"Gemini?"
She looked up from where she was lovingly checking and retying the bandage on her father's hand. Vertigo sat down beside them, and nodded to the wound, "Ask Oculus to heal that."

"I'd rather not," said Pyro.

"Why not?"

"Because his power does things other than healing. It affects your mind as well, influences you. Makes you think more favourably about him. I'm not convinced he wouldn't use it against me, to try and gain a hold over me."

"He can do that?"

Without replying, Pyro stood and headed towards the mansion. Vertigo shrugged, then turned to Gemini, "Are you OK?"

"Get away from me," she snapped.

"I'm sorry?"

"You heard me. I don't ever want to talk to you again."

Confusion reigned in his mind, then he realised, "Ah – is this because of what happened last night?"

"What do you think?"

"Gem, I'm sorry about what happened. I'm sorry you had to relive those memories. If I'd had any idea what was going to happen – if I'd known what Van Gaarde had done to you – "

"You're no better than him!" she said hatefully. "I told you three times I wanted to stop, but you wouldn't let it stop! You didn't care what it might do to me! I was trying to stop it from happening but you wouldn't let me! You practically raped me too!"

"No! No, it was nothing like that at all!"

"Maybe not for you," she snapped. "You're not the one who might have become pregnant, are you? That's right, it never even occurred to you, did it? Oh no, you're too busy thinking 'Gemini isn't wearing panties to bed so she'll go down in a flash'. If I hadn't had my flashback and started screaming, I might be carrying your baby right now! I hate you, Vertigo!" then her voice softened, "You hurt me, you know that? You ruined what I thought was something special between us. You really, really hurt me…"

"Look, I honestly thought you were OK with it…"

"I was tired! I was confused! I'm messed up and you took advantage of me! Didn't it ever occur to you that I might have other things on my mind than getting laid? Didn't you ever think I was happy just sitting there and being friends? Why does every guy I meet seem to think he's in some kind of race to be the first to get my panties down? Why…"

There were no more words, and she turned away, furiously wiping away the traitor tears that appeared in her eyes. Vertigo gently put his hand on her shoulder, but she slapped him away, "Get away from me, or I'll tell my dad you tried to rape me."

He drew back, and sighed, "I'm sorry."

"You're not sorry. You don't care about me," Gemini snapped, then sadly she said. "I thought you did. I really thought you cared about me. I really thought I'd found someone who could love me for who I was, rather than for my face or my body. I was really happy because I thought we could start something that would last forever. Because I'm tired of being told I'm pretty. It's because I'm pretty that I was raped by him…"

"Gemini…"

"Shut up! I can't believe you had so little respect for me! You obviously think I'm just some little sex toy who'll satisfy your every carnal urge! Well I'm not! I thought of you as a friend and maybe even like an older brother too, somebody who would protect me and who'd be there for me when I needed them! I thought you were one of the few people who didn't just want me on my back!"

Then she sighed heavily, her anger having burned up, "You're such a bastard. Just get away from me. Don't ever try and talk to me again."

Standing, she walked away, ignoring any responses that he might have made. Gemini waited until she had turned the corner of the school and was alone. Then she sank down, put her head between her knees, and let the tears flow fully. She felt betrayed. She'd thought he genuinely cared for her. She'd been wrong. He only wanted one thing. All men were the same. She would never find anyone who would care for her. They would all simply want to get her on her back as fast as possible. She didn't want that. She didn't want sex. She'd missed out on two whole years of growing up, and at fourteen she wasn't ready for that. She wanted an innocent, caring relationship with a guy who would be a friend instead of just a lover. She'd thought she had that relationship with Vertigo. She had been so happy until he started…well, she didn't even want to think about it any more. Now their relationship was ruined, the innocence and happiness destroyed. She doubted it could ever be rebuilt. She would never be able to trust him again.

As he watched her hurrying away, Vertigo wasn't sure exactly what he felt. There was some guilt there. He knew it was his fault that she'd been forced to relive her painful memories. And yes, a potential pregnancy and thus the need for contraceptives hadn't occurred to him. But still – he hadn't exactly had to tie her down or anything. He'd genuinely thought she was happy to make love. She hadn't been wearing panties and she hadn't exactly gone to great lengths to hide that fact. Surely if she hadn't wanted sex, she'd have said so a lot earlier. He suspected she'd been happy enough to begin with…but then the enormity of it had hit her as soon as she was on her back. He remembered the smile on her face, and he realised now it hadn't been the seductive smirk of a young woman enjoying the foreplay. It had been the happy, innocent smile of a young girl who thought they were just playing around. Vertigo sighed. He reminded himself that he was two years older than Gemini, and perhaps he was ready for things that she wasn't. Not that it mattered any more. She hated him now. Any potential relationship they might have had, seemed doomed now. He gave a cynical chuckle. He'd actually allowed himself to become happy at the thought of dating Gemini. It had fallen apart quickly enough. How tedious and predictable life was. Nothing ever went right for him.

Should he try and speak to her? No. At least, not for some time. She was upset and angry with him, and she had sounded sincere when she'd threatened to tell Pyro what had happened. It wasn't so much that he was afraid of what Pyro might do. The fact was he had great respect for the man, and hated the idea that Pyro would think badly of him. He should do what Gemini asked, and leave her alone. It was clear that it wasn't going to work between them. He didn't even know why he'd bothered in the first place. Love isn't for me. There's no point in pretending otherwise. I don't think I'll ever find a girl who sees things the way I do. Besides, love isn't worth it. Hate is more powerful and more enduring. Love can fall in part in a second but hate can last for a thousand years. Hate will always dominate the world and shape our lives.

And besides, everybody knows you should never sleep with the boss's daughter. His shoulders slumping as he put his hands in his pockets, Vertigo half-closed his eyes and wandered aimlessly, lazily back towards the mansion.

-

She heard footsteps, and then, "Gemini?"

From his voice she knew Atlas was standing over her. She didn't even acknowledge his presence. Seemingly she couldn't move three feet without somebody else wanting to use her as a sex toy.

"There's – um – something I want to show you," he said awkwardly.

Something made her look up and into his eyes. She didn't know what it was. Perhaps it was the earnest shyness in his voice, so different from the confident silver-tongued tone Vertigo normally used. Gemini was tired of guys who used charming words and false smiles to trick her. At least Atlas wasn't like that. What little he said was generally unvarnished truth.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I'll show you."

She was in no mood for any male company, but she mellowed slightly when she recalled that he had probably saved their lives with that quicksand thing. Maybe she owed him at least to find out what it was he wanted. And she was happy to be with anyone other than Vertigo after what had just happened. She stood, and nodded to him. He led the way, into the woods. Gemini had never spent any time in here, and she hoped he knew where he was going. All the trees looked the same to her. She'd have gotten lost within minutes. Where were they going? Was he leading her to some secluded spot in the forest, away from everyone else, away from Dad, so he could try to make love to her? Part of her suspected as much.

"Mind your head here," said Atlas.

She ducked underneath some overhanging tree branches, and found herself in an opening of sorts in the midst of the trees. It was in shade apart from one small spot in the centre, where a ray of sunlight poked its way through the overhanging branches and illuminated a small section of the forest floor. That was where Atlas was heading. He stopped just in front of it, and Gemini said, "Well? What are you showing me?"

He nodded to the small section of lighted ground in front of them, and knelt down. Gemini did the same. And then she saw it. In the centre of the illuminated circle was a single flower. Its blossom was of a curious bell-shaped structure, and its petals were a brilliant sapphire blue, catching the light from the sun just perfectly. It was the most beautiful flower she'd ever seen…she leaned forward to take a closer look.

"Well, what do you – um – what do you think?" he asked nervously.

"It's wonderful…" she said softly, touching one of the petals lightly. "Atlas – I've never seen anything like this before – where did you find it?"

"I didn't. Actually, I – um – bred it."

"Oh…does it have a name?"

He looked away shyly, "Uh, yeah, it's – I call it, um, the Gemini flower."

"Gemini as in – ?"

"As in you, yes. I – " he hesitated. " – I grew this specially for you. Look. See how the bells grow in identical pairs? They're twins. And the petals are the same shade of blue as that dress you like wearing. It's the colour I always associate with you."

She looked at him strangely for a moment, then she looked back at the flower, "You grew this for me? Why?"

"Because – because it's the only way I can express my feelings for you properly. I don't have a great way with words like Vertigo. I'm not a great hero like Gladiator. I can't inspire people like Pyro. For a long time I've wanted to let you know how I felt about you. This is the only way I could see to do it."

She sighed heavily, and drew back from the flower, "And now this is the part where you try and get into my panties."

"What? No," he said in surprise. "You're not listening to me. I – look, I really don't know how to say this. I really am useless with words. OK, I'll try again. Gemini, you like this flower because it looks nice, right?"

"Yeah…"

"For me it's different. I love it because of the time and care that I put into growing and nurturing it. I love it because of the way it responded to my care. I love it because – well, for the same reasons I love you."

"You've lost me," she said.

He swallowed nervously, "I really like you, OK, but I don't think I feel love in the way other people do. I would love you in the same way I love this flower. I would care for you, nurture you and cherish you. I would be there to help you when you weren't doing well. I would – I would be happy simply knowing that I made you happy, in the same way I'm happy because I made this flower what it is."

He closed his eyes and looked away. He'd said it all now. All of the powerful emotion that he'd been keeping inside of him, was now out in the open. He hadn't been able to hide it any longer. Now Gemini probably thought he was crazy. He'd been an idiot to think that he could translate his feelings into something she could understand, even using the flower as a visual aid. He looked down at it sadly. He'd taken so much pride and happiness in growing the flower. Now Gemini was going to laugh in his face and the flower would only ever serve as a reminder of it.

"Um," she said. "I – I may have misjudged you in the past. If that's true, I apologise. I thought you were just like the rest, only interested in me for one thing. And – and a lot of what you just said doesn't make any sense to me. I don't think I'll ever understand or share the bond you have with nature. But I think I understand what you're trying to say. I think you're looking for the same thing I am: just to love someone, and for that to be enough."

Atlas nodded, and stuck out his hand, "Friends?"

They clasped hands for a second, and she smiled, "Yeah."

Now that the ice was finally broken between them, both of the teenagers relaxed. She said, "So how long have you had this gift with flowers? Is it part of your mutation? When did you discover your power?"

"Uh – I think I was eleven years old. I was abandoned at birth, like the others, and lived at an orphanage. The other kids knew what I was and they hated me, but I was happy spending time alone. The orphanage was right next to a patch of woodland owned by some millionaire. He used to let us play there, provided we didn't make any mess or steal anything. Anyway, I used to walk into the woods to get away from everyone else, and I'd take my sketch book with me. I'd spend hours just drawing pictures of flowers and trees. You'd probably find that boring, but – well, I guess we're different."

She smiled at him, happy just to be listening to his story, contented that she had at last found someone who wanted to be her friend first and her lover second.

"Anyway, one day I found a flower that was more beautiful than anything I'd ever seen before. I'd just started sketching it, when a group of the human kids showed up. They obviously saw I was happy, and they couldn't have that. They pulled up the flower, trampled on it, and tore up my sketches."

Gemini's mouth opened in dismay, "So what did you do?"

"Well – I killed them."

"You what?"

"You have to realise the way I feel about plants. I know I sound crazy, but they mean as much to me as mutants mean to Pyro, or animals mean to Gaia, or humans mean to the X-Men. To me, flowers and plants and trees are the most important form of life. I don't care if there isn't another person in the world who agrees with me. It's what I believe and I won't stop believing it. When I was in the Brotherhood and trying to kill the humans, it was because I wanted to protect the natural world from being polluted any further. I killed the humans who tore up that flower. I was so angry I didn't even know what I was doing. I split the earth open and it swallowed them up."

"What happened then? Did you get in trouble?"

"I ran. I just wanted to get away from there as fast as possible. I don't know how long I spent on the run, living quite literally off the land, but eventually Pyro – your dad – found me. He brought me to the island and you know the rest."

"Yeah…hey, Atlas."

"Yeah?"

"Does anyone else know about this place? About this flower?"

"No, I – um – I was hoping it could be our little secret place. Somewhere we can come when we want to be alone, when we want to feel the peace of nature around us."

"Sounds good. You'll have to teach me how to find my way here though."

He grinned. She gave a happy laugh, and shifted her weight until she was resting against him. Atlas' hand encircled her shoulder. Neither of them tried to go any further, to make any more physical contact. Neither of them wanted to. Both were content just to sit together and pretend they were alone in the world.

-

-

-

In the total pitch blackness a figure sat, leaning against the hard tiled wall. There was no light and no sound, and hadn't been for all the time the figure had been awake. How long had it been? How long had this imprisonment lasted? Hours? Days? Years? There was no way to tell. It was like one long never-ending dream.

Where am I? Who am I?

A twitching sensation came from the palms of the hands.

Ha, ha. Why can't I remember anything? Why can't I remember who I am?

The twitching sensation continued. Clenching the hands into fists, it went away.

Maybe I'm nobody. Maybe I'm dead and nobody told God. Ha, ha, that's funny.

A few minutes passed without any more ideas. Then:

Why am I here? How long have I been here?

A sudden light-headedness, and a sluggishness of the limbs. Overhead a gas of some sort was hissing into the interior of the darkness. The figure slumped over sideways as unconsciousness began to overcome. At the very last moment before complete blackness, at the very edge of perception, there was something: a light? A sound? Voices?

"This one's lethal, so treat it with extreme caution."

An impatient sigh, "Yeah, Doc, we know."

A call from afar, "Dr Cartëasis!"

Ha, ha, Cartëasis…Car…Car…

And then there was nothing.

-

-

-

Crusader, Gladiator and Aqua were still cautiously moving around the large mansion owned by the corrupt admiral who was responsible for the death of Aqua's family. Before starting to explore the house, they'd first tried to get an idea of how many people were there. From the state of things downstairs, it seemed that McKenzie had been throwing some kind of dinner party. That would explain the large number of expensive cars parked outside. Most of the guests had left, but a small number were still present, presumably at the admiral's invitation, perhaps to discuss some business proposal or simply to share cigars and a bottle of brandy, or whatever these guys did on this sort of occasion. In the dining room and kitchen, staff were busy cleaning up after the meal, and McKenzie and his friends seemed to have retreated into a smoking room near the front entrance.

Aqua hadn't noticed it at first, but she could now definitely tell that both her friends seemed more than somewhat distracted. She guessed it had be that thing, whatever it was, that was somewhere inside the building. It had to be interfering with their telepathy and confusing them, exhausting their minds. It seemed to her that her friends were beginning to worry too. Obviously they had never encountered anything like this before, and it was making them uncomfortable. Aqua felt nothing out of the ordinary, but then she didn't have any telepathic senses to be affected by it. She watched, with growing concern, as both Crusader and Gladiator put both hands to their temple and shut their eyes, wincing and groaning as if they were suffering from an excruciating headache. Was that what it felt like? She had no way of knowing.

Aqua was alerted to the sound of footsteps coming from around the corner in the darkness. A flickering torch-light pierced the shadows at the end of the perpendicular corridor. They'd concluded there were a number of guards patrolling both the inside and outside of the mansion. This had to be one of them. Aqua looked at Crusader, waiting for her to tell them what to do and how to hide from the guard. To her surprise and dismay, Crusader appeared to be completely unaware of the guard's approach. Bent almost double, her hands pressed to her forehead, the older girl was gasping and tensing as the unknown force assailed her telepathic mind. Aqua turned to see her boyfriend in the same condition.

"Guys…" she whispered.

Neither of them responded.

What's going on? What's wrong with them?

The guard's footsteps grew increasingly louder as he approached the turn. Within moments he would spot them and doubtless raise the alarm. Aqua looked around for somewhere they might hide. Not far away a door was lying ajar, and she hurried over to look inside. Good. It was a small, apparently disused storeroom. Aqua ran back to her friends, and quickly guided them into the small room. Neither seemed entirely aware of what was happening, but neither tried to resist as she pulled them inside. Closing the door behind her, Aqua listened for the sound of the guard going past. When his footsteps had disappeared and she thought it was safe to emerge, she was about to reach for the door handle when a dual voice came from behind her.

"Aqua?" they both said.

She looked round. Her friends seemed to have recovered from whatever had afflicted them.

"Are you – are you all right?" she whispered.

"We think so," both responded.

"What – what happened?"

It was Crusader who answered, "It's getting worse. Whatever it is that's affecting our telepathy, it's getting worse. Maybe we're getting closer to the source. For a few moments it was so overwhelming we couldn't think straight at all."

"How did we get in here?" said Gladiator.

"A guard almost found us, and I had to – had to drag you in here."

"Good thinking," Crusader approved. "You'll have to stay on your toes. If this continues to get worse, we might lose control again. We'll need to rely on you to get us out of any danger."

"You can c – count on me."

"Let's keep going."

She looked through the walls to find out where the guard was, and saw him continuing his patrol, heading away from them. It was safe to leave the room, so the three of them went back out into the main corridor. Instantly both of them felt the affects of the telepathic inhibitor once more. Both winced.

"We have to shut this off, whatever it is," said Gladiator. "We can't go on like this."

"Agreed," said Crusader. "We think we've determined more or less where it is: on the ground floor, at the back of the house…"

"…or it could be in the basement…"

"…we're not sure."

"What's the quickest way down there?"

"The main staircase…"

"…but there are guards stationed there…"

"…so we'll have to distract them."

Aqua blinked. Listening to them talk, it was almost like listening to one person talk to him or herself. Their minds being linked meant that they could tell instantly what the other was thinking, and pick up and expand on each other's thoughts. They were still changing, growing closer together, ceasing to be two and becoming one. Aqua was still afraid of them changing irreversibly, and losing the two people she cared for most in the world.

Making their way through the house in the darkness, the teenagers found themselves crouched in the shadows at the top of the wide, richly-carpeted set of stairs that led down to the floor below. At the bottom, as they'd already known, two guards were in position. Once again they pondered the reason for the presence of the guards. Was McKenzie just concerned with protecting his house and his property? Or was there something else here, something that he wanted to keep hidden? There was no doubt he had his secrets. Aqua's dead relatives were testimony to that. But what exactly was he trying to keep under cover? What exactly was he stealing from the Navy's research labs? Where were those objects going? Was he keeping them himself? Was he selling them to terrorists? Why had the man down on the Florida beachfront been so ready to kill himself with his poison tooth? Why was McKenzie able to command that level of loyalty in his men? There had to be something else going on here, but the young mutants didn't know what it was. Was there somebody else involved, somebody bigger than McKenzie, somebody who could command people to kill themselves to protect a secret?

"Get ready to move," Crusader whispered. "When I distract the guards, we have to hurry down the stairs and duck into that room there – see it? – before they can turn round and see us. They won't be distracted for long."

"What if they – what if they hear us?"

"It's a carpet floor. They won't. Ready?"

"Yeah, r – ready."

Crusader extended her hand. On the floor below, one of the doors opened and closed noisily. The guards reacted with surprise, and instinctively began to move towards the door, to see who was there. Before the men could begin to act logically or follow protocol, the three teenagers ran silently down the carpeted stairs and through the doorway Crusader had pointed out a second ago. Carefully she pushed it closed behind them. Outside, the puzzled guards went back to their station at the bottom of the stairs. There'd been nobody at the door. They assumed it had been the wind. There were no windows around here, but there seemed no other explanation. Soon they forgot about it.

"This is the ground floor," Crusader whispered. "I think the machine – whatever it is – we're looking for is at the other end of the house. If we're careful, we should be able to get there without meeting any more guards."

They moved off again, slipping from room to room, keeping a careful eye out to ensure they did not run into anybody else on patrol. Down on the ground floor they also ran the risk of bumping into staff or guests or the admiral himself, but with their X-ray eyesight the two Rosiçkys were well enough forewarned of any potential encounters. They could no longer rely on their telepathy to warn them of anyone approaching. The inhibiting force, now even stronger on the ground floor, was almost completely 'muffling' their mind power. Struggling onwards, they led Aqua to where they sensed the force emanating from. By this time both of them were so overwhelmed and confused, they were almost entirely reliant on the water girl to guide them away from potential dangers and encounters.

Eventually they found their way to a small square-shaped room in the corner of the house. This was where the inhibiting force seemed strongest, and Aqua cautiously pushed open the door. There was nobody inside. She guided her friends inside the room, and with a supreme force of will the two Rosiçkys managed to focus on their surroundings. There was a light switch just inside the door, and Aqua flicked it on as she closed the door behind them.

"Is this – is this where it is?"

"We think so. We'll need to hunt for it and deactivate it."

The three of them began to conduct a search of the room. This was not an easy task, given none of them had the slightest idea what the machine looked like, or even what size it was. This room appeared to be an office of sorts, with a large expensive-looking desk taking up the central area, and bookcases and filing cabinets lining the walls. On the desk sat a computer and a pile of documents. After some minutes, as Crusader was checking one side of the room, she suddenly stopped and frowned, "I think this wall is fake."

"Eh?"

"I think there's a hidden room behind here," she forced her eyes to look through the wall. "Yeah – it's pitch black inside, but I think there's something there."

"That must be where the machine is hidden."

"How do we – how do we get it open?"

"There must be a switch somewhere. Wait – I'm trying to find the mechanism that opens it. I should be able to trace the source from following the wires if it's an electrical device. If it's hydraulic or something else, there'll be some other trail I can track."

As she did this, Gladiator took the opportunity to glance through the walls at the rest of the house to make sure nobody was about to walk in on them. It seemed they were more or less alone at this end of the house.

"We should take a look at the computer. We might find something on it," Gladiator suggested.

Crusader nodded distractedly, "Good idea."

He moved round the desk to sit in front of the computer, Aqua looking over his shoulder. Switching it on, they were greeted with a login prompt.

"We need a password," Gladiator said. "Damn it, I'm no good at this."

"L – let me try," said Aqua. "Chris – I mean Shapeshifter – taught me a little bit about how to – how to hack computers."

They changed places and she sat down in front of the computer. Then a little smile appeared on her face, "I – I recognise the software he's using. It has a number of – of fatal security flaws. This will be easy."

Within a couple of minutes, Aqua was logged into McKenzie's computer and searching his hard drive.

"What are we l – looking for, exactly?"

"Any kind of log he might keep of his activities, I suppose. Failing that, details of the research projects he's working on. That might give us some clues."

"I'll take a look at his – at his E-mails, too."

"Yeah, good one."

He left her to get on with it. Standing, Gladiator watched as his sister tried to trace the mechanism that would open the door to the hidden room. What would they find inside? Was there a stash of stolen research artefacts? Was there something that would explain why McKenzie had gone to such lengths as to kill the Forrester family and still be targeting Aqua? Was there some connection with the mysterious force that was apparently directing terrorist attacks around the world?

"How are you doing?" he asked his girlfriend.

"Not so good," Aqua replied. "The files are – are all encrypted."

"I thought you said this was going to be easy."

"Gaining access to the operating system was easy. Defeating the encryption and opening the files is – is a completely different matter. They're two entirely i – independent layers of security. I should – I should really take these files back home with me, and let Chris look at them."

From a seemingly invisible pocket in her uniform, she produced a small device that she inserted into the computer.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Chris makes them. It's kind of like an advanced form of floppy disk. It holds over four hundred gigabytes of data."

Gladiator pretended he knew what that meant. Glancing at Aqua once more, he was once more amazed by the utilitarian aspects of the X-Men uniforms. The black outfit hugged his girlfriend's attractive figure tightly, yet there were no bulges or protrusions anywhere to suggest where she was hiding all this equipment. Already he had seen her using a pair of binoculars as well as the disk that was now downloading data from the computer's hard drive. For a moment he found himself wishing that he had one of these uniforms himself, but he soon squashed that thought. I'm a Brother, not an X-Man. They've got some cool stuff but that doesn't make them better than us. Their ideals are still as shaky as a leaf.

Then he thought, besides, I bet she's boiling hot inside that thing. Is she actually wearing anything under there?

Thoughts of Aqua being completely naked apart from the black leather outfit flitted into his mind, and he fought to push them away. I can't think about my girlfriend that way. It isn't right. While she waited for the computer's data to be transferred to the disk, Aqua smiled up at him. They exchanged no words; they didn't need to. Sometimes just a smile said enough on its own.

At that moment they heard a grating sound, and both looked over to see the wall at the back of the room sliding to one side. Crusader was kneeling down at the other side of the office, "The switch was under the carpet. There was a loose patch just here."

"So we've opened the secret room…"

The computer had finished downloading on to the disk, and Aqua slipped it back inside her uniform. Cautiously the three of them approached the dark opening that had just been revealed. Unfortunately the overhead light in the office was weak and did not illuminate the secret room. Crusader produced a compact flashlight from somewhere on her person (Gladiator was now determined to steal one of the uniforms some day to find out exactly how all this gear fitted inside) and stepped inside the hidden space. It looked to be about the same size as the office itself. Crusader's torch beam flitted about the interior, looking for something that might be a good place to start investigating. A second torch beam lit up the interior as Aqua pulled hers out too. A sheaf of documents on a makeshift table caught their attention. Crusader moved forward to investigate it while Aqua's light danced about the darkened room for a few moments, eventually coming to rest on some crates stacked in the corner. She and Gladiator went to take a closer look.

"These must be some of the artefacts he's stolen from research projects," Gladiator said, as the torch beam illuminated the words on the sides of the boxes.

Advanced Tactical Guidance System, Artificial Respiratory Implants, Constantium Samples #1-5, Prototype Fusion Engine, and Electromagnetic Pulse Weaponry were just a few of the names they read. Obviously these boxes contained either notes or parts pertaining to the respective topic. Clearly McKenzie had stolen them and was hiding them here, but for what purpose? Was he selling them on? Was he planning to develop his own advanced weaponry? Did he then sell that on? Gladiator pulled the lid off one of the boxes and glanced inside out of curiosity. Crusader had produced a tiny digital camera from inside her uniform somewhere, and was busy taking snapshots of the documents she'd found on the table. Hopefully there was something useful there.

"The source of whatever is blocking our telepathy has to be here somewhere," said Gladiator.

Aqua's light danced about the secret room for a few moments, but they soon ascertained there was nothing else there. The only objects being concealed here were the documents Crusader was busy studying, and the crates which Gladiator was beginning to investigate.

"Annie – I mean Cr – Crusader…what do you – what do you have there?"

Crusader frowned, "I'm not sure. It looks like blueprints for a vessel of some kind…presumably it belongs to the Navy."

"I think I've found it," came Gladiator's voice suddenly.

"Found – found what?"

"The source. The telepathic inhibitor. I don't know what it is, but it must be in one of these crates."

Crusader glanced at her friends in the darkness, "Our telepathy is now completely blanked out. We can't even sense you. It's taking all our concentration just to keep our mind on what we're doing…"

The only way the two Rosiçkys had been able to keep themselves in control had been simply to 'switch off' their telepathic senses. That went some way to negating the confusing and befuddling effects of the blanketing force, whatever it was, but they were still struggling to remain on top of things. Gladiator took a step closer to the suspect crates, but he and Crusader instantly gasped, clutching their heads. He stepped back.

"We can't get any closer," he panted. "Aqua, you'll need to take a look at it."

"O – OK."

But as Aqua stepped forward, Crusader's voice broke into the silence of the secret room:

"I think we're in trouble."

"What? How can you tell?" said her brother.

"I'm looking through the walls. I think we've been discovered. Security forces are coming this way. They're heavily armed and looking murderous."

"But – but h – how – ?"

"We must have tripped an alarm at some point, probably when we opened the secret room. Dammit, I should have thought of that!"

"What do we do?" said Gladiator. "Kill them?"

"No!" the girls said; Crusader went on. "We'll have to just run for it. Grab everything we've found so far; I think there's enough information in what we've found."

"We could just kill them. I mean, they're going to kill us and probably any other mutant they get their hands on!"

"Gary!" Marina snapped, forgetting mission protocol.

"All right, all right, let's go."

But the moment they headed back into the outer office area, they felt the pressure on their minds suddenly triple as the inhibiting force increased its power. Crusader dropped to her knees clutching her head and Gladiator slumped sideways on to the carpeted floor, gasping for breath, a noise coming from his throat that was either a cry of pain or a mangled attempt at speech. Aqua looked at the two of them in dismay and consternation. Now she could hear the sounds of the security forces as they hurried towards the room. Quickly she knelt by her friends and shook them, "A – Annie? Gary?"

With a supreme effort of will, Crusader opened her eyes and forced herself to speak, "Marina, run! Just run!"

"No, I – I can't leave without you!"

"We can't make it!" Crusader hissed fiercely, grabbing hold of Aqua's wrist. "Just go! Here! Take all the evidence we have and show it to the others! GO!!"

Pushing the digital camera into the younger girl's hands, Crusader finally lost her battle against the overpowering force buffeting her mind, and she fell limp and unconscious. Gladiator was already the same way. Aqua looked at the two of them in horror, and knew she had only one choice.

"FREEZE!!" yelled the first of the humans as they entered the room, weapons raised and trained on her heart.

Aqua reacted in an instant, doing the only thing she could think of, summoning the water she could feel flowing in the house's plumbing system. Pipes exploded on both sides of the room and gallons of water spewed out into the office. Taking hold of it with her power, Aqua used it as a tidal force to push the onrushing men away from her. Caught off guard, they were swept off their feet and down the corridor. The water girl turned her attention to her friends. She had mere seconds to get them out of here before the men returned. Grabbing hold of Gladiator's arms, she tried to lift him over her shoulders. Grimacing with the effort, Aqua eventually conceded defeat. She had not the strength to carry her boyfriend to safety. There had to be another way.

Of course. The water. It was still shooting out of the pipes at either side of the room, and she took control of it once more. She could use the water to move her friends and get them to safety. And then what? How far could she take them? Back to where the car was hidden? What then? Aqua couldn't drive, and the security men would almost certainly have other plans regarding her friends. She looked up in despair as she saw the men had got to their feet more quickly than she had anticipated, and were charging back inside the room. Angrily Aqua hit them with another flood of water, but this time she sent herself with it, riding the waves like a surfer, kicking the first man in the jaw and sending him flying backwards, blood pouring from his mouth. She couldn't have hit him that hard under normal circumstances, but using her water power she was able to add to the force of her blow. The other men were on her in an instant, firing their weapons indiscriminately towards her.

Their weapons did not function in water, and it was a good few moments before they realised that. In that time Aqua had already dispatched two more men by firing powerful jets of water that knocked them back harder than any punch. Both fell unconscious in the corridor outside, and the others backed away a step or two while they considered their strategy. The first man she'd knocked out had obviously been their leader, and without him they were a little hesitant. Then something occurred to Aqua. Glancing back inside the room, she realised with horror the mistake she was making. The room was flooding and her friends were going to drown!

What am I going to do?

I can flood the house and get my friends out.

But then everybody else in the house will drown!

They can take their chances. My friends are more important.

No, I can't kill anyone.

But I can't leave my friends!

The men were back on their feet, and Aqua quickly summoned a wall of water to rise in front of them, freezing it into ice to block the doorway. That gave her another couple of minutes to try and decide what she should do. Flooding the house would let her use her water powers to get her friends to safety, but it would more than likely mean that everybody else in the building would drown. While killing the admiral and his security force was arguably acceptable, there was no justification for drowning any of the innocent guests or staff members who were also here. Flooding the house was out of the question. The only other alternative, seemingly, was to make a break for it on her own, and leave her friends to fend for themselves. She looked at the two fallen Rosiçkys. Neither was moving; neither appeared to be conscious. Aqua hurried over to them.

"A – Annie?" she said urgently, shaking her friend's shoulder.

Getting no response, she tried her boyfriend, "Gary?"

Neither reacted. Aqua looked up and saw that the humans were in the process of breaking through the ice barrier she'd put over the door.

I have to go. I have to leave them.

I can't do that! I can't leave them!

Annie told me to go. If she told me to leave them behind, that's what I have to do.

I'm abandoning them to save myself, just as I abandoned my family to save myself.

No! There's no other choice!

But how can I escape? I can't use the car! I don't know how to drive!

The house must have a water supply. It probably leads to the ocean. I can swim along the coast and back to the school.

Yes, that's the only way to escape.

But I can't take Annie and Gary with me. They wouldn't survive.

Yes. I have to go. There is no other way. Either they get captured or we all get captured.

I'm going.

The guards were nearly through the ice wall now. Her hand shot out and in an instant the ice had melted and evaporated into steam. The startled guards jumped back to avoid being scalded, and in a flash Aqua darted out past them. Nobody saw her go, and she hurried through the darkened corridors to an empty room where she took refuge. Once the steam had cleared, the men cautiously entered the room. Needless to say, they were more than slightly perplexed at finding no trace whatsoever of the girl they'd been attempting to apprehend a moment ago. They bound the two unconscious mutants on the floor and were just wondering what they should do with them, when another man entered the room.

"Admiral, sir," the lead security man greeted him.

McKenzie did not return the courtesy, "You've detained the intruders?"

"Two out of three, yes sir."

"And the third?"

"Uh – her status is unknown, sir. We'll begin a search immediately. She'll be found, sir."

"For your sake, I hope so. In the meantime, get these two and your men out of my office."

The security force efficiently carried the two unmoving forms out of the room, and McKenzie entered his office. He noted with dismay that the water pipes had burst, and most of his expensive furniture was wasted. Oh well, he'd just have to order more. It wasn't as if he didn't have enough money to do so. He was about to sit at his desk and check the computer for damage, when a second man stepped silently through the doorway. The door closed behind him.

"Eight," said the newcomer.

McKenzie looked up, "Ah – One. I was just – what do you think this intrusion was about? Do you think somebody is on to us?"

But what One thought, he did not share with Eight. Instead he moved past him into the secret room, and knelt down to examine the crate that sat in the corner: the source of the telepathic inhibitor.

"I really must congratulate Twelve," he said, more to himself than anyone else. "Her work exceeds even my expectations."

"But how did you know the mutants would come here?"

One glanced at him, "Oh, they're pathetically predictable. These ones that call themselves the X-Men, I've been watching them for years. They think they're saving the world, when all they're doing is – what is the expression – oh yes, 'dancing to my tune'."

"But these were only two. Where are the rest?"

One laughed, "The rest have separated and gone to save the world from further terrorist atrocities. They don't realise that this was my intention all along, and the whole reason behind the attacks was to separate them and to get them to go where I want them to."

"You mean – "

"Yes, of course. They're all walking into a trap. When they are taken care of there will be nobody left to stand in my way."

Eight spoke uncertainly, "Are you sure you aren't underestimating them? I mean, they stopped the Apocalypse…"

One waved his hand dismissively, "They merely saved me the task of removing the Apocalypse myself. Yes, the Horsemen were a useful tool, but everything only exists to serve its purpose. Indeed, to serve my purpose."

At that moment there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," said Eight.

One of the maids pushed open the door and said, "Major Devant is here, sir."

She stepped aside, and a third man entered the room. The maid closed the door, and One raised his eyebrows, "Nine. A successful mission, I trust?"

Nine pushed away memories of the agonising pain that felt as if it had been tearing his head apart, and swallowed nervously. He had never had to confess failure to One before.

"The mutants…they, uh, well, things didn't go as we planned."

One's eyes narrowed, "Explain."

"Well, we assumed that, uh, that the mutants had left their school, the adult ones anyway. It seems we were wrong."

"How many men did you lose?"

"I – uh – I'm the only survivor, sir…"

"What?!" Eight yelled.

"Are you being serious?" One demanded icily.

And One pushed the first tendrils of choking panic away. What if the X-Men hadn't fallen for his trap? What if they'd been in their school all along, anticipating the attack? No. That was impossible. There was no way they could have known it was coming. But still…what had he overlooked?

"What went wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know, sir. We had overcome all resistance and were ready to begin exterminating the, uh, the targets. Then it happened. I don't know what it was. It was like something was tearing my head apart from inside. It happened to all my men; it killed them. I barely got away, sir."

Telepathy, One thought instantly. That was what he'd overlooked. He'd forgotten that telepathy, if powerful enough, could be used to fry a person's mind. But this made no sense. His old friend Xavier was long dead, and Xavier was the only telepath who had ever had the power to…

Or was he? Was there another? Was there somebody he had overlooked entirely?

Of course.

Rosiçky.