The teenagers had been flicking through the scientific journals for some time now without success. As boredom began to take hold, Vertigo had slouched lower and lower in his chair, his eyelids drooping, until the others couldn't tell whether he was awake or asleep. Atlas had the metal disc in his hand once more, studying it over and over again, unable to keep his mind on reading. Helios was trying to catch Cassandra's eye. She was the only one who was still fully concentrating on what they were supposed to be doing. As important as they knew it was, they were teenagers and it was only natural for their attention to wander at times.
At that moment Vertigo spoke, startling the others, "I think I've got something here."
"What?"
"An article about a research proposal into a metal alloy known as constantium. It – "
He was cut off suddenly as Cassandra jolted upright and cried, "We've got to get the children inside!"
"Cassie?"
"We're going to be attacked! We've got to get the kids to safety! Come on!"
Leaping to her feet she hurried to the exit. Vertigo and Atlas were right behind her. They had learned over the years not to waste time questioning Cassandra when she had a fore-flash. Helios was slightly slower to react, and he tried to catch up with them as they reached the front entrance of the school building.
"Cassandra!" he called. "What's going on?"
"The school's going to be attacked! Get the children inside!"
The four teens hurried out into the gardens, where small groups of children were playing together or relaxing and enjoying the sunshine. Following Cassandra's lead, the three guys began calling the children to come back inside. Some of the kids didn't want to, but most of them recognised the urgency in the teenagers' voices and soon the youngsters were being herded towards the mansion. Not a moment too soon, for they could begin to make out the noise of approaching helicopter blades.
"Look!" Helios yelled.
Over the trees to the south they could see three black specks in the sky that gradually became helicopters aiming straight for the school.
"Get the kids inside!" Cassandra shrieked, frantically running to grab one little boy who'd wandered away.
"Where are we taking them?" Atlas asked nervously.
"Take them down underground," Helios suggested. "They'll be safest down there."
Vertigo nodded his agreement, "Cassie, Atlas, do it. Helios, we'll try and hold them off."
As Cassandra and Atlas directed the last of the children inside the building, Vertigo called after them, "Find Gladiator and Crusader! We need them!"
"They're not here!"
"What?"
Cassandra responded, "They left ages ago and took the whore with them!"
"Where are the X-Men? Pyro?"
"They're gone too!"
The helicopters were coming into land at the bottom of the open space in the gardens. Already ropes were being thrown out the sides and men making their way down to the ground.
"Shit!" Vertigo snapped. "All right, find anyone you can who's over the age of 14. Get them out here. Hurry!"
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Gaia had been outside in the gardens when she first heard the sound of the choppers approaching. She'd been in the woods, looking for something she had little real hope of finding. One of her snakes had laid a batch of eggs, but refused to tell Chloe where they were. Chloe was determined to find the eggs, to make sure they were in no danger from predators. As she heard the helicopters and turned round to see them landing in the grounds of the mansion, her thoughts instantly shifted to predators of another kind. Some kind of instinct told her that all was not well. As fully armed men began to emerge from the choppers, she began running towards the school. What was going on here? It was clear what the men's intention was. Why were these people attacking the school? Had somebody decided to invade because the terrorist attacks were being blamed on mutants? She didn't know. She could it give no thought right now; her priority was to ensure the safety of the kids. The young children were being hurried inside by some of the older students. Chloe made as if to run after them, but then she had a better idea.
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Vertigo crouched in the scant cover provided by one of Atlas' flowering shrubs, and waited for Helios to act. The humans, whoever they were, were approaching steadily, moving in groups of three, confident but cautious at the same time, covering themselves from surprise attacks. Obviously they knew there were mutants here, and they were prepared for the unusual to strike. None of them was however prepared for Helios to suddenly appear in the open front entrance, his hand shining blinding light into their eyes. As the soldiers gasped, instinctively turning away and closing their eyes, Vertigo moved. Heading straight for the nearest trio of attackers, he chopped one of them in the side of the neck, spinning to kick another one to the ground, then punching the third man in the throat. Stunned, blinded, choking, the men stumbled backwards in shock. Vertigo was already diving for cover as bullets began to kiss the ground around him.
He chanced a glance out to see what the men were doing. Shit. Most of them had produced protective sunglasses from inside their packs. Helios' power would not be so effective this time. There were too many of them anyway. Vertigo had no idea what he was going to do. The two of them couldn't defend the school for long. Maybe he shouldn't have sent Atlas inside; the earth mutant's power would probably be useful now. Where the hell were the X-Men? Where were Gladiator and his sister? Had the attackers deliberately waited until they'd all left, or had they simply been lucky? He caught Helios' eye and yelled, "Again!"
"No way, man, they'll kill you!"
"Better me than the children! Do it!"
"No, wait, something's happening!"
Vertigo snuck another look at the approaching men. Strange. A large number of them had broken off and were heading for the woods. Had they seen something? He didn't know. All he knew was that the odds against him were no longer quite so heavy.
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"Dallas, report."
"Nothing here, sir. I don't understand. The animals were going crazy. I thought there had to be a forest fire or something."
"Forget the woods. There's nothing out there. The mutants are inside the mansion. I've sent men around the back to cut off their escape. I want you to lead the first group inside."
"Yes sir, on my way."
Dallas picked his way carefully over the grounds, stepping over objects dropped by the mutants in their hurry to get inside. Here a basketball, here a colouring book…it was quite compelling to think of these mutants as being nothing more than innocent children. But he knew that wasn't the case. They were murderers, every one of them. Why else were they launching these terrorists attacks?
"Payback time, you bastards," he muttered to himself, as he checked his gear prior to entering the building.
There had been a couple of the freaks in the garden, who'd stunned some of his men, but they'd fled inside the building and there hadn't been any sign of them since. Dallas directed four of his best men to accompany him on the initial charge inside. The cold fingers of apprehension tickled their way down his spine as he approached the entrance. There were all sorts of rumours about mutants. Who could guess what sort of abilities the freaks in this place had? Dallas forced his fears aside. He wasn't afraid of the freaks. He was prepared for anything.
He kicked the front door open. Half-tensing himself against an immediate attack, he was both relieved and suspicious to see the hallway beyond completely empty. If it had been him defending the building, he'd have hit the invaders once as they opened the door, then run for cover. Huh. Maybe the mutants weren't all that smart. He indicated two of his men to go to the right, and two more to go to the left. He himself continued down the main hallway. Once they'd secured the areas immediately accessible from the entrance, he'd send the signal that it was safe to enter.
He saw movement. Up ahead was a mutant! She turned and hurried through the nearest doorway as he raised his weapon. Dallas hurried forward in pursuit. Following her through the door, he found the freak inside the room beyond, standing by the far wall. There were animals in water tanks and cages around the room. There were no other exits apart from the window, but she didn't have enough time to get there. A predatory smile crossed his face. The first dead mutant was his. Ought to be worth a few bucks in the way of a bonus…
"Any last words, freak?" he smirked as he raised his rifle to aim at her head.
An odd sort of smile was on her face, "You might want to look behind you…"
He laughed, "Oldest trick in the book, freak. You must think humans are pretty fucking dumb."
Had the man turned around, he might have seen the baby cobra as it sprang from the shelf above his head, its tiny hood spreading as it landed on his neck, its long venomous fangs sinking into his flesh. He screamed, dropped to his knees, then slumped to his side, convulsed for a few moments, and eventually lay dead.
Chloe hurried forward and gently picked up the infant serpent, stroking the back of its head, "Thank you. You saved my life."
The cobra slithered up her arm to rest on her shoulder, ready to protect her again if necessary. Chloe spoke quietly to the rest of the animals in her room, "I need your help. I need all of you to help me protect the children."
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The two men who'd taken the right hand fork stopped when they heard their leader scream.
"Shit, a mutant got him!"
"Quick, we'd better go help him!"
"No, no, we have to secure this area. Call for reinforcements."
"But he might be dead by the time they get here!"
"We can't go against protocol!"
The two men were so busy arguing, neither of them spotted the black widow spider as it crawled across the floor towards them. Climbing on to the leg of one man, it searched for an area of unprotected flesh and sunk its jaws into his skin.
"Ow! What the fuck – "
The man stumbled, and the spider was already heading for his compatriot. Neither man ever knew what killed them, as the silent black arachnid administered another deadly poisonous bite. From around the corner Chloe came running, stepping over the dead men, kneeling down to let the spider crawl into her hand. From there it scuttled up her arm to sit on her other shoulder. Chloe was beginning to worry now. Where were the children? She hadn't seen any sign of them since hurrying into the mansion through one of the secret doors. She could only hope that Helios and the Brotherhood teenagers had taken the youngsters somewhere safe. Chloe thought quickly: what to do next? Oculus was still downstairs using Cerebro, and there was no way to get his attention until he disconnected his mind from the machine. Should she stay here and try to hold a position, or look everywhere until she found the children?
Gaia looked over her shoulder as she heard a buzzing sound, and then a smile crossed her face. Some of her friends from the forest had caught up with her.
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Outside, the man known as Nine was growing impatient. He barked into his radio, "Dallas! Where the hell are you?"
There was no response. Angrily he signalled another group of men, "Go inside and see what's become of him. Be careful – we have no idea what these freaks are capable of. Report back the moment you see anything out of the ordinary."
As the men hurried inside, he was beginning to wonder if he hadn't underestimated the mutants. He'd assumed they were just schoolteachers. Could there be more to them than that? Was this actually some kind of facility for training mutants to kill? No. Mutants didn't need to be trained to kill. They were born with it. It was all the scum knew how to do.
"Sir?" came the voice of one of his searchers over the radio.
He grabbed it, "What can you tell me?"
"Dallas is dead, sir. So're the others."
"What happened?"
"Looks like a snake got him…I don't get it, sir."
"What about the others?"
"Poisoned, I think. Two of them had their throats cut. Sir, I'm not sure if I like – hey, what the hell?! No, no-o-o – "
There was a buzzing sound that gradually grew louder, the sound of gunfire, then loud, terrified screams, and the man known as Nine knew that his search party was dead.
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Gaia stepped unharmed through the swarm of furious hornets, some of whom continued to sting the bodies of the men who were already dead. Gently she cupped her hands around the leader of the swarm, and spoke words of thanks. The baby cobra on her shoulder watched the insects apprehensively. The black widow spider sitting on her other shoulder stirred restlessly. The hornets formed into a protective formation around her.
Chloe had always felt completely at ease with even the deadliest creatures in the world. This was partly because she had some control over animals, but also because her power enabled her to understand the way God's other creations thought. People always feared what they didn't understand. Chloe understood exactly why animals did what they did, so had no reason to fear them. It was like fearing foreigners; once you understood their culture you didn't have a problem. Animals were no different. Most of them just wanted to be left alone. Very few if any creatures actually sought to hurt humans.
She looked up as she realised one of the stung men was staggering to his feet in agony. He was still alive, and desperately shambling towards the exit. His clothing was in tatters from multiple hornet stings and he was leaving a thick trail of blood in his wake, but nevertheless he was still walking. The hornets began to swarm after him, but Chloe called them back, "No, no…let him go. Maybe if the ones outside see what's waiting for them, they'll leave us alone."
Naivete and optimism were also among Chloe's notable personality traits. As the small wolf cub, which had slit the throats of two other unwary attackers, scampered out nervously towards her, she knelt down to stroke its fur and whisper reassurance into its ears. The cub had lost its mother to human hunters, and Chloe had adopted it the moment she found it cowering helplessly beside its mother's dead body. She had adopted the baby cobra after rescuing it from an animal research group. The black widow and the hornets were native to the area, and she'd found them on two of her many explorations of the surrounding woodlands. She remembered how alarmed Scott and Ororo had been at the prospect of these deadly creatures loose inside the school, but Chloe had insisted the animals would harm nobody. What if she were to lose control of them, they had asked. It would be no more dangerous than a stray optic blast or lightning strike that either of them were to lose control of, Chloe had countered.
Control. That was probably the one thing above all they tried to impress upon the children. How to control their powers, how to control their feelings, how to keep themselves in control and to act responsibly. Mutations were dangerous and often unstable, and that was why most people didn't trust those who possessed them. If only humans could trust mutants to use their powers responsibly, then there would be no discord. If only all mutants could be brought together to believe in peace with the rest of humanity. If only people like Stryker and Magneto could not infect people with their hatred. If only evil had no place in the world. Chloe sighed. As much as she believed in peace, she knew she had no choice but to do what she was doing now: to kill the invaders to keep the children safe. She had to find out where the kids were. Surrounded by her personal guard, Chloe began hurrying deeper into the mansion, looking for some sign that the children had come this way.
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The man known as Nine was alerted as the half-dead member of his search party came groaning and staggering out of the front entrance to the mansion. Two others ran to support him, and Nine moved forward.
"What happened?" he demanded.
"Hornets…" was all the man could moan through blood-caked lips.
"What?"
"Hornets…and – and a woman…"
"A woman?"
"She's in there…a mutant…she calls the animals and they obey her…hornets…"
He mumbled something else incomprehensible before choking up blood and dying in the arms of the men who were holding him upright. Nine's anger rose, "All right, everyone get ready. We're going in. We've all got anti-venom serum, so use it. Remember, normal bounty rules apply for these freaks."
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The situation on the underground floor of the mansion was one of growing panic. As hard as Cassandra tried to keep the children calm, to get them to think of this as a kind of hide and seek game, the fear that she and the others were feeling had to be spreading. Some youngsters were crying, and some were pleading to go back upstairs.
"What are we gonna do?" an agitated Atlas demanded.
Vertigo was the only one with the necessary self-control to keep his anxiety from showing on his face. Whether for this reason or some other, everybody was looking to him as a leader. He turned to Helios, "We've put the elevator out of commission so they can't use it. Is there any other way to get out of here?"
"Only the tunnel you guys dug in here, but it's been filled in. We haven't got around to replacing the adamantium shield yet."
"I could open it up again," Atlas suggested.
Vertigo nodded, "Do it. We'll sneak out behind the humans and kill them unawares. Helios, you stay here and guard our retreat if we need it. Cassie can stay with the kids; she's doing a good job."
He could see that the children trusted Cassandra in a way that they didn't extend to any of the other teens. He wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because she was a girl and had strong maternal instincts. Most of the kids had had to grow up without the love of a maternal figure, and maybe Cassandra was a substitute for many of them. He didn't have any time to think about it right now. Atlas had already hurried over to where the end of Mole's tunnel had once been, and was using his power to disturb the filled-in earth and open up the passageway once more.
"Vertigo!"
He turned to see Cassandra tugging on his arm, a look of horror crossing her face, as she hissed urgently, "Vertigo, Acceleratus isn't here!"
"She's not?"
"No! And I think two other kids are missing as well! I can't find Turtle or Phobia!"
"Where are they?"
"We must have lost them upstairs! I'm going back up to get them!"
She hurried towards the elevator, but Vertigo got there first and held her back, "No, you stay down here with the rest of the kids and keep them from panicking. I'll go up."
"I'm going with you," said Helios.
"Right. Atlas, keep working on the tunnel."
"Be careful!" Cassandra implored them. "Please find Accel before anything can happen to her!"
"We will. Don't worry."
Vertigo reconnected the power circuits to the elevator, then he and Helios stepped inside. Just a minute ago, going back up into the mansion had been the last thing on Earth either of them wanted to do. It would have been an insane and suicidal venture – it still was – but now they knew they had no other choice. Three of the smallest children were still up there, and there was no alternative but to go up and look for them.
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Nine was furious. He was used to planning strikes like this to perfection, anticipating every possible reaction and any potential problems, and coming up with responses to each. He was used to knowing the exact strengths of his own force and the opposing force, and how to utilise his strengths and their weaknesses. He was used to enemies who had the same limitations he had. In short, he was not used to fighting mutants. He'd assumed the number of mutants inside the building was small, otherwise they would be out here driving him off. He had expected that a large massed attacking force from front and rear would be able to overwhelm the freaks inside, no matter what powers they might have. Things did not start well. His advance party hadn't even reached the building before they were attacked by a group of swooping birds – ravens or crows, he couldn't tell which – snapping and pecking at them. At least three men were blinded as a result, stumbling about in agony with their hands covering their eyes, blood pouring through the gaps between their fingers. It was now obvious that the freaks had to be controlling these animals and using them for defence. Nine was again angry and uncertain. He had plenty of experience hunting animals, but not animals being instructed by human minds. He had no idea how to react to this situation. He could not believe he was being outthought and slowly worn down through losses by a bunch of schoolteachers.
Dammit, he thought, I'm supposed to be the best there is. That's the reason why One recruited me in the first place. That's why I left the Special Forces to set up my own mercenary unit. This can't be happening!
He resisted the urge to order another all-out attack. He had to think clearly. He couldn't react in anger. That would get him and the others killed. That was the mistake he had made before.
"Rogers, go get the heavy weaponry from Chopper Two."
"Yessir!"
Rogers and two other men hurried across the gardens of the estate, to where the three military-class transport helicopters were slowly rotating their blades, ready to take off again at a moment's notice. The heavy weaponry, the stuff they'd brought but hadn't expected they would need to use, was in the second chopper. The three men manhandled the two crates out on to the ground, and opened them up. The other two men picked up the chain-guns. Rogers let a smirk cross his face as he grabbed hold of a flamethrower. It was time for some serious payback.