The Hunted

Tears stung in Jubilee's eyes as she raced down the alley. She had no time to grieve over her loss, for now she was running for her life. She cursed herself for losing her cell phone but there was no time.

The rain started to come down even harder. "Oh great!" She grumbled. She looked over her shoulder. "I think I lost them."

She then noticed a pay phone nearby. "Oh god." She ran up to it. Having no money on her she used her powers to break open the change machine and deposit the money needed for the call. "Scott? Bobby? Somebody? Anybody! It's me! Jubilee! I need help! I." She shouted into the phone.

"Jubilee slow down!" Jean answered the phone. "It's Jean, what's wrong?"

"They're after me! They're going to kill me!" Jubilee shouted.

"Who? What's going on? Where are you?" Jean asked.

"I'm at a pay phone.I think the sign says Fifth and South," Jubilee gasped. "Some goons are after me! They killed.Oh no."

The next thing Jean heard was the sound of Jubilee screaming and fireworks. "Jubilee?" Jean shouted as the phone went dead. "JUBILEE!"

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Several hours later Scott and Jean were waiting in the halls of a police station in California. Xavier wheeled out of a detective's office. "Thank you officer. Please call me as soon as you find something."

"We will but I can't promise you much," The detective sighed.

"I understand," Xavier said as he walked away.

"What happened?" Scott asked. "Where's Jubilee?"

"I'm afraid I have some bad news," Xavier sighed. "Jubilee's parents are dead and she's missing."

"What?" Jean gasped. "How?"

"There was an explosion in the car they were riding in," Xavier told them. "At first the police believed it was Jubilee because of her powers. However further testing proved that it was a bomb."

"A bomb.?" Jean gasped. "Who would do such a thing?"

"The Friends of Humanity for one," Xavier sighed. "They've been very vocal in this city. And they have harassed the Lees before because their daughter was a mutant."

"She wasn't in the car was she?" Jean asked.

"No," Xavier shook his head. "They don't know where she is."

Logan entered the station. He didn't look happy. "Anything?" Scott asked.

"I must have checked out a dozen payphones," Logan growled. "But I found the right one. But I couldn't find the kid."

"Logan.her parents are dead," Jean said.

"The cops think the FOH may be involved," Scott said.

"I know," Logan growled as he shoved a paper into Scott's hands. "The creeps who did this were pros. Thanks to the rain last night most of their scents were washed away."

"Most?" Scott asked.

Logan showed him a yellow scrap. "I got a scent I didn't recognize as well as the Firecracker's scent on this."

"This looks like it's from her yellow jacket she always wears!" Jean exclaimed. "There's blood on it too."

"But it ain't hers," Logan said. "That's the different scent. At least the kid put up a hell of a fight. There's an alley behind the pay phone that looked like a bomb went off in it."

"I'll do a psychic sweep with Jean," Xavier said. "We might find a trace of her."

Hours passed. But nothing. "Well she's not anywhere in the city," Jean rubbed her forehead.

"If she's still alive," Scott frowned.

"She's alive Cyclops," Logan said harshly. "The kid's too much a fighter to go down easily!"

"Logan we've scoured the entire city and we couldn't find a trace of her," Xavier said.

"In other words the kid's in trouble and we don't have a clue where she is!" Logan growled as he kicked a nearby trash can.

"I'll have Cerebro keep a high alert for her using her powers," Xavier told him. "Other than that there's nothing we can do. We'll keep looking for her. I just hope we find her in time."

Little did they know but a big clue was going to present itself soon enough.