All 'cuz someone dared me...

[InterNutter]

I have zero self-control...

=================================


Disclaimer: They own it, I don't. All I own is the stuph below.

Archiving: Ask, and ye shall receive a clean copy. Nick it, and you run
the risk of uncorrected typos. Publish it as your own work, and incur my
wrath.

Currently Nameless X3 Ficcy
InterNutter

The moving hand writes... in a very odd way.
The hand that wrote held it as if the writer were conducting an
orchestra with the chalk. This did not in any way impede the progress of
the new sentence.
"Sind... Sie... zur Kirche... gewesen..." A final query mark joined
the marks on the board. "Literally, 'Have you the church gone?'" The
teacher smiled. A pleasant-looking man with a longish face and lips that
provided a majority of feminine musings.
Not every girl in the class was exactly there to learn languages.
He sat on his desk, at ease. "Now I heard a very funny joke. A German
dives into a sentance and emerges at the very end of it with a verb in
his mouth."
Appreciative giggles.
He mimed for a show of hands. "Who can tell me where that's not--"
A flicker of light, a diminishing hum, and the nice young man before
the teenagers was suddenly a blue demon, replete with tail. A scarred
face crumpled in a wince as the first one of them *screamed*. The chalk
slid from his tridactyl hand as he instinctively covered himself.
{BAMF!}
Kurt Wagner left his classroom in a distinct state of upset.

"And when Shakespeare writes, 'to thine own self be true', what,
exactly--" Scott Summers never got to finish his sentence.
Shrieking and screaming and the sound of running came from outside.
"Not *again*," he complained, placing his book on the desk.

Ororo was out of her own class before the first scream had finished
sounding. She was running upstream against some fleeing language
students when she saw Scott.
"You handle the class," she said. "I'll get him."
"He has *got* to quit doing this," Scott grumbled, marching into the
havok that was Kurt's teaching area. "Hey! Hey! Settle down in here!"
Ororo just stepped out of the window and let the wind carry her up.
There were only so many places that he hid.
She found him on the roof, sulking between two stone gargoyles.
"Hallo," he said, not turning. He sounded defeated.
Ororo landed on the rooftop, sharing his perch as she sat. "You're
starting to get a little predictable in your hiding places."
He shrugged. "Protective camouflage?" he suggested with a smirk.
"Not funny, Kurt," she said. "This is the fifth time one of your
classes has gone awry because of that--" she searched, trying to find a
word for the hated piece of hardware on his wrist. "--*thing*."
Kurt looked at his wrist and the burned-out remains of his holographic
image inducer. His other hand fondled it, brushing its face lovingly. "I
don't know why... It just keeps failing..." He sighed. "I can't help how
people react, but-- There are times..." Kurt shook his head.
Ah. So that was what got him down. Ororo decided to change the
subject. Sort of "The Professor gave you that gizmo so you could go out
like everyone else. Not so you could hide from the students."
He decided to avoid the issue. "Perhaps I am just not meant to teach."
Now it was her turn to sigh. "You shouldn't have to hide, Kurt.
Remember that."
He glanced up, flirting. "So people keep telling me."
Ororo smiled, blushing in spite of herself. What *was* it about this
man that got past her guard? That made her *feel* again? "Perhaps you'd
like to try it? Introduce yourself to your class - without that watch?"
"Ah, but how would I tell the time?" he avoided, glib.
Then the bell rang.
"Oops," he said, not regretting an instant. "Looks like the class is
over. What a pity."
"*Kurt*," Ororo sighed with exasperation. And at the very same
instant, she wanted to laugh. Damn the man.
"We're done for the day, ja?" He was still smiling, still flirting.
"Care to take a walk?"
"Come as you are?" she returned.
Ororo never got an answer. What she got was a shared telepathic
thought.
_Sorry to interrupt you,_ 'said' the Professor. _But Kurt should come
down to my office at the earliest convenience._
"Not so sorry as I am, mein Herr," Kurt joked.
Ororo got the distinct impression of rolling eyeballs.

Xavier was not, in fact, rolling his physical eyes. He didn't have to.
As the world's most powerful telepath, he could put his mind on two
things at once.
That, and the Society Woman in front of him was starting to repeat
herself.
"Sent her to *all* the best schools, but is she greatful? Does she
*apply* herself? *No*! She has to get herself *expelled* until no school
worth the price of administration will *take* her. And now *this*!" She
gestured at the chair beside her, and noticed its contents for the first
time in ten minutes. "Stop that at *once*, you stupid girl!"
The chair to her side was apparently empty, until the girl in question
moved. Her skin and hair blended perfectly in with her surroundings.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"Sorry is *all* you are," sniped her mother. "You can at least
*pretend* to be normal for *five* minutes."
The girl screwed up her face in concentration. "Thinkpink, thinkpink,
thinkpink..."
"You see what I'm up against, don't you?" said the woman. "Frankly,
I'm greatful places like this exist, but I doubt you'd be able to pass
*her* off as 'gifted'..."
During her tirade, the girl gradually returned to normal colours.
Pale, sunless skin and brown hair in a hairstyle that hadn't changed
since she was little. A sort of Beatle-cut that covered the ears.
Also, while the woman was in mid-rant and the luckless daughter was
panting with effort, Kurt crept into the room.
"...so of *course* I'll pay you anything you like for the
inconvenience," Mrs Adrien was saying. "You can let me know as soon as
she's completely cured - useless girl - and I'll take her off your
hands."
Charles blinked. That keyword bought back a lot of unpleasant memories
regarding their recent encounter at Alkalai Lake. "You want me to *cure*
Sara?"
"Of course I want you to cure her. Why else would a place like this
*exist*?"
"It was my understanding," said Kurt, "that this was a place where
mutants could learn without prejudice. Both about themselves and the
world."
Mrs Adrien stared at him, jaw slack, while Sara kept her mind on
staying 'normal'. Sara's eyes were tight shut and her hands were closing
into fists.
"What," said Mrs Adrien, "is *that*?"
"Herr Wagner is one of the faculty," said Xavier. "He'll be helping
Sara use her new gift."
Mrs Adrien almost bolted from the room, muttering dark implications
all the way.
"You can relax, now, Sara. She's gone."
The tension drained right out of her, and her colour changed from
sunless pale to a gemlike aqua as her scales came forward.
"My head hurts," said Sara. "C'n I have some water?"
Kurt presented it to her. "Here, Fraulein."
"Dankeschoen." She opened her eyes when she accepted the glass, and
only spared Kurt one look before drinking. "Sorry about my Mom."
Kurt smiled. "I was thinking I would be sorry that she *was* my
mother... if I were you."
"That, too," said Sara. She drank deeply and placed the empty glass on
a new tissue from her pocket, before she rested it on the desk. "It's
nice to know I'm not alone."
"I think you'll find learning here a lot more - rewarding - than your
previous educational establishments," said Xavier.
She was watching Kurt. "I certainly hope so."
Kurt was looking - kind of trapped. Xavier pried a little into surface
thoughts. _Gott, she thinks I'm some kind of - hero? She thinks... If I
can be myself-- Ach, but I *can't* be myself..._
Xavier pulled away - mentally speaking - as Scott entered. "This is
Scott Summers, also known as Cyclops."
Sara pulled on a coat, flipping up the hood the instant she saw a
raised eyebrow. "Yeah. Saw him on the news." She stuffed her hands into
mittens and picked up a heavy knapsack.
"Scott will be giving you a guided tour while I talk with Herr
Wagner."
"'Kay."
"Don't talk much," Scott noted as he guided her out into the hallway.
"Is your power voice-oriented?"
"Not unless you count shower-singing as a lethal weapon..." the voices
faded and vanished.
Xavier turned all of his attention to Kurt. "Five days in a row," he
said.

Kurt hung his head and tried to retreat further into the alcove that
was his current shelter against - accidental prejudice. "I don't know
what goes wrong," he said. "I'm very careful with them--"
"I don't doubt you," said Herr Xavier. He wheeled his chair around the
desk, much like an able man would pace. "However, that particular tool
is designed to be operational for *short* bursts of time. Three hours
at the utmost. Yet I've found that you routinely maintain an image for
up to *eight* hours... sometimes more. And you've yet to leave the
estate."
His hands were intensely interesting, now. And he couldn't help but
notice how they seemed more like paws than actual hands. How could she
look at him like that? As if he were just - someone else?
"I'm... having a little trouble dealing with everything," he
confessed, fiddling with the watch. "I'm not used to crowds of people
who don't know me."
"You performed in the Munich Circus, did you not?"
"Amongst others, ja... but this is different. I'm not flying. I'm not
amongst family. I'm not--" he sighed, covering the watch with one hand.
"I'm not assumed to be a costume."
"*Ah*," said Xavier. "Could it be that an innate performer such as
yourself is suffering from - *stage* fright?"
"Ironic, nein?" He smiled and took the watch off. Kurt finally looked
up to Xavier's face. "Something we all have to deal with." His thoughts
turned to Ororo and a sunset stroll.
Xavier smiled. "Go to her. I'll see what I can do about this."
Kurt bowed extravagantly. "Dankeschoen, mein Herr."

"This is your ward for the graveyard shift," said Dr Kino. "All flood
victims. We had so many John and Jane Does after the dam broke that we
just started naming them after where we found them."
They passed Sandy Shore and Rhett Corvette. "I see you guys had some
fun..." said Nurse Pablum. She read the next name. "Madeline Pryor?"
"Street crossing," said Dr Kino. "These people are in for the long
haul. Nobody's come to claim them, nobody knows who they are... We have
a TV spot in a couple of weeks, but--" Kino shrugged. "Until then, we
give them the best care we can."
Pablum checked the EEG of Ruby Tuesday. "Do I read to them? Give them
the news?"
"Whatever floats your boat," Kino said. "We had a nurse in here once
who wrote stories and read them out. Said it was the best for her work.
Weird."
"And if there's any change or activity, I press the big red button,"
she repeated. "Got it."
"Happy haunting," Kino joked on the way out.
_Not funny,_ decided Nurse Pablum.

It was a beautiful evening. The sky was turning colours and fireflies
cavorted in the shadows. Ororo was glad of the company, too. Even if
he'd taken up some personal habits that made him act like a ghost only
she could see.
All the same, she couldn't easily resist his charm. His shy smile.
They way he called her 'liebe'...
She just wished he'd play well with others. That was all.
"Something's bothering you," he said.
Ororo could never get anything by him. "Just a little something."
"Can you tell me about it?"
"It's about you. I have to."
Kurt went from zero to highly anxious in point five seconds. "I've
done something wrong."
He was *good* at leaping to conclusions... "Not - quite. Kurt... I
can't help noticing... You're *hiding* from everyone."
He looked down. "I thought the point of hiding was to not be obvious."
"This isn't a joke, Kurt. You're among friends, here."
"And still, every day, people scream," he said. "Somehow it feels
worse to be judged by my own kind... by what they see."
"Maybe if you let it show a little more, they wouldn't be so afraid,"
she said, brushing his cheek. "And you know at least one person here
finds you beautiful."
He bowed his head, cheeks heating, and kissed the palm of her hand.
"Ach, Wunsch meines Herzens..." Another kiss, this time on her wrist.
"Mein Geliebt..." A third, further up her wrist. "Mein Schatz..."
Ororo smiled in spite of herself. He had such *marvellous* ways of
changing the subject...

[Mad With Power]

WOO

WOOOOO

GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME kaff

Okay, pardon. Awesome, 'Nutter. Totally choice. I'm glad I dared ya!!

I'm on an updating break at T&B, but I would love to add this to the roster for when I start up again. May I have a Tidy Copy?

[InsanePenman]

Whee! 'Nutter writings! Is there any need for me to give an opinion? Your fics are, in my humble opinion, the best out there. And they seem to only get better.

[Orangatan64]

Great stuff 'Nutter, great stuff. I've always loved your stories, especially Don't Pity Me. Guess what? WE HAVE THE SAME BIRTHDAY! October 4, baby! Who doesn't love a Libra? BTW my mom's is Oct. 3, and her boyfriend's is Oct. 5! Cool, no?

[Project Autumn]

Woo! This is good stuff! You write very, very well.

It makes me angry at myself that I don't read fanfiction very often...

[Steff Wagner]

You better not stop writing stuff because youre stores rock!:D and I like the way you have youre current mood hee hee

[lonewolf]

That was really wicked man. I loved it all of the way through, it kept me entertained for a while as well Where did you learn to write so well. It's great fun just reading the stories about storm and nighty etc. Good job

[InterNutter]

Aw shucks

I just keep writing, and as I write, I read a lot. Those two combined seem to come up with good writings You should try it yourself

[taekwondodo]

So just keep writing then. Please? I'm waiting with baited breath (weird expression eh?) for the next installment. Really like the combination of shy with everyone else, total flirt/ladykiller with Ororo. And, as ever, love your style.

TKD

[SheCat]

Dis is gooooooooood. I want more.
I very much like the Kuroro here. I don't like Kuroro anywhere else, but it's great in dis.
First fanfiction I read an'I'm knocked off my feet. Hope dat's a new trend, great fanfiction writers like you.
Please keep writin'! I am lappin' dis up! Dis is good!

With my utmost approval,
SheCat

[Gaz]

Eeee i love it! I hope they focus that much on kurt in X3!!!!

[InterNutter]

And then I thought - ah, buggerit. Let's share some more.

====================================
Ororo smiled in spite of herself. He had such *marvellous* ways of
changing the subject... She stopped him before he could get to her neck
and dissolve her restraint and reserve completely. "*Kurt*..."
"Something *is* wrong," he said. "I've offended you."
"Kurt," she said. "I - I want to show you off," Ororo explained. "I
want to walk somewhere that the kids can see us and-- It shouldn't
*matter* how you look."
"I know. I do. It's just - I've had a bad week."
Damn the man for making her laugh. Oh yes. Only *Kurt* could summarise
being under mind control, nearly killing a man, then launching off on a
whirlwind expedition to parts unknown with a bunch of strangers, only to
almost have his brain squished out of his ears by a telepathic weapon,
and then escaping - just barely - from the maw of Death itself as "a bad
week". And that was just the first day.
"All the same," she said. "I'd like it if... if you just - showed
off."
A sudden and surprising grin. "Liebe... I think you just hit the nail
on the head. I do remember some gymnastics equipment... Shall I - put on
a demonstration?" He bowed to her and offered an elbow.
"Only if I get the best seat," Ororo grinned.
"Naturalich."
{BAMF!}

"And this is the Danger Room," said Scott, pointing down into the
empty and inactive metal arena. "We use this area for training with our
powers, honing and refining our abilities so..." he trailed off,
remembering.
He used to do this with Jean.
He used to be in there with Jean.
"So nobody gets hurt," said Sara.
He cleared his throat. "Yeah. That's the general idea."
She was staring at him, though how he could tell with so much of her
obscured was a small mystery. "You lost someone, didn't you?"
Scott startled.
"I'm not a teep," she laughed. "Just - perceptive. Honest."
"If you're not a telepath, you're doing a very scary impersonation of
one," Scott smiled in spite of himself, remembering a certain scared
girl with red hair who heard voices, and who answered questions before
they were asked. He veered away from the painful memory. "What *is* your
power, anyway?"
"I'm a chameleon," she said, taking off a mitten. She touched a
plastic chair, and her skin went from blue-green scales to match the
surface she touched. She moved to a chrome highlight, and her skin
matched that, too. "I just blend in with stuff."
"Okay..." Scott shrugged. "I guess not every mutant power is all that
useful. Or fun in crowds."
A genuine grin showed up beneath the hood.
"Aha! I knew you could smile," he joked. "Come on, there's still the
rest of the classrooms to tour, then I'll show you the gym." Scott waved
her out of the control/observation room. They nearly got flattened by a
running student.
"Um..." said Sara. "Is there a good reason to run?"
"*No*..." Scott pulled up the next student by his collar. "I thought
there was supposed to be no running in the halls." He realised the kid
that he'd captured was none other than Sam 'Cannonball' Guthrie.
"Especially when it's you."
Sam went bright pink. "There's somethin' cool goin' on in the gym," he
said. "Ah don't wanna miss a beat."
"Something cool," Scott repeated. "Whatever it is, it's not worth the
repair bill. No. Running."
"Repair bill?"
"Sam's a human missile," Scott explained, changing direction so they
were now heading for the gym. "He builds up enough speed and he doesn't
stop until he hits something with a large enough mass."
"...ow..."
There was a small horde crowding around the doors of the gym. Students
jostling and bumping each other for a glimpse of what was going on
inside.
Sara put her crammed knapsack down and *unfolded* to her real height.
She was only an inch or two shorter than he, and to ad insult to injury,
she stood on her toes to completely overshadow him.
Scott tried to copy her, but couldn't equal her. When he looked down,
he found out why.
She was standing 'on point'. *Literally* on her toes.
_As Jubes is wont to say - 'Squick'..._
"Ooooh," said Sara. "Someone's putting on a *show*."
It would have taken Jean just seconds to clear them a path to the
troublemaker...
But Jean wasn't here. He had to carry on.
"Clear the doorway, come on. Clear the way. You're creating a fire
hazard," he ordered, hustling the kids along, away, or inside. "Come on,
now, move it before someone gets hurt."
Sara trailed in his wake, finger and thumb clenched gingerly to his
belt lest the crowd seperate them.
Scott was hard pressed moving past the doorway once he saw what
awaited inside. All the same, he made his limbs move, and dragged
himself towards the benches usually for students to watch
demonstrations.
Kurt was flying.
Now Scott knew why he bragged about being "ze incredibol
nightcrawlah"... he was so amazing he made the audience forget almost
anything.
Sara's face was raptly upturned, drinking in the action as a flower
would the sunlight, her hood fallen disregarded to her back and her
mouth agape. Scott only saw that much because she was a beat behind in
taking a seat.

Kurt could run through his solo routine with his eyes shut. In fact,
he frequently did. He was doing so now, his spatial senses filling in
the gaps that sight would cover for ordinary mortals.
He'd forgotten what it was like to feel the wind in his hair.
He'd let himself think he'd be groundbound forever.
He reached his apogee, flipped, twisted, turned and gyrated as he
began to fall. Gravity was his best friend. It helped him dance so
beautifully. It made him make art out of his hideous body.
It helped him turn fear into wonder.
Kurt reached out at the last possible second for the bar. Swung one,
twice, thrice, building up speed so he could launch himself into the air
once more.
He barely missed the ceiling by millimetres, making the audience wince
out loud.
*This* was why God made him like he was.
This was his purpose.
A simple miracle.
Proof of the impossible.
He was starting to get winded, now, so he wound down with mere
ordinary gymnastics on the uneven bars. Then he twirled off the upper
bar and landed on the mats.
His audience, some hundred-or-so mutants, exploded. Applause just
didn't cover the noise that resulted from so many jubillant people
crammed into one large room.
Kurt only had eyes for one member of the audience. The gracious,
impossible and lovely lady who had saved him from an assumed short trip
to Hades.
His personal angel.

[Nightmare]

Excellent. That was very nicely written, but it's a little odd that he'd go from wearing the image inducer WITH MUTANT STUDENTS to doing what only he can do in front of God and everybody.

And why would they freak if he's a mutant too, especially when it had happened before? The logic thing is the only quibble I have with the piece.

Do keep it up please, I want to read more.

[Siona]

Originally posted by Nightmare
Excellent. That was very nicely written, but it's a little odd that he'd go from wearing the image inducer WITH MUTANT STUDENTS to doing what only he can do in front of God and everybody.

I'm guessing for the same reason as he did in one of MWP's fics; he can actually look normal, which we know he wants to be from the Mystique scene.

~Siona

[taekwondodo]

Just curious, will there ever be more of this or was that the end? I know your site's down and that's probably a hassle in your life over and above updating things like this anyway, but I thought I'd ask.

TKD
P.S. - hope your site will be up and running again.

[Mad With Power]

Forgive me for interjecting on your behalf, 'Nutter, but I wanted to assure TKD that there is more, in fact, and that one day, one beautiful day, it will be up on T&B.

[InterNutter]

There is more. I'm just completely clagged on WHN.

This is the last bit I wrote, edited for readability

====================================

His personal angel.

###

Murphy's Law states that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong at the worst possible moment. It can be big, but it can also be small.

Someone in the applauding, raucous crowd lit their bic, an almost universal sign of teenage approval. Three more upraised flames joined the first, but Kurt was already deep into the flashback before the third had even properly ignited.

###

His angel was consumed by flame. The roar of fire and the stink of naptha assailed his senses. Screaming - the wrong sort of screaming - doused the air.

"[Kill the demon! Kill the demon!]"

And once again he was running on the cobblestones of Winzeldorf. His brother dead. Blood on his hands.

It didn't matter to them that he hadn't spilled it. It didn't matter that he wore his cross even more prominently than the average good Christian in this quiet little mountain town. It didn't matter that he was trying to save the child.

All that mattered was that he looked like a demon. He had blood on his hands. And a good man was dead.

His name was Kurt Wagner, and he was in deep, *deep* trouble...

The bad season had lead to light rations, which in turn meant that he wasn't able to perform his usual disappearing trick to escape. Right now, he was weighing the pros and cons of running on all fours. On one hand, he could outdistance the angry mob. On the other hand, it might just encourage them to shoot.

He turned a corner...

And ran straight into something that wasn't there.

Someone was calling his name.

###

"Kurt! Kurt... Listen to me..." Ororo had had to fly to catch up with him, he'd been running so fast. "*Listen* to me! It's okay. You're safe, now. You're safe."

He blinked, panting, appearing to see her for the first time. "Engel?"

She almost cried then, but she had to be the stronger one. She held him close and murmured soothing sounds, her world suddenly unsure again. It was never an easy thing to have faith in someone. People always left her.

_Not this time. Not now. Not yet._ She clung tight to him, not wanting to let go.

"Nicht das Feuer," he was saying. "Nein, nicht das Feuer. Bitte. Ich tat nicht falsches nichts... Oh, Gott. Stefan... Nein..."

_My poor love,_ she thought. _Not all your scars are on the outside._

###

Nurse Pablum put her book down and excused herself to Sandy Shore. One of the other patients was in trouble. Madeline Pryor. She was having enough mental activity to set off an alarm.

Heart fine, breathing clear but rapid.

She hit the alarm and watched the readouts and Madeline's face.

The woman was dreaming. No. She was having a nightmare.

Christine gently shook her. "Madeline... It's okay Madeline, you're having a dream..."

There was a flash of light.

And she was surrounded by fire and water. The fire was her and it was in her and the water was *everywhere*. No way to tell up from down. No reference point.

A brief glimpse of a man caught in chains, his body carried along on a beir of pure concrete...

Why was she alive?

Other shards of the dam flew past her.

One didn't.

Christine woke up from the floor with a doctor leaning over her. She reacted to the needle. "*NO*!"

It was Dr. Kino. "Ah. You had me scared. What happened?"

Christine pulled herself up into a sitting position, checking on Madeline. She was under the watchful eye of another doctor, who was administering a mild stimulant. "I don't exactly know," she admitted. "It was almost as if... I was in her nightmare..."

###

Kurt heaved a gigantic sigh. "Es tut mir leid, liebe," he muttered. "Ach... It's never been this bad..."

Ororo still soothed him, holding him tight. "Talk to me?" she said. "Tell me about it?"

"I'm not always - confident," he said. "And not always brave. New places - make me doubt. Myself. Gott. Everything. But I can always fly, no matter what. The bars and the air... they sustain me. It's something I can do and be beautiful."

"You're always beautiful," said Ororo. "*Always*."

"Not always to myself, ja? Even you, so perfekt... must have moments when you feel--" he fumbled for the words, "not right in yourself."

_And a lot more of them, recently,_ she thought. How many times had she given comfort to Jean and vice versa? That tight little circle was broken now. Shattered.

"We shouldn't have to feel like that, but we do," Kurt continued. "Every one of us." He pulled back a little so he could watch her face, look into her eyes. A faint smile. "I just have more memories to enforce them. Even in this sanctuary for our kind, I hear screaming. I scare people. I don't *fit in*... And the fire tonight... I didn't even know it was that bad."

"What happened?"

He let go of her, now, distancing himself. One thick finger traced a particular pattern on his face. "I used to have a brother. Not a brother of blood, nein. He was nothing like me... but we were very close, nonetheless. He could see through time, speak to the dead, fortell the future... and it scared him.

"He made me vow to kill him if his gifts ever drove him mad. He said he saw a branched path. Down one was murder and death. Down the other, peace and strength. Poor Stefan. He was mortally afraid of the dark path. Because down that road - he enjoyed it."

Ororo's hand covered her mouth in a mixture of horror and disgust.

"He believed - he wanted to believe, maybe - that there was hope right up until the end... that there was *something* that could be done.

"I found him in early Spring, before the snows had melted from the passes." A bleak silence. "He was killing children."

Tears now. Both hers and his, fell.

"He said they were demons. He said they took the skins of humans and wore them... I tried to stop him. He fell. His head broke open." Kurt's hands grasped futilely at a memory. Holding someone dear to him. Trying to make that someone live, even though they were clearly dead. "Tot. Gone." He shook his head. "We must have made a lot of noise. The villagers came. They saw a crying child and a dead man... and a demon with blood on his hands."

"Oh my God," Ororo whispered.

"The mountain villages, they don't always have electricity," Kurt shrugged. "But they always have fire." Another long, bleak silence. "I survived... and so did the nightmares." He forced himself to straighten. To smile shyly at her. "At least this time I have an angel to rescue me, ja?"

"Ja," she smiled warmly and held him again. She could tell him her truths when he was stronger with himself.

[taekwondodo]

Oh, lovely, lovely. Can't wait to see more. Enjoying seeing what you can do w/movie-verse.

TKD

[Beboots]

Oh, wow 'Nutter... That was amazing! ... I hope you post this in the Realm when it gets back up...

[Beboots]

Hmm... Excuse my ignorance, Internutter, but... what's WHN stand for?

[InterNutter]

WHN== What Happens Next.

Pretty self-explanatory, methinks

[Beboots]

Ah... Not exactly. *is being cheeky* Do you mean what happens next in this story, or is What Happens Next a story title?

....I sorta hope the latter.

[InterNutter]

The former, alas. I don't think you could make much of a story with that title.

::dares Beboots to try::

[Beboots]

Uh... *suddenly finds somewhere else to be*

*comes back briefly* At least, until this is updated. *eyes Internutter*

[Siona]

I like this alot! And the reference to Giant Size X-Men #1 is a very nice touch too! Two !

~Siona