Despite these little reassurances, Kurt began to not want to be in the mansion. The emptiness in the house was horrible. It was a delicate silence no one wanted to break. They spoke softly, in hushed tones. The Danger Room, for the first time ever, was silent and empty.
Kurt, unable to stand it, finally stated he was going for a walk to clear his head. They let him go.
He walked to downtown, not feeling like 'porting. He walked the street, his head down, feeling a numbing emptiness in his brain. It was like his mind was running on the bare minimums and didn't have the energy to go to higher functions, like trying to see what would happen tomorrow.
He wandered streets, watching numbly as the lights came on to illuminate the streets in their eerie orange glow. An old man, clothed in rags, snored next to a trashcan. Kurt watched him, feeling jealous. He bet that guy didn't have to worry about these kinds of things. Probably the only thing on his mind was which restaurant dumpster he'd go raid to find breakfast the next morning. Kurt sighed and waked on, kicking a can moodily. He was hungry, but didn't feel like eating.
What were they going to do? The professor had been the axle in their wheel and without him they might fall apart! Logan and Storm had taken it upon themselves to try and manage things, but Kurt knew that without the professor they were in trouble.
His stomach growled again and he was considering stopping for a bite when he was suddenly grabbed from behind and shoved into a wall. He felt the roughness of the brick scraping his cheek and he winced and tried to push off the wall. But whoever was behind him was pressed tightly to him, limiting his motions. He squirmed, but then froze at feeling something sharp poke him in the back: a knife.
The person behind him then chuckled dryly, saying, "Well, well! Didn't think anyone was dumb enough to walk this strip alone, but I was wrong! Now fork over what you've got!"
Kurt felt the numbness in his brain start to dissipate, dissolving like mist in sunshine. Replacing it was something hot, angry and long, long suppressed: anger. He whirled around swiftly, knocking his attacker off balance and shoving him away, growling, "Not the night to be messing with me, man!"
The kid laughed and slashed at him with his knife, nicking Kurt's wrist. It didn't break the skin, but the tip of the knife just happened to push the special button, and Kurt's true form appeared. The kid stared and then laughed and crouched, saying dangerously, "Hey! A mutie! Nice! I'll get a huge rep for killing a mutie on my turf!"
Kurt felt the anger grow, making him see red. He didn't even bother putting his hologram back on as he began to growl very softly inside his chest. This human thought he was better than Kurt just because he was human! Kurt suddenly decided he was sick of humans. Sick of their superiority, sick of their perfectly normal bodies, sick of their smell, sick of them.
The kid was circling him, knife held out in challenge. Kurt then crouched over as well, welcoming the chance to rid himself of some of this tension inside him. Now Kurt had an inkling as to how Scott must feel all the time. He could feel the anger building inside him, seeking a way out.
Then Kurt leapt at the kid, letting the anger out.
He expected to hit flesh, but surprisingly, didn't! It was like the kid had disappeared! Kurt landed in a crouch and began sniffing the air, trying to find the kid. Maybe he had been a mutant after-all, with some kind of super speed or invisibility to make himself vanish so quickly.
But then he heard a soft scrabbling at his feet and looked down. He was ready to see a rat or mouse, but what he saw make him yelp in surprise and jump back.
It was the kid that had threatened him, but he was only three inches high!
Kurt bent down and stared in shock. It looked like the kid, it was wearing his clothes, but it wasn't possible! People didn't just shrink for no reason! He saw the little person turning in a circle, looking terrified and scared out of his wits. For some reason, Kurt suddenly remembered the times he'd been seen in his normal form in public by accident, how terrified he had been, and the anger flared again.
He then sneered at the kid, "You're scared. Well, how do you like it? Now you know how I feel every single day."
The kid, upon hearing him, looked up, and replied in a tougher tone than he felt, "I ain't scared, ya freak! Now put me back to normal RIGHT NOW or I'll call the cops!"
Kurt wanted to laugh, and instead of his hand, his tail wrapped itself around the kid, lifting him to eye level as he asked, "Now how would you plan on doing that? I don't think you'll be able to use a pay-phone." Kurt then felt the kid start to move in the coils of his tail and let out a soft moan of pleasure before realizing it. His tail was as sensitive as his fingertips and feeling the kid squirming against his skin and fur was a strangely wonderful sensation.
Suddenly it occurred to him that he had been the one that had shrunk the kid down to this height, and if he so wished, he could reverse it. He probably should...
But then, deep inside Kurt's confused, tired mind, something peeked its head up. It was small, but very primal. It was hunger. He was hungry, and he held in his possession a tiny creature. Why not eat it? The hamburgers he ate daily were slaughtered cows, right? So why not try slaughtering a different kind of meat?
A part of Kurt started to rebel, saying some vague thing about cannibalism being bad or something like that.
But then, the little thing, which was growing, gently pushed it aside, saying to Kurt how this was an easy source of high-quality protein. And considering his metabolism, he needed that! It was hard trying to keep himself running on burgers and stuff that just didn't have enough good things in them to fully satisfy him. And if he needed more, he could have more! There were millions of humans on the planet, right? He had this power now. Why not use it? And share it? He certainly wasn't the only mutant sick of humans, right? And come to think of it, humans outnumbered mutants. That's why mutants had such a hard time of it. Maybe the populations should be evened out? Thin out the humans and give the mutants time to increase? Even the score?
A little part of Kurt crept back to the surface, muttering that his reasoning was all wrong and that what he was planning was evil and wrong.
Kurt hushed it forcefully and let the other voice continue. With this new power of his, it told him, he could help thin out the humans' ranks, giving mutants a better grip on the situation. He smiled, realizing that this little voice was right. It was perfect! This way, the humans would shrink (no pun intended) while the mutants grew. It would soon be a mutant world! Then they'd have no humans to fear day after day! They wouldn't have to worry about rejection! They wouldn't have to worry about being stepped on, spat at, looked down upon, or being treated level with dirt! They wouldn't have to worry about going to bed one night, planning to go the beach the next day, and not waking up!
There was a wiggle against his skin, drawing him out of his reverie. He looked down to look at the kid caught tight in his tail, squirming and shouting about the police. Kurt then grinned widely at the kid in his tail, a hungry grin that bared his fangs.
The kid went stiff and asked in a nervous tone that Kurt found strangely cute, "What are you looking at me like that for?"
Kurt just grinned wider, turned his hologram back on and started walking to a dark alleyway. He found a fire escape and climbed up, still holding his captive firmly in his tail, feeling like some kind of King Kong as he climbed up to the roof area. It was deserted, so he didn't worry about someone finding him. He then sat down, and brought his prisoner to his front. He was still kicking and squirming, now threatening to have the mutant shot by the police chief, who just so happened to be a very close and personal friend.
Kurt brought up his knees, spread his legs a little, draped one arm over his knee, put his elbow on his other knee and cupped his chin, staring at the now-tiny human with a grin. Kurt then asked the kid, "You're a human, right?"
The kid seemed to realize he wasn't going to free himself from the tail, which was about two feet thick to him and gripping him tightly so his arms were stuck to his sides. He then directed his anger at the mutant holding him and started shouting, "Well duh! You are so going to get it, you freak! That funny little disguise won't protect you once I get back to normal! I'll kill you!"
Kurt's hand, that had been supporting his chin, was allowed to drop and Kurt had a look of curiosity on his face as he asked, "Why kill?"
The kid then screamed out the obvious: "You're a freaking mutant!"
Kurt shrugged the information away, saying, "So, just because I'm a mutant, you'll kill me?"
The kid actually went stock still as he asked in the most unbelieving tone Kurt had ever heard, "What are you, a retard? Of course!"
Kurt then asked innocently, "But isn't that murder?"
The kid sneered at him, saying, "Not if it's a mutant who bites the dust!"
Kurt then put his hand to a temple, as if thinking, and asked, "So do you think it's fair that it goes both ways?"
The kid had started kicking again, saying, "Let me…" when he heard Kurt's question. He then stopped moving, looked up and asked softly, "What?"
Kurt then explained gently, "You want to kill me because I'm different than you. Well, you're different from me. That means I can kill you, right?"
The kid went pale in the face and began to shout angrily, "What? No! You're a freak, and I'm a human! I have priority!"
Kurt then felt something grow hard inside him and realized it was his heart.
It was true. He hadn't wanted to believe it. He had always tried to see the good in people, human and mutant alike. Had always tried to think that despite all the evil in the world, some people must be good.
But this kid in his tail had finally popped his little bubble of false, naive hope.
Humans and mutants would never get along. Humans hated mutants for the simple reason that they were mutants. They couldn't abide anything different or unique. Whenever something was found that was special, Humanity would attempt to subdue it, control, and whenever possible, exploit it for their own personal, greedy means.
Well, Kurt was in a position to let the human have a taste of his own medicine.
He then smiled at him gently and brought him closer, so the kid could see himself reflected in Kurt's hologramed-blue eyes, as he said softly, "Really? Well, from where I'm standing, you're three inches tall. And you know what else?"
He then grinned very widely, revealing both sets of sharp fangs. As he had expected, the kid's eyes had gotten really big and if Kurt hadn't known the kid was terrified, he would have thought the expression hilarious. But Kurt wasn't done. Not by a long shot! Time for the human to realize who was really in charge.
He then whispered as softly and dangerously as he could, "I'm starving."
Just a note, next chapter contains vore and death. Be warned!