Here's another great chappy for all my avid fans. I love you all!! I think this is a really cool chapter cause it's one of my favorite things from the comics. I just hope I could do it justice (Except I suck at writing fight scenes.) Very interesting plot twists ahead! Thanks for reading, and thanks so much more for reviewing. I've you've ever written a fic, you know how good it feels to get a bunch of reviews and important it is to how you look at the story and how you write it. Well, not that that's said and done… READ AND REVIEW!! Happy Yom Kippur to all the Jew Crew out there. Eat a good break-fast.

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            "C'mon, Rogue. You have to get up. It's time for school." Betsy shook Rogue in the bed. Betsy was already dressed and ready to go.

            "Have you found Remy yet?" Rogue moaned as if she were on the brink of death.

            "Jean's been on cerebro all day everyday for the last two weeks, and myself all night. If we'd found him, you would have been the first to know."

            "Can't you call the professor?" Betsy sighed, repeating the conversation again same as they had every morning since Remy had disappeared.

            "He's with Peter's family, have some respect. He said not to contact him unless it's a life or death situation." Rogue looked up at her with the saddest kitten eyes. Betsy was unmoved as she as used to this routine. "He stole Logan's bike, so we know he went of his own accord and he hasn't used his powers in over two weeks. He doesn't seem to want to be found." Rogue groaned and rolled back over in bed. "Are you alright?" Betsy finally addressed Rogue's sickly condition.

            "No." She whined. Betsy reached a hand around to her forehead, but then remembered not to touch Rogue's skin, and recoiled.

            "I'll go get a thermometer." Rogue nodded and Betsy disappeared. She came back moments later and put the thermometer under Rogue's tongue. When it beeped less than a minute later, Betsy removed it and analyzed it. "98.6… is that normal?" Rogue looked at her as if she were crazy. "I'm British." Betsy explained. "I know in Celsius 37 degrees is normal. Is 98.6 normal in Fahrenheit?" Rogue nodded.

            "Ah feel like Ah'm gonna die… like I was clubbed over the head and then trampled on." Betsy's eyes got wide.

            "Are you sure it's not your 7th sense?" Rogue grew confused.

            "Why?"

            "I had a dream… moles were running around underground and monsters came down to club them over the head, then trampled on them, killing them all."

            "What? Like a precognitive vision?" Betsy thought for a moment then shook her head.

            "No, it's probably just a coincidence. I haven't had a vision in a long time, doubt I'd start now." She slung her book bag over her shoulder. "I'll tell Ororo you're staying home. You sure picked a good day to get deathly ill… she and Logan are going to get a new bike." Betsy left the room to get a ride with Kurt to school. Rogue rolled over and cringed as she felt her head being crushed in. She felt a rush of air, like a tornado, then felt sharp pricks all over her body. She felt dizzy and nauseous as claws ripped at her sides. The whole time she was in the dark.

*          *          *

            Callisto paced back and forth the width of the Alley, the main tunnel and home of the Morlocks. The instant she heard someone traipsing through the sewer water, much farther than any normal person could hear, she stood at attention.

            "Where have you been?" She barked at Spyke as he came into view.

            "I just went to get some necessities, chill Cal."

            "What took you so long?" He looked at the ground and put a hand on the bone plate on his shoulder.

            "I had to go to three stores before they would let me in." Callisto grumbled and snatched the grocery bag in his hand and began to rifle through it.

            "What's this?" She held up a Cinderella coloring book and a box of crayons.

            "They're for Torpid. She likes 'em." Spyke snatched the items back and put them in the bag.

            "She's getting the wrong idea from those things."

            "She's not any different from any other little girl, let her pretend there's a 'happily ever after' for a little while, okay?" Callisto huffed as he walked away.

            "You know, last time, you had to go to five stores before they sold you milk." She relented.

            "See, maybe it's getting better topside." She couldn't help but crack a smile at his idealism. As he walked away he passed Caliban walking toward Callisto. "Hey, man." Spyke said. Caliban ignored him. "Whatever." Then he went on his way.

            "Callisto… intruders…" Caliban hissed with his slimy, scaly voice.

            "How many?" She was surprised. Callisto was very rarely caught off guard.

            "Six… one is afraid."

            "That's all?" She asked. The Morlocks numbers outranked the trespassers by about 10:1. Six seemed like nothing.

            "That's all we need." A female voice called from behind Callisto.

            "I only see five." Callisto said as she snapped around.

            "That wuss got cold feet. Never could understand what the boss saw in him… but his job's over with anyhow."

            "Job? What do you want with us? We aren't bothering anybody." Callisto demanded.

            "We want you mutant mistakes to quit polluting our gene pool."

            "Vertigo, quit talkin' and get to slaughterin'," said one of the men who stood at her side.

            "As you wish, Riptide." She replied. The intruders all moved forward, surrounding Callisto and Caliban.

            "You won't be slaughtering anyone." Callisto held a strong fighting stance.

            "Your quick reflexes won't be of any help to you, Morlock." As Vertigo spoke Callisto grew dizzy and she and Caliban fell to the ground. One of the enemies pulled a large spear out of the pack on his back. He raised it to stab Callisto, but was suddenly pinned back to the wall of the tunnel.

            "Who are you?" Spyke called out. He now had a few friends at his side to defend his home.

            "We're the Marauders, gene trash." Harpoon, the man with the spears shouted at him as he tried to wriggle himself free.

            "You think those bone spurs are somethin', do ya?" Riptide threw himself into a tornado like spin. Before anyone could react, spiked, spinning disks called shurikens flew out from his body. They ripped right through the Morlocks Masque and Erg, killing them both instantly. They passed through Ape as he used his mutant ability to create holes in his body allowing the shurikens to slip through. Tarbaby trapped them in the thick, sticky ooze he secreted from his body. Harpoon, however, having freed himself from Spyke's restraints, stabbed Tarbaby from behind with one of his spears, killing him. The Marauders moved on to find more Morlocks. Caliban, Ape, and Spyke all rushed to Callisto's side. As they passed, Spyke recognized one of the Marauders.

            "Sabretooth?" Spyke called out in surprise. He stopped at the familiar face.

            "I'm gonna have fun with you, porcupine." Out of instinct, Spyke released a layer of bone spurs that covered his back.

            "Please, he's not worth it. We'll come back for him." The only Marauder left to be identified put a hand on Sabretooth's shoulder. Sabretooth shook him off.

            "You got your orders, I got mine, Scrambler." Sabretooth snarled at Spyke then left with the other Marauders. Spyke watched them as they disappeared down the Alley.

            "Cal, we need help."  Spyke said.

            "No." She groaned, regaining her equilibrium. "We out number them greatly. We can defend ourselves."

            "Most of us aren't trained to fight. They just killed Erg, Tarbaby and Masque in less than five seconds." Callisto was forced to ponder his words.

            "Caliban, go get X-Man Storm. Tell her what's going on. Make sure she knows her nephew is fighting for his life." Caliban nodded and began to climb a ladder to the storm drain above.

            "What about me, Cal?" Spyke asked her as she pushed him away, demanding to stand up on her own.

            "You are better trained than most. You must stay and fight."

*          *          * 

            Rogue fought the agonizing pain she felt to go the kitchen for a glass of orange juice. No one was home, and she seriously began to consider the idea that the quiet and solitude was worth it. She looked through the refrigerator for the juice and anything else that might make her feel better. When the stress got to be too much for her to keep looking, she pulled out the carton and shut the door. She poured her juice and sipped it quickly. She felt a familiar, comforting sting as the citric acid slid down her throat. Then she felt a sharp sudden pain in her chest. She finished off her glass before she put her hand up to nurse it.

            "X-Man." A serpentine voice called out to her. It scared her so much; she dropped her glass in the sink she stood over, and choked on the liquid in her throat.

            "Don't come any closer!" She finally spat.

            "Do not be afraid." Caliban hissed from his perch atop the kitchen table. He'd obviously come in through the open window. "We require your assistance."

            "Assistance?" Rogue asked for clarification.

            "I must speak with the X-Man Storm." He ignored her request

            "She isn't here." Rogue said apprehensively.

            "I know… I always know. Bring her here." Rogue nodded as she picked up the phone on the wall next to the door frame.

            "What should I tell her?" She asked.

            "Morlock… massacre."

*          *          *

              Betsy doodled in her notebook during the interminably long math class. She looked over at Kurt who was trying hard to pay attention, but the boredom was overwhelming.

            "Hey, Betsy." Kurt's voice penetrated her mind. His face showed nothing. "Hey, Betsy, let's play a word game."

            "Like what?" She smiled to herself. They both jumped when the alarms on their wrist communicators went off simultaneously.

            "Betsy, Kurt, I'll have to ask you to turn those off." The teacher asked them.

            "Just a sec." Betsy said as she leaned over to Kurt. "What does that color mean?" She referred to the green blinking 'X'.

            "I'm not sure; we've never had that call before."

            "How d'you shut it off?" She punched random buttons, but nothing seemed to work. Kurt did the same, ignoring the entire class staring at them.

            "I don't know. It von't let me. It must be an emergency."

            "Miss Braddock, Mr. Wagner?" the teacher was impatient.

            "We need to be excused." Betsy finally said.

            "I'm afraid I can't allow it." The teacher said.

            "But it's an emergency." Kurt said.

            "I'm sure it is." The teacher rolled her eyes, returning to the black board.

            "No really, it is. We have to go." Betsy pleaded.

            "If you leave my classroom, you'll be given detention for skipping." She threatened.

            "Fine." Kurt said as he grabbed Betsy's hand.

*BAMF!*

            They left the kids in the room coughing and wafting away black smoke.

*BAMF!*

            They reappeared in the middle of the hallway. Kitty was at her locker as well as all of the new recruits.

            "Did you guys get the same message?" Kitty asked as they convened in a circle and comparing the alarm on their watches, still beeping.

            "Ya, ve can't shut it off." Kurt said.

            "What does it mean?" Sam asked.

            "I know what it means." Bobby said. "It means someone's died."

*          *          * 

            "Scott, it can't mean what I think it does." Jean said into her cell phone as she walked from the Sciences building of campus to her silver SUV.

            "I'm afraid it might. I'm on my way back, now." Scott replied.

            "I feel kind of awful…" Jean said.

            "Why? We don't even know what it is yet."

            "I know." She shut the car door and locked in her seat belt, one handed. "But I feel awful cause I had to take an F on this test I was in the middle of. If someone hasn't actually died…"

            "No one would pull this joke on us. I don't even think most of the students know what it means."

            "Have you called Storm?"

            "I tried. The phone's busy. I'm almost home; I'll let you know what I find out." She was silent for a moment.

            "Be safe, Scott."

            "I will."

*          *          *

            Everyone managed to arrive home around the same time. Rogue, Storm, Logan and Caliban were all waiting on the front steps.

            "Where have you been? We've been trying to call the professor but no answer." Storm shouted at them.

            "Whoa, calm down Storm; just tell us what's wrong." Scott argued with the frantic woman.

            "The Morlocks… Evan…" She stuttered.

            "Caliban here, says there's some pretty bad mutants in the Morlock tunnels, just knockin' 'em down, takin' no prisoners, havin' no mercy." Logan interpreted. Betsy looked at Rogue.

            "It doesn't hurt anymore, does it?" Betsy asked rogue.

            "No." She said. She hadn't noticed the pain had stopped. She calculated in her mind what it all meant. "Moles… underground…" she muttered.

            "You two knew about this?!" Storm yelled at them.

            "No." Betsy said. "We have to find them. They won't stop until they're all dead."

*          *          *

            Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Jean, Psylocke and Caliban walked carefully through the Alley, trying hard to not step on the dead bodies scattered throughout the underground lair.

            "Any survivors?" Cyclops asked Psylocke and Jean who were scanning the area psionically for living minds.

            "Not here." Jean answered.

            "There." Caliban pointed down a dark tunnel.

            "He must be weak, I don't feel anything." Psylocke contested.

            "He's afraid…" Caliban expounded. Logan sniffed the air and cringed.

            "Sabretooth…" he snarled. "And a Nasty Boy… three others."

            "A Nasty Boy? Which one?" Psylocke gritted her teeth.

            "Vertigo…" Caliban hissed.

            "This is personal." Psylocke retorted at the name.

            "Tell me about it." Wolverine grumbled with her.

            "Oh no…" Storm murmured as she plucked a spike up off the ground. It was spotted with blood. "We have to do something." She cried.

            "The weak signal, where is it?" Cyclops demanded from Caliban.

            "This way." He said. They followed him down the tunnel he had pointed to earlier. Wolverine could smell Sabretooth again and split off from the group to follow his trail. Caliban led them quickly until they could hear a faint wheezing. Then they treaded slower. "Spyke." Caliban confirmed his presence.

            "Evan!" Storm shouted. "Evan, are you alright?"

            "Auntie O?" He forced out meekly. Psylocke raised her hand and let it glow, illuminating the dark cavern a pinkish-purple. "Don't come near me!" He warned.

            "Evan, we want to help you." Storm pleaded.

            "No! I don't want you to get hurt. Go stop them."

            "Evan, what's wrong?"

            "Auntie O, stop." They had inched close enough to see his face in the dim light. "My powers… they're out of whack."

            "What happened?" Jean asked him.

            "Marauders… Scrambler… he did this." They all took a few steps closer. "I said stop!" he raised his hand and three spikes flew out of his wrist, pinning Caliban back against the wall. "I'm sorry." He fought for air.

            "Stay calm, Daniels. We're gonna get you back to the mansion--"

            "I'm lethal." Spyke interrupted Cyclops. "Just go stop them."

            "We aren't leaving you behind." Cyclops repeated.

            "I could knock him out till we get him back to the med lab." Psylocke offered. Cyclops nodded and she calmly moved closer to Spyke.

            "What are you doing?" Spyke barked at her. He was too nervous to sit up. "Who are you?" he finally asked.

            "I'm Psylocke. I'm just going to knock you out so you won't hurt anybody. It might sting for a moment." She crouched down behind him and lightly placed a hand on his prickly back. He was too weak to resist anymore. He nodded as he fought for air and she extinguished the makeshift lantern in the back of his neck.

*          *          * 

            The sewer water reeked of flesh and was tinged red with blood. Wolverine never let the tension of the situation overcome his animal instincts to find and kill Sabretooth. He was, however, reluctantly distracted by the scent of survivors.

            "Is there anyone down here?" He called out.

            "Don't hurt me!" He heard a girl shriek from the end of the tunnel.

            "I'm not a Marauder." He said as he walked closer to the girl. "Are you alright? Is there anyone with you?"

            "If you're not a Marauder, who are you?" She backed away as he approached her.

            "I'm an X-Man… we want to help you. Callisto sent for us." She stood stronger now, less afraid.

            "X-Men? Callisto spits on your name." She contested. "But if you can help…"

            "Are you alright? You look weak."

            "It's Tommy. I've been trying to heal her. One of them threw a harpoon and it caused a cave in." She said, pointing to the blockade behind her. Wolverine was surprised to find he was not at the end of the tunnel. "If I can heal Tommy, she can slip through a crack and help rescue those trapped behind." Wolverine crouched down to check for a pulse on the paper thin girl on the ground, crushed beneath the rubble. He looked up at the Morlock and shook his head. Tommy was dead. "No, I can heal her!"

            "No, you can't. You'll burn yourself out and you won't be any good to anyone. I'll call my friends over and we'll get the people who are trapped out." The healer nodded as Wolverine pressed a button his communicator. "Cyke, I found a bunch of survivors trapped behind a cave in."

            "We're on our way." Cyclops sad back.

            "Rogue, we could use some muscle and transport."

            "We'll be there in a sec." Rogue replied.

*BAMF!*

            Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, and Rogue teleported in.

            "Watch where you're portin', Nightcrawler." Kurt was confused at Wolverine's sudden use of his real name. They all looked down and for the first time witnessed the carnage all around.

            "My God… I didn't realize…" Nightcrawler mumbled.

            "I think I'm gonna be sick." Shadowcat said running back down the passageway. As she turned the corner, she was met by the other half of the team.

            "Shadowcat, where are the survivors?" Cyclops demanded. She pointed back in the direction she'd come from.

            "C'mon, Kitty, you'll be okay, just focus on the mission." Jean said as they walked to join Wolverine.

            "How many trapped?" Cyclops asked Caliban.

            "Eleven." He answered.

            "I saw more than that… are you sure?" The healer asked.

            "Eleven alive." He confirmed.

            "Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, you two get back there are start bringing people out. Rogue and Wolverine, you guys and I will start pulling rocks out of the way. Storm, Jean and Psylocke, you guys take Evan, the healer, and Caliban back to mansion, set up the infirmary." Cyclops directed as everyone branched off to perform their various tasks.

            "I don't think the X-Men will be going anywhere." They all heard from the entrance of the tunnel.

            "What do you want, Vertigo?" Psylocke snarled through gritted teeth.

            "Oh, Psylocke… it's so nice to see you again. The good doctor sends his regards." Vertigo smiled arrogantly.

            "Is that who you're doing this for?" Psylocke shouted at her.

            "I admit to nothing. And I work for whoever pays me to fight." Riptide began spinning in front of the group and throwing his shurikens. Jean had to quickly throw up a telekinetic shield to protect them all. She accidentally dropped Spyke who she'd been carrying behind her since they found him, because he was too spiky to hold.

            "Hey, watch the porcupine." Wolverine grumbled as Harpoon tried piercing her psi-bubble with his bio-energy altered slayspears.

            "Let me out." Storm ordered. Jean managed to fold back a corner of the shield and Storm flew out. She conjured a whirlpool to attempt to overcome Riptide. Instead, it simply made his shurikens fly faster and more erratically. Harpoon tried to knock her down with his weapons, but she evaded him deftly, his spears embedding themselves in the already unstable tunnel ceiling. Cyclops and Rogue worked to deflect them as bricks began to give way while Nightcrawler and Shadowcat brought people out from behind the previous cave in. Scrambler looked at Psylocke and smiled menacingly then pointed a finger up at Storm.

            "Jean!" Psylocke tried to warn her as she was the only one who could help Storm. Jean had to let the shield down to throw Scrambler back against the wall. Some of Riptide's shurikens made it through while the bubble was down, bouncing off Rogue, grazing Betsy's leg, nipping the tips of Kitty's ponytail, and embedding itself in Wolverine's shoulder as he dove to protect Caliban and Healer. He ripped it out and felt it heal.

*BAMF!*

            Nightcrawler reappeared with another Morlock from behind the wall.

            "Cyclops, I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. I can only teleport one at a time, now."

            "Okay." He said, blasting a piece of rubble as it fell from the ceiling. "Start teleporting them back to the med lab." Nightcrawler nodded.

*BAMF!*

            As scrambler recovered, Vertigo decided to help with Storm.

            "You couldn't save your nephew, Ororo, and you can't save anyone else. I just hope you can get out of here before the ceiling falls and buries you alive." Vertigo didn't need her power to make Storm dizzy and nauseous, but it helped. Storm started to fall and Jean was forced to expend more energy to catch her. The rubble and rocks from the ceiling grew into boulders and began to fall faster. Rogue and Cyclops were having trouble holding back another cave in all by themselves. The debris began to slow as it tumbled toward the ground. Jean was crouched in the sewer water, trying to divert the energy it took to stand to her mind to save her friends. She began to hold all four of the present Marauders back against the wall as a second wind of sorts, came over her. Suddenly, an eerie shrieking sound could be heard from the topside. It triggered something in Psylocke's brain.

            "This is how it happens…" she mumbled to herself as she tended to the wounded Shadowcat and Nightcrawler brought out.

            "Betsy, get Spyke and whoever else you can and Rogue'll take you back to the mansion." Cyclops ordered.

            "No, I want to see it." She mumbled, engrossed in the events before her. She didn't speak loud as she didn't expect anyone to understand her.

            "Sorry, Betts, we're takin' off." Rogue grabbed Psylocke and Spyke while Cyclops blew open a hole to the topside. Rogue placed both Spyke and Psylocke in the middle of the street, and pushed cars back away from the opening. Psylocke dragged Spyke on to the side walk as another piercing scream came down from the heavens. Shadowcat phased up through the ground with three Morlocks. Wolverine crawled up through the hole with Storm.

            "That's everyone." Shadowcat shouted. "Except for Scott and Jean."

            "Rogue, go get 'em." Wolverine shouted at her.

            "No!" Psylocke screamed at her. "Get Cyclops but don't touch Jean."

            "Ah know ya'll got some kinda rivalry goin' on Betts, but--"

            "No, you don't understand. If you go after both Scott and Jean you won't have time and you'll all die. Jean will be fine, just get Cyclops out." Rogue listened to her, but reacted purely on instinct. She flew down the hole and saw Cyclops yelling at Jean.

            "C'mon, Jean! We have to get out of here!"

            "No, go… I can't hold it much longer." Jean cringed under the pressure.

            "Let's go, Cyke!" Rogue yelled at him over the rumbling of the tunnel.

            "No, I'm not leaving without Jean!"

            "I'll come back for her!" Rogue pleaded with him to get out the soon to be rock pile.

            "No, I'm not going without her!"

            "Scott, go!" Jean ordered him as she began to lose her grip on the ceiling, letting the biggest boulders as well as some small rocks fall to the ground.

            "Sorry, Cyke, I ain't givin' you a choice." Rogue grabbed Cyclops's arm and pulled him up through the hole. Just as they cleared daylight, the tunnel began to give way. The team outside all tumbled as a seismic wave could be felt snaking across the ground. Barely anyone but Psylocke noticed a large yellow/orange glow like fire fly down from the sky into the ground below them. Just then, they had entered the eye of the storm as an eerie calm and quiet overtook the area. The X-Men struggled for an understanding of what had just happened, the growing crowd of bystanders even more clueless.

            "Okay, I'm ready to come back for more survivors." Kurt said over Wolverine's comm-link, breaking the awkward silence.

            "Hold up, elf--" he said back as the Earth resettled itself. "There's no where for you to 'port to."

            "Jean?" Scott said as he jumped to his feet. "Jean?" He called out again. No one dared interrupt him.

            "No." Betsy said in disbelief. "But she's the--... it just--…"

            "I don't feel anything!" Scott shouted He turned to Caliban at Shadowcat's side. "Is she there? Can she… Is she there?" Caliban shook his head.

            "There is nothing." He answered truthfully.

            "Ah thought you said…" Rogue looked at Betsy as Betsy looked at the ground. "Ah coulda…"

            "No." Betsy mumbled again. "But the Phoenix… it had to be."

            "Look, Betts, Ah never cared for her much either, but this--" Just as Rogue began to speak, a bright orange beam broke through the ground. Betsy smiled as she saw it, everyone else stepped back.  Jean emerged from the hole, encased in the light. She was empty, her eyes were vacant.

            "Jean!" Scott shouted at her as she hovered in the air. She looked down at him with her vacuous eyes, then propelled herself upwards into the sky. She flew until she disappeared. "Jean?" Scott shouted again. "Where did she…?"

            "Betsy, go back to the mansion. You keep security and check the tunnels for survivors with cerebro." Wolverine took charge. "And contact the professor… I think this classifies as an emergency."