Chapter Twelve: The Hunt Begins
The characters in this fic, by and large, do not belong to me. The X-Men, and related characters, are the property of Marvel Comics. GI Joe, and related characters, belong to Hasbro. The Delgado children (Althea, Brittany, Daria, Quinn, and Claudius), Xi, Sgt Snuffles, and the Eloi belong to Red Witch. Reader, however, does belong to me.
RogueFanKC- Thank you! Re. Ray and Reader- I have no idea where I got that idea from- I knew I was going to have to do something with Ray, because this was the storyline that introduced the comic version. I'm glad you like it. Re. Stormwreck- when I read that section I knew you were going to like it. I think that Shipwreck tries far too hard to win Ororo's heart. She could love him- he is a good person, but she's reserved, and Shipwreck usually- not always, but usually- isn't. I'm not going to say anything about the chapter. And re. Pietro and Evan- it's possible, maybe even probable, the way things are going. And as for main characters getting killed- even though you didn't ask, I can't comment.
jckidsmart- Here you are! Enjoy!
Red Witch- Thank you! I'm glad you like it. More is coming!
L1701E- Thank you! I intend to keep it up! Hmm… Scotty getting shot in the butt? Might happen…
Cammy- The Pietro/Evan bit just came to me. If anything could shock Pietro, that's it. Yes, the massacre is about to begin… and it won't be pretty- although the good guys will get their licks in. Essex's motives? The main motive is different from the comics, but he does have another reason to attack- it isn't strong enough to be a motive- but I'll explain that. As I've said, I have no idea where the Ray idea came from. Oh- good luck with the test!
And in an unrelated note- who saw Ascension pt. 1 today? I did, and I thought it was awesome. There were plot twists and some very much unexpected events. There was one twist which would have royally ticked me off, but I remembered that this is a two-parter, and I expect an eleventh-hour change of mind, probably accompanied by a dramatic entrance and/or rescue. If you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about.
"What the hell happened?" Big Tom shouted as Lacey and Claw helped him up.
"We were attacked," Masque snarked. He then muttered something resembling 'bald simpleton.'
"I gathered that," Tom shot back. He muttered something that sounded like 'obnoxious ass.'
"Arguing isn't going to get us anywhere!" Callisto snapped. "Both of you shut up!"
They began to hear the sound of heavy breathing coming behind them. Turning, they saw it was Ororo, who was curled up and beginning to breathe very heavily.
"Wonderful," Callisto muttered. A claustrophobic in her sewers. A powerful one, if half of Evan's stories could be believed. Of course, Evan had neglected to mention his all-powerful aunt's Achilles Heel. It was a miracle the woman lasted so long, but if she lost control now…
Lacey also saw the signs. She went to Ororo and gave her a firm slap across the face.
"Thank you," Ororo said, relieved. The pain brought her back into the present. "I needed that."
"Don't mention it," Lacey shrugged.
"I suppose you have a place to regroup in case of an attack?"
"Yes," Callisto told her. "We have a safe chamber. It isn't very far from us where we are, but the others are going to have to do some wandering, if they're alive. I suggest we make for the safe haven, and then split up and follow the tunnels to find the others. We have to hurry because these 'Marauders' or whatever you called them are-"
"Almost certainly waiting for any survivors to emerge," Claw finished. "It's what I'd do if I was going to attack a place like this."
"Well, then let's go!" Ororo said a little impatiently, and as they started to leave, they heard some coughing behind them. Turning, they saw an old woman muttering to herself.
"Plague," Masque muttered. "Of all the luck."
"Come on, old duffer!" Callisto called. "We're in a hurry!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Plague muttered, and stood up and started walking.
"Can't she go any faster?" Ororo whispered to Masque.
"Her? Hell,
no. And we can't pick her up, either- we all have bare hands, and she can make
anybody sick with just a touch. The only one that can touch her safely is our
Healer, and he's not here."
"Then use this." Ororo took her cape off, and handed it to Big Tom, who got the hint. He went up to Plague, wrapped it around her, and picked her up. The group then sped off.
***
"Hello! Hello!" Scott called, holding Jean in his arms.
"They won't be able to hear you through the rock," Low Light told him before he yelled himself hoarse. Low Light looked over the people in his 'chamber.' In addition to a bunch of Morlocks, there were Fred, Pietro, Cyclops, Jean, Iceman, and Boom-Boom, and- oh joy- Jean was knocked out by a piece of falling debris. She didn't seem to be otherwise harmed, but there was no way to tell until she regained consciousness. Fortunately, she was the only casualty, and he meant to keep it that way.
A very large male mutant made his way out of the crowd of Morlocks.
"Somehow, I think you're in charge now," he told Low Light.
"Looks that way," Low Light groaned. "They call me Low Light."
"Yeah, I heard about you- you're the mutant Joe. The Eloi told me about you. They really are all dead, aren't they?"
"Not all of them- but a lot of the survivors are wounded."
"Damn. Let's try to keep that from happening again."
"Amen."
"Name's Sunder." They shook hands.
"Where's the nearest way out, Sunder?"
"There's a manhole not far from here, but we can't use it."
"Blocked?"
"No- we've got a safe place here in the sewers. It's not on any plans, and it's hard to find unless you know exactly where it is. We're supposed to go there if we're attacked."
"We can't! We have to get out of here."
"You can't. We have to."
"I'm not gonna be able to talk you out of this, am I?"
"Hey, I agree with you. But I also know that if there are any Morlock survivors, that's where they'll be heading."
"You're sure?"
"Positive."
"Great," Low Light muttered. He weighed his options. He could just take the Misfits and the X-Men and go- GI Joe let people decide their own fate, whether or not their decisions were sane. But he also knew that the Marauders were on the prowl, and while the Morlocks would and could fight back, they'd stand a far better chance if they had help.
"Get your people together," he told Sunder. "We're moving out! Lead the way, Sunder."
***
"Uhh," was the first word Shipwreck said as his sight returned. His head hurt, and his vision was just coming into focus. What happened? They were in the sewers, they were telling the Morlocks about the Eloi, some ugly guy called them liars, there was a blinding light, and then the roof caved in! He sat straight up, and then regretted it.
"Are you okay, Dad?" Althea asked him.
"Other than the fact I that feel like I've been on a two-day bender, then yeah," he groaned as she helped him stand. Looking around, he saw Todd, Kurt, Peter, and Roberto, and a whole bunch of Morlocks.
"Where's everybody else?" he asked.
"If they're still alive, then they're on the other side of that," Althea pointed. She was indicating the debris which closed them in. "We've got a way out-" she pointed to a small tunnel, "but five gets you ten there'll be a welcoming committee on the other side. We've got two of the really strong X-Geeks with us, but we can't risk punching our way out, because we could bring the rest of the roof on our heads."
"Why doesn't Kurt just teleport us out?"
"Because he's lost, and he's gotta have at least some idea of where he's going."
"Great," Shipwreck muttered sarcastically.
"Isn't it just?"
"Okay- that means that Shipwreck's gonna lead us all to safety! Follow me, everyone!" Shipwreck made for the tunnel.
"Oh, no!" Althea went ahead of him. "I'll go first. I can check it out to see if it's safe."
"And so can I," Kurt added. "I kinda blend vith the surroundings."
"And I'm pretty sneaky too, yo," Todd chimed in.
"Alright then," Shipwreck decided. "Althea-"
"Attention!" Althea said, getting their attention. "Toad, Nightcrawler and I are gonna scout ahead. The rest of you, stay here until we come back or until some of the good guys show up." She turned and led Todd and Kurt into the tunnel.
Shipwreck watched her go. He wasn't sure which emotion was greater- pride or fear.
***
"Are you sure that you cannot find anybody?" Xi asked Elisabeth.
"Let me re-state that. It isn't that I can't find anybody. It's that I'm finding everyone all at once." Elisabeth rubbed her temples. "I can't discern who's who, or whether they're down here or up above us. I can't find Jean, which means she's either unconscious, or… and the Professor's out of my range. I don't suppose anybody has a cellular or some form of comm link?"
"A cellphone down here?" a cat-woman laughed. "Yeah, let me pull it outta my Gucci purse."
A tall man with a white beard touched the woman's shoulder, and she went silent. He caught Elisabeth's eye, and shook his head no.
"I could try melting the rocks," Amara told them, "but if anybody's trying to dig through, I could hurt them."
"And do we really want me blasting?" Remy asked, rhetorically. "Gambit may be able to do it carefully, but by the time I got through, we'd be better off taking our chances in the tunnels."
"Oh my stars and garters," Hank moaned, holding his head. "What happened here?"
"It's a long story, Mr. McCoy," Amara told him as she knelt beside him.
"Amara? Why is there two of you?"
"Oh, no!" Remy groaned. "He's got a concussion."
"Well, that rock was even harder than Kitty's last batch of muffins," Amara reminded him.
Xi looked Hank over.
"He does seem to have a concussion," Xi said. "I don't suppose anybody has any medicine?"
The old man touched Xi on the shoulder. Their skin touched through a rip in Xi's uniform. Xi nodded.
"This man can heal people," Xi told the others.
"We don't call him Healer because he breathes fire and shoots lightning outta his ass," the cat-lady snarked.
"Aw, stop being catty, Feral," one of the other Morlocks groaned. "Now ain't the time."
Feral raised a fist in the woman's direction. "How would you like me to scratch your eyes out?"
"Thank you, sir," Hank said as Healer helped him up. "I feel much better."
Healer smiled and nodded, and then pointed to the only unblocked exit.
"Is there an exit there?" Hank asked.
"We'll explain on the way," Remy said as they headed out.
***
"Where's the next turnoff, ma'am?" Sam asked the elderly lady.
"It's the tunnel after next, dear. We turn right."
Sam and Wanda were leading a group of Morlock children to safety. With them was Annalee, an elderly Morlock woman who was in charge of their care. Sam held a child in his arms, one was riding on his shoulders, and a couple others were clinging to his belt. It was almost like caring for his younger siblings at home.
Wanda was also loaded down with kids. It wasn't a bad feeling, but now was not the time for it.
"We have to hurry up, kids," Wanda told them. "How do you know this safe place isn't on any charts?" she asked Annalee.
"We made it ourselves, dear. That's how we know."
"It must have taken a long time."
"Oh, yes, it did, but we got it finished, and we hid it. Callisto makes us do drills every once in a while so that we all know how to get there. Of course, after being down here so long, we all know the sewers like the backs of our hands, but Callisto makes sure we know the route anyway."
"She's just looking out for you."
"Yes, dear, we know."
Suddenly, Kitty phased through a wall in front of them.
"Oh, I am, like, so glad I found you guys!" she exclaimed.
"Kitty?" Sam asked. "Where is everybody?"
"I don't know. I'm looking for everybody! So far you're the first people I've found."
"Was anybody with you when the roof caved in?" Wanda asked.
"Yeah! Mr. Logan, Lance, Rogue, Evan, Ray, and a whole bunch of Morlocks. Evan's leading them to some safe area, and Mr. Logan sent me out to find everybody else. Well, let's go!"
Kitty grabbed two of the children, and soon the entire group was phasing through the walls.
From a shadowy tunnel, Riptide spoke into his communicator.
"Scrambler, the Witch and the Human Cannonball are heading your way, with an old broad, some brats, and the Pretty Kitty. I'm on my way." He grinned. "Save some for me."
***
Scott, still holding on to Jean, was marching just behind Low Light and Sunder.
"This way," Sunder grunted, pointing to a tunnel. Suddenly, a beam of light struck him in the hand.
"Or not!" Sunder cried, hitting the deck to avoid more of Prizm's lasers. Low Light looked up and started firing back. Scott started firing his optic blasts at the source of the light.
"Wait here!" Pietro called as he got up. He charged towards Prizm, dodging the lasers with ridiculous ease. Suddenly, he stopped. Looking down, he saw that he had walked into a trap- some form of glue was coating the sewer floor.
"You didn't really think we'd do this without planning, did you?" Prizm smirked. He pointed a hand at Pietro, and fired. The laser was intercepted by a firecracker.
"WOO HOO!" Tabitha cried. "Take this, diamond-boy!" She started firing more firecrackers, ignoring the shouted warnings behind her begging her to watch her aim. One of her firecrackers got through Prizm's lasers, and blew his hand off.
"AHH!" he shrieked. "You will pay for that!" he shouted as he fled.
"Just give me a minute, Speedy," Tabitha smirked as she sent a time-bomb to Pietro's feet.
"No, Tab-!" It exploded before even he could finish. Pietro winced, then found that his feet had been freed by the explosion.
"Let me get the rest of that," Scott said wryly as he finished getting the rest of the glue off Pietro's feet.
"Ooh," Jean moaned, getting to her feet from where Scott set her down. "What-"
"Long story," Bobby told her.
"Do we go after him?" Fred asked Low Light.
"No, not now. Is there another way to your safe-house, Sunder?"
"Yuh-huh. Follow me." Sunder led them down a different tunnel.
***
"Did you
hear that?" Amara asked Xi.
"It sounds as if some of the others have run into the Marauders," Xi concluded grimly.
"Do we go help?" Elisabeth asked Hank.
"No. They can handle it. Let's get to this safe place. Then we can go out and search."
"At least we're not the only ones still alive," Remy muttered.
"And how long that remains is anybody's guess!" Vertigo yelled from behind them. Instinctively, some of them whirled around.
"Don't look at her!" Xi and Remy cried, but it was too late. Several of the Morlocks went down. Then they were covered in a strong-smelling fluid which fell from specially placed buckets.
"NO!" Hank screamed as he leapt (eyes firmly shut) for Vertigo, but it was too late. A jet of flame set the gasoline on fire. The drenched Morlocks screamed in agony as they went up in flames. Elisabeth turned to look at the source of the fire. It was Scalphunter, holding a flame-throwing weapon.
"We're havin' a heatwave, a tropical heatwave," Vertigo sang as she sprinted down another tunnel. Remy screamed in rage and followed after her. Looking at Scalphunter, Elisabeth saw him fleeing down a different tunnel, although the movement of the water suggested that somebody invisible was right on his heels.
"Damn!" Hank shouted. "Help me over here!" The rest of the group- not many- went to help the burning Morlocks.
***
Althea and Kurt scouted ahead while Shipwreck and Todd kept behind their group. Peter and Roberto kept square in the middle. Peter was in his armoured form, but Roberto wasn't in his flame-form yet- cut off from the sun, he needed to conserve his energy.
All was quiet, and then-
"Duck!" Althea yelled. Some of the group was slow to react, and some of them couldn't duck in time. They were hit by shrapnel that flew through the air. Some of them were durable enough that the shrapnel didn't hurt them, but most of them went down, wounded or dead.
"Aww, you interrupted my shot," Polaris whined as she emerged from a side tunnel ahead of them. Althea and Kurt sprang for her, and Roberto got up and charged her. Shipwreck remembered what happened to Low Light, so he kept his gun hidden, Peter knew it would be stupid to go up against a magnetic opponent, and they both knew that they would still need a rear guard in case of a pincer attack.
Polaris set up a magnetic field, which intercepted Todd's projectile slime.
"Disgusting," she hissed, nose wrinkled.
Kurt teleported behind her, and grabbed. He started teleporting her around the chamber.
"How do you like this, murderess?" he screamed. The teleportation kept up for a while, until Kurt waited half a second too long between jumps. Polaris jabbed him in the stomach with a knife.
"I live with Vertigo," she sniffed as Kurt went down. "Did you really think you could get me dizzy that easily? Arclight!"
"It's about time!" Arclight shouted as she crashed through a wall. She began to pound the ground. The people still standing soon ended up on the ground- except for Todd, who was just barely managing to keep his balance by desperate jumping.
"Harpoon!" Polaris called. Harpoon stepped out from the new tunnel Arclight created and began to throw his spears. He threw with unbelievable quickness, and with each spear he converted to energy, a Morlock died.
One of the Morlocks crawled out of the line of fire and pulled a flute out of his clothing. He started playing. Within moments, both sides of the tunnel were filled with glowing red eyes.
'Say hello to my little friends,' Piper thought savagely as he commanded the rats of the Bayville sewers to attack the Marauders. Harpoon- knowing the dangers of animal attack- wisely fled, but Polaris and Arclight started screaming. They soon followed Harpoon's example. Althea started after Polaris.
"Al! Help me over here!" Todd cried. He was standing over Kurt. "How 'ya feelin', Fuzzy?"
"Fine, except for the screaming agony," Kurt groaned.
"Hang on, Kurt," Shipwreck said as he and Peter started checking out the rest of the wounded. "Althea! Try to get the knife out! If you do-"
"Stop the bleeding! I know. Toddles, Sunspot, go help dad and Metal Muscles." Fortunately, Polaris left the hilt sticking out.
"Don't worry, Kurt," Althea told him. "You're gonna see Amanda again. Clench your teeth now, 'cause this is gonna hurt." She took the knife out. Kurt hissed. Althea pressed her hands down on the wound to stop the bleeding.
"Go on," Kurt grunted. "I can hold it from here. Go help the others."
***
"It's not much past this chamber, dear," Annalee told Logan as they made their way to the Morlock sanctuary.
"Does she call everybody dear?" Sam whispered to Evan.
"Just the people younger than her," Evan smiled.
"But Wolverine's not-"
"You know it, and I know it, but she doesn't."
"Are you ever come back to live with us, Ray?" one of Annalee's charges asked Ray.
"I don't know. I might someday, but not right now."
"It's scary on the surface."
Ray smiled bitterly. It was no wonder she'd think so. The young girl in his arms resembled a miniature version of a female Evan, with pinkish hair and skin and little bone spikes coming out of her.
"Not if you know good people, Sarah."
"Masque says there aren't any good people on the surface," Sarah reminded him.
"Masque doesn't trust anybody," Ray pointed out.
"Berzerker," Caliban drawled from just behind him, "I want to ask you a question."
"Yeah?"
"The brown haired girl- the one who can walk through walls- is she single?"
"Oh, no," Ray groaned. That was all the X-Men needed- another contestant in the game of Win Kitty's Heart.
"Watch your steps, dears," Annalee called from ahead of them. "It's a bit of a drop!"
The mutants emerged from the small tunnel into a larger chamber. Logan began to sniff.
"Look out!" he shouted. Sabretooth jumped down from up above, and nearly landed on Logan.
"You're late, Runt," Sabretooth grinned. The two immediately went at it.
"Back into the tunnel!" Wanda yelled. As she headed for it, she felt a brush on her cheek, and her growing hex field suddenly died.
"Hello," Scrambler smiled as he quickly tapped Sam on the forehead.
Blockbuster jumped down from the ceiling, but before he hit ground, Rogue flew up and punched him through a wall.
"Well you can tell by the way I use my walk I'm a woman's man, no time for talk," Riptide sang as he shot his stars out.
"Oh no you don't," Lance snarled, but before he could rock Riptide's world, he felt a hand brush the back of his neck, and the growing tremors died.
"Somebody put the kibosh on Scrambler!" Sam yelled.
"Kibosh?" Scrambler asked, artfully dodging many blows sent his way. "Who says 'kibosh' anymore?"
Rogue saw him, and removed her gloves. One touch, and she would take out Scrambler, get his powers, and- God willing- at least get an idea of where the Marauders were holed up at.
Looking up, Scrambler saw the Skunk dive for him, gloves off. He smirked. With the possible exception of the Witch, she was the most dangerous of them all. Well, one touch would take care of that. He jumped, and grabbed the Rogue's hand.
They were repelled from each other with a flash of light.
"Oww," Rogue groaned, rubbing her injured hand.
"Ugh," Scrambler groaned, rubbing his injured hand.
Their powers cancelled each other out, it seemed. As Rogue had to dodge some stones Blockbuster started lobbing at her, Scrambler noticed the Pretty Kitty, all unaware. He began to sneak up on her.
"Kitty!" Lance yelled in alarm.
Kitty saw Scrambler leaping for her, and instinctively phased. Scrambler crashed into the wall behind her, knocking himself out.
Sam, managing to dodge Riptide's throwing stars, picked grabbed Scrambler and took him out of the chamber, hoping to remove him from the fight.
He soon encountered Scalphunter, carrying Xi's unconscious body in one hand and a gun in the other.
BAM!
As the bullet entered his heart, one last thought went through Sam's mind:
"But… Ah didn't even get a chance ta say goodbye."
Who do you hate more, the Marauders or me? No, the battle's not over yet. It's only just beginning, and the body count is going to rise. Where are Ororo, the Outriders, and Callisto during all this? When are the rest of our heroes and villains gonna join the fracas? When will somebody punish the Marauders? Find the answers to some of these questions next time on "The Mutant Massacre:"
Chapter Thirteen: Round One