Drip, drip, drip
A pipe leaked above Kitty's head. She was trying to pay attention as Remy explained the history of how they built this underground shelter. But all she could think about was how rude her other self was, and where that annoying water was coming from.
"...So ya see, after it became ta dangeris fer us ta be in above ground level shelters we had ta construct this here. Ya see, it really wasn't ta hard fer us ta do because we jus made this structure, and sevrol' others combine, den sink inta the ground. I guess de main ding we got ta watch out fer are de ground worms."
"Worms?" Lance asked with a laugh. "Toad is gonna love this!"
Remy grinned then shook his head. "Not dis worms. Dey is mutated, kinda like da spiders. Except dey eat anything, includin' metal."
"Yuk!" Pietro made a disgusted face. "I hate bugs!"
Remy nodded. "So does Silver. One time one of dese worms tried ta eat Kat an."
"I hate to interrupt, I'm sure it's a touching story, but can we please move on! I'm not only being put through this Chinese water torture here but it's getting a bit claustrophobic!" Kitty now stood with a frown, and her arms crossed, as the group watched drops of water hit her head every few seconds.
Remy was taken aback a bit, but not nearly as much as Lance, who thought Kitty could never be rude to even a fly. "Okay chere. I fergot you are de same chere as Kat. What do you wanna see now?"
"Can we go outside?" Lance asked, trying to think of what was best for Kitty. "I think Kitty needs some fresh air."
"Sure." Remy shrugged. " 'cept that storms are hittin' more often. Can't promise we won't get caught in one."
Kitty about to scream (seeing as despite her speaking up, she still stood sandwiched between Pietro and Lance, and water was still slowly dripping on her) now pushed her way past the boys. "Storm or no storm, lets get out of here." She stomped up the stairway.
Lance and Pietro looked at each other. "What's got into her?" Pietro asked curiously. Lance shrugged.
Remy laughed. "Wait till that chere's powers enhance!" he turned and followed her up the stairs, as did Lance and Pietro. *******************************************
Meanwhile... "That is one big rock!" Toad marveled at what appeared to be a large tombstone.
Blob put his hand to his chin and looked it over. "Oh yeah? I bet I could lift it. Maybe if I just..."
"I don think you should do that." Wagner cut in, moving in between Blob and the rock.
"This is a commemorative tombstone for all the thousands that died, the first few months the sentinels attacked. It was one big battle." Wagner turned his head and looked off over the barren land. Skeletons on trees, and rocks covered the terrain. And smoke still lifted from parts of the ground. "It was a horrible time. Years ago, I was still young." Wagner looked at Kurt. "Younger than you are now. After the attack, the years passed all too quick." He turned his attention back to the rock. "This rock was carved and placed here as a memory and a warning for those who ever doubt the cruelty of humans."
Silence filled the air as the mutants contemplated what was said. Could the humans of their world ever be as cruel?
"These markings." Beast ran his hand over the surface of the rock. "What language is this?"
Wagner smiled. "We mutants were always more advanced mentally than humans. We created a code in order to write messages without the humans being able to interpret them."
Beast smiled. "I see. A numeric, alphabetic, and symbol code. This is interesting."
Wagner watched as Beast eyed the message. "Can you read it?"
Beast waited a moment before responding. His expression changed to that of a solemn one. "Yes. It says: In anamnesis of all who fought fearlessly, and died unjustly. Woe to whom may find alliance in the hands of those who brought calamity. These will perish as the rest when the adversary is annihilated."
The X-Men and Brotherhood stood silently as the realization hit them. This world wasn't fighting for peace, it was fighting for destruction, of one side or the other.
Wagner scanned the faces of the mutants. He knew that they were just barely beginning to understand how serious this war was. As he had feared, they had no intention of destroying any being, human or mutant. Did he really want to see that kind of innocence changed? Scanning the sky he noticed that thick clouds were beginning to stir, and the sky was darkening. Even the sun had turned to black.
Turning his attention toward the others, he pulled his cloak up over his head. "We must leave quickly. A storm is beginning to stir. There's no time to waste." With that he began to make his way down the hill. A solemn group followed. *******************************************************************
"Watch your head." Ice extended his hand to Amara, as she ducked under a pipe, and made her way down the dark stairway.
Unfortunately, not all in the group had heard. A moment later a loud 'clunk' was heard.
"Ow!" Sunspot rubbed his head briskly. "Why didn't anyone tell me that was there?"
Ice shrugged. "Wups, sorry about that. Come on, there isn't much further to go."
"I hope not." Sunspot mumbled.
"I know," Rahne, who heard everything, responded. "If we go down any further, we're gonna come out in China, or whatever is on the other side of this world."
"You okay Amara?" Ice asked turning and giving her a wide smile.
She blushed. "Yeah, I'm fine thank you."
He nodded then took her hand, "Come on, and follow me."
She grinned as he turned his back. 'I think I like this Bobby more.' She thought to herself as he held her hand. This Iceman was definitely different from the one she knew. Not only did he seem a bit older, but also his appearance was different. His hair was short and spiky, his eyes the same piercing blue, he was a bit more built, and his face was scruffy. Yet, he seemed completely charming to her, as he was.
Ice smiled as he led the group down to the bomb-shelter. Finally, he had met a girl that was different. He was quite used to the wild and hard mutant girls that he got in his world, and he had won the hearts of many. But finally, a girl that was sweet, innocent, yet brave, and not to mention beautiful. Maybe this idea of Magnus would have some good results after all. That is, if their helping save the world thing didn't work out.
"Here we are!" Ice announced stopping quickly. A little to quickly for some.
"Ahh!" Rahne cried as Sunspot ran into her, knocking them both to the ground.
"Sunspot!" Rahne yelled, water and mud now covering her outfit, "Watch where you're going!"
"Sorry." He said embarrassed. "I didn't think we were going to stop so soon." He shrugged apologetically.
Ice entered some numbers then placed his hand on a scanner on the wall. The pad his hand rested on glowed, then a clicking noise came, as the door unlocked and opened. Ice held Amara's hand as she stepped into the room, and then let everyone else enter.
"This," he said as he closed the door. "Is our back-up plan."
The group of X-Men stood in amazement. It was a huge facility. Lighted hallways led off from all sides. And boxes of supplies were stacked against one wall. On the far side were several chambers. It reminded them of what Magneto had created to detain the X-Men not to long ago. The walls, ceiling, and floor were blue, and had the appearance of being made out of ice.
Ice smiled as he saw the looks of surprise on the faces of the X-Men. "The rooms are made from a metallic substance combined with my power. They keep this facility at a below normal temperature. That way, if there is ever some sort of melt down on the surface, those underground won't die of heat stroke when the core temperature changes."
"Is that a possibility?" Bobby asked skeptically. "Do you think that might happen to your world? It might melt?"
Ice shrugged his shoulders. "You never know. But the humans are always inventing weapons that cause mass destruction, maybe sometime, they'll even destroy part of the earth."
"If that did happen," Rahne spoke up, "how many mutants or humans could live down here, and for how long?"
Ice smirked, "Humans could never live down here. Their cell configuration is so different than ours that they could never last for an extended period time in this cold an environment. Even if they didn't feel cold temperature-wise." He shrugged, "It's not the humans that we are excessively worried about, they out number us by far. About 6,000 to 1."
Amara shuddered. "But how many mutants could live down here? How much room and food is there?"
Ice thought in his mind for a few moments, doing a couple calculations. "Adding in the current amount of mutants, plus the possibility of some in captivity still being alive, and allowing for the number resulting from reproduction.... This facility could house approximately 3,000 mutant for 4 ½ years."
The 4 young X-men stood in astonishment. Ice observed their faces, if only he had the abilities of the former Jeannie he would understand their exact reaction. Though it took no powers to see that this number and theory was substantially more than what they had expected.
Rahne eyed Ice, then leaned over to Amara, "There's something he's not telling us." She whispered.
Ice continued. "I'm actually not even supposed to let anyone down here. For fear of contamination, but I'll just ice it when we leave."
"You'll do what?" Sunspot asked as he shuddered at the thought of being any colder.
"Ice it," Ice lifted an eyebrow. "When you all go out, I'll create a layer of ice to cover the whole room, one so cold that no bacteria could exist in the air. Doesn't Bobby do that?"
Bobby shifted his weight. "I guess, I could, I mean, I never really tried. Besides, we have the same powers, yours are just a little more evolved."
Ice nodded. Glancing at Amara, he noticed her shivering. He took oof his leather jacket, exposing his well-defined arms, and placed it over Amara's shoulders. "You cold?"
She nodded. "Thank you."
"All right everyone, we should head out of here, any questions?" He glanced at the group of freezing X-Men. "Okay then, lets move on."
After they exited the room, Ice made his way back in to 'ice it.'
Rahne studied Amara's face, as she watched Ice disappear behind the door. "I don't trust him." She stated, catching everyone off guard.
"What?" They echoed back.
"I don't know what it is, but I get the feeling he's hiding something." She turned and looked at Amara as she spoke to the group. "Maybe we ought to be more careful."
Everyone nodded. Amara's cheeked pinkened a little and she looked at her feet. Maybe she didn't want to be careful?
"That's taken care of." Ice announced as he came out of the room and the door locked behind him. "Let's go back up and I'll show you our food room."
"Okay." The group replied.
"But this time I'm not in the back!" Sunspot called out.
"Like that'll make a difference." Rahne muttered smiling.
"What?" He asked, hearing her say something.
"Oh nothing." She quickly replied. "I'll walk in the back." The truth was, she wanted to get as far away from Ice as she could. **************************************************
Remy took the group to the hills. From there he could safely show them a view of what was left in Mutant City. It wasn't safe for them to go in, not yet at least, they weren't ready.
"Ahh what a lovely view." Pietro said sarcastically as he stared at the ghost town. "The black clouds hovering overhead, the salty wind in your face, and smell of ashes and pine-trees. What is there not to love about a world like this?"
"What on earth.." Kitty muttered as water started to drip down onto her face. "Can I not remain dry for even five minutes!" She had barely finished her sentence when the sky cracked and heavy rain began to pour.
"Ahhh!" Kitty screamed in annoyance. "I hate this place!"
Lance stood with a baffled expression. Had the change in world s brought so big a character change upon his beloved Kitty? 24 hours ago she was still sweet and well mannered. What had happened?
A strong hand clamped down on Lance's shoulder as he watched Kitty stomping in the mud and rain. "Dis rain shou'd cool yur lil' chere off." Remy said chuckling.
He spoke up to the group. "Its gettn bad, if we wait her' any longer we might not make i' home tonight." He signaled to keep moving, but one of the group objected.
"No." Kitty said abstinently. "Everywhere I have gone has been gradually worse than the first place. Then next place I would like to go is home, but since that's impossible, I think we might as well stay right here!" She crossed her arms and sat down on a rock.
Remy shock is head. "No chere. Yur crazy ta think it'll be better her'. We could die in dis storm."
Kitty said nothing, she just glared.
"You jus need sleep chere. Dis whole thing 'as been hard on yur emotions'."
When she still said nothing, he turned to Lance and Pietro. Whilst Lance stood appalled at Kitty's unwillingness to cooperate, Pietro was trying unsuccessfully to control himself from laughing hysterically.
Remy eyed him threateningly. "Dis place has drivn many crazy, its no laughin' matter. Ya two start yur way back."
"What about Kitty?" Lance asked anxiously.
Remy smiled. "I'll take car' of dis."
The two looked at each other and shrugged as they began down the hill. A moment later they heard a very irritated scream from Kitty. The rain was getting heavier and the sky darker, but they were able to make out the figure of Remy moving down the rocky hill casually, with Kitty hanging over his shoulder pounding her fists on his back.
Pietro grinned and nodded. "It's about time someone did that! That's what I'm talking about!" He was still chuckling when Lance fist made contact with his shoulder causing him to stumble back.
"Hey!" Pietro refuted. "I'm just saying that he's my new hero!"
"Shut up Pietro!" Lance called as he turned his back and continued moving down the mountain.
Pietro just shook his head. "Now that's what I call putting a woman in her place!"
A moment later the ground rumbled, and Pietro's next few steps down the hill where transformed into a somersault.
***********************************
As regards Ro's group, well, she enjoyed showing off her accomplishments. Before they knew it, the group of 4 stood watching a machine making artificial replicas of food.
Ro explained. "Because da ground is unsuitable fer farming, we were forced ta look fer others means of agriculture. Since ah was originally raised on a farm, ah became tha perfect candidate. Hank and ah were assigned ta come up with another way ta obtain food rather than growing it. Of course we had tha option of buying it from tha human cities, but they never sell ta mutants, and as far as stealing goes, that could get risky, and tha risks weren't worth tha actual amount of food that we could obtain. So science became tha other alternative."
"Science?" Rogue asked with a confused expression "Ah never liked science." Ro shrugged. "Ther's a lot a differences between us honey." She winked as she pointed to the machines in the food factory. "Hank an ah created machines ta clone food. Sur, it soun's a little gross, but ya can't really taste tha difference. An, it's efficient enough ta make enough food fer all of us."
"Wow!" Ray said, whose stomach was obviously getting the best of him. "All this food!"
Rogue and Spyke turned to him with a disgusted look on their face. He is berzerker!
They all watched as food, or what looked like food traveled along the conveyer belt. It actually looked real. Carrots, celery, tomatos, onions, apples, and oranges. Foods that were normally eaten, accept these all came from the same original fruit or vegetable that was cloned.
Spyke leaned over towards Rogue. "And we're eating dinner here tonight?"
She gulped and made a disgusted face. "Ya don't make yur own water do ya?"
Ro smiled.
"Maybe ah don't want to know?"
Ro shook her head. "It's better that way."
Spyke held his stomach. "I just drank a full glass! I think I'm gonna be sick."
At this point Ray was the only of the three X-men that wasn't thoroughly disgusted. And apparently unaware of the others turning stomachs.
"Hey!" Ray spoke up as if a light bulb had turned on in his head. "Do you guys ever clone pizza?"
Resounding "Ugghhh!'s" Were heard from Rogue and Spyke.
"So." Ro said, "Who's hungry?"
*********************************************
"Now, I like to think that you can tell a lot about people based on the way they live, or where they live," Boomer began, "So I thought of a way to help you get to know everyone a little better, and get a look around." She smiled to herself, "Hah! I'd like to see someone else give a better tour than this!"
Sam and Jaime looked at each other and shrugged.
Boomer cleared her throat, "Ta-da!" She said, stepping back and extending her arm down a long corridor with doors opposite each other on both sides.
"Hmm," Tabitha said sarcastically, "Identical silver doors. Gee, you guys are all so unique!"
Boomer just rolled her eyes at her earth-world self. "Room number one, mine!" A door slid open to reveal a room with wall-to-wall and ceiling mirrors.
Sam yawned. "Are all the mutants of your world this conceded?"
Boomer tapped his chin with her index finger and winked. "Only the best of us."
Tabitha stared in awe. "I guess we are that different after all." She stood there admiring herself, and then decided that it was a good idea to dance around the room. This however, was not a good idea seeing as she underestimated how slippery a mirror like floor would be. A few moments later the group heard a squeal come from the far side of the room, followed by a loud crash.
Boomer went running over. "My mirror!" She cried.
Tabitha sat there holding her knee. "My knee!" Thankfully she hadn't broken a mirror wall, but just a tall single standing mirror.
"What happened?" Sam asked sympathetically as he and Jaime helped Tabitha up.
She pulled away and dusted herself off. "Well, I was not informed of how slippery these floors were, and while I was looking around a tripped and my foot his the base of that mirror, causing it to fall and hit my knee. It hurts rather bad too."
"I should hope so!" Boomer grumbled quietly to herself.
Jaime looked at the broken mirror. Curiously it lies in only four pieces, having cracked at the point that hit Tabitha's knee. "Why didn't it shatter?"
Boomer moved the pieces into the corner. "That's compliments of Ice. He did something to all the mirrors in my room so that they wouldn't break easy, and if they did, wouldn't shatter." She shook her head. "Oh well. I can replace that later, why don't we try another room." She said turning and walking out, the three mutants, one of which was limping, followed.
The group left the room and proceeded to the next. "This room belongs to another one of the girls here. Though its nothing like my style. Ro and me get along, but have very opposite tastes." She entered a code numeric code and the door unlocked.
Jaime spoke up. "I can already guess, the Rogue from our world was always a bit of a goth..." He stopped mid sentence as the door slid open. No matter how strange he had found the Rogue of their world, nothing could have prepared him for the Ro of theirs.
Boomer glanced back and forth at the expressions of the three young mutants, they all looked equally stunned. She thought she might give them an explanation. "Our Ro was raised on a farm."
"That was what I might have thought..." Tabitha mumbled as she scanned the room. A pretty white painted bed stood against the wall, with a pink quilt. White bookshelves lined the walls, filled with and equal amount of books and dolls. Even a few sat on her bed. The walls were painted in a light pink color with white trim. And a few paper flowers sat in a crystal vase on a table in the middle of the room.
Boomer, not understanding the confused look on their faces decided it best to move on.
As she closed the door Jaime shook his. "The memory of that room will haunt me forever."
"Right..." Boomer eyed him curiously. "Now, this next room," she said as they made their way down the hall, "is one that you may only look at, do not touch!"
The mutants didn't understand her orders, but nodded and shrugged anyways. The door slid open to reveal a grand room. One as clean as it was immaculate. There were actually to levels to the room, the second was only two steps higher. On the second level was the bedroom furniture. The comforter and pillows were stark white, and the furniture was silver. The strange thing about this room was that it was the cleanest room any of them had ever seen.
The mutants walked around it, careful not to touch anything. "Whose room is this?" Sam asked curiously as he walked up the second level.
"It's Silver's room." Boomer said plainly. "He's somewhat of a neat freak."
"Hah." Tabitha smiled. "That's not completely different from Pietro. He gets psycho about cleaning."
"Hey!" Jaime said as he looked at the floor. "I can see my face!"
Boomer opened her mouth to say something, when she heard Sam.
"Ha...ha.."
"No..." Boomer began to say, but it was too late.
"Ha...ha....chu!" Sam sneezed. Tiny drops of spit, almost invisible to the eye, flew through the air.
Boomer put hand in her hands. "Oh no! Lets get out of here before he gets back, or he'll go ballistic!"
The group quickly ran out of the room, still careful not to touch anything.
The last door they came to, Boomer smiled mischievously at. "Now, this room we really shouldn't go into at all.." She glanced back and forth at the expressions of the mutants. "...but, since he's on tour right now, there really is no harm in taking a peak." She entered a few numbers, and the door slid open.
The four entered a very nice room. A little more normal than those prior to it. The furniture and colors consisted of lack and royal blue, and there was an aquarium, with some very strange looking fish, that sat on a shelf against the wall.
"Hey!" Tabitha said excited. "It's a waterbed!" She proceeded to bounce up and down.
"Careful," Boomer warned, "We don't want him to know that we were here. No one is allowed in Ice's room!"
"Ice?" Jaime asked. "As in Iceman?"
"We just call him Ice." Boomer replied.
Jaime smiled. "We don't have to be afraid of him. He doesn't get mad at all, he's a softy."
"Yeah, to the ladies." Boomer said rolling her eyes.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tabitha's ears perked up. "Do I sense this is a better looking Iceman?"
Boomer smiled deviously, "Lets just say he has quite a reputation."
"What's in here?" Sam and Jaime stood trying to push open a wardrobe door.
"Ah, you pull it open?" Boomer said with a tinge of sarcasm.
"Oh." Sam pulled hard on the handle, not realizing how easy it would open. The door swung open nearly knocking Sam off balance. Jaime, caught off guard was hit square in the face and fell to the ground. As he did hit powers were activated, and multiples of him flew every which way.
As chance would have it, at that very moment, loud laughter was heard from down the hall.
Boomer stood up straight. "That's Ice! Everybody out!"
Boomer, Tabitha and Sam sought to grab the many Jaime and push them out the door. They all ran out of the room and turned the corner, holding their breath.
"Haha! You're too funny!" Said a giggly girls voice. One that Tabitha recognized, but couldn't place at the moment.
"Here we go." Ice said opening the door. "After you."
"Thank you."
The group heard the door close, and let out a sigh of relief.
"That was close." Boomer said as she turned to the group. "Hey! Where'd they all go?"
Tabitha and Sam looked around only to realize that the many multiples had disappeared.
"Where'd they all go?" Boomer repeated.
Sam scratched his head. "After a few minutes they all disappear or re- group back into Jaime, but where'd he go?"
"Ahh!" Boomer slapped herself on the head. At the same moment the others too had the realization. "He's still in the room! Oh boy! I am gonna hear about this forever!"
Sam looked annoyed. "Or more importantly, what if Ice sees him, how is he gonna get out of the room. Is Ice really as mean as you say?"
Boomer cringed. "Ah, he can be?"
Meanwhile, in Ice's room Jaime sat crunched and claustrophobic in the wardrobe. The air was getting hot, and he could hear the muffled sound of voices. He put his ear to the door.
"I know it's here somewhere...ah ha! Here it is." Ice pulled a book out of the shelf and handed it to his girl companion.
"Wow! Does this really cover your world history?" She asked.
Jaime made a face, he knew that voice, Amara!
"As to my knowledge, that's the record." Ice replied.
"Great!" Amara said excited. "The professor assigned me to find out a little more about the ancient history of this world. This will let me get it done in no time."
"That's good." Ice said with a charming smile. "So with all that time you save on research, you think you might be interested in going out somewhere with me later?"
"Going out?" She repeated, "Like a date?"
"Would you like it to be?" He asked moving closer. "There's a few more things I haven't shown you yet."
Amara felt herself get warm as he moved closer. "I think there's a lot I haven't seen here, you think you could show me all in one evening?
He grinned and moved even closer. "We make it into a few evenings, if you like?"
Amara felt like she must be blushing by now. "I would like that..."
She barely finished her words and he leaned over and kissed her. She probably wouldn't have mind if it lasted a lot longer, but a moment later he moved away.
"Great, then I'll see you later Mar."
'Mar? Did he just call her 'Mar?' Jaime thought to him self. Yuck! Amara liked Bobby's other self? Was it the same as kissing Bobby? He didn't care to think too much about it, all he knew is he had blackmail for later. He heard the door close, and the room was quiet. Finally! He would get some fresh air! Then the door opened again.
It was Tabitha, "Jaime? Jaime you in here?"
At least it wasn't Ice and Amara.
A pipe leaked above Kitty's head. She was trying to pay attention as Remy explained the history of how they built this underground shelter. But all she could think about was how rude her other self was, and where that annoying water was coming from.
"...So ya see, after it became ta dangeris fer us ta be in above ground level shelters we had ta construct this here. Ya see, it really wasn't ta hard fer us ta do because we jus made this structure, and sevrol' others combine, den sink inta the ground. I guess de main ding we got ta watch out fer are de ground worms."
"Worms?" Lance asked with a laugh. "Toad is gonna love this!"
Remy grinned then shook his head. "Not dis worms. Dey is mutated, kinda like da spiders. Except dey eat anything, includin' metal."
"Yuk!" Pietro made a disgusted face. "I hate bugs!"
Remy nodded. "So does Silver. One time one of dese worms tried ta eat Kat an."
"I hate to interrupt, I'm sure it's a touching story, but can we please move on! I'm not only being put through this Chinese water torture here but it's getting a bit claustrophobic!" Kitty now stood with a frown, and her arms crossed, as the group watched drops of water hit her head every few seconds.
Remy was taken aback a bit, but not nearly as much as Lance, who thought Kitty could never be rude to even a fly. "Okay chere. I fergot you are de same chere as Kat. What do you wanna see now?"
"Can we go outside?" Lance asked, trying to think of what was best for Kitty. "I think Kitty needs some fresh air."
"Sure." Remy shrugged. " 'cept that storms are hittin' more often. Can't promise we won't get caught in one."
Kitty about to scream (seeing as despite her speaking up, she still stood sandwiched between Pietro and Lance, and water was still slowly dripping on her) now pushed her way past the boys. "Storm or no storm, lets get out of here." She stomped up the stairway.
Lance and Pietro looked at each other. "What's got into her?" Pietro asked curiously. Lance shrugged.
Remy laughed. "Wait till that chere's powers enhance!" he turned and followed her up the stairs, as did Lance and Pietro. *******************************************
Meanwhile... "That is one big rock!" Toad marveled at what appeared to be a large tombstone.
Blob put his hand to his chin and looked it over. "Oh yeah? I bet I could lift it. Maybe if I just..."
"I don think you should do that." Wagner cut in, moving in between Blob and the rock.
"This is a commemorative tombstone for all the thousands that died, the first few months the sentinels attacked. It was one big battle." Wagner turned his head and looked off over the barren land. Skeletons on trees, and rocks covered the terrain. And smoke still lifted from parts of the ground. "It was a horrible time. Years ago, I was still young." Wagner looked at Kurt. "Younger than you are now. After the attack, the years passed all too quick." He turned his attention back to the rock. "This rock was carved and placed here as a memory and a warning for those who ever doubt the cruelty of humans."
Silence filled the air as the mutants contemplated what was said. Could the humans of their world ever be as cruel?
"These markings." Beast ran his hand over the surface of the rock. "What language is this?"
Wagner smiled. "We mutants were always more advanced mentally than humans. We created a code in order to write messages without the humans being able to interpret them."
Beast smiled. "I see. A numeric, alphabetic, and symbol code. This is interesting."
Wagner watched as Beast eyed the message. "Can you read it?"
Beast waited a moment before responding. His expression changed to that of a solemn one. "Yes. It says: In anamnesis of all who fought fearlessly, and died unjustly. Woe to whom may find alliance in the hands of those who brought calamity. These will perish as the rest when the adversary is annihilated."
The X-Men and Brotherhood stood silently as the realization hit them. This world wasn't fighting for peace, it was fighting for destruction, of one side or the other.
Wagner scanned the faces of the mutants. He knew that they were just barely beginning to understand how serious this war was. As he had feared, they had no intention of destroying any being, human or mutant. Did he really want to see that kind of innocence changed? Scanning the sky he noticed that thick clouds were beginning to stir, and the sky was darkening. Even the sun had turned to black.
Turning his attention toward the others, he pulled his cloak up over his head. "We must leave quickly. A storm is beginning to stir. There's no time to waste." With that he began to make his way down the hill. A solemn group followed. *******************************************************************
"Watch your head." Ice extended his hand to Amara, as she ducked under a pipe, and made her way down the dark stairway.
Unfortunately, not all in the group had heard. A moment later a loud 'clunk' was heard.
"Ow!" Sunspot rubbed his head briskly. "Why didn't anyone tell me that was there?"
Ice shrugged. "Wups, sorry about that. Come on, there isn't much further to go."
"I hope not." Sunspot mumbled.
"I know," Rahne, who heard everything, responded. "If we go down any further, we're gonna come out in China, or whatever is on the other side of this world."
"You okay Amara?" Ice asked turning and giving her a wide smile.
She blushed. "Yeah, I'm fine thank you."
He nodded then took her hand, "Come on, and follow me."
She grinned as he turned his back. 'I think I like this Bobby more.' She thought to herself as he held her hand. This Iceman was definitely different from the one she knew. Not only did he seem a bit older, but also his appearance was different. His hair was short and spiky, his eyes the same piercing blue, he was a bit more built, and his face was scruffy. Yet, he seemed completely charming to her, as he was.
Ice smiled as he led the group down to the bomb-shelter. Finally, he had met a girl that was different. He was quite used to the wild and hard mutant girls that he got in his world, and he had won the hearts of many. But finally, a girl that was sweet, innocent, yet brave, and not to mention beautiful. Maybe this idea of Magnus would have some good results after all. That is, if their helping save the world thing didn't work out.
"Here we are!" Ice announced stopping quickly. A little to quickly for some.
"Ahh!" Rahne cried as Sunspot ran into her, knocking them both to the ground.
"Sunspot!" Rahne yelled, water and mud now covering her outfit, "Watch where you're going!"
"Sorry." He said embarrassed. "I didn't think we were going to stop so soon." He shrugged apologetically.
Ice entered some numbers then placed his hand on a scanner on the wall. The pad his hand rested on glowed, then a clicking noise came, as the door unlocked and opened. Ice held Amara's hand as she stepped into the room, and then let everyone else enter.
"This," he said as he closed the door. "Is our back-up plan."
The group of X-Men stood in amazement. It was a huge facility. Lighted hallways led off from all sides. And boxes of supplies were stacked against one wall. On the far side were several chambers. It reminded them of what Magneto had created to detain the X-Men not to long ago. The walls, ceiling, and floor were blue, and had the appearance of being made out of ice.
Ice smiled as he saw the looks of surprise on the faces of the X-Men. "The rooms are made from a metallic substance combined with my power. They keep this facility at a below normal temperature. That way, if there is ever some sort of melt down on the surface, those underground won't die of heat stroke when the core temperature changes."
"Is that a possibility?" Bobby asked skeptically. "Do you think that might happen to your world? It might melt?"
Ice shrugged his shoulders. "You never know. But the humans are always inventing weapons that cause mass destruction, maybe sometime, they'll even destroy part of the earth."
"If that did happen," Rahne spoke up, "how many mutants or humans could live down here, and for how long?"
Ice smirked, "Humans could never live down here. Their cell configuration is so different than ours that they could never last for an extended period time in this cold an environment. Even if they didn't feel cold temperature-wise." He shrugged, "It's not the humans that we are excessively worried about, they out number us by far. About 6,000 to 1."
Amara shuddered. "But how many mutants could live down here? How much room and food is there?"
Ice thought in his mind for a few moments, doing a couple calculations. "Adding in the current amount of mutants, plus the possibility of some in captivity still being alive, and allowing for the number resulting from reproduction.... This facility could house approximately 3,000 mutant for 4 ½ years."
The 4 young X-men stood in astonishment. Ice observed their faces, if only he had the abilities of the former Jeannie he would understand their exact reaction. Though it took no powers to see that this number and theory was substantially more than what they had expected.
Rahne eyed Ice, then leaned over to Amara, "There's something he's not telling us." She whispered.
Ice continued. "I'm actually not even supposed to let anyone down here. For fear of contamination, but I'll just ice it when we leave."
"You'll do what?" Sunspot asked as he shuddered at the thought of being any colder.
"Ice it," Ice lifted an eyebrow. "When you all go out, I'll create a layer of ice to cover the whole room, one so cold that no bacteria could exist in the air. Doesn't Bobby do that?"
Bobby shifted his weight. "I guess, I could, I mean, I never really tried. Besides, we have the same powers, yours are just a little more evolved."
Ice nodded. Glancing at Amara, he noticed her shivering. He took oof his leather jacket, exposing his well-defined arms, and placed it over Amara's shoulders. "You cold?"
She nodded. "Thank you."
"All right everyone, we should head out of here, any questions?" He glanced at the group of freezing X-Men. "Okay then, lets move on."
After they exited the room, Ice made his way back in to 'ice it.'
Rahne studied Amara's face, as she watched Ice disappear behind the door. "I don't trust him." She stated, catching everyone off guard.
"What?" They echoed back.
"I don't know what it is, but I get the feeling he's hiding something." She turned and looked at Amara as she spoke to the group. "Maybe we ought to be more careful."
Everyone nodded. Amara's cheeked pinkened a little and she looked at her feet. Maybe she didn't want to be careful?
"That's taken care of." Ice announced as he came out of the room and the door locked behind him. "Let's go back up and I'll show you our food room."
"Okay." The group replied.
"But this time I'm not in the back!" Sunspot called out.
"Like that'll make a difference." Rahne muttered smiling.
"What?" He asked, hearing her say something.
"Oh nothing." She quickly replied. "I'll walk in the back." The truth was, she wanted to get as far away from Ice as she could. **************************************************
Remy took the group to the hills. From there he could safely show them a view of what was left in Mutant City. It wasn't safe for them to go in, not yet at least, they weren't ready.
"Ahh what a lovely view." Pietro said sarcastically as he stared at the ghost town. "The black clouds hovering overhead, the salty wind in your face, and smell of ashes and pine-trees. What is there not to love about a world like this?"
"What on earth.." Kitty muttered as water started to drip down onto her face. "Can I not remain dry for even five minutes!" She had barely finished her sentence when the sky cracked and heavy rain began to pour.
"Ahhh!" Kitty screamed in annoyance. "I hate this place!"
Lance stood with a baffled expression. Had the change in world s brought so big a character change upon his beloved Kitty? 24 hours ago she was still sweet and well mannered. What had happened?
A strong hand clamped down on Lance's shoulder as he watched Kitty stomping in the mud and rain. "Dis rain shou'd cool yur lil' chere off." Remy said chuckling.
He spoke up to the group. "Its gettn bad, if we wait her' any longer we might not make i' home tonight." He signaled to keep moving, but one of the group objected.
"No." Kitty said abstinently. "Everywhere I have gone has been gradually worse than the first place. Then next place I would like to go is home, but since that's impossible, I think we might as well stay right here!" She crossed her arms and sat down on a rock.
Remy shock is head. "No chere. Yur crazy ta think it'll be better her'. We could die in dis storm."
Kitty said nothing, she just glared.
"You jus need sleep chere. Dis whole thing 'as been hard on yur emotions'."
When she still said nothing, he turned to Lance and Pietro. Whilst Lance stood appalled at Kitty's unwillingness to cooperate, Pietro was trying unsuccessfully to control himself from laughing hysterically.
Remy eyed him threateningly. "Dis place has drivn many crazy, its no laughin' matter. Ya two start yur way back."
"What about Kitty?" Lance asked anxiously.
Remy smiled. "I'll take car' of dis."
The two looked at each other and shrugged as they began down the hill. A moment later they heard a very irritated scream from Kitty. The rain was getting heavier and the sky darker, but they were able to make out the figure of Remy moving down the rocky hill casually, with Kitty hanging over his shoulder pounding her fists on his back.
Pietro grinned and nodded. "It's about time someone did that! That's what I'm talking about!" He was still chuckling when Lance fist made contact with his shoulder causing him to stumble back.
"Hey!" Pietro refuted. "I'm just saying that he's my new hero!"
"Shut up Pietro!" Lance called as he turned his back and continued moving down the mountain.
Pietro just shook his head. "Now that's what I call putting a woman in her place!"
A moment later the ground rumbled, and Pietro's next few steps down the hill where transformed into a somersault.
***********************************
As regards Ro's group, well, she enjoyed showing off her accomplishments. Before they knew it, the group of 4 stood watching a machine making artificial replicas of food.
Ro explained. "Because da ground is unsuitable fer farming, we were forced ta look fer others means of agriculture. Since ah was originally raised on a farm, ah became tha perfect candidate. Hank and ah were assigned ta come up with another way ta obtain food rather than growing it. Of course we had tha option of buying it from tha human cities, but they never sell ta mutants, and as far as stealing goes, that could get risky, and tha risks weren't worth tha actual amount of food that we could obtain. So science became tha other alternative."
"Science?" Rogue asked with a confused expression "Ah never liked science." Ro shrugged. "Ther's a lot a differences between us honey." She winked as she pointed to the machines in the food factory. "Hank an ah created machines ta clone food. Sur, it soun's a little gross, but ya can't really taste tha difference. An, it's efficient enough ta make enough food fer all of us."
"Wow!" Ray said, whose stomach was obviously getting the best of him. "All this food!"
Rogue and Spyke turned to him with a disgusted look on their face. He is berzerker!
They all watched as food, or what looked like food traveled along the conveyer belt. It actually looked real. Carrots, celery, tomatos, onions, apples, and oranges. Foods that were normally eaten, accept these all came from the same original fruit or vegetable that was cloned.
Spyke leaned over towards Rogue. "And we're eating dinner here tonight?"
She gulped and made a disgusted face. "Ya don't make yur own water do ya?"
Ro smiled.
"Maybe ah don't want to know?"
Ro shook her head. "It's better that way."
Spyke held his stomach. "I just drank a full glass! I think I'm gonna be sick."
At this point Ray was the only of the three X-men that wasn't thoroughly disgusted. And apparently unaware of the others turning stomachs.
"Hey!" Ray spoke up as if a light bulb had turned on in his head. "Do you guys ever clone pizza?"
Resounding "Ugghhh!'s" Were heard from Rogue and Spyke.
"So." Ro said, "Who's hungry?"
*********************************************
"Now, I like to think that you can tell a lot about people based on the way they live, or where they live," Boomer began, "So I thought of a way to help you get to know everyone a little better, and get a look around." She smiled to herself, "Hah! I'd like to see someone else give a better tour than this!"
Sam and Jaime looked at each other and shrugged.
Boomer cleared her throat, "Ta-da!" She said, stepping back and extending her arm down a long corridor with doors opposite each other on both sides.
"Hmm," Tabitha said sarcastically, "Identical silver doors. Gee, you guys are all so unique!"
Boomer just rolled her eyes at her earth-world self. "Room number one, mine!" A door slid open to reveal a room with wall-to-wall and ceiling mirrors.
Sam yawned. "Are all the mutants of your world this conceded?"
Boomer tapped his chin with her index finger and winked. "Only the best of us."
Tabitha stared in awe. "I guess we are that different after all." She stood there admiring herself, and then decided that it was a good idea to dance around the room. This however, was not a good idea seeing as she underestimated how slippery a mirror like floor would be. A few moments later the group heard a squeal come from the far side of the room, followed by a loud crash.
Boomer went running over. "My mirror!" She cried.
Tabitha sat there holding her knee. "My knee!" Thankfully she hadn't broken a mirror wall, but just a tall single standing mirror.
"What happened?" Sam asked sympathetically as he and Jaime helped Tabitha up.
She pulled away and dusted herself off. "Well, I was not informed of how slippery these floors were, and while I was looking around a tripped and my foot his the base of that mirror, causing it to fall and hit my knee. It hurts rather bad too."
"I should hope so!" Boomer grumbled quietly to herself.
Jaime looked at the broken mirror. Curiously it lies in only four pieces, having cracked at the point that hit Tabitha's knee. "Why didn't it shatter?"
Boomer moved the pieces into the corner. "That's compliments of Ice. He did something to all the mirrors in my room so that they wouldn't break easy, and if they did, wouldn't shatter." She shook her head. "Oh well. I can replace that later, why don't we try another room." She said turning and walking out, the three mutants, one of which was limping, followed.
The group left the room and proceeded to the next. "This room belongs to another one of the girls here. Though its nothing like my style. Ro and me get along, but have very opposite tastes." She entered a code numeric code and the door unlocked.
Jaime spoke up. "I can already guess, the Rogue from our world was always a bit of a goth..." He stopped mid sentence as the door slid open. No matter how strange he had found the Rogue of their world, nothing could have prepared him for the Ro of theirs.
Boomer glanced back and forth at the expressions of the three young mutants, they all looked equally stunned. She thought she might give them an explanation. "Our Ro was raised on a farm."
"That was what I might have thought..." Tabitha mumbled as she scanned the room. A pretty white painted bed stood against the wall, with a pink quilt. White bookshelves lined the walls, filled with and equal amount of books and dolls. Even a few sat on her bed. The walls were painted in a light pink color with white trim. And a few paper flowers sat in a crystal vase on a table in the middle of the room.
Boomer, not understanding the confused look on their faces decided it best to move on.
As she closed the door Jaime shook his. "The memory of that room will haunt me forever."
"Right..." Boomer eyed him curiously. "Now, this next room," she said as they made their way down the hall, "is one that you may only look at, do not touch!"
The mutants didn't understand her orders, but nodded and shrugged anyways. The door slid open to reveal a grand room. One as clean as it was immaculate. There were actually to levels to the room, the second was only two steps higher. On the second level was the bedroom furniture. The comforter and pillows were stark white, and the furniture was silver. The strange thing about this room was that it was the cleanest room any of them had ever seen.
The mutants walked around it, careful not to touch anything. "Whose room is this?" Sam asked curiously as he walked up the second level.
"It's Silver's room." Boomer said plainly. "He's somewhat of a neat freak."
"Hah." Tabitha smiled. "That's not completely different from Pietro. He gets psycho about cleaning."
"Hey!" Jaime said as he looked at the floor. "I can see my face!"
Boomer opened her mouth to say something, when she heard Sam.
"Ha...ha.."
"No..." Boomer began to say, but it was too late.
"Ha...ha....chu!" Sam sneezed. Tiny drops of spit, almost invisible to the eye, flew through the air.
Boomer put hand in her hands. "Oh no! Lets get out of here before he gets back, or he'll go ballistic!"
The group quickly ran out of the room, still careful not to touch anything.
The last door they came to, Boomer smiled mischievously at. "Now, this room we really shouldn't go into at all.." She glanced back and forth at the expressions of the mutants. "...but, since he's on tour right now, there really is no harm in taking a peak." She entered a few numbers, and the door slid open.
The four entered a very nice room. A little more normal than those prior to it. The furniture and colors consisted of lack and royal blue, and there was an aquarium, with some very strange looking fish, that sat on a shelf against the wall.
"Hey!" Tabitha said excited. "It's a waterbed!" She proceeded to bounce up and down.
"Careful," Boomer warned, "We don't want him to know that we were here. No one is allowed in Ice's room!"
"Ice?" Jaime asked. "As in Iceman?"
"We just call him Ice." Boomer replied.
Jaime smiled. "We don't have to be afraid of him. He doesn't get mad at all, he's a softy."
"Yeah, to the ladies." Boomer said rolling her eyes.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tabitha's ears perked up. "Do I sense this is a better looking Iceman?"
Boomer smiled deviously, "Lets just say he has quite a reputation."
"What's in here?" Sam and Jaime stood trying to push open a wardrobe door.
"Ah, you pull it open?" Boomer said with a tinge of sarcasm.
"Oh." Sam pulled hard on the handle, not realizing how easy it would open. The door swung open nearly knocking Sam off balance. Jaime, caught off guard was hit square in the face and fell to the ground. As he did hit powers were activated, and multiples of him flew every which way.
As chance would have it, at that very moment, loud laughter was heard from down the hall.
Boomer stood up straight. "That's Ice! Everybody out!"
Boomer, Tabitha and Sam sought to grab the many Jaime and push them out the door. They all ran out of the room and turned the corner, holding their breath.
"Haha! You're too funny!" Said a giggly girls voice. One that Tabitha recognized, but couldn't place at the moment.
"Here we go." Ice said opening the door. "After you."
"Thank you."
The group heard the door close, and let out a sigh of relief.
"That was close." Boomer said as she turned to the group. "Hey! Where'd they all go?"
Tabitha and Sam looked around only to realize that the many multiples had disappeared.
"Where'd they all go?" Boomer repeated.
Sam scratched his head. "After a few minutes they all disappear or re- group back into Jaime, but where'd he go?"
"Ahh!" Boomer slapped herself on the head. At the same moment the others too had the realization. "He's still in the room! Oh boy! I am gonna hear about this forever!"
Sam looked annoyed. "Or more importantly, what if Ice sees him, how is he gonna get out of the room. Is Ice really as mean as you say?"
Boomer cringed. "Ah, he can be?"
Meanwhile, in Ice's room Jaime sat crunched and claustrophobic in the wardrobe. The air was getting hot, and he could hear the muffled sound of voices. He put his ear to the door.
"I know it's here somewhere...ah ha! Here it is." Ice pulled a book out of the shelf and handed it to his girl companion.
"Wow! Does this really cover your world history?" She asked.
Jaime made a face, he knew that voice, Amara!
"As to my knowledge, that's the record." Ice replied.
"Great!" Amara said excited. "The professor assigned me to find out a little more about the ancient history of this world. This will let me get it done in no time."
"That's good." Ice said with a charming smile. "So with all that time you save on research, you think you might be interested in going out somewhere with me later?"
"Going out?" She repeated, "Like a date?"
"Would you like it to be?" He asked moving closer. "There's a few more things I haven't shown you yet."
Amara felt herself get warm as he moved closer. "I think there's a lot I haven't seen here, you think you could show me all in one evening?
He grinned and moved even closer. "We make it into a few evenings, if you like?"
Amara felt like she must be blushing by now. "I would like that..."
She barely finished her words and he leaned over and kissed her. She probably wouldn't have mind if it lasted a lot longer, but a moment later he moved away.
"Great, then I'll see you later Mar."
'Mar? Did he just call her 'Mar?' Jaime thought to him self. Yuck! Amara liked Bobby's other self? Was it the same as kissing Bobby? He didn't care to think too much about it, all he knew is he had blackmail for later. He heard the door close, and the room was quiet. Finally! He would get some fresh air! Then the door opened again.
It was Tabitha, "Jaime? Jaime you in here?"
At least it wasn't Ice and Amara.