"As most of you know, mutants attacked the Congressional hearing last evening," Kelly announced. "At least twenty-five Senators were seriously injured, and another five were killed. Shortly afterward, the remaining members participated in an emergency session of Congress to decide the fate of mutants. A decision has been made . . . "

"Uncanny, being beyond what is normal or expected: suggesting superhuman or supernatural powers.

"Just yesterday afternoon, I was faced by a very uncanny event. A group of mutant terrorists attacked a meeting which I was attending in Washington D.C., and at the last second before I was almost killed, I was saved. He was a 'superman', a mutant, just like the terrorists, but different. He was not here to kill, or to cause havok. He was here to save others, to risk being killed to stop the terrorists. And to him, I owe my life and I give thanks . . . "

Clark smiled, folded the paper and put it back in his coat pocket. He looked up and saw the Daily Planet sign on the building in front of him. He walked in, hoping that Ms. Lane would be in on a Sunday, and that he could talk to her.

"So, is this the new prisoner?" Tinya asked, refering to Rogue.

"Yes, it is," the professor said. "We apprehended her in DC yesterday."

"Part of that attack I saw on the news?"

Xavier solemnly nodded his head. "That was a most unfortunate incident. One I hope never occurs again."

Tinya walked over and grabbed Rogue by the shakles. "Come on," she said. "You're heading to Muir Island for treatment." Rogue grunted slightly.

"You won't get away with this Xavier," she commented as Tinya escorted her onto the jet.

"I believe you, Lois," the young photographer replied. "I was there. The question is if the general public will believe you."

Lois sighed. She looked up and saw a tall, handsome man walking towards her desk. He had black hair, and wore glasses. Something about this man was quite familiar.

Just then, as if on cue, Perry White stuck his head out of the door to his office and shouted, "Olsen, my office, now!"

"Yes, sir!" Jimmy said, zipping right in.

The man walked up to Lois. "Excuse me, Ms. Lane?"

"That's me," Lois said. "Although it is quite unusual to find me here on a Sunday, but hey, the day after a big news story like what happened at the Capitol, I think it's okay to be a workaholic."

"Yes," the man said, "about the incident. That's why I came to see you. I was there."

"You're Superman," Lois whispered.

Clark nodded. "You gave me the name. I kind of like it. But I'm here to talk to you about mutants, and to clear the air of the the whole 'mutants are killers and freaks' myth."

Lois grabbed her purse. "Sure, but I think that we should talk in a public place. Perhaps the coffee shop just down the street?"

"That will be fine."

"Hank, I know you've had your own life for a while, but I was hoping that you could stay here for a little bit longer."

"Professor! I've only been back here a few days and I've already broken my bones!" Hank replied with a smile.

Xavier smiled. "So, seriously?"

"I'll stay as long as you need me to."

Xavier turned to Morph and Sarah. "How about you?"

"Sure, professor," Morph replied. "I'm in this for the long run."

The professor turned to Sarah. "And you?"

Sarah was hesitant to respond. "Well . . . uh . . . "

"Sarah, I can read thoughts. It's okay if you want to return to a normal life."

"I'm sorry," Sarah replied. "But, I just don't know if I -"

Just then, they heard a loud bang outside. Xavier used his powers to discern the source of the bang.

"The Brotherhood . . . "

I never meant for anyone to die in the Governement Complex . . . Magneto set me up . . . He must have known I was still working with Xavier.

The door to the room opened, and Jean walked in. "Bobby?" she asked. "What's wrong? You've been hiding ever since you came back." She then noticed that he was crying, and she pulled a tissue out of her pocket and walked over to the corner where her younger teammate was crouched.

"I . . . I didn't think anyone was going to get killed," Bobby replied, between sobs. "Magneto set me up . . ."

Jean used the tissue to dry his eyes. "Shh. It's okay, Bobby. It's not your fault," she said, giving him a little hug. "You couldn't have known what was going to happen, and you probably couldn't have done anything different."

Bobby looked up at her. "Maybe . . . " he said. "But I still think I must work for redemption."

"I don't think - "

Jean was interrupted by a loud noise from above. She then heard Xavier's voice in her head. {Come to me my students . . . my "X-Men!"}

"We're so screwed," Iceman said. "They're the most powerful members of the Brotherhood."

{Professor,} Jean said through her telepathy, {where are you?}

{I am making my way to the study. I must call for help.}

Suddenly, Havok let loose with a blast that leveled one wall of the school. He walked over and picked up Morph by the throat. "Where's ROGUE?!" he shouted.

"I . . . don't . . . know . . . " Morph replied, stretching his neck so he could easily slide out of Havok's grip.

This didn't sit too well with Havok, who let loose with all of his power, giving no regard to anyone's safety. "TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!!!"

Jean used her telekinesis to keep the ceiling up. She turned to Bobby. "Quick, make an ice wall to keep the building up."

Iceman pointed at the ceiling, and covered it with a sheet of ice. Jean relaxed for a second before running over and joining the fight.

Havok kept blasting. One of his blasts caused the floor to buckle under Hank McCoy's feet.

"Oh my stars and garters!" he exclaimed. "The feces has most definately hit the oscillating rotator!"

"Blast!" he exclaimed, throwing the now useless phone to the floor.

Before she could ask Clark the next question, a man with green skin ran past the coffee shop. As he attempted to go across the street, a green truck cut him off, and a large number of men jumped out. They all wore shirts saying "Friends of Humanity."

Lois and Clark watched as the men began beating the mutant with a baseball bat, forcing him to the ground. Clark stood and placed some money on the table. "It was a pleasure talking to you, Ms. Lane, but duty calls," he said, ripping off his shirt, revealing his uniform underneath. He rushed out of the shop and flew full force into the crowd.

Clark swooped in and pulled the mutant from the crowd, setting him down several yards away. Before the crowd could rush over, Clark lifted their truck high into the air before dropping it, letting it crash into a street sign.

The cops arrived at that moment, arresting the Friends of Humanity, and Clark flew off, nodding goodbye to Lois. Lois waved back, but was shouting. "Hey! I don't even know your name!"

Clark smiled. "Of course you do. I'm Superman," he said as he flew off.

Meanwhile, on the inside, Julio Richter, Everett Thomas, Adam Berman, Jubilation Lee, Frances Kane, and Kitty Pryde were all standing in a darkened classroom, freightened by what was going on outside. The other kids were crouched in a corner, huddling together, hoping the Brotherhood wouldn't crash through the walls. Everett was looking out the door.

"What's goin' on?" Kitty asked.

"I don't know," Ev replied. "I see a lot of fighting . . . oh, no . . . "

"What?"

"I see Ms. Grey and a bunch of her friends fighting a bunch of other guys."

Just then, Everett's view was obscured. "Everett, please, let me in."

Everett recognized the voice. It was Professor Xavier. He opened the door long enough for the bald telepath to wheel himself in.

"What's going on out there?" Ev asked.

"A nightmare come true," Xavier muttered.

Suddenly, a stray blast from the battle outside caused the ceiling to fall. A young boy had his leg trapped under a pile of rubble. Professor Xavier wheeled himself over as fast as possible, eying the beam hanging overhead that had broken loose in the blast. Just as he pushed the boy to safety, he heard the beam crack. It fell, hitting him on the head. He fell out of the now destroyed wheelchair.

"Professor!" Jubilee shouted, running over to her fallen mentor. She bent down, and turned his head up. Xavier's eyes blinked, but it was very clear that he was unconscious.

"Come on!" Adam exclaimed to the other students, holding the door open so they could run out. Everett and Kitty were already out, guiding the children.

"What about the Professor?" Jubilee asked, tears streaming down her face.

"There's nothing we can do about him now!" Adam shouted back. "We have to get everyone here to safety!"

Strike found himself fighting back-to-back with Maggott. Beast and Morph were attacking from either side.

"Great idea using Rogue as bait, huh?" Strike asked as he punched Hank McCoy in the gut.

"Great idea, maat," Maggot replied. "The tracking device led us to the best fight of our lives."

Havok happened to be behind them and overheard the last statement.

"You rotten sons of b--" he shouted, unleashing his plasma blasts that ended up taking out half of the Brotherhood. "You USED her?"

He ran out quickly, mad at the world.

"Magneto . . . "

Magneto smiled and ducked down to be eye level with his rival. He continued to smile, and stared Xavier face to face, eye to eye, as he simply placed his right hand high into the air and pulls it down. As he did so, a good portion of the school collapsed.

"Check," he said, continuing to smile.

I'm dying, Xavier thought. That beam cracked my skull, pushing some of it into my brain. But I won't go without a fight . . . He looked up at his rival and smiled himself, sending a powerful mental blast into the brain of the Master of Magnetism.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said. "Today is the day many of you have been waiting for. I know it's been a day I've been waiting for. Today, I am here to announce that the Mutant Registration Act has been passed. It is time for a change. From now on, the United States government will protect its citizens from the mutant threat!"

"Checkmate," Xavier whispered.

Magneto gritted his teeth, and looked right at Xavier. "Charles . . . what have . . . you done?!" he asked, attempting to stand up. As he turned, he saw Clark standing in front of him.

Clark had a look on his face that suggested that he was giving no mercy. Magneto didn't even have enough time to display a look of shock on his face before Clark punched him in the stomach with all of his might, and all three heard a loud crack. Clark then punched Magneto right in the face, sending him flying to the ground several yards away. He landed hard on the ground, creating a slight indention.

Clark then calmed down and turned toward Xavier, who had now rolled over on his back. He bent down, and put his arms under the professor's upper body.

"Clark . . . you are like a . . . son to me . . . "

Clark tried to hold back tears.

"Never . . . let go . . . of the dream . . . "

"Professor . . . " Clark said, realizing what was going to happen.

"Clark, I must say goodbye. . . . But before I go, there is something . . . you must know. . . . It's been kept secret for your own good . . . "

"What is it?"

"Thoughts are better . . . than words," Xavier said, his voice barely above a whispered. He opened his mind, and connected to Clark's. In an instant, Clark saw images that he never would have imagined. Suddenly, a lot of things became clear, but confused at the same time.

"Goodbye, Clark . . . " Xavier said, setting his head back.

"Clark!" Jean exclaimed. "Where've you been?"

"That doesn't matter right now. We have to get out of here. There is a lot of structural damage, and the mansion is about ready to collapse," Clark replied, using his x-ray vision to scan the premises.

Jean looked around. "Where's the professor?"

"Well . . . " he began, then suddenly stopped. "They aren't all taken out."

"Huh?" Iceman asked. "The Brotherhood?"

Clark nodded. "There's one more. A blue skinned female. Mystique. She has a child with her. A boy."

"They don't look kosher," Beast replied.

"It's the boy," Clark said. "Mystique's getting him to do something . . . " Suddenly, he ran over to Morph, and picked him up. "C'mon! We have to get out of here!"

"You can go now, boy. Your use is done. You are free," she said.

Then, she walked around to where Magneto was lying, barely conscious, close to death.

"Erik," she said. "My debt to you is finished, and my services are done."

Magneto faintly groaned. Mystique kept smiling as she left.

"It's gone," Everett said, in shock, just like his friends. "It's all gone . . . "

Lex Luthor stood in one of LexCorp's labs, in the third sub-basement of the New York office. He was standing by a table on which the body of Senator Robert Kelly lay. A doctor was sitting at a desk beside the table, looking into a microscope.

"Excellent work, doctor," Lex said. "How tragic, yet fortunate for us about the good senator's death. However, our version is working to perfection . . . "

"I couldn't have done it without your spectacular equipment," the doctor replied.

"Yes . . . " Lex said, smiling.