Chapter Fourteen: Day of Mourning

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- Tabby's not going to take it easily, that's for sure. Only two of the Marauders? It was three- Blockbuster, Riptide, and Prizm. And yes, I will be delving into Fred's and Peter's reactions. Not Xi's, or Remy's, for reasons which will be revealed. Don't worry- the rest will get their just desserts. As for the Stormwreckage, we'll see…

L1701E- I'm glad you like it! No, Tabby's not gonna be happy at all…

Aaron- Hi! Glad you like the story so far. The Mutant Massacre was one of the first Marvel stories I read in trade paperback, and I still remember a lot of it. I remember that scene. I wanted to keep to the actual storyline as much as I could, and Colossus killing Riptide was one of the few ways I could. No, you don't want to be Scalphunter, or Arclight, or any of them when their turn comes!

Red Witch- No, Magneto will NOT be happy at all when he finds out! And Victor will be in for a lot of hurt- actually, I already know how I'm going to punish him, and let's just say that not even Magneto can top what I'm going to do to him!

Cammy- So you get a 58-question test, followed by an essay due two days later? What kind of course are you taking? Yes, this is going to take a while to recover from, but everybody eventually will. As for who tells the kids… it's in this chapter. Yup, the guys are gonna need your hugs, especially Fred and Peter.

A/N: I rushed these two because I have a midterm on Monday, an essay on Tuesday, a small paper due on Wednesday, and a small project due on Friday, so it's going to be a busy week for me. The essay *may* be pushed back, so if it is I hope to have an update early on next week. If not… then the next update will be sometime later next week. Oh- does anybody know what Joe Helicopters- like the one Wild Bill flies- are called?

            For the second time in under twenty-four hours, a deluge hit the Xavier Institute. However, this one was even worse than the last.

            The Danger Room was filled to capacity with the wounded. Miraculously, every wounded person managed to be fit into the Danger Room and the Medical Bay.

            The OR at the Pit was overflowing. Even with Healer's help, Lifeline and the other surgeons couldn't save all the critical cases. It didn't help that they were practically exhausted.

            Exhaustion was the theme at the Institute, too. Between helping the Morlocks and preparing spare rooms for the unharmed, the various X-People were exhausted. The Misfits were only running on adrenaline- they fought two battles, and had to help two sets of wounded. In addition, they were all terrified by what happened to Shipwreck, but Lifeline expressly forbade them to see him until he said it was okay.

            By the time the sun rose, the teenagers were allowed to sleep. They didn't even make it to their rooms. Logan found them all sacked out in the Rec room, sleeping on the couches and on the floor. He smiled in spite of himself. It was… a scene, to say the least- Misfit and X-Man side-by-side (and in some cases, using each other for pillows). His smile vanished when he realized that nobody told them about Sam. He went to get some of the rapidly dwindling spare blankets to cover the kids with.

***

            "Oh," Low Light moaned as he sat in the mansion's dining room with the other adults. The other Misfit-handlers, as well as the adult X-Men, Moira and Sean, the Outriders, Callisto and Mole, and Gabrielle, were sitting, drinking coffee. They knew that no sleep would be coming for a while.

            "How's Shipwreck?" Hank asked Lifeline, who was the most haggard of them all.

            "He's still unconscious," Lifeline yawned. "It's to be expected. It's a miracle he wasn't more severely hurt. I wish I could say the same for Kurt, though. He was hurt badly. That knife wound- he got an infection. It wasn't fatal, but he's going to be out of commission for a while."

            "Damn," Ororo breathed. "Kitty and Peter?"

            Kitty was horrified when she regained consciousness. She couldn't solidify at all. The Professor had her set up in a special chamber he designed in the event Kitty's powers went haywire. Xavier confirmed Elisabeth's findings. Peter could neither move, nor return to his normal form. As you could expect, he was scared. He didn't have to eat or even breathe in his armoured form, but he was still scared. The one bit of good news was that the throwing stars were able to be removed, and were.

            "The same," Lifeline sighed. "I wish I knew what was wrong with Kitty. Harpoon's blasts must have disrupted her powers somehow."

            "We figured that," Logan grunted. "Anybody else want to drop a truck on that mook?"

            "Have you notified the Guthries yet, Professor?" Spirit asked Xavier.

            "No, not yet. I will, as soon as I figure out what in God's name I'm going to tell them."

***

            "Huh, what," Althea moaned at the light shaking of her shoulder.

            "Althea, it's me," Lifeline said quietly. "Your father's awake."

            "Dad? He's awake?" Althea was fully aware. "When-"

            "I'm taking you to see him right now. Your brothers and sisters are already there."

            "What about-"

            "Sorry, it's immediate family only right now."

            A few minutes later, Althea and Lifeline materialised in the Pit's Med Bay.

            "Dad!" Althea called. He was lying propped up on a bunk. Her sisters were there already. Daria and Quinn were holding Claudius and Barney.

            "Well, that's everybody," Shipwreck smiled. He didn't look too good.

            "Dad!" Althea said as she ran to hug him. She started crying. "Dad! When Todd said how you looked, I wasn't sure you were going to make it."

            "What, me?" Shipwreck asked mock-hurt, but with wet eyes. "I'm too mean to die! Besides- Todd exaggerates everything. Lifeline says I'll be here for a while, though, so until I get back, you're the head of the house. Now will you stop crying? You'll set the babies off again, and they'll set your sisters off, and then I'll start crying, and pretty soon we'll all flood the room!"

            They visited for about a forty-five minutes more, and then Lifeline told them it was time to leave.

            "But-" Trinity started.

            "No buts! Your dad needs to rest, and I think the babies need a nap. Why don't you ask Beach Head about the mission." Lifeline smiled a mischievous smile. "And whatever you do, don't mention the marshmallow marsh that he did not get stuck in."

            After the girls and the babies left, and Althea teleported back to the Institute, Lifeline turned to Shipwreck.

            "Okay, they're gone. What did you want to talk to me about?"

            "Can you get Bree in here, too? I need to talk to both of you."

            Lifeline left, and returned with Bree.

            "What do want to talk to us about, Shipwreck?" Bree asked.

            "If I die, I want you two to take care of my kids," Shipwreck told them.

            "What?" Lifeline asked. Bree looked surprised, and then nodded.

            "I thought so," Bree nodded. "You don't even have to ask."

            "What?" Lifeline asked. "You knew?"

            "We're really the only ones that can," Bree told him. She turned back to Shipwreck. "Mara's out of the picture. You don't want to put your aunt and your cousin at further risk after Jesse was kidnapped during the Cobra brainwashing scheme I've heard about. We're one of the only two married couples on the base. The kids are all close to us. Edwin's a doctor, and I'm a nurse, and we're both pretty young. Edwin's dad is a minister, and I'm rich on both sides of the family, so in case anybody does try to butt in, we can honestly say we come from good family environments, and the money will help us get the best lawyers possible if it ever comes to that. We can take care of all of them without having to dip into their trust funds, so all that cash will be there when they grow up. Have I got everything?"

            "Pretty much, yeah. So will you say yes?"

            Lifeline still felt astonished. He was silent for several seconds before Bree nudged him.

            "Yes, of course," Lifeline smiled. "We'd be honoured."

            "Great," Shipwreck said, and closed his eyes. "So, how are all the kids doing? You already said that Kurt's as okay as can be expected. What about the others?"

            Lifeline's happiness shattered.

            "They're fine, mostly," he said slowly. "Kitty and Peter were hit by Harpoon's energy spears. Kitty is caught in a permanent phase, and Peter is paralysed, and he can't return to normal. And Sam," Lifeline swallowed, "Sam is dead."

***

            *Yawn*

            Todd let out a great yawn when he thought he heard Al's voice. When he opened is eyes, he just saw her and Lifeline vanish.

            'They must be goin' to see Shipwreck,' he reasoned. He hoped Shipwreck was okay.

            He tried to go back to sleep, but he couldn't, so he put the TV on mute and started playing Super Mario Kart. He was surprised that the X-Geeks still had a Super Nintendo, but he was a Super Mario Kart fan, so he didn't mind. After his first race, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Pausing the game, he looked up to find Roberto. Silently, he plugged in another controller and they started racing each other. Even though they were mostly silent- and quiet even when they made noise- the others started waking up too. Pretty soon, it was Todd, Roberto, Jamie, and Xi playing the game, with the others looking on. Except Tabitha, who was looking for Sam.

            They were startled by the sound of an explosion coming from the kitchen.

            "We're under attack!" Scott yelled, and everybody made for the kitchen at top speed (and fighting mad, too). Pietro, naturally, outran everyone. They ran into Logan, who was standing in front of the door.

            "False alarm," he growled.

            "What the hell's going on?" Lance demanded.

            "I'll tell ya," Logan grunted, and pointed to the Dining Room. The door opened behind him. Pietro emerged, looking shocked.

            "She told you, huh?" Logan asked him. Pietro nodded.

            "What happened in there?" Scott asked.

            "Tabby set off a bomb," Pietro said, looking a little numb.

            "What? Why?"

            "Sam's-"

            "Shut up, Speedy," Logan told him. "It's my place to tell, not yours."

            After he marched all the kids to the Dining Room, he sat them all down.

            "I ain't gonna sugar coat this," he said after a few moments. "We had a casualty. Sam was shot last night. He's dead."

            A lot of the kids gasped. A few just stared in disbelief, like Logan was telling them a very bad joke.

            "What happened in the kitchen was Boom-Boom finding out," Logan went on. "Storm's with her right now."

            "Shot," Bobby said to himself. "That mean's Scalphunter, right?"

            "Probably."

            "I wonder how long it would take for him to freeze to death," Bobby muttered.

            "Get in line, kid," Logan told him. "Get in line."

            "Are you sure, Mr. Logan?" Amara asked, tears in her eyes.

            "I found the body. I'm sure." Amara started crying, and Jamie too. Pretty soon, all the New Recruits were crying. The older kids left them alone with their grief.

***

            When Althea returned to the rec room, she found that it was empty. The others had obviously woken up since she left. She went looking for them. As she went down the halls, she heard the sound of crying coming out of the Dining Room. As the door was slightly ajar, she looked in. She could see some of the New Mutants. They were crying. She continued on, but she didn't need her ninja senses to see that something was wrong. She headed for the kitchen. She knew she'd be able to find somebody there.

            When she reached it, it looked like somebody had exploded a large bomb. Remy was in it, checking the stove and the various appliances.

            "Ah, there you are," Remy said when he noticed her. "How's Shipwreck?"

            "He's fine," Althea said. "He'll be in the hospital for a while, but he's okay. What happened here?"

            "Nobody told you, then."

            "Told me what?"

            "We had a casualty. One of the Marauders- we think it's Scalphunter, but it could have been any of them… Sam was killed."

            "Oh, man." That explained the New Mutants. And this… "Boom-Boom did this."

            "Yeah. She didn't take it very well."

            "Of course not," Althea said. She knew how Tabby must be feeling. If she ever lost her Toddles…

            "Well, Storm's with her, and the Professor is trying to come up with something to tell Sam's parents."

            Althea felt sympathy for Baldy just then. On the rare occasions when a Joe didn't come back from a mission, General Hawk always took it upon himself to inform the family. The rest of the base always knew to leave him alone after he had to write one of those letters.

"The rest of the New Mutants are crying," Althea told him.

"Yeah, and Scott's blaming himself. Losin' somebody on a mission is his worst nightmare. All the other adults are doin' the same."

***

            "What the hell was I thinking when I thought of the X-Men?" Xavier asked himself.

            "You were thinking that young mutants needed to have a place to go to learn how to control their powers," Logan said from the door to Xavier's Den. "You thought that the kids needed a place they could feel safe. You thought that they need to learn how to defend themselves from people that hate 'em just for being born. Any of this ring a bell, Charles?"

            "Logan," Xavier said irritably, "now is not the time."

            "You're wrong." Logan came in, and closed the door behind him. "Now is the time. When you brought me aboard, I asked you how you'd deal with it if a student got killed. You said you'd grieve, and you'd go on. That's what you have to do."

            "Logan-"

            "Charles," Logan interrupted. "You have to go on for the kids' sake. We've all been through too much together for you to do anything stupid now. The kids need you, now more than ever. They just lost most of their innocence- they've seen war, and they know they can die. They need somebody to tell them it's okay to go on, and that somebody is you, Charles Xavier. If I had any doubts about that, I lost them when Mystique took you from us after the mess with the Sentinel."

            "They're stronger than they think."

            "Agreed, but they still need you. You're the one that brought them all here. They all believe in your dream. They've put all their hope in you. I know that Cannonball- that Sam did. Our people are in trouble Charles. If you let this get to you, what'll happen? You'll disband the school? You'll step out of the spotlight? Fine, but there's another big leader out there, and as times get worse, more and more mutants are gonna listen to him. Is that how you want Magneto to win?"

            Xavier was silent for a moment. He looked down, and looked up.

            "How did you know what I was going to do?"

            "I know you, Charles."

            "So you do." Xavier looked back at his desk. "Please tend to the rest of our guests, Logan. I have to write down what I'm going to tell the Guthries. Tell the students that I'll read it to them before I contact Sam's family, so I can have their approval. And Logan?"

            Logan turned back from the door. "Yeah?"

            "Thank you. I needed a good kick in the pants."

            "No problem."

***

Amanda pressed the buzzer to the gate. It was Sunday, it wasn't a bad day, and she wanted to do something with her boyfriend. None of her calls to the Institute were answered, so she swung by to take a look. It seemed okay.

"Who's there?" Hank McCoy's voice asked. Amanda had never heard him sound so tired or irritable before.

"It's me, Mr. McCoy, Amanda Sefton. I'd like to see Kurt."

"I'm sorry, Amanda, but that's not possible. There's… been an incident."

"Is Kurt okay?"

"No, no he isn't. I can't let anybody see him."

"But Mr. McCoy, it's me!"

"I know, but now really isn't a good time."

"What happened?"

"I'm sorry. I don't think-"

"You can't tell me that either. But Kurt's my boyfriend! All the others are my friends, too! Can't I at least know what's going on?"

She heard him sigh.

"You're right," he told her. "Come on in."

The gates opened, and she drove in. Logan met her at the door. He sniffed her.

"You're not a Marauder," he said shortly. "None of them are shape-shifters except their boss, and Gambit says he's the hands-off type."

"Huh?"

"The Elf's this way. Follow me, and whatever you do, don't get loud."

Amanda was puzzled, but she did as she was told. Logan led her into a secret elevator.

"Am I going to the Danger Room?"

"No- Sickbay. The Danger Room's one floor below. Sickbay's where we've got our ICU."

"Your what?" Amanda had no idea what Logan was talking about, but she didn't like the mention of an ICU at all. The doors opened, and Logan led her into another room. It was filled with mutants on beds. They were all hooked up to machines and IV's. And on one of the beds was-

"Kurt!" Logan clamped a hand over her mouth before she could finish the word. After a few seconds, he removed it. "Sorry," she apologized. She went over to Kurt, and she began to cry silently. He was comparatively lucky- he was only attached to an IV. He was sleeping, or unconscious, and he looked terrible.

"And who's this?" Amanda looked up to see a tall red-headed woman looking at her.

"This is Amanda," Logan grunted. "She's the Elf's girlfriend."

"Oh, so this is Amanda," the woman smiled. She extended her hand. Amanda shook it. "I'm Dr. Moira MacTaggart- Rahne's mother. She's told me about ye. It's good to meet another race traitor."

"A what?" Amanda sniffed.

"No one's called ye that yet? They will soon, I'm sorry to say. By 'race traitor,' I mean a human that does nae automatically believe that all mutants are monsters that want to take over the world and kill all the humans."

"Did humans do all this?" Amanda asked.

"Aye, and nae. The ones that did this are mutants, and mutants are humans too, but these particular ones are the most inhuman spaleens I've had the pleasure of never meeting. No one's told ye about yesterday?"

When Amanda shook her head, Moira and Logan filled her in.

"Oh, no," Amanda said. She closed her eyes, and she could feel more tears fall. Those poor people! What right did those monsters have to kill them? And Sam! She wasn't as close to the New Mutants as she was to the X-Men, but she counted them all friends. Sam was a coal-miner's son from Kentucky who liked to play video games and ride motorbikes, and who cared deeply for Tabitha. "Did you get any of those Marauders?"

"Yeah," Wolverine said fiercely. "Three of them. Seven to go."

"Give them one for me," Amanda said.

"Will do, darlin'," Logan told her.

***

            "That's the last of them," Callisto said. She, the other unharmed Morlocks and Eloi, and most of the X-Men, Misfits, and even a few Joes were back in the sewers. In the very chamber that saw a battle royale just over twelve hours ago. They gathered all of the bodies of the Morlocks, and put them in a pile. Tommy's remains were exhumed, and she and Annalee were at the top of the pile.

            "Are you sure you want to do this?" Evan asked her.

            "I'm sure," she told him quietly. She looked up, and got everybody's attention. "We are gathered here to mourn the passing of our people. Many of them lived short and brutal lives. Some of them lived long and hard lives. All of them died badly. They were murdered by cowards, and some more of our people might end up dying, too. I don't know a lot of things. I don't know if there's a heaven or a hell, and I don't know if there's a god. But I do know that if this universe has any justice, then our people are together in heaven. They are happy, at peace, and loved, just like they are loved down here." Callisto stated the name of every Morlock murdered in the attack. "It may be too late to tell you all this, but we love you. We always have loved you, and we always will love you. You will be missed. And rest assured, we will avenge you all. Count on it."

            Callisto stepped back. Seven of the Joes- Roadblock, Spirit, Low Light, Cover Girl, the Blind Master, Lady Jaye, and Flint- raised their guns, and each fired three shots, making a twenty-one gun salute.

            Callisto nodded to Evan. He shot a few flaming spikes, and caused the pile to ignite. Within moments, every body was ablaze. A few minutes later, all that remained was a pile of ashes.

            A few minutes later, the group was reassembled in the remnants of the Eloi's village.

            Many Eloi were carrying large placards, listing the names of the dead. They were temporary, until gravestones could be produced. Mole went to the front of the group, and turned to face them.

            "We all know why we're here, don't we? We're here to mourn for our fallen family. I say family, because that's what we all were, even though we weren't all related by blood. Those of us that remain are a family, too. And right now, we're missing our brothers and sisters, our parents and our children. We mustn't allow yesterday's events to destroy us. We are a peace-loving family. We must remain peace-loving, in spite of how hard it is. If we can't do that, then the Marauders succeeded, because they will have destroyed us." Mole then recited the names and ages of the fallen. "They are watching us, and watching what we do. We must honour them, and we must let them know that we love them, because they still love us. And above all else, we who remain must stay together as a family. If we dissolve, the Marauders will have won just as surely as if they'd killed us all."

The Eloi not carrying placards were carrying wreaths. Every single dead Eloi had a wreath. The Joes performed another twenty-one gun salute, and the ceremony was over.

"How will we rebuild?" Mole asked himself, taking a moment to overlook the damage. The buildings could be rebuilt, a new Cavern dug, and the scent of death might be removed, but how would any of them be able to forget what had happened? He would have to talk to his people, but somehow he knew that their life here was at an end. Where would they go?

Well, the funerals are over. That's supposed to be when life gets back to normal, except it won't for a while. Not until the dead are avenged, and not until the survivors have answers- and revenge of their own. The physical and mental healing processes are about to begin for our wounded heroes, so stay tuned for the next instalment of "The Mutant Massacre:"

Chapter Fifteen: Recovery