Just An Average Afternoon at the Xavier Institute

The following day…

"What are you idiots doing?" Scott shouted as he came out of Cerebro.

"What?" Pietro folded his arms. The rest of the Misfit crew was with him. "We were just standing here. No law against that is there?"

"You were trying to listen in and get recruits for yourselves weren't you?" Scott snapped.

"Now what gave you that idea?" Pietro asked. Scott casually took the empty glass from behind his back. "I was thirsty."

"Yeah right," Scott glared at him.

"Didn't work anyway," Todd grumbled.

"Toad!" Pietro snapped.

"Calm down Pietro," Lance waved. "Even Summers isn't that stupid."

"Look Cerebro is for the X-Men's use only!" Scott snapped. "Got it?"

"That may no longer be an option Scott," Xavier sighed. "Not after what I have just learned. Come in all of you."

"What do you mean?" Scott asked. They went inside. Jean was with Xavier at Cerebro.

"A few years ago with the earliest prototype of Cerebro I could only pinpoint about a hundred or so mutants," Xavier explained. "With each enhancement that number grew. With this new upgrade I can now pinpoint every developed mutant on the planet and quite a few that are only partially developed."

"Partially?" Wanda asked. "Oh you mean their powers aren't fully developed yet."

"Exactly," Xavier sighed. "The last time Cerebro was used on this scale it pinpointed over 30 thousand mutants. As of now, Cerebro can detect nearly 65 thousand and growing."

"You gotta be kidding me!" Althea gasped. "That many?"

"Are you telling me the mutant population of the world has more than doubled within six months?" Scott asked. "How is that possible?"

"To be honest I am not really sure myself," Xavier said. "But it has happened. At this rate within less than two years there will be a million of us. Maybe more."

"Holy cow…" Lance whistled. "I get it. There's no way you guys can handle all of them by yourselves!"

"From what I've gathered there are large groups of them in several cities. Apparently several underground facilities similar to the Morlocks and there are several groups that are in less populated areas as well," Xavier told them.

"Are you saying that there are a lot of other groups like the Morlocks and Eloi out there?" Lance asked. "But if that's true how come we haven't heard anything on the news about them?"

"Yeah now that I think about it mutant sightings outside of us have been scarcer than hen's teeth these days," Fred said. "If there are more mutants shouldn't it be the opposite?"

"Well for one thing a lot of mutations aren't so obvious," Althea said. "Let me guess, there's a lot of mutants that have simplified mutations like increased bone structure or something?"

"True," Xavier nodded. "For example I have pinpointed many mutants whose powers include a healing factor similar to Logan's. Or they merely have a denser bone structure that makes their skeletons harder to break or more flexible. There are even a few that can breathe underwater like you Althea, or are as fast as Quicksilver."

"Just what the world needs," Lance drawled. "Another Pietro."

"Some are just super intelligent, being able to use more than ten percent of their mind," Xavier continued. " Some merely have super senses like increased healing or being able to see in the dark. Others only have the powers of an astral projection, being able to leave their body while they are asleep. It can easily be mistaken for dreaming or sleepwalking because their astral forms usually cannot be seen. They are probably not even aware that they even are mutants in the first place. Some are shapeshifters or have camouflage abilities that can hide themselves."

"Like Zartan and Zanya," Althea nodded. "Their mutations aren't exactly powerful but that don't make 'em any less dangerous."

"Unfortunately the public attitude towards mutants is very much the same way. The general atmosphere for mutants has grown increasingly hostile," Xavier said. "This is forcing mutants to hide their identities even more diligently than before. And I fear in some areas if the X-Men appear we may cause more trouble than intended. Quite frankly, the X-Men have become too well known now. We cannot simply openly recruit any mutant we pinpoint. We have to be extremely careful."

"In other words a lot of these guys are better off not knowing what they are," Lance nodded. "So we can't just grab any mutant that's out there. I gotcha on that."

"And I'm not so sure it's a good idea to let the government know exactly how many mutants there are out there," Xavier told them. "There are those that may take steps to prevent the growth of new mutations."

"Yeah like the Friends of Humanity or any other of those stupid groups would just freak if they knew the numbers of mutants out there were growing fast," Althea nodded.

"Then why are you telling them?" Scott asked pointing at the Misfits.

"Hey we Joes can keep a secret," Althea winked. "You'd be surprised at some of the stuff we know."

"So I'm going to start analyzing several mutations to see which ones might be the most suitable for contact," Xavier said. "Now we have to start training more mutants that need our help. If only for survival's sake."

"How come you guys haven't used it to get new recruits before?" Pietro asked.

"Well…" Scott glared at him. "Between the lawsuits, the Professor trying to fight anti-mutant legislation as well as keep the government from closing the school down we've been kind of busy! Not to mention your crazy stunts that you pull on us at least every other day!"

"You Misfits haven't exactly given us a moment's rest you know?" Jean told them.

"Hey you can't blame everything on us," Pietro said. "You guys attract a pretty weird crowd without our help!" Just then Cerebro sounded an alarm. "What's going on?"

"It's the Juggernaut!" Xavier told them. "He's robbing a bank in downtown Bayville!"

"I rest my case," Pietro grinned. "Need our help?"

"No!" Scott said. "We can handle him!"

"Suit yourself," Althea shrugged as the X-Men prepared for battle. They followed them out of Cerebro. Scott made a point of locking Cerebro's door.

"Yeah Summers like we could use it anyway!" Lance called out.

"You're really just gonna let them go off and fight without us?" Fred asked. "What are we gonna do in the meantime?"

"We stay here and eat their food and swim in their pool," Althea told them. "Duh!"

"Oh yeah," Fred scratched his head. "Good thinking Al!"

"That's why she's the boss," Todd told them.

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

"Well the X-Dudes saved the day again," Althea grinned as she watched the replay of the battle on the television set. They had brought one outside so they could watch the battle by the pool. They had watched Scott, Jean, Kurt, Kitty, Bobby, Peter and Remy fight the Juggernaut. The rest of the X-Men that had been left behind were with them as well.

"I guess Evan's been permanently replaced," Pietro grinned as he ate a hot dog.

"They needed to round out the team some more," Amara told him. "Which really sucks. I mean I've had just as much experience as Bobby with my powers. And I'm a lot more mature!"

"Ah you'll get your chance," Althea waved.

"We should have been there," Lance grumbled. "Just like those guys to hog all the glory!"

"Our day will come Lance," Althea told him. "Right now we can do more good behind the scenes. Trust me, it will come soon enough."

"Right," Todd folded his fingers. "We are preparing from the shadows. Everything is falling into place. Excellent…"

"Oh brother," Lance rolled his eyes.

They watched as the Blackbird returned. "All hail the conquering heroes," Lance said sarcastically as they disembarked.

"Are you guys eating our food again?" Jean groaned.

"No Jean we've decided to hold a press conference announcing that we are the new cast members of the soap opera No Life to Live," Fred told her as he grilled some burgers.

"Relax guys," Kitty shrugged. "At least they saved some food for us this time. Is that a tofu burger?"

"Yup," Fred nodded.

"Ya and after that battle I really need something in my stomach," Kurt said.

"That was awesome!" Bobby laughed. "We kicked the Juggernaut's tail again!"

"Yeah but he also got away again," Scott sighed. "How a guy that big can disappear that fast is beyond me!"

"Don't worry," Lance said. "Something tells me he's going to show up again anyway."

"Like you show up every other day…" Peter grumbled.

"I heard that! You wanna make something out of it?" Lance snapped.

"Maybe I do!" Peter growled.

"I'm going inside!" Kitty groaned as she went in.

"And we're off!" Todd mocked as Lance and Peter shouted at each other. "Once again we're at the 'I Love Kitty The Most' Demolition Derby."

"And there goes the lawn chairs," Kurt sighed as a tremor shook the house. "Should we get involved in this? I've already been in one major battle today."

"Nah let's just watch 'em beat each other up," Fred nodded.

"Fine with me," Bobby laughed.

"Bobby get the phone it's for you!" Kitty shouted holding a cell phone.

"Okay I got it!" Bobby went inside.

"Will you two knock it off?" Jean stomped her foot.

"Jean just let them fight," Althea said. "We could use the entertainment."

"You mean just let the two of them trash our back yard?" Jean asked.

"Right! That's what makes it so entertaining!" Todd grinned. "Hey!" He yelled as Jean used her telekinesis to dump a glass of lemonade on his head.

Of course Althea retaliated by soaking Jean as well as any X-Man nearby with the pool water. Which naturally caused all the X-Men to use their powers to fight back and the Misfits fought as well. "Great." Hank sighed. "We come home from one battle only to fight in another one."

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

"I don't know why we even bother to clean up the backyard anymore," Sam yawned as he sat down to dinner later that night. "It's just gonna get wrecked again the next time they come over."

"Yeah and notice how none of the Misfits helped clean the backyard?" Rogue stabbed her potatoes angrily.

"Well since we didn't feel like redoing the foundation of the house again we thought it would be the wisest course of action if they went home early," Logan said.

"Hey I got an idea," Ray grinned. "Let's go over to the Misfit place and trash their house!"

"How would you be able to tell the difference?" Remy snickered.

"He's got a point," Scott said. "Especially when Shipwreck does all his little handy man experiments."

"Come on Scott, Shipwreck is not that bad," Kitty remarked.

Bobby walked out. He looked slightly disoriented. No one noticed it though. "Not bad?" Scott asked. "The man's answer to everything is duct tape! Hey Drake! Where were you all day? Iceman!"

"Huh?" Bobby asked.

"Earth to Bobby," Kurt said. "What happened?"

"Yeah now that I think about it, you weren't anywhere during the fight or the clean up," Logan said.

"Bobby and I were having a discussion," Xavier wheeled in. "Personal business."

"Really what about?" Kurt asked with his mouth full.

"He said it was personal business!" Bobby snapped. "Why don't you quit stuffing your fat face and listen will ya? I'm not hungry! I'm going to my room!" He stomped away.

"I'm not fat!" Kurt protested. "Am I?"

"Well you have been putting on a few pounds elf," Logan grinned. "But I wouldn't worry about it."

"Logan I'd like to talk to you and Ororo for a minute," Xavier said. The look on his face showed that he was sending a telepathic message to the adults only. They looked concerned and left.

"Is it me or was that a little weird?" Tabitha asked.

"You are a little weird," Ray said. "But you're also right. Hey there's Jamie! He knows all the gossip around here." He pointed to Jamie entering the room.

"What's going on Multiple?" Scott asked. "Is Bobby in trouble?"

"Not with us," Jamie looked sad. "I heard everything. You're not gonna believe this. The Professor was talking to him about some legal stuff."

"Legal stuff?" Tabitha asked.

"Yeah," Jamie nodded. "Bobby's parents just disowned him!"