They approached the labs from the ocean, hoping to avoid detection that way. The chopper's radar-jamming systems kept them safe from any scanning equipment inside the labs. Gemini was concentrating hard on trying to sense any telepathic activity. So far, she'd sensed nothing. Either Magneto was no longer trying to get into their minds, or he was doing it too subtly for her to notice.
The ocean labs were built into the side of a cliff, with the main harbour and docks protruding into the Atlantic. Further along the base of the cliff they found a series of caves, and Vertigo managed to manouevre the helicopter into one of them. They hoped it would remain hidden there. The next thing to do was find a way inside the labs. That seemed easier said than done. The place looked to be heavily guarded, both by electronics and humans. Vertigo and Helios were together, discussing a plan of entry, and Atlas and the girls went to join them.
Vertigo took charge of the situation, "Right, Magneto's already tried to kill Cassie with his mind power, so he definitely knows we're here. This makes our job a hell of a lot more difficult. We were hoping to take him by surprise, but obviously he's aware of our presence, and presumably our intent as well."
One or two of the others glanced around nervously, in case Magneto was about to jump out and attack. Vertigo went on, "Clearly common sense would tell us to give up and go home. He has powers we can't hope to fight. But going home now will just leave us open to whatever he's going to do. All we can do is try and find some info on his plans. If we can throw a spanner in the works, we might be able to stop him, and save some of our own kind."
"I can't believe he's trying to hurt mutants, but the evidence sure points that way," Gemini said, shaking her head in confusion.
"He'll be waiting for us to attack. The most obvious way into the labs is through the front entrance. That's on the other side of the cliff from here, away from the shore. I expect he'll be waiting for us to try and force our way in there. He's probably expecting Pyro and Wolverine to be with us, leading the assault. With luck he might be so busy watching out for them that he won't spot us."
"And there's another way in, right?" said Gemini.
"Yes. The disused ventilation shaft I mentioned earlier should be around here somewhere," Helios said. "The only problem is the opening is halfway up the cliff face. It looks pretty sheer and it won't be easy to climb. I hope nobody has a fear of heights."
Vertigo agreed, "We can't go in the front entrance. Fighting our way through would be too risky. With luck, Magneto might not even know about this vent shaft. It looks like it hasn't been used for years. It seems like our safest and stealthiest route in. Any questions?"
"What if he does know about the vent?" Cassandra asked. "What if he's waiting for us on the other end of it?"
"We just have to hope he isn't. There is no safe way to get in here, but this looks like our best option. If he's waiting for us…well…I guess we'll just have to make the best we can out of it."
One or two of them exchanged worried glances.
"Hey, at the end of the day, it is just him," Vertigo said. "What I mean is, there aren't any other mutants working for him. Right? The sub-creatures won't cause us any problems. With six of us, we might stand a chance against him. OK?"
There were no other complaints.
"Right," said Vertigo. "Here's how we're going to do this. There's rock-climbing equipment in one of the crates: pitons, ropes, that kind of thing. We'll use those to climb up."
"Um," Gemini said uncomfortably. "I'm not afraid of heights, but I have, like, zero experience of this. I don't know how to use any of this equipment."
"M – me either," Aqua admitted.
"Don't worry," said Atlas. "I have plenty of experience rock-climbing. I'll go up first, secure some ropes and then throw them down to you. All you have to do is climb the ropes, and brace yourselves on the rock face."
"Is it safe?" Gemini asked doubtfully.
"No less safe than anything else we'll do here," said Vertigo. "Come on, let's move. I'll climb just below you in case you slip."
"So you can look at my ass, you mean," she snapped. "Forget it. You're going ahead of me."
"I'm thinking of your safety here."
"No, you're just wishing I was wearing a skirt so you could look at my panties all the way up."
Cassandra intervened, "I'll go last. If anyone above me is about to slip or fall, I'll foresee it, and I can help them out."
Everyone agreed on that, so Atlas and Vertigo hurried to get the climbing equipment out of the helicopter. Attaching a number of metallic spikes to his belt, Atlas coiled a length of rope around his waist, and began climbing the rock face. He made it look so easy, but the five standing below knew it would not be so. The more sensible among them watched closely as he climbed, trying to memorise the hand-holds and foot-holds he used so that they might use the same ones. Every so often he stopped at the more difficult parts and jammed one of the metal pitons into the rock face, to create an artificial hold. He was steadily approaching the ventilation opening, and the teenagers on the ground were preparing for their own turn.
"I'll go first," said Vertigo. "I'm light, so if I fall I won't knock anyone else off."
Atlas was calling down to them:
"There's a ledge just below the ventilation duct! There's enough room for all of us to stand up here! It looks as if the duct has a cover over it so we're going to have to get that off somehow! I'm throwing the rope down now!"
He jammed another piton into the rock, and tied one end of the rope firmly around it. Uncoiling the rest of the rope from his waist, he threw it down the rock face to the others. Vertigo caught it, and gave it a few sharp tugs to make sure it would support his weight. It seemed secure, so he braced himself against the rock and began to climb the rope.
"Aqua, you go next," said Gemini.
Marina swallowed her uncertainties and pushed them out of her mind. There was no time to be nervous. She just had to do this. There was no other way. She gripped the rope with both hands, and pulled herself up off the ground, keeping her feet firmly pressed against the rock wall. Once she felt it was safe, she began to ascend slowly. She was of average height for her age but relatively light, and her arms were strong enough for the climb. As her confidence began to grow, she began to move faster.
Dominic went next, still determined to watch over Marina and protect her while Gary wasn't around. Other than Atlas he was the only one with any climbing experience, and his journey up the rock face was relatively comfortable. He stayed close below Marina in case he had to help her out, but she seemed to be having no problems. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying the experience.
Once all of the guys were ahead of her, Gemini at last felt comfortable climbing the rope. She had no fear of the climb itself – she was small for her age, and thus had excellent balance and agility – instead she simply feared being in a position where her body was open to male scrutiny. She hated being ogled and stared at. She hated having to check that her panties weren't showing or whatever, instead of just being able to sit in the position that was most comfortable. I won't wear skirts any more, she decided, then I can sit however I like. But I shouldn't have to do that! I like wearing skirts; they're comfortable. I shouldn't have to change my clothes just because guys are so stupid and dirty and keep staring at me! Why can't they treat me with any respect?
"Hey, are you going or what?" Cassandra distracted her.
Gemini put her thoughts aside and quickly began climbing up the cliff, holding the rope tightly and moving as quickly as she could. Once there was enough room at the bottom, Cassandra took hold of the end of the rope and began to follow the rest. She hadn't had any fore-flashes, so she assumed nobody was in any danger. Of course, that was no guarantee. She still couldn't be sure exactly what triggered the fore-flashes. Was it simply when she herself was in danger? Did it include anybody else who was nearby? Did it only include people she cared about, whose death would upset her? She had never once been in a situation where she'd had a fore-flash and hadn't acted upon it. It had always been something that had kept her safe or kept her friends safe. She wasn't entirely confident if she could rely on these flashes as a completely reliable guide, as she had no guarantee that they would always warn her of impending danger. She had no idea how they worked at all. Did they work when she was asleep, for example? If someone was about to attack her sleeping body, would she receive a fore-flash in the middle of her dream? Would it spontaneously wake her so she could avoid the danger? She didn't know. She would have to find out some day. The trouble was, the only way she would discover these things was during periods of mortal danger, and that wasn't a situation she wanted to be in, especially if her dream came true and she became a mother some day.
She was the last to reach the top, and Helios and Gemini reached down to help her stand on the ledge with the rest of them. They looked over to see Vertigo and Atlas struggling with the cover over the entrance to the vent shaft. It was metal and appeared to have rusted long ago. There were small slats in its surface, but they were far too small for even Gemini to squeeze through.
"We're going to have to get this off," Atlas panted, wiping sweat from his brow.
The sun was at its highest now, and each of them was already hot enough from the climb. The three guys grappled with the cover, trying to force it out, trying to find a weak spot, but it wouldn't budge even an inch.
"Atlas, can't you dislodge the rocks around the sides, then it'll just fall out?" Cassandra suggested.
"I could, but that would just destabilise the shaft inside. The whole thing might collapse."
Helios glanced up at the sun, "Here, I've got an idea. Move aside, you guys."
Vertigo and Atlas got out of his way, as he pulled off one of his glove. Raising one hand up to the sun, he tilted his palm until the sunlight was reflecting directly on to the cover. He curved his palm inwards, and the ray of light intensified into a laser. They heard a crackling sound as it began to eat into the metal cover.
"Good thinking," Gemini enthused.
"Boy, I need a drink," said Atlas.
Aqua passed him one of the emergency water pouches she was carrying on her belt. They had brought limited water supplies with them as a precaution, as they had no idea how long their mission might take. Aqua was the obvious choice to carry them, since her power helped her bear the load somewhat. Atlas took a quick gulp, then handed it back to her. In this heat, they knew any amount of exertion would cause them to sweat and lose a great deal of water. Dehydration was not something they wanted to suffer from when they might run into Magneto at any moment. Marina herself was immune to its effects, but she had to make sure the others did not lose too much vital fluid.
Helios finished the circle he had been tracing around the edge of the cover, and Vertigo gave it a kick. The laser had burned all the way around, and the cover was easily knocked out of place. A clang as it landed inside told them that there was a drop, but not a huge one, awaiting them. Vertigo took a quick swig of water, then said, "OK, Gemini, send your twin inside to make sure it's safe."
Gemini nodded, her body tensed and her muscles tightened as she created a duplicate. Gasping with pain, she stumbled, and Cassandra grabbed her before she could go flying over the edge. The newly formed twin moved towards the opening and climbed inside. Gemini steadied herself and smiled at Cassie.
"What's inside?" Vertigo asked.
"It's dark; I can't see much. The shaft descends for a few feet away from me, then flattens out a bit. After that I can't see anything."
"Does the rock look stable? Is there any water dripping through?" said Atlas.
"Uh – I don't think so."
"All right, I'll take a look."
The earth mutant entered the opening, and jumped down the few feet to where Gemini's twin was standing. He glanced at the twin, "Can you actually talk? Or do I have to shout up to Gemini?"
"Atlas, I am Gemini," she said, startling him. "We both are."
"OK…well, I'm going to take a look down the tunnel. If it's safe, tell the rest to come down."
"Right."
As she had described, the vent shaft narrowed considerably and became a tunnel which headed downwards at an angle. Atlas ducked down to squeeze inside. It was a tight fit, but he was not uncomfortable. Normally quite agitated and nervous, when surrounded by rock he was – quite literally – in his element. He did not feel claustrophobic as most people would do in this situation, imagining the horrors of the tunnel collapsing and being trapped in the rock. Atlas did not fear that. The rocks would obey his command and free him if that happened. He crawled forwards a few feet, until the tunnel levelled out as Gemini had described. Ahead it turned a corner, but what little light was getting in, was not bright enough to illuminate any further. He crawled back to the twin.
"It looks safe," he said. "It's too dark to see all that far. Tell the others to come down."
Within a few minutes, there were six of them standing in the tiny cavern just inside the vent shaft. Gemini had 'deactivated' her twin. This was not something she had actually done very often; usually her twin 'died' while saving her life. When she wanted to absorb the duplicate back into herself, she could touch it and then simply concentrate on 'pulling herself in', rather than the 'pushing herself out' sensation she felt when creating a twin.
"All right," said Atlas. "Here's how we're going to do this. I'll go first. Helios, you'll need to come behind me to light the way. Cassandra, I want you at the middle so you're near enough to help anyone who's about to be in any danger. Other than that, order doesn't really matter."
"I'm not having anybody male behind me," Gemini snapped. "Or right in front of me either, trying to look back at my chest."
"It'll be too dark for anybody to be looking at anyone else," Atlas assured her.
He ducked down into the crawlspace, and began to move into the tunnel. Dominic pulled off his other glove, and instantly a powerful beam of light shot from his palm to illuminate the whole chamber.
"Hey, I thought you could only reflect light," said Gemini.
"No. One hand reflects. The other hand absorbs it and stores it for later use."
"In other words, he's a glorified light-bulb," said Vertigo, then gestured to the tunnel. "On you go, enlightening one."
Helios dropped to his hands and knees, and followed Atlas into the tunnel. Cassandra went next, then Gemini and Aqua. Vertigo brought up the rear. Atlas was already moving quickly up ahead. Helios had the broadest shoulders and the heaviest form, which meant getting through the tunnel was a little more of a struggle for him. The girls had no problems, and Vertigo was lithe and flexible enough to contort himself through almost any gap. They crawled for several minutes, each following the shape of the person in front, while Atlas led them through the winding, twisting natural tunnel.
"I can't see shit," Gemini complained eventually.
"You don't need to; there's only one way we can go," Aqua told her softly.
"I know, but – oh, I just hate this."
"You're c – c – claus – "
"Claustrophobic? You bet I am. Being locked in a tiny room for two years will do that to you. Any time I'm in an enclosed space, it all comes back to me."
She gasped, and Aqua could hear her sobbing and moaning.
"I wanna get out of here! Please, I have to get out of here!" Gemini howled.
"Shut up!" Vertigo snapped. "We can't afford to panic! If one of you starts blubbing, the rest will do the same!"
"Fuck you," she spat. "You have no idea what I'm going through here. Aqua, kick him for me."
"Anybody else feel that?" said Atlas suddenly. "That was an air draught, I'm sure it was. We must be getting close to an opening."
The sense of relief in the group was evident. Gemini calmed and moved onward as fast as she could, determined to escape this living hell and get to somewhere where she could move about freely. Atlas bit his lip as he led the way. He'd lied to them. There hadn't been any air draught. He didn't expect the tunnel to lead them into the labs' vent system for a while yet. Still, he had to say something to keep the others calm. They'd figure out soon enough that he'd lied – he'd claim it was a mistake – but for now, the panic was averted.
It was only a few minutes later that they hit the next problem. The tunnel stopped abruptly ahead, with a darkened pool of water in the floor, shimmering in Helios' light.
"What is it? Why have we stopped?" Gemini demanded from further back.
"The tunnel ends," Helios said.
"What!" she screamed. "You mean we came all the way through here for nothing!"
"Um, maybe. I don't know. There's a pool of water just here. "
"It must have been formed by rain water gradually seeping through the rock over the years," said Atlas. "Eventually this part of the tunnel must have gotten flooded. That must be why they stopped using it as a ventilation shaft."
Vertigo spoke from the back, "Aqua, dive down and see where it leads."
"Y – you got it."
Aqua moved forward, squeezing tightly past Gemini and Cassandra.
"Sorry," she muttered to both of them as she forced her way past.
"Don't apologise to me, whore," Cassandra growled.
Aqua found herself in a tiny cavern where Helios and Atlas were both crouched beside a small pool of water. Crawling forwards, she slid gracefully into the water, and swam downwards, kicking with her legs, feeling the way with her hands. The watery tunnel led further downwards, then it levelled out and abruptly began to angle back up the way. Aqua breathed easily under the water, her gills extracting the oxygen and feeding it to her second set of lungs, her aqualungs. Breathing underwater was now so natural that she didn't even have to think to do it. It was like breathing in air for a normal person; the body handled it automatically. The submerged passage continued to rise upwards, and she swam that way, sensing that the surface was close. Her head broke through the water, and her gills automatically closed as her nose and throat took over breathing. She reached for her communicator.
"H – Helios?" she spoke into it. "I'm through. It isn't far; you can probably make it if you hold your breath."
Silence.
"Helios?"
Nothing. Of course. The signal wouldn't be able to get anywhere in the midst of all this rock. She'd have to go back and tell the others. Well, she needed no encouraging to get back into the water. Sliding into the pool head-first, she dived down until she reached the U-shaped bend at the bottom, then moved back up to where they were waiting. Emerging from the water, she was immediately dazzled by Helios' light shining in her face.
"Shit, sorry," he muttered, directing his palm away from her.
"Is it deep?" said Atlas.
Aqua shook her head, "No, it's – it's not too bad. You can probably all make it. If not, I can – I can help you out."
Vertigo had pushed his way to the front, "OK, who's the best swimmer here apart from Aqua?"
"Probably me," said Gemini.
"Right, see if you can do it. Aqua, go with her, guide her, breathe for her if you have to."
"I can do it myself!"
"Well, go on then."
Gemini eagerly slid into the water, and dived downwards. Elated beyond belief at dropping out of the claustrophobic hell above into the free-moving heaven below, her heart gave a giddy lurch and she swam quickly through the tunnel. Aqua was already below her – man, she can swim fast – and she guided Gemini through the bend. Once through the U-shape, the duplicator headed straight upwards until her head broke surface. She gulped at the air, and turned, beaming, to face Aqua.
"I love swimming!" she giggled. "I wish I had your powers! Go back and tell them it's easy!"
She climbed out of the pool while Aqua went back to the others. Vertigo and Helios swam through without her help, their powerful limbs cutting through the water easily. Atlas was a little less certain, but she guided him most of the way until he had the confidence to swim to the top himself. That left only Cassandra. Aqua was in two minds over whether she wanted to swim back for her at all, but it would be stupid and childish not to. When she got there, the foreseer was crouching beside the pool. She didn't look at all happy. She was holding on to a waterproof flare that Helios must have given her from one of the many pockets in his uniform. Its green illumination provided a somewhat ghostly light. Aqua moved over to help her.
"I don't need your help, whore!" Cassandra snapped. "You'd probably just try to drown me, anyway!"
Aqua shook her head, "Can't we – can't we just forget we hate each other for five minutes until this is over? This is – this is important. We're on a mission."
"Look, you stupid whore, you destroyed my life! I don't think you realise what you've done to me! Forgive me if I'm not quite ready to – "
In a split second her expression had changed to one of horror, "Shit, look out!"
She dived from the side of the pool to knock the startled swimmer into the water. At that moment a gigantic rock suddenly detached from the tunnel roof and landed in the water just where Aqua's head had been. Another rock followed, and another, narrowly avoiding the terrified girls.
"The tunnel roof is collapsing!" Cassandra screamed.
Mere seconds later, a torrent of rocks began falling from the ceiling and down towards them. Aqua grabbed Cassandra and immediately dived down below the surface, pulling the screaming foreseer down as deep as she could. The rocks cascaded down with them, their heavy mass sinking into the water and threatening to pound the two girls into pulp. Aqua twisted out of the way to avoid one falling boulder, and in doing so she lost her bearings. She no longer knew which way would lead them to safety, where the others were waiting. Beside her she felt Cassandra writhing desperately, her body practically convulsing, and Aqua looked at her. In the ghostly green light of the flare, she suddenly realised the other girl had no air left in her lungs and was beginning to hyperventilate. Without even thinking about what she was doing, Aqua put her lips on those of her worst enemy, and breathed into Cassandra's throat. Relief flooded through the foreseer and she instinctively clutched at the girl she hated most in the entire world. Two more transferred breaths, and she had calmed down. The rock cascade had finally subsided, and they hung in the water, Aqua keeping them at constant depth by treading water.
The flare flickered and died, throwing the two girls into pitch darkness. They had no idea where they were in relation to the U-shaped bend, they could not talk, they could not see each other to perform sign language, and only one of them could breathe independently. What Aqua wanted to do was breathe deeply into Cassandra's lungs, to give her enough air to survive for a minute or so, while Aqua explored their immediate surroundings. But how could she communicate that idea? How could she convince Cassandra to let go of her, when Aqua was the only thing keeping her alive?
The life of my worst enemy is quite literally in my hands. She's treated me like dirt for I can't remember how long now, and I've never done anything to her. Why should I care about her? I can just push her away from me, problem solved. I can easily find my way back to the others while she drowns.
No, I can't do that.
Why not?
I can't kill somebody!
That's right. I can't do that.
And besides, she saved my life.
The rock…
Yes, the rock. It would have crushed me if she hadn't pushed me out of the way.
She saved my life. Now I have to save hers.
Yes. But how?
Aqua closed her eyes and concentrated hard, pushing out with her water senses. Maybe she could detect the shape of the surrounding rock from the water. Yes…the U-bend was further down. She knew which way to go now. The only question was: could she swim that way, while guiding and breathing for Cassandra? She exhaled into the other girl's mouth once more, and put her arm tightly around Cassandra's waist. Then with her other hand and her legs she began to manoeuvre the two of them down the way. Two more stops to breathe, and they were at the bend. The passage upwards was easier. Cassandra knew the drill now, and was helping with the swimming by kicking her legs as best she could. Aqua guessed she had little or no experience swimming, perhaps was even scared of being in the water. They breathed once more. Cassandra put her arm around Aqua to ensure they wouldn't drift apart.
Above them they could see light – Helios – and they struck out for the surface. Cassandra was giddy, incredulous, amazed she was still alive. Her secret fear of water that she had never told anyone, that she had kept hidden for so many years…oh, swimming in the pool at the school was no problem. It wasn't deep enough to be dangerous. But this, swimming in pitch darkness below the surface, unable to breathe, had been truly terrifying. For several seconds, as her breath expired, she had simply been preparing to die, preparing to face God. That Aqua had actually saved her life was too much to comprehend. She could see the surface now, as the two of them shot upwards.
As her head broke surface, Cassandra gasped hungrily at the tunnel air, relief melting away her tension and she was only vaguely aware of hands reaching for her and pulling her out of the water. She lay there, on the tunnel floor, gasping and recovering, while Aqua calmly climbed out of the pool. There was a small cavern of sorts around the pool, and a dark opening in the rock wall that led further into the tunnel. The other teenagers were crouched beside it, ready to crawl inside.
"Are you guys OK?" Gemini asked.
Cassie nodded, speaking between breaths, "Yeah – yeah, we're OK. The tunnel – has collapsed. There's no – no way back…"
"All right. Let's move on," said Vertigo. "We've no time to waste."
The rest of the group moved off, unaware of the terrifying, life-changing experience the two mortal enemies had just shared. Cassandra would have been astonished to learn that the entire ordeal had taken only a few minutes. To her it had felt like several hours, days, lifetimes. She had come closer to dying before, but never before had she been so totally powerless to prevent it, so completely dependent on another person, a person who hated her, to keep her alive.
"Aqua?" she said.
The water girl was crawling after the others into the tunnel, and she stopped and turned when she heard her name. The two of them sat and looked at each other. Neither could speak. There was so much they wanted to say – you saved my life, thank you, etc – but neither of them could find the words to begin. The others were already moving off ahead, and there was no time to waste. Cassandra leaned over. Aqua began to back away, uncertain, perhaps expecting a slap. But that was not the foreseer's intention. She gently touched Aqua's arm, leaned forward, and kissed her. Just once, lightly, on the cheek.
"We'll talk later," she said quickly, then ducked down to enter the passageway.
I'll probably regret doing that, she thought, but it felt right at the time. How else can you say a hundred words in a single action?
Marina touched her cheek where the kiss had come, and pushed away her own thoughts on the matter. It could wait. They would talk later. The kiss was a promise of that. Right now was not the time. There was far too much else to worry about. She began crawling after the rest.