The ghostly X-Man was trying to get some sleep, but was failing at it. The trial that he and his girlfriend would have to endure was keeping the hybrid up. The two had met up with their lawyer, who seemed confident in them winning, but Danny still had doubts about them being able to win. As he tossed and turned in his bed, he heard the alarm go off.

Getting out of bed and transforming into his ghost form, he joined the others in the hall. "What's going on?" He asked. "Is it the Brotherhood?"

They all headed out to the gates, where a trio of three boys were caught in a net.

"Is that them?" Rogue asked as she noticed the three were wearing monster masks.

"Nope." Cyclops said as he took a closer look. "Just a couple of intruders."

"Halloween's over." Danny said as he phased them out of the net and pointed in the direction they probably came from. "Now get out of here."

"You're all freaks!" One of them shouted as they started running.

"Yeah!" The second one agreed. "Bayville doesn't want you!"

"Yeah! Nobody wants you!" They all took off, leaving the X-Men feeling despondent at the remarks.

Kitty sighed. "Things were much simpler when only the Brotherhood hated us."

They all headed back to bed, with Danny still unable to sleep as the incident only made him feel worse as he continued to blame himself for everything. It sadly didn't get better the next day as Jubilee's parents arrived to take their daughter out of the institute and back home.

Logan watched on forlornly as Jubilee placed her bags in the trunk of her parent's car. "First Rahne, now Jubilee. I can't believe parents are pulling their kids out of here." He said to Xavier as the two watched another student leave.

"Do they really think it'll be any better for them at home?" He asked the professor.

"I hate to admit it, Logan." Xavier confessed. "But I would probably do the same thing. Still, I wonder who it was that attempted to activate the self-destruct function."

"Wish I could tell you." Logan replied, frustrated that he couldn't find out who did it. "Any trace of a scent they left is long gone by now." The two watched as the car left, with Jubilee staring out the back window. "I'm going for a ride, Charles." He headed in the direction of the garage to retrieve his motorcycle. The senior X-Man needed to do something to blow off some steam.

Danny, who had been taking an early morning walk, unable to sleep and wanting to get his mind off of things, saw the car leave, and he and Jubilee locked eyes. He waved goodbye to the girl, feeling sorry for her. It wasn't her fault that she had to leave her new friends and family.

It was his.

"I'm sorry." He whispered as he felt guilt over her forced departure. It was safe to say that Danny was having a lousy morning as he headed back inside.

A couple minutes later, Xavier contacted the X-Men mentally.

'Attention, everyone. The younger students are scheduled for breakfast first. The rest, please meet me in my office.'

The X-Men all met up with the professor, who was informing them about their situation with the school board.

"Good news. The school board has agreed to let you all attend classes today, provided no one uses their powers."

"Just today?" Scott asked, wondering if eventually they would be forced to never use their powers at school.

"Yes." Xavier answered. "Because tonight they'll be voting on whether or not to impose a permanent mutant ban. You can see how important it is to be on your best behavior."

Danny looked away, feeling even worse with the news that his friends would be banned from getting an education. Kitty's words didn't make it better.

"Professor, I'm afraid to go back there." She admitted. "We don't fit in anymore."

"It won't be easy at first, Kitty." Xavier tried to assure her. "But eventually you will be accepted. And this time, for all that you are." He held up the Bayville Chronicle, showing the headline.

"Monsters" Among us?

"Oh, man!" Evan complained. "So we're still monsters? What is with that?"

"Despite what they call us, we are people." Xavier firmly told them. "It's time to remind them of it."

The youngest X-Man was still angry. "You know, if they don't like us, that's their problem!"

"Evan, what I'm saying is, let's just not give people a reason to fear us." Xavier told him gently.

Kurt took the paper from Xavier, flipped through it, and noticed the picture they had of him and what was written underneath it. "Hey, they named me identity unknown."

Kitty looked at the paper. "Yeah, look. The only pictures they have of you are blue and furry."

"That means no one has made the connection it's me." Kurt realized, now feeling a bit more hopeful about going back to school. No one will know that it was him, thanks to his watch.

"Yet." Scott placed a hand on his shoulder. "They will, Kurt. Especially the people who know you live here."

"I don't know." Danny muttered. "You'd be surprised at how dense people can be." He said, recalling how in Amity Park no one could figure out that Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom were one and the same.

"Yeah, but..." Kurt tried to argue, but he couldn't come up with anything. "But..." He stopped as he realized that Scott was correct. "You're right. They'll figure it out."

"I'd like you all at tonight's school board meeting." Xavier said, bringing the meeting back on track. "Let them look you in the faces when they vote, so they can see the people behind the powers. Now, go make the best of your first day back."

As they all got ready to go to school, Danny was walking the halls on his way to meet up with Rogue in the garage when he passed by Wanda, who noticed the solemn look on her friend's face.

She stopped and went over to him. "Hey, are you okay?" She asked in concern. She had never seen Danny like this before. The young man that she cared for always seemed to have a smile on his face and a witty remark on the tip of his tongue, but now he looked like the world was about to end.

Danny glanced at her for a second, preparing to brush off his feelings and assure Wanda that he was okay, but he stopped. He was just too tired to lie and say that everything was all right with him. So he decided to tell the truth. "No." He leaned against the wall as Wanda joined him. "Everyone knows who we are, and it's all my fault. Plasmius did all this just to spite me. And now the others are scared of going back to school."

In his vent, he conveyed his guilt and sadness, but under that was a whole lot of anger. Some of it was at Plasmius for ruining what he and his friends had at the institute, but mostly he was just mad at himself.

"Hey, it's all right." Wanda said, not wanting him to feel responsible. "It's not your fault."

"Yes, it is." Danny argued as he sank to the floor.

"I know how you feel." Wanda decided to confess something that she had never told anyone.

Danny's head turned towards her. "You do?"

The daughter of Magneto nodded. "At the asylum, there were times when I wasn't vowing vengeance on my father that I started to think maybe I deserved to be there." She closed her eyes as the memories came flooding back. "Maybe I was just some monster who couldn't control her powers. Maybe I was supposed to be locked up."

The supernatural X-Man disagreed passionately. "That's stupid; the only person to blame is Magneto."

"Just like the only person at fault for our secret being out is Plasmius." Wanda pointed out. She placed her hands on his shoulders. "You shouldn't blame yourself for the bad things that evil people do. It's entirely on them. Always has been, always will be."

"Thank you." Danny responded gratefully. He appreciated Wanda trying to help him, and in a way, he felt a bit honored that she was comfortable confessing her little secret.

"Anytime." Wanda kissed him on the cheek. As she was homeschooled, she thankfully wouldn't have to face the students of Bayville High. Still, she hoped it would go well for Danny, Rogue, and the others. "Good luck."

Danny thanked her before meeting up with Rogue to head out as Wanda watched the two leave with a look of longing on her face.

Danny wasn't at all surprised by the reactions they got as they got near the proximity of the school doors. The students all turned their eyes to the X-Men in fear and suspicion. All conversation died down as the mutants passed by. Then came the mutterings, the dirty looks, and the shouts.

"Go home!"

"You don't belong here!"

"You gonna blow up our school next?"

"We don't want you."

Danny squeezed Rogue's hand in comfort as he made sure all of his friends were okay before noticing a certain porcupine was missing. Looking back, he saw Evan glaring at the whole crowd.

"Ride it out, Evan." Danny said as he went up to his friend. "Keep your cool. Those pricks aren't worth it."

"Yeah. Right." Evan said, barely holding back the anger in his voice as he joined the others.

"Where'd Kurt go?" Kitty asked as she noticed that the German-speaking X-Man was nowhere to be seen. "He was just here." She looked around before her eyes narrowed at Kurt standing by the rest of the students. When he noticed Kitty's angry look, he only gave a guilty shrug as Kitty went on her way with the others.

As they walked up the steps, Scott saw Taryn and her friends giving him dirty looks before turning away. At the doors, Duncan appeared in front of Jean.

"Jean, I want you to know this doesn't change anything." He said smiling as he took her hand.

"It doesn't?" Jean said, shocked and a bit happy that Duncan hadn't abandoned her now that he knew the truth.

"Of course not." Duncan replied. "I'm willing to overlook your problem completely."

Jean took her hand away. "Problem?"

"Yeah." Duncan placed his arm around her. "Besides, we can really put your mind-reading powers to good use, like during exams or when we go-" He was cut off when his girlfriend pushed him away, clearly enraged by his words.

"You..." She didn't know what to say to describe Duncan; oh, wait, she did. "You lughead! We are so through!" She stormed past him, dragging Scott by his hand as the other X-Men walked past Duncan.

"Finally!" Danny exclaimed, happy that Jean finally saw the kind of person Duncan was. Now she can date someone who is actually worth her time, like Scott. "That was long overdue."

"I know, right?" Rogue said in agreement as they walked the halls as students continued to give them hostile looks.

"Such disgusting little vermin." Vampira said. "They should be down on their knees thanking us for saving their town from being destroyed by that fiery monstrosity."

The couple continued their way, trying to ignore the hostile environment, when they bumped into Mr. Lee.

"Hey, Danny." He greeted him like normal. "I saw you and the others fighting that bird on the news. Gotta say it was so cool. Like something you'd see in a comic book."

Danny and Rogue were both caught off guard by Mr. Lee's lack of fear or mistrust.

"Uh, thanks." Danny said, pleased that one of his favorite teachers didn't seem to hate mutants like everyone else did.

"No problem. I got to go. See you in class." He offered a fist bump to Danny, who returned it. "Excelsior!" He cried before heading off.

Danny thought that with Mr. Lee's acceptance and Duncan being dumped, this day might not be so bad after all, not knowing that outside in the parking lot was Principal Kelly in his car, plotting a way to get rid of the X-Men.

Meanwhile, Jean was apologizing to Scott for the scene she caused with Duncan.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put you in the middle of that."

"Hey, what are friends for?" Scott said, not at all dissatisfied with how Duncan had been handled.

"Thanks." Jean smiled as she left Scott to go to class, leaving the sunglass-wearing X-Man feeling hopeful about his chances with Jean.

Logan was speeding through the road across the city when he noticed another biker behind him in his mirror. The other motorcyclist got up to Logan and showed his bare hand, which turned into metal, revealing that he was Colossus.

Colossus then floored his bike as Logan decided to follow the acolyte. As the two zipped past the other vehicles on the road, getting several honks in protest, Colossus tapped the side of a truck, causing it to go careening toward Logan, but the senior X-Man rode on the top of a nearby car like a ramp, catapulting him over the truck as he continued his pursuit.

Back at the Brotherhood house, Toad and Blob were teasing Lance.

"She don't even talk to you no more?" Toad mocked, bringing up Kitty's lack of communication with Lance since they had been exposed.

"Heh, heh, she won't even come near him." Blob said in amusement as he held a sandwich and a soda in his hands.

"Hey, maybe she'll come to me." Toad joked. "Here, Kitty. Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty." He hopped behind Lance and poked him.

"Knock it off!" Lance got out of his chair and was about to head out when Toad jumped in his path.

"Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty. Come here, Kitty."

"You're really asking for it!" Lance warned.

"Here, Kitty, Kitty!" Toad and Blob said in unison.

"Here comes Lance, looking for romance!" Blob jeered as he and Toad's taunts continued to aggravate their friend, who decided enough was enough and made the whole room shake, finally making the two Brotherhood members stop with the joke.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Is that Kitty?" Toad couldn't help but wonder as Lance opened the door, revealing Principal Kelly.

"Hello, boys." Kelly greeted.

"Uh, Principal Kelly? What are you doing here?" Lance asked in shock.

"I just thought I'd stop by and personally invite you all to come back to school." Kelly said innocently.

"School? No way!" Blob replied as he went back into the house. "We don't go anywhere we ain't wanted."

"Since when?" Toad retorted as he hopped after him.

"If you do come, I'm certain you won't be bothered by anyone." Kelly explained as he cleaned his glasses. "In fact, I think they're all afraid of you."

"Oh, yeah?" Blob asked excitedly as he looked back at the principal.

"Hey, if you can't be cool, be feared." Toad advised. "My mama always told me that."

"We'll be there." Lance told the principal.

Kelly smiled. "Wonderful."

Unlike the other X-Men, Kurt was having a good day. In first period, no one gave him any strange looks or acted differently around him. It seemed that it was true that no one put together that he was a mutant just yet.

As he took a book out of his locker, he greeted a nearby student. "Hey! Hi! How are you doing?"

"Kurt, I've been looking all over for you!" Amanda came up to him and wrapped her arms around him. "How are you holding up after-"

"Amanda!" Kurt interrupted as he grabbed her hand and dragged her around the corner so no one could hear them. "It's nice to see you!"

"What are you doing?" Amanda asked. "What's going on?"

"Uh, nothing. Not a thing." Kurt lied as Amanda looked at him in suspicion. "Everything is absolutely fine! And-"

"Kurt?" She raised an eyebrow at how her boyfriend was acting. He was all jittery and seemed like he was hiding something.

Kurt sighed, knowing he couldn't fool Amanda. "Okay, I'm..." He looked around before leaning closer to her. "I'm just not ready to be exposed as a mutant." He whispered.

"Huh? You mean no one knows?" Amanda said in surprise as two students walked by.

"Hey, how's it going?" Kurt greeted the two before grabbing Amanda by the hand and walking down the hall. "They don't realize I'm the fuzzy one." He continued whispering.

"Kurt, that means you're still hiding." His girlfriend pointed out.

"Being thought of as normal has been the best thing that's ever happened to me." He argued. "I can't just give it up yet."

"What about standing by your friends?" Amanda asked him.

"Uh, yeah." Kurt said. "I'm sure they'll be all right."

Kurt was wrong, as Scott was pushed up against a wall by Duncan.

"I'm gonna make sure you use your powers, Summers!" Duncan promised as his two goons stood behind him. "Because then it's bye-bye Bayville High for you." When Scott refused to fight back, Duncan resorted to taunting.

"Come on, mutie, throw something at me."

Scott placed a hand on his glasses and was about to take them off when he remembered the professor's warning. No powers for today. Relenting, he put his hand down and merely glared at the jock. "Oh, as much as I'd love to, you're not worth it." He then walked away, making Duncan angry that he couldn't get a reaction, prompting him to grab him.

"You torpedoed me with Jean." Duncan accused before he was pushed off by an angry Danny.

"You did that yourself, you racist asshole." Danny said, listing everything he hated about the jock. "I honestly never knew what Jean saw in you. You're just some big oaf who bullies people. It was only a matter of time until Jean wised up and dumped you."

Duncan pushed Fenton back. "Back off, Fenton! You use your powers, and you're out of here!"

Danny just chuckled, not at all scared by Duncan's measly threats. "I don't need any powers to knock you out."

"He's right." Kitty agreed as she came to his side, with Rogue doing the same.

"Yeah. Dropping these losers just might be worth getting expelled." Rogue said as she thought about using her touch to knock Duncan out.

"Let's make that blonde idiot bleed." Vampira encouraged.

Duncan knew he couldn't win against all of them, so he wisely decided to retreat. "You guys won't last two days here." He promised as he and his goons left.

"Hey, what's your special power, huh?" One student walked up to Rogue. "Can you like read my mind?"

"Yeah, like I could find it." Rogue pushed him aside as the X-Men all headed to class, with Kitty noticing Kurt's head peeking out from behind a corner. Seeing that he had been spotted, Kurt slipped back out of sight, only to run into two more students.

"Hey, don't you live at that mutant place too?" One of them asked, recalling that he had seen him hang out with the mutants.

"Huh? Oh, no, no, no." Kurt denied.

"But you're friends with the mutants, right?" The guy asked.

"Uh..." Kurt tried to think of a way out of this without betraying his friends. "Well, I used to be. I, uh..." He stopped, as he decided he had said enough. "Listen, I'm late for class." He went to leave when he ran into Danny, Rogue, and Kitty.

"Used to be? Thanks, Kurt." Kitty said as she and Rogue were looking at him in anger. Danny merely frowned as though he could see why Kurt was acting like this; he still thought it was kind of a jerk move.

The two girls stormed off, leaving the two boys alone.

Kurt sighed, feeling guilty. "I really made them mad, didn't I?"

Danny, remembering that time he ditched Sam and Tucker to go to Dash's party, patted Kurt on the back. "Yeah, but it's never too late to make things right. Just remember that unlike the rest of the school, you'll never have to hide who you are from the X-Men."

The hybrid then left Kurt to his thoughts, not knowing that they were being watched by Kelly through his office window.

"Dorothy, please page Duncan Matthews and have him report to my office." He told his secretary as a plan formed in his mind.

Back with Logan, he was still chasing Colossus, who used a hill to launch himself over a gate. Following him, Logan slid under the gate before looking around and spotting a farm.

Inside the farm, Colossus was removing his helmet when Logan burst through the wooden walls and headed straight toward the metal mutant.

Activating his metal skin, Colossus grabbed the motorcycle as Logan jumped off it and threw it aside, making it explode.

"You got my attention." Logan snarled as he was clearly enraged by his motorcycle's destruction. "Now, let's talk!" He pulled out his claws and charged at the acolyte.

"You wanted to see me, Mr. Kelly?" Duncan asked as he walked into the principal's office.

"Yes, Duncan. Come in." Kelly said. "Let's get right to the point. I'm aware of the little tussle you had with Scott Summers out in the quad."

"No big deal." Duncan fibbed. "We were just goofing off."

"Mm-hm. Well, I'd be more careful about goofing off with a mutant if I were you." Kelly warned him.

"What? I'm not afraid of him." The football player boasted.

"You ought to be. Look, all I'm saying is you can't have a beef with just one of them because they stick together. I'm just concerned for your safety." Kelly looked out the window and saw Toad, Lance, and Blob arrive at the school. "Oh, look. More mutants. Interesting thing about those boys there. You actually have something in common with them. They also hate Scott Summers." He said with a sinister smile that also appeared on Duncan's face as he took in this information.

Colossus was thrown through the barn's wall as he collided with a tractor.

"Alright, bub. What's this about?" Logan demanded.

Colossus picked up the tractor. "I am to deliver a message." He threw it at Logan, who moved out of the way, as he slashed off one of the tires before punching it at Colossus, knocking him off his feet.

"From who?" Logan interrogated.

"Magneto!" Colossus cried as he punched the tire in frustration before calming down and reverting back to his normal form. "When you tire of the public persecution of mutants, then he invites you to join him and fight."

"So I can be a lackey like you?" Logan scoffed. "I don't think so!"

"I am not a lackey!" The acolyte shot back defensively. "I..." He looked away. "I have no choice."

Logan put his claws away. "What's Magneto got on you?"

"Enough." Colossus decided he had said enough as he went on his way.

"Whatever it is, there's a way out." Logan told him. "Let us help you." He offered. "Join the X-Men."

"I cannot." Colossus said sadly as he continued walking.

Everyone was going about their usual business at Bayville High when the Brotherhood burst through the door.

"Yeah, we're here!" Blob announced as they marched through the halls.

"Back in school!" Toad crooned.

"Out of the way!" Lance ordered as people backed away from them.

"Big mutants on campus!" Blob laughed as he enjoyed the fear from everyone.

"Hey, let's steal some lunch." Toad offered as Lance elbowed a kid as he walked past them before deciding to have some more fun.

"Hey, were you smiling at me?" Lance fake-yelled as he got into the student's face. "Did I say something funny?" Lance grabbed him by his shirt. "Do I look funny to you? Funny like a mutant funny?" The kid shook his head rapidly as he ran away.

Toad chuckled. "Who knew school could be so much fun?"

In the school's gymnasium, Jean was playing basketball with several other girls.

"Got it!" Jean cried as she was about to take the ball, but the other girl managed to dodge her, and as she was about to shoot, Jean snagged the ball back. She then dribbled it over to the other hoop when three members of the opposing team got in her way, prompting her to shoot the ball, successfully getting it into the hoop.

There were cheers from Jean's team before one of the girls accused her of cheating.

"Hey, you used your powers to sink that, and you know it!"

"What? No, I didn't." Jean said honestly before turning to her friend. "Linda, you saw me. Come on, tell them." Linda merely shrugged as the coach blew her whistle.

"Hit the bench, Grey." The coach ordered before turning to another student. "Jones, you're in."

Jean sat on the bench, hurt at her friend for not defending her, when she noticed Kelly in the hall packing some of the school's trophies into boxes.

Wondering what was going on, she went up to him. "Principal Kelly, what's going on?"

"Jean, I'm afraid an inquiry is in order to determine if Bayville High deserves some of these sports awards." Kelly informed her.

"What are they accusing people of?" Jean asked.

"Not people, mutants." Kelly replied. "You think you can all just act normal?" He said to her.

"Sir, just because we have different gifts doesn't mean we're not normal." Jean defended.

"This school has been plagued by disaster." Kelly said as he thought of everything that had happened ever since the X-Men arrived at Bayville High. "Earthquakes, fires, explosions, dragons, and green octopuses." He shuddered in fear as he remembered the ectopus. "It makes so much sense now." He realized before glaring at her. "You're a menace!"

"No." Jean replied. "No, not all of us."

"You're right." Kelly agreed. "Some of you are cheats! So I'm gonna need your soccer MVP trophy returned." With that said, the bigoted man carried the box full of trophies away.

"That is so unfair!" Jean cried, angry at the blatant racism of her principal. At that moment, she wished they had Mystique back. Sure, she was evil, but she had never tried to accuse them of cheating or try to take away her trophies.

"A fiery temper." Kelly observed. "That's a dangerous combination with your kind of powers."

That offended Jean. "I have control of my emotions."

"And I have a responsibility to keep the normal students out of harm's way!" Kelly retorted.

"Just what are you saying?" Jean demanded.

Kelly decided that he had spoken with her enough. "I'll see you tonight." He then left, leaving a fuming Jean behind.

Later that night, Jean met the professor in the auditorium for the meeting with the school board. She sat in the audience as Xavier informed her that he wanted her to speak to the school board.

"You want me to speak? Professor-"

Xavier interrupted her. "Jean, it's important for them to hear from all sides. We need the voice of a student up there."

"Yeah, well, I just wish the others would get here." She said as she nervously thought of speaking to all these people by herself. "I don't want to do this alone."

"I'm sure they'll be along." Xavier assured her as Kurt leaned against the wall next to the doors.

As Scott, Evan, Kitty, Rogue, and Danny were heading over to the auditorium, Duncan pulled up in front of them in his fancy car.

"Hey, Summers, we have some unfinished business."

"Oh, brother." Kitty rolled her eyes. "Give the macho act a rest, will you?"

"Hey, the rest of you go on inside." Duncan ordered the others as he turned back to Scott. "This is between me and him. Man to man."

"More like man to a child throwing a tantrum." Danny reiterated as he glared at the jock.

Duncan whistled as the Brotherhood stepped out in their uniforms.

"Four of us and..." Toad stopped as he counted again. "Oh, wait five of you, my mistake."

"Why are you guys even working with this idiot?" Danny asked, wondering why they would work with Duncan of all people. "I mean, Toad, he tried to beat you up, remember? And Blob, Duncan laughed at you when you first arrived. Lance, I don't know if he did something to piss you off, but I doubt you can stand that guy either. So why are you guys with him?"

"Yeah, well..." Lance was about to give a retort when he stopped and took in what Danny said. Why were they with Duncan? "Actually, you make a good point." He turned to the others. "Come on, guys, let's get out of here."

The Brotherhood left, leaving Duncan alone with the five X-Men.

"Well, you still got to deal with me." Duncan said, thinking he could take them all on.

"You say that like you're an actual threat." Danny said with disinterest, enraging the jock as he was about to hit the ghostly X-Man when Danny and Rogue's ghost senses went off.

"Oh, crap." The two said hybrids said as Duncan was blasted with some blue goo, sticking him to a wall. The arrogant boy tried to scream, but it was muffled.

A familiar ghost then appeared in front of Duncan. "I have you now, ghost child!" He shouted in triumph before taking a closer look at who he had captured. "Hmm, my sensors indicate you're an average human, destined for an average life after high school."

"I'm over here, Skulker!" Danny shouted, getting Skulker's attention as the X-Men all glared at him.

"Ghost child, there you are." Skulker then took notice of Rogue. "And so is your companion." Then he looked over at the other X-Men. "And all the rest of you."

"Look, can we do this some other time?" Danny asked politely. "We're not allowed to use our powers, so we can't really give you a good hunt." He said, thinking he could use Skulker's obsession against him.

This information only made Skulker grin. "You can't use your powers, you say? Well, let's put that to the test, shall we?" A blaster appeared out of his forearm and aimed it at the X-Men.

"X-Men, evade!" Scott ordered as they moved out of the way.

Back inside the auditorium, Jean was preparing to give her speech.

"Uh, good evening." She addressed the crowd. "My name is Jean Grey. I suppose I can stand up here and recite the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments or quote some passionate speeches from famous civil rights leaders. But to be honest, I don't want to." She said as Xavier watched on with a proud smile.

"Since this is personal, let's keep it personal." She continued as the X-Men tried to avoid Skulker's attacks in the parking lot. "Now most of you have children, and you love them for who they are, not for what they can or can't do. There is a chance that one of them will have an advanced X-gene. And as they grow older, they will be considered mutants. You will love them anyway. But people will hate them. And people will want to hurt them. You will hope for the day when your child can live in a safe world. Well, that world must begin now, with you, by allowing mutants to attend public school. Thank you."

Outside, Skulker was getting frustrated as he fired a missile at Rogue, who dove out of the way as it destroyed a nearby car. The sound of the explosion got the attention of everyone in the auditorium as they all walked out to see what the commotion was.

They all saw Skulker firing ecto-blasts at the X-Men as they all tried their best not to use their powers.

"This is stupid." Vampira said. "Why don't we just go ghost and take this fool down?"

'We can't use our powers, remember?' Rogue reminded her, making Vampira snort.

"Why should we hold ourselves back because of the demands of those who are jealous?"

'Because if we use our powers, then we're getting kicked out of Bayville High.' Rogue dodged a car that was thrown her way.

"Stupid humans." Vampira couldn't help but say as Rogue and the others continued to keep out of Skulker's way.

"You see?" Kelly pointed to all the damage that Skulker was causing. "Mutants are not only dangerous, but uncontrollable!"

"Look again." Xavier rolled up to him. "Despite the overwhelming urge to use their powers, my students are exhibiting self-control." He pointed over to the X-Men, who were not using their powers at all, even though they were being threatened.

Skulker, having had enough of this, fired three missiles at Danny, who moved out of the way, but they were now heading toward the crowd. Jean used her telekinesis to move one off course, causing it to crash into Kelly's car.

Rogue fired an ecto-blast at another, causing it to explode, accidentally launching a car into the air. It would've fallen on two of the school board members if Kurt hadn't teleported them out of the way.

The final missile was heading toward Kelly, but Danny pushed him out of the way, causing the missile to detonate in the street and push over a lamppost. It was about to fall on two more innocent people, but Evan shot out his spikes at it, saving them.

Danny then gave Kelly a flat look, remembering how Jean said he acted toward her. "You don't know how much it pained me to do that." He then diverted his attention back to Skulker.

"I will have you're pelt, whelp!" Skulker bellowed, making Danny laugh. "What? What's so funny?"

"You!" Danny snickered. "Skulker, you could never catch me. I've always managed to beat you. In fact, I don't need to use any powers to beat you." He then got a bright idea as he pulled out his cellphone. "Watch."

"Wait, what are you doing?" Skulker asked in confusion as he, the X-Men, and the crowd watched Danny.

"Hey, Forge, it's Danny." The hybrid said over the phone. "Could you..." He started whispering what he wanted into the phone before getting a confirmation from Forge. "Thanks."

"What's going on?" Skulker was about to fire at Danny before stopping as he was wondering what the whelp was planning.

"Just give me a moment." Danny said before speaking back into the phone. "You got into it? Great. Now can you input this command?" He then whispered the command into the phone.

There was a moment of silence before the familiar ring tone came.

Skulker looked at the PDA that was connected to his systems. "Go to the news stand and purchase magazine with article about purple-backed gorillas." He read before letting out a shout of frustration. "Again?" His jet pack then activated on its own as he flew into the sky.

"What was that?" Scott asked as he came up to him.

Danny could only shrug. "Long story." He said as he and the others turned back to the crowd, who looked on in shock at what they had just witnessed.

"You freaks!" Kelly pointed to all the damage that Skulker caused. "Look at all the damage that you caused." He yelled at the X-Men. "Look at what just one mutant was able to do."

"Technically, he was a ghost." Danny pointed out.

Kelly narrowed his eyes. "I don't care! Mutants, ghosts—you're all freaks! You don't belong in school! You don't belong in Bayville! I propose that we ban any mutant from an education! Keep them away from the normal people!"

"Principal Kelly." Xavier gave him a stern look. "Might I remind you that despite everything, my students saved not only the lives of the people here but yours as well?" He then glared at him. "Despite the horrible way you treated them, they still saved you. Which speaks more of their character than it does yours." Xavier then addressed the rest of the crowd. "I think you can clearly see that despite having exceptional gifts, my students are still human."

The X-Men all stood together, Kurt included, which Kitty was happy for.

"Why don't you shut this off and dazzle them with the real you?" She suggested as she grabbed his wrist.

Kurt took his hand away. "One step at a time."

Jean looked over the damage. "Well, not quite the impression I was hoping to make."

Wanda was reading some new books that she bought in the foyer when she saw the X-Men all come home, looking depressed.

"What's wrong?" She asked them.

"A ghost attacked at the school board meeting." Danny said. "All because of me."

"Okay, stop it, Danny." Rogue demanded as she glared at her boyfriend. "It's not your fault that yahoo is obsessed with hunting you." She hugged him. "Whatever happens, I'm not letting you think this is your fault."

Danny, taken aback by this declaration, didn't know what to say, except one thing. "I love you, Rogue."

"I love you too." She said, making Wanda look away in jealousy.

A couple minutes later, the X-Men were all called to Xavier's office.

"Before I announce the school board's decision, I would like to say how proud I am of all of you." He said to his students.

"How can you say that, professor?" Danny sulked. "We let you down. I can think we can guess how they voted."

"You saved their lives." Xavier reminded them. "Jean inspired them with her sincerity. And as a result, they want to welcome you back."

"Go figure." Evan said, surprising Xavier as he expected them to be a bit more positive about this news.

"Sorry, professor." Danny said. "We're glad they voted to let us back in. But let's just say we all had a pretty miserable time at school." He knew that even if they were welcomed back, their treatment wasn't going to change. His friends were still gonna be bullied and harassed, and he couldn't do anything about it.

"I realize this is not an easy time for you." Xavier said. "But please realize something. For whatever reason, you have been chosen to take the first step into this new world. To lead the way. To be a beacon of hope for mutants yet to come. This is not only a big responsibility; it is an honor. I'm always astonished at the wondrous things that can be built on the ashes of tragedy. For even in the face of discrimination, the X-Men will endure."

At this, Danny got up and started heading for the door.

"Danny, where are you going?" Xavier asked.

"There's something I got to do." Danny replied as he left the room. Xavier looked at the others for an explanation, but they couldn't come up with an answer. Rogue glanced at where Danny had just left, suspicious of what her boyfriend was gonna get himself into.

Kelly was in his office, finishing some paperwork, when he heard a voice.

"Late night?" Looking up, the principal gasped as he saw Danny standing in front of his desk.

"You!" Kelly stood up and glared at the intruder. "What do you think you're doing here?"

Danny glared back, making sure that his eyes didn't glow green from his anger. "I'm here to lay down my terms."

This confused Kelly. "Terms?"

"Yeah. It's time that you start acting like a principal." Danny said, making Kelly stare down the hybrid.

"Fenton, if you think you can intimidate an educator like-" Kelly began to rant before he was cut off.

"You're not an educator; you're a bigot disguised as an authority figure. Big difference." He was done with seeing his friends be pushed around. And he wasn't gonna tolerate it anymore.

"Now listen. I don't care if you hate mutants. I honestly couldn't give a damn about the opinion of someone like you. But you're gonna be professional. You're gonna treat mutant students just like you would any other student. You're gonna be fair to everyone. Because that's your job. And if you don't, well..." He left his threat unsaid, but Kelly refused to be intimated.

"You think you can come in here and dictate terms to me?" Kelly opened a drawer and pulled out a copy of some old newspapers that he had found. "I know that you have several charges against you, Fenton." He showed him the picture of Danny holding the mayor hostage. "Are you going to take me hostage like you did to your old town's mayor? You lay one finger on me, and no mutant in Bayville will ever see the inside of a public school. I can assure you that."

This made Danny laugh. "You see, that's the thing. I'm not gonna be the one laying a finger on you." He pointed behind Kelly. "He is."

Kelly turned around and screamed. In front of him was a grinning ectopus.

"No!" Kelly cried. "Not you!" The ectopus wrapped its tentacles around the principal, lifting him off the ground as he screamed for help.

"Help! Please! Let me go!"

"Are you going to treat my friends better at school?" Danny asked.

"Yes!"

"You'll return the trophies?"

"Yes! For God's sake, yes! Please help me!" Kelly begged, making Danny look over at the ectopus.

"Let him go!" The ectopus let out a sound of disappointment before putting Kelly down and vanishing.

Danny smirked at the frightened Kelly. "I'm glad you saw things my way."

"You mutants may be freaks, but you, Fenton, you're an abomination." Kelly said as Danny walked out of the room.

The hybrid stopped as he pondered Kelly's words. "I know." He then left the school and was walking back home when he heard someone behind him.

"That was really sweet what you did."

Turning around, Danny was greeted by Rogue.

"Rogue! Did you..."

"I saw the whole thing." Rogue confirmed before she smiled at him. "That was very sweet of you, sticking up for your friends."

Danny shrugged awkwardly. "I don't like it when people mess with my family. In my opinion, you guys are more human than anyone in this town, and you should be treated as such."

Rogue placed her arms around his neck. "I'm glad we have you here to help us all. You've done a lot for us all, and we'll always be grateful."

The half-ghost smiled back as the couple embraced. Perhaps the worst was over now and things would get better now.