"And with seven seconds to go, the ball's passed to Jean Grey." The announcer said as the mentioned mutant started to kick the soccer ball to the goal.
The crowd at Bayville High cheered for their superstar, including the X-Men, with Scott being the loudest.
"All right, Jean!" He cheered. "Go for the goal!"
Danny couldn't help but roll his eyes playfully at how Scott was encouraging his crush.
"All the way, Jean!" Scott continued as Jean made her way to the other team's goalie as she dodged the other team, which tried to stop her. "Run, Jean!"
Jean then kicked the ball past the goalie and into the net.
"She shoots. And it's good!" The announcer declared. "That's the game as Bayville aces the semifinals."
The crowd went hysterical as Jean jumped up in victory as her teammates came to congratulate her.
"Yeah!" Scott said as he and the other X-Men (minus Rogue, who didn't come to the game) all went to congratulate their friend.
"Jean, you were fantastic!" Scott praised as he pushed through the crowd to greet her, only for Duncan to move in front of him and hug her.
"Hey, way to go!" Duncan complimented his girlfriend. "You stomped them like bugs on a sidewalk."
Scott merely glared at Duncan.
"That Duncan, he knows just what a girl wants to hear." Kitty said sarcastically.
"Kitty." Danny scolded as he gestured his head over to Scott, who wasn't in the mood, as he stared at Duncan with irritation.
"Thanks, Duncan." Jean said to her boyfriend. "Everyone played really well today." She said humbly.
"Jean, we're taking off." Scott told her, hoping to get her away from her obnoxious boyfriend. "You riding or walking?"
"Oh, Scott, that's okay." Jean replied. "Duncan is driving me home."
Scott just gritted his teeth as he tried to keep his face from showing how he felt about Jean being alone with Duncan.
"Yeah." Duncan bragged. "Hey, Summers, maybe we'll even get lost along the way." He muttered to him, making sure Jean didn't hear him.
"With you driving, it's expected." Scott said as the two left.
Danny came up to his friend and patted him on the back. "Knowing him, he'll probably get pulled over before he even leaves the parking lot."
Scott chuckled a bit, though it didn't make him feel that much better. "Yeah."
The leader of the X-Men was driving back home with Danny, Kitty, and Kurt riding beside him. Evan was gonna skateboard home, which was good for him as they were currently stuck in traffic. As he waited for the cars to move along, Scott used this time to think, as Kitty was criticizing the band that was playing over the radio.
"Get real." She said. "The Stone Ciphers? Their music is so last millennium."
"Not true!" Kurt disagreed. "They rock bigtime." He turned to Scott, hoping his friend would back him up. "Tell her, Scott." Scott didn't answer.
"Scott?" Kitty asked. "Hello?" It wasn't until the car behind them honked that Scott snapped out of his daze.
"Huh?" Scott saw the incoming car coming toward them and moved into a different lane.
The car passed by them with several police cars pursuing it.
"Hey! What's his hurry?" Kurt asked indignantly.
"I say it's the twelve police cars on his tail." Danny said. "But that's just a hunch." He added sarcastically before seeing a helicopter. "A helicopter too? He must be at a three star wanted level."
The speeding car went on a red light, almost colliding with a school bus. The driver went up a ramp to the upper road but saw two police cars parked in front of him, preparing to block him off. He swerved out of the way, causing his car to dangle on the edge of the bridge, about to fall onto the school bus below him.
"Oh, no!" Scott cried.
"We've got to do something." Kurt said.
"No!" Scott told him. "Too many cameras."
"But what about those kids?" Kitty asked worriedly.
Danny looked at the scene with a determined look. "Looks like it's up to me then." The hybrid turned invisible, flew up to the car, and pulled it back onto the bridge as it was just about to fall.
The driver was looking around in shock before he was pulled out of his car by a police officer.
"Alright, you're under arrest." The officer said as he handcuffed him and read him his rights.
The X-Men then saw Danny reappear back in the car as they all sighed in relief.
Back at the institute, a pigtailed girl was running along the lawn after a Frisbee as she, in an unbelievable sight, turned into a wolf and jumped into the air before catching the Frisbee.
This was Rahne, a new mutant that had arrived at the institute along with a bunch of others. She carried her Frisbee past Roberto, a mutant who absorbed the power of the sun to light his body on fire.
He was currently showing off his skills to two girls. Those girls were Amara, who could control lava, and Jubilee, who could make pyrotechnics.
As he was flying in the air, Roberto ended up crashing into Jamie Madrox, causing the younger mutant's power to activate, which was duplication. Roberto's eyes widened in shock as he saw four identical Jamies looking at him.
Another new recruit, Robert Drake, or Bobby, as he preferred to be called, was running as he tried to catch a baseball. Seeing that it was about to land in the fountain, Bobby shot a beam of ice out of his hand at the statue, creating a trail of ice that the ball swerved into as it was lifted up into the air again and landed in his baseball mitt.
He then threw the ball back at Sam Guthrie, who ended up accidentally shooting his body out like a cannonball and crashing through a brick wall.
A party girl known as Tabitha made a ball of energy and threw it at the feet of Amara and Jubilee, who were talking to Ray Crisp, who controlled electricity. The explosion went off; luckily, it didn't hurt them, but it irritated them as they glared at a laughing Tabitha.
"So these are the new recruits?" Logan asked as he looked over them from the window of the professor's office. "Looks like we got our hands full."
"Yes. A spirited bunch, but good kids." Xavier said as the two watched Tabitha dodge the blasts of electricity and lava. "It will be more difficult this term to keep a lid on things and to maintain our anonymity." He added as a giant fireball went past them and caused an explosion.
"Not to mention our buildings." Logan deadpanned. "We're gonna need more instructors. And maybe a couple of tanks."
"Charles?" Storm entered the room. "Excuse me, but I think you may find this interesting." She picked up the remote on his desk and pressed a button as a painting on the wall turned on, revealing it was a television.
A blonde woman appeared in front of a screen that said, Mysterious Savior? "Eyewitness accounts are conflicting." She reported. "But all agree that some unknown force pulled back the car before it could fall onto a bus full of kids." The footage showed the car being pulled back on the bridge, courtesy of the invisible Danny.
"Danny." Xavier said, knowing who was responsible for this.
Scott's car was pulling in at this exact moment, as the group was wondering if they would be caught for this stunt.
"Maybe you better not mention what happened to anyone." Scott advised Danny, who just shrugged, not caring at all if he was found out.
"They're gonna find out, Scott." Danny replied. "And I'm not gonna lie to them. I'm not ashamed of what I did." He said as the car parked and he saw Xavier, Logan, and Storm in front of the entrance to the institute.
Danny was sitting in front of the professor in his office.
"Look, professor, you can ground me or give me any other punishment that you can think of, but I'm not ashamed of what I did." Danny told his teacher. "I have no regrets."
Xavier sighed. "I'm not going to punish you, Danny. I know this is a confusing issue. Yes, helping others is the right thing to do. But we must try to remain anonymous for the present, as these people aren't ready to embrace the fact that mutants walk the earth."
"I understand, but what was I supposed to do?" Danny shot back. "Let them die?"
"Look, I'm not blaming you for what you did." Xavier calmed him. "I'd have done the same thing in your place." He held up his hands to placate his student. "I'm just saying you need to do what you can without revealing who you are."
"Trust me. I've been doing this whole hiding schtick since I was fourteen." Danny assured the professor. "I haven't been found out back then, and I won't be found out now." He then walked out of the office, leaving the professor with his thoughts.
Meanwhile, Scott was in his room on his computer, talking to Alex as his brother was showing him a video of him surfing.
"Okay, right here." Alex played the video. "Okay, look." Scott watched as his brother performed a truly impressive move. "Trophied it." Alex bragged. "Your little bro can't be beat in the pipeline."
"Yeah right." Scott teased. "Who you surfing against? Little kids?"
"No little kids in the semipros, dude." Alex told him. "And next year, I might even go pro."
"Really?" Scott asked, dismayed. "I guess that means you won't be joining us at the institute for a while."
"Well, that's gonna have to wait." Alex said, feeling conflicted. "I don't know Scott. My foster father seems to be down with me going there, but this thing about being a mutant, it's... You know?"
"Yeah." Scott answered in an understanding voice. "It takes a little getting used to."
Alex shot a beam of energy at his door, closing it and also burning the area around the doorknob as well. "But having all these powers is cool. I'm starting to get the hang of it. Although, yesterday in the cafeteria, I pointed to an enchilada, and it blew up."
Scott laughed. "I hate when that happens."
"Yeah." Alex agreed. "It's real tough trying to keep the blasters a secret."
"Yeah, tell me about it." Scott said.
"Well, I got to go." Alex said. "See you later, bro."
"See ya." Scott ended the video chat as Danny walked into the room. "Oh, hey, what's up?" Scott greeted. "Professor X wasn't too harsh on you, was he?"
"No." Danny responded as he sat on his bed. "He just gave me the whole "be careful next time" spiel."
"I see." Scott said as he gave his computer one more look before sitting on his bed.
"What's wrong, Scott?" Danny asked his roommate. "You look disappointed."
"Alex won't be joining us at the institute." Scott replied.
Danny gave him a look of sympathy. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"I know, just when I found him, we ended up separated again." Scott threw his pillow at the wall in frustration.
"Hey, it's not like you'll never see him again." Danny tried to cheer him up. "He just needs time, Scott, and then I'm sure he'll be down with joining us." He looked Scott straight in the eye. "You're a good guy, Scott. Don't think that you're the problem. It's not your fault that Alex wanted to stay home, and I know you've also been feeling down about Jean and Duncan."
Scott turned his head away from Danny, facing the wall.
"I know you like Jean, but maybe it's time to move on." Danny suggested. "I'm confident you can find someone else. You're a good-looking guy; you're confident, mature, and kind. Any girl would go nuts over you."
"What about the shades?" Scott brought up.
Danny smirked. "They give you an edge of mystery. Girls love that."
Scott couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at the joke before it became full-blown laughter, with Danny joining in as the two's spirits were lifted.
The peaceful atmosphere was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Come in." Danny called out.
The door opened, and in stepped Rogue, who smiled at her boyfriend. Danny returned the smile. Ever since the Asteroid M incident, Rogue has easily grown used to her new powers. She liked having the super strength, which helped her in Danger Room sessions, although it was the power of flight that she enjoyed the most, as she and Danny would spend most nights just flying around and looking over Bayville from up above.
"Hey, sugar." Rogue sat down next to Danny. "Heard about how you saved those kids." She blushed, still feeling shy about showing affection in public since Scott was still in the room.
Luckily, Scott decided to come up with an excuse to leave.
"I'm gonna go talk to Kurt." Scott said as he left the room.
"You did?" Danny inquired.
"Yeah, and I think this hero deserves a reward." She then kissed him as the two made out on his bed for a bit.
"So, did you just come down to show your appreciation?" Danny joked.
Rogue smirked. "I wish. The professor wants you to meet him in the study."
"What for?" Danny asked.
"Says there's someone who wants to meet you." Rogue said as Danny narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Who would want to meet him?
"Danny?" Rogue noticed her boyfriend's mood had changed. "What's wrong?"
Danny didn't answer as he got off the bed and went to the professor's study.
"Danny!" Rogue called out as she followed him.
Making his way to the study, Danny opened the door and was greeted with the sight of the professor talking with a very familiar face.
"Ah, Daniel." The imposing figure of Vlad Masters looked from Xavier to the person he was here for. Danny's eyes widened as he froze in fear.
Plasmius was back. And he was right here in front of him. Standing in front of Xavier, who knew nothing of the man that he invited into his home.
"It's so good to see you after all this time." Vlad gave what appeared to be a warm smile, but Danny could see past it and see the arrogant triumph in his eyes. "I never thought I would find you." The elder hybrid then turned to Xavier. "Professor, I was wondering if you could give us the room to chat and catch up."
Xavier turned his eyes over to Danny, who nodded, not wanting the professor to get dragged into this.
"Certainly." Xavier rolled out of the room, not knowing that he had left his student alone in the presence of a very dangerous person.
Danny stood still in the doorway until he heard a voice behind him.
"Danny, are you okay?" He turned around to see Rogue giving him a look of concern. She looked at Vlad with suspicion, and he returned the look with one of intrigue.
"No." Danny answered numbly.
"Do you want me to stay?" Rogue asked as she put an arm around her boyfriend. She was a bit caught off guard at seeing Danny like this. In all the time that she had known him, she had never seen him this scared before. Come to think of it, she couldn't recall a time when Danny was frightened at all. He seemed to just be fearless, but not in the presence of this man.
"No!" Danny yelled, not wanting her to be anywhere near Vlad, before he calmed himself down. "I mean, no thanks. I'll be all right."
Rogue nodded, but Danny could see that she didn't buy it. "I'll be right outside, sugar." Rogue said as she put her hand on the doorknob. "Holler if you need me." She closed the door, leaving him alone with his archnemesis.
Danny decided not to engage in banter as he cut to the chase. "How did you find me?"
Vlad's smirk widened. "A very interesting source." He said. "One that I truly did not expect. It seemed to be fate that I would find you again."
"What do you want?" Danny snarled as his eyes glowed green.
"Ooh, the scary eyes." Vlad teased. "I'd thought you'd figured it out by now." He moved closer to Danny, with the younger hybrid not moving back. He refused to give Plasmius that satisfaction.
"I want you to join me, Daniel." Vlad offered. "And to come live with me."
The thought of living with Vlad triggered a memory in Danny as he heard the voice of another Vlad echo in his head.
"With nowhere else to go, you came to me, the only person on the planet who could possibly hope to understand your situation."
He knew what would happen if he ever went with Vlad. He couldn't let that happen.
Snapping out of his flashback, Danny slapped Vlad's arm away. "Never!"
Vlad glared at the boy as his eyes glowed red. "Where else do you have to go, dear boy? Here?" He let out a laugh at the very idea of Danny being here. "This school is for mutants, and last time I checked, you're not a mutant." He gave a glance at the door. "Do they even know what you are?"
"Shut up!" Danny roared.
"They don't, do they?" Vlad smiled smugly, knowing that he had something to hold over the boy. "Well, I suggest you accept that you don't belong here."
"Better here than with you!" Danny retorted. "I'll never be with you! Never!"
"We'll see about that." Vlad went over to the window overlooking the institute. He saw the new mutants playing around as they used their powers. "You know, I can make things very difficult for your mutant friends. And how would they feel about their lives being ruined all because of some imposter living with them?"
Danny sent a blast near Vlad, which accidentally shattered a piece of china, but the message was clear. If Vlad opened his mouth again, Danny wouldn't miss next time.
"Temper temper." Vlad waved his finger in front of him mockingly.
"Get out!" Danny shouted.
"Very well." Vlad moved to the door, but he had one last thing to say. "But mark my words, Daniel, you'll wish you'd joined me. Also, congratulations on the new girlfriend. You always did have a thing for goths." He opened the door, where he came face-to-face with Rogue. He flashed her a charming smile, but the girl just glared at him.
Seeing that she wouldn't fall for his nice guy routine, he pushed past her and to the exit of the institute.
"Who was that?" Rogue asked Danny.
Danny stared at Vlad's back as the elder hybrid left. "Vlad Masters, an old friend of my parents."
"What's his deal?" She asked as she glared at the man before giving a concerned look at her boyfriend. "And how come he's got you so worked up?"
Danny sighed, not knowing how to explain it. Guess he couldn't keep this hidden, could he? "Let's just say that he's like Mystique in the sense that he'll never take the hint that I want nothing to do with him anymore."
Rogue nodded as she remembered her experience with Mystique.
"Well, it looks like he's gone." She said as they saw him finally leave.
"For now." Danny said ominously.
Seeing Danny tense, Rogue slipped her hand into his. "Whatever happens, Danny, I won't let him hurt you."
Danny smiled at Rogue as the professor rolled up to him.
"Danny, you seem a bit on edge." Xavier observed.
Deciding to be honest with how dangerous the situation was, Danny revealed who Vlad was. "Professor, that man, he's like me. He has ghost powers as well."
Xavier's eyes widened. "What?" He never thought that he would encounter a mutant like Danny ever again. And to know that man had the same powers as his student and what Xavier assumed to be even more experience. Not only that, but Danny seemed to be hostile toward the man, showing that they may be up against a threat even greater than Magneto.
"All my life, he's tried to get me to join him." Danny confided. "And now he knows where I am."
"Oh, dear." Xavier murmured to himself. "How far is he willing to go to obtain you?" He asked his student.
"He threatened to expose you guys." Danny answered, making Xavier bite back the urge to swear. This was bad.
"Oh, no." Xavier turned around as he tried to think of a way to protect the students.
"Look, professor, I think I should go." Danny said, feeling guilty that he was the cause of all this trouble.
"No!" Rogue refused. "You can't!"
"She's right, Danny." Xavier agreed. "I can't risk you getting hurt by him."
"Professor, the longer I stay here, the higher the risk that he'll end up hurting you guys." Danny told him.
"Be that as it may, I can't, in good conscience, allow one of my students to come to harm." Xavier replied. "I'll have a meeting later today with everyone to tell them of the news. It's best that we all be on guard." He saw that Danny still looked unsure, so he put a hand on his arm. "It's going to be all right, Danny. I won't allow anything to happen to you or the others."
Xavier called everyone to his office, where he explained the situation.
Naturally, everyone was horrified.
"You mean there's, like, a guy with Danny's powers who's gonna threaten to expose us?" Kitty asked with eyes full of panic.
"And what did you say this guy's name was?" Kurt asked.
"Vlad Masters." Danny practically spat his name out.
"I heard of him." Logan said. "He's a billionaire which makes him even more dangerous with all that money to back him up."
"Great. He's got power and money." Evan responded. "What do we do?"
"We will take extra care whenever we use our abilities." Xavier instructed. "I will be imposing a strict curfew for all of you. Not only that, but whenever you leave, you will be in groups of no less than three."
"I'll also be seeing if we can increase the mansion's defenses as well." Logan added. "Along with giving you all a ride to school tomorrow in the X-Van."
"Danny, you know this guy; how do we stop him?" Scott asked as everyone turned to regard the hybrid.
"I don't know." Danny answered honestly. "Even when I do beat him, he comes back. He always finds a victory. Even in defeat."
The X-Men all gave each other concerned looks.
None of them had an easy sleep that night.
The next day, the X-Men were all driven to school by Logan as they tried to have a normal day. They were all in class when the bell rang, signaling that it was time to go to the assembly that was scheduled for today.
As Scott was sitting in the bleachers, he felt his friend Paul elbow him and point to Jean, who was standing in front of the bleachers looking for someone. With a bright smile on his face, he stood up and waved at Jean, thinking she was looking for him.
Jean turned her head, smiled, and waved at Duncan, who was a few rows in front of him. She went to sit next to her boyfriend as Scott sat back down, feeling embarrassed.
'Maybe Danny's right?' He thought to himself. 'Maybe I should give up on Jean.'
While contemplating this, Kurt and Evan were fooling around as Kurt threw a paper airplane that soared across the room and near the Brotherhood, who were standing against the wall instead of sitting with the other students.
As Pietro, Fred, and Lance were chilling out, Toad was trying to catch a fly that was repeatedly dodging his attempts to eat it.
"This bombs, yo!" He exclaimed. "Even the flies here think they're better than us."
"Heh, yeah." Blob agreed. "I don't even know what we're doing at school anyway."
"But we do know what Lance is doing here." Pietro teased. "He'd like to get a certain Kitty stuck in a tree."
Pietro was right, as Lance was watching Kitty, who was sitting with her friends, before he noticed his comrades taunting him.
"K-I-S-S-I..." Pietro sang before he quickly moved out of the way of Lance's slap, which ended up hitting Toad.
"Ow." Toad said in pain.
As the Brotherhood was goofing around, Danny and Rogue entered the room to find a place to sit when Rogue heard someone talk to her.
"Excuse me." Rogue turned to see a girl with purple hair holding a piece of paper.
"How long do these assemblies usually last?" The girl asked Rogue.
"Oh, too long." Rogue answered as she and Danny sat down next to her. "But at least it gets us out of class."
"Right. Class." The girl looked at the paper, which was her schedule. "My next one should be..."
Rogue looked at the paper and saw what her next class was. "Uh, geometry with Mr. Barton. You're new." Rogue realized.
The purple-haired girl introduced herself. "I'm Risty Wilde from Manchester, England."
"I'm Rogue, and this is my boyfriend, Danny." Rogue said, happy to have found a new friend. "Hang out afterwards. I'll show you where Barton's class is."
Danny, still feeling nervous about Vlad's visit yesterday, was happy to see his girlfriend was being more social.
As Rogue and Risty continued to bond, Lance decided to make his move on Kitty. He pushed the guy sitting behind her aside as he took his spot.
He then leaned down to talk to her. "Oh, hey, Kitty." He greeted. "Didn't see you there."
"Oh, look." Kitty said in annoyance. "It's the walking Richter scale. Shouldn't you be erupting somewhere?"
He heard the other members of the Brotherhood laugh as they pointed to him before one of the school administrators went to the microphone.
"And now, everyone, let's give a warm Bayville High welcome to our new principal, Mr. Edward Kelly." The administrator said as an average-looking man in a suit and glasses, went to shake the administrator's hand as everyone clapped.
"Get off the stage!" One voice shouted, making Kelly glare at the students.
"Who said that?" He demanded.
Everyone looked around, trying to find out where the voice came from, but to no avail.
Kelly, seeing that he couldn't find that person, relented. "Well, whoever you are, I'll let you off with a warning. But mark my words." He threatened. "I have a zero tolerance policy for troublemakers."
As Kelly continued his announcement, Rogue, knowing who did it, turned to the culprit, who happened to be her boyfriend.
"What's with you?" She asked him, wondering why he seemed to have something against their new principal.
"I don't know." Danny answered. "I just have a feeling that guy is a jerk."
While the assembly went on, Lance decided to have some fun as he clutched his fist, making the entire room shake. As the shaking stopped, Kitty turned around and glared at Lance, who waved back at her. Turning around, she tried to hide her laugh, but Lance saw it, making him cheer silently.
"Hey, Kitty." He whispered into her ear. "Wanna see some real shaking?" He made the room shake again, but this time much stronger, causing the scoreboard hanging above Kelly to fall.
Seeing that the man could die, Danny sprinted over and pushed him out of the way.
"Lance, get a clue, okay?" Kitty scolded him, now irritated with him again, as Lance looked away sheepishly.
"Since when is Bayville on a fault line?" Kelly awkwardly joked as he got to his feet, getting a laugh from the students.
"Nice job, sugar." Rogue praised Danny as he sat back down before kissing him on the cheek.
"I don't know why, but I have a feeling that I'm gonna regret saving him someday." Danny confided, making Rogue chuckle.
"Anyway, I want to welcome you all to a new semester." Kelly said to the students. "Filling the vacuum left by your previous principal, Ms. Darkholme..."
"As if that blue bitch was qualified to be a principal." Danny whispered to Rogue, making her giggle. Strangely, from the corner of his eye, he could see Risty glare at him. She didn't hear him, did she? And if she did, why did she get angry?
"Will not be an easy job, but it's a challenge to which I am looking forward." Kelly continued. "And that brings me to what I hope will become the theme of this semester. Meeting new challenges. You know, most of us go through life thinking we're not so different from the people around us. That's a mistake. Because I'll wager that every one of us here has some unique talents. Some special gifts. Some ability that makes us stand out from the crowd."
"No shit." Danny whispered again to Rogue, who snorted in agreement.
"However, that said, I want your second priority to be supporting the girls' soccer team for the championship!" He said, getting everyone to cheer. "And that means I want every one of you to turn out tonight for the big pre-game rally. Can we count on you?" The students cheered even louder in response.
The assembly then ended, and everyone continued on with their day as Rogue showed Risty to her next class. As they got out of their last class, Danny, Rogue, and Risty were walking the empty halls talking when Danny looked around and made sure they were alone.
Once he confirmed it, he went over to Risty and decked her in the face, making her crash into the lockers.
Rogue was in shock before she got angry and slapped her boyfriend's arm.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" She cried before her attention went back to Risty as the girl slowly transformed back into Mystique.
"Mystique!" Rogue gasped before she clenched her fists in anger at being tricked again.
Mystique had a look of guilt on her face as she looked at Rogue before her eyes flared in anger when she looked at Danny.
"How did you know it was me?" She interrogated.
Danny couldn't help but smile innocently. "You really need to work on your poker face. Maybe you should've taken drama with Mr. Arad instead of geometry with Mr. Barton.
"You bitch!" Rogue snarled at the woman who tried to trick her again. "You tried to worm your way into being my friend."
"Wait, Rogue!" Mystique tried to plead before Rogue punched the locker beside her, denting it with her super strength.
"Leave, now!" Rogue threatened as Mystique turned back into Risty before scurrying off.
When the two were alone, Rogue's demeanor changed to one of sadness. "She was so nice." Rogue confessed. "I actually thought she wanted to be my friend."
"It's okay, Rogue." Danny hugged her.
"I think it's weird that we both have someone after us." Rogue said. "Vlad for you, and Mystique for me." She sighed. "I guess we can never get peace."
"We will, Rogue." Danny assured her. "Together. We won't let those two ruin our lives. I promise."
Outside, the X-Men were waiting on Danny, Rogue, and Kitty when Scott heard Kitty's voice.
"Lance, just forget it!" Kitty said as Scott and the others saw Kitty having an argument with Lance, who had the other Brotherhood members standing by his side.
"I said I was sorry for the scoreboard thing." Lance apologized. "Come on, don't be mad."
"She doesn't care about the stupid scoreboard." Rogue said as she and her boyfriend walked out of the school. Noticing that Kitty was being harassed, she went over to Lance, grabbed his shirt, and lifted him off of his feet. The Brotherhood tried to help their teammate, but stopped at the angry look Rogue gave them, warning them not to mess with her.
Rogue then returned her glare at Lance. It didn't seem to be the earthquake maker's day today, as his pestering of Kitty finally caused the goth to snap. First she had to deal with Vlad going after her boyfriend, then Mystique trying to pretend to be her friend, and now Mullet-boy won't leave her roommate alone.
"She's mad because you won't respect her personal space and leave her alone!" Rogue yelled at Lance before throwing him to the pavement. "What is it with people like you not taking a hint that you're not wanted?"
The Brotherhood then scampered off, making Kitty sigh in relief.
"Thanks, Rogue." Kitty said gratefully to her friend.
Rogue smiled back. "Anytime, roomie."
The X-Men were then all picked up by Logan as they headed home as the Brotherhood watched on.
"She really roughed you up, Lance." Toad joked.
"Yeah, and she didn't seem to care if she was seen using her powers." Pietro pointed out.
"Yeah, well, they may like keeping things under wraps, but I've had it with hiding our powers." Lance said as he dusted himself off.
"But Mystique said—" Fred protested before Lance cut him off angrily.
"Forget Mystique! She ain't around no more." He then got an evil smile on his face. "So I say, let's take Principal Kelly's advice and go public with our unique talents."
The four boys in the distance didn't see Vlad observing them from behind a tree, nor did they know that Lance's plan was the result of being overshadowed by one of his duplicates.
Vlad smiled. It was always nice when you found some pawns to do your dirty work.
The bleachers at Bayville High were full as they were all here tonight for the big game for the girl's soccer team. Everyone was here, including the X-Men, to cheer Jean on. Though Xavier was hesitant about allowing his students to come, he knew how much this game meant to Jean, so he attended it with them, with Storm on standby as well, to make sure nothing bad happened.
"And playing midfield for the Bayville Hawks, Taryn Fujioka." The announcer was introducing the players before getting to the final one. "Rounding out the team, Bayville's star forward, Jean Grey!"
Everyone cheered for her, with the X-Men being the loudest.
"Bayville! Bayville!" The crowd howled as a news team started to record the game on a live broadcast.
Principal Kelly walked onto the field with a microphone in hand.
"In appreciation of the team spirit that brought us tonight's championship, we'd like to present our school mascot, the Bayville Hawk!" He announced as a tarp laying over the scoreboard was pulled off, revealing a golden hawk statue on top of it. The crowd went wild at the reveal as flames appeared on the statue, with fireworks being shot into the air.
"Now let the game begin!" Kelly proclaimed as the game started.
"The game is underway." The announcer stated. "Bayville's taking-" He was cut off as Toad's slimy tongue came through the door and snatched his microphone. "Hey!" He cried. "Give that back!"
The microphone was handed over to Lance.
"Excuse me, folks." His voice was heard over the speakers, making everyone, including the players, look up at him. "Hey, can I have your attention up here?"
"Lance?" Kitty said in confusion.
"What's he up to?" Scott asked suspiciously.
Quicksilver went over to the spotlights and shined one on Lance and the others, with Pietro speeding back, revealing the Brotherhood in all of their glory.
"That's better." Avalanche said. "My name's Lance. I also call myself Avalanche because I'm a mutant." He stated, making the X-Men look at him in alarm, while Xavier shook his head. Danny glared. He knew that someone else was pulling the strings here.
'Guess Plasmius decided the Brotherhood made good lackeys.' He thought to himself.
"That's right." Avalanche reiterated. "Me and Toad and Blob and Quicksilver here; we're all mutants. Born different. What you might call freaks."
"I can't believe he's doing this." Kitty mumbled in disbelief. She never thought Lance would go this far.
"Hey, you!" The announcer climbed up the ladder to confront them. "Get down from there!"
"Sorry, y'all." Toad hopped in front of him. "Mutants only." He spat goo in the man's face as Lance continued his speech.
"See? There's lots of mutants at Bayville High." Lance pointed to where the X-Men were seated. "Scott Summers over there; he's one. So is Danny Fenton. And Jean Grey too, your big soccer star." Everyone looked up in shock as the cameraman pointed the camera at Jean. "And most of their pals at the Xavier Institute, which is kind of a school for weirdo mutant nerds."
"Man, we're busted bigtime." Rogue said before turning to Danny. "What do we do?"
Danny narrowed his eyes at the Brotherhood. "Simple. We beat the crap out of the Brotherhood for this stunt."
"Being mutants means we got special powers we can use to make little improvements." Lance explained. "For instance, we thought this game would be more fun if the goals were further apart." He used his powers to make the field split into two. Taryn nearly fell into the crevice before Jean pulled her back up.
"We figured the principal ought to have a better perspective on his student body." Lance looked at Pietro, who nodded as he ran around the principal, trapping him in a whirlwind.
Scott stood up as he pulled out his bag, which contained his uniform.
"Sorry, Professor X." He said to Xavier. "Cat's out of the bag." The X-Men all went out to change into their uniforms, with Danny sneaking behind the bleachers to go ghost.
Xavier, knowing that they'd need help, mentally contacted Storm. 'Storm, we need you.'
Lance then pointed at the statue of the hawk. "Another thing, we think that mascot totally reeks." The crowd was moving off the bleachers as Blob was stomping forward, making his way to the golden mascot. He picked it up and was about to throw it when Cyclops shot his optic blast at it, sending it crashing into the school and accidentally starting a fire.
The X-Men all stood ready for battle in their uniforms.
"Alright, Lance." Cyclops confronted the street punk. "You want it all out in the open? Let's put it out there."
"I've been waiting for this." Avalanche said as he and Cyclops started to fight.
Evan shot his spikes at the satellite dish on the news van, with Kitty phasing through the camera and ripping out the tape, making the cameraman run away in fear.
Jean went to rescue Kelly as she used her telekinesis to throw Quicksilver into Blob, making the skinny boy bounce off his belly. With the whirlwind gone, Kelly was about to fall, but Jean managed to safely lower him to the ground. Jean went up to him to see if he was all right, but he shoved her away as he pulled out his phone.
He dialed the authorities. "We need the police now! This is principal-" He couldn't say anymore as Jean used her powers to rip the phone out of his hand and smash it against the bleachers, destroying it.
Speaking of bleachers, Blob was ripping them apart, making the people on them scramble away in terror, before Danny flew up to him and picked him up with one hand.
"Hey, Rogue!" He called out to his girlfriend, who was also floating in the air. "Up for some soccer? I found a new ball."
She grinned. "You bet! Sounds like fun."
Danny threw Blob at Rogue, who kicked him into soccer net.
"Maybe I should try out for the team sometime?" Rogue joked as Nightcrawler tackled Toad.
"Stick to catching bugs, Toad!" He taunted the slimy mutant before kicking him away.
Avalanche was making the ground shake before he was shot in the shoulder by Cyclops, making him lose his concentration. Looking up, he saw Kitty, who was helping people out of the bleachers, was right under the hawk statue, which was beginning to fall.
"Kitty!" Avalanche ran up to her and pushed her away as the statue fell on him instead.
"Lance!" Kitty cried, shocked that the jerk who wouldn't leave her alone actually saved her. Phasing him out, she checked to see if he was okay as Storm flew overhead and used her powers to summon rainclouds, which poured out enough rain to put out the fire.
"Good work, Storm." Xavier praised as she landed on the ground.
"Yes. But no downpour can make people forget what they've seen here." Storm pointed out. "The secret is out."
"Perhaps not." Xavier reasoned. "If I can alter their memory of what's happened-"
"No!" Storm replied. "There are too many. Even your mind could never withstand such a strain."
"I really have no choice." Xavier said as he connected his mind to everyone, erasing their memories of this incident. As Principal Kelly was looking at them from behind a corner, Xavier sensed his presence and erased his memory too, just as he passed out in exhaustion.
"Charles!" Storm cried out.
Opening his eyes, Xavier was greeted with Storm, Logan, and Danny standing by his bedside.
Realizing he was in the medical bay, he tried to get up, but Logan gently pushed him back. "Easy, Charles." The senior X-Man said. "Take it slow. You threw your brain into overload."
"But it worked." Storm said. "Eyewitnesses believe the hawk's exploding fireworks caused the damage."
"What about the broadcast?" Xavier asked. "How much got out?"
"None." Logan answered. "Seems there was some weird magnetic interference that knocked the station off the air."
"Magnetic?" Xavier repeated. "Hmm. Could it be that he's still alive?"
"Magneto?" Logan thought it over. "Wouldn't doubt it."
"I guess everything's back to normal then." Danny said, feeling guilty for everything that had happened. "I'm sorry, professor. This is my fault."
"Your fault?" Xavier was confused.
"It was Vlad." Danny revealed. "He must have manipulated the Brotherhood into exposing mutants. I think it's better off for everyone if I just leave.
"No!" Storm shouted.
Xavier narrowed his eyes. "Out of the question."
"You ain't going nowhere, bub." Logan said to Danny. "Whatever that old man throws at us, we can handle it."
"Yes." Xavier agreed. "Together, the X-Men will face any problems that Vlad Masters might bring."
Danny smiled, happy that they were willing to fight for him, but he still felt bad for bringing trouble to the doorstep.
It was late in the night as Danny lay on the roof.
"Hey, you okay?" Danny turned to see Rogue floating above him as she lowered herself down to the roof.
"How did you know I was here?" Danny asked.
Rogue smiled. "I know you come out here to watch the stars." She then looked at her boyfriend with concern. "Are you okay?"
"No." Danny answered, feeling miserable. "We almost got exposed because of me."
Rogue laid down next to him. "Sugar, you shouldn't blame yourself. You didn't ask for any of this to happen. And besides, we managed to fix it."
"Yeah, which means he'll make sure to try harder next time." Danny said, but that didn't deter Rogue.
"Then we'll beat him down even harder." Rogue said confidently. She placed her hand on Danny's. "We're with you, Danny. All of us. Especially me."
"Thank you." Danny said in gratitude as the two shared a kiss.
Danny vowed that whatever plan Vlad had next, he would put a stop to it. He wouldn't let him ruin his life.
He'll never be with Vlad.
And he'll never be him.