The young boy, who was wearing what appeared to be a suede vest and pants, high leather boots, gloves, goggles and a belt, crept silently along the edge of the cells, motioning for everyone to stay silent. He approached the metal door at the end of the cell room which served as a barrier between the cells and the main hallway of the base and studied it silently, looking it up and down as if to judge its size and strength. He reached down to the belt that was part of his uniform and removed a small, cylinder-shaped object that was being kept in a pocket. Pressing a small blue button on the end of the metal object, he whispered into the microphone head that was attached to the opposite end of the button. Almost immediately after he put the communicator back in his pocket, the boy was joined by a second figure which had dropped down from the open skylight as well. Both boys looked about the same age, and were now carefully examining the large metal door. After a good five minutes of examining the door, the second boy reached into a pocket that was attached to his belt and pulled out a comb-shaped object. He proceeded to slide the teeth of the comb into the crack between the door and the door frame. As he did so, the comb unfolded a key pad from its handle, with which the boy typed in a code of some sort. The next second, the door opened silently, and the boy returned his door-opener to his pocket. Once again motioning for the mutants to be silent, the first boy left the room with the second tailing closely behind him.
Exchanging silent glances of confusion, the mutant party waited with baited breath for the return of the two young boys. About twenty minutes passed after the boys were last seen and most in the room began to give up hope of being rescued. Finally, Hope Ivring, a sixteen year old girl with the ability to become a dragon, spoke up, "Do you think they were caught by Kevin?" She impatiently spread her dragon-like wings as she waited for an answer.
"I don't know, Hope," nineteen-year-old Jackson Thorne spoke up. Jackson had possessed the ability to knock out a living organism just by thinking about it, and it had worked on a few of Kevin's lackeys before, but he was punished for it afterwards.
"I'm s-s-scared." Came the quiet, whimpering answer of Blaze Charron. Clay sighed to himself. Blaze was a very brave young girl, for , being only seven years of age, she was the step daughter of the senator, and she was still placed in this prison.
"I wonder what-" Clay began but was interrupted by a harsh hissing sound.
"Shhhhhh! If we get caught, it'll be all of our necks! Now shut yer yaps!" A girl of about seventeen had appeared under the open sky light. She was dressed much like the two boys that had appeared earlier, but she had a large circle with a tree embroidered on her suede uniform top. Her short, dark violet colored hair hung about her neck, and although her face held a calm expression, her mud brown eyes darted warily around the room. She was short, no more than 5' 5'', and slouched over slightly. The sound of footsteps penetrated the silence of the room as the two boys entered the room once more.
"You guys done?" The girl inquired the first boy. He held up a ring of keys as a response and placed them into the girl's open hand.
"Good. Report back to base." As almost as if on command, a rope ladder dropped to the floor from the open sky light. The two boys climbed soundlessly upward into the dimly lit night. There was a murmur of voices and, just as quickly as the two boys left, they were replaced by two more girls. The first girl was tall and shapely, and had wavy black hair, which, hung down to her shoulders. On her uniform was a large circle embroidered with four blue waves. The second girl had extremely thick, light brown hair pulled back into a pony tail, not unlike the boy that had opened the large metal door. Not quite as tall as the first girl, she was thinner and less curvy, and had two golden, wavy lines that resembled the blowing of wind. Both girls also looked about seventeen of age. The girl with the unkept black hair nodded to the girl with the keys in her hand, who began unlocking all the cell doors. As she approached Clay's cell, he felt as though he would cry out with joy, but he knew of the consequences and held his tongue. As the mutants were released from their cells, some motioned to hug each other but were stopped by the girl with the black hair. One by one, she motioned them forward towards the ladder, and each, in turn, climbed upward into the dark night that awaited them.
When it came the time for Clay to ascend the ladder, he was yet again warned to be silent by one of his rescuers. Pulling himself up and out of the skylight, he glanced around and noted that he and his mutant companions were atop the roof of the senator's base. Once the three rescuers had hoisted themselves out of the building, they retracted the rope ladder and returned the metal covering over the skylight.
"Is everyone out?" asked a new voice. It appeared to belong to a female, and judging by the tone, she was the leader of the rescue expedition. Sure enough, when everyone's eyes were adjusted to the pale moonlight that bathed the rooftop, the owner of the voice stood proudly against the night sky.
"Affirmative." answered the voice of the black-haired girl, "Wolf, we better get out of here. Parasite and Virus have taken care of the guards, but I don't know how long it will be until they wake up."
"Right. We'd better not risk it. Everyone, follow me." The one who was called Wolf began walking towards the edge of the flat-topped roof. At first, Clay seemed reluctant to follow her, but after all, they were the first humans that they had encountered for months, so he silently followed in her wake. At the end of the roof was a second rope ladder, about four times longer than the first. Wolf began her decent of the rope and was briskly followed by everyone else. Once again, the rope ladder was removed from the building. Clay was observing two of the rescuers placing the ladder in a pack when the Wolf addressed the group of young mutants.
"Now listen closely," her voice was low and tense as she spoke. " We are going to cross the yard," she indicated the well kept lawn that they were standing on. At the edge of the lawn was a large, metal fence, topped with barbed wire, sensory cameras, and motion-automated light. Retracting her hand, Wolf returned her attention back to the group that stood before her.
" If anyone gets caught, we go back for them. No one gets left behind. Now," she watched the mutants intently. Her eyes shone brown in the dim light, " I'm going to cross the yard. When I give the signal, everyone will cross, one by one, through the center of the yard. Cat, Tiger, Poison," she adverted her gaze to the three girls in the back of the group who had assisted in the rescue mission.
"You will each cross in turn. Poison," she spoke to the first girl who had entered the cell room, "You will follow close to the front. Tiger, "she indicated the girl who had the wavy lines on her uniform, "You will follow in the middle of the group, and Cat," she indicated the girl with the black hair, "You will be the very last to cross. Make sure no one is left behind." Wolf added, and began her journey across the lawn.
The venture seemed to last forever, as the whole group waited with baited breath for the clear signal. Finally, Wolf straitened up from her low, crawling position and held up her hand. The girl dubbed Poison Arrow started across the lawn in the same low, crouching fashion that Wolf had crossed in. One by one, the mutants began to follow the girl across the lawn, almost holding their breath for fear of setting off an alarm. Slowly the group had abated until only Cat was the last person on the other side of the lawn. Glancing this way and that, the group patiently waited until Cat had safely crossed to the opposite side.
"Good," Wolf whispered proudly, "Now, Tiger over here must disarm the security system so we can open this door. I want everyone to be as quiet as they can. Got it?"
Everyone nodded their response, heeding the warning that Wolf had gave them. Tiger made her was over to the large metal door that was blocking their only exit. Pressing a miniscule silver button on the door, a keypad opened up with which Tiger began to examine. After a few minutes of staring at the keypad, Tiger pressed a button revealing a side compartment on it. The interior housed a variety of intensely colored wires. Once again, Tiger examined the interior of the keypad before pulling a cluster of wires towards the open compartment. From her pocket, she removed a small pair of scissors, with which she placed around a black wire. The eyes of the onlookers bore into the back of her head as Tiger slowly brought the handles of the scissors together, with the hope of this being the correct wire to cut. As the blades of the scissors clamped down upon the wire, there was a small twang, and then… silence.
"Well, THAT was a relief!" Tiger bellowed at the top of her voice.
"Tiger, shhhh!" came a chorus of whispers, but it was too late; an ear shattering siren had been activated. Red and white lights were flashing everywhere as the automated cameras pivoted in the direction of the group simultaneously. Behind them, came a deep, bellowing voice that could have belonged to no other than Senator Kevin, " They've escaped! Quickly, secure the perimeters! We can't let them leave the grounds!" There was a crash of metal against metal as the doors blocking the only exit gave a huge lurch forward and slowly began to open. They weren't moving fast enough, however, because the front doors of the senator's base burst open to release a stream of armor-clad men, armed with rifles. Anxiously glancing from the door to the men and back to the door, Wolf began to shout out orders at the group.
"Listen up! Tiger, you lead the group to safety once the doors are open. Cat, Poison, we're gonna' stop these men from getting to the group. Do whatever you must!"
By now, the doors were about halfway open, leaving a space just large enough for the mutants to start squeezing through the opening to freedom. Tiger lead, then followed by Jackson, Clay, Rhiannon, Jackson's brother Cody, and so on. Half of the group was through the widening door when the swarm of men had reached the mutants. Wolf, Cat and Poison Arrow stood on-guard, ready to fight for the lives of themselves and the others.
"Open fire on my signal," the man who appeared to be in charge of the swarm announced to the others behind him, " Three, two, one…"
Wolf, Cat and Poison Arrow tightened their guards, waiting for the bullet shots to be fired, waiting for the crash of thunder that announced the firing of the rifles, but it never came. A quick glance behind her told Cat that the doors were now shut tight, and only one small girl was left on their side of the door.
"Drop your weapons, men." came an order from behind the swarm of men. The group parted in half, revealing a tall man in his middle ages with thin black hair. But what shocked the girls about his appearance the most was his cold, blue eyes.
"Take them all back to the cells. Tomorrow, they'll get what the others should have gotten a long time ago….."
"But sir, what about the others?" one officer in the swarm asked.
"…..Leave them to die. They'll never find their way out of these woods before the collapse from starvation." The officer nodded and motioned to three other men, who approached Wolf, Cat, Poison Arrow and the small girl, who was now clinging to Wolf's hand. Cat brought her guard up once again, but Wolf motioned for her to put it down. The girls then had their wrists bound behind them and were lead to the base and into the cell room where they would spend the last few hours of their lives.
Cat was puzzled. Her mind had been working furiously for the past ten minutes, trying to figure out what Wolf had in mind. Cat herself couldn't do anything to escape; Kevin's lackeys had taken away her utility belt that held all of her tools and weapons. Staring at her from her cell that was parallel to hers, Wolf just appeared to sit quietly, her wrists still bound, staring at the cold concrete floor.
'This definitely isn't what Wolf would do,' Cat thought to herself, 'She would never give up this easily, unless….unless she had a plan….' For ten more minutes, Cat stared at Wolf, waiting to put her ingenious plan into action. But Wolf never moved. She didn't even blink. Cat had had enough of this waiting game.
"Wolf! Why haven't you said anything! You don't care if we die or not, do you? DO YOU?!" Cat bellowed at the top of her voice. Slowly, Wolf raised her head to Cat's eye level. Her face was completely emotionless. Then unexpectedly, she broke into a grin, flashing her teeth. Then she began to laugh. At first it was just a chuckle, but it gradually became a full-out maniacal laugh. Suddenly Wolf stopped laughing, and began to stare at the floor once again. Cat had seriously thought that she had gone mad. She was a loose wire and this was her undoing.
"Wolf….you've lost it, girl." Wolf looked up at Cat one last time and pulled her hands out from behind her back. The rope that once bound them was clutched in her right hand. Cat grinned at Wolf, and Wolf grinned back. Poison Arrow also broke out into a smile, as she too was watching the ordeal from her separate cell. Blaze looked dumbstruck as she stared at Wolf from her cell which was diagonal from hers.
"So, did you like my performance?" Wolf asked the other three.
"You definitely had me going their, Wolf." Toadette grinned at her.
"Good," Wolf responded, pulling out a be-be pin from her boot and picked loose the lock on her cell. "Besides," she indicated to Cat, who was beaming at her from her cell which was now being opened, "You didn't really think that this pile of tin they call a base could really hold me? Now let's get out of here!"
Wolf stared and puzzled at the locked room that the four girls were being held in. It was about fifteen to twenty feet to the skylight above them, and guards were stationed all over the base. The bars of the cells were electrical, so they could not be used as climbing devices. On top of all that, their powers could not function under the work of the collars that they were forced to wear, which minimized their chance for escape.
"Well," Wolf announced, shifting her gaze to each girl in turn, "I've studied the facts,..."
"Yes?" the three girls my deepest thoughts,…."
"Yes?"
"...and have come to a conclusion!"
"YES?"
"Just get on with it!" Cat yelled.
"…...we are stuck."
"Brilliant work, Sherlock." Poison Arrow sneered.
"If only we had some means of leverage," Wolf thought out loud, "… maybe a ladder...something…"
"A human ladder." Blaze whispered, her voice twinged with a Puerta Rican accent.
"What did you just say?" Cat asked the small girl.
"A human ladder," Blaze repeated herself slightly louder this time.
"That's perfect!" Wolf shouted and snapped her fingers once. "Great idea! Okay, Cat, you're the tallest, so you're on the bottom. I'll go next, then Posion, and you," she indicated to the small girl, "What's your name, sweetie?"
"Blaze Charron."
"Well, Blaze Charron, it's up to you to take off that skylight. Think you can do it?" Wolf inquired.
"I'll try." she answered.
To anyone who'd have entered the cell room of Senator Kevin's base at 2:00 in the morning on Sunday, June 13 would have thought that they were seeing a mirage. Cat stood straight as a board, with Wolf on her shoulders, Poison Arrow on Wolf's shoulders, and Blaze , who was being given a boost up from Poison Arrow into an open skylight. Blaze clambered onto the roof of the senator's base and gave the thumbs-up sign to the three girls below her. Poison Arrow then leapt up through the hole, lay flat on her stomach and reached down to give Wolf a hand up. With Poison Arrow clinging to her left leg, Wolf lowered herself, up side down, into the cell room, grabbed hold of Cat's hands and pulled her up onto the roof. All for girls lay sprawled out on the metal roof top, basked in moonlight, panting with exhaustion.
"Alright," Wolf said after a few moments of resting, "this time, we are going to go around the yard, staying close to the edge of the fence. We're I'm going to cut all the wires in the circuit box. The door should open right away, and the alarms will go off. Poison, I want you to stay with Blaze and bring her back to the base. You two will go through the door first. The Cat will follow, and I'll take up the rear. We don't stop running until we either get to the base of until I'm sure that we're not being followed. Does everyone understand the plan?"
The remaining three girls nodded "yes" as their reply.
"Alright," Wolf continued, "Poison, jump down off the roof and catch Blaze when we lower her down. Immediately head towards the doors, but keep close to the wall. Cat and I will be right behind you." Toadette nodded and approached the edge of the roof. She took a giant leap off the roof and landed on all fours, but soon recovered and gave the thumbs-up sign. Wolf lead Blaze over to the edge of the roof, and as Cat held onto her ankles, Wolf lowered herself and Blaze over the side of the roof. They made it about halfway down the side of the building.
"Alright, I'm going to drop you now. Poison will catch you." Wolf told Blaze, who nodded. Wolf let go and watched as Poison Arrow jumped up into the air and caught Blaze in her arms. Wolf gave the thumbs-up sign to Cat, who let go of her ankles. Wolf rolled forward as she hit the ground and got back up, slightly dazed from the fall. Last of all, Cat bravely dangled her body down the edge of the building and let go, falling to the ground and turning over in midair to land gracefully on her feet.
The girls crossed the yard with no problem and reached the doors within thirty seconds. Pressing the button that revealed the circuit box to the metal doors, Wolf opened up the side compartment and pulled out the bundle of wires. She noted that the black wire that Tiger had cut had been repaired.
"Ready?" Wolf asked the girls. Toadette nodded as she positioned herself and Blaze at the doors that kept them from their freedom. Wolf turned her attention back to the wires and held up three fingers for a countdown. Three, two, one…
Wolf bit down hard on the cluster of wires, splitting them in half. Immediately, the air was filled with the sound of sirens and the familiar red and white lights once again flared. Their was a shout of, "Not again!!!" and the scuffling of boots. And just as Wolf had predicted, the metal doors swung open to reveal a vast, thick forest of trees.
Poison Arrow and Blaze dashed outward into the dense growth of the forest. With one quick glance behind herself, Wolf followed Cat out the doorway, got behind one of the metal doors and pushed it until it closed. Running into the woods, Cat and Wolf met up with Poison Arrow and Blaze, and proceeded to walk through the forest. Wolf new that they were in upstate New York and were headed towards Massachusetts, so she continually hurried the girls along.
After about five and one half hours of winding through the wooded back roads of Massachusetts, the four girls came upon an old country road, scattered with a few Victorian houses. Outside of each house there was at least two flawlessly clean cars parked in a long, paved driveway.
"Looks like a prick settlement." Wolf smirked as she examined the large houses. "I think we need to borrow a car."
"The regular routine?" Cat questioned with a wily smile at Wolf.
"The regular routine." Wolf answered as she bent down to explain their plan to Blaze.
A tall, well dressed man waltzed out of his house and over to his black Jaguar about two minutes after operation: car theft was thoroughly explained amongst the four girls. Cat and Blaze walked up to the man right as he had put the key into the ignition.
"Umm, excuse me, sir…" Cat began in the sweetest voice she could muster, "My little sister, Amy, and I were wondering if we could use your phone. You see, our car broke down a few miles back, and you were the first person we came across. Will you please help us?"
Although looking strangely at the tattered outfit that "Amy" was wearing and the strange suede vest of Cat, the man obliged and, leaving the keys in the ignition, he smiled and approached his house once again, with Cat and "Amy" behind them. Once the man had his back turned, however, Wolf and Toadette dashed forward into the car, With Wolf in the drivers seat. Motioning for Cat and Blaze to get in the car, Wolf slammed the door shut and revved up the engine. Speeding down the driveway and out of the picket gates that surrounded the perfectly kept lawn, the man never noticed that his car had been stolen until he turned around to see it speeding down the country road.
"Isn't this stealing?" Blaze asked after the four girls were miles away from the Victorian neighborhood.
"We like to think of it as borrowing," Wolf answered with a smile, "And besides, it's not like we were stealing it for fun. We need to get to New Hampshire, and I'm sure as hell not walking."
April 14, 7:45 am, Amherst, New Hampshire
"Well, here we are!" Wolf announced gleefully as she abruptly stopped the car. She, Poison Arrow, Cat and Blaze had been driving for about three hours in the black Jaguar through the forests of northern New York to Southen New Hampshire. The four girls had stopped once yesterday to rest for a couple of hours before continuing on their extended journey but were nevertheless exhausted. Not to mention that the once new and beautiful black Jaguar was now covered in mud, scratches, scrapes and dents.
Blaze looked up from her buckled seat in the car and found herself dumbstruck.
An enormous mansion, surrounded by a tall, sturdy, protective brick fence, topped off with wraught iron gates engraved with a capital "C" met her eyes. The mansion itself had to be at least five stories high, with elegant windows and two large oak French doors at the entrance of the house. The lawn was well kept, shining with dew. A gazebo and a couple of benches were professionally placed about the yard, and flowers were blooming in the gardens that lined the edges of the mansion and wall. A paved road led to the front of the house. But the most spectacular thing about the site was in the forest behind the house- a tree. But not just any tree- it was as tall as a sycamore tree, and at least as wide. Blaze continued to stare in awe as she approached the site, led by the other three girls. She looked to her right, and saw that the paved road continued down into a valley, where a small town could be seen just above the trees.
"Welcome, to your new home." Cat whispered to Blaze as the car rolled up to the gates of the mansion.
"The "C" stands for crap." Wolf laughed out loud as her and Toadette exchanges a slap of their palms.
"The "C" stands for Cass, my last name. But we changed it to stand for Chain, the new team name. My parents originally owned the house, but gave it to me when they retired and moved down south. Now its sole purpose is to house the needy, to hold open wide its arms and-"
"Cass rhymes with ass." Tiger's laughter chimed in with Wolf and Toadette's this time.
"STOP RUINING THE MOMENT!" Cat shouted at the rowdy party and proceded to dirve up the paved way leading to the mansion.
Exchanging silent glances of confusion, the mutant party waited with baited breath for the return of the two young boys. About twenty minutes passed after the boys were last seen and most in the room began to give up hope of being rescued. Finally, Hope Ivring, a sixteen year old girl with the ability to become a dragon, spoke up, "Do you think they were caught by Kevin?" She impatiently spread her dragon-like wings as she waited for an answer.
"I don't know, Hope," nineteen-year-old Jackson Thorne spoke up. Jackson had possessed the ability to knock out a living organism just by thinking about it, and it had worked on a few of Kevin's lackeys before, but he was punished for it afterwards.
"I'm s-s-scared." Came the quiet, whimpering answer of Blaze Charron. Clay sighed to himself. Blaze was a very brave young girl, for , being only seven years of age, she was the step daughter of the senator, and she was still placed in this prison.
"I wonder what-" Clay began but was interrupted by a harsh hissing sound.
"Shhhhhh! If we get caught, it'll be all of our necks! Now shut yer yaps!" A girl of about seventeen had appeared under the open sky light. She was dressed much like the two boys that had appeared earlier, but she had a large circle with a tree embroidered on her suede uniform top. Her short, dark violet colored hair hung about her neck, and although her face held a calm expression, her mud brown eyes darted warily around the room. She was short, no more than 5' 5'', and slouched over slightly. The sound of footsteps penetrated the silence of the room as the two boys entered the room once more.
"You guys done?" The girl inquired the first boy. He held up a ring of keys as a response and placed them into the girl's open hand.
"Good. Report back to base." As almost as if on command, a rope ladder dropped to the floor from the open sky light. The two boys climbed soundlessly upward into the dimly lit night. There was a murmur of voices and, just as quickly as the two boys left, they were replaced by two more girls. The first girl was tall and shapely, and had wavy black hair, which, hung down to her shoulders. On her uniform was a large circle embroidered with four blue waves. The second girl had extremely thick, light brown hair pulled back into a pony tail, not unlike the boy that had opened the large metal door. Not quite as tall as the first girl, she was thinner and less curvy, and had two golden, wavy lines that resembled the blowing of wind. Both girls also looked about seventeen of age. The girl with the unkept black hair nodded to the girl with the keys in her hand, who began unlocking all the cell doors. As she approached Clay's cell, he felt as though he would cry out with joy, but he knew of the consequences and held his tongue. As the mutants were released from their cells, some motioned to hug each other but were stopped by the girl with the black hair. One by one, she motioned them forward towards the ladder, and each, in turn, climbed upward into the dark night that awaited them.
When it came the time for Clay to ascend the ladder, he was yet again warned to be silent by one of his rescuers. Pulling himself up and out of the skylight, he glanced around and noted that he and his mutant companions were atop the roof of the senator's base. Once the three rescuers had hoisted themselves out of the building, they retracted the rope ladder and returned the metal covering over the skylight.
"Is everyone out?" asked a new voice. It appeared to belong to a female, and judging by the tone, she was the leader of the rescue expedition. Sure enough, when everyone's eyes were adjusted to the pale moonlight that bathed the rooftop, the owner of the voice stood proudly against the night sky.
"Affirmative." answered the voice of the black-haired girl, "Wolf, we better get out of here. Parasite and Virus have taken care of the guards, but I don't know how long it will be until they wake up."
"Right. We'd better not risk it. Everyone, follow me." The one who was called Wolf began walking towards the edge of the flat-topped roof. At first, Clay seemed reluctant to follow her, but after all, they were the first humans that they had encountered for months, so he silently followed in her wake. At the end of the roof was a second rope ladder, about four times longer than the first. Wolf began her decent of the rope and was briskly followed by everyone else. Once again, the rope ladder was removed from the building. Clay was observing two of the rescuers placing the ladder in a pack when the Wolf addressed the group of young mutants.
"Now listen closely," her voice was low and tense as she spoke. " We are going to cross the yard," she indicated the well kept lawn that they were standing on. At the edge of the lawn was a large, metal fence, topped with barbed wire, sensory cameras, and motion-automated light. Retracting her hand, Wolf returned her attention back to the group that stood before her.
" If anyone gets caught, we go back for them. No one gets left behind. Now," she watched the mutants intently. Her eyes shone brown in the dim light, " I'm going to cross the yard. When I give the signal, everyone will cross, one by one, through the center of the yard. Cat, Tiger, Poison," she adverted her gaze to the three girls in the back of the group who had assisted in the rescue mission.
"You will each cross in turn. Poison," she spoke to the first girl who had entered the cell room, "You will follow close to the front. Tiger, "she indicated the girl who had the wavy lines on her uniform, "You will follow in the middle of the group, and Cat," she indicated the girl with the black hair, "You will be the very last to cross. Make sure no one is left behind." Wolf added, and began her journey across the lawn.
The venture seemed to last forever, as the whole group waited with baited breath for the clear signal. Finally, Wolf straitened up from her low, crawling position and held up her hand. The girl dubbed Poison Arrow started across the lawn in the same low, crouching fashion that Wolf had crossed in. One by one, the mutants began to follow the girl across the lawn, almost holding their breath for fear of setting off an alarm. Slowly the group had abated until only Cat was the last person on the other side of the lawn. Glancing this way and that, the group patiently waited until Cat had safely crossed to the opposite side.
"Good," Wolf whispered proudly, "Now, Tiger over here must disarm the security system so we can open this door. I want everyone to be as quiet as they can. Got it?"
Everyone nodded their response, heeding the warning that Wolf had gave them. Tiger made her was over to the large metal door that was blocking their only exit. Pressing a miniscule silver button on the door, a keypad opened up with which Tiger began to examine. After a few minutes of staring at the keypad, Tiger pressed a button revealing a side compartment on it. The interior housed a variety of intensely colored wires. Once again, Tiger examined the interior of the keypad before pulling a cluster of wires towards the open compartment. From her pocket, she removed a small pair of scissors, with which she placed around a black wire. The eyes of the onlookers bore into the back of her head as Tiger slowly brought the handles of the scissors together, with the hope of this being the correct wire to cut. As the blades of the scissors clamped down upon the wire, there was a small twang, and then… silence.
"Well, THAT was a relief!" Tiger bellowed at the top of her voice.
"Tiger, shhhh!" came a chorus of whispers, but it was too late; an ear shattering siren had been activated. Red and white lights were flashing everywhere as the automated cameras pivoted in the direction of the group simultaneously. Behind them, came a deep, bellowing voice that could have belonged to no other than Senator Kevin, " They've escaped! Quickly, secure the perimeters! We can't let them leave the grounds!" There was a crash of metal against metal as the doors blocking the only exit gave a huge lurch forward and slowly began to open. They weren't moving fast enough, however, because the front doors of the senator's base burst open to release a stream of armor-clad men, armed with rifles. Anxiously glancing from the door to the men and back to the door, Wolf began to shout out orders at the group.
"Listen up! Tiger, you lead the group to safety once the doors are open. Cat, Poison, we're gonna' stop these men from getting to the group. Do whatever you must!"
By now, the doors were about halfway open, leaving a space just large enough for the mutants to start squeezing through the opening to freedom. Tiger lead, then followed by Jackson, Clay, Rhiannon, Jackson's brother Cody, and so on. Half of the group was through the widening door when the swarm of men had reached the mutants. Wolf, Cat and Poison Arrow stood on-guard, ready to fight for the lives of themselves and the others.
"Open fire on my signal," the man who appeared to be in charge of the swarm announced to the others behind him, " Three, two, one…"
Wolf, Cat and Poison Arrow tightened their guards, waiting for the bullet shots to be fired, waiting for the crash of thunder that announced the firing of the rifles, but it never came. A quick glance behind her told Cat that the doors were now shut tight, and only one small girl was left on their side of the door.
"Drop your weapons, men." came an order from behind the swarm of men. The group parted in half, revealing a tall man in his middle ages with thin black hair. But what shocked the girls about his appearance the most was his cold, blue eyes.
"Take them all back to the cells. Tomorrow, they'll get what the others should have gotten a long time ago….."
"But sir, what about the others?" one officer in the swarm asked.
"…..Leave them to die. They'll never find their way out of these woods before the collapse from starvation." The officer nodded and motioned to three other men, who approached Wolf, Cat, Poison Arrow and the small girl, who was now clinging to Wolf's hand. Cat brought her guard up once again, but Wolf motioned for her to put it down. The girls then had their wrists bound behind them and were lead to the base and into the cell room where they would spend the last few hours of their lives.
Cat was puzzled. Her mind had been working furiously for the past ten minutes, trying to figure out what Wolf had in mind. Cat herself couldn't do anything to escape; Kevin's lackeys had taken away her utility belt that held all of her tools and weapons. Staring at her from her cell that was parallel to hers, Wolf just appeared to sit quietly, her wrists still bound, staring at the cold concrete floor.
'This definitely isn't what Wolf would do,' Cat thought to herself, 'She would never give up this easily, unless….unless she had a plan….' For ten more minutes, Cat stared at Wolf, waiting to put her ingenious plan into action. But Wolf never moved. She didn't even blink. Cat had had enough of this waiting game.
"Wolf! Why haven't you said anything! You don't care if we die or not, do you? DO YOU?!" Cat bellowed at the top of her voice. Slowly, Wolf raised her head to Cat's eye level. Her face was completely emotionless. Then unexpectedly, she broke into a grin, flashing her teeth. Then she began to laugh. At first it was just a chuckle, but it gradually became a full-out maniacal laugh. Suddenly Wolf stopped laughing, and began to stare at the floor once again. Cat had seriously thought that she had gone mad. She was a loose wire and this was her undoing.
"Wolf….you've lost it, girl." Wolf looked up at Cat one last time and pulled her hands out from behind her back. The rope that once bound them was clutched in her right hand. Cat grinned at Wolf, and Wolf grinned back. Poison Arrow also broke out into a smile, as she too was watching the ordeal from her separate cell. Blaze looked dumbstruck as she stared at Wolf from her cell which was diagonal from hers.
"So, did you like my performance?" Wolf asked the other three.
"You definitely had me going their, Wolf." Toadette grinned at her.
"Good," Wolf responded, pulling out a be-be pin from her boot and picked loose the lock on her cell. "Besides," she indicated to Cat, who was beaming at her from her cell which was now being opened, "You didn't really think that this pile of tin they call a base could really hold me? Now let's get out of here!"
Wolf stared and puzzled at the locked room that the four girls were being held in. It was about fifteen to twenty feet to the skylight above them, and guards were stationed all over the base. The bars of the cells were electrical, so they could not be used as climbing devices. On top of all that, their powers could not function under the work of the collars that they were forced to wear, which minimized their chance for escape.
"Well," Wolf announced, shifting her gaze to each girl in turn, "I've studied the facts,..."
"Yes?" the three girls my deepest thoughts,…."
"Yes?"
"...and have come to a conclusion!"
"YES?"
"Just get on with it!" Cat yelled.
"…...we are stuck."
"Brilliant work, Sherlock." Poison Arrow sneered.
"If only we had some means of leverage," Wolf thought out loud, "… maybe a ladder...something…"
"A human ladder." Blaze whispered, her voice twinged with a Puerta Rican accent.
"What did you just say?" Cat asked the small girl.
"A human ladder," Blaze repeated herself slightly louder this time.
"That's perfect!" Wolf shouted and snapped her fingers once. "Great idea! Okay, Cat, you're the tallest, so you're on the bottom. I'll go next, then Posion, and you," she indicated to the small girl, "What's your name, sweetie?"
"Blaze Charron."
"Well, Blaze Charron, it's up to you to take off that skylight. Think you can do it?" Wolf inquired.
"I'll try." she answered.
To anyone who'd have entered the cell room of Senator Kevin's base at 2:00 in the morning on Sunday, June 13 would have thought that they were seeing a mirage. Cat stood straight as a board, with Wolf on her shoulders, Poison Arrow on Wolf's shoulders, and Blaze , who was being given a boost up from Poison Arrow into an open skylight. Blaze clambered onto the roof of the senator's base and gave the thumbs-up sign to the three girls below her. Poison Arrow then leapt up through the hole, lay flat on her stomach and reached down to give Wolf a hand up. With Poison Arrow clinging to her left leg, Wolf lowered herself, up side down, into the cell room, grabbed hold of Cat's hands and pulled her up onto the roof. All for girls lay sprawled out on the metal roof top, basked in moonlight, panting with exhaustion.
"Alright," Wolf said after a few moments of resting, "this time, we are going to go around the yard, staying close to the edge of the fence. We're I'm going to cut all the wires in the circuit box. The door should open right away, and the alarms will go off. Poison, I want you to stay with Blaze and bring her back to the base. You two will go through the door first. The Cat will follow, and I'll take up the rear. We don't stop running until we either get to the base of until I'm sure that we're not being followed. Does everyone understand the plan?"
The remaining three girls nodded "yes" as their reply.
"Alright," Wolf continued, "Poison, jump down off the roof and catch Blaze when we lower her down. Immediately head towards the doors, but keep close to the wall. Cat and I will be right behind you." Toadette nodded and approached the edge of the roof. She took a giant leap off the roof and landed on all fours, but soon recovered and gave the thumbs-up sign. Wolf lead Blaze over to the edge of the roof, and as Cat held onto her ankles, Wolf lowered herself and Blaze over the side of the roof. They made it about halfway down the side of the building.
"Alright, I'm going to drop you now. Poison will catch you." Wolf told Blaze, who nodded. Wolf let go and watched as Poison Arrow jumped up into the air and caught Blaze in her arms. Wolf gave the thumbs-up sign to Cat, who let go of her ankles. Wolf rolled forward as she hit the ground and got back up, slightly dazed from the fall. Last of all, Cat bravely dangled her body down the edge of the building and let go, falling to the ground and turning over in midair to land gracefully on her feet.
The girls crossed the yard with no problem and reached the doors within thirty seconds. Pressing the button that revealed the circuit box to the metal doors, Wolf opened up the side compartment and pulled out the bundle of wires. She noted that the black wire that Tiger had cut had been repaired.
"Ready?" Wolf asked the girls. Toadette nodded as she positioned herself and Blaze at the doors that kept them from their freedom. Wolf turned her attention back to the wires and held up three fingers for a countdown. Three, two, one…
Wolf bit down hard on the cluster of wires, splitting them in half. Immediately, the air was filled with the sound of sirens and the familiar red and white lights once again flared. Their was a shout of, "Not again!!!" and the scuffling of boots. And just as Wolf had predicted, the metal doors swung open to reveal a vast, thick forest of trees.
Poison Arrow and Blaze dashed outward into the dense growth of the forest. With one quick glance behind herself, Wolf followed Cat out the doorway, got behind one of the metal doors and pushed it until it closed. Running into the woods, Cat and Wolf met up with Poison Arrow and Blaze, and proceeded to walk through the forest. Wolf new that they were in upstate New York and were headed towards Massachusetts, so she continually hurried the girls along.
After about five and one half hours of winding through the wooded back roads of Massachusetts, the four girls came upon an old country road, scattered with a few Victorian houses. Outside of each house there was at least two flawlessly clean cars parked in a long, paved driveway.
"Looks like a prick settlement." Wolf smirked as she examined the large houses. "I think we need to borrow a car."
"The regular routine?" Cat questioned with a wily smile at Wolf.
"The regular routine." Wolf answered as she bent down to explain their plan to Blaze.
A tall, well dressed man waltzed out of his house and over to his black Jaguar about two minutes after operation: car theft was thoroughly explained amongst the four girls. Cat and Blaze walked up to the man right as he had put the key into the ignition.
"Umm, excuse me, sir…" Cat began in the sweetest voice she could muster, "My little sister, Amy, and I were wondering if we could use your phone. You see, our car broke down a few miles back, and you were the first person we came across. Will you please help us?"
Although looking strangely at the tattered outfit that "Amy" was wearing and the strange suede vest of Cat, the man obliged and, leaving the keys in the ignition, he smiled and approached his house once again, with Cat and "Amy" behind them. Once the man had his back turned, however, Wolf and Toadette dashed forward into the car, With Wolf in the drivers seat. Motioning for Cat and Blaze to get in the car, Wolf slammed the door shut and revved up the engine. Speeding down the driveway and out of the picket gates that surrounded the perfectly kept lawn, the man never noticed that his car had been stolen until he turned around to see it speeding down the country road.
"Isn't this stealing?" Blaze asked after the four girls were miles away from the Victorian neighborhood.
"We like to think of it as borrowing," Wolf answered with a smile, "And besides, it's not like we were stealing it for fun. We need to get to New Hampshire, and I'm sure as hell not walking."
April 14, 7:45 am, Amherst, New Hampshire
"Well, here we are!" Wolf announced gleefully as she abruptly stopped the car. She, Poison Arrow, Cat and Blaze had been driving for about three hours in the black Jaguar through the forests of northern New York to Southen New Hampshire. The four girls had stopped once yesterday to rest for a couple of hours before continuing on their extended journey but were nevertheless exhausted. Not to mention that the once new and beautiful black Jaguar was now covered in mud, scratches, scrapes and dents.
Blaze looked up from her buckled seat in the car and found herself dumbstruck.
An enormous mansion, surrounded by a tall, sturdy, protective brick fence, topped off with wraught iron gates engraved with a capital "C" met her eyes. The mansion itself had to be at least five stories high, with elegant windows and two large oak French doors at the entrance of the house. The lawn was well kept, shining with dew. A gazebo and a couple of benches were professionally placed about the yard, and flowers were blooming in the gardens that lined the edges of the mansion and wall. A paved road led to the front of the house. But the most spectacular thing about the site was in the forest behind the house- a tree. But not just any tree- it was as tall as a sycamore tree, and at least as wide. Blaze continued to stare in awe as she approached the site, led by the other three girls. She looked to her right, and saw that the paved road continued down into a valley, where a small town could be seen just above the trees.
"Welcome, to your new home." Cat whispered to Blaze as the car rolled up to the gates of the mansion.
"The "C" stands for crap." Wolf laughed out loud as her and Toadette exchanges a slap of their palms.
"The "C" stands for Cass, my last name. But we changed it to stand for Chain, the new team name. My parents originally owned the house, but gave it to me when they retired and moved down south. Now its sole purpose is to house the needy, to hold open wide its arms and-"
"Cass rhymes with ass." Tiger's laughter chimed in with Wolf and Toadette's this time.
"STOP RUINING THE MOMENT!" Cat shouted at the rowdy party and proceded to dirve up the paved way leading to the mansion.