Three Years Ago, Boston:
Dave Hernandez looked up from his sketchpad at his girlfriend, Erin Doherty. They'd been at the hospital for almost a week and a half, recovering from injuries sustained while battling a group of mutants who had deemed them unworthy for existence. They were doing much better and their friends: Ian Winters, Liz Rook, and Kristi Malone, were also getting much better.
Dave and Erin were waiting in the hospital cafeteria for the other three. Ian was the first to arrive, smiling eagerly and rushing over to them. "Hey, guys. How's it going?" he mumbled softly. Since the attack, he'd been very quiet and reserved. It was a sad change from the cheery boy they'd known for years.
"Not bad. I can use my hand again," Dave held up his bandaged right hand. One of the renegade mutants had crushed Dave's hand, which he used to draw and animate images with his mind.
Erin smiled. "And my headaches are gone," she'd had her head practically smashed open when she'd used her telepathy and telekinesis to save her friends.
Ian nodded. "Cool. I finally fell asleep last night. So did everyone on my floor," he chuckled, loving the fact that he was able to control everyone else's sleeping patterns.
Liz and Kristi came in next. Both of them looked very upset. Kristi kept a hood over her face to hide the cat ears and yellow eyes. Her hands were in her pockets. Liz smiled awkwardly at the other three. "Hey, guys. What's up?"
"Not as bad as it could be," Erin said, frowning. Her telepathy picked up on her friends' distress easily, though their emotions were clearly visible in their faces. "How about you?"
Liz sighed. "No matter what shape I take, the scars will always be visible…" she shook her head. The villains had tried to cut off any extra features she'd taken on while shape changing (Kristi's ears and tail). She was obviously still reeling from that torture.
Kristi still didn't respond. She slumped into a chair and then sat back up again. She reached around to readjust her tail, which was hidden in her pant legs, then sat down again. "Couldn't be better," she said bitingly. She shook her head. "What's the game plan now, fearless leader?"
"Hey, look, this wasn't my fault," Dave said quietly. "Those guys knew we were mutants without us using our powers at gigs. We couldn't have foreseen that."
Kristi rolled her eyes and looked away. Erin reached over and touched her shoulder. "You going to be okay?"
"Just dandy," Kristi said. "Look, if there isn't anything you got planned out, I got a job offer and I think I want to take it."
"Job offer?" Liz asked, surprised. They talked a lot and Kristi had never mentioned a job. "What'll you be doing?"
Kristi shrugged. "I don't know. But it was from someone who didn't seem to mind that I'm a freak of nature. So I might as well take it, you know?"
"That's crazy!" Ian gasped. "It could be a trick or something. Some anti-mutant stunt…"
Kristi stood. "Only one way to find out. If anything happens, I can take care of myself. I've done it before."
"I tried to help!" Liz cried but Kristi was already walking away. Liz started to cry. "That's why… she doesn't even care."
Dave shook his head. "We know you tried. But those bastards cornered her… cut her off from the rest of us. She didn't trust us enough to let us help. You came close but it was too late. She'll realize it one day."
"It's not fair!" Liz shouted angrily, disturbing a few patients' meals. She lowered her voice. "I got cut up trying to save her and she doesn't give a damn! We all got hurt, why is she the only one that holds a grudge against the rest of us?"
"Who know?" Erin asked. "But… there's really nothing we can do. If she wants to leave, that's her call."
Dave sighed. "Well, what next then? We're out a bass player. But we're all well known enough to probably get signed now if we wanted to still."
Ian shook his head. "Its too risky. Everyone already knows we're mutants now… I don't want to be in the public eye for it anymore. I want to go home. My parents already knew I was a mutant. They won't kick me out now."
Liz hung her head. "I want to stay with you guys but… I don't know if that's such a good idea. I mean, my power's still out of control and…"
"You can stay with us…" Erin said quietly, she looked at Dave. "We're getting an apartment. My mom doesn't want us homeless but we can't stay with her… not like this, you know? So… you could stay with us. We don't want you to be homeless…"
Liz smiled warmly. "Really? You'd let me?"
"Of course," Dave said easily. "It'll be fun."
Now, New York:
Cataclysm sneaks down the corridor slowly. She is breathing deeply, her whiskers twitching nervously. She reaches up and strokes them, a habit she'd developed since she'd started field work. She feels as though her partner, a boy her age code-named Synch, can hear her heart pounding through her chest.
"Calm down," Synch whispers to Cataclysm, putting a hand on her shoulder. She nods quickly, trying to shake the anxiety attack she feels coming. "You can do this. It's not too hard. I do the hard work, okay? Just like we planned," he patted the tazer at his hip.
Cataclysm looks around, looking for room three-twenty, where a Dr. Aubrey Agee conducts vile experiments on mutants with the hopes of curing them of their mutation. Magneto wants the man stopped and his technology destroyed. Cataclysm, as well as her fellow young Acolytes: Rogue, Pyro, Sunspot, and Synch, volunteered eagerly for the job as their first real field assignment. Rogue has been involved in some but has never been central to any plan. They're all excited to prove themselves to Magneto.
"You with us, Catty?" Pyro's thick Australian accent asks over the communication unit they're all linked to. He can hear the conversation between the other two Acolytes and is concerned."
"She's fine," Sunspot replies. He's with Cataclysm and Synch, keeping an eye out for any unwelcome security forces. Though his ability to convert sunlight to physical energy is greatly diminished at night, her is very formidable as he can still channel from the sunlight that is reflected off the moon. "We're going to be fine, right?" he glares at Cataclysm, who merely swallows uneasily and nods.
"Take it easy over there, guys," Rogue says, acting much cooler than necessary. She's deemed herself team leader, as the only one of the group with any real field experience. "Y'all stick t' the plan an' we'll get our promotions, sure thing."
"Sure, promotions…" Sunspot mutters. "Or you'll get rewarded for leading us to our first victory, right?"
"Shut up, Sunny," Rogue snaps. "Y'all got him in sight yet?"
Cataclysm is peeking through the crack in the slightly ajar door of Dr. Agee's office. She cringes and looks away. "Found him…" she gasps quietly.
In the office, Agee is covering the body of a long deceased mutant with scaly green skin with a white sheet. There is blood all over the sheet. Cataclysm sank to her knees, feeling very ill. Synch helps her up. "You all right?"
"Get a hold of yourself, girly," Pyro says. "This bastard's done a lot of horrible things t' his victims an' won't stop unless we stop him. We're en route on our end."
Cataclysm looks at Sunspot and Synch, who urge her to keep going. She nods and pushes open the door. Dr. Agee looks up, stunned that someone's still at the Agee Institute this late at night. "What do you want? Who are you?"
"Uh, hi. I'm Kristi Malone…" Cataclysm starts, stroking her whiskers again. "Um, I was interested in your cure…"
Dr. Agee smiles. "Of course you are, look at you. Those ears, tail, and fuzz spots must be awfully inconvenient, not to mention unsightly…"
"The bloke just called ya ugly," Pyro snickers into her earpiece.
"Shut up," Synch growls.
"Well, yeah," Cataclysm continues, ignoring her arguing teammates. "Is there anything you can do?"
Dr. Agee circles Cataclysm, inspecting her body closely. Cataclysm clutches her tail quickly. "The fur can be removed with electrolysis. The ears and tail are easily cut off and plastic surgery can repair them to look relatively unmarred. The whiskers can be plucked out… do you need them to balance? And those eyes… could be removed and implanted with normal ones."
"Um, maybe…" Cataclysm wishes the others would spring in at anytime. She's starting to get really scared when Dr. Agee starts to look at his scalpels. "I also… move good. Jumping around and stuff…"
"Well, then we'd have to go for the more scientific method," Dr. Agee puts down a bloody knife. Cataclysm sighs in relief. Her eyes fall on the bloody sheet. Dr. Agee smiles. "He didn't want the scientific method. Didn't want any possible toxins in his body. He wanted the scales removed manually. He didn't survive the experience."
"That son of a--" Sunspot snarls. "I'm going in there!"
"Not till I do!" Synch bursts into the room, armed with his taser. "Time to say good night, Dr. Butcher!"
Dr. Agee gasps and reaches for his tray of knives but Synch gets to him first. The taser forces Agee to the floor. Sunspot follows Synch in and hits the much older man in the head, knocking him unconscious.
Pyro and Rogue make it in next. Pyro starts to torch the room, using the flamethrowers he carries on his back to generate the flames he gleefully has dance around the office while Rogue reaches out to Cataclysm with a gloved hand. "He didn't actually hurt ya, did he?"
"No," Cataclysm says, breathing deeply. She hates the smell of the burning computers and body. She heads to a window and lowers her rope down to the street, where a van is waiting. She enjoys a friendly scratch behind the ears before Rogue leaves to face Dr. Agee.
"Out cold, just as the doctor ordered," Sunspot chuckles at his own joke.
Rogue just rolls her eyes and pulls off the gloves that prevent her from absorbing the memories, psyche, energy, and powers of any living being she touches. She kneels down and touches Agee's cheek. She yanks away after absorbing a bit of his memory and psyche. She looks repulsed. "Ah wish we could kill him…" she whispers in a disgusted voice.
Synch taps into Sunspots power and lifts the scientist over his shoulder. He heads to the window and starts to climb down the wall. Pyro and Sunspot follow. Cataclysm waits for Rogue to head to the window. "You okay?"
"Fine… the man's just a… maniac…" Rogue shakes her head. "Go first, okay? If Ah fall, Ah trust ya to catch me before those boys, all right?"
Cataclysm nods and starts down the rope. She sees Rogue a few feet above her and watches her teammate carefully. Rogue is always disconcerted after absorbing from anyone and has often gotten very weak from it. Cataclysm has seen the girl nearly pass out after holding on to someone for too long.
After they're all safely on the ground, they load Agee into the back of the van and take off. They hear the sirens of the fire trucks and police and head in the opposite direction. In the back of the van, Rogue finally passes out.
"Some team leader she'll make," Pyro says. "Can't even use her powers without gettin' winded."
"Hey, back off," Synch says. "You don't know what it's like… relying on others for your power to be effective."
"Yeah, but at least you don't take a power nap after using yours," Sunspot comments. "The harlot lives off of other people like a leech and can't hack it."
Cataclysm ignores the bickering and looks out the window. She hates how they always fight and struggle for power within the group. Her thoughts wander back to when she'd been a part of a group that actually got along. She shakes her head. That had been years ago and that group had nearly gotten her killed. She sighs, wondering what they were up to but didn't want to think about them anymore.