Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution.
Chapter Four – Power Surge
November 1999
Before Kitty could move, a siren rang out through the Danger Room and the simulation faded back into the cold metal walls they knew so well.
As the others adjusted to the sudden change, Kitty reached out with her telekinesis and lifted Monica and Joey over to Wanda and Lexa, who caught them, looking startled.
"X-Men!" Kitty called. "We have a situation!"
While the others moved back to give her some room, Kitty stood and faced 'Madeline', positioning herself in front of Lance – and, more importantly, Liam. "Alright, Jean, I know you're still in there."
"Are you sure about that?" 'Madeline' asked snidely.
Kitty caught Scott's eye as he moved forwards and shook her head warningly. "Okay, Maddie – can I call you Maddie? How did you come to be?"
"I would have thought that was obvious." Madeline answered calmly. "When Jean's telepathy began evolving again, her subconscious panicked and locked it away in a corner of her mind. Eventually, the extra power formed into me and, of course, I am at least ten times more powerful than she is." She lowered her voice. "She's not the only one though, is she?"
"What do you mean?" Kitty asked, even as ice flooded her veins.
Madeline chuckled coldly. "Come on, Shadowcat, you know what it's like. Jean Grey is nothing more than a projection; someone who acts the way everyone else wants and expects her to. Sound familiar?"
Kitty took an inadvertent step back. "Yes." She admitted in a low voice. "But I'm different. Kitty and Shadowcat are the same person; we just react differently."
"She's a hypocrite." Madeline said slowly, almost savouring the word. "And you hate her, don't you? You used to get up, look in the mirror and want to hurt her."
"Stop it!" Kitty snapped. "Just stop it!"
Madeline leaned in. ""You're nothing but a hood."" She repeated, a smir on her face. "You know you weren't intending to say it. It was all her and you hate her for it. And she reminds you of Cyclops – that's why you don't trust him."
"I do trust Scott!" Kitty protested, ignoring the little voice in her head that added now … "Just stop it!"
"Make me!" Madeline hissed. "Tell me that I'm lying!"
"You're … You're …"
Kitty's heart was racing.
Even before she gained telepathic abilities, she had excellent control of her mind; no one had known she was acting a lot of the time.
No one had known that the shock of what she had assumed to be Lance's death had sent her into a slump that she felt unable to climb out of.
No one had known what Madeline had just said.
And it scared her.
Contrary to Kitty's belief, however, someone had known. The moment 'Maddie' had lowered her voice, Anna had borrowed a little of Lexa's powers, so that both women had heard exactly what was said.
Whether Lexa had brushed off the words as emotional manipulation, Anna didn't know, but she had known Kitty for too long and had her in her head too many times to know that Madeline wasn't lying.
And she also knew that Kitty was dangerously close to losing control of her emotions. And with her power, that is not a good idea.
Privately, Anna was worried about the fact that Kitty still had the powers she did – it had been over a year now; of course, she still wasn't sure how Kitty had those powers, so maybe basing her knowledge on her own powers wasn't a good idea.
A few, as Kitty had found out quickly, had disappeared quickly, and now several more of the powers had disappeared – she could no longer create ice and fire, although her control over the latter remained as strong as ever and the temperature still dropped whenever Kitty was mad – of course, that had always been true and might just be due to the look in her eyes at those moments.
In fact, when Anna thought about it, the only powers that remained consistent were Kitty's original powers, her telekinesis and her telepathy; the rest only appeared when her emotions spiralled out of control.
And this thought, of course, returned Anna to the dilemma at hand and she stepped forwards, taking the attention away from her younger team-mate.
"Alright, that's enough!" She stated firmly. "There ain't nothing you can say that I haven't accepted about myself already, so there ain't nothing you can say that'll get to me!"
"Oh, really." Madeline sneered. "Every time you hold your daughter, you worry that your control will slip. Every second you were pregnant with her, you worried your control would disappear. Every time you kiss your fiancé, you worry that it will kill him."
Anna ignored her. Though valid points, it was no secret that she felt that way, especially between her and Remy. "Come on, Jean, I know you're in there. I know what it's like to have other people in your head. You can get her out, Jean!"
Madeline's expression changed to a grimace and she looked over at Professor Xavier. "Help me!"
Professor Xavier rolled forwards and took the woman's hands, closing his eyes. There was a moment of silent tension, in which the X-Men watched the telepathic exchange on tenterhooks, ready to leap in if something went wrong.
Then, suddenly, almost in slow motion, a shudder ran through Jean's body and she fell to her knees. She and Kitty both burst into tears, clinging to each other for comfort.
Lance dropped Liam into the arms of the nearest person – who happened to be Scott – and sprinted over to embrace his girlfriend and sister.
Anna sniggered at the expression of Scott's face. Although she knew that he cared about all the kids, he'd never actually held Liam – she thought it had something to do with the kid's father, despite their recent truce. She was just about to offer to take him, when she noticed something that wasn't quite normal or right.
"Scott, is it just me or are Liam's eyes red?"
"It's not just you." Scott answered, staring at the baby. "They are glowing. Why are they glowing?"
Lexa jogged over with Monica in her arms, catching sight of the faint shine herself. "Okay, that's not right. Here, let me take him." She passed Monica to Anna and lifted Liam into her arms. "Hey, sweetie; you alright?"
Liam grabbed his godmother's happily, his eyes returning to their normal colour.
"It was probably a trick of the light." Lexa commented. "You go and check on Jean."
Anna waited until Scott was out of earshot, bouncing Monica in her arms. "Do you think it was a trick of the light?"
"I don't know." Lexa admitted. "But Kitty's got enough on her plate at the moment; I'm not telling her."
Lance relinquished his hold on his sister so she could latch onto Scott instead and wrapped his girlfriend fully in his embrace.
Unlike Jean, Kitty had stopped crying, but still clung to Lance almost desperately, shaking with suppressed emotion, taking unsteady gulps of air.
"What did she say?" Lance asked quietly, having not had the privilege of enhanced hearing earlier.
For a brief moment, it seemed Kitty would change the subject, but then she sent the conversation to him through her mind, unwilling to voice it all again.
Lance tightened his arms around her. "It's alright, Kitten."
"It was true." Kitty murmured into his collar. "Every word of it."
"I know." Lance soothed. "I know. I wasn't myself either, if that helps."
"But you had an excuse." Kitty reminded him, slightly bitterly. "What did I have?"
"Nothing." Lance answered heavily. "Maybe that was the problem. You thought I was dead, remember?"
"Trust me, I remember." Kitty grimaced, feeling the ground shudder beneath her as she breathed out. "My head's killing me."
"Oh, not you too!" Jean cried. "What is it today?"
"Must be something in the water." Kitty got to her feet, but promptly stumbled, clutching Lance's arm for support. "Get the kids out of here! Now!"
Kurt promptly retrieved Lorelai from Remy, Monica from Anna and Joey from Wanda, and teleported out of the room, while Pietro took Liam and Cindy from Lexa and Jubilee and vanished in another rush of wind.
As the tremors grew stronger, Logan looked at Xavier. "Chuck, isn't there something you can do to help her?"
"No." Professor Xavier sighed heavily. "I'm afraid that preventing this surge will only be delaying it and making it worse the next time. I believe all we can do is just stand back."
"Then I suggest you do it quickly." Kitty warned, her voice strained.
Her companions only just had retreated, when she flew into the air with a painful scream, her body rigid.
Columns of fire erupted from the walls, freezing almost instantly into lava-like wall fixtures. The unaffected parts of the wall reacted in different ways – in some places, the metal tore away and flew around the room; in others, the metal became charged with electrical energy and crackled ominously.
The ground shuddered and shook with the force of a thousand earthquakes, great cracks appearing before them.
Great, dark rainclouds formed, releasing rain that pounded down on them, hailstones that left small craters in the metal floor, thunder so strong it rivalled the quakes beneath them and lightning that struck down too close for comfort.
A psychic blast shot through the room, knocking everyone to the floor as they grabbed their heads in pain. The only people not affected were the three telepaths and Lance – although not even he could explain that – who could only watch in fascinated horror as the woman he loved seemed to shudder in mid-air, her body almost glowing with the power radiating from her.
He barely had time to even think about how to help her, when she suddenly stopped screaming, gave one final breath and, the power vanishing as fast as it had appeared, plummeted towards the ground.
AN: Review please!