...He knew that he was supposed to be changing around this time in his life and he had expected a voice change... but he was pretty sure that his voice was supposed to go deeper in pitch, not softer and slightly higher! None of his changes so far were anything like what he'd been taught in Health class to expect. He gave a slight shake of his head and watched as his hair bounced with a bit more body than he thought there should be.

"Damn..." he muttered to himself, "with a touch of makeup and the right clothes I'll bet no one would ever guess I was really a boy!"

---

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I acknowledge Marvel Entertainment's ownership of the distinctive characters and names within this story for which they hold Trademark(s) and that the inclusion of said characters within this story does not imply any authorization, support or agreement with Marvel Entertainment. This story is purely written under the Fair Use Clause for the purposes of Fan-Fiction and is not to be sold or distributed in any way that would constitute an infringement of Marvel Entertainment's undisputed ownership of any relevant elements for which they hold copyright.

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Chris dreamed that he was walking down a long hallway and soon recognized that he was at school. It was completely empty except for him, but he could hear the regular sounds of students at work in each of the classrooms as he walked by. At one point, he passed a display case that held some of the school's trophies and caught a glimpse of his reflection in the glass.

Looking back at him was a rather attractive-looking teenage girl wearing a white blouse, a knee-length denim skirt and a pair of modest two-inch heels on her feet. She had a simple black purse slung over one shoulder and was cradling several school books in her arms. Above her books he could see the gentle curves of modest cleavage appropriate to a girl her age. He looked down at himself and was strangely contented with the realization that he was that girl. He became self-aware that he was dreaming, but willed himself to stay within the experience and continued to admire his reflection. He looked really good!

The bell rang and several classrooms full of students began to empty into the hall on either side of him. For a moment, he was worried what they would say when they saw him standing there dressed as he was. He anxiously waited for someone to shout something like, 'Hey look! It's Jinx McGee all dressed up like a sissy!’ but no one said a thing.

Usually most students tended to ignore him, but now there were a surprising number of them that would wave and smile in his direction. At first, he'd looked behind himself to see whom they were waving at, but there was no one there. A few girls that he'd recognized to be part of the 'popular' crowd waved and said, 'Hi Christy!' as they passed by him. It really was him that they were waving at... but now he was Christy, and Christy seemed to be popular! One girl stopped and urged him to hurry or they'd be late for their next class, then she promptly took hold of Chris' arm and pulled him along down the hallway with her.

He became aware of the eyes of just about every male in the hallway following him as he made his way to his class. Many of the faces he saw belonged to guys who would usually walk right over him as if he were either invisible or beneath their notice. Now, these same guys seemed to follow his every move as he walked and if he returned any of their stares, they'd blush and avert their eyes. He was much more popular as a girl, that was for certain!

He had arrived at his next class, which turned out to be Gym class. His companion was pulling him towards the girls' locker room, but before he had a chance to feel odd about entering he found himself out on the mats dressed in standard girl's Gym attire and doing warm-up exercises with the other girls. He felt brief disappointment that he'd missed what must be every teenage boy's fantasy, but reminded himself that it was just a dream. He wouldn't normally be taking part in a girl's Phys-Ed class in the waking world. In fact, as a boy Gym was usually his worst class.

In this class, however, the teacher seemed to dote on him. After the warm-up exercises, the teacher had explained a series of gymnastic maneuvers that she wanted everyone to try. Some of the routines sounded to be pretty complex and Chris wondered what he'd do when it was his turn. He hadn't done gymnastics like this in his entire life! One by one, each of the girls would take a run across the mat and would do various layouts involving tumbles, handsprings and cartwheels. Some of them were actually pretty good!

He was so fascinated watching them that he was caught off-guard when the teacher called out, 'Christy! Come on dear, you're next!'

He was frozen in place for a moment as he wondered what he was going to do, but to his surprise, he suddenly found himself running forward. As soon as he’d reached the edge of the mat, he instinctively propelled himself into a series of elaborate jumps, handsprings, back flips and somersaults. He ended the routine with a perfect landing and arched his back with one arm held low and his other extended high above his head in an elegant pose.

There was a moment of stunned silence and then everyone burst into wild applause. All of the girls in the class ran towards him and shouted things like, 'Wow Christy! That was amazing!', 'Incredible!' and 'You're the best, Christy!' He smiled as he reveled in the strange new sensation of feeling acceptance and admiration. It was the last thing he held onto as he felt the dream slip away and he slowly began to awaken.

---

He opened his eyes and looked over at the daylight coming in through the window. It puzzled him that it seemed a little later in the morning than it should have been. He listened for the familiar sounds of his mother moving about as she usually does in the mornings as she got ready to go to work, but the house was quiet. With a quick glance at his alarm, he realized why he'd slept in. Dammit! Now that thing is on the fritz too! It was a good thing that he didn't have to go to school that day, because half of the morning was already over.

He got out of bed and stepped where he'd discarded his pajamas from the night before. Remembering his previous discomfort, he inspected his arms, chest and legs for any indication of a rash but his skin looked completely clear. As a matter of fact, it looked perfectly clear. He ran his fingers along his arms and noted that his skin felt a lot smoother and softer than he'd remembered.

As he was looking at his arms, he suddenly realized that the bruises were gone! He touched a few of the areas that he remembered being badly discolored the previous night and there wasn't any trace of pain or discomfort. Could he really have healed that quickly overnight?

He went into his bathroom to wash up and was transfixed by his reflection in the mirror. Something was definitely different. His eyebrows seemed to have thinned out a bit and his shoulder-length hair now tumbled past his shoulders!

"Holy shit..." he said in a soft voice.

Was it just his imagination, or did his voice sound a bit different too?

He knew that he was supposed to be changing around this time in his life and he had expected a voice change... but he was pretty sure that his voice was supposed to go deeper in pitch, not softer and slightly higher! None of his changes so far were anything like what he'd been taught in Health class to expect. He gave a slight shake of his head and watched as his hair bounced with a bit more body than he thought there should be.

"Damn..." he muttered to himself, "with a touch of makeup and the right clothes I'll bet no one would ever guess I was really a boy!"

He laughed at that and tossed the idea aside. He was being ridiculous. He'd been dwelling on that notion ever since Robbie and his friends had put those doubts in his mind the other day. He considered all of his recent changes and rationalized that it was probably just his imagination working overtime. His hair had obviously been getting longer lately and since he usually liked it to reach his shoulders it must have simply grown longer and he'd failed to notice. He'd never paid much attention to his eyebrows in the past, so they were probably the same as they'd always been and he was only kidding himself. The same was probably true for his skin, too. As for the bruises disappearing... well, maybe he wasn't as hurt from that incident as he thought he’d been. The slight change in his voice, well... maybe at last he really was entering puberty and things were getting temporarily shifted around in his throat.

He hopped into the shower for a quick wash-up and thought about what he would do for the rest of the day. He made a mental note to pick up more batteries for his clock radio so he wouldn't be late for school on Monday. His Discman had been acting up lately as well, so maybe he could drop it off to get checked out while he was at the mall. He closed his eyes and smiled at the sensation of the warm water spray on his skin. He was feeling really good -- perhaps better than he'd felt in weeks. He was optimistic that he might actually be in for a good day for a change. What the heck... after so many bad ones, he felt that he was entitled to a least a few good ones.

When he'd finished his shower, he put on his bathrobe and went downstairs to the kitchen to make something light for breakfast. He was a bit surprised that he didn't feel as hungry as he usually did. Come to think of it, he hadn't had much of an appetite the day before, either. He poured himself a small bowl of cereal after deciding against having toast. Although he knew that he was just being silly, he was sure that the damned toaster had its own personality and it didn't like him. Lately, whenever he'd tried to toast anything in it, the bread would come out barely warmed. He'd mentioned it to his mother, but she simply assured him he was only imagining things since she never had any such problems with it.

As he was eating his cereal, he began to notice that same itchy sensation from the previous night. He smelled the sleeve of his bathrobe and noted the fresh scent that was indicative of it being recently laundered. He supposed his Mom could have changed laundry detergents or something and perhaps he was having some kind of a reaction to it. He put it out of his mind and finished eating his breakfast.

As he was walking back upstairs, that itchy feeling in his skin was notably worse now. In his chest area in particular, he winced each time the fabric of his bathrobe swept across his nipples. On a whim, he wandered into his mother's bedroom and saw her bathrobe hanging on the back of her bathroom door. Hers was considerably shorter in length than his and a lot silkier. He found it really pleasing to the touch and wondered what it would feel like if he tried it on. Sure, it was a little odd... but she'd never know.

As soon as he’d slipped it on, he understood immediately why his mother preferred it to the terry style one that he wears. It felt incredibly luxurious against his skin and when he moved the material felt as though it were caressing him ever so gently. Even the slight breeze of air across his legs when he walked felt exhilarating. He paced around her room a few times and suddenly stopped as he caught his reflection in her full-length mirror.

"Omigod! Is that really me?!" he said out loud.

He had a momentary flashback to his dream from the night before as he saw what appeared to be a pretty young teenager looking back at him. He turned in profile and then grabbed a hand mirror off his mother's vanity table so that he could see how he looked from behind.

The way that his mother's robe clung to his waist made his hips look a little rounder. He wasn't imagining things this time and this was certainly no dream. This girl was real, and she was definitely him!

The memory of his dream came back in full and he thought wistfully about how popular he had been when everyone thought he was a girl. For the briefest of moments he wondered if he could really try going out like that, but quickly dismissed the idea. There was no way he'd be able to pull that off. He looked longingly at his reflection for a few moments and then smiled as a wonderful idea came to him. His mother had plenty of clothes, and she wasn't much bigger than he was. She wouldn't be home for hours and if he was careful to put everything back exactly as he'd found it... well, maybe he could try being Christy for a little while.

He spent the next hour trying on various pieces of clothing and posing before the mirror. Much to his delight, he'd discovered a denim skirt that was very similar to what he'd remembered from his dream. He found a white blouse to go with it but when he'd tried it on it didn't seem to sit properly. What he needed was a bit of artificial cleavage. He experimented with one of his mother's bras and some wadded up socks. Before long he had a modest pair of breasts. As soon as he'd buttoned up the blouse, he felt his legs go weak when he saw himself in the mirror. The girl in the mirror was now an exact replica of the one he'd been in his dream. He was absolutely delighted! He decided to get even further into this role he'd created for himself and went downstairs to the living room to play some music. Since he now looked like a teenage girl, why shouldn't he act like one?

He found a radio station that played a lot of the more popular dance songs that he'd noticed a lot of girls seemed to enjoy. He brought his mother's full-length mirror downstairs so he could watch himself as he began to dance to the music. As a boy he hadn’t ever attended a dance so he had no idea how. He closed his eyes and listened to the beat of the music and could feel himself beginning to sway with it. Before long, he began to work in some hip gyrations as well as arm and head movements. Within a few songs, he was dancing up a storm and felt confident that he moved almost as well as any girl he'd seen. He felt the energy of the music and surrendered himself to it as his body seemed to move with a will all of its own. He couldn't remember ever feeling such an incredible rush and wished it could go on forever.

In an ironic twist, just as he was finishing that thought the stereo suddenly shut off. Chris caught himself in mid-step and looked over at the stereo in annoyance.

Now what the hell is wrong? He wondered.

He fiddled with the controls for a moment then checked the back of the stereo. It was still plugged in, so why wasn't it working? And why did it stop like that so suddenly? This was very annoying! He knew it was probably something logical like a blown fuse in the unit, but the more he thought about it the more he wasn't so sure. There were a lot of those types of things happening around him lately. If not for the fact that he didn't believe in ghosts, he'd think he was being haunted.

He jumped with a start as the front doorbell rang. He almost laughed out loud when he realized how much he’d been stressing himself out. He strolled across the living room to the front door to see who it was and just as he was opening the door he suddenly remembered how he was dressed. He had gotten so comfortable with his 'Christy' look that it had slipped into the background of his mind and he'd gone and answered the door out of habit.

He had a strong urge to quickly slam the door and run upstairs to his room, but that wasn't a real option. He couldn't very well do that since he'd already started to open the door so he mentally crossed his fingers and hoped that he'd done as good a job on himself as he thought he did. As long as no one he knew was at the door, he should be able to pass as a girl so he might as well just get this over with.

He was taken aback slightly as he sized up the three people at his front door. The first person was a distinguished-looking man seated in a mechanized wheelchair. Standing to one side of him was a tall, slightly dark-skinned woman with long white hair. On his other side was a shorter but very lean-looking man, with very noticeable muscles in his biceps that were barely hidden under the sport coat he was wearing. All three were dressed semi-formally, but with more of a lean towards casual. Further behind them, Chris could see two teenagers waiting down by the sidewalk, standing next to what he presumed was their van. A strange bunch, Chris thought to himself, but he couldn't imagine what they wanted at his house. Perhaps they needed directions or something.

"Yes, can I help you?" he asked in that same soft voice he'd become more aware of since that morning.

"Good morning!" The man in the wheelchair said pleasantly. "My name is Charles Xavier, and I'm looking for Christopher McGee. Is he your brother?"

Chris was dumbfounded. Who the hell were these people and what did they want with him? Fortunately his disguise seemed to be holding up so maybe he could find out what they wanted without giving himself away.

"Um... yeah he is... but.... he's not home right now. What do you want with him?"

"Oh, he's not in any trouble if that's what you're worried about," the man said with a smile and a slight wink.

There was something about this guy that Chris couldn't help but to like.

"We have something very important that we'd like to discuss with your entire family that I'm certain would be a great opportunity for him. Perhaps we could return this evening when both he and your mother have returned?"

"Uh... sure. I guess that'd be okay," Chris replied carefully.

Just at that moment, the living room stereo suddenly came back to life again.

Chris winced, as he knew that was bound to raise some suspicion. The man in the wheelchair regarded him carefully for a moment and frowned slightly as he appeared to be concentrating on something. After a moment, he lifted his eyebrows in surprise and looked up wordlessly at the woman beside him. She pulled a small card out of her purse and handed it to Chris.

"That is the number of the cellular phone we are using while we are in town for the day," she told him. "Should anyone wish to get a hold of us before this evening... for any reason, please don’t hesitate to call us."

For a moment, Chris was sure she’d had a very curious look in her eyes. It was almost as if she'd seen through his disguise, but if she had she wasn't letting on to her companions at the moment. The three of them politely said goodbye and then returned to their van. Chris watched as the man in the wheelchair boarded via a mechanical ramp and then the others got in and they drove away.

"That was really weird," he said to himself. "What could they want with me?"

---

"Logan, please pull over just up here," Xavier asked quietly.

Logan shrugged and pulled the van over to the side of the road. He regarded Xavier carefully for a moment.

"What's wrong Chuck? Is something botherin' you?"

"Yes... it's that girl back at the McGee residence. Did you notice anything odd about her, Logan?"

He thought about it for a moment and then shrugged.

"Not really. She seemed like a pretty ordinary kid to me. A little uptight about somethin’, but maybe we'd just caught her at a bad time. Why’d ya ask?"

"I found it odd that their stereo should suddenly turn on at that moment and thought that perhaps her brother might be hiding inside. I did a quick mental probe, but I didn't detect anyone in the house."

"Do you think she's hiding something, Professor?" Scott asked from his seat in the back of the van.

"Well, that's difficult to say. You see, when I said I didn't detect anyone with my probe, I meant that I didn't detect anyone. Not even her. She may have some inherent natural resistance to telepathic probes. It's rare, but not entirely un-heard of. The other possibility would be that she was actively shielding herself from me somehow."

"D'ya think she's a mutant, then?" Rogue asked. "But Ah thought we were lookin' fer a boy!"

Ororo, who had remained strangely quiet since they'd left the house, spoke up in her regal-sounding voice.

"Indeed, we are... and I believe we have just met him."

---

Chris had returned his mother's mirror to her room and was in the process of tidying up the evidence of his early afternoon fashion activities. His mind kept going back to that group of people that had come to the door. He walked over to his mother's vanity table and picked up the card that the woman had given him.

It read:

Xavier Institute for Gifted Youth
Charles Xavier -- Founder

The address and phone number were for some town called Bayville, somewhere in New York State. Whoever they were, they'd definitely traveled a fair distance just to see him. He wondered again what they wanted with him that they would come all this way. Would it not have been a lot simpler just to call instead? He absently tossed the card back onto the table and went back to straightening his mother's bedroom.

Chris smiled to himself as he thought back to his extraordinary success at passing for a girl when he'd answered the door. He was really anxious at first, but as soon as that Xavier guy mistook him for his own sister, he knew he could pull it off. In fact, he was having such a good time as 'Christy', that a really crazy idea had occurred to him. He had originally planned to change back to his regular clothes and go shopping at the mall, but now he was thinking... why should he change? It would be even more exciting if he went out as Christy! He wouldn't be likely to run into anyone he knew since everyone else was in school at the moment. Even if he did, no one would recognize him as Jinx McGee now. He knew that he might never have a better opportunity so he decided to throw caution to the wind and go for it.

Except for the clothes he was still wearing, he was satisfied that he'd put everything back in order in his mother's bedroom. He rummaged about on the floor of her closet to see if there were any shoes he could try with his outfit. He found her bag of workout clothes that she usually wore to her health club and retrieved her running shoes. That ought to do nicely, he thought. He donned a pair of her short white socks and then slipped the shoes on. Nearly a perfect fit!

Noting the distinctive lack of pockets in his current outfit, he realized he'd need a purse to carry his keys and wallet in. Fortunately his mother had a few smaller purses in different styles hanging from a post near the back of her walk-in closet. He selected a relatively simple one that was made of a blue denim-like material and slung it over his shoulder.

He checked his reflection in the mirror and nodded to himself with satisfaction. This was really going to work! All he needed now was something to wear over top of his blouse for warmth. Although it was still early enough in the fall that the weather was still pleasant, the blouse was much thinner than the shirts he usually wore. He tried on a couple of his mother's button-up sweaters and finally settled on a slightly cream-colored one. Just to be on the safe side, he slipped on a pair of sunglasses and took one last look at himself in the mirror. He whistled softly to himself as he looked at the stunning figure in the mirror. He was absolutely gorgeous! He laughed and blew a quick kiss to his reflection, then headed to his own room to grab his keys and his wallet.

Once downstairs, he paused at the front door and took a few deep breaths. He was really going to do this.

"Look out world," he said out loud. "Here comes Christy!"

---

"You say this young person appeared to be a female, Logan?" Henry asked in a surprised tone of voice. "That's interesting... all current Federal, Educational and Medical records on this Chris McGee clearly indicate his gender as male. Although highly unlikely, if it's a clerical error of some sort it's certainly a large one. I should also add that the records indicate that the boy is an only child."

"What's really troublin' me, Hank..." Logan said as he scratched his chin thoughtfully, "is that even I was convinced this kid was a normal teenage girl. I could smell female pheromones coming off of her... er, him."

"Really? My... how extraordinary!" Henry replied.

Logan could hear the unmistakable enthusiasm in Hank's voice -- even through all the bad static he was getting through his cell phone. The damned thing had been acting up for some reason ever since they'd left the McGee house.

"Tell me Logan," Henry continued, "Did Charles find out anything at the hospital the boy was in yesterday?"

"I'm sittin' in the parking lot of the hospital right now. Chuck and Storm are inside tryin’ to see if they can get a look at the kid's records. Knowin' Chuck, they'll be back here shortly with whatever they're lookin’ for. We dropped the kids off a few blocks away from the McGee kid's house and they're keepin’ an eye on it for the time being until we can find out a little more about what we're dealin’ with."

"A sensible course of action, to be sure," Henry agreed. "Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance on this end."

"Will do, Hank. Gotta go, this damned cell phone is about to die on me."

He ended the call and looked irritably at his cell phone. He frowned as he noted that the battery indicator was showing it was nearly drained. He wasn't much of a fan of such technological devices, but they did come in handy sometimes. He typically kept the phone fully charged and was positive it had been working properly earlier that morning. He had a strong suspicion that this new kid had something to do with it. He looked up as he detected the scent of Xavier and Storm approaching. Hopefully they'd discovered something useful in the kid's medical records that could shed a little light on the situation. He got out of the driver's seat and leaned up against the side of the van while he waited for them to make their way across the parking lot to him.

"How'd it go, Chuck?" he asked while eyeing the large envelope that Ororo was carrying. "Did ya find out anythin’?"

"Another piece to the puzzle, Logan" Xavier replied as he signaled Ororo to pass him the envelope. "These are X-rays of the boy that were taken yesterday morning -- with a certain amount of difficulty, according to the technician."

He withdrew the two images and handed them to Logan.

Logan held them up to have a look at them, but since at most he'd only ever trained as a field medic he wasn't sure what he should be looking for. X-ray analysis wasn't exactly his forte. As soon as he got a good look at them, however, he frowned and looked back questioningly at Xavier.

"I'm no expert, but these X-rays don't look right. What am I lookin’ at here, Chuck?"

"A lateral and cranial X-ray of Chris McGee. Quite interesting, don't you agree?"

Interesting wasn't the word for it. Bizarre came closer, he thought as he held them up for another look.

"There's only a large white blob in the shape of someone's head. Where're the details?"

"That's the mystery. The X-ray technician told us that he'd had trouble with his equipment and figured that perhaps he'd accidentally set too fast an exposure. He was going to throw those out, but with a little... 'convincing', he was quite obliging to give them to us instead."

Logan noted the label on each image clearly read 'Chris McGee' and then remembered his conversation with Hank. He told Xavier and Storm that Hank had confirmed all records for this kid clearly indicated he was a boy, as well as the fact that he was an only child. Obviously the kid didn't want to give himself away when they'd mistaken him for a sister that didn't exist.

"How are Scott and Rogue doing? Have they checked in yet?" Xavier asked him.

"Not yet, but I'm not sure they'll be able to reach us when they do,” Logan answered irritably as he showed them his nearly depleted cell phone. "I have a sneakin’ suspicion that this girl... er, boy, drained my phone somehow. Then there's the thing about her blockin’ you, Chuck. Under most circumstances, I'd say there's a good chance that she already knows about us and is tryin’ to throw us off."

"A reasonable hypothesis, Logan, but I'm not convinced of that yet. While I couldn't read his thoughts, I could read his expressions. There wasn't any evidence of apprehension or recognition when he'd first answered the door. He only seemed a bit anxious, which is understandable considering how he was dressed when he came to the door."

"Well, he had me fooled. I know now that this kid is really a boy, but he certainly didn't smell like one."

"That is no small task for him to fool your keen senses, Logan. His female appearance was nearly perfect," Ororo said quietly.

Xavier and Logan both looked at her thoughtfully for a moment.

"Ororo," Xavier asked, "you said, 'nearly perfect.' You were also the first one to suspect that the girl was not what she appeared to be. How did you know?"

"It wasn't his physical appearance, for that had me convinced at first as well. It was subtle things like his mannerisms and the way in which he moved. Another male would find the difference hard to spot, but a female would notice that something wasn't quite right. It's possible that even Rogue would have been able to see that there was something different about this 'girl'"

"It will undoubtedly be an interesting conversation this evening when we meet with both him and his mother," Charles said with a slight chuckle. "From the way he was acting earlier, I suspect that she will be just as surprised about her 'daughter' as we were."

He looked away from them and closed his eyes for a few moments.

"I've just contacted Scott and Rogue," he told them after opening his eyes. "They've told me that the boy went out to a nearby shopping mall and they're both following him at a discreet distance. It's a bit curious that he still seems to be dressed as we'd seen him earlier. I've asked them to stay with him for a few more hours and then meet us for dinner back at the hotel. They'll call us at the suite if they need to get a hold of us since Logan's cell phone is inoperative."

"Are you expecting trouble of some kind, Charles?" Ororo asked.

"I sincerely hope not," Xavier answered as he rode up the ramp into the side of the van.

"It's just a precaution, but this child's power is still very much an unknown. I want Scott and Rogue close enough to see if he demonstrates any of his abilities and to come to his aid if necessary. We all know the dangers of mutant abilities running un-checked."

As soon as his chair was secured, Logan and Ororo climbed into the van and they drove off back to the hotel that was serving as their temporary base while they were in Lansing.

---

Chris was having the time of his life. Not only did people notice him for a change, but also everyone seemed to be going out of their way to be especially polite to him. Guys in particular were even more eager to give him attention. This was a lot more fun than his usual status as a social leper. When compared to his normal life, being Christy seemed to be full of limitless possibilities. Deep down, he knew that this walk in the limelight would be a short-lived. Eventually, he'd have to get back home before his Mom finished work for the day and put her clothes back where they belonged. He was a bit saddened by the knowledge that he'd have to return to being geeky little Chris the Jinx, but at least for the time being he could live in the moment. Even if it was only temporary, he was determined to get as much enjoyment out of it as he could.

He felt extremely out of place at the video game store he normally liked to browse in. He started to feel quite uncomfortable from all the stares he was receiving from the rest of the patrons in the store. It seemed as though everyone had dropped whatever he or she were doing as soon as he'd strolled in so they could leer at him.

It finally occurred to him what the problem was: girls were seldom seen in stores like that, and certainly not really pretty girls like the one he appeared to be. Girls like to look in clothes stores, he reminded himself. Although he remembered how much fun he'd had with his mother's wardrobe earlier that day, he thought he might be pushing his luck if he tried clothes shopping. Besides that, he hadn't brought a lot of money with him so he doubted he'd be able to buy anything even if he did find something he liked.

Still, it couldn't hurt to do a little browsing, he supposed. He looked at some of the outfits on display in a nearby store window and decided to have a quick look around inside.

Unknown to him, two teenagers had settled themselves down on a bench a short distance away and waited for him to reappear.

"Ah can't believe that's really a boy!" Rogue said in her typical Southern drawl. "That girl's got looks that many of us real girls would kill ta have! Well... maybe not literally," she hastily added as Scott's mouth fell open in surprise.

"Quite a surprising kid so far," Scott observed. "I wonder if that's his mutant ability... to charm the socks off of people with her... sorry, his looks."

"That and bein' able ta block the Professor from readin' him," Rogue pointed out. "He seems harmless enough, though. Ah wonder why the Professor wants us ta just follow him? Ah thought that we came all this way ta get him ta come back ta the Institute with us?"

Scott shrugged. "I don't understand it either, but I'm sure that the Professor has his reasons."

They sat in silence for a few more minutes, but Rogue was starting to get impatient and restless.

"Ah hate just sittin' here and doin' nothing!"

She observed a music store a bit of a way's down the mall corridor.

"Ah'm gonna head over there for a bit," she said as she pointed to the store. "Come and find me when we're ready ta leave."

Before Scott could protest, she took off and disappeared through a crowd of people. Rogue could be quite impulsive at times and it can sometimes make being around her pretty frustrating. He reflected thoughtfully and realized that this trip to Lansing was likely the most time that anyone from the Institute had been able to spend with her at once. Maybe Rogue was conscious of that as well and it was making her uncomfortable. She was still accustomed to being alone, so if she wanted a break to gain a little breathing space he supposed that would be all right. It isn't like they were doing anything but watching the kid anyways.

Speaking of that kid, what was taking her... or him... so long in that store? He decided to casually walk by the entrance and have a quick look inside to see what was up. As he passed the entrance, he didn't see any customers in the store and certainly not Chris McGee. He was feeling a little nervous and decided he'd better go in to see if he was near the back of the store.

He wasn't.

Scott walked briskly up to the sales desk, where the attractive woman behind it looked at him approvingly.

"May I help you, sir?" She asked politely.

"Uh... I'm looking for a young girl who was just in here. Is she trying anything on in the change rooms, by any chance?"

The sales lady looked puzzled for a moment, and then her face lit up as she recalled whom Scott was talking about.

"Oh! You mean that pretty young girl with the long brownish hair? Is she your girlfriend?"

Scott blushed a bit at that thought, but quickly regained his composure.

"Er no, actually. I'm just a friend of hers. Is she still here in the store?"

"No dear," the lady replied with a slight shake of her head. "She’d said that she was just browsing so she left after only a few minutes."

Damn it!! Scott thought. The kid must have left the store right about the same time that he was distracted by Rogue taking off. The Professor will be disappointed in him for losing the kid, so he'd have to pick up his trail again. He politely thanked the sales lady for her help and then sprinted down to the music store Rogue had gone off to.

Rogue was hanging out near the back of the store, checking out various import releases from bands he'd never even heard of. She looked up at him as he was running towards her, slightly out of breath.

"Whoa, Scott! What's the rush?" She asked.

"I lost the kid. He must have slipped out of that store right when you and I split up. We have to find him or the Professor's liable to be irritated with us."

"Calm down," she admonished him. "Ah'm sure he can't be that hard ta find, lookin' as he does. Ah'll go check the restrooms nearby ta see if he's in there. Why don't you start lookin' in the nearby stores?”

As soon as they were out of the music store, they paused for a moment as they looked up and down the main corridor.

"If you don't see him in the restroom, Rogue..." Scott told her, "Keep looking in these stores. One of us is bound to find her... I mean, him. If one of us spots him, that person will stay with him like the Professor asked us to. We'll meet up back at the hotel in a few hours."

Rogue gave him an annoyed look and made an exaggerated salute.

"Yes SIR!! Ah'll be sure ta follow yer orders ta the letter!" She then took off towards the restrooms, leaving Scott frowning as he watched her depart.

---

Chris had decided to head to one of the stereo and electronics stores to inquire about getting his Discman repaired. The novelty of being gawked at by every male in the place had long since worn off and now all the extra attention was starting to grate on his nerves. He'd quickened his pace and was acutely aware of many sets of male eyes watching his rear as he briskly strolled down the main corridor. He decided that this was one part about being a girl that he wasn't too keen on. He wondered how real girls put up with this crap without hauling off and slapping some of these idiots.

It was pretty busy in the store when he'd entered and all of the salesmen were currently with customers, so he decided to wait until one was free. Practically all of them had taken notice of him as he'd entered, so he knew that he wouldn't have to wait for too long.

He passed the time wandering around near the back of the store and looking at various pieces of computer and stereo equipment that were on display back there. A couple of stereo units caught his eye and he wondered if his Mom would go for the idea of an upgrade. He reached out to run his fingers along some of the controls and suddenly saw a quick flash of light, accompanied by a soft 'pop' sound. Smoke started to waft out of the air vents in the side of the unit and he immediately backed away in surprise.

"What the hell did you just do, girl?!" A stern voice said from immediately behind him.

Chris turned around and saw one of the older salesmen, possibly the store's manager, glaring at him with a none-too-pleased look on his face.

"N...nothing..." he stammered nervously, "I barely even touched it!"

The man reached out and snatched his wrist in a firm grip.

"We have a 'break it and buy it' policy here," he snarled at Chris. "It's posted at the entrance to the store. I hope you're prepared to pay for that unit you just destroyed or I'm calling mall security!"

"Please mister," Chris begged, "I swear... I didn't do anything. And I don't even have nearly enough money to pay for it! Please let me go..."

The man was gripping his wrist so tightly that it was starting to hurt.

"No way, you little brat! I'm sick and tired of you teenage twerps thinking you can treat this place like some kind of playground! If it isn't shoplifting, it's breaking things! Well, if you don't have enough money, then I'll just have to call your parents."

The commotion in the back of the store was starting to attract a lot of unwanted attention. Not only that, but if the guy tried to call his mother he didn't know how he'd ever be able to explain to her why he was out shopping while wearing her clothes. He desperately tried to pull his arm free but the man seemed to take delight in his desperation and only squeezed harder.

"No you don't! You're not getting away. You're in a lot of trouble, Missy! We're going to keep you in the back room until Security comes for you!"

"Please... you're hurting me!" he whimpered as tears started to well up in his eyes.

"Save the waterworks for someone who cares, kid."

He turned his attention back to the growing number of customers who had clustered around to watch.

"Okay folks, show's over. Remember this if there's ever any doubt in your minds about our 'Break it & Buy it' policy!"

He then began to drag Chris behind him towards the storeroom door.

Chris was beyond panic now. This guy had no interest whatsoever in listening to him. He had to get away somehow before the bastard managed to trap him in the storeroom. No matter how hard he pulled, though, the guy just kept squeezing his wrist. It was almost as if the guy knew that he was hurting him and was enjoying it. Chris was suddenly very fearful about what this guy might do to him once he was out of sight of all the customers in the store. His mind quickly flashed back to Robbie and Stan... and what they tried to do with him.

No, he thought. That can't happen... I won't let it... I WON'T!!!!

All of the sudden, he felt a peculiar tingling sensation run through his entire body. Instantly, the man holding his wrist screamed in pain and quickly released him.

"God damn it!!" the man yelled as he grasped his arm with his other hand and screwed his eyes shut in pain. "What'd you do to me, you freak?!"

Chris was very confused. He hadn't done anything at all... or had he? He cautiously took a few steps backwards away from the guy and looked around for an opportunity to make a break for it.

"You're one of those freakin' muties, aren't you! Well, I'll teach you not to come into my store and break my inventory!"

He quickly reached behind the counter with his remaining good hand and pulled out a baseball bat.

"I'm going to make you very sorry that you ever came in here!"

"Believe me, I'm already sorry!" Chris said as he tried to dash through the customers and escape out into the mall.

Unfortunately, a number of the other salesmen had moved in from various positions around the store and surrounded him.

Chris was really frightened now. If he didn't get away immediately, there was a good chance that these guys might beat the crap out of him, as well as turning him over to mall security. They'd formed a close circle around him, but for some reason none of them seemed eager to actually touch him. He looked over his shoulder and saw the asshole with the baseball bat closing in. No doubt he wouldn't have any problem 'touching' him with that bat.

He felt his fear and desperation growing out of control when the store's lights suddenly went out. Not only the lights, but also all of the stereo and computer equipment along the walls were inert as well. It seemed as though the entire store had suddenly been drained of all electrical power. There were confused shouts from the salesmen as well as the various patrons in the store as they bumped around in the darkness. This was as good a chance as he was going to get to make a break for it, so he decided to take advantage of it. He quickly charged through the various bodies around him and pushed his way to the front of the store.

As he was pushing his way though, he saw something quite surprising that he might not have noticed if the lights hadn't gone out... his hands appeared to be radiating a faint bluish-green light! Unfortunately for him he wasn't the only person who had noticed it.

Someone near him, an older woman he guessed, shrieked.

"My god! She's some kind of monster!"

He tumbled out of the store and fell to the floor of the main corridor as a larger crowd of people was gathering. A number of people were shouting and pointing at him and some looked like they were ready to lynch him. His emotions were way out of control as he scrambled to his feet and ran incredibly fast towards the nearest exit. He didn't know where he was running to and he didn't care... he just had to get away from there.

In his wake, one certain person was staring hard at him with his jaw hanging open. He quickly recovered his composure and started to sprint down the corridor after Chris.

This time, Robbie thought to himself as he clenched his fists, I'm going to get that little sissy but good!

---

Scott and Rogue had both arrived at the Stereo and Electronics store at the same time. Each had heard that there was some kind of commotion at the store and headed towards the disturbance. Ironically, they'd only missed Chris by a couple of minutes. They casually blended amongst the onlookers and started to ask around about what had happened.

"It was one of those mutant freaks that we've heard about in the news!" One of the salesmen had said to Scott.

"She looked normal enough, but then she suddenly destroyed something in the store and then attacked the manager when he'd asked her to pay for it. The guy now has some kind of burns on one of his hands!"

Scott frowned at the man's words but said nothing. He looked at the dark store which still hadn't had power restored yet.

"What happened after this... 'freak' attacked the manager?" Scott asked, cringing at his own words.

He hated having to pander to the narrow-minded bigotry of people like this, but he needed information quickly. Well, when in Rome... he supposed.

"We tried to grab the girl, but she blacked out the entire store and got away. The little freak was even glowing in the dark as she took off!"

Scott raised an eyebrow. Now that was interesting! He excused himself from the man's company and went to find Rogue. She was standing far off to the side by herself, not surprisingly, and impatiently tapping her foot on the ground.

"Come on!" she told him urgently as he got within earshot. "A couple of folks said she ran off this way a few minutes ago!"

She then turned and ran off without waiting for his reply.

Shit, he thought to himself. The situation was getting a whole lot stickier than he'd imagined it would. The Professor wanted to be informed if anything out of the ordinary happened and he guessed that this definitely qualified. He quickly ran to a payphone and dialed up the number for the hotel they were booked in at. Within a few moments, the front desk re-directed his call to their suite.

"Yeah?" Logan answered in his usual gruff tone of voice.

"Uh... it's Scott. I need to talk with the Professor! It's urgent!"

There was a brief pause and then he suddenly heard the Professor talking to him, but directly in his head!

'What's wrong, Scott?'

'Professor, it's the girl... er, boy... I mean, the kid we were following!' he thought back.

'Calm down. Just tell me what happened.'

In much less time than it would have taken to explain it, Scott was able to relay everything to the Professor via the temporary link between the two of them. He felt the Professor shift into private concentration for a moment.

'Rogue is outside the North entrance of that shopping mall,' the Professor's words sounded in his head.

'She was unable to determine which direction the boy ran off to, so I told her to wait there for you. Mr. Logan, Ms. Munroe and I are on our way to help locate the boy. Stay with Rogue and the two of you can search as a pair.'

He felt the link with the Professor disengage, so he quickly hung up the telephone receiver and hurried to the North entrance.

---

Chris wasn't sure exactly how long he'd been running, but he was now feeling a painful stitch in his side. He headed into a laneway behind some houses and sat down on the ground with his back against a wood fence. He was several blocks away from the shopping mall and felt momentary relief to be away from all of the madness back there. Now that the adrenaline was starting to ebb away, the anxiety and fear he'd been suppressing from earlier fell on him like a ton of bricks. He drew his knees up to his chin and hugged his legs close to himself as he burst into tears.

He sobbed for a few minutes until he was able to think coherently again. Those people back there had called him all sorts of things, including 'freak', 'monster' and 'mutie'. Mutie... mutant? Him?

He'd heard of mutants before; lots of kids at school would tell stories about them, but he'd always just assumed it was some urban myth. Sort of like the over-grown alligators in the sewers stories.

He looked at his hands and remembered the faint glow he'd seen coming from them. He thought back to how that stereo unit suddenly self-destructed on him as soon as he'd touched it. At the time, he’d thought it was just some defect in the unit and was sure that it hadn't been his fault. Now he wasn't quite so sure. He was starting to see a pattern over the past few months. A lot of things had been breaking down around him or simply stopped working for no apparent reason. It was what had earned him his 'Jinx' title at school. What if it wasn't all just bad luck? What if all this time he was actually doing... something to things that screwed them up?

Then, there was what happened to that guy who wouldn't let go of him. He remembered that funny tingling feeling and then the next thing he knew the guy had let go of him and was screaming in pain.

That wasn't the first time he'd felt that sensation, though. The first time was... in the bathroom at school! When Stan was twisting his arms the other day after school, the feeling had come then too... and the next thing he knew Stan and Robbie were both gone and he was alone on the floor in a dark bathroom. What had just happened at the mall was remarkably similar, only he hadn’t fainted this time.

A vision of his mother's bandaged fingers quickly flashed in his mind.

That's right! He thought to himself. She claimed that she'd burned herself on something but she was hiding the truth from him. His memories of that evening in the hospital weren't nearly as clear. He could only recall an excruciating headache while some nurse was taking pictures of the bruises on his arms, then... nothing. He probably did something to her without realizing it and that's how she'd burnt the tips of her fingers. No wonder she had been looking a little oddly at him every so often!

That was pretty much the icing on the cake for Chris and he started crying again. It was bad enough he now knew that he truly was some kind of freak, but he'd even hurt his own mother. That thought alone was probably more upsetting to him than anything else. His Mom had always been there for him and she always did her best for him. It wasn't fair that she had to suffer like that because of him! He was thankful that it appeared she'd only suffered minor burns to her fingers, but what about the next time? He felt a wave of depression sweep through him as he came to the realization that he was a danger to her the longer he was around. For her sake, he had to run away.

He looked down at himself and thought again about how well he was able to pass himself off as a girl. Maybe he could try living as one while he was running. At the very least, it should keep him from being recognized by the authorities until he could get far enough away.

He finally stood up and brushed some of the dust off his rear. If he was going to run away, he knew he had to do it before his mother came home or he might lose his nerve by the next day. After all the excitement at the mall, he figured it would be wise to keep off the main streets as much as possible as he made his way home.

Just as he started to continue his walk through the laneway, he heard rapid footsteps approaching from behind him. He turned towards the sound just in time to feel the back of a large hand strike him hard across the face and send him reeling into a couple of garbage cans.

"Well well, McGee," Robbie said he stood over him with an evil smile on his face.

"Don't you look precious? I guess you've finally decided that you're a girl after all since you're going around dressed like one."

Chris tried to stand, but received a sharp kick to the ribs that knocked the wind out of him.

"That," Robbie told him matter-of-factly, "was for whatever you did to Stan the other day."

Chris fell on his side and tried to force some air into his lungs as Robbie paced slowly around him with a bloodthirsty look in his eyes.

"It seems that you and me have some unfinished business, McGee," Robbie told him as he slowly began to crack his knuckles.

"Now that you're a proper-looking girl, maybe I'll let you do a little more than just blow me. First things first, though... I believe I owe you something for getting me kicked out of school."

Chris covered his eyes and whimpered in fear. What had he ever done to deserve all of this? He thought miserably to himself.

Just as he had resigned himself to the severe beating he knew was imminent, he heard a loud explosion and the sound of scattering debris.

He opened his eyes and saw that Robbie had picked up a large stick and looked as though he was getting ready to start beating him with it. Robbie's attention was not on him at the moment though. He was instead looking at a rather large hole that had just been blasted through the wooden fence right next to him.

"Okay tough-guy, you want to try your little dance with me, or can you only take on people smaller than you?" A stern voice said from behind them.

Chris and Robbie both turned towards the direction the voice came from. Behind them, a vaguely familiar-looking teenager was standing there with his arms folded defiantly across his chest. The guy was wearing denim jeans, hiking boots and a denim jacket over a T-shirt, but it was the red-tinted sunglasses that brought full recognition back to Chris. This guy was one of those people who'd come to his house that morning.

"What's it to you, four-eyes?" Robbie snarled at him. "I was just about to teach this little sissy-faggot a lesson, but if you want some action I can educate you too!"

He stepped around Chris and moved towards this new guy.

"You another mutie freak like the little faggot here?" he sneered as he glanced briefly towards the new hole in the fence. "You think that shit scares me? Think again, asshole! You want a piece of me, then come and get some, freak!"

Robbie then moved suddenly and hurled the large stick he was holding directly at the other teen. It caught him by surprise, but he was able to duck out of the way. Unfortunately, Robbie used the distraction to his advantage and rushed him. Chris watched in horror as Robbie quickly landed a series of vicious blows into the guy's stomach; temporarily winding him. He then got to his feet and began to lay into the fallen teen with some heavy kicks.

"You're not so tough are you, freak?!" Robbie jeered as he went over to retrieve that large stick from where it had landed. He looked briefly back at Chris with a sick grin on his face.

"Don't worry McGee, I'll get to you in a minute!"

As Robbie turned his attention back to the other teen, he was momentarily startled to see a man with extremely muscular arms standing between him and the guy he was about to beat into oblivion.

"Glad to see that you enjoy fightin' with 'mutie freaks'," the man growled at Robbie.

He then lowered his arms towards the ground and there was a strange metallic sound as three mean-looking blades sprung out of the knuckles of each hand.

"... 'cause you know what, Bub? This is one 'mutie freak' that's goin' to really enjoy fightin' you!"

With Robbie's attention now decidedly elsewhere, a slender girl wearing Goth-style clothing sprung out from behind a parked car and rushed over to Chris. She got a hold of him under his arms and started to pull him to his feet. Chris recognized her as the other teenager from the group that had come to visit that morning. What the hell was going on? As grateful as he was that they'd come along right when they did, he still didn't know what they wanted with him. He glanced over at the guy with the blades sticking out of his hands, who was just standing there glaring at Robbie.

Robbie sized this other guy up pretty quickly. While he may not be terribly bright, he seemed to recognize that attempting to fight this guy could very well be the last thing he'd ever do. For added emphasis, the guy with the claws made a fast swipe with his arm and sliced that large club Robbie was holding in two.

"Why don't you run home to your mama before you get hurt, little boy?" The man growled at him through clenched teeth.

That was more than enough for Robbie, who had turned tail and ran in the opposite direction without so much as a backwards glance. With that same metallic sound, those blades quickly disappeared and the man turned to help his friend up off the ground.

"Looks like you need some remedial trainin' on the mat, kid," the man said with a chuckle and a gentle shake of his head. "That piece of trash could've done some pretty nasty damage to you if I hadn't gotten here when I did."

They both walked back towards where Chris was standing with that strange girl who had helped him to his feet. Chris, who by this point was more than just a little bit freaked out, involuntarily took a few steps back from them.

"Wh... who are you people?" He stammered, "Why are you following me? What do you want?"

"Whoa, easy there..." the man said as he brought his hands up gently. "We're not goin’ to hurt you, kid... we just want to talk to you."

Chris looked fearfully at the man's hands, remembering the blades he'd seen sticking out of them only moments before. He backed up against the fence and slid down to the ground as he felt all the strength in his legs evaporate.

"Please, just go away," he whispered as tears started to form in his eyes. "I didn't do anything... why won't everyone just leave me alone?"

The guy with the tinted sunglasses approached him cautiously and crouched down beside him.

"Hey, listen... believe it or not, I completely understand how you feel."

In spite of how bad he was feeling, Chris managed an amused snort through his tears.

"Hardly," he said as he stared hard at the guy. "You couldn't possibly know how I'm feeling! I'm not even sure I know myself! You don't have any idea what I am!"

"Well, for starters... I know that you're really a boy, although I must admit that I'm finding it hard to believe," he replied softly.

Chris let out an involuntary gasp and hid his face in his hands. Just when he’d thought that he couldn't feel any worse!

The girl, who until that moment had been trying her best to make everyone forget that she was there, stepped forward and gave her companion a quick kick to his behind.

"Oww! What'd you do that for, Rogue?" he exclaimed as he rubbed his rear.

"Nice goin', genius!" she replied in a strange Southern-sounding accent, "Ah swear, you men can be so thick sometimes!"

She moved to crouch down on the other side of Chris where she regarded him carefully for a moment.

"Y'all make a pretty convincing girl though, Ah must say."

As bad as he had been feeling, he was now getting quite angry. Whoever these people were, they knew a lot more about him than he knew about them. That was as creepy as it was irritating and he didn't need to deal with that crap on top of everything else that had been going on. He felt strength return to his legs and he quickly jumped to his feet.

"I don't know what you want and I don't care! Just leave me alone!!" he shouted at them.

He made a quick move to dash past them, but the guy with the glasses reached up and caught him by the arm.

Almost immediately, he felt that tingling sensation again. There was a sudden flash of light that came from where the guy was holding onto his arm, and then just as quickly he was free again as the grip was released.

"Scott!!" shouted the girl as her friend collapsed to the ground.

Oh shit, Chris thought to himself. Here we go again!

He took a quick look down at the guy sprawled out on the ground and then at the man with the claws. Chris didn't mean to do whatever it was that he just did, but he found it hard to believe that they'd be terribly sympathetic towards him now that he'd just injured one of them. He didn't want to face the wrath of that guy with the blades in his arms, so it was time to go... and right now.

As he began to run away from them he saw the man moving towards him in what seemed to Chris as slow motion. Chris easily dodged past him as the guy lunged at him in a flying tackle.

Even in slow motion, this guy still seemed to get back on his feet pretty quickly and made several more attempts to grab him. Although Chris was able to keep the guy from actually catching him, the guy kept barring his path and made it impossible for him to get away.

Looking about quickly, Chris spotted an alternative option and circled back towards the large hole in the wood fence. He raced towards it and dove through it before his pursuer was able to stop him. He quickly tumbled into a roll and then back to his feet, resuming his run without losing any momentum. In an instant, he’d disappeared up the side of the house and then took off down the street.

---

To be continued in:

The XX-Factor: Chapter Three - Discoveries & Decisions