She had just seen Kurt and Kitty disappear through a building.

She entered the building in record time and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Upon reaching the top of the stairs, she suddenly felt weak, as if all of her energy was draining out of her. Looking down at her hand, she saw blood.

Rogue didn't remember getting shot. She wobbled slightly, her center of balance moving to different parts of her body. She would've fallen down the stairs if two hands hadn't tightly grasped her collar and pulled her forward.

Kitty gently placed Rogue down. A gunshot wound was in her side. It didn't look too serious, but Rogue's normally pale face turned ashen. "Kurt!"

Kurt knelt beside Rogue. He reached into his coat and ripped his shirt. Pulling out a strip of cloth, he deftly bandaged her wound, just like Ravyn did when they had first met.

"She'll be fine." Kurt told Kitty, turning his face away from his step-sister. The smell of blood disgusted him as it filled his senses. He took the gun from Rogue and slid it away from them.

"Kurt. Town hall. Now." Logan's voice came over the earpiece. Kurt knew where that was. He had passed it before the battle started.

Kitty seemed to read his mind. "I'll stay with Rogue. Go."

Kurt didn't need to be told twice. He teleported.

When Kurt appeared in the town hall, Logan lost no time in grabbing him by the shoulder. His adamantium claws were covered in blood. "Ravyn's at the X-jet. Check her."

Kurt sent a questioning glance to Logan.

"Don't give me that. We both know she messed up." Logan stated. Behind him, a closet door shook as someone banged on the other side of the door.

"Let. Me. Out!" the voice was undoubtedly that of the man in the suit. Kurt didn't want to know what Logan was planning on doing to the man once he let him out.

"Logan…"

"Go!" Logan's face temporarily distorted into a fiendish expression as he pushed Kurt away from the closet door. Logan then took a step back into his fighting stance. It was as if he was willing to fight Kurt for the right to kill the man in the suit.

Kurt lightly touched his scapular through his clothing. He knew he would regret leaving the man in the closet, but he teleported out of the town hall. As soon as he teleported, he wished that he had stayed and defended the man.

When Kurt re-appeared a few yards away from the x-jet, he watched helplessly as a dart hit Ravyn's neck. Time seemed to slow down for him as he took in the situation. Ravyn was pressed against the x-jet. There was no rope or chains or anything near her, but she looked as if she was paralyzed. A good distance away from her was a little boy. Tears were streaming down his small face. Even though his face still had baby fat, his eyes were that of an older man. His eyes were soulless, as if they were stripped of their innocence a long time ago. A man dressed in black had one hand on the child's shoulder while the other one held a gun. Blue liquid seeped down to the ground as a new dart appeared in the barrel of the gun.

Kurt took action. He charged towards the man and child. His feet were still pounding the ground when he teleported. He reappeared inches away from the man and knocked him to the ground. The sudden force caused the man to also pull down the boy.

Ravyn felt her invisible binds loosen and she slowly slid down the cold metal of the x-jet. She didn't black out, and, for the most part, felt fine. Kurt and the mysterious man untangled themselves from each other. The man had dropped his special gun when he tumbled down, but it was quickly replaced with a menacing knife. Kurt's spaded tail swished dangerously across the snow.

Ravyn was about to blindside the man from behind, when she noticed the boy stand up shakily, his eyes wide with horror at the sight of the blue demon. "T-the blue-" He was forcibly stopped.

Ravyn didn't know she could leap as far as she did. She grabbed the mouth of the boy and forced him back down into the snow, and pinned him down, by applying her full weight to his small, cold body. She went against the only moral she had taken with her when she joined the assassins. She had steadfastly refused to directly harm children.

Ravyn placed her other hand to her lips and made a shushing noise, but refused to remove her hand from the boy's lips. Jimmy started to cry, fat tears flowing down his ruddy face. The sight made Ravyn's heart sink to her stomach, but she didn't move her hand from the boy's mouth.

Meanwhile, the man in black made his move. He swung his knife expertly at Kurt. The demon dodged it by leaning to the side and taking a step backwards. The man brandished the knife before executing a couple of slashing motions, each one getting closer to Kurt's body. Kurt's feet sank into the soft snow with every step, making it harder for him to move and keep with the beat of the slashes. The man's knife grazed both of Kurt's cheeks in two consecutive slices before Kurt figured out the pattern. With one well-placed move, he grabbed the man's arm and swept his legs with his tail.

Even though he was on the ground, the man wasn't finished fighting. He threw his knife at Kurt. Kurt deflected it with his wrist, but not before receiving a long, bright red cut by the blade. While Kurt was busy with the knife, the man drew the gun he had confiscated from Ravyn and turned it on her. The shot was too easy. Ravyn had her entire backside exposed and her arms were busily trying to calm down the struggling child beneath her.

Two shots reverberated through the open. In a moment of panic caused by the shots, Kurt slit the man's throat with his tail. Before he had the time to realize the murder he had committed, he raced to Ravyn. She had been pushed onto her back by the boy. Blood began to stain the snow beneath her.

Ravyn didn't know why she wasn't healing. In fact, she was getting weaker by the second. Her eyes fluttered as she tried to gain focus in her vision. As soon as her brain registered that she had been shot, the little boy beneath her, in a fit of sudden strength, pushed her off him. At first she was calm and patiently waited for her powers to take over, but the blood came. She felt pools of it beginning to form under her as well as in the back of her throat. She felt Kurt's strong arms behind her back as he pulled her into a sitting position. His eyes were filled with concern as he stared at Ravyn's pain-stricken face.

Ravyn's eyes weren't on Kurt. The little boy was long gone. Ravyn didn't know how physically strong the boy was until she saw him dart out from under the x-jet. She faintly heard his high-pitched voice carried by the wind. He was talking to someone. She averted her gaze to the demon staring expectantly at her. She tried to speak, but couldn't, so she focused on breathing. Breathing was painful, and with every breath, she took in less air. For a while they just stared at each other, Kurt waiting for her to heal herself up while she memorized his face. If she had to die, she might as well take in the appearance of the last person she was to see.

Movement over his shoulder broke the spell. Her eyes grew wide and she tried to speak again. "What's wrong?" Kurt asked, wondering why he still felt blood pouring out of her wounds. She placed a hand on his chest and pushed him as hard as she could. Away from her. His gold eyes filled with hurt.

Along with a shaky breath, she was able to emit the word "Leave".

A dart hit Kurt's neck. Dropping Ravyn, he turned to face them. 'Them' were five men wearing camouflage uniforms. All were carrying guns carrying the same blue liquid as the man in black had. The little boy was with them.

Ravyn knew that Kurt was doomed as soon as she saw Jimmy open his mouth to speak. She blacked out.

Logan led his team out of Canton and back towards the x-jet. The mission was a miserable failure. He knew that the enemies of mutants would forever use this event as an example of the 'destruction' caused by mutants. He wasn't proud of what he and his team had done to the town and their attackers, but now, all he wanted was to get his team safely back to the mansion. He was closely followed by Scott. Rogue leaned heavily on his broad shoulder, forcing her legs to match Scott's quick stride. Kitty came next. Her face was covered in gunpowder, the result of her phasing through countless bullets. Jean and Evan brought up the rear. Thanks to her force fields, Jean came out of the battle unscathed. Evan, on the other hand, had blood flowing out his nose. He was wondering if there was any polite way to ask Ravyn to heal his broken nose when they came within sight of the x-jet.

"Are they inside?" Kitty said. She didn't wait for the x-jet to let down its ramp. She jumped through the wall. Wolverine, Scott and Rogue raced up the ramp as soon as it touched ground. Jean was about to do the same when Evan grabbed her arm. He pulled her attention to a large bloodspot under the x-jet. Blood was everywhere, all over the ground and on part of the x-jet wall. Trails of blood led towards the nearby woods before abruptly ending. Jean saw something move with the wind and grabbed it off the bloodstained snow.

A bullet missed her head by mere inches before creating a small dent in the x-jet's exterior wall. Jean whipped up a force field just in time to deflect other shots. "Time to go, Evan!" she shouted, leading the way to the ramp, which had begun its ascent. Both Evan and Jean were able to make it up the ramp before it closed.

Scott immediately grabbed Jean's shoulders. "What was that? Are you all right?" He looked her over, trying to find wounds.

Kitty approached Evan. "Where's Kurt? Ravyn?" Evan shook his head to both questions.

"We can't wait for them." Logan said, jumpstarting the engine. To say he was disappointed was an understatement. He was furious. It was the second time in three months that he had lost both the demon and the assassin.

Scott caught Jean's eyes, which were filled with tears. "Jean, what's wrong?"

Jean opened up her clenched hand and dropped its content on the x-jet floor. Jean, Scott, Evan, and Kitty all leaned in to get a better look, while Rogue, situated on a nearby chair, craned her neck to see. Even Logan quickly turned to find out what the deal was.

Everyone knew what it was, but no one was sure what it meant. Kurt's scapular, which was broken in half and soaked in blood, lay on the floor.