"So, how are we doing?"

Hank heaved a deep sigh as he limped out of the Mansion's medbay, immediately regretting it as pain surged through his chest.

"Not good, Charles."

"Well, that's all relative. It seems at this point many of the students are quite happy to be alive after all this."

"Point taken," Hank said, smirking slightly, "But I imagine that will wear off once the various injuries start to take their toll—not to mention whatever happens in this emergency session of Congress that has been called."

"Ah, yes. You really think Kelly will finally get what he wants?"

"After having about a third of the Midwest invaded by a force of Mutants that killed roughly six thousand civilians and soldiers before we managed to eliminate them at their source? Yes, and right now I can't say I blame them."

"Hrrm. Quite. How is Jamie doing?"

"He's… stable. He's still pretty wounded, and he's on a steady morphine drip and some pretty powerful sedatives. Right now he's out. Which, quite frankly, is good… I certainly don't want to be the one to break the news to him that he has to go to trial for all this."

"Well, as tough as it will be for him, we need to show others that we're not above the law," Xavier said. "I think after the case is made, he'll be cleared of all charges. He isn't the Jamie who committed all those atrocities."

"Yes, and unfortunately he doesn't know who he is. Apparently during each forced duplication the various Jamies underwent, their memories remained identical up until the point of separation. He could be the 'real' Jamie, he could be a duplicate—it's like we're back to where we were with him when he split into two. Only this time it's considerably more likely he's NOT the 'real' Jamie. I doubt we'll ever know for sure. And combining his identity crisis with all the torture he underwent during the time he was imprisoned in H.Y.D.R.A… he's pretty messed up, Charles."

"Yes, I have no doubt…. How are the others doing?"

"Well, ignoring my couple of removed bullets, broken ankle bone, and substantial bruises, let's see… Jubilee has a broken arm and three broken ribs, Roberto has two wounds in his left arm from bullets, Danielle has a smashed nose and is currently recovering from a concussion, Piotr's right hand I had to put in an extensive cast, and most of the rest of us either have bruises, minor burn wounds, or both. Cessily's the only one who's recovered fully… well, more than fully, actually."

"Oh?"

"Yes, after learning she saved half of the team from being incinerated, she's finally beginning to gain some much-needed confidence in herself. It's obvious even without talking to her—she looks considerably more, er… 'solid' than she did before this incident, though her fingers still seem to drip every now and then. And I've noticed that her stuttering's lessened."

"Well, at least that's one less X-Man I have to worry about, then…."

"Charles, what is it? You still look worried."

"I had talked about it briefly a few days ago with Amara, but all this, what's likely to happen today at the Congressional proceedings… I think there's no going back to the way things were, Hank. Things are going to need to change at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters, and quickly. I think I'm going to call a meeting tonight after dinner to discuss this with the students, but I fear the reaction."

"So you're afraid we're going to lose even more students, like we did with Kitty."

"…In short, yes."

"Well, why don't you… errgh.. help as a bit of a support until I can get a pair of crutches out of the supply cabinet down the hall, and we can talk about this. I've been on my feet way too long, given my ankle."

"Of course, old friend."

"Turn it up!" Amara said.

"No, turn it DOWN," Rogue said from her position on the opposite end of the couch. "Seriously, after all we've been through, you guys want to watch C-SPAN? How about something to get our minds off all the BS going on right now?"

"The Congressional hearings are going to start any minute now," Jean said. "It's going to affect us pretty directly, Rogue."

"So, we can get the short of it, later. Either the Mutant Registration Act passes or it doesn't. Why listen to one idiot after another go on-screen and blab on about stuff they know nothing about?"

"Rogue…" Cessily sighed from her seat in the middle of the couch. "It's more complicated than you think…"

"Oh, right, I almost forgot, you actually WANT this to happen," Rogue said, throwing up her hands in the air before getting up off the couch.

"I just think b-both sides have good points, and that we should—"

"Whatever," Rogue said, waving Cessily's comment away. "I'm going to go into the kitchen to watch Comedy Central with Paige."

"…Well, then…" Cessily said after a few moments of near-silence, extending her right arm to turn up the volume button on the television, "…Let's hear what they have to say."

"—take you now to the Congressional hearings, just beginning on Capitol Hill," the female reporter at the newsdesk was saying. "For those of you who may not be aware, this session is regarding the invasion of Mutant duplicates into our nation who seemingly appeared out of nowhere around the United States-Canadian border between Montana and Saskatchewan. Although help is still making its way to the most remote portions of the invaded area, the current estimated death toll is 6,150, with over one hundred billion in property damage and two hundred- I'm sorry, and here we have the speaker beginning his speech—we'll now switch right over to the proceedings."

"—invasion has come as a sudden shock to all of us," the Speaker was saying. "In a matter of hours, our country was invaded by a massive, Mutant force—apparently all duplicates of a single Mutant—identified as Jamie Madrox, aka 'Multiple', a student of the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters in Bayville, New York, which has achieved a fame of sorts in the past few years for essentially being a magnet of Mutant activity in these United States. Then almost as soon as it began, this invasion came to an end, all the duplicates- from all reports- 'melting' within a matter of minutes. Investigations are still ongoing as to the full background behind this invasion, but from all reports I've received the invasion was stopped, interestingly enough, by many of these same students from the Xavier Institute. Obviously this complicates things, and this is why we have called this special session of Congress, to decide what must be done to prevent future invasions of this sort while still giving our emerging Mutant population their Constitutionally-protected rights. Before the debate on this begins, I must ask that this individual, Jamie Madrox, be left out of this discussion. His court date is in less than a week, and given the odd circumstances surrounding his Mutant powers, his guilt or innocence will be determined then. This debate is to focus solely on the positives and negatives of enacting Mutant legislation across the country. Bayville Mayor Robert Kelly, I yield the floor to you first."

"Thank you, Speaker," Mayor Kelly said, giving a slight nod of thanks before turning to the rest of the House and the cameras. "My fellow Congressmen and any other individuals that may be watching this—I do not exaggerate when I say that we are facing a crisis more serious than any in the history of humankind. Just a few short years ago most of us had no idea Mutants even existed, and now they're in the news everywhere.

"Obviously we all have heard of the recent invasion of our country by duplicates of a student from the Xavier Institute, headquartered on the outskirts of the very town that I am tasked with overseeing. As anyone aware of events in my hometown over the past few years can attest to, it is not an easy job. And, though I will let the jury decide whether this 'Multiple' character is guilty of mass murder, let me remind everyone listening to this that I made public a few months ago on my personal website evidence that points very strongly to the Xavier Institute covering up at least one mishap in Bayville High's past."

"We're never gonna live that down, are we?" Amara said dejectedly.

"Well, I have to admit, hearing about it, I'm not sure it w-was the right thing for Professor X to brainwash the entire school into thinking the Brotherhood never attacked," Cessily said. "It j-just delayed the inevitable—he had to know that."

"Mayor Kelly, I am only going to remind you of this once," the Speaker said, banging his gavel sharply, "I have permitted you to have an audience here on this national stage, and as such you will stick to national issues. Jamie Madrox will have his trial—do not attempt to influence the outcome here."

"Well, I suppose we have different opinions on what constitutes a national issue, but very well," Mayor Kelly said, putting his hands up defensively.

"Regardless, this Mutant problem has not stayed in Bayville. Although the town has the highest population of Mutants in the world, let me just pull out a few of the stories that have made headlines in both the U.S. and various other countries around the world in just the past couple of months, as more and more are 'discovered'. Ahem….

"'Disaster!'" Kelly said, picking up a Slovakian newspaper and pointing to the headline as he read a translated version of it. "'Local Mutant freezes entire high school as powers manifest. Fifty dead, hundreds more lose extremities or become very sick due to sudden exposure to extreme cold.' The unknown Mutant fled the scene, and as of this writing remained at large. Dated the twenty-seventh of March.

"Here's another headline, from a paper in China. It mentions a Mutant in a remote Tibetian town with 'superhuman strength' going on a rampage and killing twenty people, injuring dozens of others and destroying three buildings before the authorities put him down. Apparently what triggered the rampage was that his mother, a vocal supporter of a separate and sovereign Tibet, had been sentenced to death by the Chinese government a few days earlier."

Putting down that paper and picking up yet another one—this one in English—Kelly continued, "'Cameras catch Mutant criminal in the act'—this one's from a paper in Seattle, dated the fifteenth of June, just ten days ago. Apparently a rash of burglaries had preceded this report, and the police, studying the complete lack of physical evidence, had no leads as to who the suspect was or how these burglaries were being perpetrated. No sensors were ever tripped, no physical evidence such as small pieces of skin or hair left behind—the business owners would just show up the next day and discover that some of their most expensive art sculptures were stolen. Here, the story points out, a couple of particularly well-hidden security cameras catch an individual teleporting in to the room containing the art sculpture in question, touching it, and teleporting both themselves and the sculpture out in another flash of light. The person—obviously a Mutant—was masked. No clues on who the Mutant was, other than that they were female."

"Wait a minute, hold on, hold on," Rahne said, obviously searching her mind for something. "A 'flash of light'….a teleporter, but NOT Kurt… Cess, we can pause this and continue to play later, right?"

"Yes… but why-?"

"Don't ye remember? Hank told us a while ago about some other Mutant teleporter apparently responsible for taking Boom Boom… wherever she currently is. He an' Storm were able to absolve Kurt of any wrongdoin' because the light given off by the teleportation didn't match Kurt's."

Before Cessily could even press the pause button, Amara had leapt up from the couch and ran out of the room, calling Hank's name.

"Well, I don't know if we can grant her complete immunity, Christoph, but-"

"Hank! Hank, come quickly, we need you!"

Hank stopped midsentence and turned towards Xavier, who was sitting behind his desk. Both of them, as well as Maverick and X-23, were all seated around the Professor's office.

"Sounds like Amara—and fairly urgent, Charles. Should I-?"

"Yes, Hank, go," Xavier said, nodding his head slightly. "I think I can manage here."

Hank tipped his head a bit towards Maverick and X-23 each in turn before taking hold of a pair of crutches and limping out of the room to see what Amara wanted.

"….Well?" Maverick asked.

"Christoph, I… you understand our situation right here is already delicate. And X-23 has made trouble here in the past. I expelled her not long ago."

"I realize it's a sticky situation, Xavier, but I was with H.Y.D.R.A. for a long, long time. I know better than any of you what X-23—er, um, Laura… has been through. I've been in both their world and the 'outside' world. I can help her transition to a normal life."

"Well, I understand that you wouldn't just have wanted to be dropped off in the middle of the wilderness to find your own way like Domino and Deadpool requested. Temporary residence I have no problem with, but…"

Xavier paused a moment to look at X-23, who wasn't returning his gaze, her eyes instead fixed somewhere between his desk and the floor in front of her, her ever-furrowed brow unchanging. It was clear that she was listening, but she had internal questions of her own to work out at the moment.

"…But I don't know about anything permanent. Many of the students are already very uncomfortable around Laura, and rightly so."

"Look, we didn't get Sinister," Maverick said. "H.Y.D.R.A. is still out there, and with the amount of damage we've caused them, they're going to be out looking for us in a very big way as soon as they get themselves organized again. X-23 can certainly survive on her own, as can I, there's no question. But with H.Y.D.R.A. out for blood, and now with a lead, given that they know you all were involved? Quite frankly, the safest place for all of us is together. Here."

"I understand your point," Xavier replied, "But I simply can't risk another outburst. Things are already tense enough among the students as it is."

"I won't do it again," X-23 suddenly said, her gaze lifting up to meet Xavier's.

Xavier raised one of his eyebrows. "Why the sudden change in heart? When you left, you still seemed convinced that you had done the right thing to Kitty."

"I thought myself… .more capable… than I am," X-23 said, a hint of shame creeping into her normally angry tone. "H.Y.D.R.A. had created me to be the perfect weapon. But like with Wolverine, they have upgraded. They have gone onto another, more efficient weapon. And Jamie will not be the end. I... do not think I am safe anymore by myself. Although I don't agree with your methods—I think you are far too soft—if obeying your rules is what I must to do to stay here, than I will."

Xavier merely sat there silent for a moment, taken aback. X-23… apologizing? Now I've seen everything…

"Look, I won't just be here for Laura," Christoph/Maverick said, interrupting the awkward silence. "I've quite versed in biology and chemistry. I may need to brush up on teaching methods a bit, but I'd be happy to be an instructor here in exchange for 'sanctuary' of sorts."

Xavier looked back and forth between X-23 and Maverick, tapping his steepled fingers together.

"Very well," Xavier said after a few moments, extending an open hand out across his desk.

"Thank you kindly," Maverick said, reaching over and giving Xavier's hand a hearty shake. "I promise I won't let you down….and neither will Laura."

"BUT," Xavier said, lifting a palm in the air to stop Maverick from continuing further, "I'm going to run this by the students then as well. If they overwhelmingly reject the idea of you two moving in…"

"…I understand," Maverick said, nodding. "With everything going on right now, that seems more than fair to me."

"What's going on?" Kurt said, wincing as he and Amara walked into the main console room in the sub-basement, where Jean and Rahne were watching Hank sift through various reports and news articles on the internet. "What's so important?"

"We think we have a lead on that crime you were almost convicted for a few weeks ago," Hank said, his hands typing away on his keyboard, his eyes fixed on the monitors in front of him.

"Really? What—who did it?" Kurt said, his injuries almost forgotten as he walked over to Hank. "Have they been arrested yet?"

"Nnnnot as such," Rahne said, biting her lip. "We're still kinda… unsure who exactly they are."

"Wait, what? Okay, now I'm confused. If you don't know who they are, vhat's the point?"

"Well, the main thing is we now have definitive proof it's not YOU," Hank replied, "Which, given our current situation, is a bit of a godsend."

"I just got back in here a little before you," Jean explained to Kurt, "Having checked Cerebro. The weird thing is, I did a thorough search through Professor Xavier's files. There are NO records of ANY of other Mutants in the world having a teleportation ability."

"Well, maybe no one's discovered zem yet," Kurt replied.

"No, that's not quite how Cerebro works," Jean said, shaking her head. "For about the past six months Professor X has done a weekly scan of the globe, archiving any new Mutant X-gene activations. It's become necessary lately- with so many new Mutants popping up everywhere, we no longer can help them all—but at least we have a complete record should we need to help any of them in the future. Given that Cerebro detects an X-gene as soon as it manifests its mutation, even if that Mutant's own family didn't know of their mutation, we'd know of it.

"I even did a thorough scan of the current Mutant population, to see if perhaps this mysterious teleporter's X-gene activated so recently that we haven't stored their file in Cerebro's archives. Nope. In fact—and here's the weird thing—there are fewer Mutants on Earth now than last week."

"Huh?" Amara asked. "Okay, I missed this part. How is that possible? I thought you just said they've been popping up everywhere lately."

"I know it's not pleasant to think of, but perhaps there's such a backlash because of the whole Jamie thing that people are starting to kill Mutants faster than they're appearing," Kurt said, shaking his head slowly.

"I'm happy to say that's not the case," Hank said, his eyes still glued to the monitor in front of him, his hands still typing away at the keyboard. "There's a few headlines like that from the world's major news sources, but generally it would appear most people are too afraid of us to do anything overt like that. Given that I'm sure many Mutants wouldn't go quietly, it's doubtful many attacks like that are going unreported. So although yes, there's been violence against Mutants, it's not nearly to the point where it would create a net loss."

"So then what's going on?" Amara asked.

"That's what we're trying to figure out now," Rahne shrugged.

"I think I have a hypothesis, sifting through the various articles related to the thefts Mayor Kelly brought up," Hank said. "But I don't think anyone here's going to like it."

"What else is new?" Amara sighed. "Lay it on us."

"There's only one thing all of the art sculptures that have been stolen have in common, at least as far as I can discern," Hank said, pulling up on the monitor screen pictures of the various stolen pieces so that they were all side-by-side. "They all contain various amounts of a rather rare metal, only commonly found in asteroids."

"Magneto," Kurt said, smacking his forehead. "Wundabar."

"So whoever this new Mutant is must be working for Magneto," Rahne concluded.

"In all likelihood, yes," Hank replied. "It would also explain how we can't find her—Magneto's tech has always somehow managed to keep pace with Cerebro's enhancements and prevent us from finding where he and his Acolytes went after our little altercation with Nimrod."

"But why go after art sculptures?" Amara said. "That's gotta be the dumbest thing Magneto's ever done. They can't have much of this kind of metal in them. And from what you guys have told me, doesn't he have an entire broken asteroid laying around somewhere in the Arctic? If this stuff is only common in space debris, why didn't he just take some of that metal?"

"Magneto's many things, but he's no dummy," Jean said. "No, he's playing with us."

"Exactly," Hank replied, finally wheeling around in his chair to face the rest of them. "Magneto worked with us during our cooperation with Apocalypse, and he was friends with Charles for quite some time before they parted ways. He knows what our capabilities are and what our limits are. He knew we'd found out about this, and he predicted that we'd do exactly what we're doing now. This whole thing was merely an attention-getter, to tell us he's still out there, and he's working on something."

"And, nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah-boo-boo, we can't find him," Kurt sighed.

"Yup," Beast frustratingly replied.

"Well, then if he's now got a teleporter, he's recruiting again," Rahne said, her facial expression making it obvious that she was coming to a horrible realization, "And if you link that with the decline in Mutants recently… it means—it means the Mutant population isn't actually declining, they're just all being cloaked under-"

"Yup," Beast repeated.

"—he's recruiting that quickly?" Rahne said, biting her lip again. "To the point where he's gaining more followers than there are Mutants appearing every week?"

"Yup."

"This is really, really not good," Amara said.

"Yup," Beast sighed dejectedly.

Jamie was staring up at the ceiling of the medbay, idly counting the tiles through the tears in his eyes. There was a television set right next to his bed, but he certainly wasn't in the mood to watch anything.

He stopped as he heard footsteps outside the room and then the door behind him abruptly opening and closing.

Abruptly wiping the tears from his eyes, Jamie turned around, ready to tell the person to at least knock before they came in—until he saw who it was.

"Oh. It's you," Jamie said, turning his head away from X-23 once more. "I guess I should have known."

X-23 merely stayed silent, staring at Jamie, the ever-present scowl on her face.

"I know what you're gonna say," Jamie said angrily, tears forming in his eyes again. "I've heard from others what you said to Amara, what you said to Kitty. You're gonna tell me to 'man up', deal with it, we're on a mission, I don't matter, blah blah blah. Just… leave me alone. Please. You won't be here long anyways, so you can deal with staying away from me for a few days."

"Actually, I'm staying," X-23 replied.

"As if this day couldn't get any worse," Jamie said. "Look, could you please just—"

"I am not here to say what you think I am here to say," X-23 said, to Jamie's surprise her voice suddenly taking on a …. soft?... tone. He was even more bewildered when he felt X-23 sit down on the side of the bed he had turned his back to.

Turning to face X-23, seeing that her expression was actually one of emotional concern—Had he ever seen her with that expression before?- Jamie stammered, "W-what…?"

"Kitty and Amara were wrapped in feeling sorry for themselves out of selfishness. They had no idea what pain really was. You were experimented on by H.Y.D.R.A.-like me. You know you're not unique anymore, or even truly who you are—like me. You murdered countless people before coming to regret it—like me. They robbed you of your childhood—like me."

That was it. Everything that Jamie had been holding back—it all came out. In front of X-23, of all people, he finally broke out in hysterical bawling—a crying one resorts to when they're beyond tired, when there's nowhere else to run, no internal power left to hold it in, no self-consciousness left to care who sees.

"What—what they did to me…" Jamie blurted out in between fits, "I can't, Laura… the images…. What I did… I can't ever see things… the same…. the same way again…."

After a few seconds of sitting there hesitatingly, X-23 awkwardly held Jamie close to her, the look in her eyes far away. "….I know."

"Am I…. am I real? Does…. It… it matter? Oh god, how am I… what am I gonna do…. What am I gonna do…."

X-23 had some answers to some of those questions, but as little as she knew about human etiquette, she knew now was not the time. Instead, she merely repeated what was said before, not merely a hollow comforting thing one says to another, but a heartfelt reassurance that they are truly not alone.

"I know."

"What did we miss?" Rahne asked as she and the rest of the group she had been with re-entered the entertainment room.

"Wow, you guys were g-gone a really long time," Cessily asked, looking back to the others. "The hearing's almost over- they're voting now. I'll rewind it, but first th-things first—what did I miss?"

"It's, uh… it's complicated," Jean said. "I'll tell you it later."

Cessily shrugged and turned back towards the TV, rewinding the proceedings that she had recorded on the set's DVR. "For a while after you left Kelly just continued to give several more examples of M-Mutant disasters… here, here's where he stops."

As Cessily hit play on the DVR, Mayor Kelly put down one last paper, looking around the room slowly as if eyeing every one of the Representatives in the House. "Now, is that enough? In case you've been counting, I just laid out twenty-one separate Mutant disasters in just the last four months. As I understand it, the combined death toll from these disasters is about one-fourth the total deaths caused by al-Qaeda in that same time period. A year ago, the ratio of people killed by that particular terrorist group, compared to the number of deaths caused by Mutants, was ten-to-one. That's a pretty statistically significant increase."

"This is outrageous!" protested a female Representative, standing up from her seat. "How dare you accuse these Mutants of—"

"Order, order!" the Speaker interrupted, banging his gavel.

"And here there's a lot of cross-talk for a bit before things set-settle down," Cessily said, fast-forwarding the recording for a few seconds before pressing play again. "Mostly procedural stuff."

"This can't be-"

"You WILL all calm down and let Mayor Kelly speak his peace!" the Speaker yelled, banging his gavel down one final time. "Questioning will occur after he has finished his speech. Now, Mayor Kelly…?"

"Thank you," Kelly said, nodding slightly to the Speaker before continuing. "Now, I can definitely gather that some of you think I am likening all Mutants to terrorists. I am not making that case at all. Now, are some Mutants terrorists? Of course, we've seen it in the past- from Magneto and his band of 'Acolytes' to Apocalypse. There certainly seem to be a larger proportion of them compared to the estimated Mutant population than there are human terrorists compared to the overall population. Of course, that's the problem—when you have as much power as a Mutant does, I suppose it's tempting to misuse it for your own personal gains, whether it be outright terrorism, or, as I've also personally seen, cheating in school.

"Now, I know some of you would take issue with me calling Mutants a 'problem'. Well, I don't hear many who would have any issue calling terrorism a problem. Or cancer a problem. Yet all three of them kill other people, and sometimes in large amounts. So let me ask both the Representatives here and the people watching at home—if you wouldn't call Mutants a problem, then what exactly would you call them?"

Pausing a bit to let his question sink in, Kelly continued, "Now, to deal with this Mutant problem, my advisors and I, along with many senior members of Congress, have put together a rough draft of a piece of legislation, officially titled the Mutant Registration and Cooperation Act. The MRCA would make it mandatory by the end of this August for every Mutant in these United States to register at their local police station—have their fingerprints taken along with their picture, any cell phone numbers—that sort of personal information. Most importantly, along with that information they would also be required to give out in full detail any and all Mutant powers they possess. Depending on the classified 'power level' of the Mutant—we've laid guidelines out in the legislation for what defines a 'power level'—they'd have to go back every six months to every three years for a 'reassessment', since it appears that Mutants can grow in power as they gain better control of theirs. This will help us know who to contact if an unsolved crime points towards the use of a Mutant power.

"Now, Mister Speaker, I'd like to open the floor for questions if that's alright."

"Very well," the Speaker nodded, before pointing at a Representative obviously wanting to ask a question at the far end of the chamber. "Representative Mensmer, you may speak."

"Mayor Kelly," a thin, relatively young male from near the back said, standing up, "I think I speak for a lot of us when I ask—what exactly will this legislation accomplish? How will we know that every Mutant has registered, and furthermore, how will we know that they're telling the truth regarding the extent of their Mutant powers? It would seem that your legislation as it stands would be nothing but a humongous waste of time and taxpayer money, as only law-abiding Mutants would seek to register. We would be back to square one."

"Excellent question," Kelly acknowledged, walking over to a whiteboard easel in the center of his chamber that currently was blank.

"Just a fair warning," Cessily said to the others as Kelly took a marker and began to sketch out a crude shape on the whiteboard, "Most of you probably won't like this."

"I don't like what I've heard already," Jean said. "How could Kelly top-"

Jean stopped midsentence, a lump forming in her throat as she realized what Mayor Kelly was drawing.

"Ohmygod," Amara gaped. "That's… that's—"

"Cerebro," Mayor Kelly finished for her on the TV screen, stepping away from a quick sketch of the Cerebro chamber and pointing towards it with the marker in his hand. "Now, what is Cerebro, you ask? Back when Mutants were first discovered and the Xavier Institute was temporarily destroyed, many scientists and clean-up crews converged on the ruins. They found the remains of this massive computer system, most of it unsalvageable because of the sheer amount of damage done to it. However, it was the most shielded piece of equipment in the Mansion—and for good reason, as I'll get to shortly- so some data was still recoverable.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Cerebro is, first and foremost, an electronic repository of details of every Mutant on the planet. It's clear that Professor Charles Xavier, the person in charge of the Institute under his name, has Mutant telepathic powers, which are somehow amplified by this machine. You see, Mutants have slightly different 'signatures' given off by their X-genes compared to normal humans, and with Xavier's help Cerebro has telepathically found and catalogued them all. Although our data is incomplete, we would assume nearly all, if not all, Mutants on the planet are present and accounted for in this system. There's a reason this is called the Mutant Registration and Cooperation Act—this act would require Xavier to share this vital information with the U.S. government as well as the technology behind it. Perhaps down the road we could replicate Cerebro without the need for a cerebral interface, able to detect Mutants around the globe without any psychic middleman."

"So, what, this whole registration thing would just be a façade?" Mensmer asked. "What would be the point if we could just get all the information we need from this 'Cerebro' device?"

"Well the point of it is twofold," Kelly explained. "First, given they don't have any connection with the government, I doubt the Xavier Institute has all the necessary information on these Mutants. We'd need to cross-reference whatever information their database has with government records to get all the pertinent data.

"Secondly, I won't make it a secret—this will be a test for all of the Mutants out there. If you're law-abiding and friendly? Well then, you've got nothing to worry about. Once you register, the government will cross-reference your information with our records from Cerebro, and if everything matches up, you're fine. However, for those Mutants who either don't register or give out false information, we'll have a backup database that not only tells us who they are, but where they are if and when we need to arrest them for breaking the law. This is all laid out in Section—"

At this point Cessily paused the playback, sighing as she put the remote on the nearest couch armrest. "After that they pretty much just get into legal details. I'll be honest, my mind st-started to wander for a while until the votes started—and then you all came in."

"So this is what we're gonna have to deal with before school starts up again?" Rahne asked.

"I don't like Kelly's reasoning," Amara said. "The whole 'gotcha' aspect of this registration and 'cooperation' act… using Cerebro records in addition to registering… it basically says to every Mutant 'we don't trust you'. He's purposefully antagonizing us… as if he WANTS something bad to happen."

"So that's TWO important people that are toying with us just today," Jean said angrily. "I'm going to tell the Professor about this, I'm sure it's going to be relevant when he talks to us about… whatever he's going to talk to us about tonight."

"Well… again, it couldn't be all bad," Cessily said. "I'm not sure about forcing Xavier to t-turn over Cerebro records, but… after the initial outcry, perhaps things will die down. Hopefully."

No one said that much at that night's dinner. Professor Xavier had let everyone know that morning that he was going to make an important announcement after supper about the future of the Institute—and pretty much everyone was sure it was going to have something to do with Kelly's Mutant Registration and Cooperation Act. In fact, most didn't even eat much. Nearly everyone at the Institute was seated around the large dining room table, munching away quietly on their meal. The only ones missing were X-23, because of the still-present animosity towards her from the students; Moonstar, who was still unconscious because of the severe head injuries she had sustained in their battle a few days ago; Jamie, both because of his injuries and his current mental state; and, for reasons no one was aware of, Scott as well. In fact, Scott had been absent most of the day, and not even Jean knew why.

"Alright," Xavier sighed as soon as it was clear everyone had eaten as much of their food as they were going to, "I must admit I've been avoiding talking about this for as long as possible, primarily because I know it will upset many of you, who have already been through so much these past few days. But, via both recent circumstances and talks I have had with some of the students and faculty here, it has become apparent to me that some things do indeed need to change around here to ensure the continued existence of this place.

"First though, before we get into any heated discussions I feel I must bring up the issue of X-23. Maverick here has asked that he and X-23 be given essentially asylum here from H.Y.D.R.A, who once they regroup will no doubt be after both of them again. Though both of their abilities are obviously considerable, by having them stay in a large group of Mutants as opposed to by themselves I feel they would be much safer, and they agree. However, I know how uncomfortable X-23 has made many of you, especially since she attacked Kitty, and I can't say I completely disagree with those feelings. Thus, I promised Maverick and X-23 asylum here, with Maverick acting as both an additional instructor and a facilitator to help Jamie get back on his feet and to help X-23 adapt better to a more 'normal' life—but with the condition that at least two-thirds of you approve of such a move. So, students, if you'd let me have your opinion on this matter, I'd be grateful."

There was silence for a few moments before Rogue spoke up. "I don't like X-23 at all, I'll admit it. But… I've seen where she's come from, and it's not pretty. Plus you guys 've given me more chances than I've deserved. I vote yes."

"We all make mistakes," Jean said softly. "I vote yes as well, provided she doesn't have any more outbursts."

"This is ridiculous," Jubilee said. "For goodness' sake, she attacked one of us, clearly of her own free will. I vote no."

"So did I, but I almost instantly came to regret it," Paige said. "From the sound of things, so does Laura. I vote ye—"

"Sorry I'm late," Scott interrupted as he barged into the dining room, a bit out of breath. "Sorry, Professor. The mall was nuts today."

"What were you doing at the mall?" Jean asked quizzically. "You hate going to the mall."

"Just, uh… running a few important errands," Scott said, grinning. "So, what are we talking about?"

"Whether X-23 and Maverick can stay here," Jean replied.

"Oh. Well… I think it's worth giving Laura another chance," Scott said as he sat down in an open seat next to Jean.

The votes continued to come in from the rest of the X-Men, one by one. In the end, only Jubilee, Bobby, and Cessily voted no, either because they didn't forgive X-23 for her actions or, in the case of Cessily's surprising vote, being around the clone made her exceptionally anxious.

"Very well," Xavier said after all the votes were cast, "I still will need to ask Jamie and Danielle, but it would appear that we have an easy two-thirds majority here. X-23 and Maverick will stay."

Jubilee cursed softly, but otherwise the room was silent as Xavier continued.

"Now, onto the big issue at hand, the one I'm sure is not going to be an easy one to discuss. As I'm certain you all know by now, the House Resolution to make the Mutant Registration and Cooperation Act into law passed by a substantial margin. Granted, refinements have to still be made to some of the legal language therein and it has to pass the Senate and be signed by the President, but neither are expected to reject the law.

"Therefore it goes without saying that, despite many of us disagreeing with this act, we are all citizens of this country and will obey the law. Come whatever day in August Congress decides will be the day for Mutants all over the country to register, that is the day we will, too. And, of course, it is vital that you all be on your best behavior that day. Understood?"

Some were more reluctant than others, but silent nods came from all around the room.

"Alright," Xavier said, smiling slightly, "That's good that you all agree. We need to show that we're not above the law, or that will lead to disastrous consequences for all of us.

"And now, unfortunately, comes the most contentious issue. It has become clear to me ever since the Jamie incident—and this frame of mind has been strengthened by the events of today—that the Xavier Institute as it operates will not exist in this new world. With Magneto out somewhere recruiting a large cadre of Mutant followers and tempers no doubt going to heat up as the day for Mutant registration draws near, we're going to have to be vigilant and we're going to have to obey the law even when we'd rather not, but most importantly, the Xavier Institute will no longer be the Xavier Institute. A plaque is currently being made to change the name of this place to the Xavier Academy for Gifted Youngsters."

"Wait, academy?" Jubilee said, growing even more agitated than she already was. "You don't mean—"

"Yes," Xavier said sadly. "I'm afraid this school is going to have to shift its focus considerably moreso to combat training."

"What about school?" Roberto asked hopefully.

"Yes, Roberto, you'll still have to attend school," Xavier replied, smirking slightly. "Beyond being essential for your young minds, it's also nearly the only regular interaction you get with normal humans on a daily basis. It's important for us to maintain that personal connection. However, supplementary instruction of an academic nature will all but stop here, I'm afraid. With conflict likely both as a result of Magneto's new recruiting, the upcoming Mutant registration day, and Sinister and the Brotherhood still out there, it's vital you are all equipped with the abilities you will need to survive."

"Honestly, that doesn't sound too different from what we're already doing," Paige said.

"Well, I've talked it over with Hank, Ororo, and Piotr, and they agree that the emphasis on combat needs to be much larger. You all currently engage in roughly one practice session in the Danger Room a day. We'll be upping that to three, eventually raising the intensity of such sessions, as well. We'll also be focusing on different ways to use your powers beyond simply combat exercises—such as crowd control, dealing with mass disasters, and things like that.

'Vacation' times where either we all go on a trip or cruise, or where you are allowed to return to your homes, will also be substantially reduced."

"This sounds horribly depressing," Jubilee said.

"Yeah, I'm not liking where this is going," Bobby chimed in.

"I understand your point—really, I do," Xavier said sadly. "But your instructors and I feel that it is necessary during these difficult times. We do not make these changes lightly.

"This is why I am telling you this now. I want you all to know what you are in for. Thus, if any of you want to leave the Institute, I understand, but would recommend doing so soon."

No one replied immediately. Little eye contact was made, everyone's gazes down on the floor as they mulled over this abrupt change in the place they had come to call home.

Finally, after nearly a minute, Kurt spoke up quietly. "My life was never a cakewalk before I came here. Because of the vay I look, I know it never will be. But this place… it's given me a cause to believe in. And to know that I'm part of that cause… I'd never abandon this place. I don't think I ever could. I'm still in."

"I don't have anywhere else to go," Rogue said. "I'm with Kurt."

"You know I'm always with you, Professor," Jean said.

"Same goes for me," Scott replied.

"Well, I still don't know if I want to stay here of the rest of my life," Roberto said, wincing as he scratched the gauze over one of his wounds absentmindedly, "But I get what you're trying to do. I'm staying here, at least for now."

"I think I agree with Kurt," Cessily said. "I may not l-like what's going to take place, but I understand it. I'm st-still in."

"I don't know if my conscience could stand me turning away from this place," Rahne agreed.

"I was with the Brotherhood, however briefly," Paige replied. "I know what'll happen if we back down now."

"If we don't stand up to people like Magneto and Kelly, no one will," Amara said, nodding slightly.

All eyes slowly turned to Bobby and Jubilee, the only two students who had yet to say anything.

"I…. I don't know," Bobby said, fidgeting nervously. "I mean, I'm kind of an easygoing guy, y'know? These past few months, they've been… they've been something else. It's getting harder and harder to lighten the mood around here. And I don't know if I can deal with things getting even worse."

"We'll help you cope in whatever way you need, if you decide to stay, Bobby," Hank said, nodding slightly.

"I guess…. Well, I guess, maybe… I'll give it a shot, then," Bobby replied reluctantly.

Jubilee then spoke up, tears streaming down her face but her expression and tone of voice furious. "So, this is it? I mean, don't get me wrong, I knew this place would never be a walk in the park. But I didn't sign up for this. None of us did. We went here expecting a place to hang out with other Mutants and learn our powers.

"And before any of you say, 'well, then why did you come back after Apocalypse was beaten, you should have known better,' well, I guess I should've. I had assumed that given you guys beat Apocalypse, we could handle anything. And then… and then Sam and Logan died, and… and then…."

Jubilee broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.

Bobby nervously put his arm around her, "Hey, hey, c'mon, Jubes… things'll be okay…"

"Oh, really?" Jubilee replied angrily through the tears, smacking Bobby's hand off. "Did it turn out okay for Sam, Bobby? Has it turned out okay for Jamie, who I'd argue suffered a worse fate? Look at what's happened in just the past few months. If we stay here, can you imagine how things will be in a year? In two years? Heck, in five years will any of us be left?"

"And what happens if we don't?" Bobby said. "You think Magneto will just give up? You think the Brotherhood will just leave well enough alone?"

"I know…. I know," Jubilee sniffed, wiping her face with the arm that wasn't in a cast. "And that's the worst part of all this."

Pointing towards Xavier, she continued, "You knew darn well that this would happen. And yet you invited us all here, calling it a safe haven, a school. All a red herring so you could recruit us for your little army."

"Jubilation, you have to understand," Xavier said defensively, "I would never have—"

"Yes you would have, don't give me that load of crud," Jubilee interrupted. "You knew Magneto from long before you founded this place, you know what he's like, you knew where things were heading. But yet… here we are. And you know that none of us can leave with our conscience intact after all we've been through. We're a part of this now, willing or not, until we die. We can't go back to the way things were—all of us, we all felt betrayed by Kitty and Ray, even if we understood why they did it. And none of us want to do that to each other ever again. But don't you dare sit here and pretend we have a friggin' choice about it."

Jubilee abruptly scooted her chair back and ran out of the dinner room, sobbing. Bobby looked back and forth nervously at the other X-Men before getting up to go after her.

Cleaning up the dining room had gone rather quietly, most lost in their own thoughts, and most of the X-Men had retired off to their rooms early. It was Jean's turn to clean the dishes, and Scott, predictably, had volunteered to help her.

That wasn't what made Jean suspicious. He would always do that. It was sweet, and he had done it enough where she knew he had no ulterior motives beyond just wanting to be with her.

But given all that had transpired today he seemed oddly… peppy. As if his mind were somewhere else entirely, like he had barely paid any attention to what had gone on at dinner.

"Alright, all dishes loaded," Scott said, pouring a little bit too much dish soap into the dishwasher and starting it up. "And in record time, too!"

"Well, telekinesis does make it a bit easier," Jean smirked slightly as she took off her dishwashing apron. "Still… Scott, this is driving me nuts. What's up with you today? You go off without telling anyone why, you come back late, you're happy today of all days—this is so unlike you. What's going on?"

"I guess I'm really not that good at lying, am I?" Scott smiled. "Well, you've more or less figured it out, I guess. I was hoping until later to reveal it to you, but I guess I might as well now, I suppose."

"Reveal what? Scott, what are you-?"

"Jean, I know you may not have thought so, but I've been all too aware of what's going on today," Scott said, fumbling around in one of his jean pockets as his tone suddenly turned a bit more somber. "And I know what it means for the future, for our future. Tough times are ahead, and well, I… I don't think I can do it alone."

Finally grabbing a hold of what he wanted, Scott pulled out from his pocket a small, rectangular cloth case.

"Wait, is that… ohmygod…" Jean said, putting her hands her mouth as Scott knelt down in front of her, tears of happiness starting to run down her eyes as he opened the case to reveal a sparkling diamond ring inside of it.

"Jean Grey," Scott said, holding up the case containing the ring, "Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

The End
 

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