Chapter 7: Stuck in the Middleverse

Life at Bayville high had been pretty mundane for the X-men as of late, especially the more energetic members like Evan and Kurt. However something exciting was going to be going on this week in particular, the event in question? The yearly party at none other than Duncan Matthews place, a big bash everyone (except maybe the freshman) attended every time it was held.

In fact, this party was the exact topic of the group's discussion as they ate lunch in the school courtyard. However, the odd thing was, though, that Gavin was nowhere to be seen.

"A party at Matthews' place, are you kidding me? Why would you guys wanna go?" Scott questioned his teammates.

"I don't know Scott, it honestly sounds like fun." Jean told him.

"Hey, you gonna finish that Moo Juice?" Evan questioned Scott as he pointed to a whole carton that was next to the elder of the twos tray.

"You can have mine." Jean said as she handed Evan her juice.

"And besides, Matthews is a jerk anyway." Scott then mused bitterly.

"I'm with Jean, why shouldn't we go?" Kitty asked. "I mean I'm sure he isn't that bad."

"The party's no freshmen allowed." Scott told her.

"Man, Matthews is a jerk." The valley girl pouted.

As Evan started chugging his drink down while putting the empty carton on a rather large pile, Scott continued. "I'm just cautious here; I mean, suppose someone gets too close to Kurt? His holowatch won't keep people from feeling his fur." The shaded boy told the group as he jabbed a thumb at the fuzzy blue teleporter.

"Aw come on, Scott, chicks dig the fozzy dude." Kurt told him while elbowing him playfully before smiling at Kitty. "Right Kitty?"

Kitty backed away a bit. "Urg, I am so outta here." She huffed before leaving.

Kurt sighed before smiling. "See? She can't resist."

"Yeah, sure man." Evan said while rolling his eyes.

"All I'm saying is that we should be careful, I mean what if Alvers, Dukes, or Maximoff start a fight? We're not the only mutants at school you know." Scott stated while looking at the brotherhood members.

"Nah, just the cool ones." Evan stated before high fiving Kurt.

"Speaking of other mutants, where's Gavin? He's been disappearing a lot lately." Jean asked as she looked around.

"What do you mean?" Evan asked.

"Well, he's been disappearing during and after school to who knows where and comes back at eleven o'clock at night. The Professor tried to ask him himself, but he never got a straight answer." The redhead explained.

"What, do you think he's been living a double life or something?" Scott asked her.

Jean just shrugged as Kurt piped up. "Ah, come on, guys! If he's decided to live it up, why can't we? It's time to let loose!" The boy said before jumping on the table and started dancing. "Party Party Party! Shake that tail-whoo hoo!" The boy cheered before his tail became visible.

"Hey, watch the tail!" Scott snapped before yanking him down by said appendage.

"Dude! You just pulled my tail!" Kurt snapped at him indignantly.

"You were obnoxious," Scott stated sternly.

"And you're seriously cramping my style!" The opposing boy growled.

"Can't you ever listen and learn to grow up?" Scott snapped.

"No, you listen! There's a sound I want you to hear, and it's-" Kurt snapped before he teleported away with a 'bampf' sound.

Scott coughed as he waved away the smoke and sighed. "I blew that, didn't I?" He sighed.

"Oh yeah." Jean nodded.

(Elsewhere with Gavin, at the time the conversation started)

Gavin was currently sitting up against a tree while reading a copy of the Dracula: Untold novel form, and was also right next to Rogue, who was also reading a book. Both had their long sleeved articles of clothing off, letting their skin soak up the sun. Gavin had started this little outing tradition to try and help Rogue acclimate to being around other people, which was rather useful since he was pretty much the only one who could touch her.

The southern girl leaned over his shoulder and started to read his book with him. "Are ya sure this is a good idea?" She asked him as their shoulders touched, causing her to shiver.

"If it's both our sides finding out about this that you're worried about, then I wouldn't bother." Gavin replied while stroking her arm. "It's like I told you before, this is a no strings attached friendship, I just wanna let you experience what it's like to touch someone, I'm not looking for anything in return, Rogue."

"I know, but still, if Mystique finds out she might-" She tried to protest before Gavin put a finger to her lips to keep her quiet.

"I can handle myself, don't worry." He told her before getting up. "I gotta get going, I'll see you tonight, okay? Around, say, 7:00?" He asked while he slowly inched away from the skin to skin contact they just had.

Rogue nodded with a blush, still feeling the warmth of his body on hers. "S-Sure, seven's fine." She told him. The boy chuckled as he left to join his other friends.

As he left, Rogue pulled the rest of her clothes on and continued reading. But that was soon interrupted by Kurt suddenly appearing out of nowhere and crashing in a basement area of the school. As she went to investigate, Kurt groaned as he laid on top of a pile of boxes he landed on.

"Oh... I have got to work on my reentry." Kurt groaned as his holowatch suddenly fizzled out, revealing his true form. "Oh, no!"

Meanwhile, Rogue heard the commotion and went to check it out.

"Hello? Is someone there?" She called into the basement.

Hearing her voice, Kurt started panicking. Looking around, he saw a door with a sign that read 'Stay Out.' Deciding to take a chance, he teleported to the other side.

Once he was in, he got a look at his surroundings. From what he could tell, it looked like an old laboratory. Getting a little curious, he walked up to the computers. In his curiosity, he failed to take note of the security laser near his feet.

As soon as the alarm was tripped, every monitor in the room came to life and the image of a teenager with tan skin and long black hair was shown. "June 9th, 1978. If you're seeing this, this means that you have exactly five seconds before this lab self-destructs. Have a nice day, or what's left of it." It said before a countdown clock appeared.

Kurt's eyes widened in alarm before he tried to run. But the clock finished counting and the lab suddenly blew up, causing him to be blown back towards the door.

Meanwhile, Rogue had just arrived outside the lab's doors and was about to open it when it suddenly exploded and sent Kurt flying out and into some boxes..

"Wha-What happened?" The southern girl asked, walking up to him.

"Lab… Boobie trapped." He groaned in pain as his body ached.

Rogue looked at the door to the now ruined lab before walking in and taking a look around. "Well whatever this place was, it's trashed now." She then looked around and saw an odd looking machine in the corner. She walked over to it and picked it up. "What's this?" she wondered.

Kurt managed to regain his bearings at this point and walked into the lab. That's when he saw Rogue with the device, fearing something would happen, he ran over to her and started to grab it from her. "Hey, gimme that!" He told her.

Naturally, Rogue tried to resist and struggled to keep her hands on it. "No you let go, blue boy!" She snapped before her finger accidentally hit one of the machine's buttons and it blasted Kurt and then it caused him to be surrounded in a dome of light before disappearing.

Rogue dropped the machine in shock before she felt the space where Kurt used to be to see if he was still there... He wasn't. "He's gone…" She gasped.

"How interesting…" A voice said inside the room, more specifically coming from the floor. Rogue jumped back as the floor rose into the shape of a human and it slowly turned metallic and then slowly into the shape of Devin. "Mind if I take a look at that?" He questioned.

"Why would Ah give it to you?" She snapped, backing up, but was tripped up by Devin using his liquid metal to grab her leg, causing her to drop the machine.

"It wasn't a request, Rogue." He stated as he picked it up. "Now don't get in my way if you know what's good for you, we wouldn't want Mystique to find out about your little 'outings' with my brother now, would we?"

Rogue froze right there in shock. 'How does he know?!' She thought, feeling alarmed.

(Elsewhere)

Toad was trying to get a roach that he planned on eating, but a green car drove in front of him before he could get it. "Aww, my lunch." He whined.

Principal Darkholme stepped out of the car and glared at the boy. "What do you think you are doing Mr. Talansky?" She snapped.

"Uh, nothing." He gulped.

"Well then, I suggest you get going." She told him. "And another thing, if I see any slime on my new car, I will make sure you have detention for a very long time, understand?" She growled.

"Y-Yes ma'am." He nodded before hopping off to get away from her, before bumping into Devin, who was carrying the device that Rogue found.

"Watch where you're going you insolent frog!" Devin growled as he turned his arm into a claw and pinned the other boy to a tree.

"Whoa, hey easy there! Sorry." The boy said in defense before noticing the machine in Devin's hands. "Hey, whatcha got there?"

"None of your concern." Devin shot back with a glare. "Now get out of my sight before I make you regret it."

"Sheesh, what is this? Abuse the Toad day?" Toad grumbled before he shot out his tongue and wrapped it around one of the device's handles, then tried to pull it away from him.

Devin growled before he pried Toad's tongue from the device and threw it aside. He then whipped him around into a wall before turning his hand into a spike and pinned him to a wall.

"Listen to me very carefully, Toad; If you ever try and touch me with that filthy tongue again, I will grab it and rip it and all your insides right out of you, am I understood?" He growled, pushing the spike into the boy's neck.

"M-Mystique would never-" Toad tried to say but was cut off by the spike being pushed harder.

"Mystique does not control me. I told all of you that I only joined you to get stronger than my brother, and that if any of you got in my way, I would end you. She serves my needs, not the other way around." Devin growled as he dropped the boy and started walking away.

Toad shook his head, and then lunged, kicking him from behind, causing the liquid metal mutant to stumble forward and drop the machine, which Toad caught while jumping over him. The boy then turned and pressed one of the buttons, and a ray shot Devin and in a flash of light, he disappeared.

(Elsewhere)

Gavin was heading to his next class when he saw Toad out the corner of his eye, who was hopping around with the machine.

"What is he doing?" The boy asked as he headed to his locker, where he was then met by both Jean and Scott. "What's up guys?" He asked.

"Kurt's disappeared. Have you seen him anywhere?" Scott asked.

The pseudo vampire shook his head. "No I haven't. I also haven't seen my brother anywhere either, which has me thinking…" He then turned back to where he saw Toad, but didn't see him, at least until he saw him hop into the principal's office. "That Toad May have something to do with it."

(Elsewhere)

-Alternate Dimension-

Devin looked around as he tried to figure out where he was, before he noticed he was in some sort of space that looked like the school, but almost as if it were out of a ghost story.

"What is this? Where am I?" Devin questioned. That's when he heard the sound of things crashing. Going to investigate he saw Kurt who was dodging furniture that was falling from the ceiling out of thin air.

As he was dodging, the blue fuzz ball didn't notice a car that was about to fall on top of him. Groaning, Devin lunged at him and tackled him out of the way of the falling vehicle.

As the two got up, Kurt jumped back and looked ready to fight. "I know you! You're Gavin's brother, right?" He questioned.

Devin raised his hand as he showed he meant no harm. "Calm yourself, blue one. I'm not here to fight. Besides, if I wanted, you'd be dead already."

"Then Vhat do you want?" He asked.

"Same as you, a way out of here." The boy told him. "Now come on."

The two walked through the ghostly hallways until they reached the gym, they looked around and didn't see anyone there. That is until Kurt nearly jumped out of his skin when someone came right up behind them. Both boys turned around and they saw a guy around their age standing there, and it was the same guy from the lab.

Devin immediately transformed his left arm into a curved scythe and Kurt looked ready to fight, but the guy backed up.

"Whoa! Hey! Easy there." He said in defense.

Both boys looked at each other then at him. "Does he look familiar to you at all, Wagner?" Devin asked.

"Yeah. I saw his face on some monitors back at the lab." Kurt replied, earning the attention of the boy in question. "Anyway, don't worry man, I won't hurt you,.I'm a harmless blue fuzz ball." He stated.

"Okay, But who are you guys?" The guy asked.

"I'm Kurt Vagner. I'm a mutant, and this is Devin, he's a mutant too." Kurt told him. "I know I look scary but-" He then teleported next to the boy. "There are some fringe benefits."

Devin rolled his eyes as the other boy smiled. "Trippy, I thought I was the only one." He said before his arm transformed into some sort of robotic appendage.

(Meanwhile)

Gavin and the others were now in pursuit of Toad who was trying to get away from them after they saw him make the furniture in the principal's office disappear.

"Don't let him get away." Scott told them.

"Evan, lock and load!" Gavin told the blonde.

Evan nodded as he shot one of his spikes at the hopping mutant and pinned him to a tree, causing him to drop the machine, which Scott grabbed.

Gavin grabbed Toad by the collar and hissed at him. "Where's Kurt and Devin, stink breath? Start talking." He growled.

"I'm telling ya, I don't know! All I know is that thing made him disappear." Toad yelped in fear.

Gavin threw him down as he drew his sword and pointed at him. "Give me one good reason why I should believe you." He hissed.

"How about because if you don't, you won't see your friend again?" A voice said. Everyone turned and saw that it was Rogue.

"Rogue, What? Why?" Gavin asked in confusion.

"It's nothing personal, Gavin." Rogue told him. "Now let him go."

"Who's side are you on?" Jean questioned.

"I'm on my own side, and besides, you owe me." Rogue snapped. Scott was about to do something, but Gavin stopped him, letting toad go.

"She's right, Scott, we owe her." He told the older teen. He then looked at Rogue before she looked back at him regretfully. He looked at her and nodded as the two left.

-In Middleverse-

Back in the dimension, Kurt and Devin were helping Forge, the boy they just met, build something. According to the teen the dimension they were in was called the Middleverse, and in order to get out they needed help from the other side.

"So hold on, we're gonna need help from the other side to get out by resetting that gizmo of yours?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah. But you'll have to be quick." Forge nodded as he finished what he was working on. "And finished."

"What is it?" Devin asked.

"This will let Kurt stay in the physical world for a few seconds to tell his friends to reset my projector, but only for a few seconds, these batteries don't have much power." Forge told him.

"Well then, let's hope the fool can do it right." Devin snorted.

Forge looked at Kurt as they got set up as the blue mutant chuckled nervously. "I… Kinda have that rep."

-With the others-

The others all got down to the basement and set the machine down. "Okay, so what should we do with this thing?" Scott asked.

"Isn't it obvious? Let's trash this thing!" Evan said.

"What? Are you nuts?!" Gavin snapped. "What if it's the only way to bring both of them back?!"

-Middleverse-

"Alright! Atta boy Gavin!" Kurt cheered.

"I can't believe this… Even though I'm fundamentally his enemy… He's still willing to help me?" Devin gasped in disbelief.

Forge then finished setting up. "Okay. Done, now you gotta press this button and then teleport. Then tell them to reset the projector."

"Right." Kurt nodded as he pressed the button and then teleported.

-Back with the others-

"Gavin, What are you talking about?" Scott questioned.

Before he could answer, Kurt appeared right in front of them. "Reset, don't-" Kurt said before he was cut off by him disappearing.

"What the heck was that?" Gavin asked.

"Wait, he said 'reset, don't…' He wants you to blow it up!" Even chimed in.

"No, that can't be right. He said reset, then don't. If he wanted us to destroy it, he could've said don't reset." Scott noted. "So why say reset, then don't? I think he's trying to warn us."

"A warning? From the goof man himself? No way, come on let's just nuke this thing." Evan told him.

-Middleverse-

"Wow you really do have a rep." Forge said to Kurt as they watched the group.

"Told you." Devin scoffed.

"Not helping." Kurt snapped. That's when Evan said to destroy the projector.

"No! They've got it all wrong! If they destroy the device, we'll be stuck here forever!" Forge exclaimed in alarm, much to Kurt's and Devin's horror.

-With the others-

"Now hang on, Evan." Gavin stated as he got in between the others and the machine. "Nightcrawler may be a goof, but even he knows when to get serious." He then turned to Scott expectantly. "Scott help me out here."

"Gavin's right, I really think he's telling us to reset this thing." Scott nodded.

"Yeah, but should we let Devin out? He might try to, like, kill us." Kitty noted.

"Are you seriously asking that?! Of course! Devin may be a self entitled, condescending, and narcissistic jerk. But he's my brother, and I will never abandon him, no matter what." Gavin snapped.

-Middleverse-

Devin felt a mix of emotions: Irritation at the insults he just heard from his brother, and remorse since he felt was now beginning to feel like he made a mistake in joining Mystique's group.

'Was… Was I wrong to go against him?' He thought to himself.

"Alright! You da man Scott!" Kurt cheered as he and Forge high fived.

"But we're not out of the woods yet, we need another power source!" Forge informed the two.

"And I know just the thing, come on." Kurt said, before turning to Devin. "Let's go man, worry about your bro later!"

The Japanese American shook his head as he followed them. "R-Right." He nodded as he followed them.

-Back with the others-

Scott looked over the projectors settings. "Beam width, timer, here it is! Restart." He said as he then pressed the button and the device was rebooting as it shot a beam out and opened a portal.

"I sure hope they get through." Gavin said. "Come on Devin, come on." He whispered. But just then the rest of the Brotherhood arrived, making things a lot more complicated.

-Middleverse-

The three boys all arrived at Darkholme's car and Forge helped Kurt hook the device up to the car's battery while Devin helped hotwire it.

"You know how to hotvire a car?" Kurt asked.

"Perks of being raised by the yakuza." Devin said as he got the car running. "Now start driving!"

-With the others-

The remaining X-men were now standing in front of the Brotherhood, who had apparently followed them.

"Guys, protect the portal the best you can." Scott ordered.

"Right." They all nodded.

The groups all charged at each other as they all clashed together. Blob was currently fighting Scott, Toad was getting beaten by Jean, and Kitty was trying not to be slammed into a wall by Lance, and both Gavin and Evan were in the middle of corralling Pietro.

As Gavin appeared behind the speedster faster than he could react, he backhanded him into a wall, which Evan followed up by pinning him with his spikes.

As everyone else was fighting for their lives, the car the other three were using suddenly came barreling out of the portal and straight towards Blob and the other guys.

Fred's eyes widened as he grabbed the car's hood and skid back and just barely managed to stop it from squishing them. "Whew, good thing I'm a blob." He sighed in relief.

"You can say that again." Toad nodded.

"Welcome back, guys." Gavin said before noticing Forge. "Who's he?" He asked.

"This is Forge." Kurt told them. "He's cool."

Devin got out of the car as he looked at Gavin, who looked back at him, both stared at each other for a couple seconds before Devin looked away. "Thank you, for not abandoning me." He whispered just enough to where he could hear.

Gavin looked at him in surprise but his brother just turned to Kurt. "Wagner." The Blue fuzz ball turned towards him. "You could have just left me in that world, but instead, you not only brought me back with you, but also trusted me to help you." Devin said, while bowing. "For that I thank you, and I am in your debt."

Kurt looked at him in surprise before speaking. "There's no need for that. Being stuck in that dimension would drive anyone mad." He stated.

Devin nodded as he gestured for the rest of the Brotherhood to follow him out, leaving the X-men alone in the basement.

(Later…)

Everyone was now in Scott's car, except for Gavin, who was on his personal bike. They were talking to Forge.

"You sure you don't want to come with us to the Institute? I'm sure the professor would love to have you." Jean asked him.

"Nah, I gotta check on my parents, I'm twenty years past curfew." Forge chuckled. "Thanks anyway though."

"Are they even still at the same address?" Gavin asked curiously.

"I sure hope so." Forge laughed.

"Well, if you ever need anything, just give us a call." Scott told him while handing him a card.

Forge took it with a nod before walking off.

(Elsewhere)

-Rocky Mountains-

Up in the Rockies several men in black body armor with green logos that looked like a skull with tentacles on their chests stood in front of a cave with their guns pointed at the entrance.

"Experiment H11-Tiamat, come out with your hands up, we have you surrounded." One of the soldiers ordered.

That's when the ground started to shake as the sound of huge footsteps were heard coming from the cave, then as the steps slowed, it soon revealed that inside the cave was a massive Red European Dragon that was probably the size of five stacked school buses (tall) and five buses (long) not counting the tail, meaning it was possibly even larger, it's wings stretched twice that. It's scales were segmented in an overlapping diamond pattern, and it's skull had two ram-like horns. It's body however was not very bulky, but rather slender and compact, most likely meaning it was female. Lastly it's eyes were a sharp and piercing green.

The dragon stared down at the men as it's scales glistened in the moonlight of the mountain sky, it snarled before the creases in the scales on its neck slowly glowed fiery orange as flames gathered in its mouth and it blasted a torrent of flames down upon them with a loud and ear shattering roar which drowned out the terrified screams of the men as they were burned to ashes.

The dragon snorted as it scattered the ashes of the men with its tail as it turned back to its home and stomped back into the cave again, leaving behind the melted and smoldering remains of the soldiers and their weapons as they sat there in the night sky.

And with that readers, I leave you to guess who that might have been. Also for design reference, see this link: monsters/ancient-red-dragon