"Dad!" Theresa cried, running to her father.
Penn Station was crowded as commuters got out of the train and tried to get their luggage. The rush hour had brought crowds from all over, and the place almost suffocated its passengers. It had been the next day, and all the children were now in a safe house in the nicer part of Manhattan. Xavier was one to be prepared. Peter had helped Moira in dealing with all the parents calling in to find out about their children. Some were angry, asking how such a thing could happen to a school. All Dr. Mactaggert could do was tell them to wait till she could receive more information. It was especially painful to Peter when he had to watch her tell parents that their children were unaccounted for. Now, they were at Penn station, watching yet another child, Theresa Rourke, reunite with their family.
"Theresa! Sweetheart, you're ok!" Sean Cassidy embraced his daughter for a long time, as Peter and Moira watched smiling.
"Hi Mr. Cassidy!"
"Hey Kitty! Decided to tag along, eh? I swear, it's hard to keep you two apart!"
"Oh dad!" started Theresa, "it was scary! The men had guns, and they even shot me once, and they got Jake too, and Kitty had to run through the walls to get away!"
"Yes, I know! How did you get out?"
"It was Peter! He fought the guards and saved us, Daddy!"
"Yea," agreed Kitty, "it was Logan too! I saw him fight off all the mask guys while we ran away, and Peter stayed with us so we'd be safe!"
Sean Cassidy smiled, and looked up at Peter, who had stood there quiet. He put his daughter down and approached him. Then, unexpectedly, he hugged Peter.
"Thank you for protecting my daughter. She's my life and what's left of my family. There's just no way for me to express my gratitude."
"Your welcome," was all Peter could think of saying. It was nice, he thought, being thought of as a hero. He could get used to it. Although the hug felt awkward. Sean let him go.
"Sean," Moira cut in, " I have to know, have you received any news on the X- Men?"
"Yes. Storm radioed me earlier today."
"So they're ok!"
"Yes. Though you won't believe who's with them."
"No!"
"Oh, very big yes. Magneto was even the one who stopped the jet from crashing."
"He's up to something! It's a trick to get their trust."
"It's worse than that. Do you remember Stryker, and his son Jason?" Moira nodded. "Well, it seems he found a way to control the mutant that attempted to kill the President. That's how he got the permission to 'seize' the school. All Stryker really wanted was Cerebro."
"Cerebro?" Peter said. "Isn't that just the machine that the Professor uses to find mutants?"
"It is," explains Sean, "but Storm says that Magneto thinks he might be using it to find all the mutants on the planet."
"But the X-Men can stop him, right?" Moira asked, hopefully.
"No, it's worse than that, Moira. The last thing Storm said before she broke contact was that she thinks that maybe Xavier was captured by Stryker. In fact, they're almost positive. Now, if I know Cerebro, Stryker is planning to use it to kill all the mutants on the planet by having Xavier concentrate hard while using it, wiping us out in one blow!" Moira was taken aback. Peter was confused.
"What does Stryker have against mutants?"
"His own son was a mutant who he asked Xavier to 'cure'. Apparently, he must have gone insane, and used his military standing to get back at Xavier for not fixing him."
Moira became distressed. "This is awful. We can't do anything from here. We don't even know where they are."
"Don't worry, Moira. The X-Men will pull threw. I was one of them, remember?"
"You were?" asked Peter, interested.
"Of course. I was known as Banshee. Theresa inherited her genetic ability from me. I know Jean and Storm can handle anything. They need Magneto though, since he built Cerebro with Xavier. It's my only worry. All we can do right now is watch the children, and wait."
Peter grew agitated. He didn't like waiting around. If only he had gone with Logan. They could have used him. Now he was in New York, completely useless.
"Dr. Mactaggert!"
The five of them looked up to see a woman with brown, long hair running toward them, and a taller man with her.
"Dr. Mactaggert, thank god I found you! You don't know me, I'm Madeline Drake, and this is my husband, Steven. We're Bobby's parents. We received a call from another family who had children in Xavier's school, and we found out they were sending them all here. We were at the residence, and they told us we'd just missed you, so we came here to look for you."
"Mr. and Mrs. Drake, if you're asking about Bobby -"
"Dr. Mactaggert," interrupted Mr. Drake, "we want to know if our son is ok! He left the house after one of his friends attacked the police with fire! Then, he sped off in a jet with his teacher! We've been frantic since we found out that the jet was taken down, but we don't know if that's the one he was in."
"Mr. Drake, please," Sean cut in, "your son is fine. The jet landed safely, and we assure you both, no harm will come to your son. He's with safe people right now."
Mrs. Drake breathed in a sigh of relief. But Mr. Drake was harder to convince.
"How do we know that? Why isn't he with the rest of the students?"
"It's ok, Mr. Drake," Peter told him. "I know Bobby. He'll stay out of trouble."
"Oh Steven," said Mrs. Drake, "maybe we shouldn't have acted the way he did when he told us he was a mutant."
"Bobby didn't tell you?" Peter asked.
"No, never, we never knew. We thought it was just a prep school. We were shocked. But Ronny was worse. He called the cops on them."
"He did what?!"
"He didn't know what he was doing! It was a gut reaction!"
"Yea, well now your Cain has the police on his brother -"
"Peter! Stop it!" Sean ordered. Peter immediately became quite, but he looked away from the two parents. Their son called the cops on his own brother! How was that possible?
"We don't care about the conflict right now. We just want to know that our son is safe. This whole mutant/human thing isn't important."
"Dr. Mactaggert? Peter? Mr. Cassidy? I think they're going to hurt that girl." It was Kitty. She had been looking outside while they were talking. Everyone looked up to see a mutant with red skin being harassed on the street. People were throwing stuff at her, as she tried to simply cross. Sadly, she ended up in the sight of protesters, and then they really started coming at her.
Peter ran out through the train station doors before Moira or Sean could do anything. He wasn't about to let someone else get hurt. Not this time. Not if he could do anything about it.
The young girl was cornered against a store, and the protesters even blocked traffic to get to her, crowding around her, throwing whatever their hands could grab onto. One protester took a baseball and thwacked the mutant on the shoulder. She let out a cry, and fell to the ground in pain.
"Stop it! Stop! Someone help!" Peter threw himself in the crowd, and pushed everyone out of the way. Right before the guy got another swing at her, Peter grabbed his bat, and pushed him aside, stepping between the mob and the helpless mutant.
"Leave her alone!" he cried. "She hasn't done anything to you!"
"Get out of the way, mutant lover, or we'll beat the crap out of both of you!"
"Stop it! Everyone!" It was Sean. He stepped in beside Peter. "This isn't a protest anymore! This is illegal assault and battery!"
"Oh really?" said the middle-aged man with the bat. "And what are you planning to do about it? I bet he's a mutant too! The both of 'em!"
"If we were, we would have done something by now! Leave the girl alone!"
Peter took the time to help up the girl.
"I think my shoulder is broken."
"Don't worry, Banshee will get us out of here."
"She's hurt, and it's rush hour now. You're causing civil unrest! Leave her alone!" Sean continued.
"Come on, Albert" a protester cried, "we already got her! She can't do nothing no more!"
The middle-aged man with the bat gave a dirty look to Sean Cassidy, not wanting to let them go that easily. He also stared at Peter, wandering if he could take him. Apparently, none of the protesters seemed willing. Peter was tall enough that he could see over almost all their heads. He looked to see Moira holding Kitty and Theresa, standing with Mr. and Mrs. Drake. Theresa looked terrified, watching her father face an entire mob.
"We're leaving," stated Peter, helping up the mutant girl with the red skin, "come on, we'll be fine -" Pain!!! Total pain coming from Peter's head. Yelling, screaming, and some type of force that toned with his mind and was shattering it apart! Peter started screaming, and tears formed in his eyes. It was so intense, he wasn't able to think. He heard more screaming coming from next to him. The mutant girl was writhing too. She was feeling it!
Waves went down Peter's body, as he became metal and then organic. He couldn't control it! His mutant ability was haywire! And he couldn't do anything! The pain was too great, and he felt his body starting to die!
He barely managed to see Banshee fall to the ground, grinding his mouth shut, not wanting his scream to hurt the protesters. But it was useless.
Peter knew it was coming before he saw it. Theresa's scream scattered the protesters and shattered all the windows probably within a block. When they went running, he could see her on the ground, yelling from the pain that was also pounding away at her temples. Kitty was next to her, with Moira trying to hold on, but being unable, as Kitty couldn't control her phasing.
Peter noticed other things as well. A few random people that had been walking past started falling to the ground. Some of them gave out flashes or melted or suddenly sprouted tails. Mutants! Thought Peter. The mutants are being killed! They're killing us! That was his last thought as the throbbing murdered any more thoughts. He was going to die! He could feel it start to manipulate his organs to a mush. He wasn't going to make it!
Peter continued to struggle, lying on the sidewalk with Sean and the mutant girl that they had tried to save only to end up about to die themselves. Moira held on to both girls, trying to cover Theresa's mouth to drown out her cries that were sending the protesters running. But then, just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. Peter opened his eyes. He looked around and smelled the smoke filled air. He was still alive. He looked over at Sean. He wasn't moving. He ran to him, and felt his neck. A pulse! He was okay, just knocked out.
"Daddy! Oh Daddy!" Theresa had seen her father's distress, and had run over to him. "Daddy, wake up! Wake up! Please, wake up!" She started crying, her throat hoarse from having let out such a long wale. Kitty latched on to Peter, scared after what had just occurred.
"It's okay girls, it's okay. It's over, we'll be fine. We'll take your daddy to the hospital, okay Theresa?" Kitty wouldn't let him go, and Theresa continued to cry.
"Like hell you will!"
It was Albert. He'd returned after Theresa had finally stopped her yell. The mob was gathering again. They had been exposed! There was no doubt that the five people before them were mutants.
"All you mutants are dangerous! You're going to kill us all one day! But we'll make sure you don't ever get near any of us again!"
Peter held on tightly to Kitty. The red mutant girl Peter had saved huddled close.
"What can we do now?" she asked. "They're not going to let us leave."
"I guess.I guess we're going to have to fight our way out." Peter let his skin turn to steel, gentle in not letting Kitty get hurt by his changing skin.
"Theresa, look out!" cried Moira. Peter looked in time to see two men grab Theresa. She let out a yelp, but they covered her mouth.
"Now there," said Albert. "That's a little better. Make one move metal head and we'll hurt the girl!"
Peter snarled. No! They had Theresa! They were trapped. There was nowhere else to go. Peter contracted his hand into a fist...only to release it in defeat. This was it. All the running away had been futile.
Then, hope arose again. Albert started screaming. And so did the other protesters.
Peter looked in amazement as all the protesters started falling one by one. The whole wave of them! It was surreal and fascinating and horrible all at once! Cars crashed as motorists let go of steering wheels. People walking fell to the sidewalks in pain. The earlier fiasco had been a pre-show. The real spectacle let loose. The cries of millions of people could be heard all over New York City, and people grabbed their heads from the pain that had earlier attacked Peter and the other mutants. It was in an instant that the tables were turned, with Peter, Kitty, Theresa, and the mutant girl standing and watching as everyone around them started falling. Peter could even see other mutants scattered here and there watching others fall. It caused a feeling of bitterness for Peter. Even with them feeling the pain, their eyes bore into theirs, blaming them for their current predicament.
"Peter!" It was Moira! "Peter! Run! Hurry!" Dr. Mactaggert immediately went back to yelling again. He'd forgotten that Moira was normal. She was with the other humans in their pain. It was confusing for him. At first he'd felt satisfaction that the humans were now suffering this mysterious phenomenon. Now, he couldn't bear to see Moira, who'd been so kind, follow a fate undeserving to her.
It was their chance. They had to leave, back to the residence.
"Go!" he called to the other mutants while picking up Sean who was still unconscious. "Go! Run away before it stops again! All of you, go!" With that, Peter ran himself, with Kitty and Theresa following behind, holding Sean in his arms.
"Peter!" Peter turned around. Mrs. Drake had called to him, with Mr. Drake holding on tightly to his wife. "Peter, if you see Bobby, tell him...ah!...tell him we still love him!" That was all she was able to muster. Peter immediately turned and continued running, leaving Moira and the Drakes behind. He didn't stop to rest. He ran all the way down the streets, the screams of millions of people surrounding him, stifling his thoughts so that all he knew was that he was moving his feet.
Penn Station was crowded as commuters got out of the train and tried to get their luggage. The rush hour had brought crowds from all over, and the place almost suffocated its passengers. It had been the next day, and all the children were now in a safe house in the nicer part of Manhattan. Xavier was one to be prepared. Peter had helped Moira in dealing with all the parents calling in to find out about their children. Some were angry, asking how such a thing could happen to a school. All Dr. Mactaggert could do was tell them to wait till she could receive more information. It was especially painful to Peter when he had to watch her tell parents that their children were unaccounted for. Now, they were at Penn station, watching yet another child, Theresa Rourke, reunite with their family.
"Theresa! Sweetheart, you're ok!" Sean Cassidy embraced his daughter for a long time, as Peter and Moira watched smiling.
"Hi Mr. Cassidy!"
"Hey Kitty! Decided to tag along, eh? I swear, it's hard to keep you two apart!"
"Oh dad!" started Theresa, "it was scary! The men had guns, and they even shot me once, and they got Jake too, and Kitty had to run through the walls to get away!"
"Yes, I know! How did you get out?"
"It was Peter! He fought the guards and saved us, Daddy!"
"Yea," agreed Kitty, "it was Logan too! I saw him fight off all the mask guys while we ran away, and Peter stayed with us so we'd be safe!"
Sean Cassidy smiled, and looked up at Peter, who had stood there quiet. He put his daughter down and approached him. Then, unexpectedly, he hugged Peter.
"Thank you for protecting my daughter. She's my life and what's left of my family. There's just no way for me to express my gratitude."
"Your welcome," was all Peter could think of saying. It was nice, he thought, being thought of as a hero. He could get used to it. Although the hug felt awkward. Sean let him go.
"Sean," Moira cut in, " I have to know, have you received any news on the X- Men?"
"Yes. Storm radioed me earlier today."
"So they're ok!"
"Yes. Though you won't believe who's with them."
"No!"
"Oh, very big yes. Magneto was even the one who stopped the jet from crashing."
"He's up to something! It's a trick to get their trust."
"It's worse than that. Do you remember Stryker, and his son Jason?" Moira nodded. "Well, it seems he found a way to control the mutant that attempted to kill the President. That's how he got the permission to 'seize' the school. All Stryker really wanted was Cerebro."
"Cerebro?" Peter said. "Isn't that just the machine that the Professor uses to find mutants?"
"It is," explains Sean, "but Storm says that Magneto thinks he might be using it to find all the mutants on the planet."
"But the X-Men can stop him, right?" Moira asked, hopefully.
"No, it's worse than that, Moira. The last thing Storm said before she broke contact was that she thinks that maybe Xavier was captured by Stryker. In fact, they're almost positive. Now, if I know Cerebro, Stryker is planning to use it to kill all the mutants on the planet by having Xavier concentrate hard while using it, wiping us out in one blow!" Moira was taken aback. Peter was confused.
"What does Stryker have against mutants?"
"His own son was a mutant who he asked Xavier to 'cure'. Apparently, he must have gone insane, and used his military standing to get back at Xavier for not fixing him."
Moira became distressed. "This is awful. We can't do anything from here. We don't even know where they are."
"Don't worry, Moira. The X-Men will pull threw. I was one of them, remember?"
"You were?" asked Peter, interested.
"Of course. I was known as Banshee. Theresa inherited her genetic ability from me. I know Jean and Storm can handle anything. They need Magneto though, since he built Cerebro with Xavier. It's my only worry. All we can do right now is watch the children, and wait."
Peter grew agitated. He didn't like waiting around. If only he had gone with Logan. They could have used him. Now he was in New York, completely useless.
"Dr. Mactaggert!"
The five of them looked up to see a woman with brown, long hair running toward them, and a taller man with her.
"Dr. Mactaggert, thank god I found you! You don't know me, I'm Madeline Drake, and this is my husband, Steven. We're Bobby's parents. We received a call from another family who had children in Xavier's school, and we found out they were sending them all here. We were at the residence, and they told us we'd just missed you, so we came here to look for you."
"Mr. and Mrs. Drake, if you're asking about Bobby -"
"Dr. Mactaggert," interrupted Mr. Drake, "we want to know if our son is ok! He left the house after one of his friends attacked the police with fire! Then, he sped off in a jet with his teacher! We've been frantic since we found out that the jet was taken down, but we don't know if that's the one he was in."
"Mr. Drake, please," Sean cut in, "your son is fine. The jet landed safely, and we assure you both, no harm will come to your son. He's with safe people right now."
Mrs. Drake breathed in a sigh of relief. But Mr. Drake was harder to convince.
"How do we know that? Why isn't he with the rest of the students?"
"It's ok, Mr. Drake," Peter told him. "I know Bobby. He'll stay out of trouble."
"Oh Steven," said Mrs. Drake, "maybe we shouldn't have acted the way he did when he told us he was a mutant."
"Bobby didn't tell you?" Peter asked.
"No, never, we never knew. We thought it was just a prep school. We were shocked. But Ronny was worse. He called the cops on them."
"He did what?!"
"He didn't know what he was doing! It was a gut reaction!"
"Yea, well now your Cain has the police on his brother -"
"Peter! Stop it!" Sean ordered. Peter immediately became quite, but he looked away from the two parents. Their son called the cops on his own brother! How was that possible?
"We don't care about the conflict right now. We just want to know that our son is safe. This whole mutant/human thing isn't important."
"Dr. Mactaggert? Peter? Mr. Cassidy? I think they're going to hurt that girl." It was Kitty. She had been looking outside while they were talking. Everyone looked up to see a mutant with red skin being harassed on the street. People were throwing stuff at her, as she tried to simply cross. Sadly, she ended up in the sight of protesters, and then they really started coming at her.
Peter ran out through the train station doors before Moira or Sean could do anything. He wasn't about to let someone else get hurt. Not this time. Not if he could do anything about it.
The young girl was cornered against a store, and the protesters even blocked traffic to get to her, crowding around her, throwing whatever their hands could grab onto. One protester took a baseball and thwacked the mutant on the shoulder. She let out a cry, and fell to the ground in pain.
"Stop it! Stop! Someone help!" Peter threw himself in the crowd, and pushed everyone out of the way. Right before the guy got another swing at her, Peter grabbed his bat, and pushed him aside, stepping between the mob and the helpless mutant.
"Leave her alone!" he cried. "She hasn't done anything to you!"
"Get out of the way, mutant lover, or we'll beat the crap out of both of you!"
"Stop it! Everyone!" It was Sean. He stepped in beside Peter. "This isn't a protest anymore! This is illegal assault and battery!"
"Oh really?" said the middle-aged man with the bat. "And what are you planning to do about it? I bet he's a mutant too! The both of 'em!"
"If we were, we would have done something by now! Leave the girl alone!"
Peter took the time to help up the girl.
"I think my shoulder is broken."
"Don't worry, Banshee will get us out of here."
"She's hurt, and it's rush hour now. You're causing civil unrest! Leave her alone!" Sean continued.
"Come on, Albert" a protester cried, "we already got her! She can't do nothing no more!"
The middle-aged man with the bat gave a dirty look to Sean Cassidy, not wanting to let them go that easily. He also stared at Peter, wandering if he could take him. Apparently, none of the protesters seemed willing. Peter was tall enough that he could see over almost all their heads. He looked to see Moira holding Kitty and Theresa, standing with Mr. and Mrs. Drake. Theresa looked terrified, watching her father face an entire mob.
"We're leaving," stated Peter, helping up the mutant girl with the red skin, "come on, we'll be fine -" Pain!!! Total pain coming from Peter's head. Yelling, screaming, and some type of force that toned with his mind and was shattering it apart! Peter started screaming, and tears formed in his eyes. It was so intense, he wasn't able to think. He heard more screaming coming from next to him. The mutant girl was writhing too. She was feeling it!
Waves went down Peter's body, as he became metal and then organic. He couldn't control it! His mutant ability was haywire! And he couldn't do anything! The pain was too great, and he felt his body starting to die!
He barely managed to see Banshee fall to the ground, grinding his mouth shut, not wanting his scream to hurt the protesters. But it was useless.
Peter knew it was coming before he saw it. Theresa's scream scattered the protesters and shattered all the windows probably within a block. When they went running, he could see her on the ground, yelling from the pain that was also pounding away at her temples. Kitty was next to her, with Moira trying to hold on, but being unable, as Kitty couldn't control her phasing.
Peter noticed other things as well. A few random people that had been walking past started falling to the ground. Some of them gave out flashes or melted or suddenly sprouted tails. Mutants! Thought Peter. The mutants are being killed! They're killing us! That was his last thought as the throbbing murdered any more thoughts. He was going to die! He could feel it start to manipulate his organs to a mush. He wasn't going to make it!
Peter continued to struggle, lying on the sidewalk with Sean and the mutant girl that they had tried to save only to end up about to die themselves. Moira held on to both girls, trying to cover Theresa's mouth to drown out her cries that were sending the protesters running. But then, just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. Peter opened his eyes. He looked around and smelled the smoke filled air. He was still alive. He looked over at Sean. He wasn't moving. He ran to him, and felt his neck. A pulse! He was okay, just knocked out.
"Daddy! Oh Daddy!" Theresa had seen her father's distress, and had run over to him. "Daddy, wake up! Wake up! Please, wake up!" She started crying, her throat hoarse from having let out such a long wale. Kitty latched on to Peter, scared after what had just occurred.
"It's okay girls, it's okay. It's over, we'll be fine. We'll take your daddy to the hospital, okay Theresa?" Kitty wouldn't let him go, and Theresa continued to cry.
"Like hell you will!"
It was Albert. He'd returned after Theresa had finally stopped her yell. The mob was gathering again. They had been exposed! There was no doubt that the five people before them were mutants.
"All you mutants are dangerous! You're going to kill us all one day! But we'll make sure you don't ever get near any of us again!"
Peter held on tightly to Kitty. The red mutant girl Peter had saved huddled close.
"What can we do now?" she asked. "They're not going to let us leave."
"I guess.I guess we're going to have to fight our way out." Peter let his skin turn to steel, gentle in not letting Kitty get hurt by his changing skin.
"Theresa, look out!" cried Moira. Peter looked in time to see two men grab Theresa. She let out a yelp, but they covered her mouth.
"Now there," said Albert. "That's a little better. Make one move metal head and we'll hurt the girl!"
Peter snarled. No! They had Theresa! They were trapped. There was nowhere else to go. Peter contracted his hand into a fist...only to release it in defeat. This was it. All the running away had been futile.
Then, hope arose again. Albert started screaming. And so did the other protesters.
Peter looked in amazement as all the protesters started falling one by one. The whole wave of them! It was surreal and fascinating and horrible all at once! Cars crashed as motorists let go of steering wheels. People walking fell to the sidewalks in pain. The earlier fiasco had been a pre-show. The real spectacle let loose. The cries of millions of people could be heard all over New York City, and people grabbed their heads from the pain that had earlier attacked Peter and the other mutants. It was in an instant that the tables were turned, with Peter, Kitty, Theresa, and the mutant girl standing and watching as everyone around them started falling. Peter could even see other mutants scattered here and there watching others fall. It caused a feeling of bitterness for Peter. Even with them feeling the pain, their eyes bore into theirs, blaming them for their current predicament.
"Peter!" It was Moira! "Peter! Run! Hurry!" Dr. Mactaggert immediately went back to yelling again. He'd forgotten that Moira was normal. She was with the other humans in their pain. It was confusing for him. At first he'd felt satisfaction that the humans were now suffering this mysterious phenomenon. Now, he couldn't bear to see Moira, who'd been so kind, follow a fate undeserving to her.
It was their chance. They had to leave, back to the residence.
"Go!" he called to the other mutants while picking up Sean who was still unconscious. "Go! Run away before it stops again! All of you, go!" With that, Peter ran himself, with Kitty and Theresa following behind, holding Sean in his arms.
"Peter!" Peter turned around. Mrs. Drake had called to him, with Mr. Drake holding on tightly to his wife. "Peter, if you see Bobby, tell him...ah!...tell him we still love him!" That was all she was able to muster. Peter immediately turned and continued running, leaving Moira and the Drakes behind. He didn't stop to rest. He ran all the way down the streets, the screams of millions of people surrounding him, stifling his thoughts so that all he knew was that he was moving his feet.