FicWad

X-men: Evolution of the Heart
Chapter 14: Brotherhood Encounter

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Around noon lunchtime had finally rolled around. The six teens met up in the cafeteria to eat. Overall, the first day of school wasn't nearly as bad as any of them had expected. All in all, it was pretty good given their circumstances.

Currently, they were all sitting outside at a single table eating their lunch and talking about their day.

"So what about you guys? How's it been going?" asked Evan as he took a bite of his sandwich.

"Not as bad as I thought," said Scott. "I'm glad I was wrong about this place earlier."

"Same here, definitely a step up from my old school. Better food too!" said Kurt as he took a big bite of his burrito.

"That's for sure," said Evan. "What about you, Rogue?"

Rogue didn't seem as anxious as she was earlier. Since meeting Risty, she grew a bit more comfortable with the new surroundings, but she still chose not to talk much.

"Well...It hasn't been terrible. Nothing like my old school, that's for sure. I even made a friend," replied Rogue.

"Vay to go Rogue! That's more than I can say," said Kurt with his mouth partially full of food.

"Uh...Thanks," said Rogue trying not to be grossed out.

Kitty only laughed at Kurt's table manners.

As they continued to talk about their day, five familiar figures hung back near the trees. It was the Brotherhood. Freddy had bought over a mountain of food on a tray and was in the process of devouring the whole thing. Lance and Pietro had more modest lunches while Toad spent the time trying to snag flies in the air with his long tongue. Wanda just sat off to the side reading a book, trying to avoid eye contact with Toad while he munched on insects.

"Man, why does Mystique want us in school anyway, yo?" said Todd as he grew frustrated trying to catch an extra pesky fly.

"Beat's me, but I don't really care. Free food!" said Freddy as he wolfed down an entire burger.

Lance just shook his head, knowing Freddy's legendary love of food would probably make him do anything for more.

"I don't know...She says something about needing a decent education and keeping tabs on human knowledge about mutants," said Pietro with a great deal of sarcasm in his voice. He never wanted to come to school in the first place either. It was just too slow for a guy like him.

As they ate, Lance suddenly noticed a certain group of people eating lunch at a table in the distance. They looked familiar...Too familiar for comfort. The memories of the Brotherhood's loss to Xavier several months ago still hung over him like a dark cloud. Mystique had been furious that they couldn't take down the six mutants that ended up siding with Xavier. She and Magneto had them do extensive, exhausting training as punishment for their failure that better resembled boot camp. The rest of the Brotherhood had never been told what happened to the kids Xavier recruited, but bitterness still hung strong.

"Yo Lance, you okay?" said Toad as he finally got the fly that he had been chasing for the last five minutes.

"Check it out guys. See anybody familiar?" said Lance gesturing towards the table where the unsuspecting X-men were sitting.

The rest of the Brotherhood looked towards the six other teens. To them they looked familiar, but they looked very little like the six mutants they had faced last March back at the docks.

"Uh, what do you mean Lance?" asked Blob, not seeing the resemblance.

"Look closer Blob, don't you recognize them?" said Wanda in a semi-exasperated tone.

Upon looking closer, Freddy finally realized what the rest of them already had. He immediately felt the anger upon recognizing the six teens.

"Hey! It's those goody little X-geeks from the docks!" bellowed Fred as he stood up, knocking over his lunch.

"You sure Lance? They don't look like em," said Todd.

Lance responded by hitting Todd upside the head.

"Ow! Hey, what the hell was that for?!" responded Toad bitterly.

"Wake up swamp breath, that was months ago. Xavier's probably trained and fed them since then. Which means they're probably stronger than before," replied Lance.

"I don't care! I think we deserve a little payback after what happened last time!" bellowed Blob.

"You'll do no such thing...Yet," said a new voice from behind them.

The five Brotherhood members promptly turned around to see Mystique standing before them.

"Mystique? What they hell are you doing here?" asked Pietro.

"The same thing you should be doing...Keeping tabs on Xavier's new soldiers," replied Mystique sternly.

"So it really is them," said Wanda looking back at the six teens at the table, still finding it hard to believe.

"Yes. And you will NOT engage them...Not here, not now," said Mystique with an authoritative tone.

"Aw come on! Why not?" said Blob still itching for revenge.

"Oh please," said Mystique in an exasperated manner. "You couldn't even beat them when they were nothing more than a pack of bare-boned bums. What makes you think you can defeat them now that they've been trained?"

Nobody responded after that. The fresh memories of what happened last time still hung over them. They knew Mystique's words were all too true. But this didn't stop the bitterness inside them.

"Don't worry, the time will come for us all. Now if you'll excuse me, I have more important matters to attend to," said Mystique as she shifted in to a raven and flew off.

"So what now?" asked Blob.

Pietro just smirked, "She said not to engage them as the Brotherhood...But she never said anything about engaging them individually."

"Whoa speedy, don't tell me you're gonna go above Mystique," said Toad.

"Oh, sounds like a challenge!" replied Pietro.

Wanda just sighed at her brother's arrogance. Lance too was noticeably indifferent to the speed demon's words.

"Come on guys! Do you honestly want those goody two shoes to get away with it?" asked Pietro trying to tap the pent up bitterness within each of them.

They all looked back at the X-men and watched them get up and head back to class. The Brotherhood of Mutants couldn't help but feel the anger grow from within them.

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As Rogue opened her locker to get some books for class, she couldn't help but feel relieved that this day wasn't as bad as she had dreaded. She and her friends had been very worried about coming back to school after so many years of bad memories. It was nice to have such a drastic change of luck. Suddenly, as she closed her locker, she felt a strange presence behind her.

"You and your friends have got a lot of nerve showing up here!" said a thoroughly pissed voice.

Rogue turned around to see Wanda Maximoff standing in front of her with an angry look in her eyes.

"Hey I know you. Yer from the Brotherhood," said Rogue, undaunted by her presence.

The lights above them began to flicker.

"It's good you remember me, because I most certainly remember you! Don't think that I haven't forgotten our last fight..."

"Hey, you attacked US, Miss Scarlet Bitch!" yelled Rogue loosing her temper.

The lights flickered more as Wanda's anger grew. Rogue saw her beginning to make fists with her hands.

"You wanna hit me? Go ahead...See what happens when you touch the Rogue," replied Rogue in a stern, yet somewhat calm tone.

Wanda was about to respond, but then one of the administrators stepped in.

"Excuse me ladies, is there a problem?" said the administrator with an annoyed look on her face.

The lights stopped flickering as Wanda remembered Mystique's words about using powers in school. She could only look back bitterly at Rogue as she began to walk away.

"This isn't over," said Wanda.

After she was out of sight Rogue just stood there, dumbfounded by what had just happened.

"Well this day WAS going well."

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Evan's last period was gym class. It was easy for him because of all the time he had spent in the danger room back at the institute. It was also a welcome change from his other classes. And since it was only the first day, most of the students just hung back and played basketball.

Evan simply shot hoops on his own. Basketball had always been a great release when he was back with his parents and when he was on the streets with his friends. The fast paced rhythm of the game seemed to make him forget all of the troubles that plagued his life. As he shot a three-pointer from a distance, an all too familiar boy caught the ball and approached Evan.

"Hiya Porcupine...Long time no see," said Pietro snidely.

"Hey I know you...You're a part one those Brotherhood goons that attacked me and my friends," said Evan growing a bit defensive at the sight of this boy whom he fought against personally last time.

"Name's Pietro, but my enemies call me Quicksilver," said Pietro as he started to dribble the ball and walk towards Evan. "You think you and the rest of your shitty pals are so hot, huh?"

"Well if I'm not mistaken...We did win in our first encounter," replied Evan with a smirk that only heightened Pietro's temper.

"That was beginners luck. I think now I'm entitled to a little payback," said Pietro with an overconfident look on his face. Then, he passed the ball back to Evan. "Come on, show me what you've got!"

Evan said nothing as he started to dribble the ball as Pietro took a defensive stance between him and the basket. Evan began to move to the right, but the speed demon followed him. He began to move to the left, but once again Pietro blocked his way.

"Too slow Porcupine! You're gonna have to do better than that!" taunted Pietro.

Evan took a few steps back beyond the three-point line and prepared to make his next move. Pietro stood ready for him as he awaited his advance. Then, just as it looked like Evan was going to make a hard drive for the basket, he simply shot the ball through the air and in to the basket with a swish.

"Three-points Quicksilver," said Evan triumphantly with a grin.

Pietro looked irked, but only for a brief moment. He then got the ball and made his way back towards Evan.

"Now it's my turn!" said Pietro confidently.

"Bring it on..."

Pietro began to dribble the ball as Evan focused on guarding the way to the basket. The speedy mutant then made his way to the left; Evan followed, but Pietro stopped for some reason. He went to the right, but stopped again almost as if he was taunting Evan.

"You can't win," said Pietro with a smug tone.

"Oh really?" replied Evan growing more angry by the second.

"Yeah really."

Pietro then began a charge towards the basket from the right. Evan stood in his way, but as he moved to match his speed the speed demon's quick reflexes purposely tripped him up. Evan fell to the floor as Pietro went in for the easy lay-up shot.

"Too slow spiky," taunted Pietro as he passed the ball back at Evan.

"You did that on purpose!" replied Evan with an enraged tone.

"Yeah, what are ya gonna do about it huh? Impale me? Here? In school and in front of all these people?" said Pietro with smirk knowing how tempted Evan was to do just that.

Evan could feel the spikes wanting to jump out of his skin and cut this hothead to bits, but he knew he couldn't do it in plain sight for everybody to see.

"Thought not," said Pietro as he snidely walked away.

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Lance Alvers was never one to take shit from anybody, so he was especially eager to confront any one of the new X-men about their last encounter. He remembered the bitter defeat and how Mystique had hounded him to no end about it. Lance was always thought of as the leader of the group when Mystique wasn't around. Even though Pietro protested this to no end, the Brotherhood still looked up to Lance to be their effective field leader. It was for these reasons he was itching for revenge against the six other mutant teens.

As he stood near his locker, he noticed a familiar face down the hall. It was the girl he had fought against, Kitty Pryde. He couldn't help but wince slightly at the memory of what she did last time. He thought he had beaten her, he thought had won, but then she came up out of the ground...And introduced her foot to his balls. It still hurt to think about it.

Lance made his way towards the young mutant as she put her books in her locker. She looked very different in comparison to the last time he saw her. Last time she looked like a starving war-refugee and was nothing but skin and bones. Her clothes use to be dirty, raggedy, and old. Now she was actually wearing decent clothes and actually had some meat on her bones. She was still thin, but it was nothing compared to what she looked like last time. It looked as though she had been doing some serious exercise back at that mansion. She wore makeup that bought out her face more and her hair wasn't nearly as greasy or messy as before. She almost looked like a normal valley girl. Through all this, Lance couldn't help but find her quite attractive...But he tried to dispense that thought as he approached her.

"Hey, remember me?" said Lance as he walked up to her.

Kitty turned to see the familiar boy before her.

"Hey...You're that guy from the Brotherhood that attacked me!" said Kitty in a slightly defensive tone.

"Lance Alvers, but most folks know me as Avalanche," replied Lance causally, choosing not to use the direct approach.

"Well I wish I could say that it's nice to meet you Lance, but after last time I doubt that's a possibility," replied Kitty dryly.

'Whoa, feisty...I like that in a girl,' thought Lance, for he couldn't help but laugh at her attitude towards him, even if it was embittered.

"You've changed," said Lance looking up and down her body, which was definitely a far cry from the bare boned form he remembered from their first encounter.

"You haven't," replied Kitty who was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable at the way he looked at her, however Lance seemed to pick up on this.

"Come on, just because I'm with the Brotherhood doesn't mean we can't share a decent conversation," said Lance flashing her a smile, hoping that would loosen her up.

"Yeah, like I believe that," replied Kitty, but the hostile sound in her voice had waned. She was unable to discern whether or not Lance was being sincere.

Lance walked in closer, causing Kitty to feel a lot more uncomfortable. Lance didn't seem to pick this up, he just took it as a sign that he was succeeding even though this wasn't the kind of encounter he had planned.

"What about you, huh? I've told you my name, the least you can do is tell me yours," said Lance trying not to sound hostile.

Kitty was silent for a moment, she didn't want be this close to him. However he wasn't being nearly as confrontational as she had expected. It did relieve her a bit, but she just couldn't get past the memories of their first fight.

"It's Kitty, now leave me alone," she finally said as she turned to walk away, but soon found herself being trailed by Lance.

"What that's it? Nothing more to tell me?"

"There's nothing more to tell," responded Kitty in a tone that was asking him to leave.

"Come on Kitty, just..." but before Lance could finish, he was cut off by a voice from behind.

"I think the lady wants you to leave now."

Lance turned around and saw Kurt standing behind him looking quite angry, but he remained undaunted.

"And just who are you?" replied Lance with a stern gaze.

"A friend," replied Kurt as he continued to stare the older boy down.

Sensing the tense nature in the air, Kitty stepped in.

"Let it go Kurt, let's just leave," said Kitty as she walked up beside him.

Kurt gave Lance one last terse look before they both then turned away from Lance and began to walk away.

Lance was left slightly dumbstruck by the encounter, for it had turned out nothing like he had planned. He had originally thought he was going to confront Kitty about the first fight they had been a part of, but she turned it around and for some reason Lance found himself playing along...And liking it. He smiled slightly as he looked back at her, feeling he still succeeded in some way other than he had planned.

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The final bell for the first day had rung and all of the students eagerly flooded out. Scott and Jean were among them, casually walking towards the car to meet the others and talking about their first day. It had been nothing like they had expected, which was a pleasant surprise for all of them. Scott and Jean continued to walk and talk about this and that, and soon Jean linked her arms around Scott's...A gesture they had done for years, only now it seemed to have a bit more meaning. However, they were not alone as they got closer to the parking lot. From a distance, Todd Tolensky and Freddy Dukes watched them with a great sense of bitterness.

"You ready Freddy?" said Todd with a smirk as he saw them walk through the parking lot.

"Yeah...I'm ready," said Blob eager for some payback after last time.

Todd began to hop towards them, hiding his position behind other cars. Blob stood back further, hoping to surprise them more. Suddenly, Scott and Jean stopped walking.

"Jean...Do you smell something?" said Scott sniffing the air.

"What do you..." but Jean was cut off when she picked up the presence of two menacing other teens. The one thing that bothered her, however, was that she felt she had sensed this same presence before.

"Sup X-geeks," said a voice.

Scott and Jean turned towards the source of the voice and saw the greasy-haired Todd Tolensky, perched on top of a van. Even though Scott hadn't seen him last time, he recognized the voice.

"Oh great, you again," said Jean in an exasperated tone. She had remembered this kid from their last fight.

"You bet cha! You didn't think I was gonna let you all get away with what you did last time now did ya?" said Todd hopping off the van and in front of them.

"Hey, first of all YOU attacked US," said Scott in an annoyed tone. "What did you expect us to do?"

"Excuses excuses," replied Toad casually.

Then, a new presence made himself known and approached the duo from behind.

"You think your stupid X-club can go up against the Brotherhood?" said Blob.

Scott and Jean remained undaunted by the presence of the two mutants, but they were beginning to worry about what this confrontation was leading up to. They both seemed bent on an all out melee.

"Look, we don't wanna fight. Not here, not now," said Jean

"Well that's too bad girly, cause we're not leavin' till we get a little payback," replied Freddy cracking his knuckles.

Just then, four others joined the tense situation.

"Back off big boy," said Evan as he, Rogue, Kurt, and Kitty came up behind them.

"I think you guys are outnumbered now," said Kitty with smirk.

This time, it was Todd and Fred who were surrounded. They showed a bit more concern this time since they couldn't defeat them as a whole last time.

"Now are you gonna leave, or is this going to get ugly?" said Scott.

"We're not leaving," said a new voice. It was Lance followed by Wanda and Pietro.

"Oh, great the whole party's here," said Rogue as she and Wanda exchanged glances.

"You think you guys are so hot? Well now this party's gonna rock," said Lance as he prepared to cause a little tremor to get things going.

Both the Brotherhood and the X-men looked poised to fight it out, but just then Principle Kelly stepped in, for he had seen this incident escalate from afar.

"Hey! What is going one here?" yelled Kelly as he stepped in between the two opposing groups.

"Nothing that concerns you," responded Pietro.

"Oh I think it definitely concerns me Mr. Maximoff," replied Principle Kelly in an angry, authoritative tone. "This is on school grounds and I will not tolerate any fighting! If you have a problem with that you can discuss in detention after I inform your guardian!"

That did it, for the Brotherhood knew that if Mystique found out about this she would be furious. Kelly didn't scare them, but Mystique was another story. After this they appeared to stand down.

"Now, are we gonna have a problem?" said Principle Kelly.

"No...We're not," said Lance bitterly. "Come on guys, let's go."

The Brotherhood then walked off, but not after sending angry glances back towards the X-men. After they were out of sight, Kelly addressed the X-men.

"I don't care what kind of influence Xavier has...But I will not allow you all to act above the rules. Now I'm going to let you all off with a warning this time, but rest assured...I will be keeping an eye on all of you."

Principle Kelly's voice was stern and full of anger. He didn't seem to care that it wasn't them who had started the fight. As he walked off, he looked back at them with great suspicion...And the rest of the X-men could sense it.

"Looks like we made a friend," commented Evan sarcastically.

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Back at the mansion the Professor had been told of the incident with the Brotherhood earlier. It was far too close to being an all out fight in broad daylight. Xavier hadn't told them the Brotherhood was going to be there, but he didn't know Mystique would send them there himself. It was the first big challenge that they would have to face outside of the mansion. As they all gathered in the living room to discuss it, there was still a great sense of uncertainty among them.

"So what do we do about it now Professor?" asked Kitty. "They're not going to stop hounding us."

"Yeah, and from the looks of it, they couldn't care less if mutants were exposed to the world," added Rogue.

"Yeah not to mention Principle Kelly. It's only been the first day and ve're already on his bad side," said Kurt.

The Professor looked at each one of his students. He briefly contemplated his response, for he knew they now looked up to him for all their answers.

"The issue of the Brotherhood is not one to be taken lightly," said the Professor. "They may very well indeed try to pick more fights in the future. I'm proud that you all showed restrained in using your powers against them, but in the future you may be tempted a lot more. Given your circumstances, I believe you all handled it well in not letting the situation erupt in to a fight. Today was your first big challenge and there is no doubt that more, even greater challenges await. But I have great confidence in all of you and I trust you all that you will make the right decisions, for the future of mutants may very well depend on it."

The rest of the students couldn't help but be moved by the Professor's words, he had shown them so much and now they had to put what he had taught them all to good use.

"That's a lot to trust us with Professor, but I think we can do it...That's what makes us X-men," said Scott.

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Back at the Brotherhood, Mystique had found out about their little fight. Needless to say, she was a lot more unforgiving than the Professor.

"You IDIOTS!" yelled Mystique as the teens sat wearily in the living room. "I told you all NOT to engage them in school and what do you do? YOU PICK A DAMN FIGHT!"

"Hey, it's not our fault Myst..." began Lance, but he was immediately cut off.

"YES IT WAS! Don't insult me, I saw everything!" bellowed the angry shape-shifter.

"So what do you expect us to do huh? Just sit around and watch them? After what they did to us?" said Pietro defiantly.

Mystique gave the speed demon a stern glare that would've melted steel.

"For now, yes...Get to know them," said Mystique addressing all of them now. "It is vital that you all know your enemy, because when the time comes to face them again...You all had better be ready. And rest assured that time will come soon...Very soon."

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AN: Stay tuned! The beginning of some major love triangles is coming in the next few chapters. And stay tuned if you want to know what Mystique meant by those last words. And don't forget to review! Send them to me at slickboy444@aol.com or post them on fanfiction.net. Until next time, best wishes to you all.

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