soothsayer:

He was in his office grading tests. Ezekiel had gotten used to working here. He no longer woke up at all hours to go solve crimes. He no longer had nightmares about dead people whose lives he hadn't saved or whose killers he just couldn't find. He was starting to find peace.

That peace was going to be interrupted. He answers the phone and his ex-wife is sobbing over the phone. "Mary. Jesus. Mary. Calm down sweetheart. What's wrong?"

She fell out of love with him. It wasn't the other way around. Though sometimes he wishes he fell out of love with her years before. It would have saved her so much trouble.

"It's our son. I don't know what happened. He hasn't come home from school Zeke," she confesses.

He freezes and almost drops the phone. "Mary. It's five o'clock on a Saturday afternoon. Why didn't you call me sooner? Why didn't you call one of the guys at the station? I know I left on a sour note but geezs my ex-partner loved James, Mary."

She sniffles and he wants to comfort her but this isn't about her or him. It's about their son. "I'm calling them. I'll come into the city and start lookin' myself."

He wants something else too. "I want to start seeing him again after this Mary. I... I missed him. I'll call you on my way in."

He hangs up his phone then sighs. He should bring someone with him. With his leg he isn't as spry as he used to be,. He also has a bad feeling about this so he gets up and starts looking around to find one of the older students or maybe Gabe to see if they'd be willing to go look with him. He normally wouldn't ask for help but it's his kid so all pride goes out the window.

soothsayer:

He didn't like what had happened to the school. He had decided to go through with the outing anyways. This would be to help the students out. He had two vans ready to go with a third one if they had anyone else show up who wanted to get out. He has a clip board in one hand and a pen in the other.

Some people might notice that his shoes aren't normal sneakers. He had been wearing the ones that had a leg brace build in for one of his legs. Sometimes when he was more stressed out Ezekiel found it more difficult to use one leg so he had a brace for times like that. He didn't need a cane or anything, so long as he had a brace he would be fine.

He glances at his watch and leans against one of the vans. He would check off names and add any more to his lists. He had a feeling that there would be more people coming and he was prepared just in case. Good thing he had plenty of older students coming too.

dream_catcher:

The Marauders are gone. At least for now. They still haven't determined what that was all about, and right now, Lucas doesn't care. He's been hard at work ever since the attack, despite his own psychological scars, healing who he can. When the medical labs, Hank McCoy, and the other healer assured him they had things under control, he went to talk to Scott, and got permission to do the hardest task yet.
He sighs, setting down the pencil and reviewing the letter.

soothsayer:

He turned in after rubbing his old injury down with some cream so it wouldn't wake him up during the night. He hated how it smelt but it was better than the whole thing seizing up during the night. He rolled down his pant leg then turned off the light.

Sleep came quickly.

He was in his old police uniform that he wore for functions and he was at a big party. Everyone was there that he knew on the force plus his ex-wife and son. She doesn't look at him as if he is a terrible person. She looks at him with love. His son, his precious little boy looks proud to be there too.

Ezekiel feels happy. Then he gets asked to come up to the front. They are going to give him something for being a good detective. So he goes forward and notices dimly that everyone is turning into a more scary version of themselves. Something feels wrong but before he can touch his gun two long mechanical arms grab him and hold him down.

The Chief sneers at him. "Give the Mutie freak what he deserves."

His ex-wife and son look on with hatred.

soothsayer:

The newest staffer at Xavier's had been trying to figure out how to get to know the students better without scaring them off since his truth telling ability did tend to get in the way of things. That was when he thought back on the last weekend he had with his son no matter how much the kid seemed to hate him he at least had fun with his old man. Ezekiel smirks and taps his chin thoughtfully before setting up a sign up sheet to post in the recreation rooms.

Laser Tag!

Sign up for a night of laser tag and pizza. This is for fun guys. Any questions can be directed to Ezekiel Brooks. We'll be leaving at 5:30 expect to be back by 10 at the latest.

Ezekiel gives himself a proud mental pat on his back and then sets about correcting papers in a corner as h casually pretends to not notice if anyone looks at the sign up sheet.

nextgen_misc:

The Bowery Mission on Bowery and Delancey was a mutant friendly shelter near Little Italy. It housed men, women and children from all walks of life including mutants. Evening was coming to the city and a few homeless people were starting to filter in. The shelters in the city saw less occupancy during the summer, but there was enough this evening that most of the beds would be full.

The explosion came without warning and the place was engulfed in flames in seconds.

nextgen_media:

Los Angeles, California Strange things were happening at Disneyland. The normally cute, harmless characters and props were suddenly real and running amok in the park. The puppets from It’s a Small World were chasing tourists with axes and tried to harm them. Two what could only be called Vikings battled the kraken and defeated it. The situation was handled by Avenger Simon Williams, known as Wonder Man. After the situation was resolved, it was announced that the West Coast now how its own superhero team. The Defenders will be based out of Los Angeles and keeping the West Coast safe from evil. CONT on page 2.

New York, New York There’s still no word on billionaire Tony Stark’s condition since the explosion on June 24th. There has been no official word from the Stark family or company, but rumors about Stark’s death abound along with rumors of a coma or possible brain damage. CONT on page 3

New York, New York Explosions rocked different areas of the city last night as the attacks on mutant shelters and recreational centers escalated. The perpetrators of these crimes are unknown and the police continue their investigation. CONT on page 2

Memphis, TN The Young Avengers stopped a three hundred foot monster from rampaging downtown Memphis. The team managed to lure the monster away from the city where they proceeded to destroy the monster. What it was or where it came from is unknown, but it will no longer be terrorizing the residents of Memphis. CONT on page 4.

soothsayer:

Ezekiel was moving as quickly as he could to track down the source of the drug that was killing these kids. His partner was trying to be helpful but had no idea why Zeke was taking it so passionately and personally. He tried to say it was because of the fact he was a father. But no one really seemed to believe him since everyone knew his son didn't like seeing him.

No one blamed the kid. Zeke was a weird guy and just didn't come off as normal. At least he was a goods cop. Which was why he was talking to some known drug dealers. Wanting to know if they ever met the kids that had died. Nope sorry officer but they had no idea who they were but did you know Mr Fuzz that a new Churchy group was in the area handing out food?

That had his attention and had him moving. Purifiers. He could tell who they were from a dozen yards and wanted to get the hell out before they saw him. His partner just thought they looked like trouble.

Ezekiel would figure out how long they were in the area and go from there. He was still nerved up enough though to let it slip he never wanted to meet a Purifier. That made his partner wonder why.

nextgen_media:

New York, New York An explosion rocked the usual festive atmosphere of Coney Island today as a car bomb exploded. Caught in the blast was billionaire Tony Stark and his wife Natasha Romanova. The couple had been out and enjoying the afternoon at Coney Island, rumor has it that the location was the site of their first date many years ago, when Mr. Stark’s car exploded. Police and ambulance responded and New York’s famous couple were rushed to an undisclosed hospital. Mr. and Mrs. Stark suffered severe injuries and both are listed in critical condition. Investigation into the cause of the explosion is under underway. CONT ON PAGE 2.

New York, New York Could a new wave of anti-mutant sentiment be spreading through the city and country? An explosion rocked a homeless shelter in Tribeca today. The shelter was engulfed in flames and fire crews arrived on scene. Six people were caught in the blast and are believed to have been volunteers and staff. The cause of the explosion is under investigation, but authorities believe that it may be related to anti-mutant sentiment. The shelter was a popular one with the city’s homeless mutant population. Similar occurrences happened at shelters that are popular with the mutant population in cities such as Miami, Chicago, New Orleans, Atlanta, and San Francisco. CONT ON PAGE 3

New York, New York It seems like New York’s pranksters are at it again. This time the dastardly culprit showed up at an event of Rooftop Films and started throwing crème pies at the attendees. The culprit was dressed in a black outfit, wore a mask and a wide-brimmed hat when he pulled off this caper. During his lobbing of delicious desserts, he culprit was reciting poetry. The exact poem was unidentified along with the identity of the prankster. He disappeared into thin air when he was done. Police would like to talk to anyone who has any information to the identity or whereabouts of this person.

soothsayer:

He called ahead two nights ago. He had gotten drunk right after that. Drunk to forget the faces of the kids that no one had saved. He went through a pack of cigarettes in between the next morning and now this after noon.

He wants to call Mary. Tell her that he still loves her even though she hates him for never telling a lie. Not even one sweet little lie. He should have told her he was a mutant. Maybe his son would like him. He decided that he wouldn't think about it on the drive up. He smoked three cigarettes on the drive. What would Charles say? He had no idea.

He got there and was allowed in the gate. They were expecting the Detective. Not too much of a shock. He parked his car and stopped to stretch his bad leg, god it hurt. Time to go tell Charles all about this.

Please father, let me confess my sins. I'm not Superman and I need you to help me catch these baby killers. He shook his head at the thought drifting through his head. Charles is many things to many people but he's no priest.

So he limps up to the front door and puts out his last smoke as he knocks on the door. This is his only hope.