Evolutionary Changes

X-Mansion

“Who ate mah toast?”

The day started out fairly typical, with the mansion’s residents scurrying into the kitchen for some breakfast before they had to leave for school. With multiple hungry mouths to feed, sometimes toes were stepped on when it came to food.

“Who ate mah toast!”

For example, certain comestibles were considered sacred to certain parties, and when one’s rations were purloined, pandemonium was sure to follow…

“For the final time, Ah’ll ask again or the elf gets it,” Rogue growled, snatching Kurt by his shirt collar to hold a spatula against his neck. “Which one of you no-good, thievin’ hoodlums stole mah buttered toast?”

“Like, who even eats toast for breakfast?” Kitty asked. “Blegh. Carbs.”

“Vally girl’s clear,” Rogue decided, pointing her plastic weapon at the next target. “Red?”

“Don’t look at me,” Jean held up her hands. “I am perfectly content with my eggs, thank you.”

“Points for honesty,” Rogue nodded. “Cyke. Was it you? Be warned, your answer may be your undoing.”

“Whoa!” Scott backed away, grabbing a ladle to defend himself with. “You’re accusing me? After all we’ve been through?”

“Ah’m not accusing you of anythin’, all Ah asked was if you stole mah toast,” she said. “So, either prove your innocence or admit to your blasphemous act and prepare to catch these hands.”

“En garde!”

“Before you two begin dueling with cutlery, I will personally attest to Scott’s innocence, darling,” Charles smirked behind his teacup. “Though I can’t say the same for your hostage.”

Kurt squeaked in denial, all eyes falling on the blue fuzzball while Rogue’s eyes narrowed in betrayal, “You—”

“W-wait no! It wasn’t me!” Kurt cried, waving his hands frantically. “Professor tell her!”

“Scoundrel!”

Yelping, Kurt ‘bamfed’ across the room to hide behind Storm, “Lies!”

“Traitor!”

“I’m innocent!”

“Or is that simply what you want us to believe?” Charles asked slyly, raising his brow. “I say; to the Gallows with him.”

“Professor!” Kurt yelped, continuing to cower behind the weather goddess. “Wait wait wai—Ahhh!”

The next minute or so was utter chaos. Silverware went flying. Oranges were used as cannonballs. The room became divided as the Pirates fought the Royal Navy, with Scott falling valiantly in battle after catching a serving spoon to the face. Blood was not spilled, but the cranberry juice was and frankly that was close enough. Kitty and Evan were locked in a swordfight with rolling pins. Kurt was taken as a prisoner of war and fed to a crocodile.

It was glorious.

“White flag! White flag! I got - jam! – right in my open eye!” Kitty squealed, rushing towards the sink. “Oh, that is so gross!”

“My darlings, you may want to belay your feud for the time being as it is getting late,” Charles stated, tapping his watch with a smile. “Off to school with you all. We can continue dueling at a later date.”

“Oh crap,” Scott groaned, checking the clock. “Come on, ship’s leaving!”

“But mah toast!” Rogue bemoaned as she made grabby hands towards the toaster. “Mutiny!”

“No time, grab a banana,” he snarked, pushing her towards the door with the others trailing after them, slipping their bags onto their shoulders as they rushed out.  

“You just had to get ‘em goin,” Logan muttered behind his coffee mug, glaring over at Charles half-heartedly.

“They do make for wonderful entertainment, don’t they?” the telepath replied cheekily. “Ororo, would you mind putting the kettle back on, dear? I could do with another spot of tea.”

As Storm was preparing the stove, Charles gazed out the window momentarily with a blank stare, followed by a mildly confused look. There was a presence nearby, one he knew well, along with another that was very familiar.

Interesting.

From across the table, Logan cocked an eyebrow and tilted his head at the Professor’s strange look.

“Somethin’ wrong?” he asked, setting his coffee down. “You’ve got that look. Please don’t tell me we’ve got trouble, it’s not even 8 o’clock in the mornin’.”

“No, nothing wrong per say,” Charles claimed softly, cocking his own head slightly as if he were listening to something nearby. “But I believe we may be getting another new student at Bayville High.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Call it a hunch,” the Professor said with a twitch of his lips. “I can’t reveal all my secrets, Logan. I wouldn’t be a man of mystery then.”

Snorting, the feral finished off his coffee before heading to the pot to refill it, “Only mystery ‘round here is whether Elf makes it out alive for stealin’ Stripes’ food. And y’all call me a rabid wolverine…”

“Oh, fret not,” Charles waved him off. “I only said that to further the impromptu Naval Battle.”

“Why?”

“Because I ate her toast and I needed a patsy.”

Bayville High School

Outside the Principal’s office, Lance, Fred and Toad sat around waiting for Mystique to call them inside for their weekly meeting. It was boring, but if it got them out of class then who cared? They still had almost fifteen minutes before Homeroom began, but maybe they could ditch.

Who was gonna rat them out?

“I’m starving!” Fred moaned, gripping his stomach while he leaned against the wall. “Why’d you have to eat all the cereal, man!”

“For the last time; I didn’t,” Lance argued. “I don’t even like fruit loops!”

“We just had breakfast here, yo, how you still hungry?” Toad wondered aloud, perched up on a chair.

“I’m always hungry!” the giant mutant complained, crossing his arms.

“Here, man,” Lance rolled his eyes, tossing the big teen a handful of dollar bills. “Go get somethin’ from the vending machine before you give me a headache…jeez.”

Snatching the cash, Fred lumbered off towards the hallway in search of something to quell his hunger. No machine was safe.

“Think he’ll kill me if he found out I finished the fruit loops?” Toad asked, smiling nervously up at the rock slider.

“Oh, for fucks s—” Lance groaned against his palm. 

Inside the Principal’s office, another showdown of sorts was occurring at the exact same moment...

“I’m honored that you’ve come,” Mystique’s voice lulled like a spider’s web. “It’s always a pleasure.”

“I’m not here for your little student body meeting,” Magneto replied stiffly, standing in the center of the room like a pillar with his arms crossed. “We have important matters to discuss, and I am here to see to a personal matter.”

“Is that so?” she asked, leaning forward in her seat. “The new mutant, I presume?”

“Correct.”

“I must say, I’m intrigued to finally meet the boy you spoke of. Everything has—"

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew by her and she whipped around, wondering for a moment if the window had been left open. Seeing nothing, she turned back only to jump in her chair at the sight of a young, white-haired teen standing in the middle of her office!

“Boo,” the boy deadpanned, holding back a grin.

“Wha--?” she stammered, looking from the windows to the door that – as far as she knew – had never opened. “How did—how did you get in here?”

Magneto’s lips twitched as he looked over at the newcomer, “Right on time.”

“Me? Late? Never,” the boy said blandly, walking over to stand next the magnekinetic mutant.

“Care to introduce yourself?” Mystique asked, standing up to join them as her eyes raked over the new mutant. There was something oddly familiar about him.

“Meet Pietro Maximoff,” Magneto introduced, holding his caped arm out towards the teen. “You may call him Quicksilver.”

So that’s how he got inside.

“Ohh, so this is the young speed demon I’ve heard so much about. I didn’t realize we were expecting you today,” she said, reaching out to shake the boy’s hand. She’s been told of Pietro’s fascinating mutation, interested in seeing the boy in action. It wasn’t every day she had use of a speedster. “You may call me Mystique. But here, I’ll be your Principal Ms. Darkhölme.”

Pietro wasn’t impressed, but he accepted the handshake under his old man’s watchful eye. He was still sour about being moved out to Bayville, but he was holding out hope that he wouldn’t be too bored with his new surroundings.

To start, he’d see what chaos he could stir up in this new school.

“Pietro will be moving in with the others by the end of the day,” Erik continued. “I’ve arranged for his belongings to be delivered by five o’clock tonight. I assume you’ve done as requested, Mystique.”

“Yes, everything is ready,” she replied, knowing he was referring to her planning for Quicksilver’s arrival. She wasn’t expecting them so soon but she had made sure to be prepared for anything. When Magneto had first commanded her to be ready to enroll another new student, she’d done so with the information he’d given her and readied another bedroom at the house for the newcomer.

“Roommates…fantastic,” Pietro grumbled under his breath. “Let me guess, the three goons outside in the lobby?”

“Avalanche, Toad and Blob,” Mystique said. “They’ll be your new teammates and – as you put it – your new roommates.”

“And their realnames would be?” Pietro retorted, raising his brow while looking upwards at Magneto, acting as though Mystique was not even in the room. “Or is this a ‘Codenames Only’ club.”

This child was already getting on her nerves and it hadn’t even been five minutes…

“Todd Tolansky. Lance Alvers. Fred Dukes,” she said while enunciating each name through pursed lips. “I’m sure you’ll get along splendidly with them.”

The speedster turned his steely blue eyes back towards her with a frown marring his lips. “Don’t count on it.”

Why did Magneto want this brat in their ranks again?

Through their strange stare down, Mystique tried to figure out why she found the young man’s appearance so irritatingly familiar. His wintery hair was definitely odd, making her question whether or not it was dyed or natural, but it did pair well with those blue eyes of his. His studded earrings and flashy clothing pointed towards a rather ostentatious lifestyle, by her standards anyway. Whatever it was that drove her boss to seek out the young man she did not know, but she hoped Mr. Maximoff’s talents were worth the trouble.

She already knew she wasn’t going to enjoy housing the boy.

“Pietro is unaccustomed to sharing living space,” Magneto said mildly. “This will be a fairly new experience for him.”

“I’m right here, you know?” Pietro grumbled, looking up at his old man with a subtle pout. He really hated it when his dad spoke for him, especially when he was standing right next to him. It wasn’t like he was a baby anymore!

“You have everything you need?” Erik asked, eyeing the bag Pietro had laying at his feet.

“Lunch money,” Pietro smirked, holding up his palm with an air of sarcasm.

“That will be handled.”

Mystique watched their interaction silently, still questioning the familiarity between the two. Somehow they knew one another, that much she was certain of, but why had she never met the young speedster before now? Surely Magneto could see the benefits of having someone as fast as the boy around, so why had he waited until now to bring the brat on?

Something wasn’t quite adding up.

“This will be your class schedule,” she said, handing over a sheet of paper with a detailed time stamp of each class and their room number. “As I’m sure you’ve already explored the school grounds, I believe you can find each classroom on your own, Mr. Maximoff?”

Pietro leveled her with another unimpressed look, snatching the paper from her faster than her eyes could follow while smirking at her mild jump, wordlessly handing it over to his father when he silently held his hand out for it.

“You’ve put him in only two AP classes?” Magneto asked, raising a brow at the shape-shifter.

“Those two were the only ones with spots available that could work with the rest of his required classes. His previous school has more available classes than we do here so not all of his credits were transferable,” Mystique explained, though internally she was wondering why that would even matter to the man. “Pietro is only a Sophomore and therefore must complete the required academic classes for his grade. Seniors and Juniors have first pick of all AP courses here. I did speak with the coach about registering him on the basketball team and that has already been approved as well.”

Pietro, who was still standing there bored out of his skull, listened half-heartedly and wondered how many sport’s teams he could be on without raising too many flags.

Playing ping-pong with himself to pass the time was getting really old…

“Your first class will be Homeroom in 102, but I’d like you to stay and meet the others before class begins,” Mystique said, turning her narrowed gaze towards the speedster. “Would you mind waiting outside while I finish speaking to our benevolent benefactor?”

Rolling his eyes, Pietro took his new class schedule and folded it up to put in his pocket. He had a sneaking suspicion that this crazy chick didn’t even know who he actually was - which could be really fun to exploit later – and turned to look at his old man, raising a perfectly shaped brow as if to say, ‘Do I have to?’

“It would do you good to make new friends, Pietro,” Magneto advised, leveling his son with an patient look.

The speedster had to refrain from snapping that he did have friends, back in New York City, before he’d been unceremoniously dumped in Bayville to start over! He knew exactly what his old man actually wanted to say.

It would do you good to make new mutant friends.

Typical, same shit – different day.

“Whatever,” he groaned, feeling itchy having to stand there for so long as he shivered slightly, reaching down to snatch his bag off the floor. Maybe he could run over to that fast-food joint across town and grab a dozen breakfast sandwiches. He could eat and run, no problem.

‘Wouldn’t be the first time’ he thought, chuckling under his breath. Sausage and cheese sounded amazing!

“Pietro,” Magneto stopped him, barely turning his head to address him. “Mind the mischief today.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.” Rolling his eyes with an annoyed huff, the speedster threw his bag over his shoulder and pulled the office door open. “Can I go now?”

The second the door shut, Mystique pursed her lips at the boy’s attitude, wondering what made him so special that Magneto would allow a child to speak so irreverently towards him. It would be very handy to have a mutant with superspeed at their side, but she wasn’t thrilled about having another rowdy teen under her roof.

“He’s got quite the charming personality,” she said, sitting back down at her desk.

“Young Pietro believes he needs no one. His recent escapades are a consequence of discomposure, given his - for lack of a better word - fidgetiness. Committing petty theft and causing chaos have been a constant source of amusement for him lately, a habit I intend to cease by supplying him with other tasks I’m sure will keep him busy,” Magneto extenuated, crossing his arms. “His rivalry with Strom’s nephew has become debilitating, as his recent devilry pushed the Daniels boy into Xavier’s corner, albeit unwillingly, not that I expected otherwise.”

“Another criminal? How wonderful,” she derided. “And you don’t believe Xavier will try and snatch this one up too? I’m certain the old fool would jump at the opportunity to have a young, impressionable speedster on their team.”

“Charles and his X-Men already know about Pietro. You needn’t concern yourself with them,” Erik’s expression never once faltered, but his eyes filled with a smidgen of mischief all his own. “My old friend knows better than to try and influence my son.”

…Oh.

As though hit with a mind-shattering realization, Mystique suddenly understood why she found Pietro’s appearance so achingly familiar.

The boy looked identical to his Father.

“Y-Your---” she stumbled, apprehension surging through her gut as the prospects of what she was being tasked with set in. The young speedster was not simply another acolyte for their ranks. She knew that the Master of Magnetism had twin children, of course, but she had no idea that Pietro was one of them!

The boy may very well be either her salvation…or her undoing.

“Yes,” Erik continued, unfazed by the shape-shifter’s stunned expression while he carried on as if talking about the weather. “I’m surprised you could not see the resemblance before. The boy inherited most of his appearance from me, though his sister took on more of their biological mother’s genetics.”

His explanation had Mystique contemplating the subtle details her superior had just revealed. She had only heard minor tales of the fabled twins. Until recently, she’d wondered if either child had received the X-Gene at all, considering how secretive Magneto was about them. All she had known for certain was that they had been born roughly around the same time as she had birthed her own son.

Fraternal twins, interesting.

‘Perhaps the sister will be joining us too’ she thought with a smirk. If the girl’s mutation was as grandiose as Pietro’s, they would be indomitable. Just imagining the things they could accomplish using Pietro’s powers had her itching to plan the boy’s first mission.

With the boy doing her bidding, she could finally get a look inside Xavier’s fortress.

“Pietro’s speed has only continued to increase with his age,” Erik noted, as though reading her thoughts. “I have no doubt he will aspire to become a force all his own. His aptitude and strive to supersede his adversaries give him an unparalleled advantage.”

“I’m sure the boy will grow to be just as formidable as his Father,” she said airily. “Should we expect to see Pietro’s sister soon as well? If her powers are as worthy as your son’s, surely we could use them to our advantage.”

In a split second, it was as though the temperature in the room plummeted and Erik instantly reverted back into Magneto, staring down his subordinate with a chilly gaze.

“My daughter is of no concern to you, Mystique, nor anyone else,” he growled, causing all the metal in the room to vibrate. “Remember your place. The Master of Magnetism answers to no one.”

Sensing the vast overstep she’d taken, the shape-shifter recoiled in her chair and nodded stiffly. She was not stupid enough to question her leader or his choices. His tone alone told her more than his words had anyway.

Never bring up the twin sister.

“Apologies,” she croaked weakly, swallowing down her fear. “Was there anything else you wished to discuss?”

Reaching into his cape, Erik pulled out an envelope and set it on the desk. Inside was a check tied to an account he kept solely for the purpose of caring for his twins. Anything they had ever needed was taken care of through that account, as he’d taken every precaution to make sure it could never be tied to him personally.

He’d made many enemies over the years, including multiple Governments.

“What’s this?” Mystique asked, picking up the check. Her eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets when she read over the amount.

Were they getting a new house? New equipment? A new plane—?

“That is strictly to allocate Pietro’s diet,” he explained, breaking through her wild thoughts about the money she held. “His caloric intake is nearly five times that of the average person. Give him whatever he wishes. The energy he burns through his mutation affects his metabolism. I do not want him bringing about unwanted attention under the duress of attempting to quell his never-ending appetite.”

Still gaping at the amount their leader was willing to spend on the boy, she merely nodded stiffly and stuffed the check into her drawer to deposit into an account later, “O-of course.”

“Then I will leave him in your hands, for now,” he decreed. “But know this; I will be watching, Mystique.”

“I swear to you, I will protect the boy—” she tried to assure him.

“What I expect from you is to safeguard my son and socialize him with your young followers,” he cut off, halting her quivering with a hardened look. “Pietro is far more powerful than you can imagine of a young man his age. He would resent the very idea of anyone attempting to shield him as though he were helpless.”

Honestly, Mystique was not entirely certain if Magneto’s assertions were derived from his son’s accomplishments or if he simply believed his child was invincible based on his genetics. Either way, she was not going to argue. The last thing she needed was to test her leader’s boundaries.

Even after so many years under service, she still feared the man’s wrath…for good reason.

“As you say,” she complied.

Walking over to the window, Erik paused as he lifted his hand to wave the latch open. He tilted his helmed head to the side to regard his lackey with an austere stare.

“I don’t believe I need to remind you what should occur if anything should happen to my son, Mystique,” he rumbled, knowing there was no reason to explain himself further. His word was law, and he expected it to be followed to the furthest degree. He was far too close to his goal to tolerate any mishaps.

Besides that, if there was one driving force on Earth that could push the all-powerful mutant over the edge, it was the welfare of his children.

“Yes Sir,” Mystique breathed, keeping her gaze down.

“Then we are in agreement,” he determined stoically. “Pietro will remain here under your watchful eye until I come for him. Do not let me down.”

X-Mansion

In his study, Charles was relaxing in his chair with a book when he felt a disturbance shift in the air, catching his attention away from his book long enough for him to cock his head towards the locked French doors of his balcony.

“You know, we do have a front door. Even has a doorbell,” he said goaded mildly, thumbing his page to slide his bookmark between the pages. Unexpected company or not, he was not missing a single bit of his novel.

Rogue was correct, this series is wonderfully racy.

The lock on the doors flicked open and the glass panes opened, sending the shear curtains billowing against the early afternoon breeze rolling in. A shadow appeared silently with the wind, a familiar gleaming helm reflecting the sunshine. It had been some time since they’d crossed paths, but Charles could recognize his old friend even if he were blind and deaf.

‘Even with that bloody anti-me helmet’ the telepath thought snidely, watching the shadow slowly grow until twin boots noiselessly met the concrete patio. That thick, dark cape moving just as soundlessly as the tall mutant entered the study.

“Xavier,” Magneto nodded, ever cordial when greeting his old confidante.

“Last name basis today, are we?” Charles smirked, keeping his outward emotions hidden behind a calm façade. “I suppose it’s better than Professor. How are you, old friend?”

Erik gave no sign of any emotion other than his stoic disposition, but Charles had learned decades ago that his old companion had learned to shield his emotions from the world long before they had ever crossed paths. Over the last decade alone, the Professor could only see small glimpses of the man he once knew.

The being before him, this iron-willed despot who believed himself superior to both human and mutant alike, was truly a far cry from the man he once called his best friend…

“I did not come here for a social visit, Professor,” Erik answered with a subtle jab, intentionally mocking the telepath’s previous statement for his own amusement. “I’m sure, by now, you are aware of the reason for my presence in Bayville.”

“Yes, I felt you both this morning,” Charles acknowledged. “Though I must say, I am concerned as to why you have moved Pietro here. Could it be because of his, shall we say, imprudent behavior?”

“You needn’t mock me,” Erik said, refusing to take the bait. “I am well aware of Pietro’s recent capers, but that is only half of my ratiocinate motive. Besides, you know as well as I do how tireless the boy can be.”

“Stubborn, reckless, intransigent. Just like his Father,” Charles concluded, satire dripping from his tone while he leveled his old friend with a bland stare.

Erik remained impassive, still refusing to rise to the Professor’s ridicule of his own imperfections. He was fully aware of the irony that his child was becoming a vivid reflection of himself in more ways than one.

“Attributes I would rather he grow out of,” the metal bender countered. Contrary to what others may think, he had never wished for his children to become a facsimile of himself or his character.

He was a Father, not a role model.

“You wished for him to be raised outside of these walls, my friend, and without your constant presence it was only natural for him to rebel,” Charles stated. “My offer has never wavered, regardless of our personal disaccord, but you chose to leave him in the care of his foster mother--”

“A decision I made for good reason, Xavier,” Erik interjected, his tone shifting subtly. “I refused to allow Pietro to be raised here under your guidance, being spoon-fed fallacious ideals of homosapiens and homosuperior harmoniously co-existing, when history has shown us countless examples of how Janus-faced humans truly are. And still, you question why I detest the idea of rearing my children under the guise of such nonsense.”

It was an old argument, one that would likely never reach an end. Their respective beliefs had driven a wedge between them long ago, ultimately leading them to go their separate ways with Xavier creating the institute and Erik abandoning him to further his crusade under cloak-and-dagger.

Things were so much simpler when Erik was just a Nazi hunter and Charles was just a young, aspiring college student who wished to change the world…

“Nonetheless,” Charles soothed, maintain his composure. “My offer will always stand.”

“Sentiment?” Magneto queried with a touch of derision tainting his voice. “It will be your downfall, old friend…”

“I like to think of it as one of my defining characteristics.”

“Then you truly have become foolish in your old age.”

“Old?” Charles balked. “Do remind me, which of us meets the requirements to be called a senior citizen!”

A small smirk flashed across the magnetic wielder’s lips, a memory of their old comradery flaring to life. Back then, their altering personalities merged together to form a masterful partnership, one that was built on corresponding aspirations for the advancement of their species, which then bloomed into a deep bond of friendship. They would spend hours mulling over a chessboard bouncing ideas off one another, comparing methods and strategy, building a future together in their minds.

Erik longed for a future where mutants would never be forced to hide in the shadows. Where they could live without bigotry or hatred forced upon them. A world where racism and persecution did not exist…but knew such a world was a mere fantasy. Something that could only be obtained through means of ironic oppression against humanity, to show them that mutants would never fall beneath their boots.

Charles had been the opposing view. He wished for a future where mutants and humans could live together peacefully, without an invisible bar to compare the two. He had never approved of securing their future through means of violence or conflict, whereas Erik refused to stand by with only aspirations of hope guiding his hand.

Ultimately, they had always wanted the same thing.

Bookends of the same soul…

“How do your children fare,” Erik asked amicably. “I assume Storm’s nephew, young Daniels, is settling in with your other students.”

Charles pursed his lips slightly while folding his hands together, “I will admit, I am not entirely pleased with the circumstances that lead Evan here, but the alternative would have been a less than desirable outcome. The boy is young, but I have faith that with Storm’s guidance and his fellow teammates at his side, Evan will learn restraint. For now, that is all I wish for the child.”

“His mutation is certainly unchancy.”

“As are most all of my students’ gifts,” the Professor claimed. “Unchancy would be an understatement when one carries destructive beams behind the eyes or has the ability to kill anything one touches. Let’s not forget the consequences of what it means to be a budding telepath. They all have hurdles which they must cross on their own.”

Erik was quiet for a moment, turning his gaze towards Xavier’s bookshelf where a multitude of photos sat. His eyes locked onto a frame that held a picture of the whole institute, with one face standing out at him where she rested behind Xavier’s chair. “And how is Rogue? It has been some time since I’ve spoken to her.”

The careful wording did not go unnoticed by Charles and he found himself growing mildly frustrated by the fact that he could not delve into Erik’s mind. Ever since Rogue had joined them, for whatever reason, Erik had taken a personal interest in her. He’d often ask about her whenever he and Charles spoke, questioning her progress, inquiring about her more than any other student. It could have been because Erik viewed Rogue as the adult she truly was, knowing of her real age instead of the façade she wore in the public eye, but either way it had always left the Professor discombobulated.

“She is well,” he conceded. “All of the students are, I might add. They’re advancing at a remarkable rate.”

“I would expect nothing less from mentees under your tutelage,” Magneto nodded. “Though I have not always agreed with your methods of training, I will say your students have improved at a faster pace than I expected of them.”

“Did you come here to trade quips or is there a purpose to your presence?” Charles deadpanned, leaning against his palm.

“As I said before, I did not come here for a social visit.”

“Then shall we skip the tea and buiscits and get to the point? Because I have other things I’d like to get back to. Exhibit A,” the telepath snorted, holding up his book. “My favorite characters are about to consummate their love affair and as Rogue would say; I’m invested in it.”

“Still dulling your brain with those romance novels?” Erik tisked. “I weep for your heart.”

“You’ll be weeping if you don’t let me get back to my vicarious reverie. So, either talk to me or remove that bloody helmet and allow me a peek for myself.”

“Nice try, Professor,” Magneto smirked. “Besides seeing Pietro off at the school, I wanted to come speak to you about an enterprise I have had in the making. A sanctuary, if you will. One that I shall govern without fail to protect our mutant brothers and sisters, those who are worthy.”

“Worthy?” Charles questioned, a wave of uncertainty rushing over him at the odd choice of words. “When have mutants ever been considered unworthy to you?”

“There are those who do not belong with us, Xavier,” the metal bender argued. “Even if they possess the X-Gene. Our species may be superior to humans, but even we have wolves among our flock.”

“And we handle those who would do harm just as we handle any who break the law, Erik. What are you getting at? If you force people to prove themselves before allowing them entry then your definition of sanctuary is flawed, my friend. What you are describing is a coterie, not a refuge.”

“Your opinion of my choice in definition aside, I came to offer you fair warning.”

“Erik—”

Their talk was suddenly interrupted by the door of the office bursting open followed by a furious roar. Standing there in all his black and orange glory was a vicious Wolverine who looked ready to tear the Master of Magnetism to shreds.

“Lehnsherr,” Logan growled, releasing his claws instinctively.

“Wolverine,” Erik replied blandly.

“What the Hell are you doin’ here?” he snarled.

“That is none of your concern.”

“The fuck it isn’t!”

“Temper, temper,” Erik chided, lifting his hand to levitate Logan off the ground, sending him whirling towards the glass doors. “This is a private conversation. Begone.”

“Erik!” Charles scolded roughly, wincing as Logan’s body went hurtling right through the glass doors with an ear-splitting shatter. Sighing heavily, he gave the metal bender a criticizing glower. “I’m billing you for that…”

“I’ll send you a check,” Erik snarked. “It seems our meeting has come to an end, old friend. I’ll leave you to your imaginative dalliances.”

“Erik,” Charles halted him, rolling forward. “Please…talk to me.”

“The time for talking has passed, Charles. Even after all these years, you still always want to talk, and I can still feel you…up here,” he murmured, tapping the side of his helm. “What is it you are so desperate to find?”

The Professor gazed up at the other mutant despondently, “What I’ve always searched for, old friend; hope.”

“And I shall bring you hope,” Erik swore, continuing towards the broken patio doors. “Until then, Professor, stay out of my way.”

Lifting his hands to his sides, the magnekinetic mutant floated off the concrete balcony and into the air just in time to avoid Wolverine’s grasp, as the feral vaulted himself over the railing from the grassy lawn. Logan’s angry snarl echoing through the study while he stormed inside, claws now sheathed, refraining from stepping on any of the shattered glass.

“Prick,” he muttered, baring his canines at Magneto’s fading silhouette.

Charles sighed heavily and shook his head, “What am I going to do with him.”

“Lock ‘em up where he belongs,” the feral rumbled. “Save us the trouble. What’d he want anyway? Not like him to just drop in like that.”

“I’m not entirely sure,” the Professor admitted, sitting back in his chair. Their conversation had been rather short thanks to Logan’s untimely entrance, but something about Erik’s spiel regarding this mutant sanctuary of his had the telepath on edge.

Something was amiss, and when it involved Erik Lehnsherr, nothing was ever easy.

“Whatever it is, it can’t be good,” Logan said, crossing his arms.

“I’m afraid, in this instance, you may be right, my friend.”

Bayville High School

“What the Hell is that jerk even doing here?” Evan growled for the hundredth time that day, catching sight of white silvery hair accompanied by their rival mutants. It was lunch break and every single one of the X-students had been forced to listen to the Porcupine rant about the arrival of Pietro Maximoff to Bayville High.

It was starting to get tedious…

Rogue sat at their lunch table sipping on a juice cup, leaning her head against her palm while Evan continued to glare daggers at the other mutants. She knew who Pietro truly was, of course, but none of the other students did. She’d kept her mouth shut though, as the details of Pietro’s parentage were not her secret to reveal, and Xavier had already made it very clear that he did not want any of the others to know about Magneto - yet. The day would eventually come when a confrontation was inevitable, but Rogue knew Erik must have moved Pietro to Bayville for a reason, and until they knew why, she’d just sit back and go with the flow.

No point in making waves…unlike some people.

“Doesn’t the Prof know what a sleezeball he is?” Evan went on and on with his furious accusations about Pietro. “Why is he even allowing this!”

“The Professor has no authority to deny any student access to Bayville, Evan,” Jean tried to correct the kid, gently, knowing he was still upset about his recent move to the Institute and the circumstances that brought him there. “Everyone has a right to go to the school.”

“He’s a thief and a petty criminal!” Evan argued, throwing his hands up. “He broke the law and got away with it! How is that fair!?”

Rubbing her temple, Rogue leveled the agitated boy with a bland stare, “Remind meh again how you ended up at the Institute?”

Evan glared at her half-heartedly, crossing his arms and falling back in his seat, “That’s different.”

“No. It ain’t,” she stated. “Ya’ broke the law too, you’re just the only one who got caught. You’re gonna have to learn real quick that the world isn’t fair, Porcupine, especially ours. We fight the bad guys and try to do good, and sometimes the baddies get away with shit. It happens, learn to deal with it. You wanna stay salty and make an enemy outta’ the speed demon? Fine. But don’t go tryin’ to drag everyone else into your private war, kid. Karma always pays her dues, and for all you know she already has with that boy.”

“Tch. I’m pretty sure I know Maximoff better than you, Rogue,” Evan grumbled.

Rather than snap back, Rogue merely rolled her eyes and shrugged, “Believe whatever ya’ want, kid.”

“Can we, like, change the subject please?” Kitty pleaded, sick of listening to Evan complain. “We get it! Maximoff Bad! Daniels Good! Mortal enemies! Moving on!”

“Are you guys going to come to Duncan’s party tonight?” Jean asked Rogue and Scott, taking a bite of her lunch. “I forgot to ask this morning before the whole, you know…battle. Sorry again about the jam, Kitty Kat.”

“That was you!?”

“Go to Duncan Matthews’ party? Eh…I don’t think so,” Scott grimaced.

“Come on, it’ll be fun!” Jean coaxed. “When was the last time we even went to a school party?”

“No offense, but your boyfriend’s a jerk,” he pointed out. “Sorry, not sorry.”

“He’s not so bad,” Kitty interjected on Jean’s behalf, shrugging. “I’ll go!”

“No Freshman allowed, sugah,” Rogue said.

“Never mind,” Kitty deadpanned, turning towards the telepath. “Sorry, Jean. Matthews’ is a total jerk.”

“Scott, it’s one party,” Jean pouted. “One little party.”

“Did someone say party!?” Kurt’s voice cried out in excitement along with the smell of sulfur and smoke popping up between them!

“Kurt!” Scott exclaimed, looking around frantically to make sure no one saw the fuzzy mutant teleport before whispering harshly, “What are you doing! We don’t use our powers here!”

“Lighten up, dude,” Kurt chuckled, taking a seat at the table. “I’m always careful! Now where is this party you were talking about?”

“Forget it, you’re not going.”

“Why not!”

“Half the school will probably be there,” the team leader explained. “If someone got too close to you, that holoprojector won’t stop them from feeling fur instead of skin, and then what?”

“Hey, chicks dig the fuzzy man!” Kurt complained, turning to Rogue. “Right, Rogue?”

“Ya’ still the cutest swashbucklin’ elf in the world, mah doll,” she smirked.

“See!” Kurt nodded, sticking his tongue out at Scott. “You’re worried over nothing, mein Freund.”

“Can you be serious for one second, Kurt?” Scott stressed, feeling his own frustrations rising. “Say we do go to Matthews’ party, what if Dukes or Alvers, or even Maximoff, try to start something? We aren’t the only mutants in the school, remember.”

“Just the cool ones,” Evan said smugly.

“My man!” Kurt grinned, high fiving the other boy.

“What’s wrong with a little socializing?” Jean asked, leaning forward. “We can’t let all of the ‘what if’s’ stop us from having fun, Scott. We used to go out to parties all the time when we were Sophomores, remember? It’ll be fun to let loose for a night.”

“I just don’t think it’s a good idea, okay?” Scott bit out. “If something were to happen then we’d have zero cover.”

“Dude! It’s one party!” Kurt cried petulantly, narrowing his eyes up at their team leader. “If you want to stay home and brood like an old geezer then that’s on you, but don’t ruin the fun for the rest of us! Jean’s right, you need to let loose!”

“I’m not trying to ruin anything, alright!” Scott growled, meeting Kurt’s glare head-on. “I’m trying to be cautious. Something you need to start practicing.”

“Boys—” Rogue tried to step in.

“And you need to lighten up,” Kurt growled right back, baring his fangs.

“Boys.”

“Grow up, Kurt!” Scott snapped. “You’re always goofing around!”

“And you’re seriously cramping my style!” Kurt sneered.

“Guys,” Rogue pressed.

“Your style is going to get us all into trouble one of these days!” Scott yelled angrily. “Now would you just listen--!”

“No! You listen!” Kurt retorted, springing up to crouch on the table to stare down at them. “There’s a sound I want you to hear - and it’s this!”

‘Bampf!’

Waving his hand to clear away the smell of sulfur and smog Kurt left behind, Scott groaned and tried to look around for any sign of the blue mutant, but there was no trace. When Kurt’s feelings were hurt, he tended to disappear to sulk in private.

Thankfully, no one else witnessed the blue boy teleporting.

“I blew that, didn’t I,” Scott muttered, rubbing his forehead.

“Lil’ bit,” Rogue said, holding up her thumb and index finger a smidgen apart.

“Yeah,” Jean nodded with a sigh. “That was a little harsh.”

“No kidding, man,” Evan said, casting Scott a glare of his own. “It’s just a party, what’s the big deal? Kurt’s careful, and he’s got his watch holo-thingy, so why are you raggin’ on him so hard?”

“I’m not trying to be mean, I just—” Scott murmured, breaking off his thoughts as Evan pushed away from the table to stand.

“Whatever, man,” Evan grumbled. “I’m goin’ for a walk…”

The others remaining watched the Porcupine stalk off sullenly. Being the youngest, besides Kitty, they all knew Evan was still struggling with the major life changes he’d been forced into over the past couple of weeks. It had only been a week since he’d officially started at Bayville High School and moved into the Institute. They knew he was not pleased to begin with and Pietro’s sudden arrival had only added fuel to the fire.

‘Course that’s a whole bag a’ cats all its own’ Rogue thought blandly, having spent the last week listening to Evan moan over his so-called rival. Those two were somethin’ else…that was for sure.

Kurt had been the one Evan had bonded with the quickest after moving into the manor, securing a friendship with the furry blue boy almost immediately. It was no surprise that he would take any attack – innocent or otherwise - directed at Kurt personally.

Even if it was ridicule from one of their own.

“And now they’re both pissed at me,” Scott mumbled, watching Evan disappear around the side of the building.

“Ah know you worry about ‘em, but we can’t protect ‘em from everything, sugah. You know that,” Rogue offered softly. “They’re gonna make mistakes sometimes. But tryin’ to shield ‘em from the world won’t help them grow.”

“Alright, Professor, when’d you show up?” he joked, chuckling while knocking his fist against hers. “I hear you. I just wish Kurt would take some stuff seriously, you know? I’m worried he’s going to be seen by…the wrong type of people.”

“Ah do too,” she sighed. “Not just him either.”

“You’re worried about Evan?”

Following the path the young mutant had stormed off in, she sighed, “What was ya’ first clue?”

Near the back of the school, a swift wind picked up to signal the arrival of a certain teen speeding away from the crowded mass of students hovering around outside. No one noticed the white-haired speedster vanish from the crowd, as he planned, and no one was able to follow his trail either.

Pietro leaned against the side of the building, blowing out a raspberry. He was already sick of this place and he’d only been there half a day! For some reason, after being introduced to the other mutants under Mystique’s guardianship, the three boys had trailed after him like lost puppies seeking attention. The tiny one reeked, and kinda freaked him out a little, while the big guy just made him uncomfortable. The only semi-normal one in the group was Lance, but even Pietro had his limits and needed a break from them. It sucked that Mystique had placed him in every class with at least one of the others, including Toad even though he was only a Freshman.

Why did his old man have to bring him there?

‘Oh right, to play his little spy game!’ he thought dully. All he’d been told was that his dad wanted him to keep track of everything Mystique was doing and report it back to him, including any dealings she and the others had with Xavier’s group of mutants. It didn’t take a genius to see that the great Magneto didn’t trust his minions and playing the man’s spy was only slightly entertaining for the speedster.

But that didn’t mean he had to be relocated to Bayville!

And what was worse, his dad seemingly expected him to just make nice with the other mutants under his reign and live together like a giant, happy mutants-only family…blegh!

Gag me with a spoon…

Honestly, he was sick of having his life controlled by others. Mainly his father. After he and Wanda were ripped apart, he remembered moving from place to place for a time before being dumped with his foster mom and then his old man just – left him there. Growing up in NYC was sweet, sure, but no matter what he did or how much he strived to show off his awesomeness, it was never enough. Dad still came around, sure, checking in periodically and giving Pietro minor updates on Wanda, but the man never allowed Pietro to see his twin.

That still pissed him off to no end…

Their separation had been traumatic - that much he could remember vividly - and he recalled how stressed he’d been the first month after Wanda was gone. His dad had struggled as well, he’d give the man that at least, but even so, Wanda was his sister and no matter what Magneto thought was best, keeping them apart was an unfair decision.

Sometimes he seriously wished he could just tell his old man off and disappear to go live his own goddamn life. It wouldn’t be too hard. He could steal to get by, travel the world – more than he already has – see the sights, do the things, eat the food! It was nothing for him to cross oceans, much less bypass boarders, which meant he had the entire world at his fingertips.

He could summer in Europe and spend winters in Australia, move to Cabo, get a pet flamingo---

A muffled noise suddenly caught his attention, followed by an awful smell, breaking through his daydreams of freedom and causing him to look around in confusion. The only thing anywhere close to him was a set of doors leading to one of the school’s basement storage rooms.

Walking towards the doors, he figured he could at least go see what was up – but if it was rat he was so gone – and maybe find something worth swiping, but a second noise from behind him made him pause.

“Maximoff!”

Turning, Pietro raised a brow, “Daniels. Funny seeing you here.”

“What’re you doing here, Pietro?” Evan demanded, storming over to the other teen. “Why are you in Bayville?”

“What can I say? Needed a change o’ scenery!” the speedster snickered, shrugging carelessly. “What’s it to ya’, Daniels. Still salty about our last encounter? Word of advice; always have an escape route in place!”

“Escape—Dude, if I’d known the cops were gonna show up I never would have been there!” Evan argued, throwing his hands out angrily. “How did you even get out?”

“Can’t reveal all my secrets! I’m a man of mystery, a regular James Bond 007. A modern-day Houdini--”

“You ran passed them all, didn’t you.”

“Of course I did, idiot,” Pietro threw his hands up. “It’s kinda my thing!”

“Then why didn’t you take me with you!?”

“I had my hands full,” he deadpanned.

“You mother—"

“Mind your blood pressure,” Pietro snickered, turning back towards the stairs with interest. “You bored? I’m totally bored. Hey, come down here with me! I heard something down here a minute ago!”

“Heard something?” Evan said with skepticism.

“Yeah! Now come on, let’s go see what’s down here!” the speedster urged, waving his hand for Evan to follow him down the steps, practically bouncing on his feet. “What’s the worst that can happen?”

Evan hesitated while watching Pietro hurry down the steps. He knew they probably shouldn’t, but he couldn’t deny his own curiosity. They still had some time before the next bell, right?

“Fine,” he muttered. “But if we get into trouble, I’m blaming you.”

“I’d expect nothing less, honeybun,” Pietro winked.

The two pushed the doors open and saw a bunch of boxes stacked against the walls of the small room. A pile looked to have been pushed over or crushed, fresh dust still filling the stale air.

“What is all this stuff?” Evan wondered aloud, opening a flap of one box to look inside. It appeared to be nothing more than spare books and miscellaneous items. It was probably nothing more than a storage room for the school’s spare junk.

“Boring, that’s what,” Pietro groused as he opened each box in less than a second, rifling through the contents. “It’s nothing but books and papers and Prom crap! Spoiler alert, this year’s theme is gonna be pink. How dull. There’s nothing down here worth anything!”

“Are you seriously looking for stuff to steal?” Evan sneered while glaring at his rival.

“You call it stealing, I call it pilfering,” Pietro smirked. However, in the next moment, his eyes narrowed into slits as he turned towards the other set of doors within the room. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“Beeping.”

Before either of them could move, a violent blast shook the whole room and the other set of doors burst open in a cloud of smoking debris! They dove out of the way as something went flying past them only to land on a large stack of boxes.

Evan’s eyes went huge and he waved the smoke out of his face, looking over to see Nightcrawler in all his blue glory laying in a heap, upside down, in a collapsed stack of half-empty boxes.

“Kurt!?” he cried, rushing over to his friend. “What the heck happened, man?”

“Lab—go boom—” Kurt groaned painfully, falling back against the cardboard.

“Lab? What lab? Like computer lab or like a Frankenstein lab?” Pietro grinned with excitement, rushing into the room to look around for any goodies, but all that remained were decimated computer screens and smoking equipment. “Awww, man! Lame!”

“Dude don’t touch anything! We don’t know if anything else is booby-trapped,” Evan fretted, rushing in after the reckless speedster.

“What’s the big deal? Look at this stuff! It’s all junk anyway,” Pietro waved off Evan’s concern blithely. “Whatever this place was it’s been empty for years, look at the dust! I’d fire the custodian.”

“I still don’t like it, man,” Evan muttered, eyeing the weird room cautiously. Why was there a lab like this beneath the school anyway?

“Me neither,” Kurt said as he walked back into the room, rubbing his aching head with a wince. “Forgive the pun, but – let’s blow this joint, ja?”

From outside, the three boys could hear muffled voices and footsteps coming from the direction of the field, the familiar voice of Toad ringing out godawfully loud.

“Yo! Petey! Where you at, yo!”

Pietro rolled his eyes and fought back the urge to curse. He was so sick of those would-be groupies stalking him. What did he have to do to get a moment of peace around here?

“Petey?” Evan snickered with derision, loving the unamused look on the speedster’s face. “That’s rich.”

“Suck a cock!” Pietro exclaimed sarcastically. He didn’t have to explain himself to anyone, especially Daniels. And it wasn’t his fault those weirdos turned his title into a stereotypical nickname!

Turning away, he glanced around the room once again before his eyes landed on a strange looking device sitting atop one of the computer towers. It looked like a globe with handles on it, covered in buttons and weird tech.

“What’s this?” he asked skeptically, racing over to snatch the device up, twisting it this way and that curiously. “Looks old.”

“Don’t touch that!” Evan yelped, jumping over to try and rip it away from Pietro’s hands.

“It’s mine!”

“You don’t even know what it is!”

“I saw it first!”

“Hand it over!”

“Gimmie!”

Their tug-of-war ended with Kurt teleporting between them and shoving them apart, causing the strange device to go flying. The three looked over at it when it began emitting a strange sound, followed by the nose piece -- lighting up?

“What the--!”

A bright, neon orb of light burst from the machine in a flash of blinding light, encasing all three boys in its orb. The last thing any of them saw before everything went white was the device powering down.

In a split second, all three mutants were gone…

“Yo, Pete! Petey! Where’d you go, man!” Toad called out, looking around the grounds for any sign of the white-haired teen. “Come on, dude! Yo, Pietro!”

Following the sounds he’d been listening to as he rounded the school, he walked down the steps into a room he’d never been in before, casting his eyes around for any sign of his new teammate. He and the others were thinking about skipping next period and had been looking for the speedster ever since.

He could have sworn he’d heard Pietro’s voice down here.

“Pete! Yo, you down here!” he cried, stepping over the mess littering the floor. What was this place anyway? It looked like a freakin’ bomb had gone off!

“Man, where the heck is he aa-AHHH!” Tripping over something under his feet, Toad landed face-first on the dirty floor with a muffled groan. Looking back to see what had tripped him, he noticed a machine laying on the ground that he couldn’t recognize. It had handles, lots of buttons and some type of glowy light.

“What’s this thing?” he muttered to himself, reaching over to pick the gadget up. Holding it in his hands, he read over the buttons before shrugging and pushed one at random. When the machine lit up with a whir, he yelped as a beam of light shot out of it and encased one of the busted computers in a bright orb! In the next second, the computer and the orb vanished in a flash of light.

Blinking, Toad slowly grinned and looked down at his new toy.

“Oh-ho, yes!”

“—fuck?” Pietro finished, whipping his head around quickly to see that they were obviously no longer in the destroyed laboratory. “Where are we!?”

“Wha—how’d we get inside the school?” Evan cried, seemingly just as freaked out as his rival was.

“And why does everything look strange?” Kurt added with a slight tremor in his voice. “It is like we are inside the Twilight Zone?”

“You guys are seeing this right?” Evan whispered, pointing to the apparition-like figures appearing all around them, some familiar.

“Ahh! Ghosts!” Kurt screeched, stumbling away from the randomly appearing bodies to hide behind Evan. “Are we dead? Did we die!?”

“Those aren’t ghosts, man, look!”

The sudden appearance of Kitty and Jean walking down the hallway towards them had them rushing over, trying to get the two girls to see them.

“Kitty? Kitty, look! We’re here!” Kurt cried, waving his hands in front of the younger mutant.

“Scott’s gotta, like, totally lighten up,” Kitty sighed, grabbing her Chemistry book from her locker while Jean leaned against the one next to her.

“Yeah, I agree, but at the same time I know he’s worried about Kurt. You have to admit, Kurt needs to learn when to quit, you know?” Jean replied. “We all have to be careful, but with a physical mutation like his he needs to be extra vigilant for his own safety. I know it isn’t fair…but for now, it’s all we can do.”

“I know, I just wish they wouldn’t fight like that.”

Kurt watched them slowly disappear into thin air once more, turning his own terrified eyes towards the others, “They cannot hear us? A-are we ghosts?”

“Whoa,” Pietro murmured, looking down at his own hands. “Spookular.”

Evan turned his eyes to stare at the speedster, “I blame you.”

Meanwhile...

“So you think I should apologize to Kurt?” Scott asked, walking next to Rogue towards their lockers.

“It ain’t about what Ah think, it’s about what you think you should do,” she corrected. “Though Ah will admit, ya’ were kinda hard on ‘em, sugah.”

“But you agree with me, right? He’s always goofing around. I’m worried he’s gonna accidently reveal himself to someone and it’s gonna come back to bite us, or worse, he’s gonna get hurt. You know how cruel some people can be.”

“Ah agree that the elf can be a little reckless at times, but he’s been hidin’ in the shadows his whole life, Scott. This is the first chance he’s had to walk around freely without worryin’ about humans panickin’ at the sight of ‘em,” she shrugged, patting Scott’s shoulder. “Cut the kid some slack.”

Sighing, Scott opened his locker and tossed his lunchbox inside. “You think we’ll have any problems with Evan and Pietro? I know he’s pissed, but do you really think he’d go after the kid to get back at ‘em for what happened in New York?”

“All Ah can say is, Ah may not be a telepath like Red or the Professor, but Ah know the look a’ revenge in a person’s eyes when they believe they’ve been wronged. Ya’ ask meh, that boy’s lookin’ to settle that score himself,” she said, exasperated. “Countin’ other people’s sins don’t make anyone a Saint, and holdin’ onto grudges won’t ever bring you peace…trust meh. Besides, Ah think Porcupine’s just hangin’ onto that old rivalry because it’s familiar. Unlike the rest of us, Evan didn’t really get a choice.”

She knew the kid was feeling lost, having been there herself. She also knew what it felt like to want to get back at those who had done you wrong and Evan was still a young, impulsive teenager. All they could do was try and get the kid to open up and help him in any way they could. If nothing else, Rogue knew that if the Professor could help her, he could help Evan.

“Let’s just hope the kid’s desire to get some payback doesn’t last too long,” Scott offered with an encouraging smirk. “Come on, let’s go before the bell rings.”

“Come on, let’s go before the bell rings.”

Evan watched his friends walk off down the hall only to vanish like the other students, Rogue’s speech ringing around his head on repeat.

Was he truly that transparent?

“Okay, so wherever this is, I can’t teleport us out, but I—Evan? What is it?” Kurt asked, appearing directly by his side. “What did you see?”

“N-Nothin’, man,” Evan said uneasy, trying to shake the uncomfortable feeling rising in his gut. He knew he’d been kind of annoying about Pietro, especially today with the other teen’s unexpected transfer to Bayville, but did they really believe he would act out his personal vendetta against the speedster? He knew it wasn’t fair that he was the only one caught that night at their old school, but he’d take a grudge over revenge any day.

One night in a jail cell had been more than enough for him and he wasn’t about to risk his record a second time over Pietro’s antics.

Besides, a large part of him knew that Rogue was right when she’d said Karma would play her hand, and for all he knew, she probably had. He knew Pietro well enough to know he would never have left NYC by choice, so at least they were both unhappy about having their lives upended.

He’d take the small victory.

“No way out that way either!” Pietro wailed, skidding to a halt next to them while jerking his thumb behind him. “Every time I try and run passed the locker rooms I end up hitting an invisible wall! What about you two? Fuzz Bucket? How’re we supposed to get outta’ here!?”

“Calm down, dude, you gotta chill,” Evan tried to get the speed demon to relax, but Pietro wasn’t having it.

“You need to chill!” Pietro snapped back, reaching up to muse his hair. “It’s easy for you to say, Daniels! You’re not the one who hates being trapped and - news flash - we’re trapped! I can’t even run at half speed in this place without hitting the walls like a pinball machine!”

Kurt and Evan shared a mildly concerned look over the other mutant’s sudden meltdown. It hadn’t really occurred to them to think of themselves as trapped, per say, but Pietro did have a point.

With no exit or clue as to how to escape their current predicament, they were, indeed, trapped.

“Uh, guys? I think we have bigger problems!” Kurt cried, looking up at the ceiling. “It’s raining furniture!”

“Now you see the desk, now you don’t see the desk. Now you see the chair, oops! No more chair!” Toad snickered to himself as he hopped around Mystique’s office, aiming his little magic machine at anything and everything. “How do ya’ like my new décor? I call it; cleanin’ house.”

Gone went the desk, and the desk chair, and the lamp, then the rug, followed by the visitor chairs, and the bookcases---nothing was safe from his magic ray!

Was it petty?

Yes.

Was he naturally petty?

Yes.

The shape-shifter was constantly bossing them around and Toad had lost count of the number of times he’d been threatened by the woman. She always nagged him, berated him, comparing him to an actual toad in ways that were just plain hurtful.

I mean, sure, he was slimy and preferred to hop everywhere, but you didn’t have to point it out!

What better way to get back at his ruthless leader than to enact a little revenge of his own?

“Hehe, what ’chu think a’ that, Ms. Big Shot,” he smirked, looking around the now-empty office with glee. “This thing is so cool!”

Meanwhile, Mystique was busy searching the school for a certain missing speedster. The day was hardly half over and she’d immediately been bombarded by students and staff alike claiming that things were randomly going missing.

A full-size vending machine, for example…

“I swear, if that kleptomaniac causes an uproar for us then I’ll wring his---Alvers! Dukes!” she commanded, catching sight of her two lackeys standing around in the hallway. “Where is Pietro!”

Lance and Fred shared a confused look while shrugging, “Haven’t seen ‘em since lunch. Him and Toad are both MIA. We thought maybe you sent them off somewhere?”

Rubbing her eyes, Mystique grumbled under her breath before pointing towards the main hall, “Get to class and keep an eye out. If you see Mr. Maximoff, tell him I would like to have a chat with him in my office. And tell Toad to stop skipping class!”

Her demand echoed through the mostly empty hall and both boys nodded stiffly, turning to trudge off down the hall to their respective classes.

“Ugh…kids,” she sneered. “Now where is that little devil?”

“This is insane. It’s insane, right? It’s totally insane. Nothing about this is sane! It’s completely and totally insane, man! We’re gonna be stuck here forever and I’m gonna go insane!” Pietro screeched, literally running in circles fast enough to make his body only appear as a blur. “There are cars dropping from the ceiling now!”

“Okay, you are gonna have a freakin’ stroke,” Evan stressed, still attempting to keep the speedster from having a total breakdown – or heart attack. “What’s up with you? I’ve never seen you like this.”

Pietro stopped on a dime and turned his head to glower at his old rival, “I can’t run, you idiot! Not like I want – need – to! We’re trapped here with no way out and four distinct dead ends with no idea how to get back to the real world! I can’t stand to be in the same place for long or else my brain feels like it’s going to explode and all the energy I need to let out has nowhere to go and I---!"

“You’re scared,” Evan realized. The second the words left his mouth, he felt a little sheepish that the idea had never occurred to him before. Of course Pietro could get scared, everyone got scared sometimes. It was merely that Evan had never witnessed his rival in such a state before now.

With Pietro’s cocksure attitude and blasé outlook, it was hard to imagine the speedster ever feeling afraid.

“I am not!” Pietro argued hotly, denial clear in his tone.

“It’s okay to be scared,” Kurt attempted to ease the speedster. “I understand some of your frustration, since I hate not being able to ‘port. It feels confining. Like a part of you is missing?”

“Whatever,” Pietro snipped, crossing his arms in a defensive posture. “Doesn’t change the fact that we’re stuck here!”

“Here, why don’t we see how far we can go and we’ll look for a way to get outta’ here,” Evan suggested, leading the way down the hall. As far as they knew, the furthest they could go was the edge of the gymnasium to just before the main office on the other side of the school. With the weirdness of seeing random students appear and disappear like phantoms, none of them had attempted to venture off alone for more than a couple seconds.

This whole place was just too freaky…

“Come on, Pietro,” Kurt coaxed. “You lead, mein Freund.”

“Ich bin nicht dein Freund,” Pietro grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Du sprichst Deutsch?” Kurt asked happily, while Evan blurted out in surprise, “You speak German? Since when!?”

“Since always,” the speed demon smirked, taking the lead in front to see where they could go.

The three meandered down the empty halls, occasionally checking their invisible barrier to see if there was any give. They checked each room they could and were still unsettled by the appearance of random bodies glitching in and out of existence. Unfortunately, their wanderings only led them in circles with the three ending up in the gym. At least in the largest room in the building it didn’t seem too stifling.

“Still no way out! Like I said the last thousand times!” Pietro complained, stomping through the entryway to the gym floor with Evan on his tail. Poor Kurt was stuck at the rear trying to keep the two boys from killing each other before they found a way out.

“And we still needed to check!” Evan ranted.

“Umm, perhaps we should take a break, ja?” Kurt offered, hoping a relief period would allow both boys to cool off.

“Mannnn, I’m starving!” Pietro groaned, clutching his stomach while leaning against the wall. “If we don’t get outta’ here soon then I’m eatin’ the blue one!”

“Ich bin kein Essen!” Kurt chided.

“Quit being dramatic,” Evan muttered.

“Don’t tell me how to live my life,” Pietro snarked back.

“Who’re you?” a voice asked from behind them, scaring the daylights out of the trio!

“Ahhh!” the three cried out, with Kurt and Pietro disappearing in a split second to leave Evan with their unexpected company.

“Whoa!” the new boy exclaimed, looking around in wonder before his eyes drifted back to Evan. “Where’d you guys come from?”

“Uhh—where’d you come from, man?” Evan asked, stumbling back.

“Hey! Wait a sec—you’re the one from the computer screen, the one I saw just before the lab blew up!” Kurt cried, teleporting between them and staring up at the newcomer.

“Whoa—wha—what’re you?” the kid asked with wide eyes.

“Don’t let my looks fool you,” Kurt grinned. “I’m just a harmless blue fuzzball. That was your lab, the one in the basement, wasn’t it?”

“Uhh, yeah,” the kid smirked, holding out his hand. “The name’s Forge. Guess you guys found my lab, huh? Uh—no offense, but what’s with the Halloween get-up?”

“No costume,” Kurt shook his head. “I’m a mutant. We all are!”

“Mutant?” Forge asked.

“Like this, man,” Evan said, releasing a set of bone spikes from his arms and shoulders with a proud grin. “Kurt’s a teleporter and Pietro’s a—wait, where is he anyway?”

“Right here,” Pietro stated, appearing behind them and startling Forge once again. “Name’s Quicksilver, Speedster, nice to meet ya, you’ve met the Porcupine and the Fuzz Bucket, great, now that we all know each other – GET US OUTTA’ HERE!”

“Ghost! There’s a ghost in the gym! A demon!” a group of Freshman boys screamed in terror, rushing from the gymnasium in fear while crying out about blue demons. Their frantic cries immediately drew the attention of Scott and Jean who were passing by, the former feeling his ire rising.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…” Scott muttered. “What part of camouflage does he not get?”

“We don’t know what happened, it may be an issue with his watch,” Jean said, dragging him towards the gym. “Kurt! Are you in here?”

Silence met their ears and the two shared a confused look. Had the fuzzball teleported out already? There was no distinctive smell of sulfur in the air though, but there was also no sign of their teammate.

“Better find him, tell him to knock it off before he gets into serious trouble,” Scott ordered, still looking around the room for the teleporter. “If it was an accident then tell him to go back to the Institute and take care of it before anyone else sees him.”

Jean closed her eyes and concentrated, putting out feelers for Kurt’s psyche. She went through the school room by room, only to grow a bit concerned when she couldn’t locate him anywhere in the school or the grounds?

‘Hmmm,’ she thought, wondering if perhaps the teleporter had gone back to the manor for some reason. If he had an issue with his watch then maybe he’d gone to the Professor for help.

“Find him yet?” Scott asked, sensing her growing consternation.

“No?” she murmured, her brows furrowing as each location she reached out to came up empty. “I—I can’t find him? It’s like he’s gone, Scott.”

“What?” he gaped.

“I can’t even sense a trace of him?”

“Alright, let’s not panic,” he said, though inside he was already beginning to panic. “Can you reach the others? Rogue? Evan and Kitty? Let’s make sure it’s not a problem with your telepathy before we freak out.”

“That’s just it, I can feel Rogue and Kitty, even Lance and the others, but I can’t sense Evan either,” she stressed. “What if something happened to them? You don’t think—”

“I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but if someone did do something to them, then I bet I have a likely candidate in mind.”

“Hey, Summers!”

‘Speak of the Devil’ Scott thought, turning to see Lance and Fred storming towards them. They were both glowering, dead-set on a confrontation it seemed, stopping just shy of the X-Men.

“Where is he?” Lance demanded.

“Where’s who?” Scott growled back, narrowing his eyes. “And while we’re at it, where’s Kurt and Evan? What’d you do to them!”

“What?” the rock slider gaped, shaking his head with a scowl. “Forget about them! What’d you goodie goodies’ do to Pietro! He’s not up for grabs, ya’ know!”

“Pietro’s missing too?” Jean asked, pushing her way between the two boys. “Lance, stop! Kurt and Evan are missing and if Pietro’s gone too, then neither of our teams did this. We have no reason to fight here.”

“The Hell they didn’t!” Scott snarled, gripping Lance by the vest and hauling him off the floor, ready to beat the answers out of him if he had to. “Where are they?”

“What is going on here!?” Principal Darkhölme demanded from the end of the hallway, glaring at all four of them as she stormed over. “Mr. Summers, put him down!”

“We didn’t do nothin’,” Fred grumbled. “We were just lookin’ for our friend and Summers grabbed Lance.”

“I’ll deal with you two later,” she said towards Lance and Fred, waving them off without a second glance. “Back to class. Both of you!”

Lance glared at Scott while fixing his vest. He curled his lip up at them before lumbering off with Dukes at his heels, quickly disappearing around the corner of the hall.

“You two, in my office. Now,” Darkhölme demanded, pointing towards the hall to the front office. “I won’t tolerate this kind of behavior in my school.”

Holding back a disagreement, Scott merely nodded towards Jean and slowly followed their Principal towards her office.

‘Call the Professor’ Scott projected silently, letting Jean read his thoughts. They needed help and he wasn’t going to risk any of their teammates or a fellow mutant’s safety by trying to handle this themselves.

Jean nodded subtly and reached out, ‘Professor? We have a problem’

‘Yes, Jean. I sensed your distress a moment ago’ Charles’ calm voice echoed back, with it a soothing presence. ‘Tell me what’s happened’

‘Kurt and Evan and a new mutant student are all missing. I can’t find Kurt or Evan anywhere. Principal Darkhölme stopped Scott and I from looking for them’

‘This new student, would it be Pietro Maximoff?’

‘Yeah, how’d you know?’

‘I’m quite familiar with the young man, as is Storm. Don’t worry, dear, I’ll use Cerebro to locate them’

By the time they had reached the main office, Jean came back to herself just in time to hear Principal Darkhölme continue her rant as she was nearing her office door.

“---don’t care how much influence Xavier has with the schoolboard,” Darkhölme stated firmly, gripping the handle of her office and nearly tearing it open. “I will not---what?”

The office was completely and totally empty.

Jean and Scott looked around in surprise while their Principal looked absolutely livid.

“Who stole my---” Ms. Darkhölme cried, only to go silent a moment later as a wave of wrath rolled over her. “That insolent little imp!”

Turning on her heel, she stormed off leaving Jean and Scott to stare at one another and then the empty room.

“What could have done this?” Jean asked, walking further into the office. “Everything is gone, and those bookshelves alone probably weigh close to a ton!”

Scott wandered over to the open window and looked outside over the courtyard, casting his eyes about to look for anything suspicious, and the sudden disappearance of an antique birdbath near the tree line definitely counted as suspicious.

“Jean,” he called over. “I think we found our culprit…”

Forge took them to his temporary lab he’d set up and explained where they were and how they’d ended up there. He clarified that all the random objects being dropped on them were also due to his machine, meaning someone was having a lot of fun with it.

“Someone’s giving that gizmo of yours a workout,” Evan commented warily, having barely dodged the freakin’ birdbath that nearly landed on him!

“That gizmo is a transdimensional projector,” Forge explained. “It was my science fair project back in ’78. But when I turned it on, it created this pocket dimension – a place I call Middleverse – and I ended up getting caught in the ray. I’ve been stuck here ever since.”

 “You’ve been stuck here since the 70’s? Guess that explains those clothes,” Kurt joked, hopping up onto the table.

“Height of fashion, my man,” Forge smirked, fanning his collar.

“Seriously?” Pietro scoffed, eyeing Forge’s ensemble. “Those pants with that top? Wait---you’ve been here since 1978!?”

“Here we go…” Evan sighed under his breath.

“We’re gonna die! We’re gonna die! No, we’re not ‘cause we’re gonna be stuck here forever!” Pietro went off again, rushing around the room while yammering to himself wildly and at such a fast pace none of the others could even understand him.

“Is he always like that?” Forge whispered, nodding towards the blur that was the speed demon.

“…this hasn’t been a good day for him,” Evan shrugged helplessly.

“I’m sure he will be fine,” Kurt offered, trying to keep his voice upbeat. “Now you were saying something about a science fair?”

Unlike the other three who began to get lost in conversation like it was an average Tuesday, Pietro was beginning to spiral and no one else could understand it but him. His mind was racing at such as fast pace that he was starting to have trouble separating his thoughts clearly, giving into the urge to try and release as much pent-up energy as possible.

This was a nightmare.

How were they supposed to back to reality – or the real dimension, whatever you wanted to call it – when no one knew where they were or how they got here! Better yet, how were they supposed to be rescued when the only thing that could reach Middleverse was that weird ray machine and God only knows where the damn thing was now!

‘This is a nightmare! This is a nightmare! This isn’t happening! This can’t be happening! Please tell me this isn’t happening!’ Pietro screamed inside his head, still running as quickly as he was able to in such a confined space. It was pointless to try and explain the mechanics of his mutation to others, like Daniels or the fluff bucket, when it went far deeper than a mere desire for speed.

Pietro’s mind and body moved outside of time.

Call it speed, call it outrunning time itself, call it whatever you want, but his body moved at a pace no normal human could even comprehend. It wasn’t just that he loved to run – as so many people believed – it was that he needed to run. He moved faster than sound could travel and his speed allowed him to perceive the world in super slow motion, which amplified his natural reflexes and cognitive abilities - like he said, his mind moves just as fast as his body – but when his physical surroundings impair his mutation, all the energy his body has stored will start to make him uncomfortable.

It was like being locked in a box unable to fully stretch your limbs.

‘Dammit, keep it together!’ he thought with bated breath, trying to calm his racing mind. He loathed not having control over anything, and this was a prime example. All he could do was stand by and hope that the dream team of nerds could figure something out.

Slowing himself down to a rapid pacing, he fought down the urge to keep running. He knew that if he didn’t slow down and maintain his current energy levels that his body would rebel against him and likely lead to a rapid drop in his blood sugar…and that was never fun.

He hadn’t been kidding when he’d claimed he was seriously hungry…

They’d found a vending machine amongst the falling debris – and seriously, who blasts a freaking vending machine? – but it was nothing but soda and that would do him no good. Pure, artificial sugary carbonation would do nothing but give him an ungodly burst of energy that he wouldn’t be able to expel in this prison and it would only make him feel worse.

His constant need for sustenance was a bitch, but it was better than passing out!

Worrying his lower lip, the speedster watched and listened from a short distance as the other three boys worked on a solution. He was a little jealous that Evan at least had Kurt with him for comfort. Being locked in a pocket dimension with his long-time rival, a blue fuzzball and a random kid who’s arms turned into the Terminator with no way out in sight?

Not exactly how he imagined his first day in Bayville would go.

For the first time in a very long time, Pietro desperately wanted his dad…

“Get back here, you little---!” Scott yelled, taking aim with his visor.

Toad scrambled out of the way of another blast from Cyclops! “Hey, yo! Watch the shoes, man! Watch the shoes!”

“Careful Scott!” Jean chided, rushing after him with Kitty and Rogue right on their heels. They’d all been worried sick when Charles had notified them that even Cerebro could not locate any of the boys, meaning they would need to search the building for any clues as to what had happened.

Which lead them to their current game of Leap Frog!

“I didn’t do nothin’!” Toad yelped, hopping as fast as his short legs could muster. “It wasn’t me!”

“Then stop running!” Scott demanded.

“Stop blastin’ me!”

“Oh for cryin’ out---Red, stop ‘em, already!” Rogue commanded, skidding to a halt. “And don’t drop whatever that is he’s carryin’.”

Jean worked quickly and focused her power on Toad, holding out both her arms to catch the little weasel and gently set the strange device he was coveting on the grass. With the chase over, the X-Men took a moment to catch their breath as they made their way over to Toad who was pouting on the lawn.

“Man, that ain’t fair!” Toad sulked, crossing his arms. “Why you gotta pick on the little guy, huh?”

“Why you runnin’ if you ain’t guilty o’ somethin’, sugah?” Rogue snarked back, raising an eyebrow as she stood over the boy. “What’ve you been up to?”

“Nothin’, like I said,” he turned away from them.

Rolling her eyes, Rogue walked over to the odd machine and picked it up, “Then Ah suppose you don’t mind if Ah take this?”

“Ro!” he whined. “I found it first!”

“What is it anyway?” Kitty asked, coming over to look at the weird tech with the others. “Looks like something out of Star Trek.”

“I don’t know who made it, but it’s awesome,” Toad grinned. “It makes stuff disappear!”

“Disappear?” Scott asked, sharing an uneasy look with the others.

“Yeah, you just point it at somethin’ and it goes bye-bye,” Toad chuckled, jerking his thumb up at the school building. “I gave Darkhölme’s office a nice lil’ make-over, yo!”

“That was you?” Jean gaped.

“Yep!”

“Toad,” Rogue interrupted, leveling the younger boy with a serious stare. “Show meh where you got this thing.”

Mystique slammed her palms against the windowsill of her vacant office, clenching her jaw while Lance and Fred nervously fidgeted behind her.

“I don’t care what you have to do, just find him!” she demanded, growling at the cowering boys. “Go get Toad, wherever the little slimeball is, and get me Quicksilver or you two will take his place!”

Lance swallowed and backed up, sharing a look of unease with Fred who was just as nervous of the blue mutant’s wrath. The rock slider had never been on the shape-shifter’s bad side, thankfully, but he knew Blob had and he recalled the ferocity Mystique let loose upon the giant teen after he was released from jail.

It had not been a pretty sight…

“We’re on it,” he said with faux confidence, hoping it would gain them some favor. He backed away towards the door with Blob and made a dash for their lockers to fetch their uniforms. Some days, he seriously doubted moving to Bayville had been worth it.

Glaring at the glass pane, Mystique breathed heavily as fury rolled through her belly. If she could just get her hands on that little rat then she—

No.

No, that wouldn’t do.

Despite her anger at Pietro’s little prank, she knew she couldn’t lay a hand on the boy without risking Magneto’s wrath. She didn’t understand how her leader could ever tolerate having such an annoying brat as a child. Speedster or not, Pietro was obviously nothing but an irritation that would no doubt cause them trouble.

Perhaps it would be more convenient to send him back to New York City, save them the headache of having to deal with him.

Who could even put up with such an exasperating child?

The other, and far more pressing, issue was the disappearance of her desk and the funds still within it. She had to find that damn check or it really would be her head. God forbid Magneto learn of her blunder, or better yet – his brat’s blunder.

Why did she have to be the one in charge of these kids? As if being a Principal to a school full of humans was even worth her time! Her talents were much better suited to politics or espionage, yet the Master of Magnetism had commanded her to reside in Bayville to counter Xavier’s mission and recruit as many young mutants as she could to their side.

What was she supposed to promise them anyway?

All the candy in the world and no bedtime?

Rolling her eyes, she tried to come up with a plan to fix all this madness. It was almost the end of school and she knew if she didn’t locate the damn speedster before 5pm then there would be Hell to pay…

Back in the pocket dimension, Forge was making something that he claimed could help get them out of Middleverse, but most of the science lingo he was spouting was clearly going over Evan and Kurt’s heads, while Pietro simply wasn’t interested.

When you could move faster than any machine on Earth, why bother?

“Like I said before, the school shut down and locked my lab after the accident,” Forge explained, continuing to work on his tech. “Everyone was totally freaked when I vanished, but can you blame them?”

“Nah, man, I would have freaked out too,” Evan nodded.

“I still cannot imagine that you have been trapped here since 1978,” Kurt murmured, shaking his head sadly. “Your parents must have been devastated…”

“I saw them a few times,” Forge admitted, his face falling. “They came to the school after I went missing and I could hear my mom crying, my dad begging them for answers, but no one knew what happened to me so what could they say? I just hope they didn’t think I ran away or something.”

Pietro halted his pacing and felt his fingers still from their nervous tapping. Listening to Forge go on about his folks like that had his stomach twisting uncomfortably. It had him wondering what would have happened if it had been him in Forge’s place, randomly disappearing without a trace with no way home, leaving behind a family that obviously cared.

‘He does care about you’ his mind supplied, a distant memory of his old man flashing through his head forcing him to acknowledge that fact. ‘You just forget sometimes…’

The idea popped into his head that if he did just up and vanish, he somehow knew that his dad would never stop looking for him. That thought brought him some comfort despite all the anxiety running through him at that moment.

“I’m sure they didn’t,” Evan supplied, laying a comforting hand on Forge’s shoulder. “And you can tell them everything yourself once we’re out of here, man.”

Forge appeared grateful, nodding thankfully up at the other teen while he continued to work.

“That’s what I’m planning on. As soon as this little beauty is complete, we’ll be sailing for home,” he said, hesitating slightly before shrugging with a sheepish grin. “…I hope.”

“Wait, back up!” Pietro snapped, making a time-out motion. “Are you seriously going off a hunch? What good is that gizmo gonna do us if we can’t get home without the gizmo that brought us here! You said we were stuck here!”

“Without help from the other side, we are stuck here,” Forge stated, soldering wire together. “But that’s what this is for.”

“Terrific,” Pietro muttered. “We’re going off what-if logic…awesome.”

“If my plan works out, Kurt will be our ticket outta’ here,” the mecha-mutant elucidated with a wanly smile. “And, man, I’m telling ya’, I’m ready to go home. Ghosts don’t make for the best company.”

As if on cue, a pair of Junior cheerleaders appeared half-way passed the gym door, heading for the locker room while giggling her their breath.

“I can’t believe he talked to you! He is so cute!” one grinned brightly, elbowing the other slyly.

“Shut up!” the blonde laughed. “He’s not that cute!”

“Liar!”

“Hush!”

The duo slowly vanished just before the locker room doors, wisping away like everyone else that passed the invisible barrier. It was still creepy to watch, no matter how many times it happened.

“So,” Kurt smirked, wiggling his eyebrows. “Just how far does this Middleverse go?”

“A few feet before the main entrance, the West exit steps, the East hallways and just short of the girls’ locker room,” Forge sighed. “Isn’t that a burn?”

Pietro rolled his eyes with a small scoff while the others bewailed the unfairness. “Can we focus please?”

“No need, we’re done!” Forge cheered, his mutant arm reverting back to skin while he held up his invention. “This baby will alter the phase-shift frequency of Kurt’s teleportation power.”

“Umm…forgive me, my English is a little limited?” Kurt cocked his head in confusion, having understood none of what the other mutant said.

“Yeah, I’m with him on this one,” Evan stated, jerking his thumb at Kurt. “You lost me after alter, man.”

“He’s saying that thing can change the time frequency variations between this pocket dimension and our dimension by altering the expanded space inflation between them allowing blue boy to teleport back to our reality for a brief span of time,” Pietro rattled off in a droll tone while glancing at Forge. “Or are you going off something other than String Theory.”

Evan and Kurt blinked stupidly, “You understood that!?”

“You didn’t?”

Forge blinked slowly and pointed at the speedster, “I like you.”

“Course you do,” Pietro said, checking his nails as if he were bored.

“He’s right too,” Forge continued, smirking at the other two. “Kurt will be able to teleport back to the real world.”

“Well, why didn’t you just say that!” Evan cried.

“Alright!” Kurt cheered with excitement.

“But it’ll only last for a second,” Forge claimed, holding up a set of old batteries. “There batteries don’t have much power left in them. Still, you should have enough time to tell someone how to reset the projector and get us back.”

Kurt tried to appear confident, but inside he was reeling with anxiety. He knew now that the chances of them escaping from this place was currently resting on his shoulders alone…and if he failed, then what?

“You can do this, Kurt,” Evan encouraged him softly. “I know you’re totally freaked out by this too, man, but…we need you, Nightcrawler. It’s time to be an X-Man.”

“I hear you, mein Freund,” Kurt murmured, wringing his hands. “I just hope they don’t think I’m kidding around.”

“That’s what you’re worried about?” Pietro snorted skeptically.

The teleporter grinned nervously, “I kinda have that rep.”

“Well the first thing we have to do is find your friends wherever they are on the other side, otherwise it’ll all be a waste of time,” Forge said, standing from his chair and cradling his tech like it was precious. “We’ve only got one chance.”

“Right,” Kurt smiled blandly, nodding. “No pressure…”

“It was down here,” Toad lead the way to the destroyed lab he’d discovered, pointing to the floor where he’d found the gadget Kitty was now carrying. “Just layin’ on the ground, yo. That good enough for you?”

“And no one else was down here?” Scott asked seriously, looking around the room with dread.

“Nah, man! I thought I heard Pietro before, but he wasn’t down here. Neither were your pals,” Toad crossed his arms. “Just that kickass widget and the smell a’ burnt wires.”

“What is this place?” Kitty murmured, her nose scrunching at the distinctive smell of burnt plastic. “Looks like some old computer lab or science room…but why down here?”

“I don’t think this was a classroom,” Jean theorized aloud, glancing around the room at the ruined equipment. It was clearly old, if the dust and grime said anything, but there was clear signs that someone had been down there recently.

“Guys!” Rogue called out for their attention, pointing to a pile of overturned boxes. “Isn’t that--?”

“Oh no…” Scott whispered, dropping down to pick up the broken, discarded watch that was Kurt’s holographic projector to clutch in his hand. He looked up at Rogue with fear hidden behind his visor, but the tremor in his voice was enough. “Kurt.”

“Easy, Cyclops. We’ll fine ‘em, sugah,” Rogue murmured, laying her hand on Scott’s shoulder. “Don’t you worry none.”

“Hey you guys? I think I kinda know what this thing does,” Kitty said, looking over the device Toad had stolen. It was still working, still active, and she’d done a quick diagnostic on it while the others were looking for clues.

“You do? Seriously?” Scott asked, still gripping Kurt’s ruined watch.

“I don’t know exactly what it does, but I can tell you that it uses C.P.M, like, talk about retro,” she chuckled, pointing to the small screen located on the back of the tech. “See this? It’s putting out some kind of low-power pulse wave that just seems to disappear into thin air. I don’t get it, exactly, but I can tell you guys that this tech isn’t like anything I’ve ever seen. And I’ve even gotten a good look at how Cerebro works.”

“What does that mean exactly?” Toad asked, scratching his head.

“I think whatever pulse this thing sends out - that bright light you were talking about? – was more like a portal opening up to a different dimension,” she explained.

“Alternate dimensions? Get outta’ here wit’ that,” he waved her off, rolling his eyes. “You been watchin’ too many science fiction movies, yo. How you know it don’t just make things, like, I don’t know, invisible?”

“Really?” Rogue challenged, staring down at the toad-like mutant. “Invisible?”

“What?” he shrugged. “It could happen!”

“Now who’s been watchin’ too many science fiction movies?”

“Wait a minute,” Jean interrupted, pointing at the device. “Are you saying the boys were transported into a different dimension?”

Kitty gave a wary nod, holding up the tech with apprehension. “It would explain why Cerebro can’t even find them.”

“Then let’s blast the stupid thing and get them out of there!” Scott said with determination, reaching towards his visor.

“Whoa! Uh-uh!” Rogue stopped him, pushing his hands away from his visor. “Ah know you’re worried about ‘em and ya’ not thinkin’ straight but breakin’ that thing is a terrible idea and you know that!”

“Then what do you want me to do!” he cried.

“Ah want you to take a damn breath and think before Ah smack ya’ upside the head!”

Their stand-off was cut short by an unexpected, and frankly, horribly timed, arrival.

“Toad!”

“Uh-oh,” said mutant muttered, turning towards the stairs to see Lance and Fred lumbering down the steps dressed in full uniform, sharing equally annoyed expressions. “H-hey, fellas.”

“Where have you been?” Lance demanded. “Mystique sent us to find you and Pietro. What the heck are you doin’ with them?”

Toad withered under the earth shaker’s glare, quickly scrambling over to join his teammates and save face before shit got worse, “They found me, man! They wanted that gizmo that I found.”

“Gizmo?”

“Yeah, dude, that thing!” Toad pointed over to the tech gadget Kitty was still holding. “It makes things disappear! Like, invisible, yo.”

“Not invisible,” Kitty groaned.

“Same thing,” he shrugged.

Lance and Fred glanced at each other and shared an equally confused look, shrugging, before turning their hardened gazes towards the X-Men. If that gadget did what Toad claimed it did, then maybe they’d get some brownie points with Mystique if they brought it to her.

“Sounds sweet,” Lance commented, smirking. “Hand over the gizmo, Pretty Kitty.”

“Like, get your own!” Kitty scoffed, hugging the device to her chest.

“That gizmo stays with us,” Rogue agreed, stepping in front of Kitty to shield her. “Back off, Avalanche.”

“You wanna rock?” he sneered, lifting his foot dangerously. “Then let’s rock!”

“I can’t believe they’re fighting without me,” Pietro pouted, shaking his head as he and the others watched the impending brawl. “The one exciting thing those losers have done today and I wasn’t even invited. So much hate…”

“Would you quit complaining already?” Evan grumbled, knocking his shoulder against the speedster’s. “If those idiots destroy the projector then we’re stuck in here forever! Didn’t you hear Forge?”

“What, you think I’m worried your little team won’t get us outta here?” Pietro scoffed, crossing his arms. “Don’t flatter yourself, Daniels. If the elf fails, I’ve got a back-up escape plan.”

“Umm, guys?” Kurt tried to get their attention.

“Oh really?” Evan asked, his voice dripping with disbelief. “And what’s this so-called plan of yours? Because from where I’m standing, this is our only shot and your new buddies are about to ruin everything!”

“Guys?”

“Those ne’er-do-wells are far from being my buddies,” the speed demon growled, forcing Evan to re-think his opinion. “Just because I got dragged down to this stupid town and stuck with those morons doesn’t make them my friends, Daniels. I didn’t want to come to this shithole any more than you did!”

“Please, don’t—"

“Then why did you agree to move here!?” Evan screeched.

“I didn’t, asshole!” Pietro yowled furiously. “My old man forced me to come here just like your aunt made you! You think you’re the only one pissed off about having your entire life capsized like it didn’t matter!?”

Kurt got between the two rivals and tried to keep them apart, gazing back and forth between the two as they threw insult after insult at one another. “Mein Freunde—”

“I wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for you!” Evan yelled.

“Right back at ya’!” Pietro snarled.

“Please, this is no place to fight!” Kurt pleaded.

“Tell that to him!” Evan sneered, pointing his finger harshly against Pietro’s chest. “Everything’s always a competition with him!”

“Cries the baby who always took second place,” Pietro rolled his eyes.

“See!?”

“Evan, please—” Kurt tried again.

“You know what, fuck you, man,” Evan growled, glaring daggers at his long-time enemy. “I’m not sorry you were forced to come here. You’ve always had everything handed to you on a silver-fucking-platter and all it’s made you is a cocky, pampered dick who spends his Daddy’s money and can’t stand to ever be shown up!”

Pietro stopped and turned his icy gaze on his rival, stepping closer even as Kurt attempted to keep him back. “You think my life’s some perfect fairytale? Is that it? You think you’ve got me all figured out? Fuck you! I don’t give a damn what you or anyone else thinks of me, but don’t think for one second that you know shit about my life. You have no idea who I am or what I’ve been through!”

“Oh boo-hoo, poor Pietro,” Evan mocked him, ignoring the disapproving look from Kurt. “You’ve never had anything to cry about, Maximoff!”

“You don’t know me, Daniels.”

“I know you’re an arrogant, egotistical asshole that couldn’t even make any friends without your popularity! You honestly think anyone likes you for you?” Evan scoffed. “Why anybody would ever want to willingly put up with you is beyond me and that winning personality is probably why your dad dumped you in the first place!”

“Evan!” Kurt gasped in dismay, looking up at his friend with disappointment shining in his eyes. He knew his friend had a long-time grudge with the speedster, but comments like that were uncalled for and unjustified.

“What?” Evan dismissed him with a shrug.

Kurt shook his head sadly and lowered his eyes, “Making cruel assumptions about another is never a good judge of character, mein Freund. Giving in to one’s own anger never solves anything…”

They were supposed to be better than that.

Evan hesitated in his anger, knowing Kurt was right deep down but refusing to give in, though he did turn his head to look at Pietro—only to find the speedster had vanished.

“God dammit,” he breathed.

Pietro hadn’t gone far, just to the other side of the wall actually, but far enough from the others to get a few moments of solitude. He hated that he could feel a slight stinging behind his eyes.

What the Hell did Evan know anyway?

Nothing.

…but enough to hit a nerve, it seemed.

His old man was a sore subject for him and for anyone who knew the specifics of their strained relationship knew to never bring Erik up. His foster mom had always tried to keep his spirits up about it, especially the first couple of years after he’d moved in with her. He was so young at the time and he could remember constantly asking her questions day in and day out.

When are we going home?

When is Vati coming back?

Can we go see Wanda?

…where’d Dad go?

He must have asked for his Pops a hundred times a day the first year he was with his foster mom, but she’d always answered him and never refused to give him reassurance. When he wasn’t off being Magneto, his father would come see him often and seemed interested in his new life in NYC. The first few months were a rough adjustment for Pietro, with school being a new experience for him and not having his twin or Vati with him had been terrifying, but he always did as asked and hoped it would be enough for his old man to come back.

…jokes on him.

Whenever his dad would come see him, specifically during that rough adjustment period, Pietro would cling to him like a limpet and throw a tantrum every time his father would prepare to leave. He remembered one time when he’d refused to let go, thinking with his child-like logic that if he held on then Vati would stay. He remembered warm hands holding him close like when he was little, snuggling against his dad’s chest while death-gripping that stupid cape between his small fists.

Who could blame him for falling asleep? 

He remembered waking up in his room the next morning, alone, breaking down and sobbing like a baby because Vati had left him - again. His mom had held him, let him cry and ruin her blouse with his snotty tears, but it had never been the same.

Even his mom’s loving hugs had never measured up to his old man’s warm embrace, but that was nostalgia, wasn’t it.

Years began to slowly pass by and the visits became less and less frequent, to the point that by the time Pietro was twelve, he got used to only seeing his old man every other month, at most. He’d shy away from physical affection, throwing up his walls behind his growing attitude, refusing to show how much he craved physical touch. Sure, his mom hugged him often, kissed his hair and showed him all the love a kid could ever ask for…but no one would ever compare to his father, and Pietro had become too proud to ask for something as simple as a freakin’ hug from the larger-than-life mutant.

For God’s sake, when was the last time Dad had even hugged him?

He knew he was a little shit that drove most people crazy. His heartwarming persona was not for everyone, as he’d learned early on in life, and he knew he had always been a handful. Bless his mom for putting up with him, but the idea that his dad had dropped him not long after he’d put Wanda in that fucking hospital because they weren’t perfect in his eyes had always stuck with Pietro.

He knew it wasn’t true…but that’s what it felt like.

To have that deep-seated insecurity thrown in his face by Daniels had seriously fucked with him more than he thought it would.

More than it should have.

“Fuck…” he sighed against his palms, all this was giving him a headache. Why did he have to get stuck in this nightmare with Evan of all people? It wasn’t as though he could explain his marvelous back-up plan to them, not without answering some very pointed questions that he was so not ready to answer. To be honest, he wasn’t even sure they knew who Magneto was. However, that wouldn’t stop him from holding onto the reassurance that if Kurt failed, and Forge’s little tech didn’t work, that Pietro would simply have to wait for his dad to find him himself.

And he could.

He would.

No one was smarter or more resourceful than his Pops.

So yeah, fuck Evan and his bullshit psychology hour. He didn’t know jack about the speedster other than what Pietro let him see, just like everyone else.

“Pietro! Come on, man! We have to go! Where are you!?”

Cracking his neck, the speedster caked on a faux grin and sped back over to the others in the blink of an eye. This had better work…

“Did you just bite me!?”

The Brotherhood and the X-Men were still going at it, knocking each other around and putting up a pretty good fight for being uneven in number. Rogue and Scott were battling Blob while Kitty danced around Lance and Jean dealt with Toad.

“Give it here,” Lance grumbled, trying to catch Kitty’s phasing body as she skipped around him. “Kitty!”

“Too slow ~ ” Shadowcat sing-songed, giggling as she phased through the floor.

“Your stupid laser can’t hurt me!” Blob hollered, folding his arms across his chest to block Cyclops’ beam.

“No, but Ah can!” Rogue yelled, charging the giant and slamming into his gut, aiming for his diaphragm to try and knock the wind from him. “You may be able to absorb hits, Flubber, but ya’ still need ta’ breathe!”

One swift kick to the big boy’s sternum had Blob falling backwards against the wall clutching his chest, gasping for a breath that would not come and giving Rogue the opening she needed to take him down. Aiming her fist at his jaw, she knocked the Blob out long enough to keep him down for the count.

“Now then,” she sighed, wiping her hands together. “Red? You good?”

“I’m good,” Jean grinned, enjoying her playtime with Toad as she levitated him around in the air like a marionette. “We’re good, right, Toad?”

“No-o-oo!” Toad groaned, covering his mouth to keep from puking everywhere. “Ro’ make her stop!”

“Ah don’t know, Ah think ya’ make a cute lil’ puppet, sugah,” Rogue smirked, turning to watch Lance continue to chase Kitty around. “Hey, Avalanche, you two finished playin’ whack-a-mole yet?”

“Shut up!” Lance grouched, jumping once again to try and catch Shadowcat as she phased up behind him, sticking her tongue out childishly. “Real mature, Kitten.”

“Owww,” Fred moaned, slowly reaching up to rub his head. The giant mutant blinked sluggishly and narrowed his eyes at the X-Men, sitting up with a snarl.

“Really!?” Scott cried.

Sighing, Rogue cracked her knuckles and shook out her arms, “Here we go again…”

On the other side of the veil, Pietro and Evan stood off to the side while Forge hooked Kurt up to the device he’d put together. The speedster had barely spared Evan a glance and the Porcupine at least looked somewhat conscience-stricken after his earlier outburst.

Then again, the continuous looks Kurt kept throwing at him may have had something to do with it.

“Okay, if this works like I planned, it should make you visible for roughly two seconds,” Forge stated, tightening the straps of Kurt’s vest. “Push this button and teleport like you normally would. You have to tell them to reset the machine. If they destroy it, then we’re stuck here.”

“Why only two seconds?” Kurt asked, looking down at the gadget strapped to his chest.

“The batteries will fry,” Forge shrugged. “It’s all we’ve got.”

“No pressure,” the fuzzy teen chuckled anxiously.

“You got this, man,” Evan assured him. “Just tell them to reset it. Talk really fast!”

“Right,” Kurt nodded, watching their friends continue to feud with the Brotherhood through the shimmering veil. “I’ll make it snappy, ja?”

In a burst of smoke, the teleporter vanished.

“I want off the ride,” Toad cried pathetically, now forced to do summersaults through the air with Jean giggling below.

“Dammit, Kitty, would you stop!” Lance barked, cursing under his breath as the cackling girl ran through him again and again.

It just felt - weird.

Meanwhile, Scott and Rogue were still attempting to subdue Dukes once again.

“Get off me!” Blob roared, trying to dislodge Rogue from his shoulders. For her it was like ridin’ a damn bull!

“If you don’t chill the Hell out, Ah’m gonna--!”

“Hey, look!” Jean shouted suddenly, halting their brawl and pointing over towards the center of the room where a strange red glow was forming, zapping in and out like an electric bolt? They all turned their eyes towards it right as a familiar blue form popped into existence!

“RESET IT!”

…and in an instant, he was gone again.

“You guys saw that right?” Scott asked seriously, his eyes glued to where he swore he just saw Kurt. “It wasn’t just me?”

“Uhh—a ghost?” Blob asked dumbly.

“That was Kurt!” Kitty squeaked happily. “He’s okay!”

“Great, hooray,” Toad moaned behind his palm, turning green. “Red—blegh--can you please stop now?”

“What did he mean by reset it?” Jean asked, lowering Toad back to the ground. “Was he talking about the machine?”

“But how would he know how it works?” Kitty questioned, cocking her head.

“Maybe he’s guessing?”

“No,” Scott shook his head, straightening up. “Nightcrawler may be a joker, but he knows when to get serious. He looked worried. Didn’t you see the fear in his eyes? I think he does know how to fix this, somehow, and we can’t risk him being wrong.”

Rogue’s eyes softened and her lip twitched upwards, proud of their leader for getting his head on straight and seeing what they missed. He knew Kurt at heart, and this instance was a sheer sign of why Charles had chosen Scott to train as the team’s leader.

Good call, Boy Scout.

“So—are we still fighting or--?” Fred asked, wincing with a squawk when Rogue flicked his head before jumping off of his shoulders.

“No!” she deemed. “There ain’t no point. If we get our teammates back and ya’ still wanna rumble then Ah’ll give ya’ your money’s worth.”

“Kitty, does anything on that thing say Reset?” Scott asked quickly, hurrying over to the young girl.

“Uhh—let’s see,” Kitty murmured, turning the tech over to look at the back. “Intensity settings…power regulators…beam wid—restart! Got it!”

“Do it!”

“Aye-aye, Captain!”

Setting the machine on the ground, Kitty pushed the Restart button and stepped back, hoping they were right and that they wouldn’t accidentally make things worse.

Fingers crossed.

They all watched with bated breath as the machine began to vibrate and shake on the floor, emitting a bright beam of light that slowly began to grow into a sun-like orb. It was blinding and all but Cyclops had to shut their eyes against the glaring radiance bouncing off itself.

‘Come on’ Scott thought, trying to see passed the light for any sign of their friends. ‘Come on!’

Please come back.

As the orb grew in size, the projector continued to shake violently against the ground. There was a commotion from within the orb and Scott’s eyes landed squarely on a distinctive shape with a tail.

“Kurt!” he screamed, waving his arms wildly. “Come on! Hurry!”

The blinding shimmer finally receded and four bodies collapsed onto the ground in a heap! A familiar flash of white, blue fur, blond hair and – a stranger? – had all the X-Men breathing out sighs of relief.

“Did it work?” Pietro cried out, looking around wide-eyed. “Did we make it!?”

“We made it back!” Kurt exclaimed, laughing in disbelief. “We’re back!”

“Oh, thank God…” Evan groaned, pushing himself up off the floor.

Before they could celebrate their return though, Scott shoved his way forward and advanced on Nightcrawler. The poor blue fuzzball gulped and figured it was best to stay and face the music rather than bolt like he normally would.

“E-easy, mein Freund,” the elf stammered, holding up his hands. “I didn’t mean to—it was an accident--”

But rather than scold him, the team leader grabbed him and jerked him into a bearhug, startling Kurt for a moment before he returned the squeeze with gusto.

“Don’t scare me like that again,” Scott murmured roughly. “I didn’t know--none of us knew what happened to you!”

“It’s okay,” Kurt whispered, smiling against Cyclops’ shoulder. “I’m fine, we all are. We’re okay.”

Even though they both knew their small spat was already water under the bridge, Kurt knew that his friend needed to hear him say it.

“Yeah,” Scott breathed, nodding. “We’re okay.”

“Uhhh—not to shorten your bromance but, who’s the new guy?” Kitty asked, leaning to look at Kurt and Evan questioningly as they all turned their attention towards Forge.

“Long story,” Kurt offered, clapping Forge’s shoulder with a grin. “This is Forge. That was his machine you were fighting over and he is a mutant, like us!”

“And he’s been in Middleverse since, like, forever,” Evan added.

“Since 1979!”

“’78,” Forge corrected.

“Ja! 1978! Can you believe it?”

The X-Men all shared a concerned look, wondering what the Hell had actually happened to the boys. 1978? How was that even possible? Rogue and Scott looked at one another before shrugging helplessly.

Jean stepped forward first and offered the new mutant a wave, “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Forge. I’m guessing you have quite a story to tell.”

“You can say that again,” the mecha-mutant grinned wearily. “I’d still be stuck there if it weren’t for you guys. I can’t thank you all enough…”

“Our job, sugah,” Rogue said, stepping closer to join them. “Are you boys alright?”

“Yeah, w-we’re---we’re okay,” Evan stammered a bit, casting Pietro a slightly nervous glance before lowering his eyes once more. “We will be, anyway.”

“Not to break up this touching moment, but the death ray is starting to trip-out again,” Pietro deadpanned, jerking his thumb behind him at the machine that was beginning to vibrate once more.

Oh shit—

“It’s trying to expel everything that ended up in Middleverse!” Forge shouted, backing up.

“How much stuff did you use that thing on, Toad?” Lance demanded, scrambling back with the others.

“Uhh, heh—” Toad stumbled over his own feet. “We uhh--we might wanna run.”

“I got this,” Pietro smirked, snatching the machine up and rushing outside with it before it could open another portal up. Aiming the ray at the open area beside the school, he grinned as a new orb began to take shape. The first thing to come crashing down was that stupid car that nearly crushed him before!

The others rushed out after him and witnessed the projector’s feat, a growing pile of countless items forming on the grass atop whose ever – now crushed – car lay on the bottom.

“Nice work, Speedy,” Rogue smirked, elbowing Pietro gently.

“All yours,” he snickered, shoving the machine into her hands. “I got more important things to do.”

“Sure ya’ do,” she winked.

“Later, ‘gator!” he cackled, disappearing in a gust of wind.

“Man, he’s fast,” Forge murmured in awe, joined by Evan and Kurt who were both looking off in the direction Pietro had run off.

“You have no idea,” Evan murmured.

“Here,” Rogue said while handing Forge his projector. “Your machine, your responsibility.”

Walking over to join the remaining three Brotherhood members, she crossed her arms and cocked her brow at them, “We gonna keep tusslin’ or are y’all gonna follow ya’ boy?”

“Tch. Keep the stupid thing,” Lance waved her off, turning on his heel to stalk off. “Let’s go.”

With the mutants storming off, that left only the X-Men with their, hopefully, newest member, and the question of how exactly they were supposed to explain all this to Xavier, and—wait a minute.

“Forge, how old are you?”

Meanwhile, inside the school Principal's Office...

“As I told you, everything is missing!” Mystique vented lowly, watching Magneto glance around the empty office space with a critical eye. He’d arrived mere moments earlier after she’d finally broken down and called to explain the situation, fearing what could occur if she waited any longer.

She was not going to be blamed for that brat’s foolishness!

“Countless other things have mysteriously vanished all day long, including two of Xavier’s brats,” she continued, crossing her arms while tapping her foot impatiently. “All of which occurred today of all days. What other explanation is there other than Quicksilver running amok?”

Erik stopped and turned his head towards the door, tilting his helm like he was listening for something. The muscles in his shoulders were visibly taunt even through the thick fabric of his cape and if there was any metal in the room, Mystique knew it would be moving.

‘Serves the brat right’ she thought smugly. If things went her way, little Maximoff would not be her problem after tonight.

Unfortunately, her hopes were quickly dashed when those icy blue irises turned on her instead.

“Are you to tell me, that not only have you ignored the fact that three mutant children are missing, one of which is mine,” he rumbled. “But that all of this occurred right under your nose, yet you have come to the sole conclusion that Pietro is to blame when you have no proof whatsoever. Is that what you’re telling me, Mystique?”

“I—that’s--” she started, clenching her own jaw in agitation. “Well what else could it have been! You said it yourself that he loves to steal!”

“Those bookcases that once resided against those walls,” he stated, turning to look at the now empty space. “They were imported African blackwood, weighing a near metric ton each. The desk was also made of solid oak. Combined, that is total weight of over 4000 pounds, alone.”

“What is your point?” she snipped, feeling her frustration rising.

“Pietro’s mutation allows him to achieve superspeed and have increased cognitive abilities, a faster healing rate than any average mutant and the speed at which to defy gravity,” he explained, his voice morphing into a dangerous growl. “He does not, however, have the power of superstrength. What you are accusing him of is not physically possible.”

“But—b-but that’s not--!” she stumbled back, trying to placate the man before blood was shed. She could not believe Pietro was not responsible, it couldn’t be possible! “But he--!”

The sound of the door slamming open had them both turning towards it, just in time to catch sight of a silver blur rushing in like a tornado on a warpath.

Speak of the Devil…

“DAD!” Pietro screeched, slamming into his Father’s side to wrap himself around his father’s arm, practically vibrating as he rushes through what happened. “Ohmygod! Ohmygod! Ohmygod! I have so much to tell you! You’re not gonna believe this! There’s a lab – it’s broken now and it’s not my fault! – under the school in one of the basements and it exploded and we found a weird gizmo gadget that looked like half of the Death Star and it sent us into a pocket dimension and everyone in this dimension kept appearing and disappearing like ghosts and it was supercreepy and Daniels tried to blame me – can you believe that!? – and the blue fuzz bucket was there too and he tried to teleport but couldn’t and I couldn’t run and it was horrible but then random furniture started falling from out of nowhere and almost crushed us and a car almost landed on my head and thenwefoundamutantcalledForgethatlookslikeaterminatorandhe—!”

“Langsamer werden,” Erik murmured over Pietro’s rapid retelling, accustomed to his son’s whirlwind speech pattern when he was overstimulated. He could feel how anxious Pietro was just from the tight grip he had, even through the thick fabric of his sleeve. “Atmen.”

“I am breathing!” Pietro argued, ironically taking a large breath before continuing on. “Forge! That was his name! Forge! He’s the one with Terminator hands and he called the weird gizmo a transdimensional projector – lame! – and that it trapped him there back in 1978 and frankly, his style was appalling, but he still looked the same and somehow survived the whole time he was there which doesn’t make sense and I can’t understand how but that doesn’t matter and he called it Middleverse – so original – and then he made this new gadget that he put on fuzz bucket--!”

“Who?”

“The blue boy! Keep up!” Pietro cried, shaking back and forth in irritation.

“Kurt Wagner?”

“That’s what I just said! Fuzz bucket put it on and he was able to teleport back to this reality and he told the Xavier mutants how to fix the Death Star to bring us back and that’s when we found all the mutants brawling with each other – and I can’t believe they were having a fight and didn’t invite me! I thought I was gonna be stuck there forever but we made it out and I can’t believe no one came looking for me – I mean, rude - And I’m pretty sure the X-weirdos took the new guy and the Death Star with them unless they destroyed it and frankly, they should, that thing is whacked!”

“Death-what?” Mystique gaped, only half-following the teen’s rapid words.

“The projector, weren’t you listening?” Pietro ranted, glaring at her. “Fingers crossed they destroy the fuckin’ thing!”

“This mutant, he went with the X-Men?” Erik interjected.

“Yes and now that that whole nightmare is over I’m freakin’ starvinggg! Can we get tacos? Or pizza! A dozen thin-crust, extra cheese, hold the anchovies New York pizzas with mustard!? I haven’t eaten anything since lunch and that was literally only a freakin’ snack and I—" Pietro then took the time to look around the room and raised an eyebrow at an open-mouthed Mystique. “Re-decorating? Wait a sec—was that your desk that almost crushed me!?”

“You can’t be serious,” Mystique gaped while blinking in disbelief. “Of all the convoluted lies you could have come up with, an alternate dimension? That’s what you’re--!”

“Enough,” Magneto said brusquely, silencing her rant with his unamused gaze.

Pietro stuck his tongue out at her brazenly, enjoying the brief flash of fire in her eyes as she withered under his Father’s punishing stare.

Suck it, bitch.

The metal bender stood silently still for a moment before reaching into his cape and pulling out a handful of bills, carefully folded together. Handing them over towards his son, he continued to level his furious gaze at his subordinate.

“Go eat whatever you wish, but return to the house before midnight, and don’t cause too much mischief,” he commanded. “It seems my colleague and I need to have a private discussion.”

Pietro snatched the cash with a grin and gave Mystique a cocky smile before zooming out the door.

New York pizza, here I come!