I'm back! And you all know the drill at this point. i've been busy with life and haven't had the time for writing FanFiction. Honestly, that's what happens when you write stories as a hobby i suppose. anyway, here's part 2 of this arc. AKA: the first episode of Evolution. let's get started shall we?

After All These Years (Part 2)

It didn't take long to get Scott out from under the bleachers. They retrieved his glasses and after the panic had calmed down, the police and the firemen arrived to take care of the fire.

After Jean had checked up on Duncan who was being tended to by some medics (and thankfully didn't seem to remember that Scott had fired beams out of his eyes) he was wheeled away in an ambulance while Jean went back to her friends who were standing by the bleachers on the opposite side of the field.

"Well, good news is Duncan doesn't seem to remember what happened." said Jean when she reached her friends. "Probably because of his concussion."

Wanda sighed in relief. "Great, that's one problem out of the way."

"What's the bad news?" asked Laura with a raised eyebrow.

Jean looked shocked at Laura's question before answering, "He got a concussion."

Laura rolled her eyes and said, "And how is that bad news?"

"Laura!" Jean screamed.

"What?" Laura asked with a shrug. "Why does that surprise you? You know I don't like Duncan."

"Same." Wanda said with a raised hand while Scott just gave a scoff.

Jean groaned and placed a hand to her temples "Look, I know Duncan has his problems but..."

"Problems?" Scoffed Wanda. "The guy is a total narcissist. And don't even try to deny it." she warned.

"Okay, I won't." Jean admitted. "But that doesn't mean you should want him to get hurt on purpose."

"Maybe not, but it doesn't change the fact that ever since you started dating him, you've been hanging out with us less and less." Wanda said while Laura and Scott kept quit, but both silently agreeing with her.

"What does that have to do with..." Jean started to say, but Wanda wasn't finished.

"You're pushing us away Jean, maybe not physically but you're still distancing yourself from us. And for what? So that you can hang out with Duncan and the 'popular crowd' instead of us 'unpopular' people?" She finished while gesturing to herself and Laura and Scott.

Jean was silent as she contemplated everything Wanda told her. While it was true that she wasn't spending as much time with them while at normal school compared to the institute, she didn't think they were taking it this hard. But thanks to her telepathy, Jean could feel the pain Wanda was feeling.

Before she could comment or express the guilt she was feeling, Wanda said, "I'm heading back the institute." before walking off, Laura following close behind, but not before giving a disappointed look to Jean.

Said look felt like a slap in the face for Jean, who looked back at Scott and asked, "Do you agree with what she said?"

"What do you think?" he thought in his head, which Jean still heard thank to her powers. Jean could honestly say that she hadn't felt more guilty than she felt now. Without another word, Jean started heading back to the institute.

Scott lingered behind for a few minutes, during which Todd walked up beside him nervously. Scott raised an eyebrow at him, silently asking him what he wanted.

"Hey, umm... thanks. Really you know." He said, expressing his gratitude.

"Yeah, don't mention it." Scott said before heading home himself.

Todd watched Scott leave before noticing a fly buzzing about him before suddenly... shooting out his tongue, catching it and devouring it. After swallowing his 'snack' Todd started hopping away like an actual frog/toad.

However, Todd was unaware that someone had been watching him the whole time from afar and had seen his... 'unique' abilities.

Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters (The next day)

Things were a little tense since yesterday and Wanda has been mostly quiet, still feeling upset over Jean. Speaking of which, Jean still felt extremely guilty and wanted to make things right but Wanda didn't want to talk to her, or anyone else apparently. This awkward atmosphere continued during breakfast, which the students fixed themselves since Ororo was out on some errand and they didn't want to disturb the professor since he told them he was up late last night on personal business.

After they had all gotten ready for school, the students were about to walk through the door when the professor contacted them mentally saying, "Could you all join me in the study. These is someone I would like you to meet."

Despite their confusion, the students made their way to the study, where Xavier was waiting for them along with a person dressed in an overcoat, making it impossible to distinguish any features.

"This will only take a minute." Xavier said before gesturing to the person beside. "This is Kurt Wagner, he arrived late last night."

"Cool, another student." said Laura before walking forward and offering her hand. "My name's Laura." Kurt seemed to back away from her, much to their confusion.

"It's alright Kurt," Xaiver reassured him "You're among friends."

After some more hesitation, Kurt stretched out his hand for Laura to shake only for her to look in shock at his hand. Instead of a normal hand, Kurt's hand was blue with three fingers instead of five.

Seeing Laura flinch, Kurt retracted his hand. Xavier coughed and said, "I was just telling Kurt how I set up this school for 'gifted youngsters', youngsters whose gifts are not always an asset, right Scott?

"Ah, so you heard about last night?" Scott asked rhetorically and awkwardly.

Wanda laughed and said, "It would be hard not to have heard about, it was on all the news channels after all."

"Indeed." Xavier confirmed.

"Look, it was a bad situation and it was an accident, I'm sorry." Scott tried to explain himself.

"I know." Xaiver admitted before explaining, "Fortunately no one was badly hurt and the true cause was not discovered but you must be more careful, not just Scott but all of you.

"Come on professor, I'm packing a bazooka behind each eyeball." Scott said while gesturing to his eyes. "What do you want from me?"

"Control Scott." Xavier replied "That's what you're here to learn. That's why you're all here."

Noticing Kurt tilt his head in confusion, Xavier explained, "Scott's eyes are able to admit a destructive optic blast beam."

"In other words, he can shoot lasers from his eyes." Wanda simplified.

"Cool." Kurt replied before removing his to reveal his face. Much like his hand, his face was blue and seemed to be covered in fur. His eyes were white with yellow pupils and his ears were pointed (almost elf-like). And the students all noticed something poke out from under his clothes which turned out to be a prehensile tail, giving him an almost demonic appearance.

"So aside from your looks, you got any special gifts yourself?" Wanda asked curiously, to which Kurt smirked before disappearing in a puff of smoke, much to the student's surprise, before appearing in another puff of smoke on the other side of the room.

"Maybe." Kurt said rhetorically.

"Wow." all the students replied in stunned silence.

"As you can see, Kurt's powers include teleportation." Xavier explained before turning to his students. "But there will be time for proper introductions later. I'll be helping Kurt to settle in for the day, we'll talk more tonight." After he finished, the students walked out of the room and towards the school.

As soon as they had left, Xavier turned to Kurt and said, "Now then Kurt, shall we get you settled?"

"Of course professor." Kurt answered, this time with more of his German accent being heard.

Bayville High

Todd was currently inside the principal's office, having been called there earlier. He was currently slouching on a chair, not caring why he had been summoned as he was used to this happening. Ha glanced to the side to see Principal Darkhölme open a window.

Principal Raven Darkhölme, at first glance, was an intimidating woman. She had short, dark brown hair and brown eyes which she hid behind a pair of black glasses. She always wore a gray business suite with a matching skirt. If there was one word that popped into Todd's head when he first saw her, it would be 'man-eater'.

"Now Todd, shall we talk about your new 'friend', Scott Summers." Principal Darkhölme said as she stood in front of him.

"What about him? He's cool." Todd said nonchalantly but honestly. "If it weren't for him those jocks would've stomped my skull flat."

"Yes, well, Summers is a lot like you. He too has special powers." Principal Darkhölme explained.

Todd looked shocked for the first time since he went in. He tried to laugh it off, saying, "What...? I don't know what you're talking abou...

"Oh, I think you know 'Toad'" Principal Darkhölme interrupted him, Todd flinched at being called Toad, knowing that she had seen him use his powers.

Walking around behind him, Principal Darkhölme went on to explain, "Besides Scott Summers, there are others like him out there. We need to know more." She put her hands on his shoulders, making him tense up. "Much more. And you're going to help me."

"Umm, look, I don't wanna..." Todd tried to explain.

"Silence!" Raven interrupted in a much deeper voice, making Todd turn around and gasp in shock and horror, as he saw his principal change shape right in front of his eyes. Now she looked like one of those things from the movie "Aliens", only with blue skin instead of black.

"You will do as you're told, understand?" the being that was once his principal threatened him, making Todd nod his head in fear seeing as he was dealing with someone else with powers.

"Good." She said before changing back into her human form. with a smirk on her face, Raven seated herself behind her desk and said, "Now, here's what i want you to do."

Jean was walking down the corridors thinking about last night, about how Wanda said she was pushing everyone away to be with Duncan and the 'in-crowd'. Before she could contemplate further, she heard voices around the corner.

"So, how's Duncan?" asked a male voice, which Jean recognized as one of Duncan's jock pals that she couldn't remember the name of.

"Eh, he's fine." Came another voice in response. "He just got light concussion. He should be back next week or so."

"Ah, good." the first voice replied. "The team wouldn't be the same without him. And besides, I'm sure Jean can provide the proper 'motivation' for Duncan when he gets back."

Jean pressed herself against the wall when she heard this.

"Dude, don't joke about that. How long do you think it's going to take for Duncan to get in the sack with her?"

"Does it matter?" the first voice asked rhetorically. "It's only a matter of time. And besides, Duncan told me Jean wouldn't mind one bit. He said to me "You know what they say about red heads, right?"

"Oh yeah." the second person said before they both laughed.

As the two jocks laughed, Jean felt both her heart break and her blood boiling as she clenched her fists. She always knew Duncan wasn't the nicest guy. The reason she started dating him was because she wanted to fit in somewhere outside the institute. And when they had started dating, she had hoped to calm some of his less-than-pleasant tendencies. But hearing what his friends said about her, what Duncan himself said about her, she was feeling both heartache and unimaginable furry. She read both of their minds to confirm what they said, and doing it only made her more furious.

Jean walked away before she decided to do something bad with her powers and cool off a little. As she was walking away, she came across Wanda and Laura.

"Hey, guys." Jean said as she made her way towards them. Wanda and Laura looked at Jean curiously given that she still had her fists clenched in anger. As soon as she got in front of them, she took a deep breath to calm down before saying, "Guys, look. I'm sorry I've been ditching you lately. I know I shouldn't have prioritized Duncan over you guys and I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?" Jean finished while rubbing her left arm nervously.

Wanda and Laura looked shocked before exchanging glances with each other. They turned back to Jean and both smiled.

"Jean, come on. Stop acting so dramatic." Laura said, making Jean look up in confusion.

"We knew you didn't mean to intentionally hurt us." Wanda said as she looked down guiltily "I guess the reason I blew up like that yesterday was because I have some abandonment issues." Laura and Jean gave Wanda looks of sympathy before Jean brought Wanda into a hug, which she quickly accepted. Laura just looked away awkwardly, not wanting to be caught doing something mushy on school grounds.

As soon as Jean and Wanda broke their hug, Jean went on to explain, "Besides, I'm through with Duncan. I... learned some things and... frankly I don't want to be anywhere near him." Jean finished with clenched teeth. Seeing her friends questioning looks, she explained what she had overheard. As soon as he had finished, Wanda and Laura scowled in rage at what Duncan had said about their friend.

"That's it." Laura said as she cracked her knuckles. "As soon as Duncan returns, I'm putting him back in the hospital where he belongs!"

Jean laughed. "That's kind of you Laura, but I'll deal with him myself later. For now, how about we go and get some lunch?"

While they both wanted to strangle Duncan, they couldn't do it since he wasn't there right now. Plus, they were hungry so they agreed and walked with Jean to the food court. Jean felt happier then ever at spending time with her childhood friends.

"Just like old times." Jean thought projected to the others.

"Yup." They both thought back

As soon as they got there however, Scott showed up looking both irritated and worried.

"Something wrong, Scott?" Wanda asked.

"You could say that." He said cryptically before nodding his towards one of the corridors, indicating them to follow him. Once they had walked into an empty corridor, Scott whispered, "I just had talk with Tolansky. Turns out he's a quite 'gifted', like us."

The girls were shocked at this new. Wanda put a hand to her head and said, "Oh god. You mean he's a..."

"Mutant." Jean finished telepathically, glancing around to be sure no one were listening in on them, with the others doing the same.

After making sure, they went back to be matter at hand. Scott continued. "I just got off the phone with the Professor, he already detected Todd's powers with Cerebro. And get this, he's thinking of recruiting him."

Wanda's eyes widened in horror at having her stalker living in the same house as her while Laura's eyes hardened in a glare. Jean put a comforting hand on Wanda's shoulder before asking Scott, "And what did you say to him?"

"I told him I wouldn't like to have Todd as a roommate." he replied. "I said he has the personal hygiene of a dead pig."

"That's an understatement." Laura said in disgust, remembering the previous times she has met Todd. Everyone gave Laura an understanding look, remembering that her enhanced senses are sometimes a curse when it comes to loud noises or bad smells.

"And I mentioned how he's been 'stalking' Wanda ever since he showed up." Scott continued. "But don't worry. The Professor said he was aware of that and he won't allow such behavior in his house."

"So he won't be staying with us." Wanda asked hopefully.

Scott looked uncomfortably to the side. "Umm... not exactly. The professor said we don't turn our backs on anyone, but ultimately, the decision will be up to Todd."

Everyone looked uncomfortable after that. Wanda the most, given her extreme dislike of Todd. Laura walked over and but a hand on her remaining shoulder and said, "Hey, if he does anything, just give to me, I'll make sure to give Tolansky some lasting scars."

Wanda smiled in appreciation, while Jean turned to Scott and asked, "Did the professor tell you to invite him?"

"No, he said there was 'no need'." Scott replied. "My guess is he plans on contacting Todd on his own." Scott shook his head and said, "Anyway, we can worry about that later, right now I just want something to eat."

"My thoughts exactly." Laura said before walking back to the lunch room, with Scott and the other two girls following. As they sat down to lunch, everyone's thoughts were on Todd Tolansky, and on what would happen if he decided to join them at the mansion.

Wanda would rather die than live with the guy who kept stalking her, or better yet kill him herself. Laura was of a similar mindset as Wanda while Jean also felt the same given her recent experience. Scott was also of a similar mindset but he was more concerned with what Professor Xavier could be thinking by asking Todd to join them. He knew that the X-men didn't turn their backs on anyone unless for good reason and Todd has given them plenty of reasons not to invite him, so why was Xavier reaching out to him?

"What are you planning professor?" He thought to himself.

Later that night, at the Xavier Institute

Todd, or rather 'Toad', was just outside the school. After looking around to make sure no one was around, he effortlessly jumped over the wall and landed inside the institute's boundry. Looking around again to make sure no one saw him, Toad began making his way towards the building.

Unknown to Toad however, someone had noticed his appearance. Inside his study, Xavier had sensed his presence and telepathically summoned Ororo to speak with her.

"You summoned me professor?" Ororo asked.

"Yes, I did." Xavier replied "It seems that Mr. Tolansky has decided to pay us a visit."

Ororo raised an eyebrow and said, "That boy you detected yesterday?" to which Xavier nodded in reply. "That boy you wanted to recruit?"

Xavier sighed and shook his head and said, "I'll be honest with you Ororo, while I do want to give him the offer to join us, I don't think he will be welcome here."

"You mean given his tendency to stalk Wanda?" She asked rhetorically.

"Yes. Like I said, I still intend to make the offer, he's still a mutant and I want to give him a chance. But if he does decide to join us, those tendencies will have to go." Xavier gave Ororo a hard stare to show how serious he was. "If he hurts Wanda in any way, there will be consequences."

Ororo smiled at seeing Xavier so protective of Wanda. She thought that over the years, Xavier seemed more like a father to Wanda than her actual father.

"Besides," Xavier continued with an amused smirk "Better he faces those consequences from me than from Logan."

Ororo chuckled at the joke, but she did agree. Logan may be more extreme in giving punishments than Xavier.

"Well, let's go meet our guest, shall we?" Xavier asked, to which Ororo nodded before both went out the door to meet Todd. But as soon as they were in the hallway, they heard a crashing sound, making both adults look at each other in confusion and concern before hurrying towards the source.

A few moments earlier

Toad was making his way towards the building cautiously. While he didn't like what he was doing since Scott did save him, he was, first and foremost, a coward, and being threatened by someone was a good motivator for him. All he had to do was get a good look of the place and report back to Darkholme. He'd be in and out before anyone noticed he was there.

Sadly, fate seemed to have different plans for him. He went in the front door into the foyer, which at first glance seemed empty. Glancing around more nervously than before, Toad was really starting to feel the pressure of his 'assignment' and more importantly, what would happen if he got caught.

Just as he was making his way from the doors, a voice shouted, "Hey! What're you doing here?"

Letting out a small shriek at being caught, and again when a form dropped down from the second level, Toad got a good look at who had caught him. This turned out to be Kurt, who was glaring hard at Toad.

Kurt had been wandering around the mansion before coming into the foyer and finding Toad there and immediately knowing something was up given how Toad kept glancing around in a nervous fashion. That and if he had been a student, then Xavier would've introduced him with the others this morning.

Toad temporarily forgot his fear as he took in Kurt's unusual appearance. "Woah. What are you? Some kind of ratty plush toy?" Toad questioned Kurt.

Kurt was about to reply to the insult when he groaned in disgust as he was assaulted with a most foul odor. "Call me Nightcrawler." Kurt said deciding to use his codename given to him by Xavier than his real name, before pinching his nose. "And at least I don't reek like unwashed lederhosen."

"You blue furred freak!" Toad said in anger. He may not like to shower often but he still didn't like to get called out on it. Toad pounced on Kurt before he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Landing where Kurt had been standing, Toad was confused at his foe's disappearance, waving away the smoke before looking around.

"As you Americans would say..." Came Kurt's voice from above, to which Toad looked up and saw he was clinging to the chandelier. "neener, neener, neener." He taunted, before teleporting away again as Toad jumped up to attack him, only to touch air before holding onto the chandler.

"You're so slow." Kurt taunted him from the floor with a cheeky grin, to which Toad gritted his in anger, before going after him again. After a few minutes Toad was really starting to get frustrated at his opponent dodging and taunting him.

"Get back here!" Toad shouted angrily before shooting out his tongue at Kurt, who just jumped to the side as the tongue hit a window behind Kurt, shattering it.

"why should I?" Kurt asked rhetorically before continuing to evade Toad a while longer.

"What the hell!?" Came a voice from the stairs, which the boys turned to identify as Wanda, with Laura and Jean standing beside her. "Todd, what's going on here?" she asked in frustration. While she knew that the Professor wanted to invite Todd, she highly doubted that involved him getting into a brawl with their newest resident.

Toad put on a smile and said, "Oh you know, just thought I'd pay you visit before this overgrown rat decided to fight me."

Kurt glared hatefully at the remark and asked, "Then why did I find you sneaking around?"

Toad glanced about at the accusing faces directed at him and stuttered, "Umm... well I..."

"You know what, it doesn't matter." Wanda said as she walked right up to Toad and glared at him right in the face. "What does matter is the fact that you came in here wanting to do who knows what and ended up fighting Kurt."

Toad tried to swallow his fear and put on a 'charming' smile, "Hey come on sugar plum." he said as he put a hand on Wanda's shoulder. "I just wanted to..."

"Get your hands off of me!" Wanda screeched as she slapped away Toad's hand before bringing up her right hand, which was crackling with blue energy before unleashing one of her hex bolts right into Toad's chest, blasting him out the door and onto the courtyard.

As Toad skidded to a halt on the ground, his whole body in pain, a person walked up to him, said person's shadow covering Toad.

Toad opened his eyes in pain, which widened in fear at the person standing over him. Said person was clearly male. He had a very strong physique, evident by the muscles Toad could see. He had navy blue hair which was in a disheveled state and brown eyes that were currently glaring down at him. The man was currently wearing a black leather jacket, blue jeans and a pair of black leather boots. This man was Logan, also known as the Wolverine.

Wanda, Laura and Kurt had just walked out through what was left of the doors to make sure Toad wasn't dead when they spotted Logan. Laura smiled brightly and shouted, "Dad! You're back!"

Logan tore his glaring gaze away from Toad and smiled at his daughter while Toad looked shocked at what she said. "Wait what?!" he sat up and looked at Logan. "You're her dad?" he asked, to which Logan glared back down at him again and said, "Yes, I am." Before popping out his claws, making Toad crawl back in fear. "And who are you?"

Before Toad could respond a voice said, "His name is Todd Tolansky." looking back at the entrance, Xavier and Ororo had joined the younger mutants in hope of calming down the situation. "It seems there was a bit of an incident before you arrived." Xavier explained. "Still, while this isn't how I intended to meet, I would still like to extend an invitation for Mr. Tolansky to join us here at the institute."

Toad got back up on his feet and said, "No way. I'm not staying here. You're all crazy, I'm so leaving yo." before jumping over Logan and making his way to the property wall.

Logan looked like he was about to follow when Xavier said, "Let him go Logan." Looking back at the professor, Logan saw that he was serious and retracted his claws. "I already wiped his mind of anything important that he may have seen, although I wish I didn't have too." he finished sadly. Xavier had never liked meddling with others thoughts, no matter how necessary it may have been.

Logan looked back at Toad's retreating form and retracted his claws begrudgingly. "If you're sure about it Chunk then who am I to argue?" he said rhetorically with a small smirk.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll find something to argue about." Ororo said teasingly, making everyone present chuckle. "Still," she continued, "It's good to have you back Logan."

Laura ran up and gave her dad a big hug "I'll say." Laura said while Logan hugged her back. "I didn't think you were coming back so soon."

"Me neither." Logan said as he let his daughter go. "I heard there was some trouble down here, thought maybe you could use some help." he said while looking over at Xavier.

"Oh, that was nothing to worry about. Scott had an accident is all." Xavier explained. "Although, we could use an extra pair of hands now that the institute is expanding." Xavier finished as he gestured to Kurt, who looked rather nervous under Logan's gaze.

"Logan, meet Kurt Wagner, our newest resident. Kurt, meet Logan, Laura's father and teacher here at the school." Xavier made introductions while Logan extended his hand for a shake, which Kurt nervously accepted.

"So you're Laura's Dad." Kurt asked, not exactly sure what else to say

"That's right." Logan responded as he let go of Kurt's hand. "Raised her myself before coming here." He explained with pride, making Laura roll her eyes good naturedly.

"Now, i'm sure we've all had a long night, how about we all get some sleep." Xavier suggested "We can all catch up tomorrow."

Everyone present agreed to that sentiment and all walked inside. But while they did, Xavier was deep in thought. As he was erasing Tolansky's memories, he saw who had made him try to infiltrate the school. Someone he was very familiar with.

"I'd better talk about this development with Ororo and Logan in the morning." Xavier thought gravely. "If Mystique is here and recruiting mutants then it means Erik's plans have been set in motion. We need to prepare as well. My students NEED to be ready for the challenges that is to come."

The next morning, Bayville High

Principal Darkholme paced around her office, contemplating yesterdays failure. When Mr. Tolansky came to see her this morning and said that he couldn't remember anything from last night, she had at first been furious, even screaming at him in rage, making him get the hell out of there as quickly as possible. After calming herself down as best she could, she tried to think of what she would say to Magneto. He might not see this as a big loss but that didn't mean he would tolerate failures of any kind.

Trying to take her mind off of everything, she sat down at her desk and looked at the papers hoping to see something that would get her attention. She saw that a new student was about to transfer to the school from Germany and she got curious, wondering who this new student was. However, when she saw the transfer student's name, her eyes widened and a gasp escaped her lungs.

The transfer students name was Kurt Wagner.

"Kurt." The woman thought to herself. "He's coming here?" Finding a new problem to think about she went over to the door and locked it before drawing the blinds of the windows. having done that she focused and her whole body transformed, becoming her true self.

Principal Darkholme or, as she preferred to call herself, Mystique, looked down at herself. Her skin had become a light shade of blue and her hair had become red, which was cut down to her shoulders. Her eyes were now yellow with vertical, slitted pupils. She was wearing a sleeveless white dress with a neck high, purple skinsuit under her dress, thigh-high white boots, and white gloves which reached nearly to her shoulders without covering her fingers.

After checking her over she contemplated this turn of events. "Kurt. After all this time..." she said to herself as she sat back down in her chair. "My son, you're finally coming home to... NO!" she interrupted that line of thinking. "He doesn't even know i'm his real mother, and now, he's joined Xavier's group. How will he react when finding out the one who gave birth to him is working with the enemy?"

Mystique felt a wave of depression when she thought of the things she had done over the years. The people she had hurt, the people she had killed. How would Kurt react knowing his mother was a murderer, among other, unscrupulous things? She tried rationalize her actions many times over the years, but she couldn't deny how immoral they were at times. Most of the things she had done were in service of Magneto's 'glorious' cause.

She scoffed as she thought about her employer and, once, her crush. She began working for Erik because she had believed in what he promised, a world where mutants didn't have to worry about being mocked or hated for how they look or what they could do. Sure, Charles had promised the same thing but he had more pacifistic ideals than Erik, which led to their falling out, with her taking Erik's side. She had suffered at the hands of normal humans before and she had no desire to make friends with their kind.

Her life had been full of hardships, but Kurt had been one of the few bright spots in her life. Him and her other child. Looking back at the papers regarding his transfer to Bayville high, Mystique began feeling doubts and fear cloud her thoughts. While she had been fully onboard Magneto's cause in the beginning, recently she started questioning if she had made the right choice.

She was broken out of her thoughts when she felt her phone ringing. Checking the number she immediately realized who was calling.

"Yes?" she said upon answering.

"Did the boy succeed in his mission?" A deep, male voice asked on the other line.

"No. He failed." Mystique answered honestly.

"A pity." the person replied "But not entirely unexpected."

"Indeed." Mystique agreed. "Still, Tolansky may be little more than a thug with powers, but i'm sure he'll still be useful given the right training and motivation."

"Maybe." The the person responded, although Mystique got the impression that he wasn't entirely sure about that. "However, he's just the first of many more that will be joining our cause. And despite his failure, his attempt did send my message to Charles that things are beginning. Soon, our war with humanity will begin." he finished.

"Shall i keep an eye on Xavier's students as well?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"Of course. You always keep an eye on potential enemies, as well as potential recruits."

Before Mystique could say more on what he'd said, he said, "I must go now. Keep me updated and inform me if anything unusual should appear."

"Of course, Erik." She said before he hung up.

As she put away the phone, Mystique looked back at the transfer papers with her son's name on it. Sighing sadly, she began pacing her room and thinking to herself.

"Now that Erik's plan has been set in motion, we'll be recruiting more than ever and no doubt Charles will be doing the same." She thought in contemplation. "Mutants won't be able to remain in hiding much longer. Once our existence is made public, there will be war. But then, what side will i be on?"

At this thought, she shook her head. "I made my choice long ago. I'll be on Erik's side in the coming war. But, if so, will i have to face my son?"

She stoped her pacing and took a deep breath in horror. It was obvious that Charles would oppose Erik's goals, that's how it had always been. And now that her son would be coming here, no doubt he would be staying at Xavier's school and more than likely, take his side in the coming conflict. In short, they would be on opposite sides. But could she really go against her son?

As she pondered this dilemma, she clenched her fists and hardened her face before coming to a decision.

"No." She thought in determination. "I won't go against my son. No matter on which side he or i end up on, i'll support him all the way. I wasn't there for him as a child but i can be there for him now, even if he'll never know it's me. I will protect him, even from you Erik."

Having made her decision, she transformed back into her Principal Darkholme form before opening the blinds and looking out on the school grounds, wondering what challenges the future would bring, and how her and her son's life would be affected by it.

And that's a wrap. As you can probably guess from that last bit, Mystique is going to be a bit more sympathetic in this story compared to other versions of the character. I don't know why but i've always had a soft spot for mystique, especially when i was watching through X-men: Evolution.

Anyway, frankly i don't know when i'll be finished with the next chapter. I've been so busy with my life this past year that i haven't been feeling as motivated to write. I was a lot more excited to write here back when i first started my account but lately that excitement has died down a little. Oh, don't worry i still intend to keep writing, i haven't given up on that, just don't expect to have this story updated as often as you would like.

Well that's all for now, until next time my friends. Excelsior!