Bad News All Around

Cautiously Lance slunk around the building. He took note of his prey sitting idly out in the open. He made a dash to the bushes silently. An evil grin emerged on his face. Okay Toad, let's see you get out of this!

"It's payback time!" Lance shouted as he leapt out. Toad was nowhere to be found. "Where'd he go?" He looked around.

"BANZAI!" Todd cried out as he surprised Lance from behind, landing on his back. The next thing he knew he was lying face down in the grass.

"Toad! Get off me!" Lance snarled.

"Boy Lance you really stink at this," Todd smirked as he sat on him.

"I'm supposed to surprise you!" Lance growled.

"Yeah right," Todd laughed. "NOOGIE!" He gave him one on the head.

"Ow! Not so hard!" Lance snapped. Todd laughed as he hopped off of him. "That's it! You are dead you little sewer baby!"

"Aww," Todd laughed as he taunted Lance by hopping ahead of him. "Is poor little Lancy-Poo mad cause he can't catch a little ninja?"

"You are not a ninja you psychotic loon!" Lance shouted as he chased Todd all over the place. "Fight me like a man!"

"Can't catch me!" Todd blew a raspberry. He dodged Lance's attempt to grab him. "Oh come on! Come on! You're not even close! Blob's more of a challenge than you!"

"THAT'S IT! PREPARE TO DIE!" Lance screamed as he tackled Toad. Actually that was his plan, what he got was a face full of grass. He looked up and saw someone else's feet. They were attached to the body of General Hawk. "General!"

He got up quickly and saluted. Todd joined him. "At ease boys," Hawk smirked. "I hate to interrupt your training session or whatever that was but I need to speak to all of you kids. Follow me."

"What did you do?" Todd hissed at Lance as they went inside one of the buildings.

"Me? I didn't do anything?" Lance hissed back. "Maybe you did something!"

"Not me!" Todd snapped.

"Nobody did anything," Hawk told them. "At least not here."

"What do you mean?" Todd asked.

"I think I'd better let Psyche-Out explain," He said as they entered a conference room. All the kids were there minus the triplets and the baby.

"So what's going on?" Althea asked. "We're all here. What's this all about already?"

"Psyche-Out and I thought it was time that we introduce another part of your training," Hawk explained. "It's like group therapy where you not only talk about your problems and how you are all feeling, but what's going on in the world concerning mutants."

"Like the Mutant Registration Bill?" Lance asked.

"Yeah like that," Psyche-Out said. "Supposedly it's supposed to have mutants register their identities and powers with the government. That way the government can know what they are and help them. It supposed to be an outreach program. To help them adjust to society, counseling and see if they need medical treatment."

"Yeah I'll bet," Lance growled. "Three guesses what kind of treatment they're gonna give any mutants."

"For the record I agree with you," Hawk told him. "Now some generals are in favor of this for obvious reasons. However for the most part the official stance of the military is non-committal."

"Why?" Pietro asked. "I mean it sounds like a perfect way to draft mutants into the army!"

"The Mutant Registration Bill has no provisions for any forcible drafting of mutants into the military," Hawk told them.

"Not yet," Lance said. "If it does pass how long do you think it's gonna be before it does?"

"Yeah and then it's rounding up every mutant in sight and placing them into camps," Pietro grumbled.

"But they can't really do that!" Fred shouted. "Can they?"

"It's happened before," Lance snapped. "With the Japanese during WWII and during the colonization of the west they nearly wiped out all the Native American tribes! What thinks it won't be any different with us?"

"That's another reason why some generals and military officials are against this bill," Hawk said. "They don't want a repeat of the past."

"But not enough, am I right?" Lance snapped. Hawk remained silent. "I knew it!"

"I'm afraid there's more," Psyche-Out sighed. "Yesterday morning in Wyoming an entire family was killed when their house was bombed. Nobody's claimed responsibility, but the evidence points to the Friends of Humanity."

"What?" Althea felt her blood rush away from her face.

"They claim there were two mutants inside that blew up the house using their powers," Hawk sighed. "It was identified that there were mutants in there but…"

"They killed them," Pietro said. "How old were they?"

"One was 25 and her daughter who was only four," Hawk sighed. "The worst thing is there isn't any evidence they had any powers at all. They just looked different."

"My god," Wanda gasped.

"They're going to get away with it aren't they?" Lance said angrily.

"Don't say that!" Althea shouted.

"Why not?" Wanda said. "It's true! There haven't been any arrests have there?"

"No," Hawk sighed. "And a lot of people are claiming it a prime example of why the Mutant Registration Bill needs to be voted into law."

"I knew it!" Pietro groaned he ran and kicked the wall.

"Will you guys calm down!" Althea shouted as Lance's tremors started to shake the building.

"Calm down! How can we calm down? They bombed a house!" Lance shouted. "They blew it up because a couple of mutants were living there! And people are happy about it! How can anyone justify that?" The tremors stopped but Lance stood there fuming.

"They can't," Hawk said. "I'm sorry Lance. It was a damned shame. We figured you all had a right to know what was going on in the world. It wouldn't be right to hide the truth from you. I know you're angry. I'm angry too. I…I can't tell you how sorry I am. I know it doesn't mean much coming from a human. But I'm sorry."

"Well at least you're honest," Lance sighed after a few seconds. "I still don't know if humans will ever accept us. Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful to you guys but the more I see things like this…the more I wonder if you guys are the exception rather than the rule."

"The X-Geeks say it's because humans don't know any better," Pietro said.

"Because humans don't know any better," Hawk said bitterly. "That's a load of bull! We do know better! God we've had thousands of years to try and get along with each other! Millions of people throughout history have shown what good can be accomplished as well as the evil if we learn to accept our differences. Every major religion teaches peace and tolerance at the core their beliefs. And yet we humans still manage to screw things up!"

Hawk stayed silent for a moment. "I dunno, maybe there is something wrong with the human race. Maybe it goes back to when we were living in caves, afraid of the thunder and lightning and were still easy pickings for every lion running around. Maybe we never got over that. I dunno."

"The truth is," Hawk looked at them. "We human beings are just as responsible for the way things are as mutants. Maybe even more. The truth is a lot of humans don't want to understand. They'd rather have a scapegoat or hurt others because it's easier than doing the work themselves and changing. I guess I can't blame mutants for hating humans. Actually, it's the mutants that don't know any better. And that's our fault. If we humans treat you mutants with scorn and contempt and hate, how do we expect you to react?"

He walked over to Lance. "Maybe that's the real reason I wanted to do this. Maybe it's time we changed things. For the better. There's enough hate among humans. You shouldn't have to be contaminated with our baggage. You're humanity's chance for a fresh start."

Lance sighed. "I still don't know."

"They didn't have to tell us all this," Althea said. "They told us the truth. I say we at least try to give some humans a chance."

"Easy for you to say," Fred said. "You lived with them all your life!"

"Yeah what do you know about what's it's like?" Pietro snapped.

"What do I know?" Althea growled. "I've been a marked target since the day I was born! Do you know what it's like knowing that certain terrorist organizations are always plotting to capture you so they can run experiments on you? To never even have a chance at having a normal life? Last year was the first time I could even go to a regular school and even that didn't last very long! I know what happens to mutants that get experimented on. I've seen it! The greatest fear I have is being captured and experimented on like my mother! That has terrified the hell out of me since I was a little kid! So don't you tell me I know nothing about it!"

"But you've never had to deal with human prejudice," Wanda said.

"The hell I haven't!" Althea shouted. "You think the Joes are the only people I've met? Ever since I can remember I've had strangers give me strange looks. I'm talking about other soldiers and scientists that have been on this base. Some were okay, but others saw me as an oddity. A freak experiment gone wrong. Once scientist almost convinced the brass to have my family and me taken away to some kind of research lab! I know about what people are capable of better than you can possibly imagine! Just because I was lucky to live with a family that for the most part cared about me doesn't make me any better than you! I've seen both sides of humanity. Based on that, one good human is worth ten times more than twenty bad ones! So don't tell me I don't know anything! I know what I know!"

There was stunned silence. "I think maybe we should take a break for now," Psyche-Out said.

The kids were stunned. They weren't the only ones. "Are you sure this was the right thing to do?" Hawk asked Psyche-Out as they withdrew.

"They would have found out anyway sooner or later," Psyche-Out told him. "Better from us than the news. At least this way they know we're not hiding the truth from them."

"I know but…" He noticed Pietro coming towards them hesitantly. "Yes son?"

"General Hawk?" Pietro said softly. "I…I want you to know. I don't really hate all humans. I just hate the way they treat us. Magneto…my father was always telling me that humans would destroy mutants if they get the chance. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe only some humans will do that. But I don't think you will. Not anymore."

Pietro zipped out of the room quickly. Hawk sighed. "Maybe there is some hope," He said softly.

************************************************************************

General Bragg smiled as he watched the news. It had been so easy to find a splinter group of the Friends of Humanity and through a very reliable source have some information 'leak' out. It was only a pity that the mutants that had been exterminated had no real powers, but then there was no need to inform the public on that. He had managed to have certain people put a hold on that part of the information so the majority of the public would never know.

Not that many people cared now anyway. It was a perfect ploy to give the Mutant Registration Bill the steam it needed. The fact that several human homes were damaged nearby made it a plus. Yes he had managed to increase the public's hatred of mutants even more. And the best part of all no one could trace it back to him.

Soon the bill would pass, and then the next phase could proceed. Containment and extermination. Well maybe not all of them. Those that would be useful to his plans would be spared just long enough to be of use to him. Yes, it would be very useful to have some mutants under his command. Then he could finally become a Juggler and gain real power. And the first mutants he would take were those freaks at the Joe base.

"You thought you were so clever, didn't you Hawk?" Bragg snickered. "It'll just be a matter of time until those freaks are under my control."