Unity

Chapter twelve:

An abandoned subway station:

"You used to live with the morlocks?" the streaked brunette asked as they followed the dusty tracks.

"Yep, for a year or so after my folks kicked me out," David answered, "Obviously, I looked like a monster before learning that I could control the growth of my claws, so I had no choice but to live down here. It was a lot of hard work, but well worth it, no one to boss you around and you could do anything you wanted."

"Dave, don't you think it's better to put up with a few rules than wondering when your next meal is going to be?" the cold-wielder questioned.

"Not all of us were lucky enough to be born in yuppie suburbia. I'll have you know-"

"Enough!" Rogue snapped, "Instead of arguing, how about letting us know what the plan is? If you even got one."

"Of course I do," the dark-haired boy huffed, "There's a guy at the colony who's absolutely amazing. Give him a name and he'll adopt that person's whole memory, it doesn't matter if he's never met or even heard of the poor sap."

"I see, we mention Jack Stevens and he'll give us his location! Sounds too good to be true," Bobby noted.

"Well, sometimes he absorbs too much too fast and becomes muddled; and if we find him sleeping, there's a chance he won't wake up in weeks."

"Then we better hope he's awake then." Rogue smelled something and stopped short. "There's smoke coming from that direction!" The teenage trio ran as fast as they could and arrived at a scene from a nightmare, everyone had been cruelly slain, not even the children were spared, and standing among them, were their killers. They hid before anyone could notice them.

"Now you see how unwise it was to refuse me," Hephaestus said with a sneer. He was holding a man that looked like a porcupine, who, in gory irony, had been skewered with his own quills. "I am the only answer for our people," the magma-skinned man claimed out loud, "no one ever forget that."

"He's totally out of his mind!" Rogue moved closer to Bobby and whispered into his ear, "Let's get out of here, we won't help anyone if we're dead."

"Agreed," the fair-haired boy replied, "Come along, Dave."

"They were my friends."

"David?"

"All of them, he just came and…g-GAAAH!!" Large bone claws literally tore through his skin. "MURDERER!!" Warned by the scream, all Hephaestus had to do was throw a fireball and leave his attacker out of commission. He caught sight of the other two.

"Capture them, alive."

"Rogue, get out of here!" Bobby reacted by firing sharp ice shards, "Who knows what an overload might do."

"You don't have to tell me twice. I'll be back with the X-Men." Rogue couldn't take one step, for a teleporter materialized in front of her.

"Pink Moon flying knee!" The morlock was hit behind the neck, Chibi Moon's fierce attack proved to be quite effective. "I knew it was a good idea to follow you guys."

"Thanks, whoever you are. KYAA!"

"YAAH!" An albino morlock took them out with an electric shock, Bobby was already down. The magma-skinned morlock stepped up to the odango-headed senshi and turned her over with his foot.

"I never expected you to fall into my hands so soon," a grin of mad satisfaction bent his lips, "My revenge is close at hand."

Xavier's school:

"I can't believe the kids did this," Sailor Pluto grumbled, thinking once more of the news Scott had given. I'd also like to be surprised by Small Lady doing this. She let herself fall back against the wall. "To top it all off, neither Storm, Neptune or Mystique have reported yet."

"No, and neither have Logan or Uranus," the brown-haired man added, "We shouldn't worry about those two, however, they can take care of themselves."

"So can Raven," the white-haired villain added, "I see no need for concern at all, now that Charles is done with the students' transfer, he can invest all of his time into fighting the hate-demon."

"Hai," the ruby-eyed senshi looked at the closed door that led to the Cerebro room, "Can Xavier-sama really detect any mutant in the city with this machine?"

"Throughout the world," Eric cleared out. An idea occurred to him, "Perhaps we could adapt it to detect magic-infused beings, such as the demon or yourselves."

"Hai, that should be useful." The door slid open and Charles came out, much sooner than expected.

"Any luck finding the others, Professor?" Scott asked.

"I couldn't even get started," the telepath responded tiredly, "There's a new obstacle in our way, as soon as I activated Cerebro, dark patches appeared to  block my vision."

"Dark patches?"

"Probably a result of the hate demon's influence," the older man deduced, "I tried peering into those spots, but couldn't even get near them, and each attempt took a lot out of me."

"That means Cerebro is completely useless to us," the time senshi sighed as she slid her hand down her face, Hotaru's capture and Chibi-Usa's disappearance were affecting her more than she expected. "Let's go back upstairs and try to think of something else."

Henry and Jean were waiting at the meeting room, her foot was tapping at 80 beats per minute.

"Now what?" the X-Man leader huffed.

"I received a call for you, Professor," the redhead informed, trying to remain as serene as possible, "It was Stevens, he wants to meet you for a public debate tomorrow." Everyone's eyes went wide open.

"Xavier-sama, you must decline! It's the perfect scenario for an assassination."

"It's much too obvious, Stevens is smart enough to know that such a radical plan would backfire on him," the white-haired man countered, "Then again, he's not exactly thinking for himself."

"On the other hand," the blue-furred one interjected, "not going could be misinterpreted out of proportion, ending up with the school being exposed." He crossed his arms and sat down on the desk. "There is a way out of this, we only have to examine the situation thoroughly."

"Perhaps we could turn our enemy's plan into our favor," Charles said after a while, "While assisting this debate may endanger my life, it also places me in an excellent position to strike at our demonic invader." Everyone pondered and realized it was true, after all, Stevens seemed to have a direct connection with the hate-demon.

"You're taking a big risk, Charles," his old friend reminded.

"Not while everyone's around to keep an eye out for traps," Jean assured.

"Not everyone," Pluto said, "I'm going out there to look for the children, if we wait any longer it might be too late."

"I'll go with you," Henry offered, "I have a few ideas of where the kids might've gone to." They started planning and organizing their strategies, when odds become dire and many, the next mistake can be final.

Brooklyn:

"As soon as I get back to Japan, I'm asking Setsuna-san and Ami-chan to work on something that hides the smell," Haruka said, "I should've thought of this when Usagi-chan told me how she recognized my cologne." She tried taking off the sunglasses, her eyes still hurt a little. "Where are we going anyway?"

"I discovered what seems to be one of Stevens' recruitment houses," the feral man answered, "one that reports directly to the main headquarters."

"Why not tell Scott-kun and the others?"

"I don't know for certain, and we can't waste time on wild goose chases."

"So why bring me?"

"Bring you? You're the one who came along. Which might turn out to be a good thing." Logan stopped the jeep in front of an old brick building. "You remember the mutation radar those robots have? Well, there's a good chance this place is equipped with them too, which makes it impossible for me to enter."

"But it doesn't work on magic," the tall girl guessed, "It won't be that easy though, I can't just walk in and ask for a membership." She leaned on the dashboard and started thinking. She caught sight of a boutique at the end of the block. "Logan-san, let's go shopping."

"Hey Stan, wanna enter the poll?"

"What poll?" The young man with green hair laid a notebook on the table.

"For the new weapon everyone's talking about." There were still some who didn't know about the sentinels. "I can put you down for either guns, thanks, suits…"

"I'll go with fifty bucks on rifles," the older man wagered.

"Okay," the younger one wrote down the number and name, "Fifty on guns.

"No, not guns, rifles, there's a difference."

"What difference? One's bigger than the other, that's all."

"Uh-uh, there's also caliber, range, weight, speed and recoil. It's like comparing a Boxer to a Chihuahua."

"You call that a good example? Just yesterday I saw a Doberman screwing a Spaniel." Suddenly, they heard a loud noise coming from outside, accompanied by a woman's scream. Both men raced to the backdoor and opened it; among the trash cans they saw a sand-blonde girl in leather shorts and a tied up blouse on the floor, and looming above her was the scariest-looking man they'd ever seen. His animalistic growl and razor claws were all the incentive they needed to start firing. The dark-haired mutant roared furiously, then escaped as fast as he could.

"The nerve of that freak!" He turned to his green-haired pal, "Get her inside, quickly!"

Shortly afterwards, Haruka was sitting on a chair, her jittery hands held a cup of coffee.

"Arigato." She took a sip. "Damn gun control. How's someone supposed to feel safe? And damn those mutants! If I had my way, I would… Arrgh!"

"Easy now," Stan said as he put his hand on her shoulder, "you're safe here, and as soon as Stevens is elected, so will the streets."

"Hai. You guys support him?" the racer asked.

"More than that," the green-haired one answered, "this is one of his campaign offices. Wanna join?"

"You bet I do! But, umm, between you and I, I'd like to know how I can make a bigger difference." Haruka ran her thumb across her neck. "Get it?"

"No problem, we happen to be part of-"

"Hush!" the older man snapped, "There's a cot in the other room. Why don't you rest for a while, and we'll talk about this later."

"Okay, I will." Haruka went into the room, closed the door and burst out laughing, not too loudly. "Suckers! How can they allow a pretty face to make them so gullible?" She sat down and turned on her communicator. "Logan-san, do you copy?"

"Loud and clear. How'd it go?"

"Worked like a charm! Mina-chan would've been so jealous of our performance." The shorthaired girl rubbed her cheek. "I'm having second thoughts about getting real bruises though."

"Don't blame me, I tried to warn you, I'm no good at pulling back punches, yet you insisted on authenticity. Now, remember the plan, manipulate them into taking you to meet Stevens, then I'll contact the others and we'll storm the place. Stay in touch, rookie."

"10-4, old man, Haruka out."

Logan couldn't help feeling a little ridiculous when he turned off the pink gizmo.

"Funny, I don't recall Hello Kitty™ having a moon on her forehead."

Hephaestus' colony:

"Hmm, nani?" The future princess opened her eyes slowly. "Neptune? Storm? Where are we?" She scanned her surroundings and saw that they were all in a dark, damp room, chained against the wall.

"Down in the gutter, and I mean it literally," the ocean senshi answered, "How did they get their hands on you kids? Did something happen at the school?"

"No, we got this bright idea that we could rescue our friends and ended up here," the pale girl answered in embarrassment, "Have you two figured out how to get out of here?"

"There must be over a hundred morlocks surrounding us, so fighting's out of the question," the weather witch informed, "That grating might take us to a tunnel, and I'll be able to handle it if it leads to an exit. But first we have to get out of these chains."

"Maybe Bobby-kun can freeze them," the pink-haired senshi suggested eagerly, "Is it possible?"

"I'd have to reach absolute zero, something I've never tried before, my arm could crystallize and break off." He turned to David, but his dark-haired had worn himself out by struggling against his bonds, and all he could do now was grumble. Suddenly, the rusty door creaked open and the morlock leader entered.

"You must be wondering why I brought you here, instead of killing you on the spot, like all surface-dwellers deserve."

"You want to gloat and reveal all of your secret plans," the odango-headed senshi mocked, "At least that's what villains do in movies."

"Hilarious." Hephaestus went up to the senshi. "I'm not sure which one, but I know that one of you possesses something I want." He turned away. "As for the rest, I plan to follow the example of nobles in the middle ages, the rebels they captured were dismembered and their pieces scattered across the land." Needless to say, his prisoners were becoming terrified. "People will learn that morlock is a name to be feared."

"I'll show you the meaning of fear," David growled, "Come on! Let's see if you can take on someone who can fight back! Get these fucking chains off me so I can rip your lungs out!!" Storm and Neptune shared worried glances, the demon was getting to him.

"You will be the first, traitor!" the magma-skinned dictator roared as his blue flames grew larger, "You think you're better than us, living up there with your appearance!"

"Blah, blah, blah, you're all talk," Rogue taunted, "Your bravado and threatening may work down here, but I'll bet you've got as much heat as a wet match." Hephaestus turned his head slowly, she was the sort of person he hated the most, young, pretty and accepted. He went over to the streaked brunette, stared into her eyes, and pressed his finger against her chest. He burned through the fabric in a second. "YEAARGH!"

"Oni!!" Neptune cried, "How can you be so cruel!? She's only a child!"

"You'll get your turn," Hephaestus roared, turning away from Rogue, "First, this child must learn the price of insolence-Ugh!" A left jab, right on the jaw.

"Here's an expression you can use: know your enemy," the power drainer chuckled as she held a flaming fist. She didn't give him a chance to recover, she ran up and grabbed his wrists to weaken him further, the magma-skinned morlock managed to kick her away, but Rogue threw a fireball that blasted him through the door.

"Awesome, Rogue-chan!" Chibi Moon praised as the pale mutant hurried to free them, "I never would've come up with a plan like that in a million years."

"It's a good thing it worked, that burning hurt like-Hey!" No sooner was David cut loose, he barged out of the room, ready to slash anyone who got in his way. "Damn it, that idiot's going to ruin everything!"

"We'll get him back," Storm said, "You kids go into the grating and find your way back to the school."

"No way!" the cold-wielder snapped, "You'll never make it on your own, you need our help." The ebony-skinned girl knew this was true, she also knew the students weren't ready for a battle this big, but this was no time to argue.

"Okay, we get David and leave. Come on!" Storm and Neptune led the assault, clearing a path with their powers. It was easy to find the clawed boy, he went up against everyone who got in his way.

"Chikuso, he's going to be our main obstacle," the aqua-eyed senshi cursed, "Chibi Moon, get ready, there's a chance you'll have to use the Lunar Kaleidoscope on David-kun."

"Hai, just keep everyone else of my back. Nani?" She felt a shadow overhead, the future princess spun to see the morlock leader about to land on top of her. Fortunately, Bobby blew him away with an icy blast.

"I'll handle Hephaestus," Rogue shouted, "You go get David." The magma-skinned mutant tried to pummel her with the combo that had earned him the leadership tournament, the streaked brunette blocked every blow.

"What? It took months to perfect that move. How could you possibly counter it!?"

"I have both your powers and knowledge, (chuckle) you made your own worst enemy."

Bobby knew the only way to assure their already improbable victory was to keep reinforcements from arriving. He ran up to the entrance tunnel and sealed it with an ice wall, nearly ten feet thick.

"That should do it, unless there's another pyrokinetic in the group." He fell to one knee, that stunt had exhausted him.

"Are you all right, Bobby-kun?" the ruby-eyed senshi asked concernedly.

"I'll rest when it's over." He glanced in his friend's direction, the clawed boy was too immersed in his anger to listen. "If I get any closer, he'll probably slice me in half. Sorry, Dave, it's gotta be done the hard way." Bobby froze the floor, causing most to slip and fall. "Can you handle the rest?"

"No problem." Chibi Moon took out a small black key-chain that grew to the size of a volleyball, she spun it on her finger and threw it at the mob. "Luna-P, sleeping gas!" They all dropped like flies.

"Wow, that was a smart move," Bobby admitted.

"Naturally. You still think I'm useless?"

"Chibi Moon and Bobby got David," Storm noted, "now to get out of here."

"How? We're completely surrounded," the wavy-haired senshi pointed out, "To make matters worse, our escape route's been blocked." She moved to avoid a blow from the scrawny morlock, his fist cracked the floor open! Before the scarecrow could make another move, someone glued him down.

"What? You-Hmph!" The last glob hit his mouth.

"You talk too much anyway."

"You're the one we helped the other day!" the ebony-skinned girl remembered, "Gus, right?"

"That's right, and I'm not the only one lending a hand." The two heroines scanned the battlefield, indeed, a lot of morlocks were aiding both them and the children. "We've been meaning to stand up against Hephaestus, he's gone crazy, but none of us had the nerve until you guys took action."

"Don't thank us yet," Neptune warned, "If things don't improve, all we did was dig you an early grave." The situation did not improve, all the contrary, it got worse, starting with an explosion that rocked the entire chamber.

"Ungh…" Although Rogue's eyes stung from the blood, she still managed to see Hephaestus lying unconscious. "That's the good news, and the bad…" Turning her head made her whole body ache, and she immediately regretted doing so. A uniformed platoon, armed to the teeth, became visible through the smoke.

"Attack," Rogers ordered. Only one word could describe what happened next: insanity. The troops fired without a second thought or a hint of remorse, those who escaped the laser beams were reached by grenades. "Cease fire, their numbers have decreased enough. Set your weapons on stun and proceed to capture the survivors." There weren't that many left anyway, so the cowardly deed was completed with shameful ease.

"I hear movement behind that pile of rubble, Sir, probably more mutants. Should we detain them as well?"

"No, we can only carry so many prisoners." The old veteran looked around, in his own mind, he was proud for having eradicated this threat. "My country is now safer, I've done the right thing."

Stevens HQ, 5:00 a.m.:

"Wake up, you sorry slobs! You're not gonna spend the whole day sleeping you know." Kathy grumbled, cold and fear had kept her up through an awful night, she'd only slept for ten minutes when the guard started hollering. The silent girl rubbed her eyes and glimpsed into the cell in front of hers, Giselle's. She saw something that shocked her, quickly, she started banging frantically against the bars.

"Hmm, for Pete's sake, Kathy!" the reptilian girl huffed, "It's bad enough with that jerk-Eek!"

"Mon deu!, Giselle, what happened to you!?" The yellow-eyed girl's skin was all yellowish .

"Don't worry," Giselle assured after calming down. She rubbed her arm, it felt awfully dry. "This has happened before, I'll be fine in a couple of minutes." She then noticed that her Japanese friend was still lying down, surrounded by an aura of depression. "What's troubling you, Hotaru?" There was no reply.

"She's saddened," Jennifer sensed, "unhealthily so, it has something to do with her healing ability." The morlock child closed her eyes and concentrated. "Goodness! Hotaru, are you really that powerful!?"

"Hai," the pale girl's voice was barely a whisper.

"Umm, Hotaru, cherie." The bayou-dweller wasn't much good at applying tact, yet he had to try. "If there's something you haven't told us about your mutation, we'll understand."

"Didn't you hear what that machine said? I'm not a mutant."

"That's ridiculous. How else could you do that stuff?" Giselle questioned, "Even if there was another reason, so what?"

"I found another place where I don't belong, that's what!" the violet-haired girl cried, "When I met you at the school, I thought I had finally met people who could understand me, people I could understand, I thought I had found the answer to who I am. It all turned out to be a lie! One I told to fool myself." The frail girl scooted into a corner. "Just leave me alone, it's how I've always been and how I always will be." Remy was going to say something, but shut his mouth before putting his foot into it; Jennifer wanted to comfort her newfound friend, but nothing came to mind; Kathy was on the other side of the room, so she couldn't even give Hotaru a pat on her back; only Giselle knew precisely which words to use.

"You know something, Hotaru? You're the greediest, most spoiled bitch I've ever met."

"Nani!?"

"Aren't you aware of how lucky you are? You're beautiful, smart and kind. Three of the most amazing people in the world form your family, you have half a dozen friends who care about you, and make new ones with great ease. What more do you want?" Hotaru was too stunned to reply. "You're looking for complete happiness? News-flash, honey, there ain't such thing. You may insist if you like, but that'll only guarantee a miserable life, which, now that I think about it, is probably what you deserve!" Giselle snorted loudly and turned away. "You have so much, and you still complain."

"Giselle-chan, I…" Hotaru lowered her head in shame. She'd been tormenting herself with unfounded fears, while purposely ignoring the hardships the young mutants had suffered. "Hai, you're absolutely right. I have no right to claim maturity if I play the victim at every setback." She stood up decisively. "It's high time I started growing up!"

"Okay, you little monsters," the guard shouted as he barged in, carrying five Styrofoam trays, "Here's your chow, it's all you're getting, so don't complain and-Huh? What happened here!?" One of the cells was open, the titanium bars laid scattered across the floor.

"We're leaving," a voice from behind announced, he spun and saw Sailor Saturn. The soldier tried to shoot her, but one swipe of the glaive cleaved his rifle in half. "Go to sleep!" She planted her weapon on the floor and kicked him on the head. The next thing she did was free her friends, cutting through the bars like twigs.

"You must be kidding me!" Remy claimed, "All this time, you were the one who saved us at Central Park?"

"Gomen, I had to keep my identity a secret. Please understand."

"I can't, since we've only just met," the orange-skinned girl replied, "but I'm sure you had valid reasons." Kathy was at the door, snapping her fingers, either they moved or their escape was going to be foiled before it could even get started. Just before leaving, the silent senshi took the reptilian girl's hand.

"Arigato, Giselle-chan, I really needed to have my eyes open."

"Save your thanks for my mom, she's the wise one." They shared a quick hug and got away from there. The teenagers felt ready to face and conquer any challenge, and the ones about to come were going to be the biggest ones yet.