"We need you to get a hold of Charles Xavier's files, Joseph. The information can help us to weed out the
mutant vermin. Can you do that?"
"Of course."
"What are you thinking about?" Aileen inquired, looking at him with those demonic eyes of hers.
"Nothing," Fritz smoothly replied, watching a squirrel scurry up a nearby tree. The setting sun was a fiery
red ball in the distance, and he could hardly believe that he had spent the whole day with her.Much to his
displeasure, she cuddled up next to him, her greasy black hair brushing up against his shoulder.
"Those guys you used to hang out with are jerks," he said, forcing a fake smile.
"I know."
"So why did you stay with them?"
"I had nowhere else to go. I certainly didn't want to live with Xavier."
He pretended to frown.
"Why not?"
She did not answer him; she pulled away and gazed at him, almost pleadingly.
"Make me normal again, Fritz."
His smile widened, a mere mask to hide the disgust that he felt when he reached out with his power and
concentrated, watching as Phobia's ashen face became rosy with life. She closed her eyes, almost as though
she was thinking hard, and opened them again when she was fully transformed. It was not so bad looking at
her now, Fritz decided,for her body was currently well-developed instead of being grotesquely thin.
Anyone would have mistaken her for a normal girl.
"Now," he said, leaning forward, "tell me, what was wrong with Xavier?"
Aileen bared her teeth, her eyes wide with fury.
"His underlings treated me as badly as the Brotherhood did," she responded. Despite the fact that she now
resembled a regular teenager, her expression still sent tiny shivers through Fritz.
"How so?"
"That-that damn bitch Rogue broke my leg," Aileen explained, gesturing toward her outstretched leg.
"And the others?"
She shook her head, her black tresses wagging.
"They hate me. They-," she stopped and made an expression as if she had bitten her tongue. Her face
visably darkened as she continued, "I-I'm a freak. They'd stab me in the back the first chance they got."
She purposely turned toward the lowering sun, so that Fritz couldn't see the tears well up in her eyes.
Carefully he placed a hand on her bony shoulder, even as his concentration broke and the old Phobia
returned.
"I bet you'd like to get 'em back," he whispered, watching as she sucked in her breath quickly and faced
him, her eyes glittering.
"Yes."
Fritz took his hand from her shoulder, the dying rays of the sun lighting his whole body an orange-yellow.
"Well, it can be arranged."
"Violence has exponentially increased since the rise of mutants," the reporter on the old news tape said,
and Fritz leaned closer in his living room chair to hear better. It was late; Aileen had gone to bed hours ago,
and now he had the opportunity to watch the tape that he had brought with him.
He had seen it a million times before, but every time he felt bile rise in his throat. Pictures of mutant
terrorists destroying property and lives filled the screen as he watched from the darkness.
His parents, both human, had been killed by one of those mutants—the one called Magneto. Fritz had
been an orphan and completely alone until the Fellowship found him and explained how his gifts could be
used to fight the evil that steadily consumed the earth. He never forgot that he himself was a mutant, and
constantly tried to make penance for that fact by annihilating as many of the vile things as possible.
"What are you doing?" Aileen's voice startled him, and he immediately reached for the remote to switch
off the television. Once they were in darkness, Fritz answered.
"Just watching a show. It was stupid anyway."
"Oh." Aileen's eyes flashed in the blackness. She sat down on the sofa near him, her hair catching the
dim light. "Are we really going through with that plan?"
"Yeah," he said, suddenly loathing her presence even more. The "plan" that she spoke of was to break into
Xavier's mansion and get her revenge, although in actuality it was to get the files from the professor's
computer.
"I want to thank you," she softly told him.
"For what?"
"For being so nice to me." Even in the darkness of the room, he knew that she blushed. He was surprised
for an instant, and then smiled, glad that she couldn't see how unnaturally cold it was.
"Hey, no problem. You're such a sweet girl."
Again, he sensed that she blushed. That white face of hers was probably the color of a ripe strawberry.
Without warning, she grabbed onto his hand with her own. He nearly retched when he felt the protruding
bones beneath the chilly skin, but he took a deep breath and squeezed back.
Lance shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned against the water fountain. His eyes scanned the crowd
of people as they hurried to their classes. Finally, they came to rest upon Scott Summers and Kurt Wagner.
He spit out the wooden toothpick that he had been gnawing on, a sneer appearing.
"What do you want, Summers?"
"Heard you were having trouble at the Brotherhood," Scott replied, warily observing as Lance stepped
away from the fountain, hands remaining in his pockets.
"Yeah, and where'd you hear that from?" He growled in response.
"Didn't hear it from anyone. I saw it for myself."
Lance laughed bitterly.
"Well, so Aileen left. We're doing fine without her, anyway."
"Where did she go?"
"I dunno. Left with some blonde-haired guy," Lance said. "Why do you wanna know?"
Scott adjusted his ruby glasses. "Just wondering."
"Right. Whatever." With that, Lance started down the hallway.
Scott sighed.
"At least she's out of the Brotherhood. Those guys are creeps."
"Ja, that is good," Kurt agreed.
"Speak of the devil," Scott muttered, and Nightcrawler squinted to see who he was referring to. It was
Aileen, her arm affectionately hooked under the blonde-haired boy's.
"Vho is that guy?"Kurt wondered after they had passed.
"His name's Joseph Something. That's all I know," Scott informed him.
"I zhink that's the guy that got into a fight vith Quicksilver," Kurt said.
"He doesn't look too dangerous. Still, better keep an eye on him," Cyclops announced as they rushed to
class.
"Alright. I'm going to explain this one more time. My friends are going to create a diversion downtown by
pretending to be the Brotherhood. That'll get rid of at least half of Xavier's flunkies. This jamming device
will keep us from being detected for no longer than a half an hour. We go straight to this room," Fritz
pointed to a circled area on his stolen map. "And then we'll hit the building's nerve center. Any questions?"
"Yeah. How do you expect to get by Xavier? The guy can sense you a mile away," Aileen responded as
she skeptically perused the map.
"I can neutralize the x-gene in others, remember?"
Phobia nodded, though she was still incredulous.
Fritz looked down at the watch on his wrist.
"My friends should have started the attack. Get ready to move."
Flicking his tail like some overgrown cat, Kurt leaned up against the couch and peered out the window at
the lawn, where darkness had hidden almost everything.
"Something is very vrong," he murmured, half to himself and half to Marie, who was on the floor, reading a
heavy metal magazine.
"Ah could of tol' ya that. Everyone's out fighting the Brotherhood," she replied, her head held in her palms
and her dark hair spilling onto the glossy magazine.
Kurt was silent as he glanced down at Marie, gold eyes running over her briefly and then returning to the
window.
"Ja, everyone but us," he said unhappily.
"And Logan." She looked up at him and rolled her eyes. "Don't be sucha wimp, Kurt."
"I can't help it. It's zhis feeling-,"
Marie stood up and rolled the magazine in her hand.
"Vhere are you going?"
"To mah room. Where Ah don't hafta listen to yer bellyachin'."
The lights blinked twice, and then went out.
"Well, ain't this something out of a cheesy horror movie," Rogue said, wincing at Kurt leaped off the
couch, his face contorted with fear.
"I told you that something vas wrong!"
"Ah believe ya, okay? Let's go to the Professor. He'll tell us what's goin' on."
"This is like a bad dream," Kurt told her, as the girl reached for a candle atop the mantel and lit it.
"Calm down, Kurt," Rogue said, the candle giving her the appearance of a jack-o'lantern with makeup.
They started toward the Professor's office, and were almost there when they heard a noise.
"Vhat was that?" Nightcrawler whimpered, his eyes round with terror.
"It's not-," Rogue started, before the two figures moved out of the shadows, the guns in their hands
reflecting the yellow light of the candle.
Marie's heart fluttered when she saw Aileen, the ugly mutant's white skin seeming to glow in the darkness,
her liver-colored lips peeling back in an awful grin.
"Hello, Marie," she purred, aiming the gun at her chest.
Kurt recognized the boy who stood next to Phobia; he was the same one that Aileen had been walking
with. His face, Nightcrawler saw, had the same sick glee as Aileen's, although it was hidden much better.
He closed his eyes, concentarted, tried to teleport.
Nothing happened.
"Vhat-?"
Much to his shock, he saw that not only could he no longer teleport, but that the blue fur was gone. His
beastly hands were now normal, and he felt at his face, mouth gaping in amazement.
"Kurt?" Rogue asked, equally startled. She could only stare in bewilderment, and probably would have
stupidly gawked at him longer if Aileen hadn't prodded her with the gun.
Rogue did not think, just acted; she lunged for Phobia, grabbing onto her skull-like face with both bare
hands.There was a sense of deja vu as nothing happened, and Marie felt a horrible pit form in her stomach
as she remembered the nightmare from long ago. She could almost feel the warm water on her skin as they
were herded into one of the larger rooms.
She nearly cried out when she saw the Professor curled up in a fetal position, a large bruise forming on the
back of his head.
"Why are y'all doin' this?" she found herself shouting in desperation.
"Revenge, Rogue. Simple as that." Aileen's eyes glittered like beads of onyx. Behind her, the blonde-
haired teen was taking out a disk.
"And what's yer part in this?" Rogue demanded of him.
"Oh, I have my motives," he said, and then stopped. "Sorry about that. I forgot to introduce myself. My
name's Fritz."
"Go to hell, Fritz."
"You first."
"Please Aileen," Kurt pleaded, "you are not evil. Don't do zhis."
Phobia's wicked expression didn't changed.
"Forgot one thing, bub," a voice called out, and they all turned in unison to see Logan, his mouth twisted
into a snarl.
"Oh, and what might that be?" Fritz arrogantly inquired.
"Me."
"I'll just neutralize your powers like everyone else's."
"You do that. But remember," with a metallic snikt, Logan's razor claws slid out from their sheaths, "my
claws ain't part of my powers."
Fritz paled, but he kept his gun from trembling.
"I bet you'll die if I shoot you. You don't have your healing factor anymore."
"That's a bet I'm willin' ta take."
Fritz aimed the gun at Rogue, his bluish eyes narrowed.
"Are you willing to bet that she won't die?"
Logan said nothing, but retracted his claws as a sign of submission.
Fritz swung the gun around and blew a hole in Aileen's abdomen.
Her black eyes bulged with astonishment as flecks of gore and maroon liquid fell to the floor, her weapon
slipping from her hand. With a soft moan of protest, she keeled over, landing in a pool of her own blood.
Rogue gasped.
"F-Fritz," Aileen gurgled, looking up in absolute horror, "w-wh-why?"
"Oh, shut up, you ugly bitch. I can't believe that you ever trusted me." He shook his head. "You're as
gullible as you are deformed."
"If ya ain't here for her, then why the hell are ya here?" Marie questioned, watching, sickened, as Aileen
coughed up black blood and slumped.
"For this, mutie." he held up the disk that he had brought with him.
Marie just stared, confused.
"I'm going to copy every file in good ol' Xavier's computer. With that information, the Fellowship will be
able to find every mutant living in this area."
"The Fellowship of Humanity? You're crazier than a skunk with his head in a pail! They wanta kill
mutants, 'cluding you!"
"That's what you know," he hissed. "Oh, and don't count on your friends returning anytime soon. I sent
them on a wildgoose chase."
Triumphantly, he sauntered toward one of the computers.
"Tonight, the mutie scum dies," he declared, so intent on his mission that he didn't notice Aileen's hand
reach for the gun soaking in her blood.
Despite the violent quivering of her hand, she fired twice, one shot hitting Fritz squarely in the back. He
fell ungainly forward, crashing into the computers. His hold on Nightcrawler disappeared instantly, and
Kurt was once again his furry self. Marie rushed to the Professor, and was grateful to see that he was alive,
albeit that the bruise on his head was a large one.
She heard the wet gurgling behind her, and turned to see Aileen watching avidly.
"Aileen, Ah'm-," she started.
Phobia said nothing, though, in those huge eyes, Rogue could see a glimpse of something...human.
The pain was so far away, and she was only vaguely aware of it. Fritz was gone, she could sense it, and at
least that loose end was tied up. She was keenly aware of the throbbing of her heart, how it slowed after
each beat.
She wasn't frightened. No, more relieved. Tired, she was so very tired.
The last thing she saw was Rogue's face, and she let go of the hate, allowed her muscles to relex and the rot
that had been steadily growing to shrivel up. The darkness was so beautiful, so forgiving and gentle. As she
drew her last breath, Aileen surrendered to it.
mutant vermin. Can you do that?"
"Of course."
"What are you thinking about?" Aileen inquired, looking at him with those demonic eyes of hers.
"Nothing," Fritz smoothly replied, watching a squirrel scurry up a nearby tree. The setting sun was a fiery
red ball in the distance, and he could hardly believe that he had spent the whole day with her.Much to his
displeasure, she cuddled up next to him, her greasy black hair brushing up against his shoulder.
"Those guys you used to hang out with are jerks," he said, forcing a fake smile.
"I know."
"So why did you stay with them?"
"I had nowhere else to go. I certainly didn't want to live with Xavier."
He pretended to frown.
"Why not?"
She did not answer him; she pulled away and gazed at him, almost pleadingly.
"Make me normal again, Fritz."
His smile widened, a mere mask to hide the disgust that he felt when he reached out with his power and
concentrated, watching as Phobia's ashen face became rosy with life. She closed her eyes, almost as though
she was thinking hard, and opened them again when she was fully transformed. It was not so bad looking at
her now, Fritz decided,for her body was currently well-developed instead of being grotesquely thin.
Anyone would have mistaken her for a normal girl.
"Now," he said, leaning forward, "tell me, what was wrong with Xavier?"
Aileen bared her teeth, her eyes wide with fury.
"His underlings treated me as badly as the Brotherhood did," she responded. Despite the fact that she now
resembled a regular teenager, her expression still sent tiny shivers through Fritz.
"How so?"
"That-that damn bitch Rogue broke my leg," Aileen explained, gesturing toward her outstretched leg.
"And the others?"
She shook her head, her black tresses wagging.
"They hate me. They-," she stopped and made an expression as if she had bitten her tongue. Her face
visably darkened as she continued, "I-I'm a freak. They'd stab me in the back the first chance they got."
She purposely turned toward the lowering sun, so that Fritz couldn't see the tears well up in her eyes.
Carefully he placed a hand on her bony shoulder, even as his concentration broke and the old Phobia
returned.
"I bet you'd like to get 'em back," he whispered, watching as she sucked in her breath quickly and faced
him, her eyes glittering.
"Yes."
Fritz took his hand from her shoulder, the dying rays of the sun lighting his whole body an orange-yellow.
"Well, it can be arranged."
"Violence has exponentially increased since the rise of mutants," the reporter on the old news tape said,
and Fritz leaned closer in his living room chair to hear better. It was late; Aileen had gone to bed hours ago,
and now he had the opportunity to watch the tape that he had brought with him.
He had seen it a million times before, but every time he felt bile rise in his throat. Pictures of mutant
terrorists destroying property and lives filled the screen as he watched from the darkness.
His parents, both human, had been killed by one of those mutants—the one called Magneto. Fritz had
been an orphan and completely alone until the Fellowship found him and explained how his gifts could be
used to fight the evil that steadily consumed the earth. He never forgot that he himself was a mutant, and
constantly tried to make penance for that fact by annihilating as many of the vile things as possible.
"What are you doing?" Aileen's voice startled him, and he immediately reached for the remote to switch
off the television. Once they were in darkness, Fritz answered.
"Just watching a show. It was stupid anyway."
"Oh." Aileen's eyes flashed in the blackness. She sat down on the sofa near him, her hair catching the
dim light. "Are we really going through with that plan?"
"Yeah," he said, suddenly loathing her presence even more. The "plan" that she spoke of was to break into
Xavier's mansion and get her revenge, although in actuality it was to get the files from the professor's
computer.
"I want to thank you," she softly told him.
"For what?"
"For being so nice to me." Even in the darkness of the room, he knew that she blushed. He was surprised
for an instant, and then smiled, glad that she couldn't see how unnaturally cold it was.
"Hey, no problem. You're such a sweet girl."
Again, he sensed that she blushed. That white face of hers was probably the color of a ripe strawberry.
Without warning, she grabbed onto his hand with her own. He nearly retched when he felt the protruding
bones beneath the chilly skin, but he took a deep breath and squeezed back.
Lance shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned against the water fountain. His eyes scanned the crowd
of people as they hurried to their classes. Finally, they came to rest upon Scott Summers and Kurt Wagner.
He spit out the wooden toothpick that he had been gnawing on, a sneer appearing.
"What do you want, Summers?"
"Heard you were having trouble at the Brotherhood," Scott replied, warily observing as Lance stepped
away from the fountain, hands remaining in his pockets.
"Yeah, and where'd you hear that from?" He growled in response.
"Didn't hear it from anyone. I saw it for myself."
Lance laughed bitterly.
"Well, so Aileen left. We're doing fine without her, anyway."
"Where did she go?"
"I dunno. Left with some blonde-haired guy," Lance said. "Why do you wanna know?"
Scott adjusted his ruby glasses. "Just wondering."
"Right. Whatever." With that, Lance started down the hallway.
Scott sighed.
"At least she's out of the Brotherhood. Those guys are creeps."
"Ja, that is good," Kurt agreed.
"Speak of the devil," Scott muttered, and Nightcrawler squinted to see who he was referring to. It was
Aileen, her arm affectionately hooked under the blonde-haired boy's.
"Vho is that guy?"Kurt wondered after they had passed.
"His name's Joseph Something. That's all I know," Scott informed him.
"I zhink that's the guy that got into a fight vith Quicksilver," Kurt said.
"He doesn't look too dangerous. Still, better keep an eye on him," Cyclops announced as they rushed to
class.
"Alright. I'm going to explain this one more time. My friends are going to create a diversion downtown by
pretending to be the Brotherhood. That'll get rid of at least half of Xavier's flunkies. This jamming device
will keep us from being detected for no longer than a half an hour. We go straight to this room," Fritz
pointed to a circled area on his stolen map. "And then we'll hit the building's nerve center. Any questions?"
"Yeah. How do you expect to get by Xavier? The guy can sense you a mile away," Aileen responded as
she skeptically perused the map.
"I can neutralize the x-gene in others, remember?"
Phobia nodded, though she was still incredulous.
Fritz looked down at the watch on his wrist.
"My friends should have started the attack. Get ready to move."
Flicking his tail like some overgrown cat, Kurt leaned up against the couch and peered out the window at
the lawn, where darkness had hidden almost everything.
"Something is very vrong," he murmured, half to himself and half to Marie, who was on the floor, reading a
heavy metal magazine.
"Ah could of tol' ya that. Everyone's out fighting the Brotherhood," she replied, her head held in her palms
and her dark hair spilling onto the glossy magazine.
Kurt was silent as he glanced down at Marie, gold eyes running over her briefly and then returning to the
window.
"Ja, everyone but us," he said unhappily.
"And Logan." She looked up at him and rolled her eyes. "Don't be sucha wimp, Kurt."
"I can't help it. It's zhis feeling-,"
Marie stood up and rolled the magazine in her hand.
"Vhere are you going?"
"To mah room. Where Ah don't hafta listen to yer bellyachin'."
The lights blinked twice, and then went out.
"Well, ain't this something out of a cheesy horror movie," Rogue said, wincing at Kurt leaped off the
couch, his face contorted with fear.
"I told you that something vas wrong!"
"Ah believe ya, okay? Let's go to the Professor. He'll tell us what's goin' on."
"This is like a bad dream," Kurt told her, as the girl reached for a candle atop the mantel and lit it.
"Calm down, Kurt," Rogue said, the candle giving her the appearance of a jack-o'lantern with makeup.
They started toward the Professor's office, and were almost there when they heard a noise.
"Vhat was that?" Nightcrawler whimpered, his eyes round with terror.
"It's not-," Rogue started, before the two figures moved out of the shadows, the guns in their hands
reflecting the yellow light of the candle.
Marie's heart fluttered when she saw Aileen, the ugly mutant's white skin seeming to glow in the darkness,
her liver-colored lips peeling back in an awful grin.
"Hello, Marie," she purred, aiming the gun at her chest.
Kurt recognized the boy who stood next to Phobia; he was the same one that Aileen had been walking
with. His face, Nightcrawler saw, had the same sick glee as Aileen's, although it was hidden much better.
He closed his eyes, concentarted, tried to teleport.
Nothing happened.
"Vhat-?"
Much to his shock, he saw that not only could he no longer teleport, but that the blue fur was gone. His
beastly hands were now normal, and he felt at his face, mouth gaping in amazement.
"Kurt?" Rogue asked, equally startled. She could only stare in bewilderment, and probably would have
stupidly gawked at him longer if Aileen hadn't prodded her with the gun.
Rogue did not think, just acted; she lunged for Phobia, grabbing onto her skull-like face with both bare
hands.There was a sense of deja vu as nothing happened, and Marie felt a horrible pit form in her stomach
as she remembered the nightmare from long ago. She could almost feel the warm water on her skin as they
were herded into one of the larger rooms.
She nearly cried out when she saw the Professor curled up in a fetal position, a large bruise forming on the
back of his head.
"Why are y'all doin' this?" she found herself shouting in desperation.
"Revenge, Rogue. Simple as that." Aileen's eyes glittered like beads of onyx. Behind her, the blonde-
haired teen was taking out a disk.
"And what's yer part in this?" Rogue demanded of him.
"Oh, I have my motives," he said, and then stopped. "Sorry about that. I forgot to introduce myself. My
name's Fritz."
"Go to hell, Fritz."
"You first."
"Please Aileen," Kurt pleaded, "you are not evil. Don't do zhis."
Phobia's wicked expression didn't changed.
"Forgot one thing, bub," a voice called out, and they all turned in unison to see Logan, his mouth twisted
into a snarl.
"Oh, and what might that be?" Fritz arrogantly inquired.
"Me."
"I'll just neutralize your powers like everyone else's."
"You do that. But remember," with a metallic snikt, Logan's razor claws slid out from their sheaths, "my
claws ain't part of my powers."
Fritz paled, but he kept his gun from trembling.
"I bet you'll die if I shoot you. You don't have your healing factor anymore."
"That's a bet I'm willin' ta take."
Fritz aimed the gun at Rogue, his bluish eyes narrowed.
"Are you willing to bet that she won't die?"
Logan said nothing, but retracted his claws as a sign of submission.
Fritz swung the gun around and blew a hole in Aileen's abdomen.
Her black eyes bulged with astonishment as flecks of gore and maroon liquid fell to the floor, her weapon
slipping from her hand. With a soft moan of protest, she keeled over, landing in a pool of her own blood.
Rogue gasped.
"F-Fritz," Aileen gurgled, looking up in absolute horror, "w-wh-why?"
"Oh, shut up, you ugly bitch. I can't believe that you ever trusted me." He shook his head. "You're as
gullible as you are deformed."
"If ya ain't here for her, then why the hell are ya here?" Marie questioned, watching, sickened, as Aileen
coughed up black blood and slumped.
"For this, mutie." he held up the disk that he had brought with him.
Marie just stared, confused.
"I'm going to copy every file in good ol' Xavier's computer. With that information, the Fellowship will be
able to find every mutant living in this area."
"The Fellowship of Humanity? You're crazier than a skunk with his head in a pail! They wanta kill
mutants, 'cluding you!"
"That's what you know," he hissed. "Oh, and don't count on your friends returning anytime soon. I sent
them on a wildgoose chase."
Triumphantly, he sauntered toward one of the computers.
"Tonight, the mutie scum dies," he declared, so intent on his mission that he didn't notice Aileen's hand
reach for the gun soaking in her blood.
Despite the violent quivering of her hand, she fired twice, one shot hitting Fritz squarely in the back. He
fell ungainly forward, crashing into the computers. His hold on Nightcrawler disappeared instantly, and
Kurt was once again his furry self. Marie rushed to the Professor, and was grateful to see that he was alive,
albeit that the bruise on his head was a large one.
She heard the wet gurgling behind her, and turned to see Aileen watching avidly.
"Aileen, Ah'm-," she started.
Phobia said nothing, though, in those huge eyes, Rogue could see a glimpse of something...human.
The pain was so far away, and she was only vaguely aware of it. Fritz was gone, she could sense it, and at
least that loose end was tied up. She was keenly aware of the throbbing of her heart, how it slowed after
each beat.
She wasn't frightened. No, more relieved. Tired, she was so very tired.
The last thing she saw was Rogue's face, and she let go of the hate, allowed her muscles to relex and the rot
that had been steadily growing to shrivel up. The darkness was so beautiful, so forgiving and gentle. As she
drew her last breath, Aileen surrendered to it.