Template:Featured Articles/18-2022

Moment of Awesome - Kurt Sefton/Nightcrawler: During the ill-fated X-Men mission against the Brotherhood of Mutants, Kurt has something of a family reunion. The sounds of battle rose up at once around Nightcrawler, who was scouting ahead in the building. He felt the switchboard go down and was about to teleport back out to check when he caught sight of a familiar figure – Mystique. She was assembling what could only be an explosive device. Kurt eased back, the shadows making him invisible. Regardless, she looked up directly at him. “You might as well come out. You know you can’t hide from me. A mother always knows.” She said with a cruel smirk. He paused, then stepped out into the light, studying the object she was working on. "You did not wish to join your comrades in the fight today?" "I have... other priorities for now." She said, turning back to her work. "You and your X-Men shouldn't be here, Kurt. You have no idea what you're defending. Or what it could mean to your people." He moved slowly around the room, trying to get a better look at that work. "Then if you will be honest, perhaps you could tell me." "Always so naive. I wonder who you got that from? Certainly not your father or I." She finished whatever final calibrations and picked it up. "The government is not your friend or allies of mutants. They will always want assurances that they have the means to put us down if we ever threaten them. That's what this place makes: the means to put us down." "They have always had that", he pointed out. "Guns will kill many, perhaps most of us with little difficulty. But there is something different here?" "You never thought to ask until now? Just blindly followed orders to protect this place? That's also something you never got from your father or I." She smiled ruefully and came up with a gun trained on him. "Please walk away, Kurt. You don't understand this fight and I don't have time to explain it. Don't make us hurt you." "You know I cannot", he said quietly. "Though I have no desire to make you hurt me, as you say. If what you say is true - and I am not so naive as to think it must be without proof - I will report it to the X-Men in private, when we are home." "No, you won't. Because then it will be too late. And unlike your X-Men, we're not willing to be. Lorelei, he's all yours."