Okay, here we go with chapter 14, thanx once again to everyone who had been reviewing this. Cheers!

Chapter 14!

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Todd was walking once more, feeling tired and worn out. He had been on his feet for hours and hours, not even bothering to pause for rest. He stayed awake for he felt that he had to keep moving, as he if feared that he was being pursued by someone unseen.

He had been worried that the brutal attack that he had suffered would return - but after a long day and night, he could say with certainty that he wouldn't have to deal with that again. But who had done it? And why? Was it perhaps a mutant like the one who had tried to assassinate the president? A mutant who had the power to kill anyone? Who wanted to see every one who wasn't a mutant dead? Todd wished that he knew the answers, but he simply did not have the means in which to find them.

He had been running as long as he could, until finally the endurance left him and he was succumbed to a walk. Todd was making his way back home, regardless of whatever it was that would be waiting for him there. He mentally kicked himself for leaving without even so much as a word to his Mom.

Todd reached the house much faster than he thought that he would, sometime in the early afternoon, but now that he had reached the two story house, he stood out in the yard as if deciding whether or not he really wanted to go through with it. He didn't have to decide.

" Todd?," a voice called out from inside the house, " Todd!"

Todd smiled, it was the voice of his mom. The front door flung open, and his mom came running up to hug him.

" Hi, mom," he said as if he just came home from the mall, which completely contrasted with his mom's frantic emotion.

" Where have you been?," she started, " I've been so worried."

" Look," Todd said, and then bite his lip. Did he REALLY want to go through with this?

" Mom, I have to tell you something. I'm a mutant too."

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

Todd had been right. Rob should have told his parents.

" See, you've got to check out what I can do," Todd said excitedly.

" It doesn't involve burning the house down," Todd's mom joked, but her voice seemed far too tired for it.

" No, this is SO much better," Todd turned on the T.V., " I don't really know yet if an electronic device HAS to be on for this..." He had forgotten about the first time he ever used his powers - when he had been asleep in his bedroom.

He trailed off as he concentrated on displaying some sort of memory up on the TV. Todd could hear his mother gasp as the scene flickered for a moment and then settled on a memory of when the whole family had taken a weekend vacation to the ocean. Todd smiled, at least he could pick out a good memory, mom's loved things like this.

" This is what you can do?," Todd's mom asked, " I just thought....you know, mutants," she said that word as if she thought it was too harsh of a word, " I just thought that their powers were more....obvious."

" Well, some of them, sure," Todd replied, " But..."

" You don't want to hide it?," she asked. Todd didn't even have to think about it.

" No," Todd said, " There's too much going on right now. I can't hide what I am."

" Okay," his mom said, taking a breath, " If that's what you want to do, I'm behind you, just... you should have told me about it. You shouldn't have tried running away."

" I'm sorry, but I tried to tell Dad and he went crazy," Todd said - he could have shown her his memory of it, but he didn't know if something like that would be appropriate - so he changed the subject, " It's just hard, you know.... I mean, being a mutant. People find out and they get so mad."

Todd did not have a whole lot of control over his powers at the moment, and the scene flickered to the memory of what had happened in the Wal-Mart - after the Cerebro attack when the security guard began screaming at him, calling him a mutant. On the screen, Todd began to run away from the crowd, their hostility so strong that he could feel it even by watching it on TV. Todd almost ended the memory - knowing that such a thing would really get his mom upset - but she was looking at the screen with such emotion that Todd held it there.

" I never knew that is what you would have to face," she said finally, her voice choked with worry.

" I just made a mistake," Todd said, not knowing that his mother had also suffered from the Cerebro attack and not wanting to get her even more worried by telling her about it, " I tried to use my powers to find out where this school was...the store was just too crowded. They noticed."

" Here, I have something for you, then," his mom said as she walked into the kitchen. She came back out, holding one of those new camera phones.

" Whoa!," Todd said when his mom gave it to him, " You mean it? Hey, I wonder if I could send you a memory."

" I was going to wait until your birthday," his mom said - Todd's birthday was in another month, " But I think this could help you out now."

" Hell yeah it can!," Todd celebrated, " Mom, you totally rock!"

He opened the cell phone, and concentrated on displaying a memory. It worked! He could distinctly see a memory of sitting in class in high school, and he didn't even have to charge up the batteries. Could his powers also manipulate an electronic devise? Such as giving power to it?

" This is the coolest present ever," Todd said, overwhelmed that he could now use his powers whenever he needed to, without worrying that some hostile person would notice he's a mutant.

" I'm glad you like it," his mom said, smiling.

" Thanks," Todd said, and he hugged his mom.

" I just wish you would have told me sooner."

" I'm sorry, it's just really confusing, you know? But I'm glad that I did, too. And not just for the presents."

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

Todd told himself that he had the absolutely coolest mom in the world - she decided that she would drive her son out to Bayville. Using his new phone, Todd tried to see if maybe his dad knew where the school was - and frighteningly enough, he found that he did. On the phone, he pulled through different driving images until they ultimately lead up to the school.

He didn't want to lie to his mother, but he didn't know if she would be ready to handle the information - that Craig had something to do with mutants and the school. Instead, Todd told her that Rob had told him how to get to it.

But what was he supposed to do when he got to the school? Just stand by the front gaits and knock? Did he have get some sort of proof that he was a mutant to go to the school? Maybe it would be better if he saw a mutant on the way to the school, but Todd would just have to rely on his instincts.

Todd must have had either incredible instincts or really great luck. When they finally reached Bayville, Todd's mom decided to stop and get some gas, and while Todd was sitting in the car waiting, he saw someone that he didn't expect. He opened the door, stepped out into the sun, and called out her name, " Hey, Kelly!"

" Todd?!," came a very familiar voice - the emotion on it saturated with a mix between worry and relief.

He ran over to where she was standing, but he didn't have to go very far. She ran up to him as if the whole world was falling apart, " Oh my god, Todd, I'm so happy I found someone!!!!!!!!!" Kelly reached him and gave him a huge hug.

" What?," Todd asked, not knowing what had happened to the school, " What do you mean?"

" You didn't hear?," she asked, lowering her voice when she saw Todd's mom, even though they were standing pretty far away " The whole school got invaded by soldiers. They had guns, they just started shooting everywhere."

" Just wait," Todd interrupted her in a whisper, " The school got invaded? Have you seen Rob, is he okay?"

" I haven't seen anyone," Kelly explained, " I don't even know what happened to everyone else. I escaped with a big group through these tunnels, but I ended up getting lost in the woods," she paused for a second, realizing for the first time that Todd had no good reason to be in Bayville, " What are you doing here?"

Todd was still extremely worried about the news that he just heard - is that why all those people earlier were struck down in pain? to retaliate because the school had been invaded? Yet the question that Kelly asked brought a pride over him when he explained, " I just found out two days ago - I'm a mutant."

Kelly's jaw dropped in a happy shock, " You are?!"

" Yeah, cool, huh?"

" What can you do?"

Todd took the cell phone out of his pocket, and then reached over and touched Kelly's arm. He looked down at the screen, and suddenly he wished he could have picked a better memory. There were children running, Kelly's view turned on the screen to see soldiers, pointing guns. Screams. Todd quickly stopped the memory and closed the phone. Kelly looked at him for a moment, so he simply explained, " I can put someone's memory up on anything that's electronic with a monitor."

Kelly just nodded. Despite all the terror and confusion that she had faced over the past few days, at least this was a drop of really good news. She had to hide a shy smile of celebration - Todd was a mutant! Yeah!

" You haven't seen anyone else?," Todd returned to their previous subject, " Why did the school get invaded?"

" I don't know," Kelly said, " Probably because that one guy tried to kill the president."

" Well, I guess that makes sense," Todd said, " Why would a mutant do something like that? I mean, didn't he know it was just going to make things worse?"

" Maybe he just didn't care," Kelly said.

She paused for a moment, for a sudden thought came into her head. She closed her eyes as if in deep concentration. Todd looked at her, a little confusion.

" Uh, Kelly?," Todd asked her, and her eye lids fluttered open.

" Okay - that was weird," Kelly began to explain, " I just heard Professor Xavier's voice in my head. He wants all us students to return to the school."

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

" Hey! Wake up! Adrian? Can you hear me? Wake up!"

Adrian slowly opened his eyes as someone shook his arm.

" Huh?," he asked out to whoever it was who had been talking to him, " What?"

He turned his head and saw that he was sitting in a Jeep, Brit sitting in the passenger seat and Adrian in the driver seat. He had only been sitting up because he was strapped in with a seat beat. But he couldn't even remember getting into a Jeep. He didn't even remember anyone he had ever known who HAD a Jeep.

" Brit?," Adrian asked, " Where are we? What are we doing in a car?"

" You don't remember?," Brit asked as if he was crazy, " Those people - they kidnapped Rob!"

Suddenly, Adrian shook his head, and he remembered everything that had happened the night before - Craig Vincennes freeing them from their cells, him morphing into the blue-skinned woman, getting clobbered by a flying block of metal.

Adrian put a weary hand up to his brow - there was a cut that was scabbed over where the massive block had struck him.

" Who were they?," Adrian asked, though it was quite doubtful that Brit would have known.

" They were mutants, I know that," Brit answered.

" And let's see why that's obvious," Adrian explained sarcastically, " I bet the flying gobs of metal didn't give you any clues. Oh, I know, maybe watching some old man shift into a naked blue lady didn't give it away, either."

" Grow up," Brit shot back.

Adrian just shrugged his shoulders, " What did you say? They kidnapped Rob?" He was having a hard time remembering much, yet even a harder time believing that anyone would want to kidnap Rob.

" Just before I got knocked out," Brit said, " I looked through the walls, someone was taking him away."

" Are you sure? Who?," Adrian asked, and then changed his question, " Why? God, why is everyone after Rob lately? It's making me feel left out."

" Duh, isn't it obvious? Rob can convince anyone of anything, they could just - "

" Brit, okay, even if that WAS why they took him, how are they going to convince Rob to do anything for them? Shit, I mean, come on, Rob doesn't fall for all that 'mutants are better than everyone else' shit," Adrian said, still finding it hard that anyone would be after Rob.

" Aren't you at all worried about what's happened to him?," Brit asked. Adrian seemed hurt that she even had to ask that question.

" Look, of course I'm worried, Rob's my best friend -," Adrian said, but he got cut off. At that moment, both him and Brit heard the same voice in their head. It was Professor Xavier - sending all the students a mental message to return to the school.

" Okay, did you hear what I just heard?," Adrian asked when it was over.

" Uh, a 'return to the school' speech?," Brit asked.

" Yep," Adrian said, as he rose his hand to gingerly feel the gash on his forehead, " Yeah, okay, reality check - we're in a Jeep," Adrian started as he looked around - the keys to the Jeep were already in the ignition

" You just figured that out now?," Brit asked sarcastically, " You better let me drive."

" Eh, these guys can't be THAT bad," he said nonchalantly as the engine rose to life, " They did leave me with a free car."

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Okay, that's the end of this chapter. Next chapter will be dealing with Todd going to the Institute and meeting all the X-Men and whatnot, and we'll also find out what has happened to Rob, so, next chapter up on Friday...

please review!

deke