A/N: GRRRRRR I hate fanfic. n e t ...for some reason it just hates the formatting on Helix. And only on Helix! Cowpie and Snff upload just fine! What the hell! -.-

Note: I'm uploading a little new sideproject...mOBSCENE. Check it out on the author page...its Helix too.



(Volume: 2 Arc: "Down the Rabbit Hole" 7 Issue: 3/4 )

Chapter 58: spill the beans

"Aww, aren't they cute together," a voice said in Julian's ear. He blinked sleepily, and turned his head. "Santo?" he asked, confused.

Why was Santo in his bedroom? Then he sat up; this wasn't his bedroom. He'd fallen asleep on watch again.

" SANTO! Where the hell are you? I can't see you!"

" I'm here," his friend said. "Something made me drop all my rocks. I can't reform. Where the fuck are we, dude? I've been drunk before but…damn…"

Julian filled him in. "Is Cess here, too?"

A redheaded girl suddenly ran around the fire and threw her arms around his neck.

"JULIAN! Ohmigod! I'm so glad to see you!"

He blinked and pushed her back.

"Wow, you're fleshy!"

" Cool, huh?" Cessily was all smiles—and all human. "I'd be happy if I wasn't all scared! Kevin's here, too."

Julian raised his eyebrow. "And how is he taking this?"

"I dunno," Cess said, sobering up. "All he can think about is where Laurie is."

"Guys can be stupid," Julian said wisely.

Laura opened her eyes and looked up. "Cessily? What's with the skin tones? Oh. Right." She sat up and rubbed her head.

"That's right…rub for me, baby…a little lower," Santo said.

" AHHHH!" Laura jumped. " Oh, god! He's invisible now. BARF."

Julian hugged his knees. "Is Sooraya here?"

" No. I dunno." Cessily sat beside them. " This is scary. We saw a pterodactyl…and I heard a real big thing roaring yesterday."

" You must've popped near us, then," Julian said. " We killed a dino."

" WE?" Laura snorted. " It was more ' all me'. Keller just cried like a little girl and let it chew on his leg. He sounded like a squeaky toy. I had to kill it for him."

Julian glowered. "You forget the one I got yesterday?"

" You threw a stick in its eye, from a distance. WOW, I'm impressed! My hero!" Laura clapped her hands over her heart, her voice sugary sweet.

"That's right, bitch." Julian wrapped his arm around her waist affectionately. "So we're heading for the coast…like that scenario Frost had us do. Wonder if she had an
idea this would happen?"

"Lots of shit happens with the X-men."

"Haha! Watch this…I'm gonna go scare Alleyne shitless…" Santo's voice faded; a few moments later, David (who had been sleeping fitfully) screamed at the top of his
lungs, Nori (sleeping near) along with him. Sofia woke up, listened for a bit, then spotted Cessily and Kevin and smiled. "It is okay. Stop shouting, David…it's only Rockslide."

" ONLY—" David sputtered, pushing his glasses on.

" It was kinda funny," Nori admitted when she stopped hyperventilating.

...

They walked on across the Savage Lands, observing how the temperate rainforest turned to savannah. They spotted weird elephant-mammoth crosses, strange looking antelope—
and, in the distance, hyenas and saber tooth cats. " Goddamn, big kitties," Julian mumbled. " Hope they don't smell baby tenders."

"I'm not a baby," Santo boomed.

"Uhh, yes you are," Julian said, realizing his mistake.

" Laura…?" Cessily eyed her baby bulge, which wasn't at full swell, but at least visible. " OHMIGOD! You ARE! Ohmigod…when is it coming?! This is so…"

" …awkward," Laura said. The whole group had stopped to stare at her and her telltale stomach. The group situations she hated, yet always seemed to be in the spotlight of.

" Fine. I'm preggos. Big deal. Twins. Married him." She stomped ahead, leaving everyone with their mouths open. Julian ran after her. "Laura! Don't be stupid…you have to stick with us…
it's dangerous out here!"

" Leave me alone, Keller," Laura said, staring at the ground. "That was just the reaction I wanted to avoid. I don't like being in the center like that. I don't like people asking me questions."

" Laura…" Julian took her hand. " I'm sorry…I didn't mean to say anything. I…I'll tell them not to talk to you about it, okay? I…" he fell silent.

"No," Laura sighed. "I have to deal with it. The Shrimps pinched me when I walked away, just now. I think they're angry that I keep pretending they don't exist."
She followed Julian back to the group; Nori glanced at Laura sympathetically, understanding her a bit. She'd known before, anyways. Cessily asked Laura more
questions—" I love babies! When are they due? Have you named them yet? Do you know what they will be? When did you know? Did you plan them?"

Laura laughed at this one. "Oh, yes…I planned to have two kids—at once—with the guy I thought was a shit-ball. I thought it'd be a shame if no one else would touch him and his line wasn't
continued, so I sacrificed myself for the annoyance of womankind."

Cessily shut up after this, slightly hurt, and Julian rolled his eyes. " Laura, you're not exactly the sweetest piece of cake I've ever met, either."

Sofia was silent, looking at the ground as they walked.

"Haha, they're the spawn of Hellion," Santo said. They could almost hear him grin. " Dude. HELL-SPAWN!"

" Shut up, Santo," Julian said, covering his face with his hand.

" You wouldn't know I was still with you guys, then," Santo retorted.

"Can you kill a bodiless entity?" Laura enquired seriously.

" This might be a problem," Julian said, staring at the enormous canyon separating them from the other side. "Last time, we had our powers…and this wasn't even in the scenario."

The group stared over the edge. "God, this is so irritating," Nori said, frustrated. "This would be so easy. Why don't we have our powers, anyway?"

" Magneto had a power-suppressing device in the Savage Lands, at one point, when the X-men were fighting him here. His acolytes had anti-devices, so he had a distinct advantage,"
David said, as usual the textbook on X-men history. He'd stood beside Scott and Xavier enough times to have memorized the information. "They had to find a way around this, too…"

"We could…um…climb down…and climb up the other side," Nori said.

"No way! I hate heights!" Kevin said.

" I'm not doing it, either," Cessily protested. "That's awful, and I'm squishy now. Besides…Laura's pregnant, she couldn't do that."

" I can do anything I want, thank you," Laura said. "You say ' pregnant' like it's a disability. Excuse you if you didn't notice me slaying a large dino today."

"She wasn't there, Laura," Julian said. "So yeah, she is excused."

" Well, let's walk around the edge till we either hit the coast or it joins with the other side," Alleyne suggested.

" Is it getting colder, or is it just me?" Nori asked, shivering. Laura glanced at Julian. "It is. I can see Keller's nipples are standing up on his man boobies."

" I do not have man boobies!" Julian protested. " I'm 100 percent in shape!"

" When you suck it in, yeah," Laura said, patting his stomach. It rippled slightly, and she grinned. "Once you get past the initial disgust of touching him, it's kind of fun. It's like jello. I like to poke it."

" I have no idea why I still talk to you," he said, scowling.

" It's okay. I'm used to you having no ideas." Laura laughed; Nori smiled behind her. She didn't like Keller, at all, but she had to admit that they were a cute couple. And he had toned down
his jerk-power a bit under Laura's influence. As they walked on, the temperature dropped more; the wind became much harsher; and when snow crunched under their feet, they knew they
were in trouble. None of them were dressed for cold weather—they didn't even have sweaters (save for Kevin), let alone jackets.

" I'm…I'm getting tired. I w-want to lie down for a b-bit," Nori said, stopping a few hours later.

" We can't," Alleyne said sternly. "Nori, if we stop now…we die, okay?"

" I'm too tired!" She sunk to her knees. " I'm cold, and I'm hungry..."

" We're all cold and hungry," Julian said, hefting Laura. He'd been carrying her a bit, on and off; for the last hour, he hadn't put her down. The lack of a healing factor to cover her
pregnancy was beginning to catch up to her; and although she hadn't complained yet, he'd picked her up when he'd seen her footprints beginning to leave blood in the snow—through
her leather boots. He was very worried. He had to get her away soon so she could heal…she looked so tired. He was tired, too—his arms burned from carrying her, but he wasn't about
to put her down. He was considering asking her to piggyback though.

" David…" Sofia looked scared, her long ponytail whipping in the wind. "This is not working. We have to go back."

" It's too far!" Nori said. Cessily looked pretty far gone too; only Santo was not affected by the dangerous conditions.

"At least there are no dinos here," he offered. Julian rolled his eyes. "I didn't think it was that awesome when you pulled your trick on the T-rex. That thing was mad as hell."

"I laughed," Cessily said, shivering. "At least it went the other way."

" Are we going to die here?" Kevin asked quietly.

" No." Julian was firm. "We're going to keep going…and this weather will change soon. Eventually we have to hit the shore…the island isn't big enough for us not to at some point.
Guys, I think you have to take turns carrying the girls. Stop being pussies."

" I am alright," Sofia said. " The cold does not bother me as much…I am used to the wind."

"Someone gonna carry me?" Santo asked.

" No," Julian said rudely.

They moved on, Alleyne and Kevin helping Nori and Cessily in turns. Finally they reached a rocky area, that was guarded somewhat from the wind. Sofia spotted a cave, and gratefully
they crowded into it and worked on building fires.

" Laura…shit…" Julian had unwrapped her feet bandages. The wounds looked angry, although they were not too frost-bitten; she had also blistered.

" Alleyne, I need your t-shirt."

Alleyne peered over his shoulder at the wounds, then, without question, he stripped off his top and handed it to Julian. He tore it apart into uneven strips
and re-tied the wounds tightly, trying to keep the edges together and cover the blisters.

Laura blinked up at him sleepily. "Did we make it?"

" No, we're just resting," Julian said grimly. "Here. Have some water." He passed her a metal thermos, which Alleyne had been holding when he had been teleported.
They'd melted snow in it on the fire, and taken turns sipping it.

"I'm afraid to leave here," Nori said, leaning close to the fire.

" We'd just die here, too," Alleyne said, watching Julian work on Laura's hand bandages next. "We have a better chance at survival if we keep moving. We'll need food…and
we can find that at the shore. It should be warmer, too…"

Sofia was standing at the cave entrance, looking out into the snow. " Do you think the X-men will come for us?" she asked quietly.

It was like she had dropped a bomb.

Everyone was silent.

" If the Phoenix doesn't kill them…then yes," Laura said, surprising Julian. He didn't think she had been listening. "If she does…then no one will know we're out here. No one would
come then." She took Julian's hand and held it to her stomach; he felt it for a second, then smiled slightly at the light kicking against his palm.

"Tickles," he murmured, then stretched out beside her, his hand still on her belly. It was surprisingly entertaining, the random jabs at different areas of his hand; and even,
occasionally, at his fingertips. Cessily watched them out of the corner of her eye, then glanced at Kevin, who was hugging his knees. She crawled over to him and smiled.

" Hi," she said. " Hi," Kevin said glumly. She took his hand and held it. "Look…I'm all normal here…and so are you," she grinned.

" Woo," he answered, looking away. Cessily sighed; turned down again. He was obviously thinking that she was the wrong girl. He'd be ecstatic, she was sure, if Laurie was here,
talking about the power-loss.

" I'll cuddle, Cess," Santo whispered in her ear. " EWWWW gross get away from me!" she yelled, batting at the air.

"Actually, I'm behind you…" Santo cackled as Cessily scrambled to her feet and ran to the other wall.

"Heh," Nori said. "You guys are kind of funny…when you're not being jerks." She grinned at Alleyne, who smiled back. They were all, obviously, thinking the same thing—if they were
going to die, and this was their last comfortable night…

All except for Sofia, who had no one, now…and Kevin.

After a long night of huddling together in the cave, Santo woke them up with a loud, rude noise.

" How can you still fake-fart when you don't have a body?" Julian groaned, rubbing his ear. Laura was pressed into his side, her head on his shoulder. He'd wanted to touch her,
quite badly, last night, but she had looked too out of it. And he'd been too tired. Besides, it wasn't like they had the privacy to do anything.

"Look, Keller has some wood we can use for a fire!" Santo shouted.

" You are not my friend," Julian growled, sitting up. "Dude, why are you even looking down there?! Are you gay, you perv?"

" Nah….just a jerk," Santo replied calmly.

"Haha, Keller, 'got wood?'" Nori grinned.

" I've been sleeping all night beside a hot preggo chick. Of course I do," he said, glaring. "You probably have girl-wood from Alleyne."

Nori's eyes widened. "Don't you dare start! If I had my powers, I would fry your ass right now!"

Laura scowled, her eyes still closed. "Nooo…I'm having a nightmare…about being trapped…in a cave…with a bunch of hormone-crazed teenagers…this must be hell…"

" Hah." Julian rubbed her shoulder. "Laura's right…no arguing. It's stupid."

"WOW. Did I just hear you say that arguing is stupid?" Nori blinked and sat up. "What, did you just grow a brain or something?! No no…you must be an alien. The Keller I know would
never say that."

"I think it's just the fact that I'm facing my own possible death, along with the death of my friends," he said, frowning. "Plus, I can't give you a wedgy with my mind, just now.
That'll have to wait."

"Keep your brain outta my butt, and we'll be just fine," Nori said.

" Mornin'," Cessily grinned at Kevin. Somehow, they'd ended up sleeping together; he blinked at the redheaded girl groggily.

"Um, hi." He would have thought it was Cessily's doing, but his arm had curled around her waist—distinctly his move. He found himself thinking she was kind of pretty…not as pretty as he
thought Laurie was but…or not pretty in the same way…he pulled his arm away, confused; and Cessily looked away, hurt.

"BURN!" Santo said in her ear. She jumped. " Holy," she gasped.

" You know, I'm gonna do this all the time at the mansion," Santo said. "I am going to have so much fun. Imagine me getting Frost…"

" She's psychic, Santo…she'll know you're there," Julian pointed out.

"Hrumph. Okay. You know no one will keep a straight face when I catch Cyclops. I swear, I'll make him drop that little clipboard he's always got. I'll do it at the school assembly, you
watch me."

" Ten bucks says you don't," Julian grinned.

" Keller! Don't bet your whole annual salary!" Laura snapped.

" Oh, god, tell me proposing was just a bad dream," Julian covered his face with his hand. "You're such an embarrassment."

" Just looking out for you," Laura soberly.