Things Are Getting Tense

"You mean Duke is missing?" Althea asked. The Misfits were gathered in their control room with Hawk.

"I'm afraid so," Hawk frowned. "But we were sure there was some kind of connection Creed had with illegal arms merchants. Maybe even with Trask himself."

"Damn it!" Low Light kicked in the side of the table. "So what are we waiting for? I say we go bust some FOH heads until we get the information we need!"

"We can't do that," Hawk sighed. "As much as I'd love to the FOH is too widely known. They're not like Cobra terrorist cells."

"They hunt mutants and create hate crimes against them!" Wanda snapped. "They nearly killed Evan's parents and set their house on fire! That sounds like a terrorist group to me!"

"They're also very popular with some of the big wigs in Washington," Roadblock pointed out. "And it is an election year."

"Of course," Althea frowned. "And anything we do to them publicly will only make things worse."

"We are doing something," Hawk said. "We do have a few agents infiltrating FOH cells close to Creed gathering intelligence. So far all they've found is a few minor illegal weapons charges, but they're looking for more. I know it's not much but it's better than nothing."

"So what do we do in the meantime?" Todd asked. "Just sit here and play Nintendo?"

"Not exactly," Hawk said. "Arcade how are your hacking skills?"

"Primed and ready to go," Arcade nodded.

"I want you to try and find anything in the FOH files you can," Hawk told him. "Not just on Duke, anything you can get on them. If Creed's brother in law has so much as a parking ticket I want to know about it."

"You got it!" Arcade ran to his computer.

"All we can do is wait until he finds something," Shipwreck frowned. "Trinity I want you three to help him. And I mean really help!"

"Hey we know when to be serious when we have to!" Daria said.

"Yeah give us some credit!" Quinn told him.

"We're not you ya know," Brittany said as they went to help Arcade.

"Be ready to move for anything," Hawk told them. "Duke's smart and tough and has been in a lot worse situations than this."

"That still won't stop us from worrying about him," Cover Girl told Hawk. "I just hope he can hold on long enough for us to find him, wherever he is."

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"I don't know how much longer I can stand being in this insane asylum!" Carl groaned. "That green blob ate my luggage!"

"Well at least your clothes weren't in it when he did," Vi sighed. "Maybe we should have gone to a hotel?"

"Are you crazy? After all those threatening letters we got after our home burned down?" Carl said. "I hate to admit it but this is the only place we can be. Even if it is for Evan's sake."

"I hope we can visit him today," Vi asked.

"I'm afraid not Mrs. Daniels," Xavier told them as he and Logan walked up to them.

"Not again," Vi sighed.

"Why is it I can't visit my own son?" Carl snapped.

"Because ever since Mystique escaped they've been severely limiting visitors," Xavier sighed. "They don't want to take any chances. It took the lawyer days for us to arrange this visit."

"Don't worry," Logan said. "This time I'm going with Charles to make sure nothing happens."

"That doesn't exactly give me any confidence," Carl grumbled.

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Xavier, Logan and a man with very pale skin and blonde hair with glasses went to Evan's cell. They were surprised to see that someone else was there before them. "So much for the kid not having a lot of visitors," Logan grunted at the man ahead of them.

The man was obviously a reporter, since he had a press pass. "Thanks for the interview," He said to Evan.

"No prob," Evan nodded. "See ya. Well not around here but…"

The reporter left the cell. "Who…" Logan began, narrowing his eyes.

"Not now Logan," Xavier told him.

"Professor Xavier," The Reporter asked. "Do you have anything to say about Mr. Daniels' trial?"

"No comment," The man with pale skin told him. "Please, we'd like a word with Mr. Daniels alone." The reporter left.

"Hey y'all," Evan nodded to them. He was writing on some paper. There were several letters on a small desk he had. "Sorry about the mess. I've been rather busy. It's good to see you guys. Who's this?"

"This is Jack White," Xavier indicated the lawyer. "He's going to represent you during the trial."

"Are you a…?" Evan began.

"Lawyer? Yes indeed I am," Jack grinned.

Mr. White is a mutant Evan, Xavier sent telepathically. He has a mutant ability of photographic memory. Obviously he wishes to remain anonymous about his status. Remember Evan, these walls have ears.

Evan nodded to indicate he understood. "So you're taking over for that other guy?"

"Yes he had some…concerns about going to court with your case," Jack told him.

"In other words he wanted me to plead guilty to something I didn't do," Evan huffed. "Well forget it!"

"Well I can understand that," Xavier folded his arms. "What was that reporter doing here?"

"Especially since I didn't allow any visits," Jack frowned.

"Must have known somebody," Evan shrugged. "You know how it is."

"Don't play innocent with me kid," Logan growled. "I don't need telepathy to know you knew about this! How did he get in here?"

"I just have a friend of a friend who knows somebody that's all," Evan told him. "You'd be amazed at all this mail I'm getting!" He indicated the pile. "And that's just today! And it ain't exactly all hate mail if you know what I'm saying."

"But how are you able to get mail in the first place?" Logan's jaw dropped. "I thought this was supposed to be a maximum security prison."

"Hey even here I have rights," Evan said. "The one good thing that last lawyer did was make sure I got mail. Even if it is a bit censored," He held up one letter with a lot of blue ink blotting entire paragraphs out. "Looks like some of this stuff is really wild! Oh man this babe is hot! I wonder what she wrote. At least they didn't blot out her picture!" He showed it to them. "I gotta send an extra nice thank you note to her!"

Logan looked at him. "Let me get this straight…Anti-Mutant hostility is at an all time high. People are trying to pass laws against us. You're about to go on trial for murder and all you can think about is answering fan mail? HAVE THE SEWERS ROTTED YOUR BRAINS?"

"Logan will you chill for a second," Evan waved. "You're not seeing the big picture here!"

"I'm not?" Logan folded his arms in an effort to restrain himself from slicing the kid in half. "Well why don't you enlighten me?"

"Do you know who that was?" Evan pointed. "He's a writer from Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone! Yesterday I met with a writer from one of the leading African American magazines in the planet. Day before that I had a phone interview with some dudes from the New York Times and the Daily Bugle! All of them want to know my story, about how the law wants to use me as a scapegoat! Don't you get it? The word is getting out there!"

"No, you are getting out of your mind!" Logan snapped.

"Evan while I agree with your desire to use your confinement to try to promote mutant rights…" Xavier said diplomatically. "I'm not sure that this is the best way to do so."

"Professor don't worry," Evan told him. "I know what I'm doing."

"You said that the last time," Logan pointed out. "That's how you ended up here, remember?"

"Look, people are gonna talk about me right?" Evan explained. "So why not give them something to talk about? Look Spears was creating a weapon to destroy mutants for no reason other than profit! People gotta know that! And now thanks to me being here they do!"

"I hate to say this but the kid's got a point," Jack sighed.

"Yeah well people don't exactly care much about mutants these days," Logan told him. "In fact now even more people hate our guts thanks to Creed and Stryker."

"Lotta people don't like Iraqis but they weren't too thrilled when those pictures showed up," Evan pointed out. "Maybe it takes something like this to get people to see that mutants aren't monsters."

"Evan using the media is like using a double edged sword," Xavier told him. "Our recent experiences have proved that."

"Kid this could backfire on you big time," Logan said. "Remember what happened to Dazzler? She got addicted to fame as well as those drugs. It nearly destroyed her."

"This is nothing like that," Evan protested.

"Oh really?" Jack said. "Fan mail, interviews…"

"Look you guys are always going on about how people need to see mutants as people, not monsters," Evan said. "That's what I'm doing! I'm trying to tell people my side of the story here! And if some people want to wish me well, what's wrong with that?"

"A lot of people write to mass murderers too kid," Logan said. "Some people can't tell the difference between fame and infamy. You really want those type of people on your side?"

"Hey it's better than nobody on your side," Evan said.

"Kid this is not a game," Logan told him. "They could lock you up for life if we don't handle this right! If you're lucky!"

"They locked up Nelson Mandella but that didn't stop him," Evan pointed out.

"You are not Nelson Mandella!" Logan told him. "Before you start picking out your next Winnie from your fans you'd better start getting serious!"

"From now on I think I'd better handle all interviews," Jack said. "If any. Your trial is coming up soon and I don't want any slip ups."

"Oh man…" Evan groaned.

"This is for your own good Evan," Xavier told him. "We want to get you out of this situation."

"I know I know," Evan sighed.

"Right now we need to know exactly where you were the night Spears was murdered," Xavier said.

"I can't tell you," Evan said. "But I was nowhere near the factory."

"Why can't you tell us?" Logan asked.

"Because you wouldn't believe me," Evan groaned.

"Try us," Logan growled.

"Okay…" Evan sighed. "I have some contacts. Don't ask me who they are. But one of them told me about the possible deal between Creed and Spears. Since none of you guys could handle Spears I thought I had a better chance with Creed. I was wrong."

"Wait a minute Porcupine," Logan said. "I don't like where this is going. Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"That the only reason I wasn't at the factory was because I was threatening Creed?" Evan told him. "Yeah that's it. It wasn't until I got back later I heard about it. One of the Morlocks has this radio that's tuned into the cops' frequency…That's how I found out."

"Let me get this straight," Jack looked at him. "Your only alibi is Graydon Creed of the FOH? Graydon Creed who is running for president on an anti-mutant platform? I don't believe this!"

"I told you," Evan said.

"That is a problem," Xavier rubbed his temples.

"He ain't exactly gonna volunteer that information to the court," Logan growled.

"It'll be his word against Evan's if we force him to take the stand," Jack frowned.

"And three guesses who people are gonna believe," Logan shook his head. "Kid you are in it deep."

"Now you know why I'm so into my fan mail," Evan sighed. "I have a feeling I'm gonna be reading it for a long time."