X-Men: Evolution

Disclaimer: This episode of X-Men: Evolution is of my own creation. I do not own any portion of X-Men: Evolution. "X-Men: Evolution" and all related characters, names, etc. are ©2000-2003 Marvel Studios Inc. All rights reserved.

Note: This story is an AU from the very beginning and several characters will act OOC from how they were normally perceived in the show. With that forewarning, please enjoy!

The Rogue, The Witch and the Nightcrawler
Chapter 1:
A Mother's Decision

Inside a large stone castle deep in a snowy forest in Germany, a baby's cry echoed in the still silence. The cries were quickly followed by a horrified woman shouting, "Monster! What have you done to him!" Acting quickly, the mother wrapped her infant in a blanket and rushed out of the lab while a malevolent figure gave chase, floating a few feet off of the ground. She fled as fast as her feet could take her, knowing that the castle's defenses were shut off and wouldn't slow her down.

As she left the castle, the dark figure angrily shouted, "Come back at once!"

The frightened mother ran out onto a path made in the snow while she held her child close. Growls and snarls suddenly came from behind her and the woman chanced a glance to discover several vicious looking wolves giving chase behind her. "No!" she muttered under her breath, fear and hopelessness creeping into her more and more with each passing moment. The woman glanced at the small crying bundle in her arms and doubled her resolve to flee. She continued across the snowy path while the wolves and the malevolent figure followed close behind. More and more of the vicious animals appeared from both sides and al joined in on the chase.

She came to a sudden halt in front of a rickety old wooden bridge crossing over a deep gorge that is filled with water courtesy of a nearby waterfall. The mother looked over her shoulder, the wolves having blocked her path back. The vicious animals watched their prey with hungry eyes and slowly stalked forward while their master watched on a short distance behind them, his eyes narrowed dangerously.

Acting as if on command or either extreme coincidence, all the wolves leapt forward and cornered the woman against one of the sides of the bridge. Their growls and excitement rose as they sensed their prey's fear and heard the tiny infant's cries. They suddenly jumped up at the frightened mother but instead of attacking her they went for the small baby, their true intended target. Just as she raised her child above her head, one of the animals jumped up and put it's front paws on her shoulders. This caused her to stumble backwards and as she hit the side of the rickety bridge she lost her grip and the tiny infant began to fall backwards off of the bridge.

Time seemed to slow for the horrified mother as she turned around and watched as her child, her flesh and blood, the tiny life that grew inside of her for nine months, fell helplessly to a certain doom. Her maternal instinct kicked in for the second time that day and, doing something she normally would have never done, she dove off of the bridge to save her baby's life.

The malevolent figure rushed to the edge of the cliff, his normally deep and evil eyes wide with shock and disbelief. "No Mystique!" he shouted, "Don't!"

The mother, now known as Mystique, paid the man no heed as she continued her descent, her hands reached desperately forward to catch her baby as the rushing waters below got closer and closer. 'Please, just let me catch him,' she thought to herself, her hood flew back and revealed dark blue skin, yellow eyes and deep reddish-orange hair. Mystique got closer and closer to the child, her fingers just brushing the blanket he was wrapped in. She managed to grab her infant and protectively pull him close just a moment before they crashed into the icy cold waters.

The dark figure hovered over the edge of the cliff and stared down into the water, looking for any sign of Mystique or her child. After a few minutes of seeing nothing but the rushing water, her turned away and floated back up into the castle in the distance, the protective metal helmet on his head hiding the forlorn expression on his face.

Several miles downstream a husband and wife were calmly going about their daily routine. The man stood at the edge of the river with a fishing pole in hand, hoping for a good catch for dinner. A loud infant's cry suddenly disturbed the peaceful scene. Both the man and his wife looked over to where the cry came from, their surprised looks turning to horror as they saw a person floating in the water with a small bundle squirming in it's arms.

Acting quickly, the couple rushed into the water. The husband grabbed the tiny bundle out of Mystique's arms and handed it off to his wife and then grabbed the blue skinned woman and pulled her ashore. He quickly knelt beside her and checked the pulse on her neck to see if she was still breathing, a light sigh of relief escaped him as he found one. The woman holding the child looked down into his young face, which was covered in a thin layer of dark blue fur. The baby opened his gold colored eyes and raised a three-fingered hand at the woman. For some odd reason, the couple was not disturbed by the fact that the two they just fished out of the river were a far stretch from appearing to be normal human beings.

With a moan, the shape-shifting mutant suddenly blearily opened her eyes. "Ooh," she begins, "What…what happened? Where am I?"

"Ah, you speak Eenglish," the husband said in a heavily accented, yet also kindly voice. "Mein name is Vagner, Niklas Vagner. Mein vife Leoni and I just saved you unt your infant from out of zhe river."

"My baby!" Mystique shouted while leaping to her feet with impressive agility. She looked at the man with a manic expression. "Where is he? Is he okay!"

"Don't vorry," he calmly reassured the distressed woman, "zhere he is." He pointed over to his wife and the tiny bundle in her arms.

With a cry, the blue-skinned mutant rushed over and pulled her child into her arms, relief washed all through her. "I'm so glad you're alright," she whispered while gently running a finger across the side of the infant's face and got a smile from the tiny blue baby.

"He is a very beautiful child," Leoni remarked while she and her husband gazed at him fondly.

Mystique looked at the couple with utmost confusion. "You're not disturbed by how we look?" They both shook their heads in response. "Why aren't you?"

"Ve are all children of God," Niklas replied while he placed a hand on his wife's shoulder, "unt He teaches us to love each ozher unt to never discriminate anyone for any reason. You unt your child are no exception." He reached his arm out to the outsider. "You must be terribly cold. Please, come inside unt accept our hospitality unt some varm clothes."

The mother looked down at her infant for a moment before she quietly said, "Thank you…thank you very much. You don't know how much this means to me."

Mrs. Wagner grabbed the blue woman's hand and pulled her along while saying, "Zhink nozhing of it dear."

A few hours later Mystique was all dried up and well fed thanks once again to her saviors. She had felt strangely calm and comforted while around the Wagners who had gone on about themselves and their lives but did not ask a thing about herself, like why she and her son were…different…or why they were in the river without . They respected her privacy and for that she was very grateful.

She stroked her sleeping child's small tuft of dark blue hair as a plan formed in her head. She knew that she would never be able to avoid Magneto forever and she dreaded the thought of what he would do to her little boy if he got his hands on him again. The shape-shifter might not have been the world's greatest mother but she still loved her child…the child who was unjustly taken advantage of and turned into something much different than the infant she birthed. Mystique sadly took in his furry skin, elf-like ears, three-fingered hands, two-toed feet and to top it off, a spade tipped tail that was swishing around lazily from where it slipped through the blanket he was wrapped in. 'Why did he do this to you?' she thought to herself. 'As if it wasn't going to be tough enough on you growing up normally before he…changed you. Humans will think of you as a monster now.' A single tear escaped from her gold colored eyes as she muttered, "My baby…a monster," under her breath.

Mr. and Mrs. Wagner looked at each other for a brief moment, worry etched across their faces. Niklas then began, "You know mein fraulein, you can stay here for a vhile if you vant. Ve may not have much, but we can manage. After such an unfortunate accident you and your dear child should rest unt rebuild your strength."

Mystique suddenly got to her feet but was careful enough as to not awaken the resting infant in her arms. "I'm afraid I cannot stay…but perhaps you can still help me." She waited for the couple to nod before she continued, "My…job keeps me very busy and it is not safe to keep a child anywhere nearby. If it isn't too much trouble I would like for you to watch over my son and care for him as if he were your own. Of course I will come by as often as I can to visit and I will repay you for your kindness."

The Wagners both nodded enthusiastically. "But of course!" Leoni brightly exclaimed. "Ve vould love to watch over your child. Ve have…ve have been unable to have children of our own unt this opportunity is too good for us to pass up. He vill be in good hands, trust us."

The blue skinned mutant nodded with a small smile. "I do and I know that you are good people and will raise him well." She bowed slightly to her son's new caretakers. "My name is Raven Darkholme and this is my son…Kurt."

Three Years Later…

A woman wearing a conservative women's suit sat down in the office of an adoption center in southern Louisiana and watched as the head administrator of the center finished filing out adoption forms. The woman double checked the forms and gave the professional woman a slight nod. "Well Miss Darkholme," she began in an accent common in this state, "I jus need ya to sign righ' there at tha bottom of pages three, seven, eight an eleven and sign ya'll initials at the bottom of page ten and everythang will be set hun."

The blue mutant shape-shifter in disguise did as she was instructed. After she finished, the administrator took the papers and flipped through them with a nod. She put the papers down and fidgeted slightly in her seat. "Not that ah'm thrilled at your decision to adopt ma'am and hope you nuthin' but tha best of luck in the future…but why did ya specifically choose this particular child?" She looked out the window connecting her office to a large playroom where many children of assorted ages played and acted like kids. Her eyes rested on a lone little girl who sat in the corner with her legs pulled up to her chest, her dark brown eyes watched the children around her with apparent envy.

"And just what is wrong with the child I have chosen to adopt?" Mystique asked in a calm tone, though her eyed narrowed a tad and had given her a dangerous look.

"N-N-Nuthin' Miss Darkholme!" the administrator quickly replied, a twinge of fear spreading across her plump face. "Well…" she hesitantly began after a moment of silence, "the little girl you have chosen is…well…different."

"Different? How?"

With a sigh, the adoption center worker shifted her seat to get a better view of the kids in the next room. "For a gal as young as she is, she's unusually reclusive and anti-social. All the other children constantly teased and taunted her, calling her names and such…well they did until last week."

The femme fatale mutant leaned forward with interest. "What happened last week?"

"Ah…ah'm still not too positive what happened Miss Darkholme," the administrator began while fidgeting uncomfortably in her seat. "The kids all told me that Jason, one of tha older boys and a real sweetheart was trying to be nice and grabbed her hand to pull her up and play with everyone when…" she paused and scratched the side of her head with a confused expression, "…when accordin' to the kids they both froze and shouted and she let go of Jason awfully fast and then he fell to tha ground. I rushed in righ' afterwards and checked tha boy for any injuries. He was fine and all besides tha fact that he was knocked out cold for several hours. The children have kept their distance from her since."

"I see," Mystique nodded, not showing the slightest trace of emotion though her mind is a whirlwind of activity. 'Her mutant ability is unusually powerful for it to be active at such a young age,' she thought to herself. 'Irene was right about her potential but if her powers are indeed triggered by skin contact and they have those kinds of effects on anyone she touches, she will quickly become an outcast in both human and mutant society…just like Kurt.' A brief hint of sadness passed through the shape-shifters eyes. She looked up at the administrator who was watching her patiently. "Though what you have just described is undoubtedly unusual, it has not swayed my decision in any way. I still wish adopt the child." She got to her feet and walked up to the large viewing window with her hands clasped together behind her back.

"Well that's wonderful news Miss Darkholme," the head of the adoption center replied with a warm smile. "Once again I wish ya tha best of luck. I can tell ya are a good gal, ya'll take good care of your new daughter."

"Yes," Mystique muttered under her breath while placing a hand against the window, her eyes lingering on the reclusive girl she just adopted. "Welcome to the family Marie Darkholme…my little Rogue."

Nearly twenty-four hour later passengers exited the plane that just landed in the Munich International Airport in Germany. Among them were an adult woman and a young child with pale skin and dark red hair with white front bangs. The little girl was holding her newly adoptive mother's hand and looked around the airport curiously. She watched as people walked around and talked in a language she didn't understand. "Miss Darkho…ah mean Mommah," she began in a southern accent, "where are we?"

The woman knelt down and patted the girl's head gently, careful to not make any skin contact. "We are in Germany Marie," she replied. "We're a very long way from home and we are here to visit my son, your new little brother."

"Brothah?" the child began as her eyes grew wide and surprised, "Ah have a brothah?"

"Yes," her new mother replies. "His name is Kurt and he's a year younger than you. He's very special…just like you," she added while ruffling Marie's hair playfully. "Kurt is staying with some old friends right now. They're names are Mister and Misses Wagner and they are very nice people." She stood back up and begun to walk towards the exit of the airport with the little girl's protectively gloved hand in hers. "We're going to stay at the Wagner's for the night and then the next morning we will come back here with Kurt and take a plane back home." As she continued to walk forward, she thought, 'Things have cooled down enough with Erik and now it's finally safe to take Kurt home without that pestering fool watching my every move.'

Marie nodded with a smile. "So we can be a family? Ah can have a family?" The hopefulness in both her voice and eyes caused the shape-shifter to smile warmly in a manner that was a more common sight on her face in the last few years…at least a more common sight in the right company.

Some time later through nearly endless back roads and open plains, a sleek Mercedes finally reached its destination to a cozy looking cottage near a rushing river. After she parked the vehicle and turned off the ignition, Mystique looked over at little slumbering Marie and gently woke her up with a warm expression. "Wake up now, we are here. Now do you remember what I told you about your new little brother on the way here?"

The young girl tapped a finger on her lips in thought for a moment before she responded, "Tha he may look very different on t' outside but on t' inside he's all normal jus like me?"

"Exactly," Raven replied while she ruffled the girl's hair affectionately. "Now let's go meet them."

As they exited the car, the front door of the house in front of them burst open and a tiny blue blur rushed out and excitedly shouted, "Mozher!" The little boy leapt into the air and, in a bright flash of light followed by a puff of smoke, he vanished and reappeared only a scant moment later right in front of his startled mother and newly acquired sister.

"K-Kurt!" Mystique stammered out while catching her son. "How…how did you do that?"

"Ve are not sure," Mr. Wagner responded, though both he and his wife were smiling warmly. Neither questioned why their foster child's mother was in her normal human guise…it was something they grew accustomed to over the passing years. "Just last week ve vere valking in zhe forest unt little Kurt vas climbing up zhe trees unt leaping from branch to branch…he is quite zhe acrobat," he added with a light chuckle. "He is incredibly agile unt zhat vondrous tail of his is more than just for show…ach but I am getting off subject. Vell he was leaping around wizhout a care in zhe vorld vhen a branch he landed on broke unt he fell to zhe ground. I rushed forward to catch him vhen he suddenly vanished like you just saw unt reappeared perfectly safe on zhe ground right next to me."

Mrs. Wagner placed a hand on her husband's shoulder. "Ve believe it is anozher gift He has given to an already very special boy. I am certain Kurt is destined for great things."

"So do I," Mystique muttered with a nod while she absentmindedly pulled her little boy closer. 'His powers have manifested at an early age just like Rogue's,' she mused to herself. 'I wonder if this has something to do with Erik's…experiments on Kurt when he was an infant…though I wouldn't doubt that it had more effects on him that just his physical appearance.' She pushed those thoughts aside for the moment to focus on the present. 'So my Kurt can teleport now? That is quite a unique mutant ability. If he can teleport anywhere he wants his potential is virtually limitless.' A light smirk graced her features at that last thought.

Kurt suddenly leapt from his mother's arms and landed in front of Marie, who was staring at her new little brother with hesitation. "Güten tag," he happily greeted the slightly older girl in front of him in his foster parent's native tongue, his tiny and innocent sounding voice belying his somewhat fearful appearance. "You are Marie?" At her slow nod the fuzzy blue mutant held out a hand. "I'm Kurt…big sister." He smiled a toothy grin after those words left his lips. Both the Wagners and Mystique smiled at the pure joy emanating from the little boy.

Rogue was also affected by his air of perpetual cheerfulness and managed to lose her initial hesitation like her new mother wanted. She reached out and took his hand and shook it slightly. "Nice ta meet ya lil' brothah."

One Year Later…

It was dark and storming outside, the perfect dreary day. An older looking father and his young silver haired son watched on as two men in raincoats carried the boy's twin sister into The New York Psychiatric Institute, a tall forbidding looking building on the outskirts of New York City infamous for its more…extreme measures at holding down and controlling society's more severe cases. The young girl's black hair with dark grayish roots was already soaked as she tried to escape from the men. "Father!" she shouted while reaching out towards the older man standing by his car, tears streaming down her young face. "Father!" she shouted again to no avail.

As the men got her inside the building and closed the door, the father turned toward his car and raised his hand, both front doors then opened easily with the aid of his powers. Both he and his son entered the vehicle and started it up. The older man took one last glance up at a window where his daughter struggled valiantly with the men holding her before putting the vehicle into drive and driving off. The little girl watched her family abandon her, all hope having left her the further and further the vehicle drove away. She cried out, "Father! Don't leave me!" one more time before the men dragged her away from the window towards her room…though calling it a cell would be a little more appropriate.

As this whole tragic scene unfolded, a tiny figure had watched on from up in the trees, a dark green raincoat keeping him dry and hiding his unusual features from anybody who would have taken notice of him. He watched the car drive away and then turned back to the building where they left the poor little girl in the hands of those mean looking men, his bright golden eyes shining with curiosity. Knowing that his mother would most definitely want to know what he just saw, he suddenly disappeared in a bright flash of light, leaving nothing but a puff of smoke in his place.

Nearby in a luxury suite of a fancy hotel, Mystique sprawled across a large and comfortable sofa and immersed herself in a book while Marie lied on her stomach on the floor and drew in a coloring book while she hummed to herself in childish amusement. The shapely blue skinned mutant pulled herself away from her book to watch her little Rogue. A warm smile graced her features at the sight of the happy little girl in front of her.

In the last year since adopting her, Marie Darkholme had gone through quite the change. The normally quiet and reclusive girl had become more social and outgoing…though she still liked to wear dark clothes and despite going outside more often, her skin still remained quite pale. Mystique believed that her dear son, her pride and joy, had a great deal to do with Rogue's coming out of her shell. Her and her little brother had grown quite close and would spend most of their time together. They would play together all the time but always remained ever aware of Marie's unique ability so skin-on-skin contact was prevented. The duo had become quite the tag team and had caused plenty of mischief for their mother though she was never as upset as she acted…she was normally quite the opposite.

The little blue furred boy was also responsible for turning his mother into the woman she was now. Despite the poor hand that he had been dealt with in life, Kurt had remained a very positive and downright happy person in his short life. Having him around gave Mystique a new reason to live and keep on going. She vowed to herself all those years ago in the Wagner's house that she would do the first truly right thing in her life and care for and protect her son. By raising him and always showing him love…love she so sorely lacked throughout her entire life…she hoped to give him a life she had only dreamed of when she was a child.

Of course she needed both Kurt's and Marie's unique talents to further her own plans, but she never had any intentions of needlessly using them as if they were pawns on a giant chessboard. No, she was not going to be like Erik, not now, not ever again. They were a family now and her family would stay together…and she would destroy anything and everything that would dare to hurt or separate them.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden flash of light and the presence of her four-year-old son followed by a puff of smoke and the odd smell of brimstone that would always follow one of his teleportations. "Kurt," she began while sitting up, "did you follow him like I asked you to?" When he happily nodded in response, Mystique lovingly ruffled the child's hair. "Good job. Please tell me what Erik was up to. I know he came to this city for more than just a reunion with good old Charles."

Her child told her everything he had witnessed and as he did so a wide array of emotions played across the shape-shifters face. First was patience as her little boy started out, then to surprise at where Erik drove his children to just a short while ago, then to shock at what he did then finally to anger, which is an emotion she normally feels towards her 'employer'. Mystique collapsed onto the couch, visibly disturbed. "How could he do that to his own daughter? He truly is more a monster than I gave him credit."

After a few moments she sat back up and looked at her children, who were both looking at her in idle curiosity. In that moment, she knew what she needed…what she had to do. "Kurt, Marie," she curtly began while standing up, "I have some important business that I must immediately attend to and I will be out for a while…but I will not be returning alone." She paused to watch their curiosity grow. "I'm going out to correct an old…friend's horrible mistake." The shape-shifting mutant begun to smile that scheming smile of hers that her children know all to well…something interesting was about to happen…something that would change all of their lives again.

To be continued…

Author's notes: Well hello there everyone. I hope you enjoyed the second X-Men: Evolution fic I've made. I've had this idea in the works for a long time and finally decided to write it down. I've been jumping back and forth between literally all of my fics as my thoughts and ideas pop in and out at random. I have not given up on any of them nor are any fics dead or deserted…just on long stretched of hiatus…heh.

As you can tell by the title of this fic and the very ending, Wanda Maximoff The Scarlet Witch will soon be joining the group. Mystique still has some more plans to unfold and will help improve things for both her and her children.

Now I know some of you are probably a bit skittish about our favorite shape-shifter being quite a bit OOC here but I tried to explain that a bit in this story. She is by no means a saint and is still a bit conniving and manipulative but she is more open and caring as well.

Well I hope you enjoy my second fic and would like to see how this story progress. -- lighthawkdemon

Questions or comments? E-mail me at: lighthawkdemon (at) Y!