Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Where Angels Fear to Tread ❯ Family Ties ( Chapter 13 )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: Lady Foeseeker 
Anime/Manga: Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction | Genre(s): | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 07.22.2004 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.1K | Visits: 322 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction | Genre(s): | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 07.22.2004 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.1K | Visits: 322 | Status: Completed
Where Angels Fear to Tread
Part 13
Family Ties
Disclaimer: This is all owned by the voices in my head that allied themselves with the super penguines and took over the world. I really hope you don't think that.
ENJOY!
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Xavier Institute was one of larger buildings Kurt had ever seen. It didn't hold a candle to Capsule Corporation, of course, but it was still huge. He had been picked up at the train station by a bald man in a wheelchair and a woman with piercing blue eyes, straight white hair, and mocha coloured skin.
"Welcome to America, Mr. Wagner." Professor Xavier smiled.
"Son," Kurt corrected immediately. "My last name is Son. Not Wagner."
"Your foster parents called you Wagner," The Professor pointed out. "I can see no reason they would lie."
Kurt made a small noise of dissent in the back of his throat and grumbled out an insult to the man's lineage in Saiya-Go. Then he shrugged and followed the man towards the car, heavy bags in hand. He wore a long shapeless coat, one that his foster parents had bought for him, to hide him. He also wore a broad brimmed hat. "They also warned me of your differences." The Professor added.
"I'm not a freak," Kurt stated coolly. "At least, not according to Otousan. And my name is Son."
Xavier gave the boy an odd look, but sighed, "Look, Kurt, I can't call you Son as long as you're registered under Wagner."
"Then pronounce it correctly," Kurt snapped. "It's Vaugner. There is no 'w' sound in German."
"My apologizes, Kurt," Xavier smiled. "Now, we're almost to the mansion. You'll meet the other students there, when they get home from school. Your foster mother said you were fluent in English?"
"I've been speaking in it the whole time, have I not?" Kurt knew he sounded snide, but he couldn't help it. His foster parents had torn him from his family, and then sent him to AMERICA, and Gohan probably couldn't find him anywhere, and he couldn't even fly anymore! "I can also speak German, Japanese, French, and a few other languages." Bulma had taught Goten, Trunks, and him Saiya-Go, Namek-Go, and Chinese.
The Professor looked amazed, and shook his head. "That's shocking. How did you learn them all? And when?"
"My best friend's mother taught me. With her son and my other friend. She's a close friend of the family." Kurt replied. He was a bit less defensive now, figuring that he may as well learn to get along with these people. He'd be spending a while with them.
Xavier nodded slightly in understanding, then they had arrived at the mansion. Currently, they were in the Professor's study, waiting for two of the other mutants, Scott and Jean, to join them. Moments later, the two burst into the room, panting. "Sorry we're late, Prof," One teen, a tall boy with brown hair gasped. Kurt tilted his head in curiosity at the teen's odd red coloured glasses.
"Quite all right, Scott," The Professor waved away the apology with a dismissive hand. "Scott, Jean, I'd like you to meet Kurt Wagner."
The girl smiled and waved slightly. They couldn't see him well, he had hidden himself in shadows. She was pretty, a tall red head with sparkling green eyes. "Hi, Kurt. You going to come out?"
He offered a small shrug, "Once I have, you may wish I had not."
Scott smiled, "I doubt it."
Kurt didn't answer, just stepped into the light, removing his hat. The two other mutants gasped and stepped back slightly. The blue mutant sighed. He missed Goten and Trunks, and how accepting they were. He held out a furry, three fingered hand. "I did warn you," He reminded them, waiting for them to over come their shock. "It is a pleasure to meet you."
Scott tipped him a slightly unsure look as Kurt allowed a slight smile to reveal his long canines. No where NEAR Piccolo's, but longer than a normal human's. About Saiya-Jin size. "I do not bite," He added.
Scott stepped forward and accepting his hand then, still looking unsure of himself. "I'm sorry for stepping back. I was just--."
"Don't worry about it," Kurt interrupted. "You'll only stick your foot in your mouth. You aren't the first, you won't be the last, and it doesn't really matter."
Scott blinked. Kurt seemed slightly. . . cold. . . to him, but that was probably because he was protecting himself from others. "I hope you like it here."
Kurt shrugged. "I haven't been here long enough to know yet. Professor Xavier said you would show me to my room?"
"Of-of course," Scott stuttered slightly. "Followed me, please."
Kurt rolled his eyes and continued down the hall. Scott led him to a large room over looking the ocean. "This is your room," He said, gesturing to the expanse. Kurt raised an eyebrow. He'd never had a room so large. There didn't seem much point to it either. He missed his old room, with Gohan and Videl.
"I'll never forget you," He could remember Gohan saying, "And I'll never leave you. By Lunetra, Zukogo, Kyria, and Shistar, this I swear."
"You lied, Gohan," The boy murmured. "You lied to me. You let them take me. And now, every one is afraid." He stepped onto the small balcony the breeze playing with his indigo blue fur. "I just want to go home!"
He turned to go in, ignoring everything but his breathing and falling into a meditative stance. He wished he could still fly but he had lost most of his ki because his foster parents wouldn't let him train. He gave a low growl and fell into a kata, stretching his muscles with the slow moves, then falling into the quick, violent dance with the grace of a fighter. His movements grew faster and faster until he was a mere blue to the untrained eye, and then they slowed again.
It was awful and he knew it. He used to be so much faster, so much better, than that! He WOULD get back to his old standard, whether or not they liked it here! He hated feeling helpless and vulnerable. His eyes narrowed in resolve when someone knock on his door.
"Come in, Professor," Kurt didn't bother to turn. He knew what the man's ki felt like. Gohan had taught him to sense it. The man was fairly weak as far as ki went, probably due to lack of use of his legs.
"How did you know?" The Professor asked, opening the door.
"Heard your chair," Kurt lied smoothly. "Did you want something?"
"Just to give you something," The Professor held out a large box. Kurt raised an eyebrow, taking it and tossing it onto his bed. Then the Professor handed him a watch.
"It's a makes a hologram. So you don't get teased. It'll make you look normal."
"Like a human," Kurt bit out, finishing the sentence. "My Otousan always told me to be proud of who I was. Now everyone wants me to lie about my true self and hide behind masks!"
The Professor watched him, unsure of how to react, then rolled forward. "Now, if you press this button," He pushed it and a life-like hologram appeared. Bulma could have done better, Kurt knew, and it made his heart hurt. He watched his "normal" self as he raised a hand, moved his fingers, and looked in the mirror. This form had indigo hair, in the same style as his own, and dark brown eyes. His real eyes were a golden colour. A wolf gold. Videl had always loved his eyes and his hair. She'd paretically forced him to keep it long enough to pull back so she could play with it. He and Gohan had always shared secret smiles about it, because Gohan had always kept his hair long too.
The mutant pulled himself from his reverie and looked at the Professor, "A--danke. I mean, thank you." He'd almost slipped into Japanese, not German, but that had been the fastest way to hide his slip up.
"You are very welcome, Kurt. Now, it's time to eat, if you care to join us."
Kurt gave a careless shrug, "Sure." He left the watch on the bed table, following the professor out of the room.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
There weren't a lot of mutants at the institute yet, only Scott, Jean, a boy called Evan, the Professor, the woman that had been at the station, and himself. Evan was on the short side, only fifteen, with the same mocha skin tones as the older woman, and short blonde hair cut with a strange 'v' taken out of the back. The woman, Aurora Munroe, was his aunt.
Evan was a lot like Goten, Kurt mused, he was more on the fun loving and slightly not-so-bright side. But Goten was far better than these. . .wanna be super heros. Kurt sighed and Even glanced up. "Hey, a new kid!" He crowed happily, grabbing Kurt's hand. "Maybe YOU'LL like Saiya-man as much as me!" Evan looked him over, shrugging off the other mutant's appearance, and drug him to the table. All the while, talking nonstop.
"I have an assignment for Jean and Scott tomorrow," The Professor informed them. "I have detected a new mutant signature and I want you two to invite them here."
The oldest two nodded happily and began to get ready to leave. It would probably only take a day, but they both wanted to have some extra clothes should it take longer. Evan, meanwhile, had drug Kurt into the living room and was ranting about everything from Saiya-man to music. And Hurcule Satan.
"You know," Kurt coolly told him once he could get a word in edgewise, "Hurcule doesn't like Mutants a whole lot." He knew that from first hand experience. Evan stared at him, blinking dimly. Then he began to talk--again. Kurt sighed. The boy never shut up!
The blue mutant sighed again, excusing himself politely and heading towards his room. This jet-lag had wreaked havoc on his internal clock and he tired. Both physically and of the other teen's incessant talking! He shoved open the door to his room and noticed the box the Professor had given him where he had tossed it carelessly on his bed. He turned his attention to it, now, and slowly pulled the box open. There was a uniform inside, maroon spandex, complete with a belt. The professor's logo of an X was on the belt buckle. Kurt felt his shoulders droop. He didn't want to fight, he didn't want to take sides. He just wanted to join the Z-Senshi like Goten and Trunks would when he got old enough. He threw the uniform away and buried his head in his hands. He just wanted to go HOME.
For the first time in nearly three years, Kurt Son cried himself to sleep.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
The professor didn't make him go to school the next day, Kurt was still mostly asleep from the trip, and the time change. He appeared from his room at around noon, still slightly tired but not as much as before. "Kurt!" Auroro smiled, "It's nice to see you awake. Are you hungry?"
Kurt shrugged slightly, then nodded. "A little. Is there somewhere I could train? I practice martial arts and I'm a little. . .rusty." He mentally rolled his eyes. Rusty hardly began to describe it.
"Sure. There's a garden outside. Logan might be out there as well, but he shouldn't bother you." She gestured out the side doors in the library on the ground floor. Kurt nodded his thanks and left, wandering down the garden path. It was nice outside, not yet winter, but not the humid and hot summer days either. He scouted around for a brief moment, exploring his surroundings, and then moved back towards the center of the garden. There was a large open space there that would do very well.
He moved into a kata, his moves taking on his mood and become faster and more violent. He leapt as high as he could, hands and feet slicing through the air with kicks and punchs. Then he was at his peak, with his energy as high as it would go. He threw back his head, screaming, and gathered it together. "MA--SEN--KO HA!"
The resulting blast took out a small portion of the partition that he hadn't quiet aimed high enough to miss and crisped the small planets nearest his body. He fell to the cool ground, cheek pressed to the earth, body heaving with pants. He could still do it. He could still use his ki. . .and that meant that after he built it back up, he could still fly.
"You okay, kid?" A gruff voice, one Kurt didn't recognize, barked out.
Kurt muttered something partly incoherent and rolled over to face the man. He was short, not much taller than Kurt, who barely stood five feet six inches, and had dark blue black hair. His brown eyes were cool and distant and he had a sneer scribbled across his features. The gruff man held out a hand, looking at the boy.
Kurt grasped it swiftly, rising gracefully to his feet. "A--danke. I'm Kurt. I do not believe we have met?"
"Logan. Codename: Wolverine. I train the students here."
"I see. You seem. . .strong enough."
"Don't get cocky, kid. You don't seem like you got the build for a good fighter."
"There are many things that are not as they seem," Kurt agreed cryptically. Of course, Trunks and Goten had never looked like they could take out an entire building on accident, and Gohan didn't look like the saviour of Earth, but Logan didn't know that. Logan glanced at him and frowned.
"Did you see who took out part of that wall?" The man demanded watching the boy with a calculating gaze.
"I did," Kurt replied calmly.
Logan gave a snort of disbelief, "Yeah, right. The Prof said you teleport, not shoot stuff. I want the truth, kid."
"It is," Kurt reiterated flatly. "I took out the chunk of wall. It's called ki. Everyone has it."
"Prove it," Logan smirked in triumph. He didn't think the boy would be able to.
Kurt held out one hand, palm up, and called a small bit of energy to it. "It's not enough to do what I did to the wall, but it's what I can get at the moment. I'm extremely out of practice and my reserves are low."
Logan shot him a look of pure disbelief and fall into a defensive stance, "Okay, kid, show me what else you've got."
Kurt tilted his head, but fell into his own stance, created by Gohan, Videl, Vegita, and Goku for his unique physiology. "Bring it on," He muttered, launching himself across the gap. Logan counter-attacked, and the fight began.
It didn't last long. Kurt was used to opponents that could move faster than the untrained eye could travel and hit with more than four times the force of a semi-truck. Logan was on the ground, panting, in minutes. Kurt was annoyed at himself. "That was awful!" He moaned to a now mostly recovered Logan. "If Vegita saw me, he'd have my head!"
Logan raised an eyebrow, "Vegita?"
"An old friend. One of the ones that taught me to fight. But I'm so rusty that if he saw me, he probably kill me. That or die from laughter at my pathetic attempts to fight. I can't believe I got so bad!" Kurt was blushing from shame. "And you SAW. Oh Kami, what the H.F.I.L. was I thinking?"
"Kami? Kid, your German, not Japanese."
Kurt snorted and turned away, "I'm a blue freak. What else could you want?"
Logan frowned again. This kid sure had self confidence problems. Maybe from his appearance? Well, Logan HAD seen weirder. This kid was nothing compared to Sabertooth. And Sabertooth was far uglier as well. Logan's face settled into a look of decidedness. He would talk to the professor about this, first thing when the professor got back from recruiting that new girl.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
It was dark before the others, Scott and Jean returned, a new girl in tow. Kurt watched her with wide eyes. She had long chestnut brown hair pulled into a high ponytail, bright blue eyes, and a rather annoying valley girl voice. "So, like, this is, like, the Institute place where I'm, like, going to live?" She asked, looking around the huge entrance hall.
"Hai." Kurt dropped form the ceiling and landed in front of her in a measured crouch. "Watashi wa Son Kurt."
"Mr. Wagner." The Professor scolded. "You need not upset Miss Pryde like that. Kitty, this is Kurt Wagner. He likes to surprise people. He is new as well. Kurt, this is Kitty Pryde."
"Kobanwa," Kurt smirked with a bow, golden eyes gleaming in the dim evening light. "Honor to meet you, Katzchen. Or, perhaps, Neko-chan is more suiting."
"Kurt, do stop scaring her," The professor scolded. Jean offered a tiny smile to the other mutant and shook Kitty's shoulder gently.
Kitty gasped and looked over Kurt, "Demon!" She shrieked.
"Hardly," Kurt scoffed. "I'm am no Oni. Just a little ol' mutant that looks like one. Neko-chan."
Then he disappeared in a poof of blue smoke smelling of sulfur and brimstone.
Kitty fainted in shock.
Jean found this entire ordeal the funniest thing she had seen in months. The Professor, however, was not amused.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Several days later, Logan finally found the time to go to the professor about what he had witnessed during his fight with Kurt, including the energy ball the teen had toasted part of the wall with.
"I'm concerned about him, Logan. He's very cold to the other students. He caused Kitty to faint the day she arrived as well." Professor Xavier frowned.
Logan shook his head, "Look, Prof, He's just a kid that seems to have been beaten up a lot. He's not normal, prof, you have to admit that he would be just a little cold."
Xavier frowned at the older mutant, shaking his head. "He keeps talking about his 'Otousan', what ever that is, and making comments about how his last name is Son, not Wagner. Logan, I think he has some problems mentally accepting his life."
Logan looked at him thoughtfully, "I'm not expert on kids, Chuck, but this could be his way of escaping the world. But what if it's true? Maybe he does have some other family out there that truly accepted him for who he is."
"I know but--" Several alarms began to go off and Charles Xavier shook his head, "We'll deal with it later. There's a new mutant to look for."
"What're the Stats, Chuck?" Logan bent down to eye the screen in front of him. "Girl, Sixteen. . .hm. . .name's Marie? She lives in Alabama? Well, gather the team and let's go, Chuck!"
Charles smiled gently, then sent out a mental call for the group to suit up and meet at the Blackbird. It didn't take long for them to meet and leave. Only a matter of minutes. Then, it was off to Alabama.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Kurt stared out of the window of the jet and sighed, his expression turning broody. He missed Gohan and wished the Demi Saiya-Jin would hurry up and get him. He hated this place, where everyone looked at him like some. . .disease or something. Calling him a demon or a monster or a beast.
"We're here. This girl, Marie," Logan explained, "was at a school dance. She's run away since then and we've got to find her. Got to explain."
Kurt shrugged and bamf-ed out of the jet, sniffing slightly. Then he closed his eyes, stretching his senses. If she really was so new to her power, she'd be panicked and her ki would have sharply spiked. Breathing deeply, he centered himself and began to teleport across town, moving swiftly. He was sure it was unwise of him to appear in front of her without warning, so he stayed on the lookout for her.
He felt it, a sharp spike in someone's ki. Then a second following close behind. Mystique? SHE was here? And who was the other? His eyes snapped open. It had to be Marie. He ported towards his destination and landed suddenly in front of her, in her back yard, looking up into her eyes. And he flinched, waiting for the scream. He wasn't disappointed.
"Demon!" She shouted. Kurt looked at the ground in shame.
"I'm not, you know," He whispered. "I'm a person too."
"Ya cahn't be, ya jus' cahn't," The girl sobbed, grabbing his arm. Kurt felt his power being drained away, and turned the fight inward, trying to keep his life force inside. Had he have had more practice, it might have worked. As it was, it only delayed her a little bit before his power was taken and he had fallen to the ground and to the welcome darkness.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
"Kurt?" A gentle voice asked, shaking him awake. "Time to get up now."
The blue mutant groaned and turned his head away from the light. "Nani?" He whimpered, eyes tightly shut. "Otousan? Okassan?"
Storm blinked, she hadn't realized that Kurt knew Japanese. "Kurt, it's me. Storm. Are you all right?"
"Iie." The mutant muttered, touching his head and sitting up. "Storm?"
"Yeah. How do you feel?"
"Like Go-- Like a 747 landed on my head." Kurt made a face. "What happened?"
"Marie got away," Storm sighed. "She stole your power. Jean managed to contact her, but I don't know that it matters. She wasn't very responsive--"
"Because she saw me," Kurt broke in. "I know. I should have stayed here, out of sight. I'm an outcast even among my own."
"Kurt--"
"I mean it, Storm. I know how every one flinches when they see me. Kitty thinks I'm a demon, so did the girl. The only place I felt. . . Never mind. That's over and done with."
"Kurt, why won't you let us help?"
"Help? What are you going to do? Give me plastic surgery for my fur, my tail, my eyes, and my hands? No, I'll just stay a demon." He turned away. "I'll tell you when I'm ready to talk about it."
Storm sighed but nodded and left the room leaving a thoroughly depressed Kurt in her wake.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Months passed and mutant after mutant was found. Even one that looked shared Kurt's unique ability of looking like an animal. Dr. Hank McCoy, Kurt's former Chemistry teacher had transformed and taken up residence in the institute. Kurt hated it. Hated him. Most of the residence in the institute had gotten to know Dr. McCoy before he had changed and they never flinched when they saw him, yet most of them were still hesitant to shake his hand, talk to him, or even look at him.
The teen could feel hot tears pricking his eyes and threw himself face down on the bed. In this house, it was never safe to cry. Not unless he was far, far away. So he ported. He didn't care where he went, or the trouble he got into when he got there, he just knew he had to get away. Had to find some place to feel safe. He ported several times one after another, never stopping to see where he was. He ended up in a forest some miles away from the institute and fell to the ground, rain lashing his blue fur and tears streaking his wet face.
"Dende, why did you send me here? What do I need to find?" Somewhere in the distance, thunder crashed. "WHY CAN'T I GO HOME? WHY? TELL ME!" His knees collapsed from under him and he beat the ground with his fist. "WHY?" He held out his hands, launching a burst of energy towards the raging sky.
"Wh-who's thare?" A soft voice with a gentle southern accent asked, sounding frightened. Kurt raced up a tree.
"I'm sorry I've barged into your space," Kurt's reply barely reached her ears. "You fear me. I don't want you--don't want anyone--to see me."
"Ah. . .Ah don' know thaht Ah'll be scared," The girl replied.
"You've seen me before," Kurt whispered, moving closer so she could hear, but making sure he stayed inside the shadows where she couldn't see. "I scared you then. I look to be a demon, a monster."
"But ya. . . ya aren't?" The girl turned, trying to find him.
"Iie, I mean, no, I'm not. Just. . . a kid that looks like one. A kid no-one ever wants to see."
Marie blinked, looking around. The voice was so heart broken that she had to find them, had to comfort them. "I want ta see ya," She murmured, hoping they'd come out.
"You mean that?" The voice breathed. "You didn't before. You screamed when you saw me. Why do you want to see me now?"
Marie frowned. She had screamed when. . . oh. It must be the blue one. The demonic looking one. Maybe she didn't want to see him after all. She wore an uncertain look, but then his voice came back to her. "The kid no-one wants to see." She bit her lip, then called, "Ah want ta see ya. Ah won' scream, promise."
Hesitantly the figure emerged from the shadows, golden eyes downcast, waiting the coming rejection. Marie did a double take. Maybe he wasn't so bad. "What's yer nahme?" She finally broke the oppressing silence.
"Kurt. Kurt Son. You're Marie? Professor called you the Rogue."
"Yeah, Ah'm Marie, but it seems now that every'un calls tha Rogue."
"It suits you. You don't match anyone else's description. You're just. . . you."
"What da they call ya?"
"Nightcrawler. But I'd rather be Dark Angel."
"I think tha last 'un fits ya better than tha first."
"So do I. But, like I said, everyone thinks me a demon. The outcast among outcasts." There it was, the heart broken voice. Rogue stepped forward and hugged him.
"I never had a family before," She confessed. "Is this what havin' one feels like?"
"Yeah," Kurt hugged her back. "I'll be your family."
And the two teens cried the night away not caring about the pouring rain, the dark forest, or the deafening thunder.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
(A/N) Well, Um. . . it's the next chapter. Gohan's coming up, but I had to get some plot stuff outta the way so I summerized some stuff and. . . yeah. Hope you liked! Review, please! Flames are, as always, for S'more. And word STILL doesn't know what a S'more is. Poor Bill Gates, such a depraived child. . .
Love you all,
~*~ Lady Foeseeker ~*~
Part 13
Family Ties
Disclaimer: This is all owned by the voices in my head that allied themselves with the super penguines and took over the world. I really hope you don't think that.
ENJOY!
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Xavier Institute was one of larger buildings Kurt had ever seen. It didn't hold a candle to Capsule Corporation, of course, but it was still huge. He had been picked up at the train station by a bald man in a wheelchair and a woman with piercing blue eyes, straight white hair, and mocha coloured skin.
"Welcome to America, Mr. Wagner." Professor Xavier smiled.
"Son," Kurt corrected immediately. "My last name is Son. Not Wagner."
"Your foster parents called you Wagner," The Professor pointed out. "I can see no reason they would lie."
Kurt made a small noise of dissent in the back of his throat and grumbled out an insult to the man's lineage in Saiya-Go. Then he shrugged and followed the man towards the car, heavy bags in hand. He wore a long shapeless coat, one that his foster parents had bought for him, to hide him. He also wore a broad brimmed hat. "They also warned me of your differences." The Professor added.
"I'm not a freak," Kurt stated coolly. "At least, not according to Otousan. And my name is Son."
Xavier gave the boy an odd look, but sighed, "Look, Kurt, I can't call you Son as long as you're registered under Wagner."
"Then pronounce it correctly," Kurt snapped. "It's Vaugner. There is no 'w' sound in German."
"My apologizes, Kurt," Xavier smiled. "Now, we're almost to the mansion. You'll meet the other students there, when they get home from school. Your foster mother said you were fluent in English?"
"I've been speaking in it the whole time, have I not?" Kurt knew he sounded snide, but he couldn't help it. His foster parents had torn him from his family, and then sent him to AMERICA, and Gohan probably couldn't find him anywhere, and he couldn't even fly anymore! "I can also speak German, Japanese, French, and a few other languages." Bulma had taught Goten, Trunks, and him Saiya-Go, Namek-Go, and Chinese.
The Professor looked amazed, and shook his head. "That's shocking. How did you learn them all? And when?"
"My best friend's mother taught me. With her son and my other friend. She's a close friend of the family." Kurt replied. He was a bit less defensive now, figuring that he may as well learn to get along with these people. He'd be spending a while with them.
Xavier nodded slightly in understanding, then they had arrived at the mansion. Currently, they were in the Professor's study, waiting for two of the other mutants, Scott and Jean, to join them. Moments later, the two burst into the room, panting. "Sorry we're late, Prof," One teen, a tall boy with brown hair gasped. Kurt tilted his head in curiosity at the teen's odd red coloured glasses.
"Quite all right, Scott," The Professor waved away the apology with a dismissive hand. "Scott, Jean, I'd like you to meet Kurt Wagner."
The girl smiled and waved slightly. They couldn't see him well, he had hidden himself in shadows. She was pretty, a tall red head with sparkling green eyes. "Hi, Kurt. You going to come out?"
He offered a small shrug, "Once I have, you may wish I had not."
Scott smiled, "I doubt it."
Kurt didn't answer, just stepped into the light, removing his hat. The two other mutants gasped and stepped back slightly. The blue mutant sighed. He missed Goten and Trunks, and how accepting they were. He held out a furry, three fingered hand. "I did warn you," He reminded them, waiting for them to over come their shock. "It is a pleasure to meet you."
Scott tipped him a slightly unsure look as Kurt allowed a slight smile to reveal his long canines. No where NEAR Piccolo's, but longer than a normal human's. About Saiya-Jin size. "I do not bite," He added.
Scott stepped forward and accepting his hand then, still looking unsure of himself. "I'm sorry for stepping back. I was just--."
"Don't worry about it," Kurt interrupted. "You'll only stick your foot in your mouth. You aren't the first, you won't be the last, and it doesn't really matter."
Scott blinked. Kurt seemed slightly. . . cold. . . to him, but that was probably because he was protecting himself from others. "I hope you like it here."
Kurt shrugged. "I haven't been here long enough to know yet. Professor Xavier said you would show me to my room?"
"Of-of course," Scott stuttered slightly. "Followed me, please."
Kurt rolled his eyes and continued down the hall. Scott led him to a large room over looking the ocean. "This is your room," He said, gesturing to the expanse. Kurt raised an eyebrow. He'd never had a room so large. There didn't seem much point to it either. He missed his old room, with Gohan and Videl.
"I'll never forget you," He could remember Gohan saying, "And I'll never leave you. By Lunetra, Zukogo, Kyria, and Shistar, this I swear."
"You lied, Gohan," The boy murmured. "You lied to me. You let them take me. And now, every one is afraid." He stepped onto the small balcony the breeze playing with his indigo blue fur. "I just want to go home!"
He turned to go in, ignoring everything but his breathing and falling into a meditative stance. He wished he could still fly but he had lost most of his ki because his foster parents wouldn't let him train. He gave a low growl and fell into a kata, stretching his muscles with the slow moves, then falling into the quick, violent dance with the grace of a fighter. His movements grew faster and faster until he was a mere blue to the untrained eye, and then they slowed again.
It was awful and he knew it. He used to be so much faster, so much better, than that! He WOULD get back to his old standard, whether or not they liked it here! He hated feeling helpless and vulnerable. His eyes narrowed in resolve when someone knock on his door.
"Come in, Professor," Kurt didn't bother to turn. He knew what the man's ki felt like. Gohan had taught him to sense it. The man was fairly weak as far as ki went, probably due to lack of use of his legs.
"How did you know?" The Professor asked, opening the door.
"Heard your chair," Kurt lied smoothly. "Did you want something?"
"Just to give you something," The Professor held out a large box. Kurt raised an eyebrow, taking it and tossing it onto his bed. Then the Professor handed him a watch.
"It's a makes a hologram. So you don't get teased. It'll make you look normal."
"Like a human," Kurt bit out, finishing the sentence. "My Otousan always told me to be proud of who I was. Now everyone wants me to lie about my true self and hide behind masks!"
The Professor watched him, unsure of how to react, then rolled forward. "Now, if you press this button," He pushed it and a life-like hologram appeared. Bulma could have done better, Kurt knew, and it made his heart hurt. He watched his "normal" self as he raised a hand, moved his fingers, and looked in the mirror. This form had indigo hair, in the same style as his own, and dark brown eyes. His real eyes were a golden colour. A wolf gold. Videl had always loved his eyes and his hair. She'd paretically forced him to keep it long enough to pull back so she could play with it. He and Gohan had always shared secret smiles about it, because Gohan had always kept his hair long too.
The mutant pulled himself from his reverie and looked at the Professor, "A--danke. I mean, thank you." He'd almost slipped into Japanese, not German, but that had been the fastest way to hide his slip up.
"You are very welcome, Kurt. Now, it's time to eat, if you care to join us."
Kurt gave a careless shrug, "Sure." He left the watch on the bed table, following the professor out of the room.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
There weren't a lot of mutants at the institute yet, only Scott, Jean, a boy called Evan, the Professor, the woman that had been at the station, and himself. Evan was on the short side, only fifteen, with the same mocha skin tones as the older woman, and short blonde hair cut with a strange 'v' taken out of the back. The woman, Aurora Munroe, was his aunt.
Evan was a lot like Goten, Kurt mused, he was more on the fun loving and slightly not-so-bright side. But Goten was far better than these. . .wanna be super heros. Kurt sighed and Even glanced up. "Hey, a new kid!" He crowed happily, grabbing Kurt's hand. "Maybe YOU'LL like Saiya-man as much as me!" Evan looked him over, shrugging off the other mutant's appearance, and drug him to the table. All the while, talking nonstop.
"I have an assignment for Jean and Scott tomorrow," The Professor informed them. "I have detected a new mutant signature and I want you two to invite them here."
The oldest two nodded happily and began to get ready to leave. It would probably only take a day, but they both wanted to have some extra clothes should it take longer. Evan, meanwhile, had drug Kurt into the living room and was ranting about everything from Saiya-man to music. And Hurcule Satan.
"You know," Kurt coolly told him once he could get a word in edgewise, "Hurcule doesn't like Mutants a whole lot." He knew that from first hand experience. Evan stared at him, blinking dimly. Then he began to talk--again. Kurt sighed. The boy never shut up!
The blue mutant sighed again, excusing himself politely and heading towards his room. This jet-lag had wreaked havoc on his internal clock and he tired. Both physically and of the other teen's incessant talking! He shoved open the door to his room and noticed the box the Professor had given him where he had tossed it carelessly on his bed. He turned his attention to it, now, and slowly pulled the box open. There was a uniform inside, maroon spandex, complete with a belt. The professor's logo of an X was on the belt buckle. Kurt felt his shoulders droop. He didn't want to fight, he didn't want to take sides. He just wanted to join the Z-Senshi like Goten and Trunks would when he got old enough. He threw the uniform away and buried his head in his hands. He just wanted to go HOME.
For the first time in nearly three years, Kurt Son cried himself to sleep.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
The professor didn't make him go to school the next day, Kurt was still mostly asleep from the trip, and the time change. He appeared from his room at around noon, still slightly tired but not as much as before. "Kurt!" Auroro smiled, "It's nice to see you awake. Are you hungry?"
Kurt shrugged slightly, then nodded. "A little. Is there somewhere I could train? I practice martial arts and I'm a little. . .rusty." He mentally rolled his eyes. Rusty hardly began to describe it.
"Sure. There's a garden outside. Logan might be out there as well, but he shouldn't bother you." She gestured out the side doors in the library on the ground floor. Kurt nodded his thanks and left, wandering down the garden path. It was nice outside, not yet winter, but not the humid and hot summer days either. He scouted around for a brief moment, exploring his surroundings, and then moved back towards the center of the garden. There was a large open space there that would do very well.
He moved into a kata, his moves taking on his mood and become faster and more violent. He leapt as high as he could, hands and feet slicing through the air with kicks and punchs. Then he was at his peak, with his energy as high as it would go. He threw back his head, screaming, and gathered it together. "MA--SEN--KO HA!"
The resulting blast took out a small portion of the partition that he hadn't quiet aimed high enough to miss and crisped the small planets nearest his body. He fell to the cool ground, cheek pressed to the earth, body heaving with pants. He could still do it. He could still use his ki. . .and that meant that after he built it back up, he could still fly.
"You okay, kid?" A gruff voice, one Kurt didn't recognize, barked out.
Kurt muttered something partly incoherent and rolled over to face the man. He was short, not much taller than Kurt, who barely stood five feet six inches, and had dark blue black hair. His brown eyes were cool and distant and he had a sneer scribbled across his features. The gruff man held out a hand, looking at the boy.
Kurt grasped it swiftly, rising gracefully to his feet. "A--danke. I'm Kurt. I do not believe we have met?"
"Logan. Codename: Wolverine. I train the students here."
"I see. You seem. . .strong enough."
"Don't get cocky, kid. You don't seem like you got the build for a good fighter."
"There are many things that are not as they seem," Kurt agreed cryptically. Of course, Trunks and Goten had never looked like they could take out an entire building on accident, and Gohan didn't look like the saviour of Earth, but Logan didn't know that. Logan glanced at him and frowned.
"Did you see who took out part of that wall?" The man demanded watching the boy with a calculating gaze.
"I did," Kurt replied calmly.
Logan gave a snort of disbelief, "Yeah, right. The Prof said you teleport, not shoot stuff. I want the truth, kid."
"It is," Kurt reiterated flatly. "I took out the chunk of wall. It's called ki. Everyone has it."
"Prove it," Logan smirked in triumph. He didn't think the boy would be able to.
Kurt held out one hand, palm up, and called a small bit of energy to it. "It's not enough to do what I did to the wall, but it's what I can get at the moment. I'm extremely out of practice and my reserves are low."
Logan shot him a look of pure disbelief and fall into a defensive stance, "Okay, kid, show me what else you've got."
Kurt tilted his head, but fell into his own stance, created by Gohan, Videl, Vegita, and Goku for his unique physiology. "Bring it on," He muttered, launching himself across the gap. Logan counter-attacked, and the fight began.
It didn't last long. Kurt was used to opponents that could move faster than the untrained eye could travel and hit with more than four times the force of a semi-truck. Logan was on the ground, panting, in minutes. Kurt was annoyed at himself. "That was awful!" He moaned to a now mostly recovered Logan. "If Vegita saw me, he'd have my head!"
Logan raised an eyebrow, "Vegita?"
"An old friend. One of the ones that taught me to fight. But I'm so rusty that if he saw me, he probably kill me. That or die from laughter at my pathetic attempts to fight. I can't believe I got so bad!" Kurt was blushing from shame. "And you SAW. Oh Kami, what the H.F.I.L. was I thinking?"
"Kami? Kid, your German, not Japanese."
Kurt snorted and turned away, "I'm a blue freak. What else could you want?"
Logan frowned again. This kid sure had self confidence problems. Maybe from his appearance? Well, Logan HAD seen weirder. This kid was nothing compared to Sabertooth. And Sabertooth was far uglier as well. Logan's face settled into a look of decidedness. He would talk to the professor about this, first thing when the professor got back from recruiting that new girl.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
It was dark before the others, Scott and Jean returned, a new girl in tow. Kurt watched her with wide eyes. She had long chestnut brown hair pulled into a high ponytail, bright blue eyes, and a rather annoying valley girl voice. "So, like, this is, like, the Institute place where I'm, like, going to live?" She asked, looking around the huge entrance hall.
"Hai." Kurt dropped form the ceiling and landed in front of her in a measured crouch. "Watashi wa Son Kurt."
"Mr. Wagner." The Professor scolded. "You need not upset Miss Pryde like that. Kitty, this is Kurt Wagner. He likes to surprise people. He is new as well. Kurt, this is Kitty Pryde."
"Kobanwa," Kurt smirked with a bow, golden eyes gleaming in the dim evening light. "Honor to meet you, Katzchen. Or, perhaps, Neko-chan is more suiting."
"Kurt, do stop scaring her," The professor scolded. Jean offered a tiny smile to the other mutant and shook Kitty's shoulder gently.
Kitty gasped and looked over Kurt, "Demon!" She shrieked.
"Hardly," Kurt scoffed. "I'm am no Oni. Just a little ol' mutant that looks like one. Neko-chan."
Then he disappeared in a poof of blue smoke smelling of sulfur and brimstone.
Kitty fainted in shock.
Jean found this entire ordeal the funniest thing she had seen in months. The Professor, however, was not amused.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Several days later, Logan finally found the time to go to the professor about what he had witnessed during his fight with Kurt, including the energy ball the teen had toasted part of the wall with.
"I'm concerned about him, Logan. He's very cold to the other students. He caused Kitty to faint the day she arrived as well." Professor Xavier frowned.
Logan shook his head, "Look, Prof, He's just a kid that seems to have been beaten up a lot. He's not normal, prof, you have to admit that he would be just a little cold."
Xavier frowned at the older mutant, shaking his head. "He keeps talking about his 'Otousan', what ever that is, and making comments about how his last name is Son, not Wagner. Logan, I think he has some problems mentally accepting his life."
Logan looked at him thoughtfully, "I'm not expert on kids, Chuck, but this could be his way of escaping the world. But what if it's true? Maybe he does have some other family out there that truly accepted him for who he is."
"I know but--" Several alarms began to go off and Charles Xavier shook his head, "We'll deal with it later. There's a new mutant to look for."
"What're the Stats, Chuck?" Logan bent down to eye the screen in front of him. "Girl, Sixteen. . .hm. . .name's Marie? She lives in Alabama? Well, gather the team and let's go, Chuck!"
Charles smiled gently, then sent out a mental call for the group to suit up and meet at the Blackbird. It didn't take long for them to meet and leave. Only a matter of minutes. Then, it was off to Alabama.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Kurt stared out of the window of the jet and sighed, his expression turning broody. He missed Gohan and wished the Demi Saiya-Jin would hurry up and get him. He hated this place, where everyone looked at him like some. . .disease or something. Calling him a demon or a monster or a beast.
"We're here. This girl, Marie," Logan explained, "was at a school dance. She's run away since then and we've got to find her. Got to explain."
Kurt shrugged and bamf-ed out of the jet, sniffing slightly. Then he closed his eyes, stretching his senses. If she really was so new to her power, she'd be panicked and her ki would have sharply spiked. Breathing deeply, he centered himself and began to teleport across town, moving swiftly. He was sure it was unwise of him to appear in front of her without warning, so he stayed on the lookout for her.
He felt it, a sharp spike in someone's ki. Then a second following close behind. Mystique? SHE was here? And who was the other? His eyes snapped open. It had to be Marie. He ported towards his destination and landed suddenly in front of her, in her back yard, looking up into her eyes. And he flinched, waiting for the scream. He wasn't disappointed.
"Demon!" She shouted. Kurt looked at the ground in shame.
"I'm not, you know," He whispered. "I'm a person too."
"Ya cahn't be, ya jus' cahn't," The girl sobbed, grabbing his arm. Kurt felt his power being drained away, and turned the fight inward, trying to keep his life force inside. Had he have had more practice, it might have worked. As it was, it only delayed her a little bit before his power was taken and he had fallen to the ground and to the welcome darkness.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
"Kurt?" A gentle voice asked, shaking him awake. "Time to get up now."
The blue mutant groaned and turned his head away from the light. "Nani?" He whimpered, eyes tightly shut. "Otousan? Okassan?"
Storm blinked, she hadn't realized that Kurt knew Japanese. "Kurt, it's me. Storm. Are you all right?"
"Iie." The mutant muttered, touching his head and sitting up. "Storm?"
"Yeah. How do you feel?"
"Like Go-- Like a 747 landed on my head." Kurt made a face. "What happened?"
"Marie got away," Storm sighed. "She stole your power. Jean managed to contact her, but I don't know that it matters. She wasn't very responsive--"
"Because she saw me," Kurt broke in. "I know. I should have stayed here, out of sight. I'm an outcast even among my own."
"Kurt--"
"I mean it, Storm. I know how every one flinches when they see me. Kitty thinks I'm a demon, so did the girl. The only place I felt. . . Never mind. That's over and done with."
"Kurt, why won't you let us help?"
"Help? What are you going to do? Give me plastic surgery for my fur, my tail, my eyes, and my hands? No, I'll just stay a demon." He turned away. "I'll tell you when I'm ready to talk about it."
Storm sighed but nodded and left the room leaving a thoroughly depressed Kurt in her wake.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Months passed and mutant after mutant was found. Even one that looked shared Kurt's unique ability of looking like an animal. Dr. Hank McCoy, Kurt's former Chemistry teacher had transformed and taken up residence in the institute. Kurt hated it. Hated him. Most of the residence in the institute had gotten to know Dr. McCoy before he had changed and they never flinched when they saw him, yet most of them were still hesitant to shake his hand, talk to him, or even look at him.
The teen could feel hot tears pricking his eyes and threw himself face down on the bed. In this house, it was never safe to cry. Not unless he was far, far away. So he ported. He didn't care where he went, or the trouble he got into when he got there, he just knew he had to get away. Had to find some place to feel safe. He ported several times one after another, never stopping to see where he was. He ended up in a forest some miles away from the institute and fell to the ground, rain lashing his blue fur and tears streaking his wet face.
"Dende, why did you send me here? What do I need to find?" Somewhere in the distance, thunder crashed. "WHY CAN'T I GO HOME? WHY? TELL ME!" His knees collapsed from under him and he beat the ground with his fist. "WHY?" He held out his hands, launching a burst of energy towards the raging sky.
"Wh-who's thare?" A soft voice with a gentle southern accent asked, sounding frightened. Kurt raced up a tree.
"I'm sorry I've barged into your space," Kurt's reply barely reached her ears. "You fear me. I don't want you--don't want anyone--to see me."
"Ah. . .Ah don' know thaht Ah'll be scared," The girl replied.
"You've seen me before," Kurt whispered, moving closer so she could hear, but making sure he stayed inside the shadows where she couldn't see. "I scared you then. I look to be a demon, a monster."
"But ya. . . ya aren't?" The girl turned, trying to find him.
"Iie, I mean, no, I'm not. Just. . . a kid that looks like one. A kid no-one ever wants to see."
Marie blinked, looking around. The voice was so heart broken that she had to find them, had to comfort them. "I want ta see ya," She murmured, hoping they'd come out.
"You mean that?" The voice breathed. "You didn't before. You screamed when you saw me. Why do you want to see me now?"
Marie frowned. She had screamed when. . . oh. It must be the blue one. The demonic looking one. Maybe she didn't want to see him after all. She wore an uncertain look, but then his voice came back to her. "The kid no-one wants to see." She bit her lip, then called, "Ah want ta see ya. Ah won' scream, promise."
Hesitantly the figure emerged from the shadows, golden eyes downcast, waiting the coming rejection. Marie did a double take. Maybe he wasn't so bad. "What's yer nahme?" She finally broke the oppressing silence.
"Kurt. Kurt Son. You're Marie? Professor called you the Rogue."
"Yeah, Ah'm Marie, but it seems now that every'un calls tha Rogue."
"It suits you. You don't match anyone else's description. You're just. . . you."
"What da they call ya?"
"Nightcrawler. But I'd rather be Dark Angel."
"I think tha last 'un fits ya better than tha first."
"So do I. But, like I said, everyone thinks me a demon. The outcast among outcasts." There it was, the heart broken voice. Rogue stepped forward and hugged him.
"I never had a family before," She confessed. "Is this what havin' one feels like?"
"Yeah," Kurt hugged her back. "I'll be your family."
And the two teens cried the night away not caring about the pouring rain, the dark forest, or the deafening thunder.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
(A/N) Well, Um. . . it's the next chapter. Gohan's coming up, but I had to get some plot stuff outta the way so I summerized some stuff and. . . yeah. Hope you liked! Review, please! Flames are, as always, for S'more. And word STILL doesn't know what a S'more is. Poor Bill Gates, such a depraived child. . .
Love you all,
~*~ Lady Foeseeker ~*~