Now to focus a little on the Morlocks, with the appropriately titled chapter, "The Morlocks."

Abyss, Chapter 02

Wanda held her hands out, surrounded by a ring of green fire in Agatha's back yard. She had performed this exercise only once before, immediately after her release from the asylum, when her powers were still uncontrolled. She had grown beyond that, holding her hands out and keeping the fire at bay.

"You must do more than restrain the fire," Agatha instructed, standing at the back porch. Pietro was with her, sipping some of her tea, which he found to be rather good. He wasn't quite sure what he was watching, but at least it wasn't boring. "You must extinguish the fire."

"I..." Wanda flexed her fingers. "I can't..."

"Look inside yourself, Wanda. Search your thoughts. What is it that makes you happy? What is it that drives you? Imagine what it is that gives you a reason to live, and you will find your inner strength."

"I... I don't..." Wanda tensed up, and her hex began to wane against the oncoming fire. "I don't know!"

Agatha waved her hand, dispersing the fire before it could reach Wanda. Pietro ran to her as she collapsed, quickly reaching her and helping her stand. "That is why your powers fail you," Agatha stated. "You lack purpose. There is no direction in your life. You feel weak, and so you are."

"What do you suggest I do, then?" Wanda asked.

"I can only suggest that you find a reason to live," Agatha advised. "You must find something to motivate you. If you continue to be dissatisfied with life, you will never find the inner peace necessary to control your powers."

"She's right," Pietro said. "You've spent so long being hateful and planning revenge that you don't know what to do now that you're over that. You said you wanted to move on with your life. Stop worrying about whether or not your powers are working. Just relax."

"Listen to your brother," Agatha added. "You worry too much about this. Life is not something to be taken lightly, but neither should we let it weight us down."

"I understand," Wanda said, but she wasn't so sure she really did.

--

"Mmm-mmm." Pyro, meanwhile, had chosen to stay home. The others didn't even ask him if he wanted to go with them for pizza- and in truth, he didn't. He was back in the Brotherhood building, and he was done with his probation. There were two things that came to Pyro's mind: burn things, or do his job.

Pyro's job description, viewable by anyone with level 2 SHIELD clearance, stated that he was part of a mutant hero team acting in Bayville, secretly sponsored by SHIELD and ultimately answering to them. However, anyone with at least level 3 clearance would know Pyro's real job.

John Allerdyce walked out of his bedroom and opened the door to Pietro's. He opened the drawers to Pietro's dresser, but found only clothes. He rummaged through them, but was satisfied that there was nothing out of place. Next, he went to Pietro's closet, and found... more clothes. That included three spare uniforms, as well as his old uniform and a work-in-progress design for an updated uniform.

Moving on, he went to Wanda's room. He flipped through her private book collection, but found nothing interesting. Then, he spotted a notebook tucked under her pillow, and realized that Wanda kept a diary. Flipping to the last update, Pyro took a small camera from his pocket and began to take snapshots.

After looking through the rooms belonging to Lance, Blob, and Toad, Pyro headed upstairs to the control center. Immediately, he noticed something new- the mutant detection system installed by Toad. Once more taking his handy cam (which is not a Handycam), Pyro took more shots. Once his camera's memory capacity had been reached, Pyro grinned and slipped it back into his pocket.

"Oh, someone's in troooouuu-bleeee..." Pyro said to himself in a sing-song voice.

--

"Evan?" Scott Summers called, wading through the sludge of the Bayville sewers. He had chosen to come alone, armed only with a flashlight and his energy-charged eyes. He was alone in the sewage tunnel, but unknown to him, he was being watched.

The lizard-faced Lucid was walking through a parallel tunnel, looking right at the wall. With his eyes, Lucid peeled away the bricks and cement, and looked through the linear pipes to see the tunnel next door, and Scott looking around like a lost child.

"Evan?" Scott called again. Lucid looked up- in his own tunnel, Spyke appeared, summoned by Scott's genius attempt. Lucid pointed to the wall, signifying that Scott was on the other side. Spyke nodded and continued walking, looking for an opening. Lucid was about to keep going his own way, but he caught sight of something moving in a tunnel on the opposite side.

"What are you doing down here?" Spyke asked, once he caught up with Scott.

"Looking for you," Scott explained.

"Here to ask how I'm doing?" Spyke asked. "That's how it always is with you guys. You never knock unless you really need something."

"And when was the last time you came by for a visit, Evan?"

"I have things to do down here," Spyke argued. "At least I'm outside the fence, looking out for this town's mutants. When do you guys ever come out to help? You just stay inside, playing school all day. What happened to the team?"

"The team's still there, Evan, our priorities have just shifted," Scott explained. "We're trying to promote peace through peace. I wish we could come and protect everyone in the city, but that's just not possible."

"The X-Men are a joke now," Spyke accused. "You're all talk. So many defenseless mutants in this town, and the only ones you care to protect are the ones enrolled in your school. I'm surprised you haven't started charging for admission."

"Look, we can argue about this all day," Scott said, "But I came here for a reason. I don't know if you've heard... but Kurt and Rogue are gone. They've been kidnapped."

"What? By who?" Spyke asked in surprise, no longer concerned with the debate. "What happened?"

"That's the hard part, we're not really sure. But I came to ask you a favor. We need as many eyes as possible. If you or your friends see anything... call us."

"I'll... I'll do that. No problem," Spyke assured him. "Do you have any idea who did this?"

"Not yet. But we know whoever did it has Gambit as one of his thugs, so watch out for him, too. We've got Beast checking headlines across the country. Professor X has been trying Cerebro, but no luck. Even the Brotherhood's got an investigation going."

"You don't think they might have something to do with it?"

"No. For once, they're the good guys, they're with SHIELD now. They're not really sharing any of their details, but at least we know they've got the same goal we do."

"Times have changed," Spyke said with an amused grunt. "Listen, Scott. We'll keep our eyes open."

"Thanks, Evan."

--

"Nils Styger," Lieutenant Denti read, giving a report to Avalanche, Blob, and Pyro. "Calls himself Abyss. He used to be associated with the Morlocks, but they severed all ties after he went on a rampage. Seventeen people were killed, and SHIELD took him into custody."

"What are his powers, exactly?" Avalanche asked.

"His body is made of hollow coils, and he houses some sort of black hole inside of him," Denti explained. "The hole leads to a sort of pocket dimension. Once something is sucked in, it can never come back out."

"What happens inside?" Blob asked.

"We've had technicians study the effect," Denti further explained, "And as near as any of them could tell, anything sucked into Abyss would likely survive the process, assuming the aperture were wide enough." Denti would periodically glance sideways at a second screen that gave him his information. "Inside, an object would remain intact for a short period of time, before it's taken apart at a molecular level and absorbed as energy for Abyss."

"That's kind of scary," Blob admitted.

"I'll say. I just want to remind you guys again to be extremely cautious when dealing with him. If you need to call for backup, please do."

"We'll see how things go," Avalanche said, cutting the connection. "Alright. We've got Toad hunting down Spyke, and we've got Pietro and Wanda out of town. Hate to say this, but I think we're fucked."

"He doesn't sound so scary to me," Pyro bragged. "I bet a little toasting and he'll turn tail and run."

"You goon, that's your solution to everything."

"Go with what works, right?" Pyro laughed. "So, are we gonna go party or what?"

"I say we wait for Toad," Avalanche said. "Once we know what Spyke and the Morlocks are planning to do about this, then we make our move."

--

Tall and corpse-like, Caliban would be a frightening sight for anyone wandering the dark corridors of the Bayville sewers. However, the Morlocks were all used to seeing the passive, stoic Caliban. He could hardly be considered a threat. Spyke trudged through the sewage until he caught up with the taller mutant, standing at a side pipe.

"Sssspyke..."

"I know," Spyke said to him. "Go tell the others. I'll keep this way." Caliban nodded and retreated, while Spyke continued through the main pipeline.

Several feet behind, Toad clung to the wall, crawling for a short distance before hopping to the other side and gaining ground. He couldn't stay on the wall for long, let alone crawl on it like Nightcrawler, so he hopped again to the other side. Unable to resist the temptation, he snagged one of the cockroaches crawling on the ceiling, but immediately spat it out, retching. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to eat something that lived among human waste- even Toad could appreciate this.

Keeping his eyes on Spyke, Toad jumped onto an overhead pipe and watching Evan Daniels round a corner, jumping onto the walkway. Toad jumped off the pipe and onto another section of wall, then bounded around the corner- only to find that Spyke had turned around, spikes ready.

"Ghh!" Toad stopped himself and turned to jump away, but now he saw that a trap had been set for him- more Morlocks waited at the opposite side of the way. Caliban had alerted Facade, Torpid, and the largely-built Sunder to that corner. Behind Spyke, the goo-covered Tarbaby and the mohawked Scaleface emerged, along with Callisto.

"You got a problem, Tolensky?" Spyke asked. "We don't like spies."

"Uh... I was just tryin' to take a shortcut to McDonald's," Toad said. "If you guys could just tell me which way leads out to 5th street, I'll just be on my way..."

"You're not going anywhere, tadpole," Tarbaby threatened. "This is Morlock territory. We don't like outsiders."

"Let's hold on for a second," Callisto said, waving for them to stand down. "I'd like to avoid any unnecessary violence. What are you doing here?"

"He works for the government," Spyke explained. "They're after Abyss, too."

"We'll deal Abyss," Callisto said. "He was a Morlock, and we take care of our own."

"It ain't that easy," Toad said to them. "We got a job to do."

"They may be useful," Caliban suggested. "We cannot fight Abyss on our own."

"The X-Men think he and his friends can be trusted, but I don't," Spyke countered. "And unless something's changed in the last few years, they're not much stronger than we are."

"Oh, we're strong," Toad bragged. "We just don't have the info. So, how about you and us, we help each other out? We got th' facilities to keep him locked up. Assumin' he lives."

"It did take government intervention to capture him last time," Scaleface noted.

"But he escaped, didn't he?" Tarbaby pointed out.

"Regardless, we may need their help," Callisto said to the Morlocks. Reluctantly, Spyke nodded. Soon, the rest of the Morlocks stated their agreement as well. "Alright. Can you arrange a meeting with the rest of your team?"

"Done and done," Toad replied.

--

Wanda sat on the steps of Agatha's back porch, with a cup of tea sitting next to her. Pietro leaned against the porch pillar with his second cup of tea, while Agatha prepared something inside. Pietro looked down at Wanda's confused, dejected expression, and wondered what he could do to cheer her up.

"Wanda, what do you really want out of life?" Pietro asked.

"I don't know," she replied. "I honestly don't know. I don't want to kill our father... I don't want anything to do with Lucas. I'm alright being on the team with you guys, but... there has to be something else. What about you, Pietro? What do you want?"

"I don't usually think that far ahead," Pietro explained. "I had the same problem you did. I spent the last few years just causing mayhem because I didn't know what else to do. I could've tried a number of things, but they all seemed boring. Job? House? Steady relationship? Family? Retirement? Let someone else have all that."

"If you don't want any of those, what do you want?" Wanda asked.

"Honestly? I just want to be able to live comfortably." That was, of course, code-speak for 'make a lot of money.' "As long as I've got a job that keeps me busy, challenges me, and pays well, I'm set."

"Well, that's fine for you, but I'm not sure I like what we're doing."

"What's not to like? We get to play hero," Pietro reminded her. "It's like being an X-Man, except without the geekiness."

"I don't trust SHIELD," Wanda confessed. "Right from the start, I didn't like the idea."

"So how come you never said anything?"

"I don't know. I guess I didn't have anywhere else to go except with the Brotherhood." Wanda picked up her cup, but didn't drink. "As much as I hate to admit it, they're the closest thing I have to a real family. But... that's not really saying much."

"You don't need them," Pietro suggested. "You've got me to watch your back. As long as you watch mine, then we'll be okay, with or without the Brotherhood." Wanda offered him a half-smile before sipping her tea.

--

Mayor Kelly woke up in a bit of a panic, wondering why he was in a dark, brick-lined room. He huddled into the corner when he saw a rat scurrying by. He tried to stand up, but his ankles had been tied together, and his wrists behind his back. He realized that there was only one place he could possibly be.

"Wakey, wakey!" Abyss cried, entering the small room.

"Why did you bring me here?" Kelly demanded. "Why haven't you killed me yet?"

"I didn't want to spoil the fun," Abyss grinned. Kelly recoiled at the sight of Abyss's sharp teeth. Abyss reached up for a pipe and turned a makeshift faucet wedged into its side, letting water spill onto the brick floor. "This is one of the pipes that carries fresh water. All you need to do is follow it, and you'll find a treatment station."

Kelly said nothing, hoping Abyss would explain what he intended to do.

"You don't know what it's like to live in a sewer, do you, Eddie? It's not so bad... and it has its upsides. Like how I know my way through the entire system. I know which pipes go where and what they carry. Take this one." Abyss stretched out his hand and reached for a loose pipe over Kelly's head, pulling it out from its socket connector. Dark, thick sewage began to flow out, spilling onto Kelly's head and shoulders and dripping everywhere.

"Argh! What are you doing?!" Kelly screamed in disgust.

"You get used to it," Abyss taunted. "What's the matter, Kelly? You don't like my home? Oh, you just want to freshen up a bit. How rude of me." Abyss reached his hands up to the pipe that leaked clean water and seized it. With a grunt for effort, Abyss bent the pipe, creating a tear on its side that now gushed water. Abyss reached over to Kelly with his uncoiled arms and hoisted him into the air, away from the leaking sewage. "Let's get you all cleaned up." Abyss pushed Kelly up into water, washing off the sewage, and then pushed him in deeper, forcing Kelly's face right up against the water. Kelly struggled, trying to wiggle his bound legs and squirm out of Abyss's grasp. He couldn't breathe with the pressurized water hitting his face, and was relieved when Abyss pulled him back out.

Kelly took several breaths of air while Abyss laughed, his toothy mouth opened to inhuman proportions.

"What's the matter, Eddie boy? Don't like the water quality?"

"Whatever you do to me, you'll only prove me right," Kelly menaced. "Everything I've said about you mutants will be proven!"

"Really? Ask me if I care. Go ahead, ask me!" Abyss shook Kelly in the air like rattle, laughing. "I don't care what you think of me, or my kind. All that matters is that I hate you and your kind. Just looking at you makes me sick. So, I'm going to kill you. Come on, let's find a good spot for that!"

Abyss carried Kelly out of the room and into a sewer tunnel, overlooking a large draining basin. On the other side was a series of catwalks, allowing access to a large door. Abyss rounded the walkway around the basin, holding Kelly over it and laughing all the way.

--

Toad hopped with Spyke and Callisto through one of the larger tunnels, on their way to meet up with the Brotherhood. More of the Morlocks would soon join them.

"I gotta ask... how can you guys live down here?" Toad wondered.

"It's not easy," Callisto explained. "And it's not clean. We usually camp out in some of the more sanitary areas. We dig through garbage for food, or steal if we have to. But most of us prefer this to the persecution we would face topside."

"Well, some of you don't look so bad," Toad noted. "I mean, I ain't so pretty, and I can survive just fine up there."

"We've always stayed together," Callisto further explained. "Some of us started out as runaways, and were welcomed with the Morlocks. Even those of us that could pass on the surface remain here, so that we can continue to help each other. That's just how our society works. We work for the whole, and we leave our selfishness behind."

"Well, aren't there shelters you can go to?"

"You are out of touch, aren't you?" Spyke grunted. "There's shelters up there, but we're not welcome there. So many mutants have come to Bayville, that even if they did help us, there would be too many. We're better of making our own way then living off someone else's charity."

"But can't you, y'know, just live in some warehouse or somethin'?"

"Warehouses are owned and usually inspected," Spyke said. "We've tried it before, but we either get discovered, or the conditions are so bad that we're honestly better off in the sewer. At least here, there's too many tunnels for anyone to try looking for us. We know the place well enough that we can hide if we have to, or move our camps around."

"So, if you're all so tight, what's with th' ribbon man?" Toad asked.

"Abyss joined us two years ago," Callisto began, "Running from a human supremacist group operating here in Bayville. We offered him shelter, and for a while, he was okay, but very quiet. He eventually started to follow Spyke's lead in attacking topsiders who threatened mutants, but Abyss believed in a more extreme approach. He hated humans. He even hated mutants that just look human. He thought we should all hunt them down and kill them. He didn't even care whether or not they were hostile towards us, he wanted them all dead just for being normal."

"He sounds like some kind of poor man's Magneto," Toad remarked.

"He might be," Spyke admitted. "Abyss told us we were traitors to our species and left to exterminate humanity. Fortunately, he was captured by SHIELD, but now he's come back." Spyke stopped at a ladder, with several dots of light on the floor nearby. Above them was a manhole, leading to the meeting site. "Here we are. You first."

"Don't mind if I do." Toad jumped all the way up to the top rung of the ladder in a single bound, and pushed off the manhole cover.

--

Avalanche led Blob and Pyro into a construction yard near the center of town, empty after work hours. Situated between two high-rise buildings, the steel frame was just a skeleton of what would eventually be another skyscraper.

"Is this it?" Blob asked.

"Yo, over here!" Toad waved, wearing his uniform and perched on what would be the second floor of the building. Once he had their attention, Toad hopped towards the back end of the lot.

"Remember, Pyro," Avalanche said as the trio followed Toad. "You mess up again and we're sending you back to Bishop in a box. Go it?"

"Relax, mate, I'm just here to have a little fun," Pyro replied with a grin. Toad led them to the back corner, where Spyke and Callisto had brought some of their strongest fighters: Cybelle, Torpid, Sunder and Tarbaby. Sunder was a muscular, seven-foot tall man with a thick neck and scale-like plates on his bald head. Tarbaby's entire body was coated with dark brown goop, and random objects were visibly glued to his body. His head was spikey, but his mouth and nose- the only parts not covered by tar- looked fairly normal. Cybelle had not changed much in years, but Torpid was now taller and older, approaching her teenage years. She could almost pass for normal, though she still had abnormally large arms and a round, doll-like face.

"Alright, everyone's here," Toad said. "Uh, Morlocks, this is th' Brotherhood. That's Avalanche, Blob and that shithead is Pyro."

"Aren't you a little short?" Spyke asked.

"Pietro and Wanda are off on another mission," Avalanche said, covering for their missing teammates.

"Well, alright. You'll be working with Callisto, Sunder, Cybelle, Tarbaby and Torpid today."

"Hey," Blob waved. Sunder nodded in regard.

"The police and all the news channels are in a frenzy since he kidnapped Kelly," Avalanche said. "Any idea where Abyss might've taken him?"

"Caliban managed to sniff him out," Spyke explained. "He's at the treatment station across town."

"That's pretty far," Avalanche said. "We came in a jeep. How are we all going to get there?"

"You guys can drive," Spyke said. "We'll take the tunnels."

And now, the conclusion.