The Darkness was everlasting. As usual it was neither here or there. It just was. There were no boundaries. There were no walls. Just darkness. Darkness everywhere, always. He sat there staring at the nothingness. For months, or was it years now; he couldn't tell; he had tried every way to get out. The be alive again. Just as he was close to giving up he had found a way. Now it was only matter of time. But time didn't bother him. Those who he wanted to get even with lived forever, or at least close enough. And then again he would be free. Free to do what he wanted. And he would.

Betsy moved nervously in her chair. She didn't like this place. She couldn't tell why, she just didn't. Maybe it was the reason she was here, maybe it was that she didn't know the man that occupied it at all, she only heard stories about him. For whatever reason she wanted to leave. But she knew she couldn't. She had to wait for him. Finally he showed up, entering the room in his hover chair. He moved with little sound across the carpeted floor and settled behind his desk.

"How are you feeling today Elizabeth ?" Prof. Charles Xavier asked.

"I'm fine Professor, and you ?" answered Betsy in a formal tone.

"I'm fine as well." Xavier answered. "Now I believe you already know the reason I called you in here." he said after a short period of silence.

"No I'm afraid I don't."

"It's about your recent change Elizabeth. Do you have any idea how it happened ?"

^I knew it would come to this^ she thought. "No I'm afraid I don't know anything about it. Last thing I remember was walking into Siege Perilous, and then I wake up in a oriental body. If anyone can do any explaining then it's not me."

Xavier sighed. He knew it would come to this. "Elizabeth we believe that the answers are all buried in your mind, somewhere there."

?^ "I know Professor, but I can't reach them. My power levels have decreased ever since the transformation, I don't know why or how."

"Maybe me, or Jean we could go into your mind and reveal the answers."

Her breath almost stopped as she heard him say into. ^So they don't trust me. They are afraid I can be a spy. Oh God what does it take to be trusted in this bloody house ?^

"No." she said after a brief slience.

"Excuse me ?"

"In my life I had enough people screwing with my mind. I've grown tired of it. I don't care what could be in there, no one will invade it. Now if you excuse me I've got to meet with someone."

She got up and stormed out of the room. Tears in her eyes she started running. On the way she bumped into someone, she didn't see who, but finally she made it out of the mansion. She ran, filled with anger. Why wouldn't they trust her ? She had done everything she could to be normal again but she couldn't reverse her changes. It was impossible. She had given up so much for X-Men. After all this they still weren't sure about her. How could they ?

She was so angry she didn't even see when she got to the pond. Blinded with anger she pulled of the clothes and jumped in. She dived instantly and headed for the bottom. Her arms pounded the water with incredible strength her legs kicked behind her. Within few seconds she was at the bottom. Now that she reached her destination she didn't know what to do. She had been blinded with anger. Now as the cold water surrounded her body the feeling faded. She resurfaced and took deep breaths. ^Stay calm Betsy. They have every right to not trust you^ she thought as she saw the sun disappear behind the horizon slowly. The view somehow relaxed her a bit.

For many minutes she stayed still, only her legs and arms moving to keep her afloat as she stared at the disappearing star. There was something beautiful about it. Something she had long forgotten. Ever since joining the X-Men she was always in the rush, always busy. She never seemed to enjoy the sunset anymore. When she was a little girl she used to watch it every night. She didn't have many friends, she just couldn't get along with them. She couldn't stand how immature they were, how they seemed like children compared to her. One and only friend she ever had was her twin brother Brian, and he always had his nose in the books. So she would climb the roof every evening, and sit there alone staring at the sun disappearing behind the hills. To her this was the most beautiful thing ever. Now as she did it again since a very long time, her memories of childhood returned. Tears ran down her cheeks as she remembered how cruel the children at school were. Just because she was rich and beautiful unlike them she was treated as something worse. She remembered how she would walk home on some afternoons crying and Brian was right behind her, not even noticing. It hurt.

Then suddenly as the sun totally disappeared she came back to reality. It was night already. She started down at her reflection at the water. The anger returned again as she thought how beautiful she used to be. Her skin used to be as smooth as silk with the beautiful color of pink, which photographers wanted more and more of when she was a model. Now her skin was rough, no more smoothness. She could cope with that. What she hated the most was the color. A sickening shade of yellow that reminded her of what price she paid for living. She hated it. As she hated everything about the transformation she hated her yellow skin the most...

She looked down at her reflection again. A insect landed on the surface for few seconds creating rings on the clear surface. When they all disappeared she saw her face staring at her with a wicked smile on it's lips. Her old face. She started punching the water with all her strength hoping it would go away. "No, no, no, no." she shouted as she beat the water with her hands.

She lost her balance and began sinking. Water filled her mouth and she began to choke on it. She quickly resurfaced and spat the water out of her mouth. Her breath was uneven for few minutes as she tried to get her lungs to work properly again. Finally her chest began to rise and fall in normal speed. And she stared down at her reflection. It was gone. Only a alien Asian woman looked back at her. "Oh God, Matuso ! I will get you for this ! I swear ! If it's the bloody last thing I do I will."

She began coughing and realized that she was screaming at the top of her lungs to the stars. ^Oh Betsy what have you done to yourself.^

Thirty minutes later she walked out of the water naked. It was night now stars splattered all over the sky. She sat down at the grass and breathed deeply. That swim had relaxed her. She was no longer angry, well at least not at Professor. Hate for Matuso burned in her every minute and nothing could stop that. ^One day I'll get you bastard^.

She had herself wondered how she had changed. She knew it was all in her mind, buried there somewhere. She knew she couldn't reach it. Whatever Matuso did to her, he cut down her power levels to a ridiculous level. She wondered if she even was a telepath anymore. She didn't know if her powers would ever return to a normal level but for now she would not let anyone into her mind. She was sick and tired of it.

She got up slowly and started dressing. As she pulled up her jeans she bit her lip at the sight of her long yellow legs. ^Guess I'll never get over it^ she thought. She picked up her shirt and threw it on. Hands in her pockets she wandered back to mansion not noticing two red spots in the woods watching her for the last hour.

She entered the kitchen few minutes later and saw Peter and Rogue sit by a table, talking. After saying a quick hi to both of them she boiled some water and found some milk to make herself tea. As the water boiled she heard them speak of the good old times when they were on the team. She smiled subconsciously as she thought of these days. Now that she came to it she enjoyed them. The water boiled and she made her tea in a big cup adding a fare amount of milk to it like every self respecting English woman would. She put the milk in the fridge and grabbing her cup she heard Colossus and Rogue talk about the time they spent in Australia. She needed a friend like this. A friend she could share old times with. A friend she could pour her worries into. Too bad no one except Remy was interested in meeting her. As she walked out of the kitchen she heard Rogue call after her.

"Bets sugah why don' ya sit down with us an' have a talk 'bout the good ole times ?"

Betsy smiled.

End Part Two