"Intruder alert. Intruder alert." The voice of the security system droned on as the occupants of the institute watched as the monitor showed the security cams at the gates of the mansion.
Approaching the gates were police, army jeeps, and helicopters. The blaring sound of the sirens filled the room as the X-Men were confronted with the inevitable truth. They weren't safe anywhere.
What didn't help matters either were several white tanks and white attack jets, along with a bunch of agents wearing black sunglasses and white suits. Two of the agents stuck out to Danny, as he had encountered them before. Back when Vlad put a bounty on him, those two were among the hunters that came in to collect it. Of course Danny didn't consider them a threat, so concerned was he with what Vlad was planning that he had Sam and Tucker distract them and the others.
But now they were back, with reinforcements.
"Great." Danny said out loud in frustration. "They're here." Just when he thought he had seen the last of any type of ghost hunter here, these two and their buddies were stomping their way to the front door.
"Who?" Rogue probed.
"The Guys in White." Danny explained. "They're a government agency dedicated to wiping out ghosts."
"Which includes us as well." Vampira said as she realized that now they were faced with an enemy that was all but guaranteed to be capable of hurting them. "This day just keeps getting better and better."
"Oh, no." Rogue took a look at the big blasters they were holding in their hands. She was pretty sure that whatever energy they fired out was something she couldn't phase through. This whole situation reminded her of her fight with Carnage. But while Carnage was just one sick mind who was given a ghost weapon by Vlad, these were trained government killers who had who knows how much ridiculous funding to use to make their toys.
Danny was feeling the same way, but he wasn't scared for himself but for his friends, whom the Guys in White would have no qualms about hurting to get to him. He was especially worried for Rogue. Whatever sick and twisted thing they do to ghosts would happen to his girlfriend. He'd rather become a full ghost than let Rogue be placed on a dissection table.
"X-Men back to the Blackbird!" Xavier ordered as they all scrambled to escape. "Beast, you and the New Mutants to the XM-Velocity!" Both groups hurried their way to their respective vehicles before taking off in separate directions.
As the Blackbird was fleeing from the mansion, a group of white fighter jets belonging to the Guys in White started to give chase as they fired upon the jet.
"Here, I'm gonna try and get them off our tail." Danny said as he phased out of the plane and began to engage in a dogfight with the ghost hunters. Using all the tricks he had picked up while flying, he started to destroy their guns, rendering them incapable of attacking.
One was about to open fire when it was blasted by an ecto-blast. Danny turned and saw that Rogue had come to join him.
"Second target approaching." One of the pilots stated as they began to open fire on Rogue as well.
"What are you doing here?" Danny demanded as he continued to destroy their jets. One of their shots had managed to nip him in the back, making him hiss in pain.
"Making sure, they don't dust you." Rogue snapped back. Like hell, she was going to leave her boyfriend alone with these yahoos.
"Besides, we're his partner. That means we always have his back." Vampira stated. "Now come on, let's kill these bastards."
'Kill?' Rogue thought back. 'What the hell's gotten into you?'
"Hey, they're attacking us. I say we're allowed to defend ourselves." Vampira argued.
Rogue, although understanding Vampira's stance, saw no point in it as they were capable of stopping them without killing. She saw as Danny destroyed another jet with the pilot parachuting into the air.
'I don't think we need to.' Rogue mentally said. 'And I honestly don't feel like shedding any blood.' She still remembered the bodies that were mutilated by Carnage. She wasn't going to start killing, not after seeing something like that.
"Well, it's always an option." Vampira replied, making Rogue a bit concerned with her apparent bloodthirstiness as she and Danny finished fighting the Guys in White.
"Hey, you're the one always watching gory horror movies." Vampira said in defense. "Maybe show this gal something else?"
'May I remind you that I currently have other things to worry about than my movie selection?' Rogue shot back irritably as she and Danny phased back into the Blackbird.
"They're gone for now." Danny said, shaking Rogue out of her musings. He then felt a pain on his back. "Ow."
The X-Men all saw the burn on him, and Wanda, who ended up getting on the Blackbird after being lost in the shuffle of everyone running, went up to him. "Here, let me get that for you." She placed her hand above the burn mark as her energy, or magic, as she liked calling it, started to pour into the mark and slowly healed it. The young sorceress was still having a bit of trouble with her powers, but with Danny's help, she had been starting to control them, allowing her to do things like this.
Danny couldn't help but let out a moan at how nice it felt. It felt like someone had poured soothing, warm water on his back as the pain faded away. "Ah, that feels nice." Danny said as the wound finally finished healing. "Thanks." He said to Wanda gratefully.
"Anytime." She replied with a blush, making Rogue narrow her eyes a bit in jealousy.
"Show off." Vampira said in regards to Wanda's little trick.
Back in the pilot's seat, Xavier radioed Beast. "Hank, meet us at these coordinates."
"Roger that." Beast replied over the radio as the Blackbird changed course. While the X-Men were planning to meet up, the nation was up in arms over the existence of mutants. One couldn't turn on the news without hearing about it.
"Frightened citizens flee in terror." The previous report of the incident stated as more and more information about the X-Men was released, with pictures of the teens being plastered everywhere.
"Now positively identified as Kitty Pryde, a high school sophomore."
"Daughter of Professor and Mrs. John Grey of Annandale."
"Evan Daniels, a recent transfer to Bayville from P.S. 104."
"Danny Fenton, also known as Danny Phantom, is a member of the growing mutant menace that is currently threatening the nation."
"Who are they?" One newscaster asked as footage was shown of the unconscious Wolverine being carried away on a stretcher. "Flesh and blood, or some kind of mutant monsters? Are we being invaded by alien beings?" The camera then turned to show a crane lifting up an unconscious Blob, along with Cyclops, Jean, and Spyke in cuffs being led into a van. "A special report tonight examines..."
Reports also talked about the incident at the Xavier Institute as several police cars surrounded the abandoned mansion. "Refuses to comment on rumors that the entire student body of the mysterious Xavier Institute for gifted..."
"And though classmates at Bayville High report seeing many examples of strange phenomena, Principal Edward Kelly cautions everyone to not overreact." One reporter advised.
"And I promise, we'll bring you more information on the captive mutants the moment it becomes available." A member of the Pentagon answered at a press conference.
"Daniel Fenton is currently wanted for theft, destruction of property, and attempted kidnapping."
"Fear wins the day as a national paranoia grips the country." Another reporter announced. "Neighbor versus neighbor, friend against friend, entire families afraid to even step outside their doors for fear of the mutant menace."
"My fellow Americans, this is a time of gathering facts, not finger-pointing." The president said as his speech was broadcast on hundreds of channels. "Not turning against one another. As your president, I urge you, above all, to stay calm."
As the fear and paranoia grew, the X-Men and New Mutants all met up as they stood on a grassy hill overlooking the city that they call home.
"How are we gonna get out of this?" Kitty asked forlornly, as she felt isolated now that everyone knew that she and the others were mutants. She just wished this whole thing was just a bad dream and that when she woke up, everything would be back to normal. They wouldn't be hunted, and the world wouldn't have any clue what mutants were.
"The better question is: how are we gonna get our friends back?" Danny said as he was more concerned about what had happened to Scott, Jean, Evan, and Wolverine.
"It just seems like everyone in this country is out hunting mutants." Bobby stated before they heard a voice.
"Get used to it." They all turned around and were confronted with Mystique, Avalanche, and Toad.
"Mystique." Rogue snarled as her fists glowed green with energy.
"You!" Wanda's fists also glowed as she glared at the woman who tried to manipulate her.
"Wanda, Rogue! stop!" Danny grabbed both by their shoulders and pulled them back. "She's not worth it." He said to them before giving a look of disdain to the shapeshifter. "Now, what do you want?"
"Yeah, our lives are already messed up enough; we don't need you to make things worse." Rogue insulted.
"So this is the bitch." Vampira looked at Mystique for the first time. From within her head, Rogue could feel an aura of hate come from her. "Let's see if she bleeds blue as well."
Before Rogue could contemplate taking up that offer, Mystique spoke up.
"Look, I want you to know that I had nothing to do with Magneto's plan to expose our little secret to the world." She said. "It's a new world out there, and we're going to need new leadership."
"You? Lead us?" Danny scoffed. "Yeah, right. You couldn't lead ants to a picnic."
Mystique was using all of her patience to not drop her civility and destroy Daniel Fenton right then and there. What did Rogue even see in him, besides his power, of course? She then glanced at Xavier, who was gazing at her in suspicion.
"If nothing else, this public reaction proves that you were wrong, Charles." She told him. "Humans and mutants cannot live together in peace."
"Well, people like you and Magneto don't really help matters either." Danny added, making her glare at him again.
"Like you're morally stellar, Mr. Polygamy." Mystique grumbled low enough that no one could hear her.
"Why are you here, Mystique?" Rogue demanded.
"Yeah, what do you want from us?" Danny questioned.
"I want the same thing you want." Mystique answered. "The military has taken a member of my team. I want him back."
Danny didn't buy that excuse. "I really doubt you'd come out here just for Blob."
Mystique got into his face, but the hybrid wasn't intimidated in the slightest. "In the world we're living in, we need every mutant to be united." She then backed off. "The problem is, I don't know where to start looking."
"Maybe I do."
All the mutants turned to see a familiar man with an eyepatch walk out of the bushes.
"Man, is there anyone that didn't know about this secret meeting?" Nightcrawler bemoaned.
Mystique instantly turned hostile at the man's presence. "Who are you? What do you want?"
"Nick Fury, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." He said calmly, as if he had nothing to fear from Mystique. "I've been tracking you for hours."
"S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Nightcrawler said in confusion.
"It's a military organization that Logan used to be acquainted with." Danny informed him.
"I strongly suggest that you forget where you found us." Mystique not so subtly threatened Fury, who simply snapped his fingers, and several armed men popped out of the bushes, aiming their weapons at them.
After a tense moment, Fury snapped his fingers as the soldiers were at ease, no longer pointing their guns at the mutants.
"That's just to prove a point." Fury stated. "If I'd wanted to capture you, you'd be captured." He then looked at Danny. "Well, except for you." He admitted. "I think I'd need a whole lot more to bring you in."
"Then what do you want from us?" Xavier questioned.
"To give you this." Fury handed the professor a small computer-like device. "It contains maps and schematics of the military base where they're holding your friends. I think you'll find it useful."
"And just why are you being so helpful?" Mystique asked suspiciously.
Fury grinned. "Let's just say I've got my reasons."
"Is one of those reasons the fact that one of your troops is a mutant?" Danny asked, pointing to a female S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who was dressed in a purple jumpsuit.
Fury was surprised. "How did you know Agent Braddock was a mutant?"
"I can feel her trying to get into my mind." Danny revealed. "Unsuccessfully, I might add."
Agent Braddock smirked. "Guilty."
"Impressive." Fury said in awe as he appraised the hybrid. "You ever thought of working for S.H.I.E.L.D.?" He asked before seeing Danny give him an incredulous look. "Right, sorry." He apologized before getting back to business. "Look, I can't get involved officially, but I can at least point you in the right direction. Good luck." Fury then headed back into the bushes with the rest of his agents, leaving no trace that they had ever been there.
"They're gone." Avalanche said as he tried to look for them. "Think we can trust them?"
"I'll take my chances with a shady government agent with an eye patch over Mystique any day." Rogue stated matter-of-factly, making Danny and Wanda chuckle while Mystique inwardly raged at Danny turning Rogue against her.
"I sensed he was telling the truth." Xavier said, making Storm nod.
"Good." She then looked at the device they were given. "Alright, then. It looks like we're back in business. We'll split up into teams. Hank, you'll-" Before any plan was made for rescuing their teammates, Mystique snatched the device out of Storm's hands.
"I'll take that, and I'll decide how we handle this." She was cut off as Rogue blasted her, sending her into a tree.
Rogue smiled as she looked down at her smoking hand. "I love ghost powers."
Danny then took the device from Mystique. "I've taken enough orders from you when you were the principal already." He said to her. "We X-Men we'll handle it just fine without you." He then glanced at Avalanche and Toad. "And we'll get your friend back."
"Alright then, Hank, you'll take the New Mutants somewhere safe while the rest of us will use Fury's schematics to plan a rescue operation." Xavier nodded as they all prepared to move out.
"I'm going with you guys." Wanda said determinedly.
"Wanda-" Danny tried to talk her out of it, but the daughter of Magneto wouldn't back down.
"Look, you need me." She argued. "Who knows where they're holding the others. And let's not forget those guys who managed to hurt you."
"They hurt him?" Mystique chimed in with a delightful curiosity at the idea of being able to hurt Danny. Before she could ask any more, she was hit by another ecto-blast, courtesy of Rogue.
"Who's to say you might end up running into those guys again?" Wanda pressed on. "I can help."
"Fine." Danny relented, not being in the mood to argue. She joined them in the Blackbird while Beast took off with the New Mutants.
Mystique and the two members of the Brotherhood watched as the two vehicles took off, leaving them alone.
"So what now?" Toad asked their leader.
"We'll let them do their thing." Mystique answered. "You two stay out of trouble." She ordered as she went off on her own.
"Where are you going?" Avalanche wondered, not wanting to be left alone in this new mutant-fearing world.
"To find out what happened to Magneto." She revealed. "Knowing him, he could be anywhere." She then turned into a bird and flew off into the sky, leaving the two mutants alone.
Back in the Blackbird, Xavier was giving Storm the coordinates for where their teammates were located.
"Set the course for 115 west, 36 north, vector 0-1-5." Xavier said as Nightcrawler was looking at a map and realized where they were heading.
"Hey, that's Nevada. Area 51." He pointed out, making the X-Men look at each other.
"Please tell me we won't have to battle any aliens." Shadowcat said.
Back at the scene of the battle with the Phoenix, construction crews were working overtime to repair the damage while a news van was nearby. One of the cameramen was looking over the footage of the battle when he heard banging on the van.
"Yeah, yeah." The man said as he went to open the door, only to be knocked out by the blue mutant, who immediately dove at the equipment. Looking through yesterday's news, she tried to look for any sign of Magneto, which was difficult as the cameras were mostly focused on the X-Men and the Phoenix. But she did catch a frame of Magneto. Rewinding it, she played it again and noticed that he seemed to vanish out of nowhere.
"Quicksilver." She put together. The speedster must've used his powers to get his father out of there. To think that he had been working with Magneto all along and she didn't know.
Despite her rage at Quicksilver's double crossing, it did nothing to the fear she had of Magneto still being out there, planning his next move. He and Fenton just seemed to love to make her life complicated.
With her business concluded, she then left to contemplate what she would do next.
Meanwhile, the New Mutants and Beast were all resting in the California Redwoods. Beast had recalled it being untouched by man, with the exception of Skulker, but he was gone, and thought it would be the perfect place for them to hide out.
He had just started the fire as they all gathered around.
"Mr. McCoy, do you think this whole thing will blow over soon?" Bobby asked, as all the New Mutants were wondering the same thing. Was there anything for them to go back to? Or would they forever be forced to hide out here?"
"I can't say, Bobby." Beast admitted. "All I know is that we are all now in a brave new world."
"Some world." Ray scoffed bitterly. "Being forced to hide out in the woods while the whole world is hunting us."
"What about the others?" Jubilee asked. "You think the X-Men will be able to rescue Scott and everyone else?"
Beast gave a comforting smile. "I have faith that they will bring our friends back and that once we're all together, we'll find a way to sort this all out. But for now, let us just enjoy the peace and quiet here."
"Yeah, it's kind of like a camping trip, you know?" Tabitha quipped, trying to lighten up the dreary atmosphere.
"I'm still scared." Jamie said as he hugged his knees.
Beast put an arm around the little mutant. "Everything will be okay, Jamie. I promise."
At Area 51, the Blackbird had landed outside the base's detection as Danny, who was carrying Wanda, and Rogue flew through the security while invisible.
Inside one of the labs of the compound, Wolverine was strapped to a table as a general was interrogating him. In the cells that were next to them were the other captive mutants: Scott, who had a protective casing over his visor to prevent him from using his optic blast; Jean; Evan; and Blob, who was still unconscious.
"Who are you?" The general demanded as he glared at Wolverine. "Who are you working for?"
"What's it to ya, bub?" Wolverine shot back defiantly.
"Who was behind that fiery monstrosity?" The general pumped. "Did you create it?" He banged his fist. "I want answers!"
Wolverine growled in his face, making the military man back up as the mutant tried to break free from his shackles, but they were too strong.
As the general was about to cross-examine Wolverine again, he heard the sound of someone entering the room.
"That's enough; we'll take it from here."
The general was surprised to see a group of men dressed in white suits and black sunglasses.
"Who the hell are you?" The general questioned.
The leader of the group stepped forward. "Agent L, I'm part of the Guys in White; we're taking charge of this investigation, general." He walked over to the glaring Wolverine. "We have sources that indicate that these mutants have been collaborating with a ghost, and we need answers."
"Ghosts?" The general wondered if this man was insane. "Are you crazy? They're mutants. I'm not listening to any more of this-" Any further rants were cut off as the operative put a badge in his face.
"You'll find that our organization is very real, general." Agent L said calmly. "We have an unauthorized entity of scale-7 ectoplasmic power, and these mutants may be our lead in capturing it."
As the two officials continued to argue, Danny, Wanda, and Rogue phased invisibly through the roof and were about to go free their friends when one of the operatives glancing in their direction spotted them thanks to his glasses, which were equipped to allow him to see any invisible specter.
"It's the ghost boy!" The agent cried as he pulled out a blaster and fired at the two, forcing them to turn visible.
"Shit, they can see us!" Danny fired back at the agents who tried to take him down.
"Sound the alarm!" The general ordered as sirens blared through the whole compound.
"Security breach! Code red!" The soldiers shouted as they started to head to the source of the alarm.
Back in the lab, Danny, Rogue, and Wanda were holding their own against the Guys in White when one of them shot Rogue in the shoulder, making her cry out in pain.
"Rogue!" Wanda's eyes glowed with rage before she raised a hand, and the shots froze in mid-air. She then took advantage of their shock to destroy all of their weapons before turning the frozen shots around and releasing her hold as they headed straight to the agents, who dove for cover.
"You watch over, Rogue!" Danny ordered Wanda. "I'll get the others." He phased Wolverine out of his shackles.
"About time you got here!" The orange X-Man snarked.
"Yeah, you're welcome!" Danny returned snidely as he phased the others out of their cells.
"What happened?" Blob asked as he finally woke up. "Where are we?"
"Area 51!" Danny shouted, making Blob look around.
"Where are the aliens?" Blob asked, making Danny want to smack the mutant for his lack of priorities.
"We're the aliens!" He yelled as he phased off the thing around Scott's visor. He then shot a ghost ray at the door's edges, sealing it shut and preventing the soldiers from getting in. With that out of the way, he activated his communicator. "Storm, we're gonna need pickup service. Building 5." He said before turning to the others.
"Let's go!" He grabbed Wolverine and Spyke and phased them through the roof before returning a second time to do the same to Jean and Scott, then Blob, and finally he got Wanda and the injured Rogue onto the roof.
The Blackbird was flying through the base when they spotted the others.
"There they are!" Storm pointed in their direction as Xavier had the jet hover near the building. The ramp was lowered, and they all raced in, with Danny carrying Rogue in his arms.
Once everyone was on board, the ramp closed, and the Blackbird took off. As they were leaving, several gun turrets aimed at them, but Storm summoned bolts of lightning to destroy them. A jet fired missiles, but Danny phased through and fired a ghost ray, destroying them. He then placed his hands on the jet and made it invisible, preventing them from being followed.
Back with Toad and Lance, the two decided to go get their stuff, but had an obstacle in the form of police being parked in their front yard. Toad had used his agility to sneak in and gather what they needed in a duffel bag before hopping off the roof, where he was grabbed by Lance.
"Toad, where are my clothes?" Lance demanded as he looked through the bag.
"Hey, I only had enough time to get my stuff." Toad said in his defense. Before Lance had the chance to pummel his comrade, they noticed someone standing over them.
"Hey, guys." Blob greeted his two fellow Brotherhood members.
"Blob!" They cried out in both shock and a bit of relief at seeing that he was okay.
"You all right?" Toad asked as Blob nodded.
"Yeah, the X-Men managed to save me." He said before they heard footsteps approaching.
"Let's get out of here." Lance said as the three boys made a break for it.
The X-Men, after escaping Area 51, had landed back in Bayville, near their mansion. Blob had taken off once they stepped off the Blackbird, leaving the former residents to look upon their home. Only they couldn't go back to it. Not right now.
"Ow!" Rogue hissed as Danny was looking over her injury.
"Sorry." He apologized as Wanda came over.
"I can help." She offered as her hand glowed with energy.
"No way." Vampira refused out of pride, but Rogue ignored her as she allowed her fellow goth to use her power to heal her.
"Thanks." Rogue said in appreciation before turning to Danny. "You know, I think this is the first time I've been really hurt in this form."
Danny nodded. "Yeah, we may be tough, but we're not invincible."
"Tell me about it." The southern hybrid said as she glanced at where the wound used to be. Thanks to Wanda, it looked like she had never been shot at all.
"Thanks, Wanda." Danny said. "I guess you were right about us needing you."
Wanda smirked. "Told ya."
"Now what?" Kitty said as despite rescuing their friends, it didn't mean that all their problems were over. "We can't go back to the institute; we can't go back to school either, and it's open season on mutants."
"Well, look at the bright side." Kurt said, trying to raise everyone's spirits. "No homework.
Danny sighed. "This is all my fault."
"Danny-" Rogue tried to convince him, but Danny wouldn't hear it.
"No, it is." He asserted strongly, feeling guilty for putting his friends, the Brotherhood, and possibly every mutant on earth at risk. "I should've just left with Vlad when he first came to the institute. If I had, none of this would've happened." If it weren't for him, the secret would still be safe, and his friends would still be able to live their lives. But now they couldn't. All because of him.
Why did the people he loved have to suffer because of him? First, his family and friends were killed by him, and now, thanks to his association with the X-Men, Vlad has exposed mutantkind to the world.
"I doubt it, bub." Wolverine tried to comfort him, remembering how he spent his time as a guinea pig for Trask, thanks to Magneto. The X-Man had been able to piece together that Magneto was trying to use the Sentinel to expose them all. "From what I've been through thanks to Magneto, if Dracula didn't expose mutants, that old buckethead definitely would have."
This didn't make Danny feel better, as he still felt responsible for all this.
"No matter who got us into this, the fact remains that we have a world out there to worry about." Xavier said as he gazed at his former mansion in sadness. "A world that fears us. Somehow we must teach them that we mean no harm before it's too late."
The X-Men all looked over the city of Bayville. A city that now knew about them and feared them. They may be all together again, but that doesn't change the fact that the world is still after them.
What they would do next was anyone's guess.