Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ The Ultimate Antidote ❯ Cerebro's full of shit. ( Chapter 5 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

The Ultimate Antidote
Written By: Matdeception

Ranma 1/2 Notes: Takes place after the manga.

X-Men: Evolution Notes: Time line all fucked up, and I don't care.

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor would I pretend to own the copy rights for Ranma 1/2, or X-men: Evolution. I write to pay homage to the original authors, and to increase my own writing skills. I do not seek to use their intellectual property for monetary gain.

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Chapter 4: Cerebro's full of shit.

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It was at times like these, during the early morning hours, just before sunrise where she truly realized the luck she had finding Xavier. Though she was practically revered as a god among the Kenyan Tribe in Africa, nothing back then could compare to the warm feelings she felt every morning here at the school.

Ororo Monroe, also know as Storm to her closest friends, brought the steaming cup of coffee to her lips. She breathed on it a little, to cool the steaming liquid within, before tentatively sipping it.

Ah, yes. She certainly did enjoy the quiet hours of the morning, before the kids woke up for school. It wouldn't last, nothing ever did, but for now she could enjoy the relative peace and silence.

Scott Summers, also known as Cyclops, was a morning person too. Not nearly as much as she was, but being the figurative leader for the children, she supposed that was what he believed was expected of him. Slowly, lethargically, he stumbled into the kitchen, stopping by the fridge and retrieving the carton of orange juice.

"Morning Scott."

"Muning." he mumbled, reaching for a glass and pouring himself a drink. God he hated mornings. "S'a professor back yet?"

"Afraid not." Storm sipped her coffee.

"Where did he go, anyway?"

"He discovered a recent mutant activation through Cerebro." It surprised her Scott hadn't truly realized the Professor was always watching the world, with help from Cerebro, for mutants. It was how he found the majority of the students in the first place.

"Ah." he grunted, refilling his glass before returning the carton to the fridge, "Guess I can expect a new recruit?"

Storm shrugged, "It's possible."

Scott frowned at that. He didn't have any problems with new recruits, in fact he welcomed it. But the Professor had been gone over a week as it was. It wasn't strange from him to be gone the span of three, four days, and he knew he was probably worrying about nothing, but week long absences were rare. Still.. he was probably worrying about nothing.

---

Today was just one train crash after another. Kuno, Hinako, even Akane. Everything was spiraling out of control. What could he do? He knew Akane deserved an apology for all the shit she had to put up with. He even wanted too, but every time he tried he just got so angry, and not even angry at Akane, at his own damn self.

The thing with Hinako sucked. Poor girl didn't deserve what she was gettin, he did. He was the mutant, he was the tainted blood. He was the one everyone hated...

"Oh fuck this!" he scowled, slamming his fists against the bridges railing, smashing the stone like it was nothing. He was not going down that road. He wasn't going to drown himself in self pity. Shit, if people hated mutants so be it. Being depressed about it wasn't helpin nobody, and being silent only seemed to piss people off more. Screw em, screw em all.

"Ranma?"

Ranma blinked. Oh, when did Ryoga get here?

---

"You sure this is the kid, Chuck?" Logan wasn't terribly impressed. A little taller then he was, decent build he guessed, and looking so depressed he'd give Rogue a run for her money.

Xavier said nothing, simply watching the child. The two had stopped at the edge of the bridge, watching the boy who stood towards the very middle, facing south. The boy's mind was in turmoil over something, though he suspected what it was, he couldn't be sure.

"Oh fuck this!" the boy scowled, slamming his fists against the bridges railing, a small explosion of stone blasting outward from the force of his attack.

Logan raised an eyebrow. Kid smashed solid stone, in public even. Weird, none of the pedestrians seemed perturbed by it, in fact they out right ignored it.

Xavier was surprised, though he carefully hid that fact behind his calm visage. Cerebro, when it first detected the mutant's mutation, didn't even hint behind super strength. In fact, the boys mutation didn't appear as anything destructive, but more passive. Could Cerebro have been mistaken?

It didn't seem plausible. In all the times it had detected the mutant gene, it had not been wrong, so that begged the question of just how this mutant was different from the others.

---

Ryoga really didn't like his situation. After he passed out the last time he met Ranma, he had gotten lost rather quickly. All he wanted to do was find the Tendos, Akari's Pig farm, or his own home. He really needed a change of clothes.

Even after a week, he still hadn't met with any luck. He was seriously considering launching a Shi Shi Houkodon for some relief. That was the problem with his life, he knew it. Using depression to channel his Ki, at first it had seen so easy, but as time wore on he began to discover the true danger of such things. He had to always be depressed, or there wouldn't even be a point in using the technique. Which sucked, who wanted to always be depressed? He sure as hell didn't.

After Saffron, he had made his choice. He'd shake off his depression, and learn to do things with out an emotional crutch. Though.. he knew he couldn't do it alone. It was like an addiction. He had gotten use to hating people, gotten use to the power wrought through his endless depression. That was why he asked Ranma to help, to help him break the addiction. If Ranma was going through the same thing he was, trying to end the addictive cycle, well, if Ranma could do it then he could also.

"Oh fuck this!" *CRASH*

Ryoga blinked. When did he enter the city? Following the dusty cloud brought up by the crash, he spotted the boy on his recent thoughts.

"Ranma?" he'd have to be blind not to see it. He knew the ass enough to know he wasn't into random destruction. The jerk practically prided himself on not causing damage needlessly, a fact he had been secretly ashamed of for some time. In the heat of battle, fueled by his depression, he just couldn't keep the big picture in his head. It was always go go go go, never watch out for bystanders.

Ranma turned around, blinking in surprise at finding him there. He sighed a moment later, "Sup, Ryoga."

"Not much." he grunted, stepping up beside the boy and dropping his pack. "Been looking for you."

"Eh.." Oh yeah. He had almost forgotten about their training agreement, "Sorry, y'know? Things been hectic."

"Pfeh."

"Serious man. Everyone thought I was dead a week ago. Even Akane."

Ryoga blinked. Dead? Akane? "Uh.. the heck?"

"It's complicated."

"Uncomplicate it." Ryoga scowled, deadly serious.

A nostalgic feeling settled over him, and he chuckled, remember saying the exact same words to his mom, "Forget it." he sighed, then turned serious, "We got problems, man."

"Eh?"

"We're bein watched, and.." Ranma stopped suddenly, head snapping back and to the right.

Ryoga followed his gaze. Nothing seemed strange, except for the weird looking Gaijin's staring right at them.

"Let's get out of here." he hissed, sparing no time for an acknowledgement from Ryoga. Jumping on the damaged rail, he tensed his legs, leaping with such might he managed to clear the distance between the bridge and the street. Landing lightly, he wasted no time taking to the roofs.

Ryoga didn't have much time to react, but quickly donned his pack and followed after the retreating youth.

---

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Chuck, usin Maytag to fix Cerebro is a bad idea."

"Uh.." Xavier really didn't know what to say to that. The fact Cerebro had shown him a mutant wasn't in contest. The fact Cerebro had completely missed the mutant's abilities was another. He could swear the boy's mutation had nothing to do with physical capabilities. In fact it was rather tame to most mutations he knew of. But.. could it have been mistaken?

Logan snorted, "Well, what now?"

"I know where he's going." Xavier shrugged, reaching down and unlocking his brakes, "We have some time."

"Eh?" Logan had to stop himself from asking just how Chuck knew what he did. Who was he kiddin? A telepath like Chuck wouldn't have any problems probing a kids head for what he wanted. "We gonna scope out the place?"

"Hmm. No." Xavier smiled, "Let's make like tourists, I always wanted a bonsai plant."

"Eh.." Chuck wanted to go shopping?!

---

"What the hell's wrong with you!" Ryoga hissed. The two had stopped on top an abandoned warehouse near the harbor. The fact it was so damn far from Nerima didn't matter, the fact he was confused as all hell did matter.

"Those gaijins were watching us!" Ranma scowled

"So?" What's the big deal? They were just gaijins, heck, one of em was crippled!

Ranma sighed, shaking his head, "Ryoga, there's somethin I gotta tell you."

---

He wasn't the most patient of people, nor the happiest, but he was working on that last part. The story Ranma weaved was one of surprise, confusion, and dread with just a touch of a grade b spy movie mixed in for extra kick.

Ryoga was not amused. "Yer kiddin." he deadpanned.

"Wish I was." he sighed, rubbing his neck tiredly. "Think man. Why would I wanna lie about something this crazy?"

"So.. your a mutant." he clarified. He had heard of the Mutant screening bill, but honestly he had been too busy with his own life to really give more then a shit about it. "Some stupid Agency kidnapped you, told you about as much, and you some how managed to escape?"

"Eh.. yeah."

"And you heard they had been watching you an me, to see if we could be recruited?"

"Bout right." He didn't say anything about his mother. He had promised, and even though he trusted Ryoga most out of everyone, at least out of the people who weren't pissed off at him, he just couldn't betray his mother like that. "It sounds stupid, but I swear its tha truth."

This was crazy shit. Ranma was a mutant, some government Agency was spying on him for who knew how long, and he had no idea what to think of it. Though.. wait a minute, if they were watchin him to recruit him, how would they actually do it? He really didn't care about much, and he was too much of a wanderer to really make friends. Heck, his own parents hadn't been home in years, so he doubted they would try and use em to get to him. Argh! He just didn't know what to think.

"Watcha going to do?"

Ranma scowled, "I dunno. Sure as hell ain't gonna join those whackadoo's. They wanna turn me into some big experiment." Least, that was the general gist he got when he sat down and actually thought about it.

"What about Genma? Or your mom? You tell em yet?"

"Eh, nah." he hesitantly responded, a sure sign he was lying to anyone who knew him. Luckily, Ryoga was still freaked out by what he had heard to notice. "Pop's pissed at me, and mom... can ya imagine what they would think if they found out?"

He could image, he guessed. "What now?"

Ranma shrugged starring out over the harbor, "I dunno." He really needed to see his mom. Even if only to talk, he was getting so confused with everything going on. "I'll catch you.." he blinked. Ryoga was gone, "What the?"

Crashing sound from the harbor alerted him to a ruckus, "Hey! RANMA! Where did you go?!"

Ranma sweat dropped, watching as Ryoga literally tore through crates and warehouses before everything going silent as he rounded a corner. How could the guy get lost standing no more then five feet from him?

---

"Chuck." Logan scowled, trying to balance a large bonsai tree, and a smaller one the Doc had purchased. When did he get drafted into baggage bitch?

Xavier didn't seem to hear him, his nose curiously implanted in a book he had purchased along with the bonsai plants. "Simply fascinating, Logan. Did you know Bonsai originated not in Japan, but from China? It was adopted by the Japanese, mainly through Zen Buddhism, which was rapidly spreading through Asia at the time. Once introduced, the art was refined to an extent not yet approached by China. It became a symbol of prestige and honour, of the aristocracy." he smiled, "Truly fascinating."

"Why two plants?" Logan grumbled. It wouldn't have been so bad, but Chuck just had to choose a rather large one, and a small one, then he some how ended up lugging them around. If they were about the same size, he wouldn't have any trouble balancing, but one was far heavier then the other.

"Oh." he sighed, closing his book, "Actually, the Juniper is for Storm. She's always had an interest in bonsai."

That was an understatement if Logan ever heard one. Storm was the only woman he ever knew to have an indoor garden for a room. She even watered it, heck the first time she used her powers to do it damn near flooded the lower levels out. "Right." He spared the building a long, thorough look. Chuck had lead them here over an hour ago, and so far nothing. It was starting to try his patience. "You sure about this, Chuck?"

"Quite." the man nodded, motioning towards the far side of the street, "There's our friend now."

Logan grunted, catching sight of the youth walking down the street.

---

Ranma shut the door, a sigh escaping his lips with the sound. He didn't know why, but as he was coming here he suddenly felt like he was being watched again. "Idiot." it was probably nothing, anyway. Just stress playing with his mind.

"Mom?" he called out. No response. Ah well, it's not like he was expecting her to be here. She did say she'd be busy for awhile. In either case, least he could hide out here, at least until Akane cooled down.

Taking two steps, his eyes widened in shock as he nearly slipped. Bracing himself against the wall, he looked towards the ground. "What the?" a small red puddle, partially dried. Touching the liquid, he brought it up to his face and stared. It was thick, kinda like ice-cream mostly melted. Tentatively taking a lick, he quickly spit it out. He had tasted the coppery taste of blood far too many times to not know what it was.

"But who.." he blinked then, looking up and towards the stares. Sure enough, the trail of blood led there. Shit.

---

Xavier frowned, "Logan."

"Chuck?"

"Something's wrong. He's panicking."

He didn't need anymore encouragement, dropping the plants, Logan took off towards the house, unmindful of traffic in the street.

Logan didn't even have to break the door down, finding it unlocked. He spared Xavier a glance, the crippled man slowly making his way across the street. A moment of debate came to mind, wait for the man, or go ahead with out him. When the well known distinct stench of blood reached his nostrils, his decision was made for him.

Hands gripped tight, claws of glittering adamantium sliced through the flesh of his hands, right between the knuckles.

---

Ranma eased down the hallway, moving carefully with each and every step. The blood trail continued up the stairs, pooling a bit at the very top, as if whoever was bleeding had fallen and taken awhile to get back to their feet. It continued, all the way to his.. his mothers door! "Shit!"

Slamming the door open, his eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness as he took stock of what he found. His mother was lying on her bed, right hand wrapped in a bloody rag. At some point her form had shifted to the blue skinned, red head he had come to realize was her true form. She was lying there, seemingly unconscious.

"Mom!' he hissed, by her side in an instant. Lifting up her wounded hand carefully, he peeled back the rag, hissing at the sight of a rather large jagged hole in the palm of her hand. "Who did this to you?!?"

A shuddering painful exhale escaped her lips, the woman moaning painfully in her unconscious state. Her other hand opened, a small bottle of pills falling to the ground with a clatter.

Picking up the bottle, he blinked in confusion.

"Severance Package"

His mind was swimming with the implications. What could have happened? Nero? But why? Didn't she work for them? Could it be someone he hadn't heard about yet? Why hadn't see gone to the hospital for this?

A crash from downstairs jerked his attention away from his mother. Quickly glancing back to her, then the door, his confused look quickly changed, changed to deadly serious. His mind in turmoil, everything began to make sense. She had been attacked here, that's why she didn't think to get to a doctor. Whoever hurt his mom was stupid enough to stay in the house. Oh, that was a bad.. bad idea.

Fists balled in rage, he stood, leaving his mothers side.

---

Logan cursed, staring at the broken pottery. His attempt to remain quiet, foiled by a potted plant kept near the base of the staircase. Why the hell would anyone leave a stupid plant there?

*creak*

Logan's ear twitched. The sound came from upstairs. Quickly following sounds of footsteps, coming closer and closer to the top of the stairs. Dimly, a bluish hue began to appear, reflecting off the walls and roof. It was soft at first, almost invisible. The closer whoever this was came, the more light was reflected.

When the boy he and Chuck had been watching walked into his vision, surrounded by a slight aura of blue light, with a cold, almost emotionless mask cast over his features, he knew shit was about to hit the fan. The look of the boys eyes, like ice, the way his muscles tensed, with his knuckles turning white from the sheer force in his fists.

"Kid." Logan grunted, "You better calm down."

More dots connected in his head as he saw just who was in his mothers house. That strange gaijin he had caught watching him earlier today. Coincidence? He didn't believe that for a second. Catching sight of the metal blades sticking out of his hands, he had to wonder if this dick was some modern day Neko-ken reject. Though.. it didn't matter.

Ranma scowled, raising his right hand as the aura around him began to glow slightly brighter, "Shine!" he cried, his aura vanishing completely as he pushed forward with his hand, a misshapen blob of Ki induced rage shimmering into existent only for a second, until it was fired.

---

Shine. A technique crafted by Ranma in the heat of the moment. His rage at his mothers attacker had left his confidence in the dust in terms of power. With his mind confused on recent happenings, he simply didn't have the confidence in himself the way he might have. The technique itself is extremely similar to the more known Mokou Takabisha, or the Shi Shi Houkodon, but with one subtle difference. In his rage, Ranma lacked control to fully shape the orb of ki, far to gone to care. Because of this, the Ki sphere was left incomplete, littered with figurative fractures across it's form.

In a moment of total mindless rage, he had solved a problem inherit in the Shi Shi Houkodon, as well as his own inherently flawed Mokou Takabisha. Where both aforementioned techniques were based more on concussive force, like a battering ram or a strong punch. Shine, which stands for 'Die', generates much the same effect as those listed above, but upon contact with any surface, the fractures apparent across the energy sphere rupture, dealing considerable explosive damage.

It's too bad he didn't remember it. It would have saved him from much pain in the future.

---

Logan's eyes widened in shock, watching as the blob of energy erupted from his hand like a speeding devil directly at him. Chuck had sworn the kids mutation wasn't destructive. While surprised, he was far from unready, being a teacher to a group of kids more then capable of causing surprising untold destruction had taught him well. Crossing his arms, he braced himself for impact.

*BOOM!*

Upon contact the energy ball exploded, blasting the surprised Logan back and off his feet a good eight feet, much of the area he had been standing at decimated by the mutants attack.

Falling backwards, he slammed his hands against the ground, claws disappearing as he gained enough leverage to flip backwards on to his knees. Preparing to lunge forward, hopefully catching the mutant, who he figured wasn't use to his powers yet, and thus probably overconfident that no one could survive such a hit. He received the surprise of his life as the boy literally flew down the stairs, head first.

As Logan jumped forward to surprise the mutant, he was ill prepared for the boy to land on his hands, roll forward to his feet, and jump straight up directly into his lunge, with strange glowing slivers just noticeable on the boys finger tips.

"SEI!" the boy shouted, just as Logan felt a tearing sensation starting at his stomach, trailing up his chest, stopping short of his neck. The force of the attack propelled him upwards, where his head slammed into the roof. Gravity asserted it's control, but the boy was far from done. Too fast for Logan to even get his bearings straight after that last attack, the boy grabbed him by his shoulders, pulling him forward and down as he jumped up, placing the balls of his feet behind Logan's head, letting gravity finish it's work. Slamming headfirst into the ground, aided by the boy's weight on the back of his skull, Logan nearly lost consciousness. Any other man would have been killed by that blow, he was just lucky he was anything but normal.

After slamming Logan's head into the ground, Ranma jumped forward, landing on the ground in a roll, he came to his feet and turned to him. He didn't even twitch as Logan pulled himself to his feet.

Logan made a point of dusting off his shirt. The wounds in his chest were already half way healed, and the sudden migraine courtesy of the boy was fading away as well. Bending his head to the side, audible cracking sounds were heard. Finally, Logan turned around, glaring coolly at the boy, who made no move to attack in all that time.

"You done?" he asked, tone laced with boredom. He had to be careful with this one, he was anything but normal.

"You dead?" Ranma countered coolly.

"Heh. Kid, you ain't got a prayer." Logan smirked, bringing his hands up, claws once again breaking free.

Ranma snorted, wasting no time with words as he charged forward. Smirking, Logan lunged forward as well, carefully aiming his swings so as not to pierce any major organs. Which was why he was shocked when the boy literally defied the laws of inertia by suddenly stopping his forward run, side stepping, and ramming a powerful kick into Logan's ribs as he passed by, bending over just enough to avoid a swipe of his claws. The kick ejected him through the wall and out into the yard, all in the blink of an eye.

"Pfeh." the boy snorted in disdain, quickly following the man out into the yard.

"Shit.." he scowled, some blood escaping his lips as he struggled to catch his breath. This kid was fast. The Maximoff brat couldn't move that fast!

"I hope you said your prayers" the boy spoke, voice laced with chilling ice, "Kami-sama awaits." he finished, stepping forward as bluish hewed slivers began to emerge from his finger tips, almost like claws.

Logan wasn't about to just lay down and die either. Struggling to his feet, he prepared to charge, only to blink when the boy suddenly stumbled to his knees, the bluish claws vanishings as his hands cradled his head, before passing out entirely. Looking up, he let a relieved breath escape his lips. Chuck had finally arrived.

"Bout time, Chuck. This kids loaded for bear." he grumbled, letting his claws slide back into his hands, "An Cerebro's all screwed up. 'None-dangerous mutation' my ass."

"I can see that, Logan." Xavier sighed, "You okay?"

"Pfeh." he patted his torn shirt down, as if removing the tiny amount of dirt that had gotten on it would save it from all the battle damage it had gone through, "I'll be fine."

"Good. Bring him, I think it's time we find out just why he wanted to kill you."

---

"Mystique."

Some one was calling her name. Some one familiar.. she just couldn't place it. "Hmm.. not in the mood, panda-san."

"Mystique." the voice was more insistent.

Groggily, she forced the haze from her mind, immediately wishing she hadn't as the pain from her wound made itself quiet clear. "Ow.. god." she grumbled, blearily looking around the room. God her head hurt, she needed her damn pills.

Seeing, of all people, Xavier and Wolverine in the room didn't help her headache one bit. Seeing her son lying limply by the door caused frantic panic to rise in her gut. "Ranma!" she hissed, ignoring the others as she struggled to her feet. She was so focused on her task, she didn't put up any resistance as Logan pushed her back down toward the bed.

"The boy is fine, I promise you." Xavier said with a sigh, and a comforting smile, "He's just dreaming for now."

Mystique glared, "What do you want?" If they hurt him, she swore she would kill them.

"Just to talk."

"Talk." she snapped.

Xavier nodded slowly, "He's a mutant, isn't he."

"Ranma?" she ventured, receiving a nod. "Can't you tell? I heard Cerebro was quite capable of detecting mutants." making sure to include ever ounce of loathing she could.

"What's his mutation?" he ignored her question, continuing. He was a tad bit confused. Cerebro had calculated his mutation to be completely passive, but what he saw in the boys mind, and with his own eyes completely contradicted that. The battle with Logan proved his mutation was something else entirely

"What do I get if I tell you?" she said before realizing it. Wincing internally, old habits die hard, she never wanted to sell Ranma out like that. She had done it with Kurt, when a mob had tried to kill her, and look how that relationship turned out. She sighed, "Never mind. Some enhanced regeneration, immunity to most touched based energy transfers and attacks, and with diseases as well."

Xavier's eyebrow rose, "That can't be.." The proof was in front of him though. Mystique wasn't lying, he would know it if she was, "We just saw him able to manipulate strong sources of energy, forming it into a powerful projectile, and melee weapons."

Mystique blinked, then shrugged. There was very little about her son, save for the majority of his trip with Genma, that she didn't know. They were probably confused, just as she was, that a normal human would reach such peaks of personal power. "You're talking about Ki."

"Ki?" Logan grunted, with a snort, "You sayin this kid's a Ki master?"

Xavier blinked, then frowned, "Ki?" he took an inquisitive look, "Spirit energy?"

"Yeah Chuck." he gave the kid a whole new look of respect at that revelation, "I've never actually heard of anyone bein able to use it, but rumors from my time as a merc spoke of fighters capable of freakish strength, speed, endurance. Heck, there was even a rumor of em throwin blasts of their Ki around." he shrugged, "They were just rumors, though."

Xavier was a smart man, probably one of the smartest. He was also incredibly trusting, but that stemmed more from the fact he could read peoples thoughts then anything else. He'd know if Mystique was lying, which she wasn't. At least, not this time. Which just begged the question of who the boy really was, and why he had tried to kill Logan. He remembered touching the boy's mind, it was a vortex of confusion, confidence, despair, and overwhelming rage. Rage at Logan for hurting his moth...

"You're his mother." Xavier whispered, almost in awe.

Logan blinked, "What?"

"... yes." she sighed.

"Damn, do you get around or what?" Logan remarked, disbelievingly.

"Logan." Xavier frowned at the man. That wasn't the best of things to say. Logan seemed to catch the drift, grunting in response. "What happened to your hand?"

Grabbing a bottle of pills nearby, they watched in confusion as the shape shifter popped the top, and swallowed a large amount of the pills straight. She took a second to catch her breath, "Bullets don't agree with me."

"You were shot?" Logan blinked.

"No shit, Sherlock." Mystique rolled her eyes.

"Why?"

She shrugged, lying back down and closing her eyes, "I was trying to crash Takahashi's Mutant Screening Bill." she smirked, "He took offense."

"I see." Xavier grumbled, "Before those pills take effect, I would like you to answer one more question."

She wasn't surprised he knew what the pills would do to her. That was the advantage of being a powerful telepath, she supposed, "What?"

"You must be aware, that Bill is going to pass. What do you plan to do when it does?"

"Haven't.. thought about it." she mumbled, as the pills, designed to take effect quickly, began to induce slumber. "Run.."

"With the boy?"

".. love.." she mumbled one last word, before passing out.

Xavier sighed. "Let's go, Logan."

"What about the kid?" he grunted.

"She'll take care of him."

Logan snorted, "Chuck. That kind heart of yours is goin to get us in trouble one of these days. It ain't like Mystique can take care of the kid, look at Kurt an Rogue."

"I have faith, Logan. She'll do what's right in the end."

Logan shrugged, "I've said my peace."

---

To Be Continued (Maybe)

Authors Notes: I am well aware of the damage a bullet can do to a hand, and Mystique won't suffer any loss of ability from being shot. The reason why, should be semi-clear, but I'll make it a point of explaining in the next chapter.

Send C&C to narkanarka@hotmail.com