Murder!

"You know I've seen a lot of weird sick cases over the years," Detective Murray Abrams surveyed the crime scene. "But this is a first." He was a tall thin man with a thin black mustache. He wore a clean pressed suit but it clashed with his rumpled fedora.

"Security cameras are all busted," One officer said. "Didn't catch a thing."

"Why am I not surprised?" Abrams said sarcastically. "Killer doesn't want anyone to know he did it but left a huge calling card right in the middle of the stiff."

"Detective this guy's from the military," A policeman showed in Spirit. "The army sent him down to assist you with this case, cause it's mutant related and all…"

"Sergeant Charles Iron Knife," Spirit shook his hand. "Call me Spirit."

"Murray Abrams, Detective Homicide," Abrams shook it back. "I remember seeing your face a ways back."

"I work with the Misfits," Spirit explained. "Because of the sensitive nature of this case they want someone from the army to work with the police on this."

"Someone with experience with mutants? I can understand that," Detective Abrams nodded. "Although from what I hear you know this X-Bunch pretty well."

"True," Spirit told him. "But that is irrelevant. I'm here to get the facts."

"Not to mention clean up the mess your team made," Abrams looked at him. "Your team was supposed to make sure nothing happened."

"I am not exactly thrilled with the fact that we failed," Spirit told him. "That's why we need to bring in Spears' killer, whoever it may be."

"Well it looks pretty obvious," Abrams pointed. "Daniels broke in, surprised Spears and speared him."

"Looks pretty obvious?" Spirit raised his eyebrow. "Your tone indicates otherwise."

"All right you got me," Abrams raised his hand. "There is something odd about it. The angle of the spike or whatever it is. Take a look and tell me what you see."

"Not much blood," Spirit frowned. "And it is at an odd angle. Perhaps not even near the heart?"

"Yeah that's what I thought," Abrams nodded. "When you see as many stiffs as I have you get to know a few things about anatomy and death. And this don't look like no ordinary stabbing. And another thing, there was a gun in plain sight not even two feet from where he was sitting. Right on the desk."

"Maybe the mutant moved faster than he did," One officer suggested.

"No," Spirit looked around. "The only way into the office is the front door. The desk is positioned so that anyone walking in would face him seated right away. Yet the spear has anchored him in his chair to the left side of the wall. There are marks on the floor. From the chair wheels." He looked around some more. "He was sitting to the side facing the right wall when he was speared."

"You're right that is odd," Abrams shook his head. "We're gonna run an autopsy to check this out. Unfortunately we still have to charge the kid with murder and bring him in."

"That will be…difficult at best," Spirit sighed. "Do you have any idea how many miles of tunnels there are beneath the city?"

"No," Abrams sighed. "But I'll bet there are a lot."

"And I wouldn't recommend sending men down there without an exact location," Spirit told him. "Especially in Morlock territory."

"Too late for that," Abrams sighed. "An hour ago I sent a squad down there."

"Wonderful," Spirit groaned. "The tunnels are dangerous enough under normal circumstances!"

"I didn't have a choice! It was on direct orders from the Mayor," Abrams sighed. "You know how it is. He had to show the voters he was doing something."

"Yes well I hope this something doesn't end up with another riot in the streets," Spirit told him. "You remember what happened the last time tensions rose with the Morlocks?"

"Yeah and it looks like that mess is gonna look like a day at the beach if we aren't careful," Abrams sighed. "I'm not an idiot. We could end up with a war on our hands. Literally!"

"This should have been prevented," Spirit said bitterly.

"Yeah well maybe you guys teaming up with Daniels' old pals wasn't exactly the smartest move you guys ever made if you catch my drift," Abrams told him.

"You mean the X-Men?" Spirit asked.

"I certainly don't mean the Girl Scouts," Abrams told him. "You ain't thinking of protecting them are you?"

"If I did would I be giving you this?" Spirit held out tiny disk.

"What is it?" Abrams looked at it.

"It's something to protect you against telepathy," Spirit said.

"Come in mighty handy against a few telepaths eh?" Abrams looked at him. "You really do know your stuff don't you?"

"Don't get me wrong," Spirit said. "I'm loaning you and some of your men this technology only to make sure there are no suspicions that Xavier is behind it."

"And if someone from Xavier is behind it?" Abrams asked.

"Do I really need to answer that question?" Spirit looked at him.

"Personally I don't think you do," Abrams said. "But Xavier might."

"It was horrible," Kitty choked. She sat on the couch in Xavier's study with her arms wrapped around her. Xavier and Ororo were there as well as Abrams. "I'll never forget the way he looked. His face was all…" She shuddered. "I've never seen a dead body before. I mean I've seen animals in the road and all but this…"

"Did you see anyone else in the room other than the body and this other character you were with?" Abrams checked his notes. "Zee?"

"Xi," Kitty corrected. She shook her head. "No, no one else. I was in the lower levels of the plant with the others until the fighting started."

"And then what happened?" Abrams asked.

"You know what happened," Ororo told him.

"I want her to tell me again," Abrams told her.

"Well Logan told me and Xi to go make sure Spears was okay," Kitty went on. "I had to phase through the walls so we wouldn't run into any guards that were trigger happy."

"So that's what you call it," Abrams looked at her. "Go on. Describe everything you saw."

"Well we got to his office," Kitty fidgeted. "I noticed the door was closed. I phased through the door. And then I saw…" Kitty tensed up.

"It's all right Kitty," Xavier said warmly. "Detective…"

"All right you can go for now," Abrams waved. "But be ready to answer any other questions."

Kitty nodded and left the room. Ororo glared at him. "Was that really necessary? She's been through quite a shock."

"Spears has been through quite a lot today too, but he ain't complaining," Abrams grunted.

"Look here I will not have you badgering these children as if they were common criminals!" Ororo snapped at him.

"Listen lady I have a job to do," Abrams looked at her. "I don't care if the murderer is a mutant, human or a Martian. A murder has been committed and it's my job to catch him. Or her. Or whatever other category is there. And last I checked, aiding and abetting murderers is criminal."

"Evan is not a murderer!" Ororo shouted. "My nephew wouldn't do something like this!"

"Who said it was your nephew ma'am?" Abrams asked her.

"You know as well as I do what he can do," Ororo glared. "And I saw the body too. But he must have been framed! He'd never kill anyone in cold blood!"

"Really? Not even somebody who threatened his friends? Or his aunt perhaps?" Abrams folded his arms. Ororo fell silent. "We did see some interesting footage Spears had in his security files. Enough to give the kid a motive."

"That still doesn't make him a murderer," Xavier told him.

"Look Xavier I can understand you wanting to help out the kid," Abrams said. "Okay Spears was a class A jerk and maybe he was threatening mutant lives. But this ain't gonna help anyone. I got men looking in the tunnels. Sooner or later they're gonna meet up with these Morlocks and thinks are really gonna explode! You remember how things were a while back after that situation in China?"

"It would be hard to forget," Xavier sighed.

"Then we both agree that another situation like that would lead to disaster," Abrams said. "Spears death just hit the news. People are already screaming for blood. They'll probably take it out on any mutant they find. And you really think those Morlocks are gonna sit back and let themselves get beat up? Remember what happened to that Leech kid? Last I heard he and his mom had to split town right after the whole thing with that Egyptian nut that wanted to blow up the world or something."

"Apocalypse," Ororo told him. "His name was Apocalypse."

"Nice name," Abrams said sarcastically. "Really fits him. Kind of like how Spyke fits Daniels."

"Detective I know in my heart that Evan would never kill anyone," Xavier told him. "I can even read his mind if you'd like."

"But still I'd only have your word for that," Abrams told him. "And last I checked telepathy wasn't admissible in a court of law. Maybe in a few years the way things are changing they might but for now we got to go on tried and true methods. Like DNA. And from what I've seen the kid left a huge chunk of it!"

"Anyone could have found one of Evan's spikes and used it to frame him!" Ororo protested. "There are probably a lot of them in the tunnels or maybe the last time Evan…" She stopped.

"The last time Evan and his friends attacked the plant?" Abrams finished her sentence. "Xavier this situation is a powderkeg waiting to explode," Abrams said. "The only way we can prevent a full blown war is to bring Daniels in as soon as possible! Now where is he?"

"I don't know where he is," Xavier said.

"But you can find him can't you?" Abrams asked.

Xavier frowned. He knew that Abrams did not know about Cerebro. Just as he also knew nothing about the teleportation watches. Both he and the Joes knew such knowledge of advanced technology would not be received well by the general public just yet. But the criminal population would love it. Because of the potential danger that was why they made sure the knowledge of these devices was as limited as possible. The Joes and SHIELD would say nothing about Cerebro if he said nothing about the Mass Device and all the other secrets they had.

"My telepathy does have a limited range," Xavier told him. "Even with a device I built to boost it, I don't think it would be possible to scan the entire city."

"You mean like you can't read people's minds through lead or something?" Abrams asked.

"Or something yes," Xavier smiled.

"I don't suppose tin foil does anything huh?" Abrams asked.

"Sorry no," Xavier told him.

"Well there's a couple guys at the nuthouse that would love that little bit of information," Abrams said. "But can you find Daniels or not?"

"I probably could if he is in the immediate area," Xavier said. "However I have no psychic rapport with him as I do with my other students. Plus I don't merely go sorting through people's minds just for the fun of it."

"Well isn't that convenient," Abrams groaned. He looked at Ororo. "What about you? What was he doing in the sewers in the first place? According to his parents he was in Colorado."

"We told them he was there," Ororo admitted. "When Evan didn't come home…I had to say something!"

"So you lied to your sister about where he was eh?" Abrams looked at her. "Do you often lie to her or other family members about what goes on around here?"

"Detective due to the sensitive nature of some of my students it has been necessary to keep some secrets," Xavier said.

"Yeah and you keep them so well," Abrams said flippantly. "I mean people do tend to jump to conclusions when you create and train a paramilitary organization in their back yard!"

"The goal of the Xavier Institute is to promote peace between humans and mutants," Xavier explained. "As well as teaching my students how to control their powers."

"Is that a fact?" Abrams pulled out a long sheet of paper. "Some people might disagree with that statement." He dramatically dropped the bottom of the sheet so that the bottom of it hit the floor.

"What is that?" Ororo asked.

"Just some examples of your students practicing peace and controlling their powers," Abrams said sarcastically. "According to this the students at this Institute have been involved in over 285 instances of disturbing the peace, over 45 cases of assault, over 25 demolished buildings, a destroyed parking lot at Bayville High not to mention you demolished the school...Twice! In addition they were responsible for several riots at the city zoo as well as nearly destroying several other eating establishments in Bayville…a couple cases of theft…arson…Forming a vigilante group called the Bayville Sirens…Oh I love this one, you guys let loose some kind of dinosaurs at a school dance?"

"Actually I believe they were some kind of interdimensional demons," Xavier coughed. "That was an accident."

"You seem to have a lot of 'accidents'," Abrams noted. "Take your sweet innocent Miss Pryde you were so worried about. Over 49 traffic citations, fifteen reports of assault, two cases of inciting a riot, keeping some kind of dangerous animal and what is this…Four cases of poisoning?"

"Okay that is exaggerated!" Ororo defended. "There was this bake sale a while back and she…Well let's just say Kitty's cooking skills aren't…well, up to par."

"Oh really?" Abrams gave her an amused look. He looked at the sheet again. "Does one of your students have trouble dressing himself. We got him on a charge swimming naked in the fountain in the park!"

"Bobby Drake right?" Xavier was feeling a headache. "That was actually a prank…gone horribly wrong."

"Oh just a prank well that's understandable," Abrams said. "Was it also a prank when they filled up the Bayville Plaza Hotel with a ton of marshmallow fluff?"

"Technically…I think that was the Misfits' fault," Xavier said weakly.

"I see. Well gee Professor you sure are doing a bang up job teaching these kids control aren't you?" Abrams asked cheerfully as he folded up the rap sheet. "I'll see you around. If I were you…I'd put my lawyer on speed dial." He walked out the door.

"I already have Detective…" Xavier moaned as he put his head in his hands.

Meanwhile Sgt. Gary Gilbert was interrogating the Xavier students in a large room with Spirit and a few other policemen. He was an older man in his mid fifties, with white hair and a portly belly in a gray suit. "All right let's go over this again," He said. "None of you saw Daniels at the Power 8 plant but somehow one of those bone spikes of his magically appeared in the middle of Spears stomach. Now does anybody have a clue of how that could have happened?"

"Some of us were not there at the time," Hank was in the room as well.

"But you could have been. Like you!" Gilbert looked at Kurt and read his notes. "It says here you're a teleporter of some kind." He looked at Kurt who had his image inducer on. "And you're supposed to be blue?"

Kurt sighed and turned it off. "It helps me…fit in when I have to go outside," He explained.

Gilbert didn't bat an eye. "Quite a handy little gadget you got there. That thing can make you look like someone else huh? Where'd you get it from?"

"The Professor made it for me," Kurt told him.

"Really? Maybe he made one for your buddy Daniels?" Gilbert asked. "You know in case he had to split town?"

"No!" Kurt said.

"How do we know you didn't help Daniels by teleporting him there?" Gilbert asked. "Maybe you wanted to bump him off yourself?"

"No!" Kurt protested. "I would never do such a thing! I was at the mansion the whole time. And it was too far away. Two miles is my limit."

"I'm curious," Gilbert said. "How do you teleport anyway?"

Kurt reluctantly showed him by teleporting to the other side of the room. "Christ! How long does that smell last?" Gilbert coughed as he waved the smell from his face. "What is it? Brimstone?"

"Yeah. I don't know," Kurt shrugged. "A few minutes I guess."

"Longer…" Rogue said. "Trust me on this. Did you smell any brimstone in the room?"

"In a closed off room like Spears' office there would still be traces of it," Spirit told Gilbert. "The air vent was not on."

"Okay so maybe he brought an air fresher with him or something," Gilbert snarled.

"Maybe you ought to get your head examined!" Rogue snapped. "You know there were a lot of other people that wanted Spears' head on a platter. Take Graydon Creed. Ask Storm and the Professor! He and Spears had a big falling out the other day. They heard it all!"

"Roadblock and another Joe were there as well," Spirit told him.

"Don't worry sweetheart we know all about that," Gilbert waved. "And the scientist he was stiffing. If I were you I'd worry more about your friend Daniels."

"Evan's not a murderer!" Thornn snapped. She was also wearing her inducer on. "But Spears was!"
"Yeah it was okay for him to kill mutants but when somebody does it in self defense…" Ray snapped.

"It's interesting that you two would say something like that," Gilbert looked at them. "How would you know that? Especially you girl because you got here way after Evan left."

"We…Were both Morlocks," Ray confessed.

"You two are former Morlocks on top of it huh?" Gilbert looked at them. "Well that's very interesting to know! Maybe you did let him get away on purpose!"

"We didn't let anybody get away! We didn't see him!" Ray shouted.

"Hey wait," One officer asked. "You two look pretty normal for Morlocks. I thought they were all deformed or something?"

"Not all of them," Ray shrugged.

"You're wearing one of those inducer things ain't you?" Gilbert pointed to Thornn's wrist. "Turn it off." Thornn obeyed. "What? You're not blue?"

"It's really not my color," Thornn glared at him.

"Does anybody else around here look like something they're not or turn into something here?" Gilbert looked around.

Tabitha raised her hand. "Yes. When the moon is full I turn into Ethel Merman."

"It's a full moon now," Sam remarked.

Tabitha began to sing. "You'll be swell! You'll be great! Gonna have the whole world on a plate! Starting here! Starting now! Honey everything's coming up roses…"

"ALL RIGHT! ALL RIGHT KNOCK IT OFF!" Gilbert snapped raising his hands and throwing them down. "Craziest bunch of freaks and loonies I ever saw."

"Is there a point to all this?" Jubilee folded her arms. "Or are you going to insult us some more?"

"Sweetheart I haven't even begun," Gilbert got in her face. He then noticed another detective walking in looking a little haggard. "Bout time you got here!"

"I was interviewing those Misfits for two hours!" He snapped. "They're bats! All of 'em! What do those army types do? Find mutants that require a Section 8 to work for them?"

"It's practically a requirement," Rogue grunted.

"You lot ain't exactly the most stable group of individuals you know?" Gilbert pointed at them. "Of course in some cases it might be hereditary, eh?"

Rogue glared at him. Hank put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to restrain her. "If you're finished Detective can we please get some rest? We've had a very tiring day."

"Yeah I guess blowing things up does take a lot out of you," Gilbert replied sarcastically. "All right I guess that's all we're gonna get out of these…people for now. But I wouldn't leave town if I were you." He left with the other policemen.

"It's always such fun making new friends," Tabitha said sarcastically.

"I heard one of them say they were gonna get a search warrant," Amara whispered. "What if they find Cerebro? Or walk into the Danger Room? How are we gonna explain that?"

"I can't believe Evan would do this!" Ray groaned.

"Are you crazy?" Kurt gasped. "Evan didn't kill anyone!"

"Kurt get a grip!" Roberto snapped. "One of his spikes nailed him to the wall! Who else could have done it? Kitty, Peter you were there. You guys saw it."

"I wish I didn't," Kitty moaned. "I'm gonna have nightmares for like forever!"

"This whole situation is a nightmare," Jean moaned putting her head to her hand.

"And if we don't find Evan fast, its gonna get even worse," Scott agreed. "A lot worse."