Categories > Cartoons > X-Men: Evolution > Aftermath
DISCLAIMER: See the Prologue.
SPECIAL DISCLAIMER: See the Prologue.
SPECIAL NOTE: This chapter is dedicated to KittAndChips, author of the AU 4-part "Force Bond" fanfic cycle and its related stories in the Star Wars fandom. As I was reading the second story in the cycle, I read something which just stuck with me: "Hatred can turn someone into the object of their hate." I think that's especially true for some characters here, such as Magneto and Mystique. Anyway, I just had to thank her for it, since it acted as a small influence in the writing of this particular part of the story.
CHAPTER 2
There were plenty of days when Raven Darkholme didn't want to get out of bed. This was certainly one of them.
Nevertheless, she got up and slipped into something comfortable, making her way to the newly redone breakfast hall.
/How ironic/, she thought to herself. She'd blown up this mansion once before, in the hopes that the X-Men would turn to Magneto and his views back then. Now, it got blown up again, and the survivors from all the different groups made up the new X-Men.
Mystique was especially somber. All the teenagers at the Institute, especially the New Mutants, nearly got killed in the explosion; for some reason, they got locked inside the mansion instead of locked out of it, not as Mystique had planned.
As slippery, devious and formidable as she could be, there were several lows which Mystique would never sink down to, even back then, before her ordeal with Apocalypse had changed her, and killing children was among those lows.
But as tragic as all their deaths were, there was one young mutant whose death overshadowed them all, especially for Mystique:
Rogue.
They had not parted on the best of terms, and Mystique never got the chance to apologize to Rogue for all she had done, thinking she was doing it for the right things. Of course, she also mourned Irene and Agatha, but Rogue's death hurt several, if not countless times more.
If Mystique could die a thousand painful deaths or even be Apocalypse's prisoner again a thousand times over just to save her adopted daughter, she would have done so. That in itself should have said how much she really did care for her.
Mystique knew that to call her an unsatisfactory mother would be a supreme understatement. In fact, she even doubted now if she was really that good as a principal at Bayville High or as a person placed in charge of watching over the Brotherhood.
The shapeshifter felt a small shudder pass through her. Her parents had been... less than understanding when their daughter developed their powers, and was stuck for a while with blue scales as skin. Any decent court would have found them guilty of child abuse and neglect.
Mystique hated them so much for it... but in the end, she turned into what she had despised most: An abusive and/or negligent caretaker.
As she found out the hard way, hatred can turn someone into the object of their hate.
Still... everything that had transpired recently had taught Mystique not to be so negative all the time. Indeed, this new chapter in her life wasn't without happiness.
As she walked into the kitchen, she saw one of the biggest reasons, if not THE biggest reason of all.
Her son, Kurt "Nightcrawler" Wagner.
Her son was the brightest light in her dark life. Compassionate, forgiving, and with a love for life, Mystique knew that someone up there must have really liked her to give her a son like that.
And sitting right next to her son was his romantic interest, Wanda "Scarlet Witch" Maximoff.
And unless Mystique's eyes were deceiving her, Kurt's tail was loosely wrapped around Wanda's leg under the table.
Mystique decided to let it go... this time. Inside, she was laughing, between the flirting presently happening and the idea of her son in love with Magneto's daughter.
But perhaps the even more unforeseen relationship at the Institute was herself and Logan.
Yes, Logan, a.k.a. "Wolverine"...
Almost no one would have believed it possible, but Mystique and Wolverine were romantically interested in one another.
No, edit that: Raven and Logan were romantically interested in one another.
Here, the shapeshifter's thoughts drifted back to the night of the massacres, with what Scott Summers told her: How codenames and powers do not define who they are. Codenames were just disguises, like masks, in a figurative sense.
On the outside, she was Raven Darkholme, a human being (so to speak)... it was as an X-Man (or X-Woman) that she was Mystique.
But either way, she would cherish her daughter's memory and look out for her son.
Her thoughts then drifted away from her more sorrowful concerns to her happier concerns. Raven also took a moment to contemplate that by trying to leave Scott out to die in the desert or something, she only helped solidify the romantic relationship between him and Jean Grey. Who knew or would have thought that her vengeful actions could have had such a positive consequence in that department?
Then again, who knew or would have thought that Logan and herself could have linked up?
Raven saw Logan's clone of a daughter, once known as X23, sitting on another side of the table, talking to Scott's younger brother, Alex. The shapeshifter then thought wryly of how she and X23 might get along. Both of them had issues, not-so-nice pasts, and a skill for martial arts with their strength and speed. She could make one interesting daughter-in-law.
Wait, /daughter-in-law? she thought to herself. /Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself there, Raven?
Perhaps.
Mystique may still have mourned those surrogate family members she lost - and it wouldn't have been right if she didn't - but at the same time, she was definitely not blind towards those whom she gained.
A/N: I tried to show Mystique as being someone who's gone down that road to hell which is paved with good intentions; I just hope that I've done that well.
Next chapter coming up soon... -Quillian
SPECIAL DISCLAIMER: See the Prologue.
SPECIAL NOTE: This chapter is dedicated to KittAndChips, author of the AU 4-part "Force Bond" fanfic cycle and its related stories in the Star Wars fandom. As I was reading the second story in the cycle, I read something which just stuck with me: "Hatred can turn someone into the object of their hate." I think that's especially true for some characters here, such as Magneto and Mystique. Anyway, I just had to thank her for it, since it acted as a small influence in the writing of this particular part of the story.
CHAPTER 2
There were plenty of days when Raven Darkholme didn't want to get out of bed. This was certainly one of them.
Nevertheless, she got up and slipped into something comfortable, making her way to the newly redone breakfast hall.
/How ironic/, she thought to herself. She'd blown up this mansion once before, in the hopes that the X-Men would turn to Magneto and his views back then. Now, it got blown up again, and the survivors from all the different groups made up the new X-Men.
Mystique was especially somber. All the teenagers at the Institute, especially the New Mutants, nearly got killed in the explosion; for some reason, they got locked inside the mansion instead of locked out of it, not as Mystique had planned.
As slippery, devious and formidable as she could be, there were several lows which Mystique would never sink down to, even back then, before her ordeal with Apocalypse had changed her, and killing children was among those lows.
But as tragic as all their deaths were, there was one young mutant whose death overshadowed them all, especially for Mystique:
Rogue.
They had not parted on the best of terms, and Mystique never got the chance to apologize to Rogue for all she had done, thinking she was doing it for the right things. Of course, she also mourned Irene and Agatha, but Rogue's death hurt several, if not countless times more.
If Mystique could die a thousand painful deaths or even be Apocalypse's prisoner again a thousand times over just to save her adopted daughter, she would have done so. That in itself should have said how much she really did care for her.
Mystique knew that to call her an unsatisfactory mother would be a supreme understatement. In fact, she even doubted now if she was really that good as a principal at Bayville High or as a person placed in charge of watching over the Brotherhood.
The shapeshifter felt a small shudder pass through her. Her parents had been... less than understanding when their daughter developed their powers, and was stuck for a while with blue scales as skin. Any decent court would have found them guilty of child abuse and neglect.
Mystique hated them so much for it... but in the end, she turned into what she had despised most: An abusive and/or negligent caretaker.
As she found out the hard way, hatred can turn someone into the object of their hate.
Still... everything that had transpired recently had taught Mystique not to be so negative all the time. Indeed, this new chapter in her life wasn't without happiness.
As she walked into the kitchen, she saw one of the biggest reasons, if not THE biggest reason of all.
Her son, Kurt "Nightcrawler" Wagner.
Her son was the brightest light in her dark life. Compassionate, forgiving, and with a love for life, Mystique knew that someone up there must have really liked her to give her a son like that.
And sitting right next to her son was his romantic interest, Wanda "Scarlet Witch" Maximoff.
And unless Mystique's eyes were deceiving her, Kurt's tail was loosely wrapped around Wanda's leg under the table.
Mystique decided to let it go... this time. Inside, she was laughing, between the flirting presently happening and the idea of her son in love with Magneto's daughter.
But perhaps the even more unforeseen relationship at the Institute was herself and Logan.
Yes, Logan, a.k.a. "Wolverine"...
Almost no one would have believed it possible, but Mystique and Wolverine were romantically interested in one another.
No, edit that: Raven and Logan were romantically interested in one another.
Here, the shapeshifter's thoughts drifted back to the night of the massacres, with what Scott Summers told her: How codenames and powers do not define who they are. Codenames were just disguises, like masks, in a figurative sense.
On the outside, she was Raven Darkholme, a human being (so to speak)... it was as an X-Man (or X-Woman) that she was Mystique.
But either way, she would cherish her daughter's memory and look out for her son.
Her thoughts then drifted away from her more sorrowful concerns to her happier concerns. Raven also took a moment to contemplate that by trying to leave Scott out to die in the desert or something, she only helped solidify the romantic relationship between him and Jean Grey. Who knew or would have thought that her vengeful actions could have had such a positive consequence in that department?
Then again, who knew or would have thought that Logan and herself could have linked up?
Raven saw Logan's clone of a daughter, once known as X23, sitting on another side of the table, talking to Scott's younger brother, Alex. The shapeshifter then thought wryly of how she and X23 might get along. Both of them had issues, not-so-nice pasts, and a skill for martial arts with their strength and speed. She could make one interesting daughter-in-law.
Wait, /daughter-in-law? she thought to herself. /Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself there, Raven?
Perhaps.
Mystique may still have mourned those surrogate family members she lost - and it wouldn't have been right if she didn't - but at the same time, she was definitely not blind towards those whom she gained.
A/N: I tried to show Mystique as being someone who's gone down that road to hell which is paved with good intentions; I just hope that I've done that well.
Next chapter coming up soon... -Quillian
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