Thanks for the Feedback: twisted makeral, DemonRogue13, DoubleL27, crazyspaceystracey, Risty, raniatlw, Goofn1, Rags666
Notes: I decided to go with two sequals because that way my timelines aren't linked. The two groups are fairly distinct, so I didn't want to end up in a situation where one group got neglected for multiple chapters because things were moving at a slower pace in their half of the story.
Posting-wise I'm going to try to stick with my normal schedual of one chapter a week, alternating between the two stories.
Fred parked the jeep in front of a grocery store in a small town on the outskirts of LA. As the engine cut out Fred's attention was drawn toward an alley behind the store by the sound of angry shouts.
"Damn mutie." That was one phrase Fred picked out clearly among the raised voices.
Fred scowled and headed toward the mob. He shoved his way to it's focus, he paid about as much attention to the people in his way as a person walking through a grain field would pay to the plants.
He found a being composed of a deep red crystal cowering in a doorway. Fred stood between the mob and the unusual mutant as he chewed on his lower lip and thought about how he should deal with this.
"You don't like mutants?" He asked the crowd as he straightened to his full height. He knew he loomed over most normal humans. "Well I'm a mutant. What are you going to do about it?"
Someone threw a bottle at Fred. He grinned at them. "Did I mention I'm invulnerable?" He said. "Bullets bounce off me, so do trucks… What are you going to do?"
"Monster!" Someone screamed.
"Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me… Oh yeah, sticks and stones don't work either."
Fred hefted a dumpster over his head and took a step toward the crowd. They screamed in terror and fled. Fred sighed in relief and set the dumpster down. "Hey, it's okay. You're safe now." Fred said as he crouched in front of the ruby being. Tentatively he reached out to pat a huddled shoulder.
As she uncurled Fred had a moment to realize that the being was a girl before she threw herself into his arms and began sobbing. A startled Fred patted her hair, it felt like thin strands fishing-wire. Fred scooped her up and settled her in the crook of his arm. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'll take you somewhere safe." Fred promised.
He paused halfway between the jeep and the grocery store. Then, while still carrying the girl, he walked inside, grabbed a shopping cart and started collecting supplies.
Fred received a number of stares and hostile glances but none of the other shoppers showed any interest in confronting the seven-foot plus bulky teen.
At the cash register Fred had to shift the girl to his other arm to get to his pocket. Where he'd been holding her against him his overalls were cut to shreds.
****** ****** ******
Tabby perched on one of wing of the futuristic, vertical take-off aircraft they'd found parked in the base's hanger.
"I did more than rip-off vending machines while we were at the Board House." She declared.
"Cable, are you sure you gave me the right specs?" Lance demanded as he slid out from beneath the craft.
"Yes." Cable replied shortly.
"Hey I'm talking here." Tabby protested. "Don't ignore me."
"Maybe if you explained how this thing is supposed to work." Lance suggested.
"Why don't you admit you're out of your depth and quit pestering me?" Cable replied.
Lance kicked the consol. "Show me the damn specs again Short Circuit."
Cable gave a long-suffering sigh and the requested specs appeared on the screen.
"I did lots of stuff around the Boarding House." Tabby claimed.
"Okay, it takes in water vapor from the air to supplement its 'fuel' tank, the hydrogen gets split off the oxygen… Somehow, that better not be where the problem is… The hydrogen is burned for fuel. Now that isn't so different from a combustion engine right?" Lance said to himself. "Hell, I wish I had Kitty here to talk with."
"Listen to me!" Tabby yelled.
Lance exhaled irritably. "What?" He demanded.
"I was a useful member of the team at the Boarding House right?" Tabby asked.
Lance snorted. "You marched in and took the best room for yourself. You didn't clean. You didn't cook. You blew holes in the wall. You stole my jeep. You didn't respect anyone's privacy. You tell me."
"Well if I was so awful to live with why didn't you kick me out?" Tabby asked.
"Did you ever ask our permission to move in with us in the first place?" Lance snapped. "Cable, do you have anything on how this part is supposed to work?"
Tabby walked out, she was biting her lip and sniffling.
****** ****** ******
Torpid stared up at Ray with huge, mournful, brown eyes as she scratched at the red speckles on her skin with over-sized, heavily gloved hands.
Ray gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry Squirt. There's not much I can do to help ya there." Ray patted the bench beside him. "How 'bout I read to you, take your mind off the itches."
Torpid's breath escaped her in an unhappy huff. She dug a tattered book out of a recessed nitch in the wall then climbed up beside Ray and handed him her book.
"Okay, 'Wizard of Oz' it is." Ray said as he ruffled her long sandy colored hair.
Torpid curled up against Ray's shoulder. She absently scratched at her stomach. Ray wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held the book so she could see the pages. He traced his finger under the words as he read in hopes that it would help Torpid learn. If she'd ever spoken he would have tried to get her to read a little herself.
For a few pages the solemn six-year-old watched the pages intently then she started squirming. Ray stopped reading and sat back. Torpid found a convenient corner and used it to try to get an itch between her shoulder blades. When that didn't work she gave Ray a pleading look then presented her back.
"No, they'll scar if you scratch them." Ray said. Torpid blinked at him sadly. Her eyes teared up. "Oh geeze." Ray exclaimed. He picked her up. "You know what you need? A nice bath with lots of baking soda. It'll help the itches and I know just the place to find one."
****** ****** *****
Logan watched the approaching cloud of dust through his binoculars. He started to relax when he recognized the jeep then he scowled as he saw a second body in the passenger seat.
While he waited for them to arrive Forge wandered outside. He watched the jeep then glanced toward the tarp that camouflaged Scott's convertible and Logan's bike. "I should build a freight elevator to get the cars down into the hanger."
"You got the energy conversion and air filtration systems fixed?" Logan asked.
Forge sighed. "Cable explained what the energy conversion system is supposed to do. What I built will do the same thing. Cable doesn't like it because it doesn't work in the same way as the old one did."
"That and the minor explosion you caused this morning." Logan said.
"When I build things they work." Forge insisted. "That's my mutation."
Logan waited.
"Okay, sometimes I neglect details." Forge admitted. "I forgot to seal the chamber, dust diffracted the energy and boom. My bad. It'll work right this time. Get Lance to provide a little geological activity for it to convert and you'll see."
"And the air filters?" Logan asked.
Forge winced. "That's boring. Can't someone else do it?"
Logan glowered at the teen.
"Okay, I can't fix it." Forge admitted. "I can invent anything I think of. I intuit how to put things together to get a desired result. The part Cable says is broken is way integrated into the rest of the system. I could redesign the whole system from scratch but I can't repair that one component. It's someone else's design, I don't understand it."
Logan nodded. "I'll go over it or drag Alvers away from his pet project." He said then asked. "Why'd you want to come out here if you don't understand other people's tech?"
"To get new ideas." Forge replied promptly. "I used to read sci-fi for the same reason. I was trying to make a teleporter when I got stuck in the pocket-verse. Meeting Kurt was so cool 'cause he 'ports according to the same theory I was trying to make use of… Hey I bet I could make another pocket-verse with a reliable way to get in and out. We could use it as a garage."
Logan watched Forge wander off already lost in his plans. A short while later Fred and his guest arrived. Logan stalked over to check out the new person while Fred was still unpacking groceries and getting the tarp over the jeep. "Who's yer friend?" Logan asked suspiciously.
The girl cringed and hid behind Fred's bulk. He patted her on the shoulder. "Mr. Logan's nice, he just doesn't act like it." He assured her. "I found a mob chasing her."
Logan sighed. "So what's yer name girl? And what's your story?" He said as he tried to minimize the growl in his voice.
The girl stood there mute and plaintive looking.
"I don't think she talks." Fred said. " 'Cause she hasn't said anything."
"Can ya write?" Logan demanded.
After a pause the girl nodded. She scratched out the word 'Penance' in the sand with a long, claw-like finger.
"I guess it's as much of a name as 'Rogue'." Logan grunted.
"If you're looking for refuge ya got it. If yer here to make trouble I'll find out." He flicked his claws out for a moment to emphasize his meaning then turned and walked off. "Introduce her to Cyke." He called to Fred over his shoulder.
"He really is nice." Fred repeated as he finished hiding the jeep and gathered the groceries. Penance trailed after him as he headed down into the compound.
Fred paused when he saw clouds of dust billowing out of an open door. Cautiously he peeked inside. Tabby was violently attacking the dirt with a broom and only managing to fill the air with dust. Her face was streaked with tears.
"Tabby?" Fred asked.
"You don't want me here, just leave me alone!" Tabby shouted.
Fred waited for a few moments, when Tabby didn't immediately spill her guts he decided a more round about approach might work better.
He continued on to the kitchen where he found Scott and Lance working on lunch. "Why's Tabby crying?" He asked.
Both teens instantly looked guilty.
"Hell." Lance swore then hurried past Fred and Penance. He only spared the girl a quick glance.
"This is Penance." He heard Fred telling Scott as he left. "I found her in town, she doesn't talk…"
****** ****** ******
"What have yah got there?" Rogue asked as Ray walked in with a little girl balanced on his hip. Rogue grinned at her.
Torpid gave her a serious look then offered her a gloved hand. Rogue shook Torpid's hand as she gave Ray a searching look.
"Torpid, meet Rogue. Her power paralyzes you for around half an hour if she touches you. She can't control it yet." Ray explained.
"Oh sweetie." Rogue exclaimed as she took Torpid from Ray.
"She's got the chicken pox too." Ray added. "I was thinking a baking soda bath."
"Alright, yah talked me into it." Rogue said. "Come on sugah, Ah'll take good of yah."
****** ****** ******
Lance reached over Tabby's shoulder and grabbed the broom handle, his hand closing over hers to still its movement.
"Okay, you helped clean-up as much as anybody did. You helped us relocate the mold in the fridge to desks and lockers at school." He said. "And you, Todd and Quickie all volunteered to cook, Fred and I just decided it was better if you guys didn't… too many fires and Todd's patented bug-flavoring left something to be desired."
"You're only saying that 'cause you feel bad about being mean." Tabby said with a sniffle.
"Yeah," Lance admitted. "Come on Tabby you're like a kid sister: Just because you annoy me doesn't mean I don't like you. It doesn't matter if you're useful to have around or not."
Tabby spun around to confront Lance. "So you think I'm worthless, but you like me anyways. Gee thanks."
Lance shrugged.
Tabby hit him. "Damn it Lance, I'm not useless!" She exclaimed.
"Maybe it's time you proved it." Lance challenged.
"Watch me." Tabby snapped.
Lance bit back a grin as she stomped away.
****** ****** ******
Callisto prowled through the tunnels. With her enhanced senses she could almost taste the miniscule traces of poison on the water vapor in the air.
She paused as a new tributary pipe added its contribution to the main drainage stream. "This is it." She announced as she gestured for the Morlocks to head up to the surface.
They emerged outside of a newly built Sports' Drink Factory. "Now our enemy has a name." Callisto said. "Let's see if we can make our feelings known."
Cybelle smiled and laid her hands on the outer wall of the factory. It melted at her touch.
****** ****** ******
Logan and Scott sat in the bases' central head quarters facing the computerized image of a grizzled, gray-haired soldier with a cybernetic arm. "I need to know everything about Apocalypse's recent activities." The computer insisted.
"We came here because you said you knew something about him." Scott replied with a frown.
For a moment Cable and Scott glared at each other silently then Cable sighed. "I come from a future, not the one that will exist if Apocalypse succeeds." He said. "One day my world disappeared. In its place was a hell where survival was the only virtue. There were eight of us who remembered the world as it should have been. We dedicated our lives to learning what had gone wrong."
"In my time a man named Rama-Tut wanted to be worshiped a god. He took some of our most advanced technology into the distant past where he named himself Pharaoh… until his rule was overthrown by En Sabah Nur; the first mutant. With the advanced technology he took from Rama-Tut Nur became Apocalypse. In time he decided to evolve the entire world's population, he was betrayed and sealed away by his priests."
"The world we found ourselves living in began diverging from the world we'd known at the turn of the sixteenth century. Apocalypse escaped his entombment and put his plan into effect. Half the world's population died the rest were changed. With our technology at his disposal Apocalypse lived three hundred years. An average life in my world, more than long enough to irrevocably destroy civilization in the one he ruled."
"It took us years to piece together what had happened and nearly a decade to recreate the ability to travel in time. We took a virtual armory back into the past with us; if there was one thing Apocalypse's world was good at it was creating weapons. We stopped him from being freed in the sixteenth century. We were going to go home, to see if we'd restored our world…"
"Obviously we never made it." Cable finished. "I transferred my consciousness into the computer so I could survive. Since then I've watched and waited, guarding against Apocalypse's return. I have no other way left to protect my world, my future."
"You never faced Apocalypse." Scott said. He sounded disappointed. "How was he stopped the first time?"
"They caught him by surprise. He trusted them." Cable replied.
"So you brought us here because you need us." Logan stated.
"Did you have any idea of what you were facing?" Cable demanded. "We had plans if we failed to prevent Apocalypse's escape."
"Like what?" Scott asked.
"A power suppression field." Cable replied. "It still won't be easy, your own abilities will be stripped away as well and Nur was an accomplished warrior long before he gained the power of a god. It won't be easy, but you'll have a chance. If you faced him with his powers intact you would loose."
"So how do we make this suppression field?" Scott asked.
Cable shrugged. "That's the catch. We never got it to work. Your Forge is going to have to find out why it wouldn't function. The prototype is in room C-10."
****** ****** ******
Guy Spears sat at his kitchen table, his head in his hands. "Why are they doing this to me?" He asked. "Equipment destroyed, my product contaminated, the damage to the building itself…"
"What happened Uncle?" Neal asked.
"Mutant terrorists, they're practically ruining my business. Why are they targeting me? I make a sports drink for God's sake."
"I'm sorry Uncle Guy. It's probably because of me." Neal said. "They drove Greg crazy, killed Dom and that lawyer of their's has the courts acting like Duncan did something wrong by getting rid of a dangerous freak like Alvers. I'm the only one they haven't been able to get to and they're taking it out on my family."
Spears nodded. "You're probably right. I don't approve of what you and your friends did. What the hell were you thinking opening fire in the middle of a school? But your hearts were in the right place. It's a disgrace the way they made Matthew's trial about exterminating that menace instead of dealing with the real people he endangered in the process. That's why I didn't turn you in when you came to me."
"Can't you see Uncle? It's a war. Innocent people are going to get caught in the cross-fire if they insist on tolerating those monsters." Neal began.
"Shut up while you're ahead." Spears ordered. "Your fellow students didn't ask to have mutants thrust on them."
"There aren't any innocents around when they're hitting your factory." Neal said. "I've been talking with some people. They say they know how to deal with muties."
****** ****** ******
Fred knocked tentatively on Penance's door then waited. He shifted from one foot to the other. He thought about leaving.
Penance opened the door. She looked up at Fred questioningly.
"Hi Penny, um Penance. I brought you… well with your mutation it's not like you're really naked." Fred blushed. He held out a New Recruit uniform. "I thought you might be more comfortable. It's made of really tough material. It probably won't cut. I borrowed it from Tabby, she doesn't mind… um here."
Penance took the jumper from him. Fred wished he could read expressions on her sharp, angular face. He glanced over her shoulder and noticed the empty, unfriendly steel walls of her quarters. "Hey, there's this place near town. They sell these big rugs pretty cheap. Most everyone's gotten one or two to hang on their walls. It makes things cozier. I could take you if you want."
Penance turned her back on him.
"Oh, um, I guess you don't really want to go back to town after what happened?" Fred assumed. "I don't blame you. You could… well we could look at pictures on the computer. You could show me what you like then I could get it for you. Maybe not exactly the same, but I bet I could find something you'd like… well like better than bare walls anyway."
Penance held up a finger indicating Fred should wait for a moment. She shut the door. When she came back out she was wearing the jumpsuit. Delicately she extended a hand to Fred.
He took it without hesitation and led her confidently toward the base's computer center.
****** ****** ******
Callisto and the other Morlocks withdrew into the sewers, once again leaving the Power 8 factory in ruins.
"Scaleface, how bad is it?" Callisto asked.
The Morlock had already shifted back to her more humanoid form to fit through the narrow manhole. "Just bruises." She replied. "My scales are as good as a bulletproof vest… Did you get a good look at the berets those guys were wearing?"
Façade nodded as he stepped away from the wall, his skin naturally changing colors as he moved to camouflage him. "They had FoH patches, the Friends of Humanity. If there was any doubt about whether or not they're intentionally poisoning us it's been cleared up."
"There was never any doubt." Lucid said. "The only question is how do we respond to them shooting at us."
"It'll be a while before that bunch is picking up guns again." Cybelle said and a quiet chuckle passed around the group.
"There will be more where those came from." Lucid pointed out. "They're a dime a dozen."
"We'll be ready for them next time." Callisto said. "It's that simple. Upworlders are soft, but you didn't just expect them to lay down and die did you?"
