The X-men strive every day to protect a world that hates and fears them. They've faced their own successes and failures together as a team as they work towards achieving a peaceful co-existence between humans and mutants. Unfortunately, there are mutants out there who do not believe in their ideals.

As the X-men enjoy their night off from being superheroes, Warren is faced with a piece of his past that he doesn't have a lot of pride in. As Warren is returning home from going clubbing, he is faced with a group of mutants he'd once been friends with. These mutants are known to the world as the Morlocks, living underground in the sewers of New York and acting as vigilantes who take in mutants looking for safe harbor underground.

Unfortunately, Warren's last encounter with this group of mutants hadn't ended in the most amicable way, and is about to face his fate for betraying those who had once helped him.

Issue 28: Captive Angel Part 2

Sewers

Of all the things that Warren Worthington III couldn't have hoped for in the world, it would be getting caught up with the Morlocks again.

Being dragged along by Feral and Thornn with Caliban and Berserker leading the way, he still felt the electric shock in his wings from Ray's attack. His head hurt after having hit it on the pavement when he went tumbling onto his ass. He knew that with the Morlocks, they weren't bringing him down to their HQ in peace.

Peace, reason and understanding were never their strong suits, unless you counted the more peaceful members such as Marrow, Shatter, Annalee, Leech and Healer, whom Warren had left on better terms with.

But, the more aggressive members like Spyke, Caliban, Feral, Callisto and Beautiful Dreamer were ones that he'd truly pissed off when he'd left to live on the surface. Those members were more xenophobic than Magneto and his Brotherhood ever could be towards humans. He knew that they had a lot of anger towards humanity, especially for the way they'd been treated.

Warren wheezed in pain as he felt Feral kicking him hard in his side. He coughed hard, though it sounded more like a gagging sound than anything.

'Christ,' he thought as he continued to get dragged like a ragdoll. He felt he was being kicked again, this time by Thornn. He suddenly remembered Thornn and Feral packed a wallop when they got aggressive. 'I never thought I'd be stuck back down here after having left seven years ago . . . Emma and I, we'd never looked back. Now here I go again. I already know Callisto isn't going to be happy to see me, and she's not going to approach me in peace, ever. Not after what I'd done.'

As Warren got dragged down through the sewers, old memories of how he'd been caught up with this ragtag group of underground misfits came back to him. The smell of the sewer waters and the dark, cold, damp environment below only further made him remember. They were memories that weren't very pleasant or peaceful, to say the least.

Morlocks Lair – Six Years Ago

Warren had been staying with the Morlocks for a total of two months; however, it was a month after he lived there that he realized that the lifestyle wasn't for him.

During the months of him living there under the sewers of New York, he'd been an unofficial member since he'd refused to get the 'M' branded onto his face. Or at least, Callisto had allowed him to not get branded, since she said he had "too pretty of a face" for it to get all marked up. As far as he could tell, he was just a refugee with them, along with a few other mutants that didn't have a home anywhere else.

As Warren sat there on the floor, he contemplated leaving. He'd been contemplating it for a month or so now, and now, he really was considering. During his stay with the Morlocks, he'd been witnessed to their behavior that made them look like vigilantes to him. They destroyed property, stole and caused a scene at several chemical factories throughout the city.

For Warren, it made him feel discomforted, especially as he stood witness to it all. But he felt even more uncomfortable around Callisto, who seemed to have developed feelings for him that were far beyond friendship. Her feelings seemed to be ones of lust. He remembered how Callisto seemed to take joy in causing such chaos throughout the city.

"Warren, this life that we live, humans will never understand; we need to send them the message that we won't be bullied by the likes of them. Your parents are some of the most powerful humans alive!"

"Callisto, as much as I hate my mother and father for what they've done to me, this is taking it too far. I mean, attacking their house? That's wrong," Warren had asked her.

"Warren, did they take you into any kind of consideration when they kicked you out of your home? When we found you, you were cold, and alone. You were living like a pathetic beggar thinking you can walk amongst those that hate us! We took you in, and we gave you a family. Why shouldn't we do this? Why wouldn't you want revenge against your parents?"

"If you're doing it, I don't want any part of it, because it'll just prove to my father and my mother that they should be afraid of me."

Getting up from his makeshift bed of newspapers and cardboard as he remembered Callisto's extreme words, Warren proceeded to prepare to put his trench back on so that he could go up to the surface. He knew that the other Morlocks were sleeping in tunnels not far from him, so he knew that he had to be as quiet as a mouse if he were to get out of there.

Several other mutant refugees that had been living there, including his closest friend, Emma, had left, deciding the lifestyle to not be for them. But he knew if he left, he'd be on his own without any help whatsoever. Callisto would be pissed off as well, but he didn't care. He just had to leave. He couldn't be part of something like this where it was a group of mutants causing petty crimes to try and prove that humanity was a bunch of bullshit.

He knew that he couldn't live his life running like this. He wasn't a thug. He'd take living on the streets than living in the sewers like some sort of criminal. He additionally did not know if he could take much more of Callisto flirting with him either; she was twenty-two and he was sixteen.

The fact that Callisto didn't seem to care that he was underage scared him to the point where the more time he was around her, the worse he felt. She just didn't seem to know her boundaries with him and she came on too strongly too fast. He so badly missed the security he felt when he was with Candy; she brought him nothing but comfort because she was so Zen, so peaceful. He missed that.

Just as he was about to exit the sewer, he was stopped by a voice. "Where are you going?" asked little Adam Leech in a curious voice.

"I'm just . . . Adam, I'm sorry. But this life, hiding, acting like I'm too good for humanity, it's not for me," Warren whispered to him. "I can't stay buddy, I can't."

"But we don't want you to go. Callisto doesn't want you to," Leech said.

"Adam, I know, but . . . I just can't," Warren said, kneeling in front of him. He had a soft spot in his heart for Leech. This was a little boy thrown into this; the Morlocks were the only family he ever knew; he'd been raised by them his whole life.

"Okay," the boy said in defeat. "Just . . . be safe, alright."

"I will, buddy, and I'll try to check in once in a while." Warren leaned a hand onto the little boy's shoulder before getting ready to fly off. But that was the moment Callisto came out from around the corner.

"Angel, where are you going?" she asked. She'd come up with that nickname for him weeks prior.

"Callisto . . . look, I really do appreciate your guys' hospitality here. But, I just do not know if this life is for me," Warren said.

Callisto's face contorted and twisted into a slight look of anger. "So you'd rather be on the run for the rest of your life, like Emma, and Domino, and Skids?"

"Callisto, I can't. I'm not a thug. This isn't how I want to live," Warren said. "And on top of that, the fact is, you attacked Worthington Manor. I may not have been part of it, but, hearing about it was bad enough."

Callisto just glared at him. "Fine, see how you do without me . . . but I promise you, that if we ever cross paths again, I won't forget this!" She turned away, looking hurt and betrayed by Warren.

Morlocks Lair – Present Day

Warren continued to get shoved along the tunnels of the sewers closer and closer to the Morlocks lair by his former friends, keeping his mouth shut. The more you tried to reason with them, the angrier they got. Shaking his head, he was shoved down to the floor, the sewer water soaking his wings as he fell at the feet of the rest of the Morlocks.

'Great, this is just magnificent,' Warren thought as he continued to get dragged like a dog through the murky waters. The smell of excrement, filth and garbage was overwhelming. 'The last thing I wanted was to ever have an encounter with Callisto again. No doubt, the woman isn't going to be happy to see me. Who can blame her? The way I had left . . . anyone who decides to leave the Morlocks, I feel sorry for them. I was there, too. They do not forget, and they do not forgive.'

Before him were Callisto, Spyke, Marrow, Healer, Leech, Shatter, Scaleface, Annalee and Beautiful Dreamer, all staring him down. He also noticed some newer members, including Clarice Ferguson whom he and the X-men had rescued off of Genosha those months ago. He felt a hard kick to his ribs sent his way by Spyke, causing him to groan in pain as he tried pushing himself off the ground.

"Thank you for bringing him to us, Feral, Thornn, Caliban and Berserker, much is appreciated," Callisto sneered in a venomous tone that stung.

"Callisto, what do you want?" Warren asked her around a ground of pain as he felt Spyke kick him in the ribs once again.

"A little payback for abandoning us," spat Callisto.

"Callisto . . . look, the lifestyle that you all wanted me to go along with wasn't for me!" Warren grunted. "I'm not a thug! I'm not looking to cause any trouble for anyone. What you guys were doing was illegal! The last 'mission' you guys tried to take me on, you were looking to attack my father and mother's house! And when I heard about the damage that you had caused . . . I'd felt sick to my stomach. For all we know, it just made my father want to buddy up with Senator Kelly! No wonder Domino, Skids and Emma left . . . they didn't want to get caught up in this either!"

He felt another sharp kick in his stomach, causing him to cough and gag. His ribs were already beginning to feel as though they were bruising. Living on the streets for as long as he had after he'd been disowned by his family, he knew the difference between bruised, cracked and broken ribs. He'd had to patch up a lot of his own injuries many times. There were probably many times he should have gone to a hospital, but at the time, he'd had too much pride. He would rather suffer alone than have others look at him with pity for being a homeless street kid dumpster diving and hiding in abandoned apartments. He'd hated being a charity case for someone else. The looks people would give him alone made him feel like crap. He hadn't wanted to accept help from anyone.

"Have you seen them since you've abandoned us?" growled Scaleface, who went to stand by her lover, Berserker. She was in her full, reptilian-type form, her sharp teeth bared.

"I've only seen Emma a few years back . . . Domino and Skids . . . haven't had a run-in with either of them," Warren wheezed out, still recovering from Spyke's kicks to his stomach and chest. What he was saying was the truth though. The last former member of the Morlocks he'd seen had been his closest and dearest friend Emma. To say his last encounter with Emma hadn't ended well would be an understatement.

"C'mon guys, just let me go, please! This is ridiculous! And Adam, Healer, Sarah, Annalee, Shatter?" he asked, referring to Marrow and Leech by their first name basis. "You guys, too? We were friends; I was nothing but good to you. I can't believe you guys would go along with this! You guys are better than this!"

Adam Leech stepped forward, a sorrowful look on his features. The little boy Warren had gotten to know and like over time had grown up into a young teen. But, seeing him going along with this pained Warren greatly. It made his chest ache in a way nothing else in the world could. He could take betrayal from other Morlocks. But from Leech, Marrow, Healer, and Shatter, it was like a stab to the heart. It hurt more than the kicks Spyke was sending to his chest and stomach.

"I'm sorry, Warren," Leech said honestly, his high-pitched voice still sounding the same as he remembered.

Marrow – Sarah stepped forward too, looking regretful. Sadness was in her eyes. Despite being covered in marrow-like bones like Spyke, she was softer in her heart than most thought her to be. She had always been kind to him; Warren remembered her to have been so sweet and filled with integrity. The fact that she was going along with this hurt.

"Sorry, Angel, but, what Callisto says, we must do," Marrow said with that same level of honesty Leech had in his tone.

"Do you guys not have minds of your own?" Warren asked them, looking at Shatter and Healer in great disappointment, the two Morlocks he'd respected in his time of living down there during those two months of them giving him shelter.

"They are perfectly capable of making their own decisions, Angel; they chose this because they know there is no other way," whispered Callisto coolly. She turned to Feral and Thornn. "Restrain him . . . we'll figure out what to do with him a little later."

The two cat-like mutant sisters nodded and grabbed hold of Warren again, dragging him like a dog to an area where chains and shackles were awaiting him. He knew as long as Leech was around him in close proximity, he wouldn't be able to use his powers since Leech could halter mutants from using their abilities.

He was shackled to the chains that were attached to the wall, hanging there as his head hung against his chest. He couldn't believe this. Some of these mutants who were down there used to be his friends.

He remembered Annalee who had been a motherly figure to him, Leech, Spyke and Marrow during those two months he'd lived there. They'd all come from crappy circumstances of being rejected by society because of their mutations, and they became like a family, because who else did they have? Once he was shackled to the wall, Callisto approached him.

"I'm sorry it has to be this way, Warren, but it's the only way," she said to him, stroking his face softly.

"Callisto . . . stop," groaned Warren, flinching from her touch. The fact that she had once had a thing for him didn't help this situation. In fact, it just brought Warren more discomfort. He could see that she still carried with her a blade that she'd used frequently. She proceeded to tear his shirt and sports jacket off to expose his muscular, toned chest.

"You could have very well been with us, Warren. You could have shown humanity that your gifts are not a curse. Instead, you chose to run off on us and live with Tony Stark. What does he know of our struggle for survival? What does he know of what it's like to be hated simply because you look different?" spat Callisto, the hatred and disgust rolling off her tongue.

"Come on, Callisto . . . Tony . . . he's helping mutants . . ." Warren pled with her. "He's-He's securing their futures by giving them job opportunities, something many aren't willing to do for those like us!"

"Helping mutants?" Callisto barked out a laugh. "Wow, that's so rich! And here you stand high and mighty as if you're above us."

"I'm not acting as though I am above you!" Warren said to her behind a clenched jaw. "C'mon, listen to reason for once! What you're doing is only adding to the toxic environment and you'll just make things worse for mutants everywhere! You're doing this to yourself at this point, Callisto! Learn to see the forest through the trees, for once in your God damn life."

"No, I am not," Callisto whispered, stroking his wings. "It's a real shame you hid these glorious feathers for so long, Warren. You truly did not know how special you were until you were with us. And then you left because you still somehow care for the surface world, despite all that was done to you. But, karma's a bitch, and so am I."

"What are you talking about? What are you going to do to me? Torture me?"

"Oh no, Warren, I've got plans for you that are far beyond torture. You know, I'd loved you, Warren, and I still do . . . when you left; you'd left a hole in my heart."

"I was sixteen! You were twenty-two! I was too young for you to begin with!" Warren remembered the age gap between the two of them had made him highly uncomfortable. Callisto's flirting and having feelings for him were two other equations as to why he'd wanted to leave. He couldn't take the idea of her attempting to force him into being her husband. "You flirting with me at that time, you were relentless!"

"Doesn't matter, Warren." Callisto stroked the side of his face. "You know during those two months of you living here, I very well could have been your bride."

"So that's what this is about? Forcing me to marry you? Well you've got one funny way of proposing! You're fucking eccentric!" Warren spat out, glaring at her.

"Now, now, Warren, no need to be so crass right now. Now, you can go along with this, or, you can suffer. It's your choice at this point," Callisto purred.

"Go to hell!" Warren grunted.

"Second choice it is." Callisto stepped out of the room, leaving Warren with Spyke and Berserker. Warren struggled against his shackles, knowing what this meant. He knew Spyke and Berserker to be the main mutants used for interrogation. Suddenly, that was the moment he felt Ray hitting him with a round of shocks of electricity.

"AHHHHHHH!" Warren yelled out as the pain of the electrical shocks hit his body.

"Hurts like a bitch, doesn't it?" asked Berserker. "Now you know how it felt when you left . . . how it stung!" The hot-headed mutant hit him with another round of shocks of electricity, causing Warren to scream in pain again. He felt Spyke firing a round of his spikes at his exposed skin, that adding to the searing pain as well. Only one thought ran through his mind:

'Professor . . .'

Up next: Captive Angel Part 3