Ultimate X Men

First off, I know nothing of the sexuality of any person mentioned in this story. And I don't know any of them and never will. Secondly, Stan Lee created X-Men and all its characters. Copyright of Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox. Third, email if you want at: xmanpaul@hotmail.com This story is based off The Ultimate X-Men comic strip. The story, however, will be quite different from the comic book. So read on if you want.

I'd like to thank Dash and Josh for reading over everything multiple times! Thanks guys!

'Indicates someone think to themselves' {Indicates communication over a comlink.}

Chapter 6

Paul woke up Saturday morning feeling pretty perky. He jumped into the shower really quick, got dressed, and headed downstairs to the kitchen.

"Hey, Bobby." Paul said walking into the kitchen to grab some food. "You remember me?"

"Um, I remember you. You're the guy that pulled me out of that bus." He said putting another spoon full of cereal in his mouth. "Thanks, by the way."

"No problem. You're the first person I've ever saved." Grabbing some milk out of the frige and a muffin off the counter, Paul sat down at the table across from Bobby. "So, you stayin' at the school or going back home?"

"I'm staying here. The professor talked to my parents today and they all agreed that me remaining here is probably best. I need to get used to this freezing thing before I'm out on my own." Bobby answered.

"What freezin' thing?" Paul asked.

"Well, my mutant abilities allows me to lower my body temperature and produce ice by freezing the moisture in the air." Bobby said nodding his head. "Well, that's what the Professor told me anyway."

"Cool, cool. Did he tell when you start your training?" Paul asked him.

"Yeah, I start officially today, but I messed around with my powers last night. I'm actually headed down to the danger room after I finish eating." Bobby answered.

"Cool, I think I might join you if you don't mind." Bobby shook his head. "So you know what everybody else is doin'?"

"Well, Peter and the Professor are the people I've seen this morning and that was about a hour ago. Peter said he was going to workout and the Professor said he had some stuff to do with Jean."

"Ok, its kinda weird being here. I love it, though." Paul said changing the subject.

"Yeah, I like it so far. Have you gotten the `War is coming speech', yet?" Bobby asked a surprised Paul.

"No, what war?" Paul said worriedly.

"The Professor told me about this supposedly mega-powerful mutant called Magneto that has some major hatred for all humanity." Bobby said. Paul remembered what the others had told him about Magneto, but they didn't say anything about a war. "Yeah, he's the constructed a group called the Brotherhood of Mutants and plans to use them to destroy humanity and claim the earth as his own." Bobby finished lightly.

"Wow, that's peachy. I wonder when I was gonna hear about this. I've meet Magneto by the by. One of his guys tried to kill me." Paul said finishing off his muffin and milk. `No point in worrying about that now.' Paul thought. "Well, ya ready to head to the Danger Room?"

"Yeah, I am. You know the way there, right?" Bobby asked hopefully.

"Surprisingly, yeah. I think I can get us there." They both walked out of the kitchen and Paul walked towards the elevator. "So, what kinda stuff do you like to do, Bobby?"

"I play a lot of soccer." He said shyly.

"Hell yeah. Me too. I was the captain of my high school team. Played center full-back." Paul returned as the got on the elevator and the door shut. They continued to talk about the sports for the 30 seconds that it took them to get to the danger room. When they got there they were meet by Xavier and Jean.

"Hey." Paul said with a smile. "Did y'all sleep well?"

"Yes, I sure did. You?" Jean answered back.

"Oh yeah. Very well. I was wonderin' when I could start my trainin', Professor. Bobby told me he was starting today." Paul said turning to face the Professor completely.

"Well, now's fine. I was just going to put Bobby through some basic exercises." Xavier replied. "You're free to join if you want."

"Is that all right with you, Bobby?" Paul asked.

"Yeah, sure is." Bobby answered.

"Well, let's get suited up then." Paul said walking to the locker rooms that were beside. Paul walked in a found nice, shiny new nametag on one of the lockers that said Paul on it. He opened it up and found two sets of uniforms in it. There were also two pairs of boots as well. He changed into the uniform and found Bobby standing on the other side of lockers ready to go. They smiled at each other and headed back to the danger room.

"I'm ready." Paul said as they approached the Professor.

"Good, just go inside and I'll give you instruction from there." Xavier said rolling up a ramp to what Paul figured was a control room. They both walked through the large door and stopped to take in the room. Paul had already been in here once, but he still wasn't used to how large the room was.

"Bobby, your up first." Came the Professor's voice from a speaker in the wall.

"Up first for what?" Bobby asked.

"I'm going to fire a series of holographic missiles at you and you will try to stop, block, or avoid them, quite simple. We'll start with four missiles." The Professor said and Bobby reluctantly stepped up to the line that Xavier had indicated. "Do not worry. In no way can you be harmed."

Bobby stood with his hands at his side and waited for the test to begin. A metal plate on the wall across the room slide open and four missiles were fired from the holes in the wall. The missiles were heading at full speed towards him and were zigzagging through the air. Bobby tensed up for a second then reached out his hand the ice came streaming forth. All four missiles clunked to the floor in icy hulks.

"Very good, Bobby. Paul your up next." Xavier said and Bobby stepped back and Paul took his place. "I don't think four will quite do it for you so why don't we try ten?"

"Ok." Was Paul's only reply.

Two more panels on the wall open and ten missiles flew out. Paul extended his hands and stopped the missiles only feet from the wall that they were fired from. Then made fists of both his hands and the ten small holographic explosions signified that the missile had been destroyed.

"Well, that wasn't much of a fight for either one of you, was it?" Xavier said with a chuckle. "Let's try a few turrets. You two may work together on this one. I'm going to deploy quite a few turrets and I want you to destroy them. Ok?" they both nodded.

Several turrets popped out from the walls and began targeting the pair. Paul placed a shield around himself and Bobby. Meanwhile, Bobby was firing upon the turrets as fast as possible and taking out quite a few. Paul started pulling the turrets from their places on the wall and blocking the green energy blasts. They were making ground, but Paul thought that they could do it faster.

"Bobby, can you give a huge ball of ice or something?" Paul yelled to Bobby.

"Yeah." Bobby held out his hands and created a ball of ice the size of a small car. "Big enough?"

"Oh yeah." Paul answered and picked up the ball into the air. Sending hurling along the wall, Paul successfully took out about twenty of turrets on his first attack. To Paul's annoyance, just as many turrets replaced the ones he destroyed.

"Fine, he wants to play." Paul said to himself. "Bobby, give me a couple more." Bobby nodded and started making the balls of ice once more. They were standing in the middle of the danger room being fired upon by many turrets. None, however, were getting through and they were in no immediately danger.

"Bigger." Paul said to Bobby and he increased the size of the already large balls of ice. Bobby created ten balls of the ice and Paul sent them slamming into the turrets along both walls. They had the affect he'd hoped they would and shards of ice flew in every direction, decimating most of the turrets.

"Bobby, freeze the walls so the turrets can't replace themselves." Paul said. "I'll cover you. Bobby nodded and began his work. Before long, they were standing in the middle of a practically frozen room and Paul was freezing his ass off.

"Ok, maybe freezing the walls wasn't such a good idea." Paul said to Bobby through jittering teeth.

"Good work you two. Now on to the next exercise." The Professor said over the intercom. The two spend the next three hours going through similar training scenarios and were very happy when it was all over.

Paul stepped out of the danger room dripping sweat from the last train exercise. All he wanted to do was take a shower and good back to sleep. But that probably wouldn't happen, it being one in the afternoon and all.

Paul walked out the shower in the locker room while toweling off his hair. He walked up to his locker and opened it. Pulling of a pair of boxer briefs, some shorts, a X-Men t-shirt, and some flip flops he headed to his room to change into some really clothes. On his way he met Jean.

"Hey again." He smiled at her.

"Hey, how'd the training go?" she asked hitting in the button to call the elevator.

"It went well, I guess." Paul said shrugging. "Bobby's pretty good with is powers. I thought he just found out about them this morning?"

"Well, he found out last night. The Professor told him exactly want he could do last night. It seems that he pretty much stayed up all night working with his powers." Jean answered as they both stepped onto the elevator.

"Well, he's damn good already. I was kinda surprised honestly." Paul said scratching his shoulder absently. "Where is everybody?"

"Well, Scott and Hank are working on the Blackbird, the Professor told me he was going to work with Rebecca, who is doing all right now, and Storm and Peter are hitting the danger room right about now." Jean said looking down at her watch.

"Where are you off too?" Paul asked.

"To get some food. Want to join me?"

"Oh yes, food would be great." Paul answered and followed her into the kitchen. "So, whatcha' want to eat. I can cook pretty much anything." Paul offered.

"I was just going to have a sandwich, but I expected you to cook for me sometime." She replied.

"I'll be happy to anytime. I guess I'll just have a sandwich too." Paul said as he started to pull stuff out of the refrigerator and handing it Jean. "Jean, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure. What's up?"

"Well, last night y'all were talkin' about Magneto, and well, Bobby said something about a war coming and Magneto trying to take over the world. What's goin' on with that?" Paul said looking up from the frige.

"Oh," Jean said surprise and then paused.

"Jean? You all right?" Paul asked.

"Oh yeah, sorry." She replied. "About Magneto, the Professor wants you to come see him as soon as you're done eating. He'll explain everything to you."

"Ok."

"Did you have fun last night?" Jean asked Paul with a smile on her face. Paul couldn't help but smile back.

"Oh yes. Lots and lots of fun." Paul said his face beaming and nodding his head emphatically. "You?"

"Yeah, I had fun. It's been a while since I had gotten to go out like that." Jean answered putting some mayo on her sandwich. "You and Scott seemed to be getting along pretty well."

"Oh, you noticed, huh?" Paul said giving her an innocent smile.

"Yeah, I think everyone noticed." She answered.

"I still can't believe that we dance for three hours without stopping. I swear it felt more like ten minutes at the most." Paul said while adding some lettuce to his sandwich.

"You seemed a little dazed when I found you in the hall last night." Jean stated.

"Oh, I was dazed all right." Paul agreed emphatically.

"He kissed you, didn't he?" she asked with a smirk.

"Was it that obvious?" Paul asked. "Or did you just read my mind?" he smiled at her.

"No no, it was very obvious." She said with a giggle.

"Great!" Paul said with a sigh. "My brain melted to putty when he did that. I couldn't think straight. It's takin' all the self-control I have not to going off to find just so I can kiss him to death." Jean just laughed at Paul and finished making her sandwich.

"I've never really been in a serious relationship before. Oh my god." Paul said sighing again and putting his hand to his head. "Listen to me. I don't even know if it's a relationship yet and I'm talkin' about it like it is. I've got it bad, girl." She just kept laughing. "You know, you're not much help." Paul said.

"What do you what me to do? Pass him a note asking him if he wants to go out with you?" she said sarcastically. They both took their sandwiches to the tables and started eating.

"How long did it take you to pick up your telekinetic powers when started training?" Paul asked changing the subject.

"I picked it up pretty quick. I had used my powers before I joined up a little, but I didn't really get a grasp of them before I started training." She answered.

"I was just wondering cause I don't feel like I've trained really at all, but I can use my powers pretty easily." Paul said.

"That's pretty normal. You were using your powers way before we found you, weren't you?"

"Yeah, I was. Not a lot, but I did use them." Paul said.

"That's why do don't need the initial training, but you can train to increase you abilities." Jean said. "Just like you're going to have to train with your telempathic abilities."

"That's cool. I can't wait until I start my training. I want to be able to use my abilities to their fullest extents." Paul said after swallowing a bite of his sandwich.

The kitchen door swung open and in walked Scott. A bare chested, sweaty Scott. He was carrying his shirt in his hand and smiled at both Jean and Paul as he walked to the fridge. "Hey." He said.

Paul was mesmerized. Scott's chest was perfect and his abs were even better. And when Scott bent over to look in the fridge Paul about had a heart attack. Paul didn't realize it, but his mouth was hanging open as he watched Scott.

< You might want to close your mouth, Paul. > Jean sent to him. When she got no response she lifted her finger and shut it for him.

"What would you do without me?" Jean said shaking her head.

"What, what?" Paul said looking at her with confused looked.

"Oh, nothing. Continue your staring." Jean said. Scott was rummaging around in the fridge looking for whatever will quench his thirst.

"I wasn't staring!" Paul protested quietly.

"Hmmf, yeah right." Jean said laughing. Scott pulled out a chair and took a seat at the table with them.

"How are you guys today." He asked rather cheerfully.

"I'm doing well." Jean answered.

"I'm doin' great. You?" Paul asked.

"Oh, I'm great. Finally fixed that stupid stealthing device on the jet." Scott said.

"Sleep well?" Paul asked with a smile.

"Oh yes. I slept very well. Just like I knew I would. What have you two got planned for tonight?" Scott said giving Paul a knowing smile.

"Well, the Professor and I are suppose to be working with Rebecca tonight, so I'm in for a exciting night of boringness." Jean replied with a groan.

"I figured that I'd do some training, but I don't have anything to do otherwise." Paul said.

"Maybe we can go do something." Scott said to Paul.

"Yeah, maybe we can. That would be great." Paul said with a smile and a nod. "Well, I'm off to talk him the Professor." Paul said standing and putting his plate into the sink. "See y'all later." Paul waved to both of them and walked out.

"What is he going to talk to Xavier about?" Scott questioned.

"Ah, apparently the Professor hasn't told Paul about the whole Magneto thing yet." Jean told him.

"What?" Scott said with some surprise. "I thought he told everyone about tat upon accepting to join the X-Men?"

"Me too. Paul kind of found out from Bobby this morning. He was kind of scared about the whole thing. I could feel it." Jean said.

"I'm sure everything will workout fine." Scott said taking a swallow of his drink.

"Yup." Jean said.

Paul entered the Professor office after he knocked on the door. He was greeted by the Professor sitting behind his desk reading something on his computer.

"Good afternoon, Paul. How are you today?" he asked.

"I'm doin' good. Yourself, Professor?" Paul answered.

"I'm well. Please have a seat." He said pointing to a chair in front of his desk, Paul nodded and sat down. "I'm sorry that I haven't told of this before, but I was sure how you would take it. You're the only one here, beside myself, to actually meet Magneto in combat. I realize that you did not actually fight him, but he was still there."

"First of all, let me tell you that Magneto is a very powerful mutant who had the power to control and manipulate the earth's magnetic fields." Xavier said placing his hands on his desk. "Magneto's real name is Eric Lehnsherr and we were once best friends. He and I actually built a place for mutants of the world to go for refuge called the Savage Land It was much like this school. Unfortunately, as time went on he began to believe that humanity could never accept mutants and that we would only be met with violence. I, of course, believe that mutants and humans can live together in harmony if only given the chance."

"He has never believed this and thinks that the only way that mutants can live upon the earth is if human is wiped-out or enslaved by mutants. He has taken it upon himself to bring this belief to be reality. I can never allow him to do this and created the X-Men as a means to battle his hatred."

"I know that this may be difficult to grasp, but I believe that this war will begin soon and I won't have you risking your life for something you don't believe in." Xavier said folding his hands in his lap as a sign that he was finished. Paul thought for a few moments then began to speak.

"Professor, I thank you for not assuming that would want to risk myself, and I don't really mind that you didn't tell about this before." Paul said. "I have grown up around only humans for all of my life until recently. And from what you are saying, it sounds like that their lives could be in danger for Magneto. I will do anything in my power to keep him for hurting anyone. I want to be here, sir. And I will do my best to contribute."

"Very good." Xavier said nodding. "Do you have any other questions?"

"No, sir." Paul said standing from his stair.

"Very good even. I will see you later." He replied to Paul.

"See you later, sir."

"Yes." With that Paul walked from the room and down the and up the stairs to his room. He got into his room and finally changed into some jeans and a t-shirt. He grabbed his phone and sat down to check his messages. The phone told him that he had two messages and hit the appropriate button of hear them.

"Message one. Hey Paul, just winderin' if you were doing all right. I hope your likin' being up there. Give me a call sometime soon. Sam." Paul deleted the messaged and made a mental note to call Sam back.

"Message two. Um, hey Paul. This is Marie and I was really hoping that I would get to talk to you. You need to call me as soon as you can. It's about Mr. McKnight. Call me soon." Marie's voice sounded sad.

Paul was shocked and he really hoped that nothing was terribly wrong. He could tell something was wrong, but didn't know what, yet. He found Marie's number in his cell phone and hit the send button. After a few rings she picked up.

"Hello?" she said.

"Hey." Paul said waiting for her response.

"Hey, Paul. How are you?" she said softly.

"I'm fine. What's wrong with Mr. McKnight?" Paul said getting to the point. Mr. McKnight was one of the few people that Paul considered family and wanted to know what was going on.

"He had a heart attack, Paul." Marie said pausing to let Paul process the information for a second. "He didn't make it Paul. He was alone in the studio when it happened and no one found him until the next day. It was a major attack."

Paul didn't understand why this world was so mad at him. First, it took his mother and then his brother, in a way. And now it had taking away the only father that he had ever known.

"When?" Paul asked with a crack in his voice.

"It happened the last night. The funeral is tomorrow night. Can you make it down here?" she said asked nicely.

"Ah yeah, I'll be there." The tears were slowly flowing now and Paul didn't feel like stopping them. "Is Sam all right?"

"Yes, he's fine."

"How are you?" Paul asked her.

"I'm doin' all right, for now anyway. Is everything going all right up there?"

"Yeah, everything was great until now. I'll see you sometime soon." Paul said. "I'll talk to you soon. Bye." Paul ended the abruptly. Marie said good-bye and Paul shut his cell phone.

"You know I am so sick of crying all the time." Paul said to himself as he looked in the mirror. "Yup, no more cryin' for me. Nope, never again." Paul promised himself and wiped his eyes with a kleenex . Paul was tired. Tired of crying, tired of being strong, and tired of getting hurt.

< Paul, are you all right? > The Professor's voice said.

< No sir, not really. I need to get back home for a while. And I need to leave as soon as possible. > Paul thought back to him.

< What is wrong? > Xavier asked back.

< One of my friends for died of a my heart last night. I'll be leaving as soon as I can get a flight out. I do want to come back, if that's possible.

Paul said.

< Of course, but there is no need to get a flight. I will have someone take you in the jet. When you have your things ready please come to my office. > Xavier said.

< Yes, sir. Thank you. > Paul said and started to pack his things. < Um, sir? How did you know that something was wrong? >

< I felt an out pouring of pain. > He answered.

< Ok, thank you, sir. > He didn't pack a lot since most of his stuff was still back at the studio. Paul got himself under control and went Xavier's office. He knocked and walked in.

"Paul, Jean will be taking you down and she will also be staying if that is all right with you." The Professor said to Paul as he stood in front of him. If anyone had to stay with him he was glad it was Jean. Paul felt that he knew her the best.

"That's fine, sir."

"Very good. Jean is ready and prepping the jet for launch in the hangar bay. Just meet her down there when your ready." He said. Paul nodded, said good-bye, and headed to find Scott. He looked in Scott's room and the danger room. Then he looked in the kitchen and in the library, but never found him.

< Jean? Do you know where Scott is? > Paul thought to Jean.

< No, hold on. > She replied back.

The Professor said. < And I wasn't prying. You projected your thoughts and I heard them. >

< Thank you, Professor. > Paul asked where the garden was and headed there as quickly as he could.

"Scott?" Paul said loudly as he walked through the large doors and into the greenhouse.

"Ah, over here." Came his reply. Paul saw him and walked over to where Scott was sitting.

"Hey." Paul said with a smile, but there was still pain in his eyes. "Sorry, but I think I'm gonna have to take a rain check for tonight."

"That's fine. Everything all right?" Scott asked standing up from the bench he had been sitting on.

"No. One of my really good friends died last night and now I'm goin' back home." Paul said letting the bag on his shoulder fall to the ground. Paul had been strong all his life and he was tired of it. He wanted to breakdown big time, but he knew he wouldn't.

"Oh god, I'm sorry, Paul." Scott said putting his book down and pulling Paul into his arms. Paul wrenched to Scott like a lifeline.

"Nothing you could have done about it." Paul said relaxing a little in Scott's arm. Scott was just slightly tall than Paul and his shoulder was at the perfect height for Paul's head to rest on.

"When are you coming back?" Scott asked shifting his embrace down a bit.

"Two or three days. Maybe a little more." Paul said pushing off a little to answer his question then immediately returning his head to where it was. Paul loved the feeling of being in Scott's arms and he didn't want the feeling to end. He inhaled deeply and took in Scott's smell.

Paul pushed off of Scott gently and looked up into his glasses. "Jean's going with me. We're leaving soon so I should probably go." Paul said stepping away from Scott reluctantly. His arms longed to be around Scott again. He picked up his bag off the ground and put it on his shoulder.

"If you need anything or what to talk or anything give me a call." Scott said putting his hand on Paul's shoulder. Paul knew the powers that be were just begging him to kiss Scott and he wanted to kiss him too. But he didn't. Maybe he was scared or maybe he was nervous. He didn't know what it was, but he didn't kiss him.

"Thanks, I'll talk to you soon." Paul said grabbing Scott's hand and squeezing it. He turned to walk away and then turned around one last time before he left the room. He looked at Scott and smiled weakly. Paul couldn't see Scott's eyes, but he knew he was looking right into them. "Bye." Paul said, but they were both locked onto each other eyes.

It felt so right to Paul. Paul took a few tentatively slow steps towards Scott then quickened his pace. Putting one hand on Scott's shoulder and kissed him quickly on the lips. He smiled at him then turned and walked away.

He arrived in the hangar few minutes later and saw Jean waiting for him at the bottom of the loading ramp.

"Hey, you ready?" she asked softly.

"Yeahsureyoubetcha." Paul said trying to sound cheery.

"Great, let's go." She said with a half smile. She knew he was hiding the hurt, she could feel it. But it wasn't her place to say anything so they both climbed into the jet.

"How long will it take to get down there?" Paul asked Jean.

"About half an hour. Not long." She said strapping herself into the seat.

"Cool." Paul replied doing the same. "How long have you known Scott?"

"Just one second." Jean said flicking some switches on the control board. {Blackbird to Beast. We're ready to disembark.} Jean said into her headset.

{Clear for take-off, Blackbird. Have a safe trip you two.} Hank said.

"Oh, I forgot to say bye to the others." Paul said.

"You can say bye to Beast." She said throwing him a small earpiece. Paul slipped it in his ear.

{See ya later, Hank.} Paul said.

{Hope everything turns out all right, Paul.} Hank said sincerely.

{Could you tell Peter, Storm, and Bobby I said bye?}

{Sure, Paul. Bye.}

{BUH-BYE.} Paul said then took the comlink out of his ear.

"These are cool." Paul said laying the earpiece on the panel in front of him. The take off had been so smooth he hadn't even noticed. They were already in the air and headed towards North Carolina.

"To answer your question, I've known Scott for a little over a year now. That's when I joined the X-Men. Well, then it was only me and Scott." Jean said. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I guess I'm stupid, but I don't see how you didn't want to get with him. He's like the hottest guy I've ever seen in my life. And I've only known him for like two days and I want to spend the rest of my life with him." Paul said. "He's so sweet it's almost unbearable. Why are you always laughing at me?" Paul asked as Jean snickered at him in the pilot's seat.

"Cause your funny and cute." Jean said, but quickly clarified. "In the `little brother' kind of way."

"Yeah yeah." Paul responded.

"So what are we going to be doing in North Carolina?" Jean asked.

"Well, the funeral is tomorrow night and then I want to stick around until at least Monday. I need to get some of my stuff from my place to take back with me." Paul answered. Paul went on to Jean about Mr. McKnight and how he had really helped Paul out after his mother died. They talked the rest of their flight about their lives before joining the team.

It wasn't long and they had reached Harmony, North Carolina and set the jet down somewhere near Alison's Woods. Jean activated the cloaking device and they headed out.

"Where to now?" Jean asked.

"I guess we can fly into town. It shouldn't be to much of a problem." Paul said picking himself up into the air with his bag of his shoulder. Jean did the same and soon they were headed towards town. It wasn't long and they had reached their destination.

< We should probably set down somewhere close and walk the rest of the way.

Jean sent to Paul.

< Ok. > Paul lowered himself and landed on the ground behind an older building started to walk out from behind it. They got to the sidewalk and Paul headed to Sam's house. He hadn't really told anyone that he was coming down so soon so he was excited to see Sam. It seemed like it had been so long since he had seen him, but it had only been two days.

The walk was short and Paul walked up the few steps to Sam's front door. He knocked and waited for the answer. Sam soon answered the door and was surprised to see Paul there.

"Hey man. I didn't' know when you were comin' down." Sam said pulling Paul into a hug.

"Hey, I thought it best to come soon as possible." Paul said stepping inside followed by Jean. "Sam this is Jean. Jean, Sam." Paul introduced and the two shook hands.

The night and next day went by pretty quietly. Paul and Jean stayed at Paul's old place in the back of the Studio. They got up the next morning and helped get things ready for the funeral. Paul kept himself busy so that he wouldn't have to deal with the fact that one of his best friends was dead.

The funeral was beautiful and very touching. Many people, including Paul, spoke of Mr. McKnight and how they had affected their lives. Paul kept his promise to himself though. He never cried. After the funeral, Paul decided that he would wait until the next evening to leave and Jean said that was fine with her.

After getting up a little later than he meant to, Paul started to pack his things up. Jean had told him to wake her up, but Paul wanted sometime to himself so he let her sleep. Paul was hoping that today would be like the last two days and be completely uneventful. Unfortunately for him, the universe seemed to hate him and just as he was shutting a box of clothing Sam came running through the door.

"Paul!" he said between gasping for air and clutching his chest. "They..to..took..her."

"Who took who? Sam, what wrong?" Paul said holding him up by the shoulders. "Breath Sam."

"Some of the people is town went nuts. They were shouting about mutants and they took Marie." He had managed to calm down a little. "They already got a couple other people."

"Where did they take her?" Paul asked.

"To the town hall. They said something about purging the town of mutant scum. Marie's not a mutant. It's weird. Yesterday, everyone was fine and now some of the people have gone insane."

"JEAN! We got to go. " Paul yelled to the back of the apartment then turned back to Sam. "How many?"

"How many what?" Sam said.

"How many people took Marie?"

"About thirty, but there are more. I don't know what could have happened. We have to get her back, Paul. I think they'll kill her." Sam said almost pleading.

"WE aren't going to do anything. You're going to stay her and lock all the doors. Jean and I will take care of this. JEAN!" Paul yelled again.

"One sec, coming." She said back. "What? What's going on?"

"Some people have gone wacko and are taking random people hostage and claiming that they are mutants. They got Marie. Me and you are gonna get her back." Paul said to her. "You ready?" she nodded. "Let's go. Lock the doors behind us and stay inside. Only let me or Jean back in, ok?"

"Yeah, got it." Sam said.

Paul and Jean walked outside and flew through the air as fast as they could to the town hall. There were almost a hundred people there and all were crowded around the front steps. Marie was being held by two men and other were being restrained the same way. There were several bodies laying on the ground, bloody and beaten to death.

They landed out of sight and walked up to the crowd. Paul had never seen Marie so scared and he intended to make her safe again.

"What are you people doing?" Paul yelled as he headed for the steps of the hall and Marie. Jean held back a bit to provide cover if Paul needed it.

"We are ridding the world of its pollution. Of its mutant infestation." A woman that seemed to be leading the crowd yelled back.

"This people are not mutants." Paul didn't know about the others, but he was sure about Marie. "They have done nothing to you. Let them go now!" Paul demanded.

"No, they must pay for their crimes. They are mutants, they deserve to die." She shouted back and she received many shouts of agreement from the crowd.

"No one needs to get hurt here!" Paul stated loudly, but her only respond was to shout more slander about mutant. He lifted himself into the air and closed the distance between himself and Marie. He pulled her and the other three other suspected mutants up to him.

< Paul, there's a lot of psychic energy being used here. It's in all of them. I can feel it. > Jean said him. She was in the air and blocking all the debris that the people were throwing their way.

"We're getting out of here." Paul said so the Jean, who was now beside him, and could now hear him. The six started their retreat down the street through the air, but the mob followed in a dead run. Paul stopped. "Jean, take them and get out of here." They traded off and Jean was now holding up the others up.

"I won't leave with out you." She said back.

"I'll be right behind you." Paul said as he picked up four of the car that lined the street. He sat them down front of the advancing mob. He continued to pile the cars up until he built a barrier big enough to hold back the angry crowd. Then he followed Jean and the others back to the studio.

Paul was about to catch up with him when he suddenly felt a sharp pain shoot through his head. Paul fell out of the air and onto the ground. Luckily, he was only about fifteen feet in the air and he wasn't hurt to badly by the fall.

Marie saw him fall and screamed for him. Jean immediately turned around at the sound of terror in Marie's voice. When she realized that something was wrong, she headed back towards Paul.

"Paul? Are you all right?" Jean asked when the group got to his side. "Paul?" she said louder.

"Oh god, my head. My head hurts!" Paul said with his hands grasping his head. The pain was only getting worse and he couldn't even stand up.

To Be Continued...