The Second Bayville Riot

Somehow the X-Men made it to the Institute ahead of an angry mob. The Misfits were there waiting for them with the Joes. "To provide extra security," General Hawk explained to them.

"I don't feel secure," Danielle shuddered as she looked out the window.

"Look at that mob outside the gates," Paige pointed. "It's even bigger than the one that formed after the China incident!"

"Man look at them all," Sam shuddered at the sight. "There must be three hundred people out there!"

"Mutants go home," Rogue said bitterly. "To where? This is our home!"

"I assigned several Joes to guard the gates," Hawk told them. "Free up the police so they can control the rioters."

"Which they're not," Kurt pointed to the television.

The X-Men and Misfits watched in horror as Bayville seemed to go insane, and not the good kind of insane. People were torching buildings, fighting with each other, looting, gathering in large groups to shove over cars and other horrible acts.

"Why are they doing this?" Rina asked. "There is no logic to it."

"They're doing it because they can't do it to us," Logan explained.

"They can't get past our security," Bobby said. "And they know it."

"So they're taking it out on anyone and anything in Bayville," Amara said bitterly.

"Oh god the Morlocks…" Evan shouted.

"They're not within the limits of Bayville," Jean told him. "Or at very least on the surface."

"Yeah well that's not stopping people," Evan pointed to images of people throwing incendiaries down the sewers. More houses caught on fire. "And they call mutants monsters?"

"This is insane!" Scott said. "We should be doing something to stop this!"

"A lot of people think we're the cause of this," Jesse told him. "What good can we do?"

"But we can't just sit here while…" Rogue began.

"NO!" Hawk told them. "That mob out there is completely mindless. Any of you go out there and you'll be nothing but a target."

"Maybe we don't have to go out…" Jean thought.

"Jean I don't like the sound of that," Pietro said.

"People are dying out there!" Jean shouted. "A telepathic suggestion might at the very least slow the fighting down!"

"I hate to say this but you have a point," Roadblock agreed. "I don't like the thought of minds being messed with, but between that and bodies being destroyed…"

"But it could backfire if people realize what we're doing," Xavier sighed.

Hawk looked at the fires and the destruction on the television. "Do it," He ordered. "Saving lives comes first. We can worry about the repercussions later."

"We can use Cerebro," Xavier said. "I can connect myself with Jean while I am in it and together we can use it to send out a telepathic suggestion. I only hope that Cerebro will be strong enough."

"And that you don't strain your brains in the process," Logan pointed out.

"That is a risk we have to take," Xavier told him.

"Maybe not that big a risk," Forge thought. "If I can boost the power enough…"

"Uh, Forge," Sam gulped. "You do remember what happened this morning in the Danger Room? You know when your little 'power boost' helped send in a monster from another dimension and trashed the place."

"Well technically Scott let the monster out," Forge corrected him.

"Thanks a lot," Scott groaned. "But you gotta admit Sam has a point."

"Don't worry I know what I'm doing," Forge said as he went to work on Cerebro.

"That will be a first," Logan grunted.

It wasn't long before Xavier was hooked up to Cerebro. "Let's hope this works…" He sighed. "Are you ready Jean?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Jean took a breath.

Xavier began. Both he and Jean connected and let their minds link with the mob outside the gates first. The Joes guarding outside were puzzled when the mob stopped chanting and burning things and suddenly turned around and left. Across the city hundreds of people stopped what they were doing and walked away from the devastation in a daze. The police taking advantage of the confusion quickly took control.

Twenty-five minutes later Xavier and Jean broke off contact. "Did it work?" Jean moaned as Scott supported her.

"The cops have things under control," Ray told them. "We saw it on TV."

"Yeah when all the nuts suddenly turned into zombies things quieted down real fast," Tabitha said.

"But not for much longer," Kurt said. "Something tells me they're going to put two and two together real fast."

"This isn't going to be the end of the protests here is it?" Vi asked them.

"Two blocks have been destroyed due to the riot," Lance snapped. "What do you think?"

"Ten people suspected of being mutants or favoring mutants were killed," Scott said angrily. "And none of them had an X-Gene!"

"It was just mindless violence pure and simple," Jean agreed. "It had to be stopped before the whole town burned to the ground."

"I'm just glad Amanda and her family were out of town this weekend," Kurt sighed. "The last thing they need is some maniac to confuse them for mutants."

"Well now we have to go meet with the Mayor and try to repair some of the damage," Xavier sighed. "But I fear this incident has permanently scarred Bayville in more ways than one."

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"Well I hope you're happy Xavier," The Mayor Chandler snapped as Xavier, Jean and Valerie Cooper entered his office. It had been trashed. "I really hope you're happy. Come to see your handiwork in person?"

"Your office was destroyed?" Jean asked. "Why?"

"Why do you think? Because some idiots at the FOH complained that I didn't do enough to control mutants!" The Mayor snapped. "As if I could do anything to control you freaks! Especially after what you did the other day! Turning everyone into zombies."

"It was merely a telepathic suggestion to stop the rioting…" Jean began.

"So you admit it! I knew it! I knew you freaks did something to the minds of the people of this city!" Chandler screamed.

"Their minds were already gone!" Valerie snapped. "I'm convinced that the telepaths' intervention was the fastest, safest way to stop the rioting without losing more lives!"

"You actually condone what they did?" He shouted.

"General Hawk explained the situation and has taken full responsibility," Valerie told the mayor. "He ordered Ms. Grey and Professor Xavier to do what they did."

"Will he get in trouble?" Jean asked.

"There will be a review board but considering the evidence he'll be fine," Valerie told her.

"FINE! FINE?" Chandler screamed. "AFTER ALL THE TROUBLE THEY CAUSED?"

"We had nothing to do with this riot!" Xavier snapped. He looked at Valerie, "I hope no one in the government is taking that statement seriously!"

"Xavier the Governor went on television an hour ago. He made it perfectly clear that mutants were not responsible for this riot," Valerie told him. "What the public believes is another story."

"Not responsible?" Chandler shouted. "Not responsible? Look at this city! Look at the devastation and chaos that happens whenever those people show up anywhere! If the judge had done his job and locked that freak up none of this would have happened!"

"Evan was innocent of Spears' murder!" Jean snapped. "It's not our fault that bigots couldn't handle the truth!"

"Daniels is guilty and you know it!" The Mayor snapped. "But you and your fancy lawyers and mutant tricks got him off!"

"We followed the rule of law and it vindicated us," Xavier told him. "Your people rioted in the streets and set fire to the town when things didn't go their way!"

"My people? My people? Do you know what my people have told me?" Chandler asked. "They said that this morning at least fifty families are planning to leave town or have already left! Property rates were already unstable before this and now they've crashed through the floor! Nobody wants to live in a town filled with mutants and I can't blame them!"

"Any attempt to persecute the X-Men will be dealt with in the harshest measures," Valerie told him.

"Yes but it's okay for them to terrorize us?" Chandler asked bitterly. "It's okay for them to allow giant robots and maniacs to run wild through the streets? It's okay for them to use their powers on us whenever they feel like it!"

"Mayor Chandler I understand your feelings on this," Valerie said. "Really I do…"

"You understand nothing lady!" Chandler snapped. "Unless you've lived with these…these…freaks you have no idea what goes on around here! The insanity we've been forced to live with day after day! Month after month! Year after year! Ever since you opened your so-called school Xavier this town has been plagued with disasters! Earthquakes, fires, monsters, giant robots, terrorists and crazy soldiers! What are you planning next Xavier? Aliens from another planet? Our budget has been wrecked having to clean up all the messes you made such as freak weather storms, destruction of sidewalks and school property, not to mention entire streets burned to the ground!"

"Those things weren't our fault!" Jean protested.

"Nothing is your fault but disasters happen anyway!" Chandler snapped. "If you really want to help humanity do us all a favor. Move out of town far away so that none of us will ever see you again! Maybe in the middle of the mountains or desert where no human beings are around so you can't wreck their lives like you've wrecked ours!"

"This is our home," Xavier stood his ground. "We're not going to run and hide from the world anymore."

"And this is my town as long as I am the Mayor!" He got in Xavier's face. "From now I am going to watch you like a hawk! You make any mistake! Any misstep and I will send my lawyers on you so fast…"

"Enough, this is getting us nowhere," Valerie said. "Look I've spoken with the President and he's agreed to give you federal funding for rebuilding Bayville."

"The X-Men are also…" Xavier began.

"No," Chandler snapped. "Not from you."

"Excuse me?" Xavier asked.

"I'll take money from the government but I don't want a single penny from you mutant," Mayor Chandler hissed. "You think you can con and buy your way out of trouble? Think again! I don't want any of you freaks near this! Like I said before you've caused enough damage."

"I think this meeting is over," Xavier frowned. "It's obvious that you are not ready to listen. Perhaps when your temper has cooled off…"

"Then you're going to have to wait a long time mutant!" Chandler snapped. "Now get out of my office!"

"Well that went well," Jean grunted as they left.

"I knew people would be angry and blame mutants for all of this," Xavier sighed. "But I had no idea the level of hostility and hatred…" Everyone they walked by in the hallways glared at them with rage.

"It's practically oozing from the walls," Jean suppressed a shudder. "I can feel their thoughts all around me."

"I know Jean, even I can't block them all out," Xavier sighed.

"Xavier you might want to have your students stay on campus for a while," Valerie sighed. "All this anger and hate isn't going to go away overnight."

A small crowd had gathered outside. "NO MORE MUTANTS!" Several people were chanting. "NO MORE MUTANTS!" Several tried to throw bottles and other objects at them, but Jean deflected them with her telekinesis.

"Yeah that's really going to work on us!" She snapped at the crowd. To prove her point she lifted herself into the air using her powers. This stunned the crowd for a second. Someone threw a bottle at her but Jean deflected it back. It stopped right in front of the thrower's face.

"Don't you think if I really wanted to hurt anyone I would?" Jean shouted. She let the bottle drop to the ground. This made people back away very fast. Xavier, Jean and Valerie took the opportunity to get into the limo quickly and drive away.

"Well if they didn't fear us before…" Xavier shot a disapproving look at Jean.

"Sorry Professor," Jean sighed as she rubbed her temple. "I'm just sick of them blaming us for everything and hating us for no reason!"

"Don't be too sorry," Valerie said. "It was non violent and it worked."

"So much for improving public relations," Xavier sighed.

Next: As if things weren't bad enough, a third riot breaks out! But who starts it and how does it end? You have to see it to believe it!