Unity
Chapter nine:
The Underground:
Jennifer was standing a few feet away from a ladder leading up to a manhole. Her sight was directed towards the circular entrance, while several thoughts and doubts went through her head.
"Hi, Jenny, what are you doing?" The orange-skinned girl turned and saw a boy about her age, his skin was completely covered by pustules.
"Umm…I…There's a new candy shop up above and I was thinking about sneaking in."
"Good idea, I'll go with you."
"Uh, better not, it's still early and there's plenty of people outside."
"Right, one look at us and we'll be thrown in jail," he said as he came up to her side, "But Rob's working on it. Pretty soon we'll be able to walk out there without being afraid." Jennifer looked down and sighed sadly.
"You really think Rob's doing the right thing, huh?"
"Well," the boy scratched his head, "I'm not too keen about this war idea, and he's acting quite scary lately. But the end justifies the means, right?"
"But the end he's aiming for is worth nothing," she muttered angrily. "Listen, Rob is-"
"Jenny, Rob warned us about you, he told us not to listen to anything you say. I shouldn't even be here with you." The longhaired girl was shocked by this revelation. "Look, I don't have anything against you, it's just that-"
"You don't have to excuse yourself, I understand. Rob's a man of action, he's got a vision and is working towards it. I'm just a silly little girl who goes around, claiming to see ghosts."
"I'm sorry, Jenny," the boy said as he left.
Jennifer stood there, feeling even lonelier. Robert, or rather the thing she sensed, had successfully alienated her from everyone else, probably through the use of fear. She made up her mind and took hold of the first rung.
"Only one place left I can go to."
Elsewhere, some of the morlocks Robert had sent to sabotage the rally were returning. Three dozen had left, only six came back.
"Awesome plan, Rob," Cloud mocked, "What exactly were you trying to accomplish?" The magma-skinned leader didn't answer, he just sat there pensively. "We lost a lot of our best fighters, not to mention a couple of close friends."
"Hephestus," Rob murmured.
"Huh?"
"Hephestus," he repeated as the flames in his hand grew more intense, "Greek god of fire and a genius in metallurgy, he was unmatched when it came to creating weapons. But the other gods did not treat him as an equal, he was banished from Mount Olympus, simply because he wasn't as beautiful as they were." The renamed morlock finally raised his head, there was a wicked smile on his lips. "The similarity is undeniable." The gray-skinned one gulped, taking the name of a god was not a good sign. "To answer your question, I had ordered this attack mainly to piss off Stevens, give him something to think about before opening his big mouth, and maybe take out a human or two."
"If you put it that way, I'd say the mission was a success." Of course, this was a sarcastic comment. Hephestus got up suddenly and threw an immense blast towards a column, melting it as if it were wax. That scare nearly gave the shape-shifter a heart attack.
"It was a failure! The damn newscasts have sold themselves like whores! 'An altercate' they say!" He dropped on his seat again. "Very well, we'll have to give them something bigger then."
"Bigger? Are you serious!? I just came from there myself, lots of damage, lots of people injured, and just like you wanted, a couple were even killed." Gus chose that moment to enter.
"Hey Rob, did you-"
"My name is Hephestus."
"Umm, right. Did you recruit someone who can alter his size by any chance?"
"No, I didn't. Why do you ask?"
"Some of the survivors are mumbling stuff about a giant, they claim they saw it right before blacking out." Cloud rubbed his chin.
"You know, I've heard rumors about that giant as well. Maybe we should look for this guy while we let the results of this attack take their course."
"Leave him alone," the ashen-haired leader ordered, "And we don't wait for any results, they won't be the ones I want."
"And what do you want?" Cloud asked as he narrowed his eyes.
"Panic!" the magma-skinned one growled, "I want a body count that reaches hundreds, I want something so big, not even all the money in Washington will be able to cover it."
"Rob-er-Hephestus, calm down," the gooey one said, "They may be trying to cover it up, but they can't hide everything. The surface-dwellers know there's something going on. Trouble's going to fester among them soon, you'll see, we just have to sit back and be patient."
"Need I remind you we're at war? If one side goes passive the other one advances. We're gaining on him, but Stevens is still in the lead. We must keep pressuring if we want to reach our goal, the death of every single human!" The other two morlocks stood there silently.
"You've lost it," the gray-skinned man finally declared.
"Excuse me?"
"I helped you start this project because it was supposed to get us our rights, our freedom, but this is becoming a…" Cloud was too upset to find the right words. "To hell with all this, I quit!" He left the room fuming and was about to change into mist form when he saw an explosion in front of him, then he followed everyone's appalled gazes to find the smoking orifice in the middle of his chest. Cloud barely managed to turn around and see how his executioner's flames changed from red to blue.
"You're either with me or against me," Hephestus quoted as his once friend collapsed, "And the same goes for the rest of you," he added menacingly in a voice loud enough to be heard by everyone. "If you wish to desert, then do so, I have no need for cowards. Just make sure I don't see you, and most importantly, make sure I never find you ever again." No one spoke out their answer; some agreed with the magma-skinned morlock, this army had no room for traitors, the rest were just too terrified. The magma-skinned morlock smiled and went back inside, he had important plans to come up with.
"Cloud…" Gus stood motionless at the spot beside his friend's body, even after he was taken away and everyone went back to their business. "Thank heavens Jenny wasn't around to-JENNIFER!!" He bolted out of there like a bat out of hell. Jennifer had been against all this since the beginning, and now it was obvious, her life was in grave danger.
*****
Xavier's school:
"Feels weird being in a place like this while being invited," Mystique said as she stepped out of the Blackbird, "Weird, but good."
"Not to mention that, for once, you're wearing your own face," Cyclops added.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Neptune asked. The polymorph answered by utilizing her power to become the ocean senshi's twin. "Ara, you people never cease to amaze me."
"Just don't make yourself at home," Wolverine warned as he pulled his hood off, "You're here to tell us what you know and that's it." Uranus shared his mistrust, after all, they did say this woman was a member of the brotherhood of mutants.
"Knock it off, Logan," Beast said. "It is necessary that we know, Mystique, what were you doing at Stevens' in the first place?"
"Oh, I was just trying to earn myself two-hundred grand for killing the son of a bitch." Everyone stopped and turned to look at her with wide open eyes. "I'm an assassin, remember?" The sand-blonde senshi rolled her eyes and huffed.
"Just when I start getting used to all this, another curve ball is thrown at me."
A moment later they were at the infirmary. The two old friends stopped their conversation as the young ones entered.
"Welcome back everyone," Charles greeted.
"Hello, Professor," Jean replied, "…Magneto." She'd acknowledged him out of courtesy, although she would rather see him behind bars.
"Well, at least I know someone's glad to see me." The white-haired man raised an eyebrow at the two aqua-eyed girls. "I presume one of you is Mystique."
"Oops, I almost forgot." The female mutant reverted. "Hey, Eric, you look terrible."
"Well, what were you expecting? I had to fly non-stop over the Atlantic, all the way from Germany."
"That explains the dried-up saltwater," Dr. McCoy pointed out as he checked the bandages, "What ever drove you to do something so dangerous and foolhardy?"
"Something very urgent," the mutant extremist answered, "Have a seat, this will be a rather long tale. I was in Europe doing some research about strange occurrences, similar to the ones I'd provoked in my youth. At a former mental asylum, I discovered an old envelope with crumpled pages inside, written by one of the patients. It told the story of a concentration camp, of how one day both prisoners and officers went insane and a furious battle broke out. Each group started out by fighting their enemies, but soon they went out at each other, it became every man for himself. The sole survivor passed away after writing it all down." Eric took a deep breath, "The story was so detailed that I had trouble sleeping."
"This sudden violence you describe sounds similar to the riots that are breaking out now," Storm noted, "But it can't be the same thing, otherwise there should be a record of some sort."
"I believe the reason for such absence is the fact these continuous incidents occurred at that one location only," the white-haired man explained. "The nazi army tried to conduct several investigations, but every troop sent was afflicted by this destructive madness. In the end, the camp was sealed and utterly forsaken, earning the reputation of haunted over time. I developed a theory of my own, how this behavior had been caused by a mutant, one who probably used psychic waves or chemical manipulation. I searched out the camp, and after a little excavating, discovered a secret passage. I could tell right away that it wasn't part of the prison, in fact, I wager it'd been built thousands of years before."
"Probably a civilization that preceded the Celtics, judging by the geography," Henry thought, "But their constructions had little or nothing to do with tunnels."
"I think we're dealing with something completely different, Dr. McCoy, especially considering it didn't resemble any sort of European architecture. But we're straying from the subject, I walked down a corridor that seemed to go on for miles and came up to a wall covered with runes. I couldn't recognize any of them, save one, the symbol of a crescent moon with its horns pointing upwards." The senshi shared a glance when they heard this, Pluto looked extra worried. "It didn't take me long to figure out it was a seal of sorts."
"You didn't by any chance open the seal, ne?" the aqua-eyed senshi asked hopefully, even though the answer was all too obvious.
"Yes, I did. And it was no easy task, it took me several hours and I had to carry steel back from the camp." Eric leaned back and took a deep breath. "On hindsight, I was too curious for my own good."
"I can figure out the rest," Cyclops said, "Whatever the hell you released beat the crap out of you, you realized you committed a huge mistake, and came to warn the professor as soon as possible."
"And we're facing that thing now," Jean guessed, "Please, Magneto, you have to tell us! What did you see?"
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I saw nothing. The moment I stepped through the threshold I suffered some sort of hallucination, I felt an amount of rage so great it was frightening, memories and pent up frustrations arose within my mind. I must've blacked out because the next thing I knew was being in a hospital." He closed his eyes and tried to remember something more. "I heard a voice calling to me through the madness, it said: 'destroy everyone'."
"That's exactly what happened to me!" the blue-skinned woman exclaimed. "Well, it wasn't so extreme, but the moment I saw that creature I felt an urge to change into something monstrous and claw everyone on sight." She ran her hand through her hair. "It took all of my willpower to stay under control."
"And what sort of creature did you see?" Charles inquired.
"It was seven feet tall I think, with black skin and wings, or perhaps it was a cape."
"Wouldn't it be easier if you just changed shape instead of giving us a description?" the feral man interrupted.
"All I took was a glimpse, bozo, I can't become someone I don't have a clear image of. I do know it had tusks, and three horns growing towards the back-"
"By the kami, don't let it be so!" Everyone was startled by the time senshi's shout. "Chikuso, why didn't I realize it sooner!?"
"Umm, Sailor Pluto," Storm said nervously, "What exactly did you realize?"
"The identity of what we're facing," the longhaired senshi answered, "Mystique's description jolted my memory. I too faced that thing once, when I was a child."
"Goodness, that must have been awful!" Jean exclaimed.
"So it is an enemy we faced in our past lives!" Uranus exclaimed. Even though it was a confirmation, there was a tone of surprise in her voice, this came out of the unbelievable fact that the millennial Sailor Pluto had once been an infant.
"Ie, none of you were born yet. It was Queen Serenity herself, alongside her own senshi, who'd faced this dilemma."
"Wait a second," Cyclops called, "Past lives? Queen Serenity? What are you three talking about?"
"Gomen, Scott-kun, minna-san," the ocean senshi answered, "you'll have to get by without several details. I can only tell you that we, the senshi, are the reincarnations of people who lived in the civilization McCoy-san and Magneto spoke of."
"That's a bit hard to swallow," the blue-skinned woman countered, "But I've seen too many strange things not to believe you. And how else can I name the monster I saw other than demon?"
"And a demon it is," the emerald-haired senshi confirmed, "one that is likely to destroy all of us if we don't stop it now."
"I've heard enough," Logan said as he stood up, "Who cares how old it is? What matters is, we know what it's doing and where to find it. Look alive, blue girl, you're taking us to Stevens' pad."
"Whoa there! I only agreed to come here to tell you what I know, I never said anything about joining this band of misfits. If you want to face some hellish creature, do it on your own."
"Your talents should be most helpful to us, Mystique," her leader replied. He gave a sly grin, "And despite your claims, I know you're dying to be a part of this." The polymorph narrowed her eyes.
"I've allowed you to find out too much about me." She sighed as her head dropped in defeat. "Fine then, and I do owe Pluto for helping me earlier. But going there now won't do any good, my presence was revealed, the place will be either deserted or have its defenses beefed up to the max."
"And there's still more to learn about this being, right, Pluto?"
"Hai, Ororo-chan, but I can't remember much at the moment. I'll have to do a bit of research of my own in order to get all the necessary information."
"I can help you with that," Beast offered.
"Arigato, McCoy-san, but I'm going to a place that's accessible to me only." The longhaired senshi turned to her sisters, "Uranus, Neptune, could you please wait for me here? It'll save us a bit of time. With your permission of course, Xavier-sama."
"It's already been granted," the elderly telepath responded with a grin. Pluto nodded "and you're welcome to stay too, Ms Darkholme."
"Thank you very much, Professor," the yellow-eyed woman replied with a little curtsey. Although I will feel more like a captive than a guest. Better keep an eye open. Right away she realized it was a mistake to think that way in front of Xavier. Boy did she feel embarrassed.
"I'm leaving then," Pluto announced, "I'll return as soon as possible." She gave a brief glow then vanished. It was the first time Magneto and Mystique had seen a senshi teleport, so they were quite amazed.
"And what can we do until Pluto comes back?" Storm asked.
"Well, we can keep an eye on Stevens, see how his campaigns progressing," Neptune suggested, "so far, he's our prime suspect."
"And let's not forget about the morlocks," Cyclops reminded, "they're brewing a lot of trouble on their own."
"True," Henry agreed, "But at this hour, the best we can do is rest and recover. And some of us need to more than others." He added this last part while throwing a glance at his white-haired patient.
"It was never in me to ignore a doctor's orders."
Charles and Eric were going to chat a while longer; always a gentleman, Dr McCoy led Mystique to a room she could use; the rest went down another corridor.
"Unbelievable," Logan grumbled as he lit a cigar, "first we take Magneto in, and now Mystique's sleeping over. What's next?"
"Maybe Sabretooth will show up and you two will hit a pub," Cyclops quipped. The feral man narrowed his eyes.
"I'm actually more upset at your pathetic lack of wit."
"Oh? I suppose you could come up with something better."
"If that's a challenge, Scott, then you're on." The guys kept this up as they entered the elevator, the four girls stood outside and sweat-dropped.
"Eto, do these two always behave this way?" the sand-blonde inquired.
"Much too often," Jean answered with a tired sigh. The senshi looked at each other and shared a giggle, it'd been fun to find this team's Usagi and Rei.
Upstairs, in the mansion, the students were getting ready to go to bed. David and Remy stayed up to watch a tabloid-type news program. Bobby was with them, though he kept himself busy making ice figurines. Right now, the screen was showing scenes from the aftermath of the X-Men and Senshi's last battle, mostly the damage, the injured and the chaos. Only the presence of the police kept the casualties from being broadcast.
"Do you see this, Mr. Mayor? Do you see what's going on!? Hell, get your pansy ass back here from Maui and get to work!" The pseudo-reporter kept on shouting and ranting.
"The guy's a prick, but at he shows both human and mutant victims," the dark-haired one commented as he sat up, "And he's fair when it comes to dealing out the blame, not laying it all on us."
"Oui, and he's not afraid to show things the way they are." The red-eyed boy leaned back. "It's good to have someone who doesn't put rose-colored makeup on the news."
"Hypocrites, all three of you," the cold-wielder accused, "All that clown cares about is raking in the ratings, and you guys only watch this because of the lingerie commercials."
"We live in an ugly world, mon ami, which makes it a sad one," the bayou-dweller philosophized, "Happiness consists on finding and choosing beautiful things to admire, and Remy chose femme."
"Dude, give our stomachs a rest," David complained. He pushed the mute button. "But if you're in the mood for an enlightening conversation, Drake, I'm game. You two remember what happened at Central Park? Chibi-Usa was their target."
"You're right," Bobby agreed, "she must be of some importance to them." He pondered this matter a little more. "You know, Ms Grey told me once that some mutations are much too subtle to be detected, even by the person. Maybe Chibi-Usa's not quite aware of who she is." The fair-haired boy shook his head. "But there's little we can do, I mean, the X-Men must be taking care of that. Surely Rogue's told them what she saw already."
"Uh, she hasn't," Remy corrected. The other two narrowed their eyes at him. "She's been meaning to tell the professor, but Remy's been distracting her a little."
"I should drive my claws through you, you nitwit Casanova," David snarled. Then he thought of something. "We could use this."
"What are you talking about?" the fair-haired teen asked.
"It's our opportunity to be noticed! I haven't figured out the details yet, but if we stick to Chibi-Usa and act as bodyguards, we'll score some big merit points with the X-Men. Hey, Doctor McCoy himself said we kicked ass back at the park, using a slightly different vocabulary."
"What happened at the park was a totally different situation, we had no choice but to defend ourselves. Are you aware of the trouble we might get into if we tried something like this?"
"Remy agrees with our frigid friend, we better take caution and leave this in the hand's of Cyclops' team."
"LeBeau, do you know how much girls swoon over a hero?" David asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"Then again, many important people gained that status because they took risks."
"Unbelievable," Bobby huffed, "You guys may hate me for this, but I won't let my friends get involved in a mess they can't get out of, so I'm telling Professor Xavier."
"Listen, Drake," David's hands changed shape a little as he held his friend by the shoulder, "Growing up at my neighborhood was no easy matter, if you wanted something, you had to fight and earn it. This not only made you stronger, it gave you a feeling of accomplishment." The dark-haired boy let go. "I haven't felt that since I got here, I want to again."
"A man's right of reaching fulfillment is inalienable," the bayou-dweller backed up, quoting their furry science teacher.
"Well…" The blue-eyed boy scratched his chin. "Technically, we won't be looking for trouble, as long as we're close to Chibi-Usa it'll come looking for us." He held out his hand. "Okay, I'm in, just make sure the girls don't know about this, Giselle is too big a blabbermouth."
"Don't I know it," David replied as he shook on it.
Rogue was lying alone in the dorm-room when Giselle and the others came in, dressed in their sleepwear.
"We're done," the green-scaled girl announced as she finished brushing her hair, "The showers are all yours."
"Thanks," the brunette answered as she picked up her towel and pajamas.
"Rogue-chan, I you don't mind me asking, why do you bathe all by yourself?" Hotaru inquired.
"Safety, of course. Suppose I slip on a bar of soap and you rush over to help me." She giggled and blushed deeply. "It actually happened once. Luckily, the girl possessed a tremendous amount of life-force, so there wasn't much damage. She still fainted, and we ended up in a position that was quite embarrassing." Kathy gave a wolf-whistle. It was the only sound she could do safely, but she was able to give an ample description.
"'Nuff said," Giselle quoted. The white-streaked girl left while the rest laughed at her expense, everyone except Hotaru. The pale girl stared at her own hands, recalling her life before meeting Chibi-Usa. True, touching her skin wasn't deadly, but it felt dead to the touch, and that was just as bad. The odango-headed princess noticed her friend's rising melancholy and did something to snap her out of it.
"So, Hotaru-chan, what do you think of Remy-kun?"
"Nani? What about Remy-san?" The silent mutant elbowed Hotaru and gave her a wink. The Japanese preteen knew exactly what Chibi-Usa was talking about, and blushed because of it. "Eto… I suppose he has been quite attentive."
"Attentive?" The emerald-haired girl slapped her forehead. "Hotaru, didn't you hear my warning? That swamp-rat's only being nice so he can get close enough to leer down your blouse." Kathy tapped on her shoulder and frowned sternly. "Okay, I'm being a wee bit unfair. Remy has set himself a line and never crosses it. And even though his pickup lines leave a lot to be desired, whenever he's alone with you he uses his best material, and that's truly worth listening to."
"Hai, the ruby-eyed girl agreed, "I overheard a conversation about him back at the locker room. Remy-kun is handsome, and I suppose he's charming by certain standards. Too bad about the leering, that is quite bothersome." The white-haired girl leaned towards Chibi-Usa and gave a mischievous smirk. How would she know? "Che, you don't have much to brag about either, Kathy-chan. And I'll have you know that women in my family have always been generously endowed." She remembered that mishap when she switched ages with Usagi, so she knew what the future had in store for her appearance.
"Well, as long as I'm confessing," Giselle said as she retook control of the conversation, "Remy didn't bother me much at first, in fact, I appreciated it. I mean, these scales scared a lot of guys away, they still do, so Remy actually helped me a lot by making me feel attractive for once. Obviously, this was before becoming Davey's girlfriend, then I felt a lot better." She leaned back. "As to the subject of size, face it, I am the undisputed champion, with Hotaru coming in second at a considerable distance." The yellow-eyed girl expected the amethyst-eyed one's vanity and pride to click. Instead, Hotaru blushed furiously and tried to hide behind the pillow she was holding. "But that's only until Rogue comes back, she's got the best looking body among us."
"You shouldn't talk that way about her, Giselle-chan," the future princess scolded.
"Why not? I'm not talking badly about her."
"Ie, but Rogue-chan's looks must be a burden to her. And someone should tell that to Remy-kun," Chibi-Usa added, "he certainly pesters her a lot." The others nodded in agreement. The young brunette came back into the room at that very moment.
"Aah, that was refreshing," she said as she put her hair up, "What were you guys talking about?"
"Oh, Giselle-chan's just being a bragger," the pink-haired girl answered. She then gave a loud yawn, she'd been holding it down for a while now and finally succumbed.
"You're not coming down with something, are you, Chibi-Usa?" the pale mutant asked, "A couple of hours ago you were fine, then just like that you're look all tired out."
"Ie, I feel fine, just sleepy, that's all."
"Nevertheless, you should go to sleep," Hotaru suggested. She was starting to worry about her dear friend, maybe those monsters were too much for Sailor Chibi-Moon to handle.
"Come on, it's still early, I don't want to be left out of all the fun," the odango-headed girl pouted, "If I do need more rest, I'll get it in the morning." A few minutes later though, she was snoring away, the others decided to do the same. Just as the violet-haired girl was about to climb up to her bunk, Rogue came up to her.
"Hotaru, I don't mean to pry, but this afternoon you and Chibi-Usa seemed to vanish for a while."
"Eto, we were looking for the bathroom and sort of got lost, it's easy to do among all these corridors." Her tone was hardly convincing.
"Listen, I understand if you want to keep some things to yourselves. But if you ever want to talk, I'm here; or you can go to the professor, he's an awesome listener."
"Arigato, Rogue-chan, I'll keep it in mind." The pale girls smiled warmly at each other then went to their respective beds. Hotaru fell asleep, feeling more welcome than ever.
*****
Jack Stevens' H.Q., the next morning:
"…Mutant anomaly is not present," the computerized voice stated.
"You see?" the black man huffed, "I told ya you were wasting your time. There ain't no muties here."
"It's the new standard procedure," the guard explained, "We're all going to have to go through this from now on, so I'd suggest you stop complaining." After Mystique's cover had been blown, Rogers had special scanners brought in. They were designed to detect mutated genes, no matter how scarce or underdeveloped. His vision was to have these things at airports, nuclear power plants, factories and schools.
The three troopers who had just been frisked walked away, feeling quite annoyed.
"Can you believe that guy? He sees one mutant, at an office he hardly ever uses, and goes all paranoid, like some addict seeing bugs and shit."
"Hey, he may be exaggerating," a redhead replied, "but he's the boss, it's his way or the highway, so we better not bellyache if we want to keep our jobs."
"I heard the interloper was some sort of transforming chick," a third trooper informed, "If we get her, I'm gonna make her turn into my best friend's wife. 'Cause let me tell you, that woman is a gorgeous piece of-" A door flew open and Stevens' appeared, so much anger was being shot from his eyes that he actually looked demonic.
"If you ever think about doing something that sickening again, I'll lock you up in an asylum and put you into shock therapy. Understood?"
"Y-yes sir." The trio marched away as fast as possible. The mousy-haired man followed at a regular pace, along with Rogers. The old veteran was planning to give his men a severe reprimand later on, while his former disciple thought of something harsher and more definite. A moment later they were at the latter's office, Michael was waiting for them.
"Welcome, Sir. Mr. Rogers, here is the folder with the information you requested, directly from Japan."
"Good work, my boy," Jim praised, "A man of your discipline should fit quite well in the army."
"With all due respect, Sir, the military is beneath my stature."
"If you say so. Now, Jack, here I hold data about those girls in sailor uniforms. We have very few witnesses, fewer photos, and none of them are clear enough to make a positive I.D. Still, we've been able to gather a fair amount of information."
"Spill it out then," the bigot demanded impatiently, "Who are these mini-skirted bimbos?" Rogers rolled his eyes. He had the lights turned off, projected the first picture on the wall and began the briefing.
"They call themselves the senshi, they're 9 in total and named after each planet in the solar system. The short-haired blonde, Uranus, is armed with a sword and her attacks use wind energy, she seems to be the strongest, so we should consider her to be the leader; the wavy-haired one, Neptune, utilizes water energy, don't be fooled by the mirror, it fires a powerful beam; the long-haired one, Pluto, uses a staff, the jewel on top fires blasts of an unidentified nature, it's also unknown whether the intricate design of her weapon serves some purpose; finally, the thin one, Saturn, she can create an impenetrable barrier, and her weapon can cut through any material, just look at that concrete wall, she must be considered as quite dangerous."
"What about the pink runt?"
"She's the most intriguing one," Rogers responded as he crossed his arms, "Hardly any information, but all witnesses agree that she's utterly useless. I have no idea why she's a part of this team." The lights went back on. "I know what you're going to ask next," the gray-haired man told Stevens, "and the answer is: no, we don't know if they're mutants. We will find out once the sentinels encounter and use their scanners on them."
"You mean you're finally going to use those robots?" Stevens asked with morbid hope.
"Absolutely, what happened last night convinced me of how wrong I was by being so cautious. We must strike at catastrophes before they occur, violently if need be, it is the only way to ensure peace."
"Most importantly," Jack added, "it will hasten the extinction of mutant-What the hell is that noise?" Indeed, the sound of quarreling was coming from outside the room. The three men went to see what it was.
"That piece of crap doesn't know anything! Do you see wings or something on my back, huh?"
"Explain your behavior," Michael demanded in his passive tone, "I don't believe I need to remind you we're cutting down personnel based on competence."
"We're having some trouble with the scanner, Sir," the guard holding said item explained, "Watch." He pressed a few buttons and everyone waited.
"…Mutant anomaly detected."
"That damn thing's broken or something! I'm well past my teen years, and I've never-" He was silenced for good by a bullet through his head. Everyone looked at Stevens with shock as he put the smoking gun into its holster.
"Michael, check its barracks, see what you can find any stolen information. You two, get rid of that freak." He started to walk away then noticed no one had moved, except for his indigo-haired majordomo. "Didn't you hear me!?"
"Y-yes sir, right away!" Fumblingly, the two guards took away their fallen comrade.
"I won't condemn what you've just done, Jack. After all, we're in a precarious position," Rogers said as we caught up to his once disciple, "But, don't you think you overreacted a little?"
"I'm ensuring peace, Jim, ensuring peace."