Chapter Five: Lies and Truth

When I woke, the first thing I became aware of was a headache that felt as if it was almost tearing my skull open. I opened my eyes on instinct, then screwed them up painfully against the sudden invasion of bright light. I rubbed a hand against my jaw; there was still a dull ache where I'd been punched. The rest of me felt stiff and sore, as if I'd been lying in an unnatural position for too long. I groaned slightly. I was so used to being immune to pain, that I struggled to deal with it when my power failed me. It was when I was tired, ill, or weak, that my mutant strength began to diminish.

My eyes had begun to adjust to the light, and I struggled into a sitting position. I was in a small room - mostly empty, though a few wooden boxes sat in the corner - but I had no idea where I might be. My mind ran over the events of the last few minutes that I could remember: the fight…Cassandra…Gemini…Mole…being knocked out…what had happened to the others? Annie and Dominic and Marina? Had they got to safety? Had I held off the Brotherhood for long enough? I had to make sure they were safe. I had to get out of here, and find them. Where had my enemies brought me? Slowly, painfully, I got to my feet, and looked for a way out. There was a single door, and it was closed. I walked over to try it.

The door was locked. A cough from outside told me there had to be somebody out there. There was a small window set in the door - this was where the light was coming from - and I peered through. A solitary figure sat on a chair outside, presumably guarding the room. It was one of the Brotherhood, but my tired and fogged brain couldn't recall his name. Vertigo. That was it. He was slouched in the seat, looking bored, tossing a juggling ball into the air and catching it with one hand. Presently he caught it on the back of his hand, let it roll along his arm, to his elbow, then flicked it back into the air, and it landed on the back of his hand once more. Sighing listlessly, he produced another two identical balls from somewhere on his person, and began juggling the three of them with one hand, keeping them in the air in a perfect cycle, seemingly effortlessly, his co-ordination never failing him.

He glanced up at the door, and saw me watching him through the window. His eyes widened slightly, and without looking he caught the three juggling balls in his hand, slipping them back into his pocket. With his other hand he grabbed a communicator clipped to his belt, and spoke into it. I could just about hear him through the door.

"He's conscious," I heard Vertigo saying. "I recommend you get down here."

The communicator buzzed as a reply came, but I couldn't make it out. I assumed that somebody was on the way to join him. I didn't know what they had planned for me, but I wasn't particularly keen to stay and find out. I tried the door again, but the lock held firm. Straining my arms, I pushed with all my strength, but I was still tired, having only just regained consciousness, and I couldn't force it open. I turned to look around the room, wondering if there was something I could use to pick the lock or break the door open. I moved over to the wooden crates, and was about to try and open one of them, when a key turned in the lock, and the door was pushed open. I spun round.

Pyro was first into the room. Recyclo, Gemini, Vertigo, Scarab and Cassandra were with him. I didn't even think about trying to fight six of them. I had to regain my strength first.

"Where am I?" I demanded.

"Shut up," was Gemini's instant response.

"Now, now, Gemini, you should be civil to our guest," said Pyro in a sarcastic way.

I was in no mood for jokes. I stood defiantly and repeated, "Where am I?"

"You're in my school for mutants," said Pyro.

I blinked, "What are you talking about? There's another school for mutants?"

"Yes. Though most people don't know about it, this is America's second - and soon to be only - mutant school."

"I don't understand."

"You wouldn't," said Gemini.

Pyro explained, "You've probably been told that I was once a student at Xavier's School for the Gifted. I left, and when I became leader of the Brotherhood, I decided to found my own school for our kind. You'll probably think I stole or ripped off the idea, but I don't care. I'm not too proud to admit it. Anyway, a few years ago I began looking for potential students - what you see now are those I decided were most promising."

With a wave of his hand, he indicated Gemini and the other teenage mutants who stood with him.

"You mean the ones without a shred of moral decency in them," I snapped. "Just like you."

Gemini reacted angrily, and began to move towards me, but Recyclo put out a hand to restrain her.

"So why did you attack our school?" I demanded. "What do you want with me and my sister?"

"Your parents and the other X-Men are determined to get in the way of our ideals," Pyro said, unconsciously flicking on his cigarette lighter. "You are my insurance policy that will stop them doing anything against us."

"Your ideals," I spat. "You're just cold-blooded murderers!"

He gave a laugh, "Yes, I can see you've been well taught by the X-Men. Their propaganda is pouring out of your mouth like nothing else. We are not murderers. We have never killed one of our own kind."

"Rubbish! You murdered the US President! You started that epidemic in South America! That must have killed thousands of people!"

"Yes. Humans. Sub-creatures."

"What?"

"Tell me, if a man kills an animal for food, is that classed as murder? If an animal dies because its habitat has been overtaken by humans, is that murder? Of course not. For centuries humans have callously killed off, and in some cases completely wiped out, other creatures, in their rise to becoming the dominant species on the planet. Now that time is at end. We are the dominant species now. Humanity must make way for us, just as the dodo and so many others made way for them."

I retorted instantly, "Yeah, but - "

I stopped. I couldn't think of anything to say. Pyro continued, "You might say we should just let evolution take its natural course. One day all children will be born as we are, and there will be no humans left."

"So why don't you?"

"Because humans refuse to accept it. They fight against evolution. They think that by hating - and in many cases killing - mutants, they can prevent the inevitable. We have to fight back; we have to protect our own kind. We have no other choice."

I opened my mouth, but I couldn't think of an argument. I was speechless. Eventually I rallied, "All right then, why did you kill the President? He liked mutants, didn't he?"

"His feelings on the matter were irrelevant. All humans are our enemies. He was arguably the most powerful man in the world, and we eliminated him in order to show that all humans are inferior to us. No matter how safe or how strong they think they are, they are inferior to mutants, and we proved that."

I looked at him, and at the others. Gemini was smirking at me; Recyclo's face was as emotionless as always; Vertigo was once more idly rolling one of his juggling balls along the back of his hand; Scarab was watching me warily; and Cassandra eyed me with an odd sort of interest. Had I been wrong about them? I'd seen them as cold-blooded killers from the word go, but that was only what I had been told by others. Everyone said the Brotherhood were murderers, and Pyro hadn't denied any of the killing they had done, but still…the way he had described it…a part of me couldn't help listening to him. It was true that we were the next stage of human evolution. It was true that humans resented us, and were afraid of becoming…well, I guess extinct was the word. I realised I had never seen the facts from the Brotherhood's point of view. And what Pyro had said about propaganda…had my parents - and the X-Men - been lying to me? Had they painted the Brotherhood in an unfavourable, inaccurate light? Shapeshifter had told me that Pyro had once been his friend, and yet they were now enemies…it was starting to make some sense. Pyro was looking at me, waiting for a response.

"I…I dunno," I said hesitantly. "I guess you're making sense in principle, but…you're killing so many people. Don't you feel any remorse about what you're doing?"

He shrugged, "When you eat a hamburger, do you feel any remorse for the death of the cow that gave the meat? Think about it. Evolution will ensure that humans become extinct one day, no matter what we do. We're just speeding up the process, for the sake of protecting ourselves. We're not doing anything that wouldn't happen naturally."

Now I was really confused. Torn between what my parents had taught me, and by what I was now hearing, I couldn't decide which was right or which was wrong. Maybe they were both right in a way, or maybe they were both wrong. It was hopelessly confusing. Could my parents have lied to me? No. They wouldn't have. They couldn't have. Annie would have known.

Annie. My sister was the only person in this crazy and turbulent world who truly understood me. I wished she was here now, to help me and guide my thoughts. What would Annie have done in this situation? What would she have said? What about my parents? What about Cyclops and the other X-Men? What would they have said? Why did they oppose Pyro's ideals, anyway? There had to be some reason for it. They'd always taught me to use my powers to help others, never for my own selfish benefit. Why was that? Surely it was only common sense to make use of the gifts you were born with. Wasn't it? No. Not at the expense of the others. That was the one thing I had been taught more than any other. Those who were weaker than I was, who hadn't been born with any gifts to protect themselves…it was my duty to protect them. I knew now what I believed. My parents were right. The X-Men were right……weren't they?

I hadn't made any response, so Pyro went on, "I guess that brings me to the main point of this discussion. I've explained to you our ideals, and the reasons for what we've done. You might be wondering why I went to so much trouble, and I will tell you. We've all seen you fight, and seen what you're capable of, and we've decided we'd much rather fight with you than against you."

My eyes widened and my breath caught in my throat. Was he saying what I thought he was?

"Join us."

There it was. Two simple words; an offer that could change everything: my ideals, my friends, my entire life. I'd have been lying if I said I wasn't tempted. I agreed with a lot of what Pyro had said. In principle all of it sounded fine. But in practice…no. I couldn't agree with what they were doing. I shook my head and said, "No. Maybe some other time."

He shrugged, "Fair enough."

I frowned, "So…what now? Are you going to let me go?"

"Let you go? Of course not. Do you think I'm going to let you go back to your precious X-Men and tell them everything I've just told you, about the existence of this school? No. You won't be telling anybody else what you know."

Gemini gave a short laugh, but I wasn't paying attention. I looked Pyro in the eye, trying to sound as calm as I could, and asked, "So you're going to kill me?"

"No. I told you our mission is the protection of mutant life. Killing you would go against everything we believe in, and would gain us nothing. No…we have something else planned for you."

"What?" I asked suspiciously.

Pyro turned, "Gemini. Go and find Overlord. Tell him to come here."

She nodded, and left.

"What are you going to do to me?" I demanded.

"Nothing permanent."

That seemed to be the only answer I was going to get. I tried to think fast. Whatever was going to happen, it must have something to do with Overlord. He was the one who had used his power to 'neutralise' the X-Men…or so Cassandra had told me. She'd also said they were still alive. What exactly had happened? What was his power? I couldn't think, but I had no intention of waiting to find out. I had to escape. There were five of them blocking the only door, but there had to be a way out. My body was more or less recovered from earlier, and I felt my strength returning. Could I match five of them in a fight? I didn't know. Having Cassandra there would make things difficult. She'd foresee any escape attempt I tried to make, and so it would be impossible to take them by surprise.

Pyro obviously guessed my intention, as he gestured to Scarab and said, "Hold him. He'll try to escape."

The tiny hunchback crossed the room, and as he got closer I wondered about the possibility of seizing him and using him as a kind of living shield. Would it work? Before I could decide one way or the other, he had grabbed both of my arms with surprising strength, and was holding them behind me. I struggled and fought against him, tensing my muscles and trying to pull free, but I couldn't. Scarab was as strong, maybe even stronger, than I was. It made sense. A real scarab had strength enough to move an object several times its own size and weight, so presumably a Scarab was no different.

Gemini had returned, with Overlord in tow. He had his hands in his pockets and he glanced casually at me as he entered. I renewed my attempts to get away from Scarab, but he held me tightly and I couldn't move any nearer the door.

"I don't see why we can't just kill him," Gemini was complaining, sounding like a whining, spoilt child. "His parents wouldn't even know until it was too late."

"Yeah, and they'd kill us in revenge, idiot," Overlord said, rolling his eyes as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Pyro, when do you want me to begin?"

"Any time."

"OK. Here goes."

He moved to stand in front of me, about six feet away, and once more I tried to escape. Scarab wouldn't let me move an inch. I began to panic a little. I wasn't afraid of the Brotherhood, but I was afraid of the unknown, and I didn't know what was about to happen to me. Whatever it was, it had subdued all eight of the X-Men. Did I have any chance of standing up to it? I looked closely at Overlord. He didn't seem to be carrying any weapons, and he was still standing in a half-slouched fashion, his arms hanging loosely at his sides, as if he were casually passing his time.

Then he opened his eyes a little wider, and looked directly at me. I found myself returning his gaze, unable to look away. It was almost as if my eyes were transfixed by his. Some power he had rendered me unable to look anywhere else but right back into his eyes. I felt uncomfortable. I felt powerless. I could do nothing but look right back at him. As I looked, his eyes began to glow slightly - or was I imagining that? His face seemed to grow, until his eyes filled all of my vision. There was nothing, nothing I could see, other than Overlord's eyes. Everything else had disappeared, faded into the background. My mind became fogged and confused. There was nothing here, or anywhere else, anywhere in the world…nothing but Overlord's eyes. This was weird. I couldn't move. I was struggling to think. All I could focus on was those intense, staring, glowing eyes. I felt myself slipping away inside. Whatever had happened to the X-Men, was happening to me too.

Somewhere inside of me, something fought back. Maybe it was part of my nature, maybe it was my instinct as a fighter, but somehow I managed to rally, and began to fight against him. I forced myself to think, to concentrate as hard as I could, to keep my consciousness secure. I flexed my muscles, trying desperately to make my body move. I tried to blink, to look away. An expression of surprise and irritation crossed Overlord's face as I began to resist him. I knew he couldn't keep his eyes open indefinitely. I knew he'd have to blink at some point. His power still held me fast, but I was growing stronger, and he was losing his hold on me.

He blinked. The invisible force holding my eyes and body was gone, and I lunged forward. Scarab had relaxed, thinking Overlord had conquered me, and I broke away from him, tackling the hypnotic mutant to the ground. Overlord struggled, but he had no strength to resist me. I drove a knee into his ribs, and scrambled to my feet, heading for the door. The rest of the Brotherhood, taken by surprise, only now began to react to my break for freedom.

"Get him!" somebody yelled.

One of Recyclo's throwing knives whizzed past me, and I increased my speed. Cassandra was blocking the doorway, obviously having foreseen this. I shoved her aside. The door yawned invitingly before me, and I sprinted through, knowing not where I went. Where was the nearest exit? I didn't have time to stop and think, and I randomly turned left down the corridor outside, the Brotherhood members spilling out of the room to follow close behind me. I tried to activate my camouflage, but I was too nervous and excited for it to work. There was a fork up ahead. I turned right. I had to get out. I had to escape, find my way back to the school - our school - and find my sister.

"That was your fault, Cassandra!" I heard Gemini's voice yelling.

I chanced a glance behind me. Vertigo was the fastest of the group, with both of Gemini close behind him. Scarab and Recyclo were a little further behind. I wasn't looking where I was going, and I nearly ran straight into a door. Pushing it open, I ran into the room beyond. It looked like a dining room of some kind. Dammit! It was a dead end! No, wait - there was another door! I kicked it open and sprinted through. Now I was in another corridor. I pushed open the first door I came to, slamming it shut behind me. With any luck they might run past. Probably not. They had Cassandra with them.

This was a bedroom of some kind. From the décor I guessed it was a girl's, but I wasn't really paying much attention. What had caught my attention was the window letting in sunlight from the outside world. A way out at last! I hurried over to the window, and saw that I was at least one floor above the ground. I decided to take the chance, and jump it. The surface below was grass, which would make for a reasonably soft landing. I picked up the first thing my hands came to - a chair - and flung it through the window, shattering the glass, creating a hole big enough to leap through. Protecting my head with my hands, in case of jagged edges, I ran to the window, crouched slightly, and jumped.

The landing was a little harder than I had imagined, jarring me quite harshly, but there was no damage done, and I got to my feet to hurry across the grass. There was a path of sorts, leading somewhere, and I followed it blindly. Looking behind me, I saw Vertigo leaping out of the window as I had done, landing perfectly on both feet and running after me without breaking stride. Gemini stood at the window, looking down a little apprehensively; Scarab pushed her aside and jumped, landing hard on the ground but without injuring his small, compact form. There didn't appear to be anyone else close behind them. I just had to outrun the two of them until I could get to safety. I followed the path as it wound round a bit, hoping it would lead me away from their school and on to a main road, where I could try and find out where I was.

I took another look behind me. The diminutive Scarab was being left behind, but Vertigo was gaining on me, steadily closing the distance between us. When I felt he was too close for comfort, I took a deep breath and exhaled a stream of flame in his direction, hoping it would slow him down, force him to dodge. He jumped, turned a somersault in the air, passing over the jet of fire, landing on both feet and continuing to pursue me, without having lost a stride. This guy was amazing. I stumbled slightly, just about managed to keep my balance, and he was on me at once.

I'd got the better of him in our last fight, but I knew it wasn't going to be so easy this time. Now he knew exactly what I was capable of, and would be taking me more seriously. His intention was clearly to knock me unconscious as quickly and easily as possible. His first attack was a devastating spinning kick, launching himself through the air towards me, aiming for my head. I just managed to duck out of the way, and tried to retaliate with a punch to his mid-section. Like a wraith he flitted just out of my reach, twisting towards the ground. Placing two hands on the path, he kicked out with both feet, catching me on the shoulder. I was knocked back slightly, but I stayed on my feet, as he flipped back upright. For a moment we stood a few feet apart, sizing each other up. Whether by accident or by design, he had manoeuvred me around so that he now stood between me and my escape route. Scarab was still hurrying towards us.

There had to be some way out of this. I couldn't have got this far just to be caught once more. I had to find a way to get away from them. Anger began to overcome me, and I filled my lungs, breathing fire at Vertigo once more. He back-flipped away from me, landing gracefully just beyond the licking flames, which dissipated into the atmosphere.

"Make it easy on yourself," he said. "Nobody needs to get hurt. Just come quietly."

"I've got a better idea," I retorted. "Get out of the way and let me go."

"I'm sorry, I can't do that."

We came together once more, Vertigo cart-wheeling across the ground to kick me in the face. I didn't feel any pain, but there was blood running down from my lip, and I wiped it away with my hand. Scarab arrived on the scene at that moment, heading directly for me, trying to force me towards Vertigo. I tried to think of a way to outwit them and escape. With Scarab's strength, and Vertigo's acrobatic ninja skills, it wasn't going to be easy. I was still too tense and excited for my camouflage to work. I couldn't let myself be caught. I had to get back to the school and help my sister. Thoughts of Annie, of what might be happening to her, was what finally galvanised me into action. The Brotherhood were keeping me from my sister, and they might even be planning to harm her. That made me angry. I felt my adrenaline pumping through my veins, my fury rising, and I went berserk. Grabbing a startled Scarab, I lifted him clean off the ground, and flung him towards Vertigo. The ninja boy tried to get out of the way, but he was taken by surprise, and both of them sprawled on the floor. I began to hurry away from them, heading for safety. My berserk power increased my speed, and they could only watch as I disappeared into the distance.

I kept running, fuelled by my adrenaline, and before too long I hit the main road. I looked around for a sign-post or something that might give some indication of where I was. Spotting one in the distance, about a mile or so away, I began to jog towards it. I had calmed down enough now to activate my camouflage, so there was no danger of being spotted by the Brotherhood, if they were still coming after me. I knew that while berserk I had run fast enough to leave them some distance behind, so there was little chance of them continuing the pursuit. I knew they wouldn't have given up though. They'd be biding their time and waiting for another opportunity.

I got to the signpost. I didn't recognise any of the place names, but it seemed I was still in New York state. I knew not in which direction the school lay, and setting out in a random direction probably wasn't a good idea. I glanced at the sun above me - it was almost directly overhead, which meant it had to be about noon - but I didn't know the first thing about navigating using the sun, and besides, I didn't know where I was to start with. There were plenty of cars whizzing past on the road beside me, and I decided to stop somebody and ask for directions. I made the universal sign of the hitch-hiker: the single thumb sticking out.

It didn't seem to be a very effective strategy. Five or ten minutes went past, with no success. Then I realised why. I could have kicked myself. I was still camouflaged. Deactivating my body camouflage, I stuck out my thumb again and hoped for better results this time.

I was in luck. It only took about five minutes for a small red car to pull over and stop. The driver was a smiling young woman, probably in her early twenties, who pushed open the passenger door and said, "Are you lost? Jump in."

"Thanks."

I climbed into the front seat, and she pulled away from the kerb once more.

"Where you headed?" she asked.

"Um," I hesitated.

Where was I going? I couldn't just say 'the school' as there had to be thousands of schools in this state. I could have said 'the mutant school' but that was meant to be a secret. She probably wouldn't have known about it anyway. What was our school called? I tried to remember. Pyro had said something…

"The School for the Gifted," I recalled. "Xavier's School for the Gifted, that's the one."

"The mutant school?"

I glanced apprehensively at her. She smiled, "Hey, relax. I haven't got anything against mutants. A mutant saved my life once. If you're one yourself, that's cool."

"Yeah…I am."

Her eyes widened slightly, but she didn't display any of the fear and hatred that I was used to seeing from humans. She said, "I'm headed down that way myself, as it happens. There's a town a mile or so away from the school, so I'll drop you off there."

"Right. Thanks."

"I'm Melody, by the way."

"Gary."

Melody was quite talkative, telling me about herself, her job, her opinions of mutants, but I wasn't really listening. She soon realised I wasn't in the mood to talk, and we travelled the rest of the way in silence. I must have dozed off at some point, as the next thing I knew Melody was shaking me awake and saying, "Hey. We're here."

"Huh?" I yawned.

"We're at the town where I promised to drop you off."

"Oh, right. Thanks."

"Take care now."

Half-awake, I got out of the car, and she drove off, giving me a little wave as she went. I tried to get my bearings. I'd never been here before, but I had seen the town from the air whilst in the jet, and I thought I knew the right way to go. If I got lost, there were plenty of people around to ask directions from.

That proved to be unnecessary. My navigation was successful, and I found myself approaching the school building ten minutes later. It was only now that I had arrived here, that I began to wonder what I was going to do next. I didn't have a clue where my sister was…I'd only come here as a starting point, since this was where I had last seen her. She could have been anywhere by now. I sighed, shrugged my shoulders, and headed for the front doors of the building. I'd begin by going down and searching that tunnel. If I was really lucky, they'd have found somewhere to hide, and would still be there.

As I entered the building, I panicked for a moment at the sound of people moving around upstairs. Then I relaxed. It would be the other kids in the school. They would have woken up as normal, and come downstairs expecting to have their meals and classes as normal. They must have soon discovered that the adults weren't around. I had to find them. I had to find out exactly what had happened to the X-Men. If it was the same thing that Overlord had done - tried to do - to me, then I had to find a way to bring them back. It was difficult to describe what he had done. It was as if I had been going into some sort of trance. It was like having my body put into suspended animation. Pyro had said it was 'nothing permanent', so there had to be a way to pull people out of it. I had to find the adults and try to work out how to get them back. Once I had found Annie. My sister was my priority. I headed for the elevator.

I heard the sound of footsteps hurrying down stairs, and I was confronted at the bottom of the staircase by a small group of worried-looking children. The oldest was probably eleven or so. She looked at me, deciding I was somebody who was older, and who would know exactly what the problem was and how to fix it.

"What's going on?" she asked nervously. "Where are the adults?"

"I don't know," I said. "I was about to start looking for them."

She looked at me more closely, and asked, "Are you all right? You look like you've been hurt."

I touched my lip, where a bruise and a swelling were developing from Vertigo's blow, but I shook my head, "I'm OK. I don't feel pain. Have you seen my sister?"

"Who?"
"Her name's Annie. She's a little older than me. She's got gold eyes."

The girl nodded, "Oh yeah, I know who you mean. Um…no, sorry, I haven't seen her since yesterday."

The other kids in the group shook their heads to indicate they hadn't seen Annie either.

"All right," I said. "Don't worry about it. Listen, why don't you gather together somewhere, in the dining room, OK? I don't know what's going to happen but you'll be safe in numbers. I'll find the adults."

"OK," the girl said, and the children hurried back upstairs.

As somebody who was older they automatically trusted me to know what to do. I really didn't know if I was doing the right thing. I had no experience with children; I just wanted them somewhere they would be safe, and wouldn't be getting in my way. Once they were gone, I continued on my way to the elevator. The trip down was as smooth and swift as always, and within two minutes I was standing in the underground level, in the X-Men's secret base. I moved over to where the tunnel was. Peering into the darkness, letting my eyes adjust to the hole's interior, I took my first step into the tunnel.

There was somebody there. In the darkness I couldn't make out who it was, but they were heading straight for me. Was it one of the Brotherhood, lying in wait? I hadn't seen all of them at their own school. Had one or two remained here? Mole hadn't been there - and the other one, the one we didn't know anything about. I backed away slightly, and took up a defensive position, as the vague shape in the blackness came closer. Whoever it was, they were small, and moving quickly. Was it Mole? I had to make sure to stay away from those adamantium fists if it was him.

It wasn't. It was Marina.

"Oh, Gary!" she shrieked, as she threw herself into my arms. "Gary, I'm so scared! I'm so scared!"

She was sobbing, tears pouring down her cheeks, and was in danger of becoming hysterical. She put her arms around me and held me tightly, pressing her face into my chest, her tears dripping into my T-shirt. I was a little confused. I had no idea what to do with a crying girl. A little awkwardly, I put my arms around her, holding her gently. It seemed natural to try and reassure her, so I patted her on the back and murmured that it was going to be all right. I held her for a few minutes more, until her tears began to dry up, and her body began to tremble less violently. She got herself under control, and we broke apart.

"Are you all right?" I asked.

Her explosion of shock and emotion had subsided, and she now returned to being a terrified, traumatised girl locked within her shell. She avoided my eyes and whispered, "Yes."

"What happened? Where's Annie?"

Marina panicked. She tried to talk, but the words came out of her mouth jumbled up, and she wasn't making any sense at all. I put a hand lightly on her shoulder to try and calm her. She flinched slightly, as if expecting me to start hurting her, but then appeared to calm down a little.

"Take your time," I said. "Just tell me slowly what happened."

"All right," she whispered. "Um, I'm not a good talker, so - so please don't interrupt me until I'm done."

"OK. Go ahead."

"I'm trying to remember what - what happened. We were going down the tunnel, and - and Dominic was ahead of me, carrying Annie. It was really dark, and I couldn't see anything, and - and I was just following him, not thinking about anything but following him. We - um - got out, at the other end of the tunnel. I think it was in the forest somewhere, and it looked as if - as if Annie was about to start waking up. She - "

"Did she say anything?" I asked instantly. "Did she say whether she managed to contact my dad?"

Marina flinched, looking as if she was about to burst into tears again, and she gave me a pleading look, whispering almost silently, "Gary…please…don't interrupt. It's not easy for me to talk this much."

"Sorry, I forgot. Keep going."

"OK. Um - Annie was starting to wake up, and Dominic was - was trying to talk to her. He laid her down on the ground, and she tried to say something. I couldn't make it out. Then - then - "

She gulped and trembled. Whatever came next was clearly troubling her. I did what came naturally, and put my arms round her, holding her gently as before, reassuring her with my warmth and my presence. Marina calmed, and was able to continue, "At - at first I thought it was an earthquake. The ground around us started - started shaking, and - and we didn't know what was happening. Rocks and earth were being thrown up all over the p-place, and D-Dominic - "

She shook in my arms again, and I patted her lightly on the back, murmuring reassurances in her ear. She swallowed and went on, "I don't know what happened to him. I heard him cry out - like he'd been hit by something - and I tried to go over to - to help him. I couldn't find him or Annie, but there was - there was somebody else there. I don't know who. He was standing a little way away. He was causing the - the earthquake."

One of the Brotherhood? I was about to ask, when I remembered my promise not to interrupt. I stroked Marina's back gently, and she finished, "I - I looked around, but I still couldn't see them. Then something hit me on the head and I got knocked out. I - I woke up later, and came back down the tunnel. I've been hiding from - from whoever it was. I was too scared to go back out. I don't know where Dominic and Annie are. I've just been here, hiding, when - when you came."

It clearly hadn't been easy for her to say that much, and she trembled violently, trying to pull out of my arms, afraid that I might try to hurt her. I held her as gently as I could, patting her back reassuringly as before, murmuring sweet nothings into her ear, trying to calm her. Without knowing what I was doing, I gave her a little kiss on the forehead - as my mother had often done with me when I was small and scared. Marina jumped slightly, and she looked up fearfully into my eyes. I had never noticed her eyes before. They were green, like twin pools of some heavenly emerald liquid. For once she didn't flinch and look away. The two of us were staring into each other's eyes as if hypnotised. Although being hypnotised by Overlord had been a wholly unpleasant experience, I was not unhappy at being entranced in this way by Marina. Slowly, almost imperceptibly slowly, I found myself moving towards her. I did nothing to stop it, and neither did she. Marina's breath caught in her throat, as I moved my hands from her back to gently encircle her neck, and drew closer to her. Our lips touched, then stayed together.

I had no idea what I was doing. I did find Marina attractive, and she was only about a month younger than me. But I hardly knew her on a personal level, and this sudden irresistible urge to kiss her had come quite literally out of nowhere. For a moment she was soft, unresisting and submissive in my arms, but only for a moment. Then the spell was broken, and she began desperately struggling to get away. I didn't stop her, and Marina pulled out of my arms, breaking into a fresh flood of tears, and hurrying away from me. She stumbled, lost her balance, and fell into the corner. I walked over to help her to feet. She put her hands over her head and sobbed, "Please! Please don't hurt me!"

I kneeled down beside her, and whispered, "Marina, I'm not going to hurt you."

She looked up. Her hands slowly returned to her side. She looked away, "Why did you do that?"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. But…but I can't help it if you're beautiful."

"I'm not beautiful."

"Yes you are. I'm sorry. If I do that again you can slap me. I promise. Come on, we've got to find out what's become of Annie."

She looked at me uncertainly for a long moment, then nodded, "OK."

We both stood, and I said, "So you don't know what happened to her?"

"No. She - she wasn't there when I woke up. The last time I saw her was - was just before the earthquake started happening. Um - "

There was something else, but she lacked the confidence to say it. I waited, knowing she couldn't be hurried if she was nervous. I held her hand in my own to reassure her, and this time she didn't flinch or jump in surprise. She accepted it as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and her fingers curled around mine.

"It's - it's hard to explain," she said finally. "I have this image in my head, but I - I'm not sure if I really saw it, or if it was a dream."

"What's the image?"

"It's…it's…it's not a nice image," she managed to say. "It's men with guns."

"Who?"

"I - I don't know. J-just men wearing black and carrying machine guns. I don't know who they were. It - it's just an image in my head. I might have seen it just before I - before I got knocked out."

I frowned. Men with guns? That didn't tie in with anything I'd learned so far. Maybe Marina had just dreamed it. When you were confused it was sometimes difficult to work out what had been real and what had been a dream. I didn't know, and I decided just to get on with trying to find my sister. I walked into the secret tunnel and Marina followed me. It was dark, and often the tunnel was not high enough for me to walk normally, which meant I bumped into the walls and roof quite a lot. I couldn't feel any pain, but it was still annoying, and my anger was beginning to rise by the time the tunnel began to lighten, indicating we were getting near the other end. I guessed we'd been walking for ten or twenty minutes, so the tunnel could be anything up to two miles long. It got brighter and began to rise higher. Before long we had reached the exit, and stepped out on to the earthy ground. I looked around to try and find out where we were.

We were surrounded by trees, so perhaps we were still in the forest that surrounded the estate. The area around us looked as if it had been hit by a bomb. Rocks had been flung all over the place, trees had been uprooted, and the earth itself seemed to have been chaotically altered, with huge craters and potholes all around. What had caused this? Had some kind of explosion occurred? My breath caught in my throat at the possibility of my sister being caught in the blast.

"Marina," I said, and she jumped slightly. "You said there was somebody here, a person causing something like an earthquake?"

She nodded.

"And it was them who did this?" I asked, gesturing at the ravaged landscape around us.

Another nod. I raised my eyebrows. This had to be the work of a mutant. A mutant with power over earth and stone? Well, it sounded reasonable enough. I already knew of mutants with control of fire, lightning and ice, the other primitive elements. Was this then the last of the Brotherhood, their ninth member who I had yet to encounter? Had he been waiting at the exit of the tunnel? What had happened to Annie? Had she been captured by the Brotherhood? I frowned. Pyro and the rest hadn't said anything to me that might suggest whether or not they had Annie, but it seemed likely. She had been barely conscious, and she and the others had run into this earth-controlling mutant. Marina had been knocked out, and now there was no trace of Dominic or my sister. Logically, the Brotherhood must have them.

There were two things wrong with that. First of all, why had they left Marina behind? Because they were only interested in Annie and me. All right, then why did they take Dominic? That didn't make any sense. Secondly, I was still worried by Marina's image of 'men with guns'. Maybe it had been a dream. Maybe it hadn't. For my sister's sake, I couldn't assume that it hadn't been real. But who had these men been? They couldn't have been working with the Brotherhood, since the Brotherhood hated humans, and only humans used guns. They must have been someone else entirely. But who?

I sighed. I didn't have a clue what was going on. I wished Annie was here. Or my parents. Or Shock or Shapeshifter, or any of the X-Men. I just wanted to have somebody older than me, somebody who knew what was happening and what to do. But I hadn't. I only had myself. Somehow I had to find my sister, find the X-Men, and contact my parents. As angry as I was, I was sensible enough to know that I couldn't fight this battle alone. But then, I realised I wasn't exactly alone. I looked at the girl beside me, as she shivered nervously and stood close to me, the fingers of her left hand brushing against mine.

"Marina?" I asked. "I don't know exactly how to say this, but…we may be in trouble, and we may have to rely solely on ourselves for a while. I have to ask you: what kind of powers do you have? What's your mutation?"

She looked away, and whispered sadly, "I don't want to talk about that."

"Why not?"

"Because it - it'll upset me."

"Is it something to do with your - your trauma?"

Marina nodded, and a tear began to form in her eye. I said awkwardly, "Look, I don't mean to push, but…it really is vital that I know what your mutation is. You may have to use it if we're going to find Annie and the rest. I'm sorry if it upsets you, but you have to tell me. What's your power? What's upsetting you so badly?"

She kept her gaze focused on the ground in front of her, and for a long time she said nothing. Then she looked into my eyes, and spoke in a soft, shaking, sorrowful voice, "All right, I'll tell you. Annie said it might do me good to tell it somebody else. The thing that's upsetting me? I watched my entire family die before my eyes. I only survived because of my - my mutation..."

As Marina broke into a fresh bout of tears, I felt my mouth dropping open. I closed it, and looked at the ground in shame. Shame because I had forced her to talk about something that was clearly ripping her heart to shreds. I was not familiar with guilt, but it attacked me now, bringing a red flush to my cheeks, and I didn't trust myself to try and comfort Marina. She continued to sob quietly to herself, and I closed my eyes, as if this act could shut out the world and everything that was going wrong with my life. It didn't. There was no easy way out. I knew I had to do something to fix this mess, and the only person I could rely on was myself.