FicWad

X-men: Evolution of the Heart
Chapter 36: Mainstream

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It had been a little over a week since the horrible events of the Sentinel incident. The institute was destroyed, the world knew about mutants, and team was not allowed back in to school out of fears from the parents of the other students. Since Professor Xavier's return, he had focused on getting the institute rebuilt and had a large construction crew on the grounds within days after returning. However, it would be a while before the new Xavier Institute would be ready. Until then, the X-men were forced to reside in a hidden living quarter that was deep underground and luckily, it was undamaged from the institute explosion. It was small, cramped, and there were no windows for sunlight to get through. Although it wasn't nearly as bad as some of the other places that the six teens had been forced to live in while they were on the streets, it was still a depressing place.

In addition to the overall-depressing atmosphere of the underground area, there were few rooms in this underground place and some were forced to share bedrooms. Scott and Jean ended up sharing the same bed and so did Kurt and Kitty. This wasn't a new thing for them, for they had done it on the streets for years before they had even joined the X-men. But there was some initial protest from Logan, because he knew what happened when a guy and girl shared a room. It was no secret to him...After Scott and Jean had been dating for a month or so, he could smell the signs that they had been pretty intiment sexually. It took a while but they had gotten over their initial jitters that stemmed from terrible memories of the past and now it was almost common to him. Kurt and Kitty weren't that close to that point...Yet. But Logan knew that if they shared a room that might just instigate more. Despite this, the Professor whole-heartedly trusted his students to make the right decisions and knew that in the end, it would be good for the overall low morale of the team.

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In the midnight hours in the underground resident area, Kurt tossed and turned anxiously in the bed that he shared with his girlfriend, Kitty. He couldn't sleep. In fact, nobody had been sleeping well in the whole institute since its destruction. He gave up trying for now and decided to get up for a while. It was then he noticed that Kitty wasn't in bed with him. Chances are she couldn't sleep either. With a groggy feeling still present in his eyes, Kurt made his way to the kitchen for a little midnight snack. But he was soon surprised to find that Kitty had beaten him to it.

"Kitty?" said Kurt as he approached her from behind.

"Kurt...You scared me," said Kitty as she turned around in a startled way from her modest little meal.

"Sorry," said Kurt as he sat down next to her at the table, "So you couldn't sleep either?"

Kitty just shook her head in a dazed state, for she seemed just as drowsy as Kurt.

"Nope, can't stop worrying."

"Worrying? About vhat?" asked Kurt upon hearing her reason.

"What it's going to be like for us now that our secret is out."

"Oh...That."

"You've seen the papers lately haven't you? They're calling us freaks, monsters...Everything they can to make us sound completely inhuman."

Kitty struggled with those last few words. Kurt gently put his hand over hers in an effort to calm her down. She soon returned the gesture, but she still looked weary about everything she had just mentioned.

"I know...It hurts doesn't it?" said Kurt in an effort to comfort her.

"Yeah...It does," said Kitty in a soft tone, "We haven't been called things this bad since we ran away."

"Just like old times, ja?" said Kurt in a monotone voice.

"That's for sure," agreed Kitty, "Now they won't even let us back in school."

"That's not a certainty Kitty. I heard the Professor saying something about the school board giving us some kind of chance."

"Really?" said Kitty with a small glimmer of hope in her eyes

"Ja...Really," replied Kurt as he have her hand a gentle squeeze.

For a brief moment, the two teens just sat there in silence, enjoying each other's company. Despite being scared about what the next day would bring, being in the presence of a loved one seemed to eclipse that great fear.

"You know you still have a chance Kurt," said Kitty.

"Vhat do you mean?"

"The papers know us all by name now...But I noticed that they haven't identified you yet. They just call you 'the unknown blue demon.'"

Kurt tried to hide the hurt he felt from those words, but he did a very poor job of it. But Kitty went on.

"They don't know that it's you...They don't know you're Kurt Wagner."

"But everybody knows that I live at the institute," reasoned Kurt still unsure of what she was getting at.

"Yeah, but they still don't know that you're the blue mutant in the papers. And if they don't know it, than everyone at school probably won't."

"Kitty...Vhat are you saying?"

"I'm saying that maybe you should take advantage of that. I mean...At least one of us should be able live a halfway 'normal' life at school."

Kurt was somewhat shocked that Kitty would ask of something like this. He knew that everybody on the team desperately wanted things to be the way they once were before everything got so complicated. But they could never go back...

Kurt gently gave Kitty's hand another gentle squeeze as he scooted closer to her.

"I can't do that Kitty. I won't abandon you or the others. We're all in this together...We've always been in this together."

"But still..." however, Kurt cut her off not wanting her to finish.

"Do you really think...That after everything we've been through...That I would just up and abandon you for the sake of being 'normal?' I know I can never be normal...I accept that. You stood by me Kitty...And I will stand by you."

Kitty didn't say a word as Kurt wrapped his arm around her waist and hugged her close. She was soon felt relieved by Kurt's decision and almost felt angry at herself for even bringing such an idea up. She soon raised her head and gently kissed him as they just sat there in silence.

Suddenly, the two mutants heard a strange noise from above.

"Vhat vas that?" said Kurt in an alarmed tone.

"I don't know...I think it came from the surface."

"Let's check it out."

Kitty simply nodded as Kurt grabbed her shoulder and teleported them to the area above. Upon appearing, they heard footsteps and laughter from an area of rubble nearby. Using extra caution, the two mutants went in for a closer look. Just then...A small group of teenagers wearing Halloween masks came bursting out of from the other side cheering and shouting as they ran towards a waiting truck and sped off in to the night. Kurt and Kitty stayed out of sight until they were gone and then went to investigate the area where they had come from. They stood in mild shock as they uncovered what these masked teens had done as they looked upon one of the few remaining walls still standing from the explosion that destroyed the institute. Kurt and Kitty stood in an even more demoralized manner as they read the writing on the walls.

FREAKS!

MONSTERS!

DIE MUTIES DIE!

GO HOME MUTANTS!

Kurt and Kitty took in the fresh new graffiti. It was becoming almost a daily occurrence to have some kind of trespasser enter the grounds of the institute and express their hatred towards them. But it only made life more difficult than it already was for the teens that had faced too much of that kind of hate in their short lives.

"Just like old times indeed," muttered Kurt as he and Kitty ported back underground, hoping to forget about the new horrors that they had yet to face.

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As the team woke up the next morning to face another uncertain day, there was an unusual silence about the team. Breakfast had been a quiet affair since they had moved in to the underground area. There was really not much to say, for they had a long day ahead of them. There was rubble to be moved, charred pieces to be sifted through, and scrap metal to be collected. As they finished their meal, the Professor and Ororo entered the dining area with a faint sign of hope on their face. They had been at an early morning meeting with the school board, whom they had been debating with for days on end.

"So how'd it go?" asked Scott.

"Well, we got the school board to agree to let you back in for one week...Permitted that you don't use your powers," explained Xavier.

"Well that shouldn't be too hard," said Kitty upon hearing the news.

"However," said the Professor, "You will have to face severe probation."

"How severe?" asked Jean wearily.

Ororo sighed, for she knew that they weren't going to like what she was about to say.

"It means that no after school activities, no clubs, and...No sports."

"What?!" exclaimed Jean knowing that this meant no more soccer team.

"They can't do that!" said Scott who didn't want to be kicked off the track team.

"Please..." said the Professor as he attempted to calm his students, "I will continue to work with the school board and ease some of the restrictions...But let's just get through this first challenge. If we can convince others that you can attend school peacefully and without incident within the week, then they will let you back in completely. This is a vital step for mutants everywhere...And I know that it will be by no means easy."

The rest of the X-men took the Professors words to heart. Nothing had ever been easy for them. Everything they had ever faced was ridden with pure conflict. This was no different...But it would be by far one of their hardest acts. It was tough enough coming from the depths of poverty and homelessness, but now they had to deal with that and the fear of others about what they really were.

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Tensions ran high as the weary group of mutant teens drove in to the parking lot of Bayville High School. It was almost like the first day of school when they were faced with similar uncertainty, but this would be by far a lot harder. Now, everybody knew who they were and they were all alone in a hostile environment.

"Okay everybody...Let's get this over with," said Scott as he turned off the engine and everybody started to file out.

"Man...It feels like the first day of school all over again," said Rogue she tried to hide her fear of the coming day.

"Yeah...Only this time, everybody knows the truth..." said Jean.

"Yeah well...The truth is way overrated," scoffed Evan who wasn't looking forward to the confrontations he knew he and his friends would have to face.

As the team of mutants came in to the sights of the rest of the students, they were greeted with a swarm of weary looks. Everybody was staring at them as if they had two heads. Soon they could hear a large din of chatter between everybody there as they continued to stare intently at the six mutant teens. It wasn't long before the quiet chatter turned in to all out shouts directed towards them.

"FREAK!"

"WE DON'T WANT YOU HERE! GO HOME!"

Evan wanted to lunge towards the guys who said that and impale him with spikes, but Kurt held him back knowing that wouldn't help one bit. More and more comments like that kept coming their way as they made their way to the door. Soon, a cluster of boys sporting Bayville jackets was blocking their paths. Jean knew them all too well, for they were Duncan's old posse. They had already been giving her a hard time since Duncan went to prison, but now it was clear it could only get worse.

"You got a lotta nerve coming back here you fucking muties," said one of the jocks.

"Hey...Back off," said Scott sternly.

"Oh and what are you gonna do about it, huh?" said one of the other guys with a snide tone, "Use your powers?"

The others laughed tauntingly at them, for they knew they couldn't respond.

"Don't think we're gonna sit by and let freaks like you take over our school. You won't last the week...I guarantee you that!"

And with that, the group of jocks left them, but not before sending one last snide look at them. They were making it clear that they had no intention of letting things come easy.

"Think we made a friend..." said Evan sarcastically as they entered the school with a great deal of uncertainty.

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Professor Charles Xavier watched as large groups of workers sifted trough and cleared out the rubble of the old institute in order to begin construction on the new one. Beast and Storm were helping as best they could with some of the labor. It was going much quicker than they had expected and it was a welcome change of luck for the X-men. As Xavier surveyed the construction sight, Logan approached him from behind.

"Did they leave already?" asked Logan referring to the others.

"Yes...Little over and hour ago."

"Then I guess you were partially successful with the board. But tell me Chuck...What are their chances of staying in school?"

The Professor paused for a brief moment, contemplating his response.

"Well, not very good to say the least old friend."

Neither of them said anything after that, for they knew there was not much else that could be done about it. The schools were afraid of them...Hell, the whole world was afraid of them.

"Figures," grunted Logan, "I'm goin' for a bike ride. I need to get some air."

The Professor didn't argue, for he knew something had to be done to keep the spirits of the team up. Things were bad enough with the institute being destroyed and the students having to face a much more hostile world than before. Their world was bad enough before the X-men and now some of that darkness seemed to be returning as they faced even more hostility towards them in place that feared and hated them.

"I hope they're okay," said Xavier to himself as he worried for the well being of his students.

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Scott Summers fell back against a statue as he tried to filter out the snide laughter of the seven jocks that had been hounding him and his friends earlier. This timed they were joined with a group of overly popular girls who shared their distaste of mutants. Now they were making good on their promise to make their lives hell, but pushing him to fight back. Scott had just been walking to class with Jean when they were ambushed and forced to defend themselves. They were surrounded and couldn't get away as three of the oversized football players cornered Jean and knocked Scott back.

"Come on bitch! Show me what powers you've got! I dare ya!" said one of the jocks as he shoved Jean back against one of the cheerleaders that had chosen to join the hazing.

"Nah, she won't...If she does...She and the rest of her mutie friends get expelled," said one of the girls with a snide grin.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" yelled Scott who was desperately trying to hold back his anger.

He could handle being beaten up and hazed himself, but he didn't want it to happen to Jean. As he tried to push his way through the cluster of jocks he was shoved right back against a stone statue. This time one of the jocks took his glasses and wore them on his face just to taunt him.

"Hey look at me...I'm a freak!" taunted the jock as he and his buddies laughed.

Scott had to keep his eyes closed as he got up and prepared to fight. He wasn't going to take this lying down. He had been beaten up enough in his old school and he didn't want that to happen again. His old school was something that he still had nightmares about to this day. Jean was no different. In fact, they often shared nightmares of their old schools even when things got better for them. Now those memories were coming back with a vengeance.

"Go ahead...Open your eyes Summers! You'll be doing this school a favor..."

Scott was very tempted to take the dumb jock up on his offer, but just then Rogue and Evan joined the scene.

"Hey! Back off man!" yelled Evan, who had seen enough.

"You're pretty small to be picking a fight with seniors kiddies," said one of the senior girls as she approached the two mutants.

"Go ahead...Come closer...Just try and lay a hand on me," said Rogue, who actually hoped that they would take her up on her offer.

"Yeah, and get expelled in the process!" laughed one of the jocks.

Just then, Scott lunged forth and grabbed him by the collar and actually lifted him up off the ground. The other jocks that were surrounding Jean stopped and hurried over to their friends aid.

"What are ya gonna do freak? Open your eyes and blow me away?" said the boy as he still felt unthreatened by Scott's actions knowing they had leverage.

Scott just looked back at him with an expression on his face that could melt steel. It was somewhat unnerving to the boy because it looked like he might actually do it.

"You're really starting to tempt me pal! Right now, you're making staying in school as low on my priority list as possible and teaching you and your friends a lesson my major cause for concern. Now if you've seen the news you know what my power is and why I have to wear those glasses. And if you don't leave me and my friends alone...Then I'll be forced to remind you!"

Fear overtook the group of jocks and cheerleaders, as the tone in Scott's voice seemed all too serious to ignore. Scott then let down the boy and they all left the area, but not before flashing them snide looks as if to say 'this isn't over.' Jean then ran over to Scott and put his ruby-quartz glasses back on his face and through their link, she felt him calm down.

"Were you really gonna blow him away man?" asked Evan, who thought Scott might have actually been serious because of the tone he used against the dumb jocks.

"No..." said Scott in a softer voice, "I was bluffing."

"Yeah...I know," said Jean as she locked arms with him and they went off to class.

Scott and Jean gradually felt themselves calm down, for this little ordeal seemed to be over for them. They were lucky to have classes together so at least they could support each other when things got rough. They knew this was just a prelude for the things to come. But at least they had each other for support. Rogue and Evan then walked off to their respective classes as well, however they were reluctant to part because that would mean that they would be alone in facing the class as mutants.

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As Kitty approached her locker to retrieve her books for the day, she was greeted with an unwelcome sight. The word 'freak' had been spray-painted on to her locker. She knew anybody could have done it, so she wasn't going to bother trying to figure it out. It had been made clear earlier that most people didn't want mutants in this school. It was a grim reminder of the kind of hate she was going to face. Just then, Kurt came up to her from behind and saw the writing on her locker.

"Don't listen to them Kitty," assured Kurt, who had his inducer on.

Kitty just sighed, knowing that would be hard with the kind of people around her and the memories of what being treated like this in the past bought.

"You're still wearing your inducer?" asked Kitty curiously.

Kurt just sighed and rubbed the back of his head, knowing what Kitty meant.

"Yeah...I'm just not ready for the rest of the school to see me...The real me. I'm sorry but it's just..."

Kurt struggled to find the right words, but Kitty soon felt like she knew what he was getting at.

"It's okay Kurt...I understand," said Kitty as she gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze.

They knew this was going to be a hard day. They both went to elementary school together as kids and the constant teasing and hazing there was bad enough. It was still something they struggled with to this very day. But they had survived that experience together so they could only hope to do the same with this one. Just then a group of older girls approached the two young mutants.

"Hey Kurt...What are you doing hanging around with this freak?" said one of the girls.

Kurt didn't answer.

"Come on! Didn't you see the news? She's one of those damn mutants! Why are you still going out her?" asked another one of the girls.

"I'll bet he's a mutant too!" said the third girl as she looked at Kurt with a disgusted expression on her face. "Freaks only date other freaks."

"Is that true Kurt? Are you a freak just like her?" asked the first girl.

"Come on Kurt let's get out of here," said Kitty who didn't wish to stay here any longer.

However, Kitty's path was blocked by one of the girls. They had not intention of letting her get out of this that easily.

"We asked you a question Wagner! Are you or aren't you a freak like her?" said the girl blocking their way.

Kurt just looked back at them with a stoic expression.

"Yes...I am. Now please...Get out of the vay."

The three girls just looked at Kurt with an angry, disgusted look. But they did walk away, allowing both Kurt and Kitty to breathe a welcomed sigh of relief.

"Thanks Kurt," said Kitty gratefully.

The blue mutant could only smile back.

"That's vhat I'm here for Kitten."

After that, the two mutants walked off to class still unsure of what the day may bring. They had already faced their first challenge, but things promised to get even worse as they felt others stare at them with looks of anger, fear, and resentment. This was only the beginning, and it only promised to get worse.

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Logan had been riding on his motorcycle for over an hour now. He had no destination in mind; he just wanted to get away from the overall depressing atmosphere of the institute. The wind in his hair and the sound of the engine helped him forget about all the problems with the institute and mutants being exposed to the world. Logan had done his best to ignore all the terrible things the media was saying about mutants, but sometimes he found that impossible.

As he sped past a speeding truck, another motorcycle pulled up besides him. At first Logan didn't look too hard at it, but then the rider of the other motorcycle flexed his arm and suddenly, his skin turned to metal. Logan let out a wolfish grunt, for he knew this was one of Magneto's henchmen. However, before he could do anything about it the metal mutant known as Collosus attempted to run him off the road. Logan kept his balance, but that just enraged the Wolverine even more.

"Now it's on asshole!"

Then, Logan turned his bike on to a dirt road off to the side of the main highway, where Collosus soon followed. He kept up at a close pace as Logan drove along the rough roadways. Along the ways, Logan unsheathed his claws and cut through some trees trying to block the Russian mutant's ways. However, he proved to be tough as the debris did little to slow him down. As they got along the opening of the unpaved dirt road, Collosus was finally able to pull up besides him. Logan looked over with an angry expression in his eyes as he contemplated his next move. But before he could do anything, Collosus turned his bike and forcibly slammed himself in to Logan.

The bike skidded off the road, but Logan jumped off. The Canadian mutant then unsheathed his claws and prepared to face Collosus one on one. As the Russian mutant turned around on his bike, he killed the engine and stepped off his bike and approached the angry Wolverine.

"I do not wish to fight you comrade," said Collosus through his thick Russian accent.

"Could've fooled me bub! What do you want?" bellowed Logan as he was still prepared to tear in to his foe with a vengeance.

Collosus remained stoic in his expression towards Logan.

"Magneto wishes to extend an offer to you and your fellow X-men. He offers you full admittance in to his new team."

"You gotta be shitin' me!" said Logan in disbelief, "Magneto wants us to JOIN him!?"

"Yes...That is all he wishes. And that is all he told me to say."

Logan knew this didn't smell right. Something was definitely wrong with this whole thing. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but whatever it was he knew that this mutant Collosus hadn't come here by his own free will. And by the look on his face, he couldn't care less about this message he was delivering.

"Why are you working for Magneto bub? Do you really believe what you're saying?"

His expression didn't change, but through Logan's astute sense of sight, he knew it had faltered.

"No...I don't."

"Then why do you work for him? What leverage does he have over you?"

The Russian mutant just turned away and got back on his bike.

"I cannot tell you Wolverine. It is too complicated to explain."

"Well maybe the X-men can help you. You've made it pretty obvious that you don't believe in Magneto's dream any more than I do."

There was a brief pause. Logan could tell that Collosus knew there was a great deal of truth in his words. However, he didn't say anything.

"Like I said...It's too complicated to explain. You wouldn't understand."

Collosus didn't wait for him to respond this time. He just sped off on his bike back towards the highway at full speed. For a while, Logan just stood there. Magneto had the nerve to ask him and the others to join him. And from what he could tell, his methods were far from honest. Logan had always known Magneto and Mystique to be devious in recruiting others. He only hoped he wouldn't try the same thing with the students. Either way, things definitely looked bad for both him and the others, as the world itself seemed to be against them.

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AN: Well, that's it for now. Mainstream is over, and "The Stuff of Villians" is up next! Don't miss it! There aren't many chapters left in this story! I know it's been long, but just a few more to go before it's all over. To all the people who have reviewed this story since its inception so long ago, I can't thank you enough! But the end is in sight, and I hope you all like it! Please! Don't stop sending reviews! Send them to me at slickboy444@aol.com or post them on fanfiction.net. Thanks and best wishes to you all!

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