"You four be careful and remember where we're meeting." Scott told the four
mutants that were going to blow the power plant.
"Don't worry man, we'll be alright." Evan replied. Then he, Sam, Ray, and Amara were gone into the darkness.
Scott watched them go, feeling worried about the younger recruits, even Evan who had more experience than the other three. He knew that they were fairly capable fighters, but he wasn't sure what the guards of the place would be capable of. Kyran had mentioned that the inside guards were mostly just armed with batons, but he didn't know what the power plant guards used.
"Don't worry about them Summers. Keep your head on straight and stay focused on what you need to do." Kyran spoke up. "We'll be facing more than guards."
"What?"
Kyran and Cody both shared uneasy looks. "Remember the mutants that attacked us? Don't be surprised if we face them."
"Great, more danger to add to this little adventure."
Kyran rounded on Scott, a fierce snarl on his face. "You can go back Summers. The Brotherhood will gladly try this rescue alone if your heart isn't in it."
"Our hearts are in it." Jean spoke up. "He's just worried about our safety."
Kyran frowned and looked Scott right in the eyes. "I fight for the greater good. If I die trying to save other's lives then at least I die for what I believe in."
"Enough! We don't have time for this." Logan snarled. "Everyone just do their jobs and no one should get hurt."
As the second team moved into position Sam, Ray, Amara, and Evan found the power plant and observed the complex. There was a big building in the center that Kyran told them was the actual power plant. The buildings around it were the barracks, mess hall, and control office. There were four towers, one at each corner of the complex and each tower had two guards. One was a sniper and the other manned the machine gun.
"Alright, Magma, give them something to worry about." Evan ordered.
Amara looked for the building Kyran had told her to aim at. From the outside she couldn't tell what it was, but that fact didn't matter to her. She shot a ball of fire through the gate and right at her target. The building burst into flames and frightened screams filled the air, along with the shouted warning that there was a fire. Men poured out of the building while the guards left their stations to try and help fight the fire.
"Go Sam."
Cannonball gritted his teeth, stood up, and took off running. He blasted straight through the gate and into the building with the generator. He left a big enough hole for the others to slip through. Evan motioned for Ray and Amara to follow him and they quickly made heir way through the openings created by their friend while the guards were preoccupied.
Ray slipped past the rest of his teammates and approached the generator. He jumped back in surprise as a gun fired and a bullet struck the ground where he had been standing. All four mutants look up to see a guard standing on a balcony above them. Evan acted quickly and threw a bone spikes at the man, knocking the gun from his hand while pinning him to the wall by his clothes.
"Sorry 'bout that Ray, that guy musta been hidin'." Sam apologized, as it had been his job to check for guards inside the room.
Ray didn't reply and instead approached the large humming machine in the middle of the room. He wasn't quite sure what would happen when he overloaded it. He didn't know if it would blow up or simply stop working. He wasn't even sure if he would be safe, but he knew he didn't really have much of a choice. It was his duty to take out the generator, that was his whole purpose on he mission and he wasn't about to fail.
"One overloaded generator, coming up."
Ray rubbed his hands together and then placed his hand on the generator. It was warm to the touch and smooth. He wasn't quite sure what kind of generator it was or how it was generating power, but he was sure one nice bolt of electricity would overload it just the same. He sent a charge of electricity into the machine and intended to stop, but for some reason he couldn't. He could feel the metal heating up and the machine was beginning to hum at a higher pitch.
"C'mon Bezerker, we gotta go man!" Evan shouted.
"I...I can't stop." Ray shouted back.
Back in front of the entrance into the Facility team one was waiting for the power to go out as the sun was slowly rising. Scott was a little surprised at what the Facility actually looked like. He had been expecting some big foreboding building, and what he got was a medium sized building that looked like a grocery store. The exception was that there was a barbed wire fence around it and with guards and two towers as well as guard dogs roaming the area between the fence and the entrance.
"Shouldn't the power be out by now?" Todd questioned.
"Give them a moment longer. It might take Ray a few minutes to overload it." Scott replied.
At just that moment there was a loud explosion from the direction of the power plant. The guards in front of the Facility stopped everything they were doing and looked in confusion toward the explosion. Even the dogs didn't seem to understand what was going on. But as the lights flickered and then went out he guards seemed to realize what was happening.
"The power generator overloaded! Call for reinforcements!" One of the guards shouted.
"Go Quicksilver." Kyran hissed.
Pietro was gone in a flash. He zipped right over the barbed wire and into the command office where one of the guards was about to call for help. Pietro snatched the cell phone and smashed it against the floor. He then shoved the guard backwards over the desk and dash out of the room again. This time he zipped over to the control panel and opened the gate.
"What's going on? Who opened the gate?" One of the guards demanded.
"I did." Pietro replied as he kicked it into Quicksilver mode and circled the guards and dogs alike. A mini tornado formed carrying the humans and dogs into the air.
As soon as the gate was open enough for them to get in Scott blasted the door into the building off its hinges. Bobby created an ice pillar under the guards and dogs so high up that they wouldn't even consider getting down. With that done to group of mutants hurried inside, taking out the few guards blocking their way to the elevators that went down. They spilt into their two groups and headed down. When they got to the lower level the rescuers were met with a sight that only Kyran and Cody were ready for.
People filled the hall. There were men dressed in obvious guard uniforms and then there were many more people dressed in outfits that looked like blue versions of prisoner uniforms. There was a major battle raging.
"Everyone be careful and good luck." Scott said as everyone except Kyran and Cody slipped their night vision goggles on.
With that the two teams split up.
Kyran led his team deftly through the mess that the hall had become. He knew where he was going and this time he wasn't going to leave anyone behind. If it meant he had to die trying then he would. He never spoke of it to anyone, but he never forgave himself for leaving them behind. When they all got together for the first time it was Kyran that got everyone to open up and talk. He'd brought out the best in all of them, despite their obvious misgivings. It was hard to trust in a place like that, but he had gotten them all to open up and had even been organizing them for a break out when he, Brody, and Cody had been moved out. He guessed Baxter had caught on about their plan to escape.
"There it isss, I'll remember that door for the ressst of my life." Cody hissed from right behind Kyran.
There were two guards at the door and neither could see a thing. They were still waiting for the equipment from the equipment room. Kyran recognized both of them as the men that had often beaten him with batons and whips. With a growl he seized their necks and slammed them against the wall.
"Remember me gentlemen? I know I'll never forget you. You however, won't live long enough to forget me, but I hope you have to relive my nightmare in hell for eternity." Kyran snarled in a cold, calm voice. He then snapped the men's windpipes like they were twigs. He held them for a moment before tossing them aside.
"How do we get in? Thisss door wasss built to withssstand one of Reece'sss blastsss." Cody commented.
Kyran ignored him and looked over his shoulder at Bobby. "Freeze it."
Bobby threw a nervous glance at the limp bodies of the dead guards as he stepped up beside Kyran. He iced his body then placed his hand on the metal door and spread his cooling ability through the tough metal. Within a few seconds the once sturdy door was busted with ease by a kick from Kyran.
Inside the room the mutants had already broken out of their cages. Many of them didn't look happy to see Kyran or Cody. Only Lance and Fred seemed to appreciate their presences. They quickly joined their friends while Bobby stood guard.
"Quicksilver, Toad, Iceman please take Avalanche and Blob to the meeting point." Kyran said.
"What about you two yo? I ain't leavin' ya here." Todd argued.
Kyran locked eyes with Luke. "Go Toad. Venom and I need to handle this."
"C'mon Toad," Pietro shoved the younger boy toward the door. "Don't forget Kyran, one way or another this place is coming down. Try not to be inside when it does."
"Go." Was all Kyran said. The five mutants hesitated, but then turned to do as they were ordered. When they were gone Kyran finally addressed the large group of mutants in front of him. "Here we are, back where we should be. We're not leaving without our teammates this time, even if that means we all die together."
"Don't you think it's too late for that?" Luke growled.
Kyran sighed and resorted to speaking in what the group affectionately called "Lukage" or Luke Language. Which meant using other people's famous quotes. "Friendship flourishes at the fountain of forgiveness."
"Actions, not words, are the true criteria of the attachment of friends." Luke shot back.
"Who seeks a faultless friend remains friendless."
"Loyalty is what we seek in friendship."
"Damnit Luke! We're back aren't we? Doesn't that mean anything to you guys?" Kyran exclaimed. "We're standing here with you ready to die with you when this place comes down, just as we should have stayed here before. Isn't that action enough for you? Isn't that loyal enough for you?"
There was a moment of silence in which the ground suddenly trembled. It was gentle at first but growing in intensity. All the mutants present looked around at the walls around them as they began shuddering. The cracking of the ceiling above them was the only other sound.
"So, this is a real break out? We can all get out this time?" Erik finally asked.
"Only if we get out now. If Lance can't bring the place down they're going to blow it." Cody replied.
"You know this and still you're staying? You could save your own lives." Adam said.
"We're a team. We go as a team or we die as a team." Kyran replied. "I know we broke our word. I know we lost something that will take us a long time to get back, but I hope this will be a first step in repairing the damage we have done."
A tremor shook the ground as if a little kid was shaking the world like a snow globe. It stopped shortly, but they knew it would only get worse. Without a word Matt lunged at Kyran and was wrapped in strong protective arms he had missed so much.
"I forgive you Ky-Ky and Cody." Matt whimpered. "I want to get out of here. Can we leave?"
"Fuck this team shit, we're outta here." Jordan sneered as he and Mick shoved past everyone and left.
"Yeah, you can stay and die losers." Mick called over his shoulder.
Kyran looked at each of his friends. "Are we leaving or staying here to die in this rotten hellhole, to imprison our bodies forever in the place we hate so much."
"He's quite the persuasive one, isn't he?" Kale murmured to Erik.
"No one's dying here." Chailyn suddenly spoke up. "We need to live to work out these problems."
"Where'sss Willy?" Cody asked suddenly.
Chailyn shot the snake boy a sympathetic look. "There were mass executions a few days ago. Most of the prisoners were killed. Your brother may have been among them."
"If he wasn't he will get out with everyone else." Erik added.
Once more the ground lurched fiercely and parts of the ceiling dislodged and fell to the floor, just barely missing the group. As one the mutants surged for the door with Kyran leading as he carried Matt in his arms.
Shadow, I'm gonna ask you to do something that may be harmful to us. Kyran mentally told his shadow. He received a mental image of a thumbs up sign. Cover everyone. Make sure no one is left vulnerable. Again there was a thumbs up sign.
"Ky, what are you doing? You know your shadow can't take much of that!" Erik scolded.
Kyran didn't reply and no one else argued. They were glad for having the protection as large stones bounced harmlessly off them. A few guards got in the way, but Shadow formed some spikes and took care of that problem. As they ran they were met by Scott and Kitty, who had come looking for them.
"Turn around you idiots!" Kyran roared.
He blasted past them going as fast as he could. He had to get everyone out of danger so he could withdraw his shadow. It was really draining him stretching his shadow out like that. He was starting to get a headache from concentrating so hard and he was starting to feel dizzy.
Back at the meeting point Logan was actually really surprised at how few mutants there really were. From what he'd understood of the place there was supposed to be hundreds of mutants. But in the little clearing he could only see about twenty-three or so. And he was instantly drawn to the youngest looking of the group.
"You okay kid?" He asked, in the most comforting voice a man like himself could manage. The kid reminded him of Jamie, and he was rather fond of the young Multiple.
"Yeah...no...I'm scared." The boy said. "I want my brother."
"Who's your brother?"
"His name's Cody, he escaped the place a few months ago."
That drew the attention of Todd, who had been on the lookout for the snake boy. "Cody? As in the guy that looks like a snake?"
"Yeah, that's him. Is he with you?"
"He went in with the others. He hasn't come out yet." Todd replied. "You're...Willy, right? Cody's talked a lot about you."
"Really?" Willy asked. "I bet he thinks I'm mad at him for leaving."
Todd looked a little surprised. "And you're not?"
"Nope, I know he would have saved me if he could have."
"You're pretty smart for a kid." Logan commented.
"Runs in the family."
"You're also pretty young to have your mutant abilities already active."
At that Willy frowned and lowered his eyes. "My natural thing is healing, but they...did a lot of experiments on me. I have many more abilities now."
Before anything else could be said the remaining members of the group arrived. Immediately Cody lunged out of Kyran's shadow armor and snatched up his little brother. Willy and Cody hugged fiercely, both crying. Cody was telling his brother he was sorry over and over again while Willy tried to assure him that he understood.
"It's okay bro, I understand." Willy said as he pulled back from his brother a little. "You know I'll always love you no matter what."
At that Cody pulled his brother into a tighter hug. "I missssed you ssso much. I'm never going to let anything happen to you again."
"Everything will be okay now. It'll be okay."
The strength of those words met the ears of everyone in the clearing and for once in a long time the freed mutants began to believe it. Everything would be okay, they would be okay.
"Don't worry man, we'll be alright." Evan replied. Then he, Sam, Ray, and Amara were gone into the darkness.
Scott watched them go, feeling worried about the younger recruits, even Evan who had more experience than the other three. He knew that they were fairly capable fighters, but he wasn't sure what the guards of the place would be capable of. Kyran had mentioned that the inside guards were mostly just armed with batons, but he didn't know what the power plant guards used.
"Don't worry about them Summers. Keep your head on straight and stay focused on what you need to do." Kyran spoke up. "We'll be facing more than guards."
"What?"
Kyran and Cody both shared uneasy looks. "Remember the mutants that attacked us? Don't be surprised if we face them."
"Great, more danger to add to this little adventure."
Kyran rounded on Scott, a fierce snarl on his face. "You can go back Summers. The Brotherhood will gladly try this rescue alone if your heart isn't in it."
"Our hearts are in it." Jean spoke up. "He's just worried about our safety."
Kyran frowned and looked Scott right in the eyes. "I fight for the greater good. If I die trying to save other's lives then at least I die for what I believe in."
"Enough! We don't have time for this." Logan snarled. "Everyone just do their jobs and no one should get hurt."
As the second team moved into position Sam, Ray, Amara, and Evan found the power plant and observed the complex. There was a big building in the center that Kyran told them was the actual power plant. The buildings around it were the barracks, mess hall, and control office. There were four towers, one at each corner of the complex and each tower had two guards. One was a sniper and the other manned the machine gun.
"Alright, Magma, give them something to worry about." Evan ordered.
Amara looked for the building Kyran had told her to aim at. From the outside she couldn't tell what it was, but that fact didn't matter to her. She shot a ball of fire through the gate and right at her target. The building burst into flames and frightened screams filled the air, along with the shouted warning that there was a fire. Men poured out of the building while the guards left their stations to try and help fight the fire.
"Go Sam."
Cannonball gritted his teeth, stood up, and took off running. He blasted straight through the gate and into the building with the generator. He left a big enough hole for the others to slip through. Evan motioned for Ray and Amara to follow him and they quickly made heir way through the openings created by their friend while the guards were preoccupied.
Ray slipped past the rest of his teammates and approached the generator. He jumped back in surprise as a gun fired and a bullet struck the ground where he had been standing. All four mutants look up to see a guard standing on a balcony above them. Evan acted quickly and threw a bone spikes at the man, knocking the gun from his hand while pinning him to the wall by his clothes.
"Sorry 'bout that Ray, that guy musta been hidin'." Sam apologized, as it had been his job to check for guards inside the room.
Ray didn't reply and instead approached the large humming machine in the middle of the room. He wasn't quite sure what would happen when he overloaded it. He didn't know if it would blow up or simply stop working. He wasn't even sure if he would be safe, but he knew he didn't really have much of a choice. It was his duty to take out the generator, that was his whole purpose on he mission and he wasn't about to fail.
"One overloaded generator, coming up."
Ray rubbed his hands together and then placed his hand on the generator. It was warm to the touch and smooth. He wasn't quite sure what kind of generator it was or how it was generating power, but he was sure one nice bolt of electricity would overload it just the same. He sent a charge of electricity into the machine and intended to stop, but for some reason he couldn't. He could feel the metal heating up and the machine was beginning to hum at a higher pitch.
"C'mon Bezerker, we gotta go man!" Evan shouted.
"I...I can't stop." Ray shouted back.
Back in front of the entrance into the Facility team one was waiting for the power to go out as the sun was slowly rising. Scott was a little surprised at what the Facility actually looked like. He had been expecting some big foreboding building, and what he got was a medium sized building that looked like a grocery store. The exception was that there was a barbed wire fence around it and with guards and two towers as well as guard dogs roaming the area between the fence and the entrance.
"Shouldn't the power be out by now?" Todd questioned.
"Give them a moment longer. It might take Ray a few minutes to overload it." Scott replied.
At just that moment there was a loud explosion from the direction of the power plant. The guards in front of the Facility stopped everything they were doing and looked in confusion toward the explosion. Even the dogs didn't seem to understand what was going on. But as the lights flickered and then went out he guards seemed to realize what was happening.
"The power generator overloaded! Call for reinforcements!" One of the guards shouted.
"Go Quicksilver." Kyran hissed.
Pietro was gone in a flash. He zipped right over the barbed wire and into the command office where one of the guards was about to call for help. Pietro snatched the cell phone and smashed it against the floor. He then shoved the guard backwards over the desk and dash out of the room again. This time he zipped over to the control panel and opened the gate.
"What's going on? Who opened the gate?" One of the guards demanded.
"I did." Pietro replied as he kicked it into Quicksilver mode and circled the guards and dogs alike. A mini tornado formed carrying the humans and dogs into the air.
As soon as the gate was open enough for them to get in Scott blasted the door into the building off its hinges. Bobby created an ice pillar under the guards and dogs so high up that they wouldn't even consider getting down. With that done to group of mutants hurried inside, taking out the few guards blocking their way to the elevators that went down. They spilt into their two groups and headed down. When they got to the lower level the rescuers were met with a sight that only Kyran and Cody were ready for.
People filled the hall. There were men dressed in obvious guard uniforms and then there were many more people dressed in outfits that looked like blue versions of prisoner uniforms. There was a major battle raging.
"Everyone be careful and good luck." Scott said as everyone except Kyran and Cody slipped their night vision goggles on.
With that the two teams split up.
Kyran led his team deftly through the mess that the hall had become. He knew where he was going and this time he wasn't going to leave anyone behind. If it meant he had to die trying then he would. He never spoke of it to anyone, but he never forgave himself for leaving them behind. When they all got together for the first time it was Kyran that got everyone to open up and talk. He'd brought out the best in all of them, despite their obvious misgivings. It was hard to trust in a place like that, but he had gotten them all to open up and had even been organizing them for a break out when he, Brody, and Cody had been moved out. He guessed Baxter had caught on about their plan to escape.
"There it isss, I'll remember that door for the ressst of my life." Cody hissed from right behind Kyran.
There were two guards at the door and neither could see a thing. They were still waiting for the equipment from the equipment room. Kyran recognized both of them as the men that had often beaten him with batons and whips. With a growl he seized their necks and slammed them against the wall.
"Remember me gentlemen? I know I'll never forget you. You however, won't live long enough to forget me, but I hope you have to relive my nightmare in hell for eternity." Kyran snarled in a cold, calm voice. He then snapped the men's windpipes like they were twigs. He held them for a moment before tossing them aside.
"How do we get in? Thisss door wasss built to withssstand one of Reece'sss blastsss." Cody commented.
Kyran ignored him and looked over his shoulder at Bobby. "Freeze it."
Bobby threw a nervous glance at the limp bodies of the dead guards as he stepped up beside Kyran. He iced his body then placed his hand on the metal door and spread his cooling ability through the tough metal. Within a few seconds the once sturdy door was busted with ease by a kick from Kyran.
Inside the room the mutants had already broken out of their cages. Many of them didn't look happy to see Kyran or Cody. Only Lance and Fred seemed to appreciate their presences. They quickly joined their friends while Bobby stood guard.
"Quicksilver, Toad, Iceman please take Avalanche and Blob to the meeting point." Kyran said.
"What about you two yo? I ain't leavin' ya here." Todd argued.
Kyran locked eyes with Luke. "Go Toad. Venom and I need to handle this."
"C'mon Toad," Pietro shoved the younger boy toward the door. "Don't forget Kyran, one way or another this place is coming down. Try not to be inside when it does."
"Go." Was all Kyran said. The five mutants hesitated, but then turned to do as they were ordered. When they were gone Kyran finally addressed the large group of mutants in front of him. "Here we are, back where we should be. We're not leaving without our teammates this time, even if that means we all die together."
"Don't you think it's too late for that?" Luke growled.
Kyran sighed and resorted to speaking in what the group affectionately called "Lukage" or Luke Language. Which meant using other people's famous quotes. "Friendship flourishes at the fountain of forgiveness."
"Actions, not words, are the true criteria of the attachment of friends." Luke shot back.
"Who seeks a faultless friend remains friendless."
"Loyalty is what we seek in friendship."
"Damnit Luke! We're back aren't we? Doesn't that mean anything to you guys?" Kyran exclaimed. "We're standing here with you ready to die with you when this place comes down, just as we should have stayed here before. Isn't that action enough for you? Isn't that loyal enough for you?"
There was a moment of silence in which the ground suddenly trembled. It was gentle at first but growing in intensity. All the mutants present looked around at the walls around them as they began shuddering. The cracking of the ceiling above them was the only other sound.
"So, this is a real break out? We can all get out this time?" Erik finally asked.
"Only if we get out now. If Lance can't bring the place down they're going to blow it." Cody replied.
"You know this and still you're staying? You could save your own lives." Adam said.
"We're a team. We go as a team or we die as a team." Kyran replied. "I know we broke our word. I know we lost something that will take us a long time to get back, but I hope this will be a first step in repairing the damage we have done."
A tremor shook the ground as if a little kid was shaking the world like a snow globe. It stopped shortly, but they knew it would only get worse. Without a word Matt lunged at Kyran and was wrapped in strong protective arms he had missed so much.
"I forgive you Ky-Ky and Cody." Matt whimpered. "I want to get out of here. Can we leave?"
"Fuck this team shit, we're outta here." Jordan sneered as he and Mick shoved past everyone and left.
"Yeah, you can stay and die losers." Mick called over his shoulder.
Kyran looked at each of his friends. "Are we leaving or staying here to die in this rotten hellhole, to imprison our bodies forever in the place we hate so much."
"He's quite the persuasive one, isn't he?" Kale murmured to Erik.
"No one's dying here." Chailyn suddenly spoke up. "We need to live to work out these problems."
"Where'sss Willy?" Cody asked suddenly.
Chailyn shot the snake boy a sympathetic look. "There were mass executions a few days ago. Most of the prisoners were killed. Your brother may have been among them."
"If he wasn't he will get out with everyone else." Erik added.
Once more the ground lurched fiercely and parts of the ceiling dislodged and fell to the floor, just barely missing the group. As one the mutants surged for the door with Kyran leading as he carried Matt in his arms.
Shadow, I'm gonna ask you to do something that may be harmful to us. Kyran mentally told his shadow. He received a mental image of a thumbs up sign. Cover everyone. Make sure no one is left vulnerable. Again there was a thumbs up sign.
"Ky, what are you doing? You know your shadow can't take much of that!" Erik scolded.
Kyran didn't reply and no one else argued. They were glad for having the protection as large stones bounced harmlessly off them. A few guards got in the way, but Shadow formed some spikes and took care of that problem. As they ran they were met by Scott and Kitty, who had come looking for them.
"Turn around you idiots!" Kyran roared.
He blasted past them going as fast as he could. He had to get everyone out of danger so he could withdraw his shadow. It was really draining him stretching his shadow out like that. He was starting to get a headache from concentrating so hard and he was starting to feel dizzy.
Back at the meeting point Logan was actually really surprised at how few mutants there really were. From what he'd understood of the place there was supposed to be hundreds of mutants. But in the little clearing he could only see about twenty-three or so. And he was instantly drawn to the youngest looking of the group.
"You okay kid?" He asked, in the most comforting voice a man like himself could manage. The kid reminded him of Jamie, and he was rather fond of the young Multiple.
"Yeah...no...I'm scared." The boy said. "I want my brother."
"Who's your brother?"
"His name's Cody, he escaped the place a few months ago."
That drew the attention of Todd, who had been on the lookout for the snake boy. "Cody? As in the guy that looks like a snake?"
"Yeah, that's him. Is he with you?"
"He went in with the others. He hasn't come out yet." Todd replied. "You're...Willy, right? Cody's talked a lot about you."
"Really?" Willy asked. "I bet he thinks I'm mad at him for leaving."
Todd looked a little surprised. "And you're not?"
"Nope, I know he would have saved me if he could have."
"You're pretty smart for a kid." Logan commented.
"Runs in the family."
"You're also pretty young to have your mutant abilities already active."
At that Willy frowned and lowered his eyes. "My natural thing is healing, but they...did a lot of experiments on me. I have many more abilities now."
Before anything else could be said the remaining members of the group arrived. Immediately Cody lunged out of Kyran's shadow armor and snatched up his little brother. Willy and Cody hugged fiercely, both crying. Cody was telling his brother he was sorry over and over again while Willy tried to assure him that he understood.
"It's okay bro, I understand." Willy said as he pulled back from his brother a little. "You know I'll always love you no matter what."
At that Cody pulled his brother into a tighter hug. "I missssed you ssso much. I'm never going to let anything happen to you again."
"Everything will be okay now. It'll be okay."
The strength of those words met the ears of everyone in the clearing and for once in a long time the freed mutants began to believe it. Everything would be okay, they would be okay.
