On Muir Island, Morph was going through treatment, not noticing the rumbling coming from the research lab. It was coming from a door that was labeled, No admittance: Mutant X. The door was guarded with several lasers, so no one could enter it.
Moira and Banshee were looking in the room, which housed a large being composed of orange energy. It was groaning in pain as it was being blasted with two beams of green light.
"All these years. All the work." Moira said as she put her hand on the glass. "Now he'll be able to control his powers and come out into the world!"
"Thanks to you, Moira." Banshee told her.
"I just wish the treatment weren't so hard on him." Moira said sympathetically, but she knew there was no other way. She went to the controls as she increased the intensity of the green light.
"It's hurting me!" The orange being cried.
"It's the only way, Kevin!" Moira said with tears in her eyes.
"You must both be strong!" Banshee agreed.
They both looked to see Kevin struggling through the glass, with Moira turning away, not able to see anymore.
She didn't see Kevin change form into that of a young teenager as the green light stopped.
"Look!" Banshee got Moira's attention. "Moira!"
"I can see him!" Moira had wide eyes when she saw Kevin back in his true form. "Kevin, I can see you!" She was happy to see that the treatments were working. "He's so close."
Kevin sported a look of longing and innocence on his face as he reached out a hand. It glowed, and the wall that separated him from Moira and Banshee exploded, knocking them back.
Moira and Banshee were groaning in pain as Kevin took his first look at the world outside his containment chamber.
"I'm..." He stopped as he looked at himself. He was a regular boy now.
"Kevin!" Moira tried to move toward him but fell on her knees.
Kevin then felt his powers start to take control as he changed into his energy form. "What's happening?"
"I don't know, Kevin." Moira said. "But the therapy is working. We'll start again!"
"No!" Kevin refused. He had enough of the therapy and being kept away from the outside world. He wanted to see what lay beyond. "Let me see what's outside these walls!"
Banshee pushed Moira out of the way as Kevin approached them. Kevin wrapped Banshee up in a bear hug as he entered Banshee's body.
Banshee's eyes glowed green as Moira tried to get Kevin to leave Banshee's body.
"Please, Kevin, let Banshee go." She pleaded.
"Why?" Kevin said as he shoved her away.
"You might hurt him." Moira said. "I know you don't mean to. Let's go to the other chamber."
Kevin screamed in frustration at Moira's suggestion. Having had enough, he left Banshee's body and moved menacingly towards Moira.
Moira tripped and fell on her back as she screamed as Kevin stood over her. What happened next was unbelievable, as the entire room started to shift around as if Kevin was bending it to his own will.
At the institute, Beast was at a monitor when he heard Moira's voice.
"Charles!" Her voice cried. "This is Moira! Please, answer me!"
Xavier, Rogue, and Wolverine approached Beast.
"What is wrong with the signal, Beast?" Xavier asked him.
"I am not certain, professor." Beast said as he turned a switch as Moira's image appeared on the screen.
"Charles, please answer me!" She begged.
"What is it?" Xavier asked, shocked to see Moira in such distress.
"Come quickly!" She ordered. "I need your help!" She then screamed as the message ended.
"Moira!" Xavier was now worried about her. "Beast, prepare the Blackbird. Rogue, go get Danny. I have a feeling we'll need his help for this."
Danny placed a weapon he had stolen from the GIW in a box and put the box under the bed. He would have to figure out how to deal with it later, but for now, he'll just keep it hidden.
'Glad I took it from them.' Danny thought. 'Imagine what damage those idiots could do with this thing.'
Rogue then ran in. "Sugar, the professor needs us for a mission."
Danny smiled. "Let's go."
The pool moved aside, revealing a whole that the Blackbird came out of as it headed towards Muir Island.
Rogue was looking over the message that they got.
"Come quickly!" Moira's voice said in fear.
"Looks like she saw a ghost." Rogue observed. She looked at her boyfriend. "Good thing we have you here with us, Danny."
Wolverine wasn't intimidated. "Big deal; we've dealt with ghosts before, so we'll go and stomp it." He turned to Danny. "You got your thermos with you, bub?"
Danny pulled it out. "I always carry it on missions."
"It is a big deal, Logan." Xavier said. "And I don't think it has anything to do with ghosts. I've known Moira for twenty years. I've never heard her like that."
A memory came to Xavier as he reminisced about his time with Moira.
He was in an army uniform, walking beside her as he pulled out a small present and handed it to her.
"For me?" Moira asked.
"Do you see any other beautiful women around?" Xavier asked.
She unwrapped it and opened it up to find an engagement ring as she gasped in happiness. "Oh, Charles! Yes, of course I'll be your wife." The two then embraced in a kiss.
Xavier was in a medical tent as he received a letter. Opening it, his engagement ring for Moira fell out. Gazing at it with worry, he read the letter that accompanied it.
Charles,
I will always care for you. But I've fallen in love with someone else. By the time you receive this, we will be married. I'm so very sorry.
Xavier was then seen at a hospital, now crippled, only to meet with Amelia.
"This isn't what I signed up for." Amelia said as they looked over the original X-Men training in the Danger Room.
"Help us to fulfill my dream." Xavier pleaded with her. "Working for a better future for all, mutant and human alike."
Xavier could only watch as Amelia walked out of the institute and out of his life.
Xavier landed his jet at the Muir Island Research Center, where two people were waiting for him.
"So good to see you, Charles." Moira greeted him. She gestured to the man next to her. "I'd like you to meet Sean Cassidy, my fiancé."
"Moira's told me a great deal about you, Mr. Xavier." Sean said.
"How fortunate." Xavier said slowly. "Now if you'll show me my quarters, Moira, I'll need to rest."
On a hill, Sean and Moira were looking at the moon.
"Does he still not love you, Moira?" Sean asked.
"I don't think so, but he needs me." Moira answered. "Charles has given everything for his students, his X-Men. But friends, aye, that's different. Sometimes I think I'm the only one he has."
"Professor, are you okay?" Danny asked him, snapping him out of his memories. "You look sad."
"I've just..." Xavier didn't know the right words. "All my life, every woman I've gotten close to always ends up leaving me for one reason or another. First Moira and then Amelia."
"What about Lilandra?" Danny asked.
"We've been a bit distant since the Dark Phantom Phoenix incident." Xavier revealed as he remembered how the two argued over Danny's fate.
"I'm sorry." Danny apologized, knowing that he was responsible for the sudden coldness in their relationship.
"Don't blame yourself, Danny." Xavier said, not wanting his student to blame himself for this mess. "I guess I'm just destined to always be alone."
"You're not alone." Danny corrected. "You got us."
Xavier smiled. "I do."
"There's Muir Island." Wolverine said as they got closer to their destination.
"Yes." Xavier said. "Take us in."
The X-Men were with Moira in the security room.
"Have a look for yourself, Charles." Moira said as she went to the security monitor. "This security tape was taken during the sonic therapy."
It showed Kevin undergoing treatment before he busted out and possessed Banshee.
"What is happening here?" Beast asked.
"He is possessing Banshee's body." Moira answered.
"He really is a ghost." Wolverine said.
"No, he is not." Moira said. "He's a mutant. A very powerful mutant."
"Any lasting effects?" Xavier asked.
"Temporary weakness, exhaustion." Moira answered.
They then saw Kevin bend the entire room to his will.
"Who whacked the camera?" Rogue asked.
"Not the camera, Rogue, the whole room." Moira said. "Proteus can actually change the physical world around him by merely thinking it."
"He can alter reality." Danny stated as he looked over the mutant. He felt a kinship with him, as he saw that Proteus didn't seem like some evil monster but a confused creature wondering what their purpose was.
Just like him.
"Yes." Moira confirmed as she looked at the recordings. "Notice that after he leaves, the room goes back to its normal state, though it does you no good if you're hurt while it's happening. And Proteus is telepathic."
"A spectacular power." Xavier said as he contemplated the information about this new mutant.
"A teenager who can quite literally do anything he wishes." Beast simplified. "Not a comforting thought."
"Hey, I was sort of like this kid when I was his age, and I turned out fine." Danny said in Proteus's defense.
"That you did, sugar." Rogue said as she stared at Danny's ass. "That you did."
"So he can turn things upside down." Wolverine said, not seeing the danger they were in. "He don't look old enough to shave."
"Dude, I saved the world once before I grew any chest hair." Danny pointed out. He then turned to Moira. "What's the kid's name? I doubt Proteus is his real name."
"Kevin." Moira told him.
"Ah, Beast, take Rogue, Danny, and Wolverine in the Blackbird and see if you can track him." Xavier ordered. "Muir Island is not that large."
"Please, be careful." Moira cautioned. "He's young and scared. And he has no idea how powerful he is."
"Don't worry, Moira." Danny comforted her. "We were all like that once in our lives, so we know what Kevin's going through. I promise you that he'll be fine."
"Danny's right, Moira." Xavier said. "If anyone can reach out to him, it's him."
Moira nodded to Xavier before thanking Danny. "Thank you, Danny."
The X-Men headed out to the Blackbird.
"Xavier's kind of out to lunch." Wolverine said.
"They were engaged once, Mr. Sensitive." Rogue said, irritated with Wolverine's lack of consideration for other people's feelings.
"So?" Wolverine didn't see the point.
"So next time the love of your life's in trouble, let me know how well you function." Rogue retorted.
"What's with her?" Wolverine asked Danny.
"She's pissed with your lack of sensitivity or consideration." Danny said.
"Hey, I can be considerate." Wolverine argued. "I don't let you two know that I'm aware you and Casper have done it in the Blackbird."
"What?" Danny and Rogue cried as they blushed.
Danny then realized how Wolverine knew. "Oh, right, your sense of smell. I forgot."
"Yeah, I can also smell that you did it more than once." Logan said. "I'm surprised you haven't gotten her pregnant already, Casper."
Beast hummed in thought. "Now I'm wondering the possibilities of a child conceived by a mutant and a half ghost."
"Beast!" Danny and Rogue shouted indignantly.
Beast saw his mistake. "Sorry. Sometimes I let my own love of science overrule my consideration. My apologies."
The X-Men were out of the room, leaving Xavier alone with Moira.
Xavier tried to speak with her. "Moira I..." But he was interrupted.
"Oh, Charles!" Moira bemoaned as she stared out the window. "My research began with this mutant. I've failed him, and those he may harm."
Xavier placed his hands on her shoulders to calm her down. "We will find him and bring him back." He vowed. "Don't worry."
"Thank you, Charles." Moira hugged him. "You were always good to me. I miss seeing you, being so far away."
Xavier smiled before remembering that this woman was with someone else. He remembered Banshee, then the man that she was previously married to.
"What do you hear from Joe these days?" Xavier asked her about her former husband.
"Joe is a big-time politician now." Moira said. "Doing quite well without me." She walked to the monitor. "Do you want to see?"
She pressed a button on the monitor as it showed a typical sleezy politician on the screen.
"What Scotland has lost is its dedication to family values." Joe said. "As Secretary of State, I will bring Scotland back to the values that made it great."
In the nearby town of Muir Island, a man was carrying groceries when he was ambushed by Proteus, who possessed him.
With a body to blend in, he started to explore his surroundings. 'I've read about places like this.' Proteus thought to himself as he walked into a bar. 'All these people! The smells! The sounds! What do I do first?'
"He's been isolated at my hospital all his life." Moira said to Xavier. "He knows nothing of the outside world. He's seventeen, but immature. There are times he acts like a child. He communicates through his telepathy."
"I will try to reach him." Xavier said.
"Be careful, Charles!" Moira warned him.
Xavier closed his eyes as he tried to connect with Kevin's mind. "I am having to push through unusual psychic static." He then saw Proteus in a bar. "There! A confused, anxious mind. Barely touching it. I must try harder!"
Proteus gripped his head as he felt a foreign presence in his mind. He then left the man's body as people ran away in fear at his appearance.
"What's going on?" Kevin said to Xavier telepathically. "How did you do that?" He blew through the place's doors. "Whoever you are, stay out of my mind!"
Xavier found himself forced out of Kevin's mind. "He's..." He took a moment to take a breath. "Gone."
Proteus started running as he made a jump and landed on a boat that was taking off. He then possessed one of the people on the boat.
Xavier was dealing with a headache while Moira was tending to an injured Banshee.
"Professor, we've found something!" Beast said over his communicator.
The X-Men were standing over the man who was originally possessed by Proteus.
"A worker was discovered severely weakened but otherwise unhurt." Beast said. "Not unlike Banshee."
"Did he say anything?" Xavier asked.
"Delirious ravings about a big evil thing." Beast said.
"Probably talking about Beast." Wolverine joked.
"Or you." Danny said.
"Professor, it appears Proteus has left the island." Beast said to Xavier.
Moira slammed her fists on the monitor. "Charles! There are millions of people over there! The last ferry has reached the mainland by now. Off the island, there's no telling the harm he could do."
Proteus left his new body as he explored the mainland. He used his reality-warping powers to phase through a wall.
Meanwhile, a local boy was running from a pair of bullies when he found a hiding spot in an alleyway. Unfortunately, the bullies managed to spot him as they pushed him to the ground.
"Looks like Ian boy ran out of places to hide." One of the bullies said.
"What's that?" Another bully said.
"Leave him alone!" Proteus demanded as he used his powers to torment them.
The bullies found themselves twisted around in a circle before they looked to find themselves as scarecrows. They ripped their outfits off only to find they were in quicksand now.
"Come on!" The bullies pulled themselves out of the quicksand and ran away.
Proteus then looked at the bullied boy, Ian.
"Don't!" Ian protested before Proteus possessed him.
'They scared him.' Proteus thought to himself as he started to move in Ian's body. 'Why did they want to hurt him?'
A man was wandering around, calling out for Ian. "Ian! Ian!" He then ran into Ian and hugged him. "Are you okay, son? Who did this to you?"
'Why does this man hold him like this?' Proteus thought. 'This man wants to protect him.' He started to shed tears through Ian's body. 'He loves him! He would do anything for him!'
"Talk to me, son." Ian's father prompted. "What's wrong?"
Proteus then got out of Ian's body. 'He is his...' Proteus struggled a bit to form the next word, as he hadn't thought of it for a long time. 'Father! His father, not mine!'
"Get away from my boy, you monster!" Ian's father raged at Proteus.
Proteus was confused. 'Why does he call me a monster?'
"Help! Help!" Ian's father cried for someone to help him and his son. "Please! Somebody help."
'I was just trying to help his son.' Proteus thought to himself. He then thought of a more important question. 'Where is my father?'
A group of citizens came and spotted Proteus; they moved to attack him.
"Go away!" Proteus demanded.
The people ignored this as they threw sticks at Proteus.
"Don't do that!" Proteus warned as he grew in size.
One citizen went into a building and activated a radio. "Mayday! Mayday!"
Proteus then turned himself into a wave of orange liquid that washed all of his attackers away.
On the Blackbird, the X-Men could hear one of the citizens crying out for help over their radio.
"Mayday! Mayday!"
"Sounds like we found our boy." Wolverine said.
"You cannot hurt me!" Proteus proclaimed to the people.
The Blackbird flew through the island as they saw that all the buildings had been shifted to weird angles and shapes.
"Wow, this kid sure knows how to throw a block party." Wolverine commented.
"If Dr. MacTaggert is correct, he must still be here, or his effect on the area would have been reversed." Beast assumed.
Xavier and Moira were watching the transformation of the area back at Moira's lab over the monitor.
"What have I allowed to happen?" Moira said, feeling guilt for what she unleashed on those poor people.
"Moira, please, this is not your fault." Xavier said. "Pick us up, Beast, right away."
The people were running in fear from Proteus as he shrank down to normal size. He phased himself into a house, scaring the people inside away.
Proteus sat on the couch as he placed his hands on his head. "Where is my father?"
Moira and Xavier got on the Blackbird as they flew back to find Kevin.
"If I may ask, how do you propose that we persuade Proteus to return with us?" Beast asked Moira.
"I don't know." Moira said. "But we have to try."
Xavier connected himself with Kevin's mind. "Proteus, you must stop."
Proteus was watching the TV when he saw Joe on it. Using his powers, he enlarged the television as he inspected the man.
"What Scotland has lost is its dedication to family values." Joe said.
"Let me help you." Xavier's voice sounded in Kevin's head.
"Who are you?" Kevin demanded. "I'm not hurting anyone! People are trying to harm me! Please, leave me alone!" He used his power to appear on the Blackbird and push Xavier back.
Xavier was moved back as if someone had pushed him.
"Professor?" Rogue asked before looking to see Proteus's head before it vanished.
"Charles!" Moira went to his side.
"Astounding!" Beast said intrigued. "Professor, are you all right?"
"Oh, Charles." Moira hugged him.
"Rogue! Wolverine! Danny!" Beast called his teammates over to take a look at the twisted buildings.
"What in the world?" Rogue exclaimed as they returned to their normal shape.
The Blackbird then landed near those buildings.
The people were looking around as they saw that everything was back to normal.
"Has it gone?" One man in a truck asked. He then saw Proteus approaching him. "What's that? What is that?" Proteus was entering his body as the man struggled. "What's happening to me?"
Proteus took control as he observed the vehicle. 'A lorry! Now I can go anywhere.' He was about to start the engine when he saw the X-Men and the crowd in front of him. 'The one who tried to reach me is with them. He is the one!'
"Soccer match get out of hand?" Wolverine asked Ian's father as Proteus passed by him.
"A monster did this!" Ian's father said. "A mutant for sure!"
Proteus observed Xavier and his chair. 'Why does he move about in a chair? Is he somebody special?'
He was about to touch the man when Rogue grabbed his hand.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Rogue demanded. Proteus ended up grabbing her face.
"Let go!" Rogue cried before she absorbed Proteus' powers as reality started to change. "I can't control this!"
"Rogue!" Danny went up to her and placed his hands on her face. "Fight it. Take control. I know you can do it!"
Rogue managed to take control as reality went back to normal as she fell into Danny's arms.
Proteus saw that everyone was distracted and took this as his cure to run away a safe distance before leaving the man's body. "I must find my father." He murmured to himself. "He'll protect me from them!"
"Got to be careful picking dancing partners, darling." Wolverine said. 'The young ones will wear you out."
"Danny ain't young, and yet he wears me out in the bedroom." Rogue said. She was dazed by what had just happened. "He always wants more, but I can't complain. The first time I saw his dick, I thought to myself, Woof."
Danny blushed as he tried to change the subject. "Rogue, tell us what you learned from his mind."
Rogue got her head together as she answered him. "He's searching for someone."
"Who, Rogue?" Danny asked.
"A man." Rogue said. "An important man to him."
"You know this mutant's history, Moira." Xavier said. "Who could this man be?"
"I have no idea, Charles." Moira lied.
"His father." Danny said. "He's searching for his father."
"How do you know?" Moira said in shock that Danny had figured it out so fast.
Danny gave Moira a pained expression. "I know."
"Grab the plane." Wolverine said. "I'll track him on the ground. How hard can it be to find one testosterone-driven kid?" It then started to rain.
"Check that." Wolverine said.
The X-Men were flying the Blackbird above the clouds as Beast was looking over a map that he had marked with the places that Proteus had been to.
"His path, though erratic, indicates he intends to go to Edinburgh." Beast put together.
"We will find a way to reason with him." Xavier said.
"Or, we take him out." Wolverine offered as he pulled out his claws.
With a snarl, Danny punched Wolverine in the face, knocking him to the floor.
"He's a kid!" Danny reminded the feral mutant. "We're not killing a kid, you fucking psychopath!"
Danny turned to everyone else. "Look, he may be big and scary, but deep down, he's a scared kid that just needs someone to help him through this."
"I..." Moira stuttered. "I need to call the lab." She went to the Blackbird's phone and dialed a number. "Joe?"
"Moira?" Joe answered. "What on Earth?"
"I wouldn't have called." Moira said. "But I think you're in danger. Kevin's out!"
"Kevin?" Joe remembered the son he abandoned. "Well, put him back." He said indifferently. "You know the election's this week. I can't have this kind of thing coming out now. I worked sixteen years to get this chance! What do you expect me to do?"
"You could talk to the boy!" Moira said, heartbroken by Joe's lack of care for his son. "That's all he wants!"
"He does?" Joe said in surprise. "Even after what I did to him?" He then decided to give in to Moira's demands. "Okay, Moira, but after the election!" He then hung up.
"Joe?" Moira asked before she realized he had hung up.
Beast was overlooking an area through binoculars when he heard Xavier over his communicator.
"X-Men, report." Xavier requested.
"No sign of him from the west, professor." Beast said.
Danny and Rogue were exploring from the east. "Nothing here from the east." Rogue answered.
"Same here." Wolverine said as he stood on a tree branch.
"Stay ready." Xavier said from the Blackbird. "Xavier out." He turned to Moira. "This can't go on, Moira. Why haven't you told me about this mutant?"
"I don't know how to..." Moira tried to explain before the Blackbird started shaking.
"He's here!" Moira ran out of the Blackbird.
"Return immediately!" Xavier ordered his X-Men to come back before seeing that Moira had left. "Moira, wait!"
"Kevin, please, you've got to come back with me!" Moira stood in front of Kevin, who was standing on top of a green wave.
"Never!" Proteus refused. "There's a million things to see, to feel. There's more than you taught me. Why did you keep me from all these feelings?"
Moira tried to make Proteus see sense. "But people will be frightened of you! They'll try to hurt you."
"She's right, son." Xavier's voice appeared in Proteus' head.
"I'm not your son!" Proteus roared. "I told you, stay out of my mind!"
"Talk to me." Xavier tried to gain some information from him. "Who are you looking for? Is it your father? We can help you find him. Tell me about him."
"Ask her!" Proteus summoned a hand made of quicksand to grab Moira. "She keeps him away!"
"Stop this now!" Xavier demanded.
Wolverine ran towards them with his claws out. "End of the line, kid."
"Don't touch him!" Moira demanded. "He is my son!"
"Your son?" Xavier blanched at this revelation. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Proteus saw they weren't trying to hurt him anymore, so he made the quicksand hand vanish.
"You're the one person I couldn't tell." Moira told Xavier, avoiding his eyes. "When I left you to marry Joe MacTaggert and I had his child, how could I?"
"You underestimate my feelings for you!" Xavier said, feeling betrayed. "But then you always did."
"I committed my life to mutant research to save my son." Moira said. "When you helped me, you helped him."
"Such a burden to bear alone." Xavier said.
Beast arrived as he approached Proteus. "We are no danger to you."
Proteus soon moved away as Danny and Rogue flew past him.
"Hold on, Kevin." Danny used his ice powers to freeze the wave, causing Proteus to fall to the ground.
He then formed quicksand over the two heroes as it formed a cement-like ball, but Danny phased him and Rogue out of it.
"Gonna have to do better than that, Kevin." Rogue said.
Four rocks appeared and turned into mini-Rogues who attacked her.
"Get them off me!" Rogue struggled with them.
Danny blasted them out of existence.
The other X-Men arrived, with Proteus turning a rock into a giant ape that fought with the rest of the X-Men.
"Kevin, no!" Xavier then found his chair turned into a red liquid as Moira was stuck in quicksand.
"Charles, I'm sinking!" Moira panicked.
"Moira, hang on!" Xavier crawled toward her and pulled her out. "Don't struggle. You'll sink faster."
The X-Men managed to make the giant ape crumble to dust.
"Day at the zoo's over, kid." Wolverine charged at Proteus. "I'm asking you nice, Kevin. Stop this. Don't make me bust you up!"
Proteus used his powers on Wolverine, as the X-Man found his claws turned into piranha plants that tried to bite him.
Hey! Stop it!" He found himself spit into multiple pieces as his entire body was being unmade and shifted around like Play-Doh. "Make it stop! No!" He then melted before Proteus reformed him as he left.
Wolverine was crying, as he had never experienced something so horrific before.
Danny got in front of Proteus.
"Kevin, stop!" Danny commanded. "I know you want to see your father. You want to see what the rest of the world is like instead of being kept in a lab all day. And I know you're angry at your mom for keeping you locked up."
Proteus stopped as he considered Danny. Unlike the others, he wasn't trying to harm him. He lowered himself to the ground as Danny got closer to him. The look of sincerity in his eyes captivated Proteus. They had concern and care in them, just like Ian's father did.
He hoped that his father could care for him like this man could. Why didn't his father come looking for him? Unless. Kevin finally put together why his father never visited him.
He didn't love him.
Proteus tried to hold back the tears as Danny placed a hand on his shoulder.
"It's going to be all right, Kevin." Danny said. "I'm here for you. I'll help you."
Proteus now wished more than ever that this man here was his father. He seemed to care for him more than his real father did. Maybe this man could be his new father.
Unfortunately, Proteus's emotions caused his powers to go out of control. The giant ape reformed as it attacked Rogue, making her scream.
"Rogue!" Danny left Proteus as he went to rescue his girlfriend.
"Wait!" Proteus cried out for Danny, but it was too late.
'It's all my fault.' Proteus bemoaned. 'I hurt his wife; now he'll never want to be my father.'
Proteus soon moved away, out of sight of the X-Men.
Danny destroyed the ape as he made sure Rogue was all right.
"You okay, honey?" Danny asked her.
Rogue chuckled. "I knew there was a reason why I preferred Godzilla over King Kong."
He wandered the streets until he stopped in an empty alleyway.
"He could've been my father." Proteus muttered. "But I messed it up. No wonder my real father never visited. I'm just a freak."
Proteus started to cry before he got an idea.
"If I can't find a father, then I'll just make one." Proteus raised his hands as he remembered the energy that kind man had. If he couldn't have him as a father, then he would make another one to be it.
Energy poured out of his hands as they formed into a perfect replica of Danny's ghost form.
Unknown to Proteus, deep in Amity Park, Dan was stuck in his thermos. He was buried so deeply in the ground that no one could hear his voice and find out that he was there. He couldn't bust out thanks to Clockwork's enchantments. They also prevented him from reaching out telepathically to others. They also greatly limited his manifesting in the astral plane, but thanks to Xavier's psychic block that he placed, he couldn't manifest there at all.
As he tried to think of a way out. Dan sensed an energy source. It was exactly like Danny's, but that was impossible as he could sense Danny. His past self was far away, but he could still sense him. What was this new presence?
Connecting to it, he found that it had the same ecto-signature as his past self. Grinning at this new development, he was able to connect his consciousness to this being, having similar ecto-signatures made this possible.
Proteus looked over the finished product when it opened its eyes and fell to the ground in pain.
"What's wrong?" Proteus asked worriedly. "Are you okay?"
Proteus could only watch as his new father changed. His hair became fiery, and his muscles started to expand.
"What have I done?" Proteus then ran away as the new being kept changing.
Dan groaned as he managed to change this construct into a perfect replica of his body.
He then started to find himself fading.
"What the hell?" Dan said before he sensed the energy source that was sustaining this body was fleeing. Not willing to go back to the thermos that easily, he tracked it down and found some creature made of orange energy.
"Hey, you!" Dan called out.
Proteus heard the voice and felt fear. "Get away!" He bashed it aside. Having a moment of bravery, Proteus picked up the creature, only for Dan to roar in his face as he threw him away in fright.
Dan was about to fire an ecto-blast at Proteus, but nothing came out. He snarled as he realized this construct wasn't as powerful as his real body. Looking at Proteus, Dan entered his mind. Unlike Xavier, he took a stealthy approach as he learned all he could about his new benefactor.
Turns out this creature was just some pathetic little boy who wanted a father. He met his younger self and wanted him to be his father, so he tried to make a copy of Danny to serve that purpose.
Dan inwardly sneered at Proteus; he remembered being like this boy. A being that wanted the love and acceptance of others as he did their bidding. Only to be hated and ridiculed. Eventually, he saw the truth and decided that he didn't need love or acceptance. Those were for the weak.
Realizing that his new freedom depended on this boy. Dan decided to act friendly.
"So what's your name, kid?" Dan asked in what he hoped was a kind voice.
