Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 15:11:01 -0800 (PST)
From: P G <phoenixfire543@yahoo.com>
Subject: Mutation: Chapter 12

Disclaimer*
I do not own the rights to any of the characters in this story, and make
no claims to the artistic visions of the marvel universe.  I know nothing
of the sexuality of any of the creators, actors, or characters involved
in the Marvel universe.  Similarly, this story contains graphic
descriptions of gay male sex.  If you don't like that, they you should
probably avert your eyes.

This story takes place in an alternate X-Men universe from the one in
which the 3rd movie took place.  Certain events occurred after X2 which
changed the timeline.  Jean, Scott and Professor X are all still alive,
and there was no cure.  The specifics of the timeline changes may be made
apparent as the story progresses.


Chapter 12 -- "Warsong"


Magneto sat behind a large black desk, with a plain gray wall behind
him.  The idea was to draw as much focus on him as possible.  Not that
that was difficult, given what he was saying.

"The rule of the homo sapiens is over.  For too long have mutants been
crushed underfoot out of fear, hatred, and jealousy.  The unjust and
misguided government of the United States has been destroyed, and will
never rise again.  The President, Vice President, the Joint Chiefs, the
Cabinet, and the majority of the House and Senate are dead.  Most of the
upper echelons of the U.S. military are gone as well.  The head of the
beast has been cut off, and it is in its death throes.  Soon members of
the Brotherhood of Mutants will be moving in to reestablish order, and
once we have done so, a new and just government will be formed, and peace
will be had for all.  I urge the human citizens to stay inside and stay
out of our way, as we may be forced to fight to take down the tattered
remains of the government.  You will be safe as long as you stay out of
it.  I offer the mutant citizens an open invitation to join us in our
victory, to become part of the movement toward change.  If you refuse to
help, I urge you to stay out of our way, and not make yourselves our
enemy.  Together, we CAN change this world for the better."

The message had been playing on repeat endlessly on all television
stations in the 3 days since the sudden and utter destruction of
Washington D.C.  Somehow Magneto's people had managed to pirate the
emergency broadcast network, cutting off the American citizens from
news.  Most did not even bother to turn their televisions on anymore.

They waited for the hammer to fall.

                      ***********************************


Alex sat alone beside a small pond at the edges of the mansion grounds,
immersed in meditation.   He let his mind wander free, allowing it to
mingle with the water around him.  He used the techniques he had learned
from the Professor to spit his focus, to pay attention to many things at
once.   He felt the water in the river, the strong streaming flow, and
the small eddies created by rocks on the bottom.  He felt the water in
the air, wandering aimlessly, often colliding with one another as paths
crossed.  He felt the water in the trees, the grass, and the plants.  He
even felt the very small amount of water in the rocks inside the earth,
and found that he could manipulate them, lifting the objects up by
lifting the water within it.

This was the first time since the incident with Holy that Alex had been
outside of his room.  He had spent 3 days in the room, speaking only with
his friends who came to visit, and with Demon who shared the room with
him.  Demon had talked to him when he needed, and stayed silent when he
didn't.  He had listened, and had been reassuring, but honest at the
same time.

"I'm no different from her am I?" Alex had asked.

"Who?"

"Jean Gray.  Inside her was a power that was greater than her, and it
split her personality.  The person inside her grew angry and cruel, and
has now been set loose upon the world.  At first, I thought that I had
escaped this fate, but I can see that I haven't.  I am as much a danger
as she is."

"No, you aren't.  Jean's mind split because of what the Professor did
to her when he restrained her powers.  He suppressed the side of her that
was strong and confident.  He allowed Jean to grow to be a good, kind
person, but that other personality hated every moment of it.  The Phoenix
was born form the rage and hatred that Jean's unconscious mind had for
the Professor, and for anyone that feared or doubted her power.  You are
different.  You lost control, because you have been hurt in the past, and
very badly.  You were unprepared to see the person who had so badly hurt
you, and you snapped.  You were not the first person to do this, and you
won't be the last.  You are a GOOD person, but you have pain in your
heart that you haven't had time to deal with yet."

"You've been talking to Echo haven't you?" Alex had asked, somewhat
joking.  Demon was a good guy, but rarely came out with such long
explanations, and was not especially knowledgeable about psychiatry.

Demon had never left his side that whole time, even brought him food so
he would not have to show his face in the dining hall until he was
ready.  At night, Demon would slip into Alex's bed and hold him, because
the nightmares were terrible and vivid, and always ended with screaming.
Many times Alex had fallen to sleep with the large red boy stroking his
dark hair, and whispering soothing words into his ear.

Now Alex was finally out of his room, but was still not totally ready to
join the daily life at Mutant High.  Thankfully, since he was now
graduated, he was not required to attend classes unless he wished to
learn.  At the moment, he did not.  He wanted to immerse himself in his
powers slowly, to grant himself more control.  His freak-out and
subsequent transformation into a cruel icy villain had terrified him, and
forced him to acknowledge that control was the key.  His powers would
always be great, but only with control could he keep them from mastering
him.

At the edge of his sensory field, which now extended several miles, Alex
felt a strange presence.  No, presence was not the right word, more like
ABSENCE.  There was no water in a single area in the sky, and that area
was moving.  Fast.

Alex looked up, and saw on the furthest point of his vision a small
bright pinprick in the sky.  As the spot came nearer, he could sense it
more clearly.  He used layers of expertly bent water over his eyes to
magnify his vision, and it came into focus, a fireball was hurtling
through the sky.  It was coming from the direction of the city, and
headed generally towards the mansion.   As it came closer, he could
finally make out that it was in fact a MAN in the sky.  A burning man was
flying through the air towards the mansion.

While he tried to figure out who this flaming flying man could be, Alex
also began to wonder if he was welcome in the mansion.  An orb of icy
energy formed in his palm as he considered whether or not to intervene.
This was not exactly peaceful times, and what would normally be seen as a
strange visitor could easily be an attack.  Could this burning man
explode too?  Better not to take the chance, there were hundreds of
mutants in the building.  He could take the man down without killing him,
probably.

<Alexander> The Professor's voice rang through Hydrogue's head before
he took action.  <He is a friend, and he is welcome.  Please come to the
War Room, we are having a meeting.>

<Yes Professor> He responded.  Not having the time to walk back, Alex
used the new trick he had discovered during his little freak out the
previous week.  He lifted up the water molecules in his body, and flew
into the air toward the mansion.  As he rose above the tree line he saw,
at the edges of his vision, the burning man land at the doors of the
mansion.  As the flames vanished, Alex caught a glimpse of blue before
the man entered the mansion.

Despite his haste, Alex was still the last person into the War Room for
the meeting.  The room was of course located in the hidden basement of
the mansion, and like everything else down there, had solid steel floors,
walls and ceilings.  The room was dominated by a large round table, with
an inner ring of some sort of shifting metallic looking material.  Right
now the metal was shaped into a large map of the United States.  Around
the table were the Professor, Beast, Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Iceman,
Angel, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Elixir, Dr. Halden, Demon, Will, Psionic,
Echo, Barrier, Ghost, and a stranger in an odd tight blue jumpsuit that
Alex could only assume was the burning man.  Even though there were so
many people there, the absence of Jean and Rogue was very noticeable.

"Ah, welcome Alexander.  Please, take a seat over next to Jonathan" the
Professor said, indicating the burning man.  Alex sat.  "I was just
introducing everyone to Jonathan Storm, also known as the Human Torch.
He is a member of the Fantastic Four, a group of super powered humans who
live and operate in New York City.  They have allied themselves to us,
and Jonathan has come to attend this meeting as their representative."

Alex turned to the man beside him, who had extended his hand to him.
 "Call me Johnny" he said, a big kid-like grin on his face.  Johnny
looked like an angel descended.  His brown hair was buzzed, and showed a
strong widow's peak hair line.  His eyes were lively and blue, shining
with mischief.  He had a strong jaw line, high cheekbones, and very
soft-looking lips.  His blue one piece jumpsuit, while looking a bit odd,
showed every inch of his body, which was exceptional.  Shoulder muscles
bulged up, connecting his neck and his pumped up deltoids.  The biceps
were like baseballs, and a vein could be seen traveling along them even
through the suit.  His pectorals were perfect, pumped up and solid.  His
sides trimmed in to a thin waist, and through the suit the ridges of his
abs could be seen, and so could the V of the muscles running between his
lower abs and his groin.  The basket between his legs was nothing to
scoff at either.  Alex took the extended hand, and noted how very very
WARM Johnny's skin was.  His grip was strong and firm, and his hand had
just the right amount of hair on them.

Alex swallowed the saliva he had built upon seeing Johnny and said "Hi,
nice to meet you."

"Alexander Wental is one of the newest to join us, he is a water
elemental mutant."  The Professor had evidently introduced the others
already.  "Now, let's begin the meeting."

Scott began by saying "as we all know, the head was cut off of the
United States government 3 days ago.  Since then, the emergency broadcast
system has been under Magneto's control somehow, and news has been
difficult to gather."  The map on the table shifted, showing the
individual state lines, and extremely accurate topography of the U.S.
"The states have taken over control of themselves, and some of the
larger cities are fending for themselves.  This is all creating somewhat
of a bloodless civil war.  The U.S. military is attempting to establish
temporary control, and has its hand deep into some of the more powerful
states."

"Is there anyone at all attempting to reform the Federal Government?"
asked Echo.  Cyclops nodded.

"Yes, but unfortunately the Presidential line of succession only goes
down 14 places after the President.  All of the people on that list were
killed, leaving a bit of a vacuum of power and no clear leader.  There
were a dozen or so Senators and Representatives who were not in the
bombing, but none of them have any real claim to the Presidency.
Unfortunately, one of the survivors is none other than Senator Robert
Kelly, and he is gathering a following."  Several of the X-Men groaned,
though Storm managed to keep her surprise limited to widened eyes.

"Sorry if this makes me sound stupid, but who is he?" asked Hydrogue.

"Senator Kelly was the forerunner behind the original Mutant
Registration Act.  Although a few years ago he had a radical turnaround,
which slowed down the Act considerably" answered Echo.

"Yes, but what you don't know is that Senator Kelly is dead" piped in
Storm.  At the look of confusion from the majority of the room (only
Storm, Cyclops, Wolverine, Beast, and the Professor had known), she
elaborated.  "He died due to an experiment where Magneto tried to turn
humans into mutants.  I watched him die."

"But the significance is that Senator Kelly's role has been artfully
played by Mystique since the Ellis Island incident" continued the
Professor.  "That means that if this power play works, Mystique may be
running a good portion of the United States."

"Yes, well, she will have a fight on her hands.  And not just with us.
The Admiralty, the ruling council of the Navy, was untouched by the
attack.  Being the only branch of the military still in one piece, and
with all three branches of the government in tatters, the Admirals are
the other contending factor for rule of the U.S."

"Great, so the options are to have Magneto's right hand in charge, or
marshal law" commented Wolverine.

"Those are IF Magneto isn't planning a full scale operation, which I
doubt" said Johnny.  "Obviously he is going to make his move, we just
don't know when or where."

"Precisely" said the Professor.  "We need to figure that part out."

"Now, New York City is a prime target, it is one of the centers of
western civilization.  But, it is also in our back yard" said Storm.

"Yes, I have set Cerebro to monitor all mutant activity in the city, we
will know if the number of mutants increases or decreases quickly.
Similarly, Cerebro will block psychic intrusions into the city, thought
it's strength is limited."

"And the Phoenix's is not" added Alex.

"That is actually not true" corrected the Professor.  At Alex's raised
eyebrow, he elaborated.  "The Phoenix has Class 5 TELEKINESIS, not
telepathy.  That being said, she is still the most powerful telepath I
have ever known.  But I do believe that if I, with Cerebro enhancing my
powers, could resist her intrusions for a time.  She would find a way
through I am sure, but she would have to commit to it."  Talk faded as
everyone considered this.

"Now, we have a job to do" said Cyclops, bringing them all back to the
subject at hand.  "We are establishing information relays all over the
U.S., largely reliant on telepathic mutants.  We have no idea where the
first attack will fall, but I am glad to hear that we all agree that it
will come.  Any ideas, please approach me, Storm, or the Professor with
them.  In the meantime, be ready to deploy at any moment.  We have to
play a reactive game for the time being."

After a review of some of the preparations being made, the meeting
adjourned.  Alex spent the walk back to the doors of the mansion talking
to Johnny, who in addition to being beautiful was also very funny.  He
had a very cocky, confident air, but it wasn't quite bad enough for him
to be perceived as an asshole.  But alas, time was short.

"I have to get back to the others; we have our own plans to iron out.
I'm sure Reed will have some new invention that will save the day pretty
soon."  Johnny smiled, the perfect white teeth spreading out, looking so
amazing that it made Alex smile too.  "I will see you again soon I'm
sure, nice to meet you."

Johnny put his hand on Alex's shoulder in a gesture of good-bye, the
obscenely warm touch traveling through his shirt and making his skin
flush.  With that, Johnny turned and stepped away, giving Alex an
excellent view of his perfect ass in his skintight jumpsuit.  Like it was
nothing, he burst into flames so violently that it lifted him into the
air, and he flew away like a rocket.  Alex watched him go for a moment
before he heard steps behind him.  It was Demon.

"The Professor wants to talk to you."  Demon looked at Alex with a
blank expression, though in his eyes could be read a myriad of
conflicting things.  Alex either did not notice or did not understand,
because he only thanked his friend and ran back up the stairs into the
mansion.  He found the Professor in the foyer with Storm, the two of them
talking about some business or another.

"You wanted to talk to me sir?"  The Professor smiled as he turned to
him.

"Yes, Alexander.  I considered your request, and I wanted to tell you
that I agree with you, and I encourage you to go immediately."

"What?  Really?  Wow, with everything going on, I thought for sure that
you would want me here."

"Yes well, I do.  That is why you should go as soon as you can, tomorrow
if possible.  And I want you to go with Psionic, so that he can get you
back as soon as possible should you be needed.  I would also like you to
bring Storm with you, as a representative of the school."

Alex had no words, was both terrified and excited.  He was going home!!

                          ****************************


Doppelganger sat on the floor, banging the back of his head against the
concrete wall of his cell.  Again.  It was the most he had to do for
entertainment in here.  Sure they had given him books at first, but he
was never much of a reader.  Despite that fact, he had read all the books
that interested him, but since he had been in here for months, he had
nothing else to do.  He no longer even had the occasional horrifying
visits from the Phoenix for her to re-drain his powers.  He had garnered
from the guard who gave him food twice a day that she had found a way to
stay in her `proper' form without him.

"Why am I still here then?"  He had understood at first, since she
feared he would run away and deprive her of a way to get to her usual
body.  But he had joined the Brotherhood willingly, and with the coming
liberation of mutantkind coming, he wanted to be a part of it again!  He
had made several requests to talk to someone about begging for release,
had even told the guards to forward that fact that he would pretend it
never happened, but still he was here.  He was starting to get a bit sick
of it.

He had not minded quite as much when Pyro used to still visit him for
sex.  Since Doppelganger could assume the form of anyone he had ever
touched, it made for a nice variety for Pyro.  But even the visits had
been reduced, and Doppelganger was lucky to have any contact in a week.

He was done with it.  If the Brotherhood didn't want him, then he
didn't want them either.  Doppelganger ran through all the morphs he had
available to him.  Of course, he had tried to turn into Jean Gray, as he
had touched her hair only briefly (thus starting his imprisonment), but
it was to no avail.  He had not absorbed enough of the DNA.  He could
turn into Pyro, but without a source of fire, that was useless.  He could
use Iceman, but his powers would take too long to take down the door, and
it would give the guards too much time to notice.

Of course.  As soon as he realized it, Doppelganger began to change.  He
began to grow significantly taller, and his muscles multiplied in size.
As he grew in size, his shirt tore asunder, and he removed the pieces to
ease his comfort.  His waist grew too, but not much, and his pants
remained in one piece, though were much tighter.  When the morph was
completed, he reveled in the shear POWER of this body.  This is the way
Colossus feels every day.

With a thought, Doppelganger changed his skin into an organic metal.  He
looked at the solid metal door which had barred his passage for the past
few months.  It didn't look so strong anymore.

The door flew off its hinges under the force of Doppelganger/Colossus'
punch.  It collided with the wall opposite with a loud clanging noise.
As the guard outside his room turned, he was greeted by a similar punch,
which shattered his jawbone and set him hurtling down the hallway.
Doppelganger felt a twinge of remorse for the unnecessary pain he had
caused, but forgot it soon as he stalked his way down the hall.  He was
in a high security area, and he knew he had limited time to get out
before the place was swarming with guards.  Already an alarm was sounding
somewhere.

Doppelganger didn't look twice at the various faces which looked out of
the other cells at him, several of whom begged him to help them.  He was
not trying to help anyone, only to escape.

He soon found his escape route.  He came across a Plexiglas window, which
was easily blasted out with the strength of his borrowed form.
Doppelganger morphed back into his usual form in order to climb out the
window hole, which was much too small for Colossus's body to fit
through.  Besides, he needed to return to his normal body before turning
into a new one, the one witch would let him escape the island
altogether.  He felt his bones grinding, and a curious sensation as new
ones grew that he didn't have before.  Within seconds, huge white wings
spread out from Doppelganger's back. As he grew taller and his hair grew
blond, his eyes blue.  He became the borrowed form of Angel, and he
spread his large feathery wings and took flight, rising high above the
hidden island of the Brotherhood.

Doppelganger looked down, and saw an amazing sight.  On the beaches of
Superior Isle, an army was amassed.  There were more mutants on that
beach than Doppelganger had believed existed in the entire world.  When
had the Brotherhood grown so large?  Doppelganger had not been locked
away so long, or so he had thought.  Boats lined the beach, and the
armies were boarding, readying for a huge attack.  Where?  When?

Such questions were not his to answer.  For now, Doppelganger just flew
to freedom, not knowing where to go or what to do.  He knew he could find
a way to be useful to the Brotherhood, but it had to be big.

For now, he just flew.

                        *******************************


Alex blinked as his brain adjusted from the sudden change in location.  A
moment ago he had been outside the Xavier Mansion, and now^Ånow he was in
a place that was all too familiar.  Psionic had liked their minds and
used Alex's mental image to bring the two of them and Storm to this very
spot.

In front of him, Alex saw a familiar light blue 2 floor home.  There was
no fence in front of it, but there was one along the sides, secluding the
back yard which contained a fairly large in-ground pool.  There were two
trees in front of the house, off to the left surrounded by a small flower
garden which was well maintained.  Large gray stepping stones led from
the street to the front door, which was painted a familiar sapphire
color.

Home.  Alex could scarcely believe it, but he had finally come home.  He
was excited and anxious at the same time.  He was glad to be able to see
them all again, the people who had meant so much to him, but was worried
that in the time he had been gone that they had distanced themselves from
him emotionally, even rejected him from their family.  He hoped that this
was not the case.

"You ready?" Storm asked.  Alex was suddenly aware that he had spent
over a minute just staring at the house he had grown up in.

"Yea, I think so."  He took his first step forward.  After that, there
was no stopping, he stepped from gray stone to gray stone until he stood
at the door to his former home.

Should he knock?  He had never knocked before, but then, he had never
returned from nearly a year of absence before.  There were 4 cars in the
driveway, and it was past 7pm, so most of the family should be home.
Should he knock?

He knocked.  For a long, painful moment, the trio waited in silence for a
response.  The door opened quite suddenly, and neither Storm nor Psionic
was entirely ready for the person that opened it.

He was practically the spitting image of Alex.  The boy had the same
brown hair, the same short 5'8" height, the same jaw line, cheekbones
and smile.  The differences between them were that Alex had a much more
dense build, being an avid swimmer, where this stranger was just plain
skinny, and that the answerer had intelligent greenish-brown eyes instead
of the bright sapphire.

"Oh my god" the stranger said, as he stared at Alex as if he were the
last person he expected to see.

"Aaron!" Alex exclaimed, and wrapped his paternal twin brother in a
bear hug.  The two looked alike in nearly every way, but were not
identical.  They even had similar body language, and Psionic noted the
identical slightly lopsided smile on Aaron's face that he usually saw on
his Alex's.

"Xander! What are you doing here?  Where have you been?  I missed you!"

"I missed you too Air" Alex said, as the two drew back from the hug.
"I need to talk to you, and to mom and dad and anyone else who is
here."

"I thought you might.  Come on in."  Aaron shook hands with Psionic and
Storm, though introductions were brief.

Alex, Storm, and Psionic waited in the living room as Aaron went to
gather the other Wentals.  The room was nicely decorated, with large
comfortable couches and chairs.  Above one of the couches was a large
framed photo of all 7 Wentals, with the twins Aaron and Alex together in
the front.  It was a lovely moment captured in time, where they all
smiled and seemed truly happy.

"Xander?"  said Psionic, his tone teasing and his emerald eyes
twinkling.  Alex smiled.

"Yea, that's what my family calls me.  Don't tell the others ok?"  He
smiled as he said this, not being truly serious.

"You got it."  They were interrupted by a voice before they could
continue any further.

"Xander?"  The voice came from behind them, from a doorway which led
towards the kitchen of the house.

"Hi mom" said Alex, clearly happy but unsure of what to do.

Sheila Wental was a shorter woman, and her shoulder length hair, which
once had a great strawberry blonde luster, now was muted and turned grey
at the temples.  Her eyes were blue, and shone with intelligence and
kindness.  Her voice wavered just a bit as she spoke, a rare weak moment
for the strong woman.

"I thought I would never see you again."  She came forward to wrap her
arms around her son, almost as if to make sure that he was real.  She
pulled out from the hug and held him at arms length, inspecting him to
see if he was in good health.  "You lost weight, have you been
eating?"  Psionic barely stifled a laugh, Storm managed to keep it to a
simple smile.

"Yes mom, I'm eating just fine."  Before he could elaborate, 4 more
Wentals entered the room.  The first was a well built boy with dirty
blonde hair in his mid twenties, the oldest brother Eric.  The second was
a taller boy with brown hair that was shot through with red highlights,
Keith, who came in alongside Aaron.  The last was a man in his late
fourties, his hair still dark brown, but his beard beginning to become
more salt than pepper.  Jason Wental, Hydrogue's father.

"Hey bro, welcome back" said Eric, his deep and kind voice showing
genuine gladness to se his brother.  The other two were less excited.

"What are you doing here?"  Keith's voice echoed none of the relief or
gladness of his brother's.  "You made the right decision when you fled
town, freak."

Psionic's eyes flashed with anger, but he said nothing, chosing to think
before he spoke.  Storm was faster than him.

"Your brother is not a freak, he is a mutant."

"Same thing in my book" retorted Keith.  "And he's a faggot on top of
that."

"Who cares?"  Eric asked.  "He's our brother, who care's what gender
he falls in love with?"

Jason spoke for the first time, saying "if you were only a fag Xander, I
could probably learn to deal with that.  But a mutant?  A MUTANT?
That^Å..I don't even know what to think."

"When I first heard that you had run away" Keith said, "I was upset,
and I missed you.  But then the full story came out.  When we found out
what you are^Å.it was over.  You don't deserve to be my brother."

"Stop that" said Mrs. Wental, the sternness in her voice unmistakable.
"He is no different from the person we have always known and loved."

"My name is Ororo," began Storm, "I am a teacher at a special school,
a school where Alex has been for the past 8 months."

"What kind of school?" asked Eric.

"A school for freaks" muttered Keith.  Storm ignored him, and focused
on Mrs. Wental.

"At this school, we take in mutants, most of them teenage runaways.  We
give them a place to say, food, and education.  We teach them their basic
school subjects like they would learn at any other school, but we also
teach them about their abilities.  At Xavier's School, young mutants
learn to understand and control their powers, and we help them to adjust
to who they are, and how to put aside prejudice."

"They really have helped me so much" said Alex, speaking for the first
time since seeing his family assembled.  "I was a wreck when I left
here, and I was so ashamed of myself.  But they have helped me to grow,
and to learn, and with their help I finished the classes needed for me to
graduate high school."  Sheila smiled, the relief on her face clear.  It
was obvious that she was not wholly in support of the parts of her son
that she could not control, but seemed glad that he appeared happy, and
that he was in good hands.

"Well that is all well and good" said Jason, "but I can't abide by
mutants in my family.  It's unacceptable, and if you had come to me when
you discovered this part of you, we could have taken care of it, gotten
you proper help."

"Proper help?!?" exclaimed Psionic.  "Like what?  Gene replacement?
Antipsychotics?  Shock therapy?  That's what they do to people like us
you know, make them think we are unbalanced, like it's all in our heads,
a problem to be fixed.  Well, you can't fix being a mutant, or being
gay.  They are facts of life, things you can't change any more that you
can change to color of the sky."

"I changed it!!" exclaimed Jason Wental.  The horror on his face made
it evident that he had not planned on saying that out loud.

"What?" asked Keith, now seeming to lose steam in his hatred of his
brother.  Jason saw that he was caught, that he had said too much, and
would have to explain.

"My parents brought me there when I was 13.  They helped me, treated me,
and now I am a normal human being.  It is not impossible, no matter what
you may think" he said, glaring at Psionic, but refusing to meet the
eyes of his family.

"Is that why you take that pill every morning?" Sheila asked.  "You
told me you had an emotional disorder."  He voice shook, not entirely
with pain from being lied to, but with anger.

"I do have an emotional disorder.  Without my pills, my emotions are too
strong, and things^Åhappen."  The room was silent for a moment.

"What's your power dad?" Alex asked, looking his father straight in
the eye.  "I control water" he said, holding out his hand, where an orb
of water formed, then shifted into a glittering diamond of ice, which
rotated in his hand.  Jason stared at the ice, his face a mixture of pain
and shame, but also a desire to tell his secret.

"I^Å.I^Åmanipulate energy."

"How so?" asked Psionic, the only one who seemed able to talk.

"I could alter the flow of energy, increasing or decreasing it however I
wanted.  I couldn't control it, and caused a blackout in my home town.
That's when my parents had me treated."

"Oh my god" said Keith, who looked like he could vomit.

No one really had a chance to react to all of this, as they were very
rudely interrupted by the door exploding.  The wood splintered and
shattered, as a blast of fire shot through it, reducing it to sparks and
embers.  Everyone turned to the door, and those who had been seated leapt
to their feet.  In the door stood a woman who only 3 of them recognized,
The Phoenix.  Her long crimson hair flowed around her in an imperceptible
wind; her eyes glowed with a red-gold fire.  She wore crimson leather
which formed to a body, with a dark leather trench coat.  She smiled an
awful smile of supreme confidence.

"Did I interrupt?"

"Who are you?" demanded Mrs. Wental.

"I am the doom of all mankind" the Phoenix answered, her voice oddly
pleasant sounding.  "And I am here to offer your son a place at my side,
for that is the only way that you will all continue to live."

She was here, The Phoenix, in his home with his family. Fear and anger
grew within Hydrogue as he sought the courage to face a god to protect
his family.  In a single motion, he rose from the couch and thrust out
his hands, launching from them twin bolts of water charged with
electrical energy and shrouded by cold energy.  The power of the blasts
was considerable, but far short of what it needed to be.  The Phoenix did
not even have to move, but banished the blasts with a look from her fiery
eyes.  Her expression grew angry, and she waved her arm in Hydrogue's
direction, a telekinetic blast sent him into the air.  Hydrogue hurtled
sidelong through the wall of the living room and into the kitchen, then
through that wall and spilled into the backyard.  His body dug a trench
into the earth as he slid 20 feet until he came to a stop.

Hydrogue was covered in dirt, grass and drywall, his clothes were torn
and his body ached badly.  He was cut in many places, but the wounds
closed as his body's watery structure reestablished itself.  He got up
and ran back into the house through the hole he had just exited.

The Phoenix stood above Psionic, who was on his knees but staring up at
her defiantly.  Storm was no longer in the living room, but a hole in the
ceiling gave a good guess where she had gone.  The Wentals were all in a
corner in a heap, appearing to have been shoved there.

"Your mind is weak little one" The Phoenix said, as she looked down at
Psionic.  "Why do you fight that which you cannot possibly defeat?"

Psionic glared back at The Phoenix, his emerald eyes meeting her fiery
ones.  Blood trickled from both of his nostrils as the telepathic
struggle proved too much for him.

"Because you are evil, and evil must be resisted, even by the weak" he
responded, his voice surprisingly strong and even for the state he was
in.  He knew that this struggle would kill him, and that The Phoenix
would not stop until it had.  He would not give in; even to save his
life, for if he did it would give her full access to his mind and
everything he knew.  The Phoenix must not learn of the plans to resist
her attacks against humanity.  Blood flowed freely form his nose,
staining his green shirt and turning his otherwise pale skin pink.

As the world began to spin around him, Psionic reached out instinctively
with his specialty ability, and found his friend Hydrogue's mind ready
and waiting.  Hydrogue had no telepathic powers whatsoever, but his mind
was vast and his will strong.  The Phoenix was caught off guard by the
sudden addition of mental strength, and her crushing power faltered.  She
staggered back as Hydrogue and Psionic's combined power struck her
mental defenses like a war hammer, doing no damage but breaking her hold
on Psionic's mind temporarily.

At this moment, Hydrogue flew back into the living room through his
previous exit hole and blasted The Phoenix again with his icy orbs.  A
protective sphere appeared around her, and when the blasts hit the
barrier, they blasted it backwards.  The sphere, and the Phoenix within
it, was thrown through the front of the house and into the street.

The Phoenix was unharmed, but clearly surprised.  She looked back at the
house she was just ejected from, and saw Hydrogue, Psionic, and Storm
(having taken the stairs back down) standing in the hole that used to be
the living room wall, facing her.  Psionic looked weakened but
determined, and Hydrogue and Storm just looked pissed.  But The Phoenix
was not concerned.  She laughed at them.

"Well, it looks like you have a few tricks up your sleeves after all.
Not that I couldn't destroy you all anyway, but it is much more fun this
way.  But that isn't why I'm here.  Since you clearly refuse my offer,
I have a parting gift for you.  Think of it as something to remember me
by."  With a wink, she reached within her long coat and pulled out a
small baseball sized orb which was slightly oblong.  The orb looked like
it was made completely of fire caged within some transparent shell.  With
a flick of her wrist, The Phoenix sent the orb straight across the street
and into the house across from the Wental home.  The house exploded
suddenly, shocking everyone who watched.  The explosion tore the house
apart, reducing it to an inferno within seconds.  The Phoenix laughed as
the X-Men ran towards the burning house and neighbors emerged from their
homes to seek the source of the disturbance.  In a burst of flame, The
Phoenix vanished from the scene, knowing that her job there was done.

A piercing cry spilt the air before anyone reached the house.  Storm,
Hydrogue, and Psionic halted as they saw something rise from the ruin.  A
flame shaped as a small bird rose from the fires and hovered close to
them.  It began to draw the fires to it, and as it did, the firebird grew
in size, and quickly became the size of a car by the time all the fires
were absorbed into it.  The X-Men were shocked at this, a living being of
flame which had been unleashed by the Phoenix in her own image.

A creature of flame and ruin, the Firebird fed on the fires it set to
grow more powerful, and that is exactly what it wanted to do.  Its
intelligence was limited, basically a ball of instincts and impulses.  It
had been programmed with a primary urge, to consume and to grow more
powerful, and to use the nearby city to do it.  The flames within the
Firebird were several thousands of degrees hot, and objects near it
blackened and burned.  As it consumed more flame, the Firebird grew even
hotter.

Hydrogue launched a jet of water at the Firebird, attempting to
extinguish it.  The bird dodged the jet narrowly, and flew towards the 3
X-Men.  When it landed on the yard in front of the destroyed house, the
grass withered and burned, and a wave of heat buffeted the X-Men,
stopping them in their tracks.  The living flame reared onto its legs and
spread its wings to show its fullest glory.  The Firebird was beautiful
and terrible, glowing brightly in the dimming light of twilight.  From
its beak flew a ball of incredibly hot fire, fired straight at Hydrogue,
who had attacked it.  A dome of water formed above the X-Men, and the
fires washed over it, leaving them unharmed.  But in the time it took for
the flames to clear, the Firebird took off, and was out of reach.

"Oh no" said Hydrogue, as he watched the flaming bird fly away.

"What?" asked Psionic.

"It's headed in the direction of downtown Salt Lake City" Hydrogue
responded, dread clear in his voice.  "If we don't stop it, it will
burn the city to ashes."

Without any further words, Hydrogue jumped into the air and soared in the
direction of the city, determined to save his hometown from the fire.

                      ************************************


Cyclops had rarely had his hands so full.  Being the Professor's right
hand man put him in a position of huge responsibility.  He was in the
middle of contacting all the mutants who had gone through and were still
friendly with Xavier's School and the X-Men, trying to muster as much
support as possible.  He also was trying to coordinate with the sects of
the military that were willing to work with him, evaluate intelligence
information, and figure out what the hell to do next.

He sat in his office in the hidden levels underneath the mansion.  His
desk was U shaped and lined 3 walls of the room.  There were multiple
computer screens on the desk, all showing different bits of data.  The
desk was littered with photographs, diagrams, reports, and several empty
cups of coffee.  He wore his X-Men uniform, the one piece black leather
suit unzipped down to the waist, showing a nice view of his well formed
and slightly hairy pecs.  He smelled rank, and he had been in this office
since the meeting the previous day, and had not stopped working except to
eat (not enough) and sleep (barely).  Logan had stopped by at least once
an hour to make sure that Scott hadn't yet collapsed, but he had yet to
succeed in persuading him to take a real nap or meal.  Scott appreciated
this, in fact appreciated everything Logan did for him.  After Jean had
`died', both had had their hearts ripped from their chests, wounded so
badly that they knew not how to go on.  They had found solace in each
others arms, and bodies.  A physical relationship had developed between
the two men, and that was all that it was for a while.  They took out
their anger and frustration on each other with loud, rough, angry sex,
where Scott always took the bottom (but not always submissive) role.
After a time, the two had developed a true friendship, and though they
were not a `couple' per se, they had an intimate relationship that had
given them both something to hold on to.

Scott got up, hoping to find Logan and get some `stress relief', when
they all ran out of time.

<Scott, I was just contacted by one of our telepaths in Boston> said the
Professor inside Scott's head.  <They have positive contacts coming into
the city by sea, they are Magneto's forces.  We must deploy as quickly
as possible.>

<Yes Professor, I will ready the jet, will you inform the others?>

<In the process.>  Scott had always marveled at the Professor's ability
to hold multiple telepathic conversations at once.

<Ok, I will mobilize forces from outside the school, and get our
satellites in place to give us intel on Boston.  Will you contact Psionic
and bring him Storm and Hydrogue in?>

<I have already tried.  It seems that the Phoenix has launched an assault
of some kind on Salt Lake City, they will be staying there to deal with
it and join you later if possible.>

<Understood.>

What a mess, he thought.  The first attack is on one of the biggest
cities in the country, and his 2nd in command AND his biggest gun were
out of the fight.

Oh well, no use in bitching about what you can't fix.  Scott zipped up
his jumpsuit as he ran toward the jet hanger.  It was go time.

                         ******************************


Hydrogue was flying as fast as he could, but still trailed behind the
Firebird.  The flames from the living legend lit the night sky, and heads
turned as it passed.  The Firebird flew low, and on several occasions
taller houses and trees burst into flames from sheer proximity to the
creature.  It would circle around these stray fires and feed off of them
before putting on a burst of speed and racing back towards downtown.

Hydrogue could only watch as the Firebird reached the city significantly
ahead of him.  The bird was the size of a large truck at this point, but
that would soon change.  On the edges of the city, the Firebird veered
off course and landed, directly in the center of a gas station.  It
spread its fiery wings, sending a blast of heat from itself, igniting the
gasoline tanks located underground.

The explosion was spectacular, and lit the sky like a new sun for a brief
moment.  Hydrogue had to blink his eyes shut to protect them from the
glare.  He watched in horror as a city block was turned into a flaming
crater.  The Firebird rose out from this ruin and drew upon the flames,
creating a powerful heart of fire.  The living core of flame within the
Firebird grew to heats approaching 10 thousand degrees, far above the
melting point of steel, and it grew to the size of a large house.  As it
rose into the air, the Firebird let loose a stream of fire from its beak,
which blasted through a nearby office building and into the street behind
it.  The building burst into flames violently, the glass began to melt
almost immediately.

The Firebird flew down one of the major roads of Salt Lake City, its
wingtips brushing the buildings on the sides of the lane, setting them
aflame.  Crowds of people ran screaming from the creature, choking the
streets with fleeing bodies.  The bird circled around in a large
intersection and landed on the other side of the fleers, halting them in
their tracks.  The Firebird reared up and let out a piercing cry, a sound
of terror and power.  It spread its wings out fully, and the blast of
heat knocked many people down, leaving them helpless and at the
creature's mercy.  Over a hundred people were convinced they were about
to die.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a barrage of blue orbs streamed in and drilled
the Firebird just before it could loose its flaming jet, knocking it back
slightly.  Hydrogue flew into the square, and let loose another powerful
barrage, rapid-firing orbs of icy energy from his hands at high speeds.
As he circled around the square, dodging the Firebird's answering
attacks; rain clouds formed over the city and let loose a torrent of
water to fight the fires.  The flames from the Firebird were much too hot
to be extinguished this way, but the spreading was lessened, and wet
objects are less likely to catch fire.  The crowd cheered for the
stranger who fought for them, though many were surprised to be glad to
see a mutant.

Hydrogue circled around, and faced the Firebird head on.  He flew down
towards it, and let loose from both hands a powerful blast of water many
times colder than ice.  At the same time, the Firebird loosed from its
beak a jet of its hottest fires, and the two attacks met in the center.
The icy water weakened the fire considerable, but proved the lesser in
the end.  The fires consumed the water, and continued on to blast
Hydrogue from the sky.

He landed in a heap on the ground, his clothes on fire.  Hydrogue pulled
the shirt from off his head, discarding the flaming garment.  The
Firebird leaned above him, and loosed another jet of flame straight down
at the mutant.  The fires met against a powerful barrier of water, and
the two elemental powers struggled.  The heat of the fire was incredible,
and it was all that Hydrogue could do to keep up his defense.  While the
two powers struggled, many of the citizens ran for their lives, wanting
nothing to do with the horror that had befallen their home.

The struggle was titanic, as the flames surrounded the barrier and melted
the tar of the street.  At this time, two things happened at once.
First, Hydrogue loosed a built up burst of energy, blasting his
protective dome outward with incredible force.  The second was that twin
bolts of lightning struck the Firebird in its side, sent from the hands
of Storm, who had arrived on the scene via Psionic's teleportation.  The
Firebird's attack was shattered, and it was thrown back by the dual
assault from the two powerful mutants.  It screamed and soared into the
air, blasting nearby buildings with its fire attacks.

"Nice timing" said Hydrogue, who had turned to water to resist the heat
attack.

"Thank you" replied Storm, whose eyes where white from accessing her
powers.  The clouds overhead rumbled with thunder, and lightning crackled
between them.

"I'm feeling a bit better now," piped in Psionic, "so I thought we
would join the fun."  He still looked pale, and his upper lip was still
tinged red from blood, but Hydrogue would not refute his claim to be well
enough to fight.

With a scream, the Firebird came swooping down on the three X-Men, fire
jets streaking from its mouth.  Psionic teleported out of the way just in
time, as the street under his feet was melted into oblivion.  Storm
rained lighting down on the Firebird, but it seemed to do little damage
to the creature.  The Firebird was so hot, that there was a layer of
ionized atoms surrounding it.  The lightning bolts were dispersed by
these ions, causing the majority of the energy to dissipate harmlessly.
The creature lashed out with one of its whip-like tail feathers, striking
Storm and sending her hurtling into a nearby building, her leather X-Men
jumpsuit melting and burning.  Hydrogue flew into the air, and sent a
powerful arctic pulse, knocking the Firebird from its course, forcing it
to circle around.  Throwing a quick cold wave at Storm to extinguish the
fires and re-solidify melted leather, Hydrogue flew off after the
Firebird.  Psionic kept up by teleporting from rooftop to rooftop.  Once,
the Firebird sent a fiery tail whip, but Psionic blocked it by
telekinetically lifting a slab of concrete in the way.  The Firebird
reached the center of the city, and rose above the tallest buildings.

Hurtling in at high speed, Hydrogue channeled the electrical energy of
his water atoms in a new way.  Bolts of lightning flew from his hands,
greater and more powerful than the ones wielded by Storm.  At the same
time, a tornado descended from the clouds above the Firebird, crackling
with electricity, whirling with icy wind and rain.  The creature was
engulfed in the maelstrom, blasted form without by the rain of lightning
from Hydrogue.  Psionic sent orbs of collected icy rain from Hydrogue's
storm at the creature, dousing it.

They thought they had won, that the fires were overcome.  They were
wrong.  The Firebird loosed a portion of its inner flame, and a flaming
blast burst forth from it, shattering the twister and obliterating the
orbs of water and bolts of lightning coming towards it.  The blast
slammed Psionic off the roof of the building he was on, sending him
across the alley and through the window of the next building.  Psionic
struck a wall before falling to the floor, and lay there unmoving.
Hydrogue took a greater hit from the blast, and was smashed out of the
air and sent hurtling away.  He spun end over end head over heals until
he smashed through the wall of a small 1 floor building a quarter mile
from where he had been when hit.

Hydrogue looked up from the ground; his eyesight swam for a moment before
focusing.  He was surrounded by bright lights and loud music, and lots of
people.  As he stood up from the man shaped dent in the wooden floor, he
realized that he knew this place.  It was the gay club where Hydrogue
used to work as a dancer, before he ran away.  All around him were half
naked young men covered in sweat and glitter, all looking at him at a
safe distance.  A circle of the onlookers had formed around the strange
boy who had survived a meteor-like fall.  He looked up and saw a hole in
the ceiling and a hole in the wall of the second floor of the club, which
had been ruined by his entry.  Apparently with all the noise and booze,
the club goers had no idea what was going on in their city.

"What the fuck?" someone yelled.

"It's a mutant!" yelled another.  "How else would he survive that
fall?"

"Wait a second, that's Xander!"  Hydrogue looked to the side, and saw
2 guys he used to dance with when he worked at the club.  It hadn't
entirely hit him how far he has come until he saw his former coworkers
standing there in skimpy underwear with dollar bills sticking out of the
waistband.  He had been there not even a year ago.  Of course, this was
not comforting enough for him to get over the person standing next to his
former coworkers.  The man had his dark hair buzzed short, his dark eyes
were staring at Alex with a mixture of shock and fear.  He was taller
than Hydrogue, and broader shouldered, but these facts did not comfort
him.  For the man was Jared, Hydrogue's first and only boyfriend, the
man who had led him on, pretended to love him, used him, and humiliated
him in public.  Jared had had suspicions of Hydrogue being a mutant after
the strange incidents that occurred during their very public breakup, but
had never known for sure until now.

"Hello Jared" said Hydrogue.  Hydrogue rose to his feet, brushing off
the dust from his bare torso.  His pants had largely burned away with his
shirt, leaving behind charred and hole-filled shorts behind.  "How great
to see you again" he said, his voice icy and emotionless.  Jared rose
into the air against his own volition, lifted by Hydrogue's power.

Any further exchange was interrupted by a group of people blasting their
way into the club, screaming in terror.  "Everyone run!" one of them
yelled, "there is a giant flaming^Å.THING coming this way!"

The crowd poured out the doors, a stampede of young gay men.  Hydrogue,
knowing he should be at the front of the group should any dangers arise,
released Jared and rose into the air.  He flew above the heads of the
humans, much to their dismay, and out the door.

The street was crammed completely full of people, every club and bar on
the street had emptied in fear of the coming Firebird.  But they were all
trapped.  One end of the street was blocked; a tall building had fallen
in the Firebird's wrath, leaving a huge pile of burning rubble across
the entire road.  The other direction was free of debris, but that way
was barred by the creature itself.

Believing there to be no time to lose, Hydrogue flew directly at the
Firebird.  The creature fired an orb of flaming plasma from its beak,
aimed at the crowd below.  Hydrogue launched a bolt of lightning from his
hand, which met the plasma halfway.  The ball exploded, showering the
crowd with sparks and heat, and knocking many down from the shockwave,
but harming none.

Hydrogue hovered above the crowd, and swept his arms in an upward
motion.  All at once, every fire hydrant on the street blasted open, a
copious stream of water flowing upwards, and flowing together in front of
the water mutant before surging forward in one massive geyser straight at
the Firebird.  The creature was too late with a responding attack, and
was thrown back violently by the blast.  The crowd, not knowing what to
do about being assaulted by a monster and saved by a mutant, cheered for
the one who was not trying to kill them at that particular moment.

The creature was thrown down the street, but not destroyed.  The people
were not saved, but merely bought a reprieve.

I have to destroy this thing, Hydrogue thought to himself.  It is but a
manifestation of the Phoenix's power, just a fraction of what she can
do.  If I can't defeat this thing, I won't stand a chance against her,
and the world may as well surrender to her now.

Hydrogue switched tactics.  He stopped thinking big, stopped thinking
more.  He thought smaller.  He closed his eyes.  In his hand he focused
on a small orb of water molecules.  The molecules vibrated strongly in
his hand, a sign of activity and heat.  He held them in his mind and he
slowed them down.  Since heat and power are manifestations of molecular
movement and vibration, cold is the manifestation of molecular slowing.
The molecules moved less and less, growing to the depths of utter cold.
As the orb in his hand grew colder and glowed with an eerie blue light,
the temperature around Hydrogue plummeted.  The sweat and rain on his
skin and hair frosted over.  The water on the ground from the rain froze
in an instant, windows around him began to ice over.  Some glass broke
entirely.  The water still dribbling form the opened hydrants froze into
strange still fountains.  The rain began to freeze into ice and snow, the
crowd began to shake.  The molecules in Hydrogue's hand stopped moving
entirely.  They had reached the coldest possible temperature physically
possible; -459.67 F, absolute zero, the point where all things freeze
and all molecules cease to move in any way.  It was only Hydrogue's
existence as a Class 5 water elemental mutant that he was able to survive
his proximity to such a phenomenon.

Hydrogue's eyes opened, and they glowed bluer and brighter than ever
before, his hair appeared silvery-black from being wet and frozen solid.
He held the frost bolt in his hand, the greatest weapon he had ever
made.  It was not powerful, but instead robbed the power from all other
things around it, decreasing their energy with its shear presence.

The Firebird came flying straight back up the street, its fires bright
and hot still.  It let loose the greatest stream of fire yet from its
beak, wishing to obliterate the annoying mutant who resisted it.  At the
same time, Hydrogue sent his frost bolt straight at the Firebird.  The
powerful attacks met in the center of the two powerful beings, but this
time there was no explosion.  The frost bolt drained the heat from the
blast, traveling straight down the core of the jet, which died as a
result.  The bolt flew straight back down the jet until it reached its
ultimate target, the Firebird.  Entering the creature's mouth, and
traveling to its heart of living flame.

The creature did not die in a spectacular explosion, or another such
fantastical way.  It reared into the air, and let out a sad cry, an
almost beautiful note of music, a Phoenix's song.  Its fiery body glowed
less strong, and then began to die away.  Like a flame over a leaf, it
slowly glowed orange, then faded to black, and then, in a gust of wind,
it fell apart into ashes, like so much burnt paper.

At first there was complete silence.  But then there was outrageous
applause and cheering.  Hydrogue set down and looked around at hundreds
of humans cheering for him.  As someone who was chased out of his home
and life by anti-mutant sentiment, it was very confusing turn of events.

After 5 minutes of handshakes and pats on the back (and ass in some
cases), Hydrogue could barely take it anymore.  Then there was Jared.

"I never thought I would say this, but I'm glad you were here, and I'm
glad you are a mutant" he said, looking like he could scarcely believe
his own words.  "And I'm sorry for everything I did to you."  He
extended his hand in apology.

Hydrogue reached out and grasped the extended hand, a smile on his face.
But that smile died quickly, and Jared's hand grew icy cold to the point
of pain.  Hydrogue pulled Jared closer to him, and looked him straight in
the eyes.  He spoke with a low, cold, unearthly voice.

"I don't forgive you."

Hydrogue flew into the air, and was not seen again by any humans in Salt
Lake City again that day, though he did pick up his two unconscious
friends and utilize his rainstorm to put out the remaining fires.  The
local news (produced by antiquated radio waves) covered the story
non-stop for the next several days, but they only had a few photos of
their heroic mutants to display.

Hydrogue was forced to fly himself, Storm, and Psionic back to the
mansion, as he had never attempted a teleportation across such a distance
before.  He was unaware of the battle of Boston, which came and went in
the hours it took him to fly across the United States.

                               ******************


"There were so many of them, it was an impossible battle" explained
Cyclops.  He lay in a bed in the hospital below the mansion, along with
several dozen other mutants.

"How many were there?" asked Elixir, who was busy healing the deep cuts
along Scott's side.

"More mutants than the Professor told us even existed in the world.  I
don't understand how that is possible, but that is how it seemed.  The
military was obliterated in minutes, they had no idea what they were up
against.  And us, well there were not nearly enough of us.  And we lost
several, so now there are even fewer."

"How is this possible?  Do you think the Phoenix made it SEEM like there
were that many, when in fact there really weren't?"

"I hope so, but I have no idea.  The Professor will know more, once he
finishes restoring the minds of the Phoenix's personal victims, we can
ask."

The two of them looked over at the Professor, who was sitting beside the
bed of an unconscious mutant, one of 18 who had had their mind, but not
their body, shattered by the Phoenix.  He looked weary beyond
explanation, and he still had much work to do.

"We have a lot of work to do" said Scott, wishing he did not know how
right he was.

                              ********************

Hydrogue sat in his room in the dark.  He had faced a monstrous creature
of living fire, and saved his hometown from being burned to the ground.
But, the city would never have been in danger if he had not been there.
And furthermore, if he had not begged to be allowed to visit his family,
he could have fought in the battle of Boston.  Now over half a million
people and one of the largest cities in the United States was under the
control of the Brotherhood.  He didn't care if the Brotherhood army had
had hundreds of thousands of mutants in it, he would have destroyed them
all to get at the Phoenix.

Demon came in after a couple of hours.  He said nothing, but sat behind
his friend and put his arms around him, pulling him to his chest. Alex
closed his eyes and leaned his head back, resting it on Demon's broad
shoulder, enjoying the heat at his back.

It seemed so unexpected to Alex, but in fact was long awaited.  He felt
lips against his, very soft lips.  They were gentle, but grew firmer
after a moment as Demon kissed him.  He felt his friend's tongue enter
his mouth and he moaned softly.  The kiss broke after a few seconds, and
Alex opened his eyes.  In the dark, he could still see Demon's ruby eyes
looking at him and sparkling.

"We need to talk" said Demon.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////

OK, that chapter turned out WAY longer than I thought it would, but I
love it anyway.  I hope you do too.  Please let me know what you think,
email me at phoenixfire543@yahoo.com with any comments, feedback,
questions.  And for those of you who are interested, there is a new yahoo
group for the story, if you want to join, please go to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HydrogueFans

Thank you to everyone, without readers, this story could not continue.  I
love you all.
   -Matt