A/N: Okay, I got this. Don't panic. I have a… a plot. Yes. Wow. I'm as shocked as you are. Let's crank it out now.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

'It's us against the world
Whenever you're near there is no fear
Feels like there's nothing I can't do
You make me feel strong
'cause its here with you that I belong'
~'Us Against the World', Play

Us Against the World

I let my eyes rake through the subway station, trying to formulate an answer that would work for him. There were plenty of them, but none that would make a ton of sense.

The walls of dirty stone surrounded us and a tarp sat folded up in case of severe rains and we had to close the entrance off to keep the place from flooding. The kitchen was off to the left of the opening in the roof as I looked at it from across the room, sitting practically across from the only doorway in and out of our home that didn't lead through the subway tunnels of darkness. The couch was right across from the opening and the tv was placed in front of that on a nearly broken table that Kevin and Carson had spent nearly two days patching up from the dump. Off to my left was the room Kevin and Melody had once shared and that I would soon be sharing with the brilliant singer; to the right was the room the boys shared. Both had originally been ticket booths back when the subway station had been functional, but we had adapted them to suit our needs.

"Kev, they have every weapon imaginable from the range of Galvan arms to Appoplexian weapons," I told him quietly, trying to give him a solid answer. I folded my fingers together and kept my eyes on my hands.

"And Appoplexians use sticks and still manage to kill each other," pointed out Carson, eyes closed and feet kicked up on the coffee table that we had splayed out in front of the couch that Kevin and Melody sat on, each at opposite ends.

"Exactly," I sighed, my gaze flitting from my hands to him and then back to my hands again. "I mean... before, it was bad. Multiply it by ten and add in more tech. They're bigger, faster, smarter, stronger..." I shook my head, unable to keep the dread from sinking into my body. I felt like I was drowning in all this misery that New York seemed to shove on me. It just seemed to get depressing just by being here.

"So we're looking at... an all out civil war..."

I nodded, my gaze not even finding Kevin. I didn't want to look at him. He knew we were screwed, we knew we were screwed and yet we were still choosing to fight an impossible battle.

"Damn," breathed Kevin. He ran a hand through his hair and leaned into the worn down couch that creaked under the weight of all his muscle. "This is..."

"It's serious shit, man." Carson stood up, unable to keep himself in one position for very long without getting edgy. "This isn't for rookies. Those punks you were playing with, they didn't know what the hell they were trying to get themselves into."

My eyes found Carson and I heard Kevin stand up too off to my left. "Dude, they beat me back when I was a monster. If anyone could win this, it's them, not me." The disappointment was clear as day in his voice. "Why didn't you tell me it was this bad back in Bellwood?"

Carson was clearly getting angry. His steps were faster and his fists were clenched. "Kev, we can't just start lettin' outsiders in. This is our home, this is our turf, New York is ours." His eyes sent daggers the color of rolling waves in the ocean in my younger brother's direction. "Outsiders don't belong in our home."

"This is suicide!"

"I'd rather die this way than with a couple of punks to save our hides." Carson was just infuriated. I wanted to step in and pull them away before they had grips on each others throats, but I stayed quiet. "This isn't a game, Kev. This is war."

"Let's just move." Kevin stood up. "I'll take Mel and head over to Bryce's place and pick him up before hitting up the launch pad, 'kay?" He shoved one hand in his pocket and pulled out his keys, giving them a little jingle to show Carson he was leaving. "I'll see what surveillance I can get from the girls and come back from there." Kevin nodded in Melody's direction, and she rose to her feet like a ghost; the girl didn't make a single noise.

I glanced to Carson who didn't even look interested in the slightest. He just kept walking around in the same circle, hands at his sides and mind distracted. That was what he did when he didn't want to talk but was also trying to think.

Kevin moved around the couch, Melody close behind him. I stayed in my chair. Kevin boosted Mel up and out of the hole that was forever sliced into our ceiling. His superhuman strength sent her up over the edge easily. Then he gave me one last solemn look before grabbing onto a few faint handholds that were cut into the wall and hauled himself up with a little help from Melody near the top of the wall. We were lucky the stairs hadn't been cut very deep or else I would have a lot of problems with getting out without the help of one of the guys.

It was a few seconds later when the car's purring engine started up and the quickly vanished into the mesh of growling cats running through the jungle of New York's streets.

"What does he think he's doing?" asked Carson the second Kevin's engine's sound had gotten out of the range of our hearing. "He can't expect a couple of amateurs to jump in here and save our tails without totally annihilating our honor." He crashed into the spot Kevin had been sitting in moments ago, his body laying out across the shredded cushions. "Kevin's out of it. They all played with his head. Melody. The Tennysons. They all ed him up. He's not right anymore."

I had to lean down and put my head in my hands. "I thought he could fix things," I said, trying to keep from cracking. The two guys I cared about most were already fighting. Maybe it was just that Kevin grew up. Or maybe it was just because Carson really didn't like having to go to him for problems that he thinks he should be able to fix himself.

"And now he and Melody are going to be tense all the time." My older brother drank in a deep breath of the dank air as his eyes surveyed the station we had made our home in. "That girl... She was trouble from the start, Mandy. She was trouble from the start."

I managed to get to my feet despite being so exhausted. "Nothing we can do about it now, Car," I told him gently, heading over towards the kitchen area Kevin had put together for us out of slabs of wood and some rock he had morphed into the right shapes. It was small and only had enough cabinets to hold a couple of cups we had picked out of dumps and a sink and a few of my smaller weapons that I didn't have space for in my room. We usually lived off of paper utensils and such. What Kevin had given us was a luxury. "We'll just have to rough it out like we do everything else."

"We can't have to watch our for her to stab us in the back, babe," he said, pushing his way towards the kitchen alongside of me. He wasn't going to let this drop so fast. Carson kept perfect pace so he was never so much as a step behind me. "I don't want to have to worry about a traitor every step of the way."

I turned on the sink and let the sound of the water soothe me. Not like we had bills. Carson had hacked us into a couple of the pipes from the building above us. Just letting the water run felt so good. "You're an Anodite," I mentioned, trying to let the tension ease out of my muscles while I leaned against the sturdy counters. When Kevin and Carson were mad, I couldn't help the stress that boiled in my veins. "You play with her the way she plays with Kev. Read her mind while she sleeps and check to see if she's telling the truth about her sister or not."

"I still don't like it."

I sighed and turned off the sink, glad that Carson could see things my way. "Suck it up," I told him while heading off to the room we had shared to take my things out and move them to the other side of the subway station where Melody and I would be sharing a room now that she was not longer romantically involved with my little brother. "Be a big boy, Car." I fingered the ends of my frayed blonde hair while heading into the structure that functioned as a bedroom. "Grow up so you can fight this like a man. Gotta remember one thing: us against the world."

A/N: Ah, I'm especially happy with this chapter. Hope the description of the subway was good enough for ya. I tried to manage. So anyways, review please. Thanks for reading!

~Sky

P.S. Anyone see MandyxCarson? I personally, don't know what to think of those two. I love 'em, but I'm not sure exactly.