Scott's POV

I don't know much about Magneto other than what Alex has told me, but now that he mentions it, I do recognize the blur running around us as Quicksilver. He was a mutant part of the Brotherhood who attacked us when we were teenagers. We defeated the four with some ease, but it seems like Quicksilver has been practicing and recruiting.

After I take a few failing blasts, I give up on the blur, choosing instead to blast a fire hydrant to put out the fire horse. The water blasts Pyro in the chest, sending him back several feet.

Then breaking through the crowd suddenly was my daughter. I lower my hand from the visor dial. It goes without saying that she should not be here! Not only can I not afford to be worrying about her as well as this crowd, but she should also still be resting. And how did she even manage to sneak out with Jean knowing!?

"Rachel? What are you doing here!?" I demand.

She just smiles at me before performing a flawless spinning backflip directed at my face. I let the shock get the better of me, and am plummeting to the snowy pavement. I get the wind knocked from my lungs, and I gasp for air. She has no remorse in her eyes as she stands over me, foot stomping down on my throat.

Then she leans down close. Her form suddenly starts changing from my young, teenage daughter into a developed woman with scaly blue skin. Her bare toes curl around my neck, her hands pinning my wrists down.

Before I can defend myself, Alex's energy blast shoots her off of me.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

Storm swoops down from the sky, and a small tornado follows, blowing the blue mutant onto the ground. She rolls into a bus stop shelter before leaping to her feet once more. She takes a leap towards one of the straggling humans.

A dart whizzes through the air, striking the blue mutant in the arm. She hisses in pain, gold eyes narrowing in the direction of the dart. A group of soldiers in armor are rushing in, guns pointing at us all. M.R.D. is printed on the front of their vests.

"Who the hell brings a gun to a peaceful protest!?" Alex demands. He raises his hands above his head with guns pointed at him.

"I don't think this is a protest anymore." I am not as willing to surrender as my brother, even as they shout at us to do so. I have my hand to my visor's dial, ready to fire at them if the opportunity comes.

Before I know it, we are surrounded. These M.R.D. soldiers have shields together like a barricade. Others kneel between them, guns pointed at us. If anything, these men are organized.

I hear a whiz behind me and turn, just in time to feel a sharp prick in my neck. And just like before I was taken by Vulcan, my vision blurs, and then the ground is colliding with my face.

Everything goes black.

Rachel's POV

So I'll admit, I probably should have stayed home instead of going to the store. It might have spared some panic.

Hindsight is 50/50 I guess.

Mom assures me that everything is fine, and has practically banned me from looking at the news. But I am a rebellious teenager. So yeah, I read as many news articles about me as I can find. Can anyone blame me? Well, I sure can. Because what all the articles say about me does a number on my self-confidence.

I didn't hurt anyway but I did scare a lot of people. And from the looks of it, I also made the war against mutants worse. It cannot just be a coincidence that a massive protest broke out the day after I destroyed a department store, can it?

It's cold outside, which means that the other students are all inside in the warmth. I'm able to find peace outside by the pond, having put on two pairs of fuzzy socks, a coat, and gloves. I'm able to stay relatively warm with my knees drawn up to my chest.

The stone bench I sit on is cold through my sweatpants. I stare at the frozen water in front of me. A dead leaf is suspended in the ice. It's still even though the wind blows, just frozen in time until the water thaws.

From the time I can remember, mutants and humans have been at war. Now I'm reliving everything in this timestream. It all starts with people turning against their children, siblings, nieces, nephews, whoever is born different from them. Then mutant hate groups and laws limiting mutant rights happen. But that isn't enough to appease humans.

Soon mutants are hunted for sport and kidnapped and experimented on. Science is abused, and mutant children are taken by the government and put under mind control to do their bidding. It will get to the point where animals have more rights than us, and only a few will see the problem with that.

"Hey, Little Red," Logan's voice takes me out of my deep thoughts by nearly scaring me to death. I had been too unfocused to sense him coming. "Pizza's been delivered."

"I'm not that hungry," I shrug, still looking at the pond. I see him waving a hand in the corner of my eye, motioning for me to move over. I slide to the side of the bench. He takes a seat beside me.

"You worried about your dad?" He asks.

"No. He'll be fine."

"I am not a telepath like your Mama. You have to give me some hint to what's got you sitting outside in the cold while the rest of the kids are inside watching that annoying fish movie."

I shrug. Logan isn't like my parents, the Professor, or even Aunt Ororo. He doesn't try to be my teaching figure. He actually tries to be my friend. I can confide in him in ways that I can't with the others.

"Well, I'm worried that I'm sorta the reason that this protest is happening. I destroyed that store. Now the world hates us more. I saw it happen before in my old timeline, and I hate that I might have done it again."

Logan snorts. "This protest has been in the works for months, kid. These people just can't mind their own damn business. It's-" there is a buzz on his leg. He takes out a phone from his pocket. "Hold on. What is it, Snowcone?"

I can't hear what Bobby is saying over the under end, but Logan stands up from the bench. "You might want to come too. The news has something about the protests."

'With yet another mutant child being found dead in his house and two more attacks in the city, the people of New York are getting restless for mutant control. Protests broke out through the streets and have been met with violence from the mutant.'

I watch the television as the newscaster speaks to the camera. A video plays in the corner of the screen, showing Storm, Alex and Dad fighting mutants who I recognize as the Brotherhood. The shot makes it look like they are trying to hurt the humans, but I can tell most of them are just getting caught in the crossfire. In fact, the X-Men are trying to protect them.

As if they deserve to be protected.

'With cries from the American people, the president has passed an emergency act, arranging a new military team that he is calling the Mutant Response Division. These brave men and women will be placed in bases around the country to deal with disturbances caused by mutants.'

"All we want is free healthcare!" Bobby shouts at the television. It goes to the live feed of the protest, and my eyes widen at the sight of the mutants being circled by men in bulletproof vests and helmets with visors over them.

Guns are drawn. Instead of bullets, darts shoot from the barrels, implanting themselves into both the X-Men and Brotherhood.

Mom gasps beside me. "Scott!" she whispers in a mix of pain and distress. It's not just because of what we saw on TV. I've seen that reaction several times before. With their unique psychic rapport, Mom can feel what Dad does and vice versa.

'It appears this group of mutants has been chosen as the first to set foot in the new bases. Originally maximum security prisons, these bases are quickly being adapted to house the most dangerous of mutants like these ones.'

Logan snaps his head to the Professor so quickly that I would be concerned he snapped his neck if his bones weren't made of Adamantium. "These motherfuckers in the government are throwing us in jail. Do you still think we're gonna achieve peace? Because from where I'm sitting, it looks like we're getting farther from it as we speak."

The Professor folds his hands in his lap. "Perhaps I was wrong in sending them off, but this does not mean. The world fears what it does not understand, but if we can just show them we mean them no harm then-"

"I'll stop you right there, Xavier. We aren't the ones who need to prove we're peaceful. We're not the ones throwing them in cages!"

Mom interrupts them. "Look, I'm not thrilled about this either, but we have bigger issues than who is right and who is wrong. Scott, Ororo, and Alex need us, and sitting around bickering is not going to help them!"

The Professor nods. "You are right, and since neither Scott and Ororo are here, you will be heading the rescue mission, Jean. But only after I attempt a negotiation."

I jump on the opportunity. "I'll go too. You guys could use the Phoenix."

"Absolutely not," Mom doesn't even miss a beat. "You're staying here to rest. After last night you are in no condition to go on any mission."

I'm not surprised, but I am annoyed. I just want to get away from the kiddie table I've been stuck at for months. I went from living a real-life version of Star Wars to the eighth grade. They underestimate me. Besides, it still feels like my fault that they were kidnapped. Even if I don't have their permission, I can't just sit here and do nothing!

To Be Continued...

I decided after I posted the last chapter that I wanted to add more to the protest fight, but since I didn't want to redo the whole chapter, I just added it here, so I apologize for the split POV's in this one. Thanks for reading!