---

---

---

---

Sapphire let out a sigh, of course Veil was trying to be as reasonable as possible when it came to the new girl. Why wouldn't she be? The problem for her was that in her mind Glimpse still seemed a bit arrogant, and the fact that she was walking around acting like her family actually meant anything here. That was still dumb in her opinion, but she really truly did not like Glimpse at all and now was sort of wishing she'd just walk out of the building and they'd pretend that they never even met her.

"Alright, look, your name, who you are connected to, mean nothing here, if it wasn't obvious based on what Havok has been saying," she said with an eye roll, looking right at Luna. "And if I may be so bold, you honestly sound like an entitled prick if you think just who your family is will mean anything at all. How do you expect anyone to take you seriously at all? Yeah, I said it, cause that is what I was thinking. Now, as for the whole Hound thing and Shaw, I'm all for seeing if it's true and trying to help out and all."

---

---

---

---

---

Jack felt the debris hit him, and he winced slightly from it. It definitely was going to be pretty sore later, because ouch, but at least Max was perfectly okay. "Cool, you got the fire partially down, so the building won't collapse on us really... Hopefully anyway," he said as Max went off to go through the portal back to the Tunnels. Jack went back to normal size now, his body somewhat hurting from the debris that had hit him, and he headed off that way too.

That's when he saw James, having gotten one of the guards out and he'd come racing back inside towards the portal. Jack thought for a moment, before he reached out and grabbed James by the arm, and he went through the portal, dragging James through with him. Once on the other side, he let go of James and took a few steps from the portal and looked at his brother. "...So, you got hit by rubble too? Definitely from the sounds of it you were having an interesting conversation with Ben weren't you?" he said, adding the last part with a bit of a laugh. It was interesting to hear half of a conversation, especially given what exactly Casper tended to say.

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

Frost International HQ - Downtown Washington D.C.:

The guard sighed slightly at Jinx's request. "As cute as you are, I can't do that - against protocol," he informed him. The badges were enough to get them inside, but it didn't mean that the guard could just tell Jinx where the security footage records were kept. If he did that for any cute little guy that awkwardly came into the Frost International building, he wouldn't just be fired - Emma Frost would have his head. "I can give you a map," he then offered, handing a little laminated map on over to Jinx. Most of the major divisions and all were indicated on it - but nothing top secret or classified, of course.

The elevator opened and Emma Frost stepped out, raising an eyebrow at the two Hellfire Club members. "Now what are you two doing at my company?" she asked them. Lying to Emma Frost was never a good idea, as she could use her telepathy to confirm whether or not it was true. She then spotted the ID badges they had on them, but her eyes quickly darted back up to their faces, staring them down more or less.

The Mutant Underground Garage - Washington D.C. Station:

"Just a bit?" Negasonic scoffed, as Moonwalker commented about his overshare. She wasn't exactly the most touchy-feely kind of person, though it was to her benefit. She was one of the few mutants who could stand being in Deadpool's presence for a few days - most people maxed out after a few hours and were begging to be killed by a Zamboni.

"Whichever it is that you prefer will be what I prefer, mate," Cannonball told him with a smile. He was much more polite than his best friend, Sunspot. Sunspot was a literal hothead and his impatience was beginning to creep into the legendary category. Case in point, Sunspot took Moonwalker's hand and gave it a rough shake. To Moonwalker, it would feel like shaking hands with the surface of an oven.

"Negasonic, how's Veil and Sapphire? I want to go see them," Sunspot said. He had a serious overprotective side when it came to his friends - especially after they had been in prison overnight. The police weren't known for being kind to mutants they had in custody as well.

"They look like shit, but they'll live," Negasonic answered him. "And some white bitch showed up with information she only trusts Veil with - I'm sure you'll love her, Sunny."

---

---

Things were definitely getting out of hand and Veil had to resist the urge to pinch her nose. She did that on occasion when she was stressed but with the abuse she had suffered at the hands of the police, it would only end up furthering her own injuries if she did so. Spark Plug wasn't participating in the petty fighting beyond a squabble with Havok, but Sapphire and Havok both seemed liable to toss Glimpse off of a cliff if they got the chance. "Enough!" Veil snapped, after Sapphire mockingly shot Glimpse's words back at her. "You don't have to get along, I don't give a fuck what your opinions are of each other, but goddamnit we need to be able to work together." She gave a pointed look at Glimpse, knowing that she had an attitude of entitlement to her that came with the idle rich, however she knew that Sapphire and Havok weren't blameless in this.

There was a slight pause. "Havok, Colossus, what are your thoughts on going after Shaw?" Veil asked. "Glimpse, I appreciate your thoughts but to be blunt, you aren't a member of this group - not yet at least."

Colossus gave a slight nod. "Mutant Underground is for helping mutants, da? Stopping Shaw can be part of that."

"I'm all for hula hooping Shaw's ass into oblivion," Havok quipped. He walked on over to Sapphire and whispered into her ear: "How much do you want to bet Miss One Percent here is setting a trap for us?" he asked her softly. No one but Sapphire would be able to hear that comment.

Veil nodded, since everyone present had casted their votes. "Alright. Negasonic, Cannonball, Moonwalker, and Sunspot need to cast their votes as well, but it sounds like everyone is backing this play on a preliminary basis. Now Glimpse, you mentioned that you have contacts... I'd like you to share that information now with the group. Anything you want to tell me can be told to anyone here, it's the model we decided on - I might be the leader but everyone has a voice and equal say."

---

---

"Well done," Erg praised Leighton once more. He bent down and picked up another bottle for her to practice with. "Most mutants find it easier to control their powers in a calm environment - I imagine whatever happened at Target, you were panicked and afraid, limiting your control over the ice..." his voice trailed off as the group returning from the warehouse came out of the portal. Stretch's brother - Spirit Box, he recalled - and Sunshine were the first ones out, with Sunshine triumphantly holding up a rat and mentioning something about what Tome had done. Erg sighed slightly. Tome seemed to be a magnet for trouble and/or poor decisions. Tome himself emerged from the portal next, followed by Stretch and Caduceus, and finally Blink.

"What happened?" Erg asked calmly. His fingers twitched slightly. It was probably a good thing he didn't have the gun with him.

"I honestly couldn't tell you," Blink said. She had some ideas of what exactly had gone down but she was going to let people come clean, so to speak. They would have a better relationship with Erg if they told the truth anyways.

Sunshine, of course, was all too happy to snitch on Tome. She knew exactly what had happened, but hey, she had gotten a pet dead rat out of it so it wasn't too bad of a day. "Tome decided, in his infinite wisdom, to burn the warehouse down," Sunshine told Erg gleefully. There was additional malice and spite to her, more than what was normal for the admittedly cruel young mutant. Had she been more aware of her own psychology, maybe Sunshine would have known that this was a defense mechanism, as Tome starting the fire was an eerie parallel to her home burning down and resulting in the arrest of her makeshift family for a crime they didn't commit. Her friends were still in Mutant Super-Max serving sentences for arson.

"We did manage to get one of the generator thingys," Sunshine then added as an afterthought. She had no idea how the things worked. They could have been stealing props from the next Star Trek set and she wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between them and an actual generator. Her technical expertise consisted of hitting the thing repeatedly until it worked, then just giving up and claiming that since people had survived for thousands of years or something without technology, then she didn't need it either.

Casper nodded at his brother slightly, holding his head with his hand. He had a headache now from getting hit, but putting pressure on his head had stopped the bleeding. It must not have been that serious an injury, probably just a shallow scrape from the rubble. Hopefully his new friend, James, would be willing to come and try to heal him again as Casper hated headaches. He'd much rather have a thousand bruises over his body than even a mild headache. "Ben is being a pain in the ass as always," he told his brother.

"Takes one to know one," Ben shot back, using about the oldest comeback in the book.

However, something interesting had caught Casper's eye. The kid that had tagged along with them was acting extra vicious. Despite never having formal schooling in it, Casper had picked up a lot of psychology in his lifetime - his dad had a doctorate in it and had taught him the basics, and then with the lifestyle Casper lived, he got plenty of case studies in it. "Something set the kid off," he told his brother quietly. "She's hiding something, Jackie," he then added.

---

New Outfit

---

---

Max walked forward almost sheepishly as he heard Sunshine basically sing to Erg about his mistake. He looked back towards the portal and the warehouse, seeing that James was now safe, and the rest inside, he took it upon himself to take a few more steps forward, finding the courage to speak up against the little brat that was Sunshine. ”That isn’t entirely true Erg. I didn’t burn down the warehouse. Time seemed to be of the essence, guards were pouring in, three of them at the very least. They had spotted James only, it seemed, and I couldn’t quite tell if they had guns trained on him or not. I saw Blink create a portal to escape but saw no way for James to do so without potentially getting shot, and I could tell you didn’t want to have a fight if it could be helped. So...so i decided to create a small fire by the fire suppression system, something that would trigger them and cause the guards to either flee or at least be distracted long enough for him to run for it. However...I was cocky, didn’t work well with my team...and I accidentally conjured a fire way bigger than I anticipated, causing the entirety of the roof to become engulfed in flames.”

Max looked down at his feet for a moment, a wave of embarrassment washing over him as he thought back on his foolish actions, and now having to declare them in front of an entire community. ”But what else was I supposed to do? One of our own, a mutant, was in trouble. A trouble that I could help with. I wasn’t about to leave him alone as a sacrifice for the rest of us to flee. I’d of rathered they take me instead than him. As for the fire, I took care of most of it. There is still a small one roaring on the roof and the system seems unable to put it out but...what i took care of already drained me quite a bit and I’m exhausted. I don’t know if I can put it out on my own. This was not my intention when I created it but it is the outcome and I’m owning up to this.”

---

---

---

Deception

---

---

Cute? Did he just call me cute? Oh, everyone always wants to be with someone as top priority as i am right now. That’s probably all it is. Jinx took them map from the guy and gave him a little wink. ”That’s alright, protocols and all right? Maybe later we can have a little...protocol of our own” Propping himself off of the desk, he began to skip merrily towards his partner, map in hand, and wondering if the security personnel was a mutant or lowly human. That’s when he saw it. The elevator doors opening and good ole lady frost just waltzing out here like she owned the place. Wait...she did own the place. Whatever. That didn’t mean they couldn’t be there. His skips turned into little bunny hops as he made his way closer, stopping for a moment when she began to look the two over, and taking notice of their shiny new toy.

Now, Jinx wasn’t aware if they were allowed to be there, or if she was allowed to know. Really, he should’ve asked more questions but was too busy wanting to get to the program. Alright, now how does one approach a telepath? Lying is just useless, but if he didn’t know if he should tell the truth, that could just be a disaster. Alright, action time. Jinx walked the rest of the way over, resting his left arm on Requiems right shoulder as he gave Frost a Cheshire smile. ”I’m hurt Frost. I thought we knew each other better than that? No? Oh well. We are here to take a look around, check up on things, the like. As you no doubtebly noticed with your very lovely and perceptive eyes, we have clearance to be here. So if we could just mosey on along that would be great.”

---

---

---

---

Callie looked between Havok and Sapphire as they both shot back towards Luna, she leaned back in her seat as she listened to them squabble a bit. At least she was willing to give the new girl a benefit of a doubt for now, as she ran a hand through her hair, and took another bite of the food that was there. She then jumped slightly hearing Veil snapping.

Usually she was the cool tempered one while she was more of the one who snapped easily. Callie then listened to Veil once more as she asked Glimpse to give information on her contacts which she was pretty interested in as well. "Yes, please share with the class I am really curious." Callie said.

---

---

---

“Thank you.” James nodded his head at Jack after he pulled him through the portal. “Didn’t need to add a murder on top of destriction of property, you know?” He reached over to Casper after noticing his hand pressed firmly against his head and tried to heal him twice more, growing more frustrated with each attempt. He probably barely managed to stop the bleeding with the fourth attempt. At least he did that. James was starting to wonder if he’d hallucinated the ability the entire time.

“Well, fuck me..” James sighed in irritation. “Maybe I’ll be more helpful once I finish the electrical stuff. Never was much good at distancing myself once I had a project. And we didn’t even get the heat shrink tubing.” James let out a groan as he surveyed the set up again. Down a generator and insulation. Wonder if Blink would pop him in just to pick it up…

“No, that is Bad Idea number one. He muttered to himself before turning to everyone returning from the Warehouse. “Could use some help getting this all fixed if anyone’s up to it. Makes it all the easier.” He said.. He moved over to the generator and gave it a look over, glancing up as Max was finished with whatever he was saying. “Oye Max. You’ve been enlisted in helping me fix this crap since someone shut down my tubing.” James said loudly, jerking his head towards the generator.

---

---

---

---

---

Requiem sometimes wanted to command the monkey to dance in a busy street. The second Jinx opened that aggravating mouth, Requiem was half tempted to back hand him into the next century. When it possible trouble with someone with a power like Emma Frost, tone was important. Requiem would give the boy credit for the half truth, he quite liked it if he was being honest, but that tone really got under his skin.

”Jinx is quite right, Ms.Frost.” Requiem agreed, although far more kindly. “Time is money in this world. I’d prefer to be done sooner rather than later. I have plans this evening for this one. And although he’d just decided, Requiem started outlining a thorough discussion of proper etiquette when speaking to someone above your station.

---

---

---

---

Luna was growing a little fed up with the constant reminder of who her parents were. And who, exactly was obsessed with that knowledge? She merely looked at Sapphire while she went on with her diatribe. Speaking one’s mind Luna could tolerate. She had been around enough liars in her lifetime to appreciate the truth telling. But there was a fine line between having an opinion and being opinionated. Her father was more than just a face, as well as her mother. They were her whole world, her own personal heroes of scratched knees and bruised heads. Saviours of head colds and nightmares. They were more than just a name. Sure, when it came to lives on the line, names and family lines meant nothing but the fact of the matter was, if they were going to get anywhere with their goals, names was what was going to get them through the door. That was the dark, sticky reality of life. You were nothing but your name.
Veil snapped, bringing all of the attention back to her and Luna obliged. She knew she wasn’t in charge here, she came in here with that understanding. Hence why she waited for the one who was in charge before disclosing her information. Regardless of what Veil thought, she was in charge and she did command a room without even trying. There was a saying: some were born great and some had greatness thrust upon them.
”Well I have Shaw’s direct information and another direct connection with the Hellfire club. Although dated, my great grandfather dabbled in the Hellfire club and despite your obvious concern with my name and my purposed entitlement, it’s your quickest way in. Of course, if you have better options, I’m all ears. Being bait, isn’t my most favourable past time.” She knew this information was going to be hit with more head butting and outraged concerns. There was no trust established, they we were working on the trust still and Luna just told the leaders of the Mutant Underground that she had direct connections to the Hellfire club that was in part to the Hound Program. At the very least, Luna didn’t beat around the bush either.
Luna found herself an agreeable seat and sat down, settling in for the potential arguments and disbelief at her news. Her only chance weighed on Veil’s intuition and the chance that they all had some belief in Xavier still. Luna’s body language had her seated relaxed but open as well, not in such a dominate, intimidating way but in a way that conveyed she was an open book and willing to answer more questions.

---

---

---

---

Cayden’s cheeks flushed a little from Negasonic’s agreement with his obvious overshare. He shrugged it off, grinning at Cannonball. ”Well Moonwalker works then. Seems everyone here goes by codenames anyways.”
When Sunspot shook Cayden’s hand, it took him an effort not to rip his hand away. His neck and cheeks flushed again purely from the heat. When his hand was released Cayden couldn’t help but glance at his hand to make sure it was still intact and didn’t need to be ran under cool water.
”Oh! You mean Luna Braddock,” Cayden said to Negasonic’s comment, forgetting about his hand. ”She seems decent enough, considering she’s also surrounded by a bunch of people she doesn’t know. I mean she’s a Braddock though, so that’s pretty sweet.” Cayden was still fangirling over the fact that he had just met Capitan Britain's daughter.
”Hey, are you guys hungry? Veil and Saph brought back food. There should be some left.”

---

---

---

---

This time, Leighton did manage to do her happy dance before the others showed up from their mission. As excited as she was to highlight her own accomplishment, she realized she had no one to share it with. She didn't know James all that well, she was pissed off at Jack, Sunshine scared her. Max was the only one left she felt some semblance of closeness to, even if he was careless.

Case in point upon hearing how he burned down a factory. The fact he owned up to it though was a strong point in his favor, though she wondered how the Morlocks would see that. Could they afford someone on their team who has consistently mucked things up, even for good reason? "I am sure it was an accident and at least he owned up to it." Leighton spoke that to Erg, hoping to tide any anger he might have been feeling.

"Since I will be going to the underground, maybe Max should come with? If he wants to, of course, but they might be able to help." She looked over to Max to see his feelings on the matter.

---

---

---

---

"Whatever you say Veil," Sapphire muttered, not really all too willing still to even listen to what Glimpse really had to say. Hearing Havok though, she thought about it for a moment, looking over at Luna, "I honestly wouldn't be surprised at all if she betrayed us or stabbed us in the back... She's ridiculous," she whispered back to him. Glimpse was going to have to attempt to earn her trust, which never was an easy task to accomplish, but she'd see just what she tried to do to earn her trust.

"Alright, her saying how she has direct connections with the Hellfire club and Shaw does not help her case in we need to trust her category..." she muttered under her breath to Havok, looking over at Veil. She wondered what her friend really thought about all of this. It could just be a coincidence that Glimpse just so happened to know Shaw or could be kind of close to him, but she shook that thought out of her head. There was no such thing as coincidences really, everything usually happened for a reason.

---

---

---

---

---

Jack let out a bit of a sigh, hearing the commotion over the fire at the warehouse for the most part. They were definitely going on and on about it, and in his mind that sort of thing was kind of the norm when you thought about it. Like, anyone could have made that mistake or something, just this time around, it had been Max to mess things up. He was hoping a bit that Erg would take things easy on him. "It honestly wasn't that bad," he said with a shrug, though he was a bit sore from the bits of debris that had hit him.

Another thought occurred to him, and he walked over to Leighton, running a hand through his hair as he looked at her. "Hey, look, sorry about earlier... I'm not exactly the best when it comes to situations like the one we were in on the surface ironically... Usually because no one else generally accompanies me to the surface when I go out and about and I'm used to doing things my way as opposed to just about anyone else's... I also am not too used to anyone willing to put themselves on the line for me like that, usually I'm the one who does that sort of thing... Anyway, what I'm trying to basically say is I'm sorry for snapping at you, and thank you for what you did earlier..." he said to her with a slight smile, "Also, totally used to getting the cold shoulder, but usually I get smacked across the face by people," he added with a slight laugh as he turned his attention to the others.

"Um, if anyone else doesn't want to go to the Underground, or doesn't want to commit to joining the Morlocks or something, you could always crash at my office. I mean, it isn't too big of an area, and I know that Casper is going to crash there, but there is space and stuff if a few more people want to go there. Entirely your choice."

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

Frost International HQ - Downtown Washington D.C.:

For whatever reason, Jinx seemed to be exactly the guard's type and before he slipped away, the guard handed Jinx a card with his number on it. The unlucky mutant could be getting lucky in the near future, depending on how he played this off. Emma Frost didn't take to Jinx nearly as well, but who could blame her? It was her company, her associates from her less than innocent business dealings were here unannounced, and he had just asked her to run along and not worry her pretty head about it? She seemed to be a bit more receptive to Requiem.

"Of course. I wasn't informed that you two would be visiting my company - it's caught me off guard. However, I will accompany you nonetheless." Her eyes twinkled for a moment, and she then smiled slightly. "I just cleared my schedule with my assistant. Now what is it that you boys wished to look into here?" She then did a quick mental scan of Jinx and Requiem's minds, picking up a few pieces of information but neither mutant would know what exactly.

---

---

Erg sighed slightly, as Max told him what had happened. The leader of the Washington D.C. Morlocks then gave him a nod and rubbed his face - a tame reaction considering that Erg saw no problem greeting people at gunpoint. One part of Max's explanation stuck out to him - the language that he used. One of our own. "Caduceus is not one of my people," he said bluntly. "I am proud that you, Tome, made him one of yours and protected him." While his words were praise for his actions, his facial expression was neutral and guarded - who knew how Erg really felt about all of this.

Casper gave James a gentle smile though. "If you insist..." he quipped, after James said fuck me upon failing to really do much to heal Casper's injuries. The bleeding on his head had stopped and his eyes were still stinging, with the black eyes pretty much halfway formed by now (courtesy of Leighton's new boyfriend the Purifier). "Not that I'm turning into my father or anything but... Sometimes, if your powers aren't working, it's all in your head. Get your mind in order, whatever it is that's bothering you, and it'll come back to you."

"If you were turning into your dad... Which do you think would go first - the hair or the legs?"

"Better be the legs, Bennie, my hair is beautiful!" Casper told his ghost friend. Casper then flexed his legs slightly, as if that would tell him if there was any danger of him being confined to a wheelchair shortly. His ears perked up slightly again as his brother, Stretch, started talking about letting people crash at his office. Jack's place was one of his favorite places to sleep - it had a consistent supply of doughnuts and it reminded him of when they were little, sharing a room together. He missed those days.

"Don't forget, you wanted waffles," Ben reminded Casper.

"Jackie, can we get waffles on the way back to your place?" he then inquired.

Sunshine, meanwhile, seemed to have escaped Erg's wrath for her bullying of Max. She kept a hold on Fred, her pet dead rat, and judged the terrain more or less around her. Growing up on the streets, she had a pretty easy time when it came to reading people. Leighton and Max were going to go off to the Mutant Underground. She was certain James would follow them or just head on home after all of this. Casper, the idiot, was just going to follow his brother. It meant that she would be the only one of this little group to stay with the Morlocks. She really was the girl that everyone abandoned - and why wouldn't they?

"You guys can be idiots and go join X-Men Little League, I'm staying here where it's safe," Sunshine said, rolling her eyes slightly. The Mutant Underground risked their lives to get mutants to safety, but she knew a lot of them ended up in prison themselves for their actions. Sunshine was just looking out for herself, not others, and joining the Mutant Underground would be a selfless act. She wasn't a selfless person. Maybe she would join the Brotherhood of Mutants one day, kill the humans and destroy their lives just like they had destroyed hers. Maybe one day.

"Knock it off," Blink scolded Sunshine. "Everyone has a right to make their own choices, doesn't make them idiots. And being mean to everyone, kid? That won't make anyone like you and want to be your friend, just saying." She wasn't going to try however to deal with the dead rat Sunshine was carrying around like a trophy - that was a lost cause at this point.

Blink then opened a portal and on the other side, they would be able to see Veil and the others at the Mutant Underground. "Everyone heading to the Underground, now's the time," she said.

"Thank you for the generator and the offer to patch ours up, Caduceus," Erg then said, acknowledging James. "If you wish, you can stay and finish and Blink will then take you wherever you want to go... Or if you leave now, Grimlock can extract the information on how to fix it from your head before you go."

---

---

Veil took in the information that Glimpse had more or less failed to mention - her connections to the Hellfire Club. It was concerning, but it wasn't something that would cause her to no longer trust her. Havok had a direct connection to Magneto, as he had an on-and-off again relationship with his daughter Polaris. She didn't remember much but she knew that Sunspot had a connection to the Hellfire Club as well. "Would Shaw suspect something of you, if you were to pay him a visit?" Veil asked her. If Glimpse got them into the building, Veil could keep the others invisible, allowing them to poke around while Glimpse distracted Shaw.

Havok nodded slightly at Sapphire. "Want to make a bet on how long it'll take for her to turn on us?" he whispered to the ice wielding mutant. He had hoped that Colossus would take their side, but he figured that hopefully Moonwalker and the others would see what a huge mistake this all was, trusting Glimpse. She was an unknown element and in an operation as fragile as this, they needed to have every little variable defined and controlled in order to survive. Glimpse was a threat to everyone here.

It was a few moments later that Sunspot, Cannonball, and Negasonic entered the room. Cannonball was there for the food mostly that Moonwalker had mentioned, eager to get something that didn't taste like watered down sweaty socks to eat for once. Sunspot, however, had recognized the name Braddock. He had vowed to take down the Hellfire Club after they resulted in the death of his girlfriend, Juliana. Braddock was the surname of one of the families of the club. The instant he saw Glimpse, he burst into flames, glaring at her. "What the hell are we doing, letting Hellfire scum in here?!" he shouted.

Even though Sunspot knew rationally that Glimpse didn't have anything to do with Juliana's death, it was all he could think about. Cannonball sighed slightly, gently putting a hand on his friend's shoulder without getting burned. "What Sunspot means to say is welcome to the Mutant Underground," Cannonball said, hoping to smooth things over.

Negasonic laughed slightly, shaking her head. "Yeah, that's not what he meant at all..."

And as if things weren't tense enough, a bright purple tear in reality formed in front of them - it was a portal! On the other side, they could see a few people standing in what looked to be the sewers. Had Colossus had a better line of sight, he would have been able to recognize Stretch, the private investigator they had hired. It took Veil a moment before her mind put it all together - the brand on Erg's face was what finally clued her in. It was similar to the one she had on her arm.

"...And they said the Morlocks were a myth," she said quietly. "What can we do to help?" she asked, not hesitating or demanding them to join or pointing a gun at them.

---

---

---

---

Callie took a moment and looked towards Luna as she mentioned her connection to the Hellfire Club, which wasn't really a good thing either to know, as she looked towards Veil for a moment and what her thoughts on that were. "Well at least she's being pretty damn straightforward about all of that." Callie said with a slight shrug, whether the information she had was actually accurate or not was a whole other story for her anyway. But she was at least willing to listen to her, and see what they could do to take down the Hound Program as Callie ran a hand through her hair she noticed that Negasonic, Sunspot and Cannonball were now in the room with them.

"Welcome back, i'm not going to get burned now am I that Veil is back?" Callie asked Sunspot, knowing that he had taken his anger and frustration out on her, at least he didn't attack her which was probably the only good thing. Callie leaned back in her seat as she noticed something in the corner of her eye and turned to see what it was. Callie now getting a better look at it was a portal seeing some of the Morlocks were there, raising an eyebrow towards them. "They don't usually seek out help do they?" Callie asked looking towards Veil.

---

---

---

James gave Erg a flat stare. He fully intended to protest being kicked out until he did his job and got it running but the Grimlock thing wasn’t funny. Portals, time travel, magic cumberbunds, burning warehouses―all fine, no problem. He’s pretty sure someone could summon a straight up demon and at most he’d question that rational behind that decision but someone picking into his head crossed a line he hadn't realized existed.

“I’ll get my job done, don’t you worry. I’ll be leaving yeah but I can’t leave you around in the dark. I’ll get out of your hair as soon as everything is fixed. And I expect a call back if something goes dark. James demanded before turning back to Casper. “You’re gonna have to one up a manhunt if you want to get that far but if you’re still here when I’m done or we meet up at the Underground sometime, I’m definitely taking another stab at that. Explain to me how I can get a concussion up and running but a balck eye and head pains escape me.” James grumbled. “And maybe at some point we can have that conversation over breakfast or something? I think I could use an Irish coffee after the past 48 hours.”

---

---

---

---

---

“We’re honored Ms. Frost.” Requiem replied pleasantly, considering his options. The most likely scenario was she already lifted it form their minds and she was waiting to see if they were foolish enough to try and deceive her. On the other hand, and a best case scenario, she may not have and instead discovered Requiem’s intricate plans for educating the carnival child. In both cases, maintaining an appropriate vagueness was likely the key to survival in this endeavor.

“I wouldn’t dare presume someone of your caliber wasn’t already aware of our business but if discussion is needed to be had, may I suggest we move away from here? Tis always best assumed an equal but opposite force in play and something that finds its equal in you madam would be truly terrifying indeed. Requiem requested. "It is far more difficult to find something misplaced when too many eyes are watching.

---

New Outfit

---

---

Bewilderment took over Max as Sunshine spoke. He didn’t know her past or what she had been through, but it seemed to help shape her into the vile creature that she was. Sure, she was young, but being young didn’t excuse the rude comments and remarks that the young girl made. Part of him hoped that Fred would wake up and bite her hand, but that was neither here nor there. To his slight surprise Blink quickly took to defending him, and the others who wanted to go and stay with the Underground. He knew it was probably nothing more than something akin to a parent trying to remind their children of manners, but the sentiment was still nice.

Once the portal opened up Max looked between the new location and the current one. Unsure on if he should stay or go. Yeah he wanted to go to the Underground and leave the trigger happy leader to himself, but he also promised to help Caduceus with the generator since he managed to partially muck up the chance of getting some of the pieces they needed during the run. ”Thanks Leighton, I really appreciate it...truly. But, it looks like I’m sticking around for a moment longer then. I did lend my aid to Cad over here, and if he’s staying to fix the generator then so am I. Don’t worry though, I’ll try my hardest not to be a liability while I’m down here, and I’ll leave as soon as we are finished. So I suppose I'll see you then?” Max smiled at Leighton before he walked over towards James smiling. ”So Mr. Fixer, what do we need to do?”

---

---

---

---

---

Jinx took the card, offering the guy a wink upon doing so. Chances were that Jinx was about to have a lot of fun. He couldn’t quite tell if the man was a mutant or scum but either way he could toy with him in some fashion, whether that be physically or murderously was yet to be known. He watched as Emma Frost’s eyes twinkled, clearing her schedule with what he could only assume was her assistant, though he worried on if she also scanned his mind for information. He wasn’t necessarily concerned that she had anything to do with the current issue, but more so didn’t like telepaths poking their noses into his carnival riddled brain full of mayhem and fun. The thought to Jinx her crossed his mind, thinking If she can use her abilities on me, why shouldn’t I return the favor? But Jinx quickly dismissed the thought as it may complicate work too much and he just didn’t want to deal with the hassle of it all.

As Requiem and her spoke, Jinx opted for putting his hands inside his pants pockets. Rocking back and forth on from the balls of his heels to the tips of his toes as he whistled a tune in his head. His eyes darted around the facility, taking note of any cameras that were in sight, yet oddly enough there seemed to be none. Man, security is lacking here. Either her telepathic abilities stretch the whole building, or they’re hidden way too well. Jinx took out the map for a moment, studying it and reading what each floor contained, while the adults spoke. Finally Requiem shut his pretty little mouth and Jinx just smiled at Frost and then Requiem, putting the map away and rubbing his hands together. ”Then its settled. Lead the way m’lady” he said as he gave an exaggerated bow with a flourish of his hand.

---

---

---

---

Leighton bit her tongue, knowing that Max, as much as his heart was in the right place, would struggle with the Morlocks. He meant well, but meaning well and doing well were two different things. He might have a better shot with the Underground, but it was his choice. "Your choice, but try not to burn anything else down yeah?" She said it in a joking matter.

Before she could leave via portal, Jack pulled her aside. She listened because she was starting to feel like people deserved a chance to speak. Once done, she shook her head. "I'm not upset because I wasn't thanked for saving you and your brother. All right, maybe a little, but I was more upset because you felt you had to turn yourself in. You have people relying on you that need you. Whether that's with the Morlocks or not is your choice, but sometimes you need to take your head out of your ass and realize people are there for you too. Good luck with everything."

She patted his cheek before stepping through the portal into the Underground. She saw the others staring. "Hello, my name is Leighton and my specialty is ice."

---

---

---

---

Luna pulled her eyes away from Veil's and looked down at the grimy floor. It was the first time she had shown anything else other than feigned indifference.
”He’s been asking me to meet with him on and off for the better part of a year. It wouldn’t be alarming if I just showed up unannounced.” Luna had no intention of joining the Hellfire club. Ever. Sure, her family was deeply connected but her desires tended to be much more neutral.
She glanced over, watching Sapphire and Havok whisper back and forth. Clearly her Aunt’s words to Sapphire meant very little on Luna’s character. Luna straightened and looked back at Veil before her attention was drawn away once again.
A man stepped forward, bursting into flames. Luna’s eyebrow rose, the only indication of interest or alarm. Overreaction much? She smirked at the other one who stepped forward to explain that was meant to be a welcome, rather than harassment.
”I have to agree with Negasonic on that front. Nonetheless, get in line. There are others before you that are having a dodgy time getting around the name.” There wasn’t much she could say about the Hellfire club. She was here, bringing up their plans and what she would do to get them in there. It wouldn’t help her case. No, they would all have to take a chance on her.

---

---

---

---

Cayden was still all smiles until they walked back into the other room and he could feel the tension. He glanced around, worried when Sunspot lit himself on fire. He jumped back startled and when Cannonball just touched him, without even flinching, his jaw dropped. He stepped up beside Negasonic and leaned in just slightly.
”How is he doing that?” He was amazed by the simple act of just touching him like that when he was all lit up. Cayden found Luna Braddock and grinned. She was still just as cool and laid back as when he first met her a few minutes ago. Damn. She was right up there with like Wolverine and some of the other infamous X-Men. So cool.
Cayden’s excitement was put on hold when there was a flash and then a split in reality seemed to open. Everyone was still in the room but now there seemed to be people in another room, speaking and then one stepped through and looked around at all the people staring at her. She was a pretty raven haired girl, who was dressed extremely well. When she spoke up and informed them of her power straight away, Cayden looked straight to Sapphire.
”Hey! Same as you. What are the odds,” he exclaimed and looked back at the portal, curious to see if anyone else would be coming through.

---

---

---

---

"Honestly if you ask me she'll betray us the instant we are anywhere near Shaw or the Hellfire Club," she whispered back to Havok. It was definitely a surprise to agree with Havok on something all things considering. Glancing over at Sunspot, she had to suppress the urge to laugh slightly at his outburst. It was understandable why he was pissed about Glimpse being around, and she whispered again to Havok. "So glad someone else understands that this is all too strange..."

When the portal opened up, she froze slightly when she heard Leighton's words, and the room around them would instantly drop a few degrees in temperature. It wasn't enough to be bad for anyone, but it definitely was enough to be noticeable. She contemplated smacking Moonwalker over the head for his comment, but decided against it, and she looked right at Leighton. "Just to let you know darling, no one says stuff like that, it sounds idiotic, don't want anyone thinking you are a one trick pony do you?" she asked in a bit of a sarcastic tone. It was clear she didn't seem to care too much for Leighton, as the girl hadn't created that much of an impression on her.

---

---

---

---

---

Jack chuckled slightly at Leighton's words. "Trust me, I know that there are a lot of people who rely on me to do a bunch of things, that was practically my life growing up with Casper as my older brother... Problem is that I'd gladly give myself up, or risk my life, to protect others, I can tell you quite certainly that I would do that sort of thing for you in that situation again in a heartbeat... Trust me, a lot of people think that sort of thing might end badly for me, but I don't really care. As long as I'm protecting other people who need help, I'd gladly do that sort of thing again..."

Seeing the portal open, Jack moved slightly so that he could peer through and get a better view of what was going on on the other side. He didn't really recognize too many people on the other side of the portal, however there was one person he knew, and that was Colossus. "Hey there Colossus," he said with a slight wave. He hadn't had much of a chance so far today to look for info on Colossus' missing sister, and he felt a little bit bad about that, but he had had to deal with a lot of other things today.

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

Frost International HQ - Downtown Washington D.C.:

Emma gave Requiem a sweet yet clandestine smile. "You flatter me, dear," she said, giving him a slight wink. She went back over to the elevator and used her credentials, overriding it and sending it back down to the first floor. A few annoyed employees reluctantly got off and realized they'd have to wait to use it. No one kept their job if they argued otherwise with Emma Frost. "Today truly has been a day for the unexpected, hasn't it boys?" Emma commented, entering in a passcode now on the inside of the elevator.

Once everyone was inside, the elevator went down, stopping eventually at a floor with no name. It was the secret sub-level dedicated to Hellfire Club activities. Shaw had also stored his sentinels here and ironically, he had been a major supplier of sentinels to O.M.E.N. back in its hay day. She stepped out of the elevator and gave them a slight smile. "Please take a look around."

It was a large and expansive room, filled with luxurious lounge furniture and advanced scientific apparatuses. There was a few prototype helmets of some sort on the couch at the moment, though their function was hard to guess from just looking at them. In the middle of the room, there were gigantic scuff marks on the ground, as if someone had moved something incredibly heavy and decided it was fine to just drag it along.

---

---

None of the Morlocks so far had explained to those in the Mutant Underground what was going on and Erg had to wonder a bit as to how these people had gotten this far in life. Leighton he knew had a life of privilege and wealth, so it was a bit understandable for her to just waltz through the portal without even explaining why she was coming through. "We have come across some mutants who wish for shelter and training - and to potentially contribute to your cause," Erg told the Underground Leader.

The leader had wild curly brown hair and sharp, perceptive eyes. "It's been a while. You're looking good, Erg," the woman said. She gave a slight nod. "We'll take them in." Colossus replied to Jack's wave with one of his own, a bit of a hopeful expression on his face. Maybe he'd give him a call later, see if there was anymore news about his sister.

"Thank you, Veil," Erg nodded, seemingly knowing this person. How did they know each other, though? Erg didn't seem like the type to affiliate with the Mutant Underground. And the leader - Veil - had thought that the Morlocks were just a myth, so how? "The others will come along in a few hours... Goodbye, Ice Queen," he explained, before Blink closed the tare in reality, the portal shutting.

Grimlock's voice whispered into James' mind about a second later, having heard his mental thoughts about her: Rude!

Casper grimaced slightly as James asked if he would go visit at the Underground. "Willingly waltz into another manifestation of my dad's ego? No way in hell," he muttered. The Mutant Underground and the X-Men, they were both creations of his father, the world's most powerful telepath and award winning douchebag of a father. He knew that the odds of running into his father at a Mutant Underground cell was next to nothing, but he didn't care. The place would feel like his dad could show up at any moment and that wasn't something he wanted to sign up for.

"But coffee? I can do coffee," Casper gave him a grin at that, his mind already moving off from the topic of his father. Erg and Blink went off to go talk amongst themselves, leaving Tome and James free to work on the generators. There didn't seem to be an option of going back to get more materials - which made sense, given that they had nearly burned down a warehouse last time and Blink had other things to attend to.

Sunshine was feeling hungry already, so she made her way back towards where all of the food was kept. She found a bunch of packages of instant ramen noodles and squinted at the text. She wasn't completely illiterate - she had gone to preschool and had done some state mandated schooling at juvi. The simple words and sentences, things she was already expecting to see, those she could handle just fine. But the more she stared at the instructions on this tiny pack of ramen noodles, the harder it got. The letters looked like they were rearranging themselves and she let out a huff of frustration.

"...Water..." Sunshine whispered to herself. She knew that packaged noodles needed to be heated up. She ripped open the packaging, grabbed a bowl, and then dunked the bowl into the container of hot water nearby. She then plopped the brick of noodles in the bowl and stared at the seasoning packet. Shaking it slightly, she was able to tell it was some sort of powder, so she shrugged and opened up the packet, dumping the seasoning on top of the brick of noodles that was floating in what really was lukewarm water.

She hadn't washed her hands either and there was a bit of rat fur on the food, which she carefully plucked off and then wiped off on her clothing.

---

---

Sunspot had calmed down slightly since Spark Plug asked if she was going to get burned, powering down and returning to normal. Negasonic had filled in Moonwalker on just how Cannonball was able to touch him - "Cannonball is a bomb, basically. It'd suck ass if he couldn't take a little flame," she had told him, while Erg and Veil had talked. "And it would be funny as shit!"

"Language, Negasonic!" Colossus had scolded nearly instantly.

Now, with the portal shut, Veil took a moment to assess their current situation. They needed to go and vet the information Glimpse had given to them, ensure that the others got a chance to vote on them going after the Hound program, and they had just taken in another mutant. Resources were low as it was but Veil wasn't going to turn away mutants who needed help, no matter who they were or what their powers were. Moonwalker was right though - the new girl, she had the same powers as Sapphire.

"Welcome to the Mutant Underground, Ice Queen," Veil said, mistaking the nickname Erg had called Leighton by for a moment to be her preferred codename of choice. "My name is Veil. You're welcome to stay here as long as you like - just let us know if there's any reason the police might be looking for you. We can also get you out of the state and send you up north to my native land, Canada, if you want to flee the country." She wanted to do right by this kid, but her mind was also going over what Glimpse had just told them - that Shaw had actively been wanting to meet with her. If people hadn't been suspicious of Glimpse before, then they would have all the more reason to not trust her now. Sapphire at least had started moving on to picking on Ice Queen and not Glimpse - which was a good sign, Veil hoped.

They'd need to do some rejigging as well of the plans. Erg had said that Ice Queen needed training - and there was an obvious candidate for helping her with those powers. They could take Ice Queen with them on the trip to gather information, but that would be a choice Sapphire and Ice Queen would have to agree on together. "Sapphire, I'd like for you to help Ice Queen here with training on her powers, if she wants that," Veil said, glancing over at her close friend. She shivered slightly from the drop in temperature. "And please don't raise the heating bill..."

Havok had his arms crossed slightly. He could practically smell the wealth on Ice Queen. He wouldn't have been all that surprised if she suddenly confessed an intimate connection to the Hellfire Club and mysterious information from Xavier as well. "Not to undermine the welcome wagon but... The others need to know what's going on," Havok pointed out.

Veil nodded in agreement. She turned to look at Negasonic, Cannonball, Sunspot, and Moonwalker now. "Glimpse here has information that Sebastian Shaw is hurting mutants - using them for an inhumane program of his - the Hound Program. Drugs them up and then makes them into weapons... We're taking a vote on whether or not to take him down. So far, everyone is in agreement."

"A chance to kill the dick who hurt Juliana? Sign me the fuck up," Sunspot chimed in, without hesitation.

"I'm in," Cannonball agreed, nodding his head.

Negasonic was playing on her phone again. "Not to be a joiner or anything, but sure, what the hell - sounds like fun."

---

ConjurationNew Outfit

---

---

Max thought for a moment, recalling that James had mentioned needing some sort of Shrink Tubing for the generators. Something that they were unable to accquire during the raid. ”Hold that thought. I think I had an idea. Hey Stretch!” Max quickly made his way over towards Jack by the portal, waving at those across it as well as a final see you later wave to Leighton. He felt bad that she was currently entering a new location all by herself, these past two days must of been such a whirlwind for her...he remembered what it was like to be new to all this, to not have a home. He quickly shook the thoughts away long enough to ask Jack to search the internet for a picture of the missing piece. It took forever to load, Max could practically hear those dial up tones he heard so much about growing up.

With the image finally loaded up, he could get to work on his master plan. Ofcourse, however, he’d never really tried to conjure things outside of various canes, clothing and accessories, as well as fire, so this...this was a challenge. He held his hands, cupped together, and concentrated on the image. The usual energy began to glow and swirl between his palms, it began to grow and expand and Max began to wonder just how many he was creating. With its final manifestation, he had...a fluffy Panda Pillow? Ok, that clearly wasn’t right. He held the pillow under his arm and tried once more, his mind popped back to a text that appeared on Jacks phone whilst looking at the image. ”u down to chill 2night?” Ofcourse Jack already had someone hitting him up, why would he think otherwise? Max began to realize just how foolish the notion of being able to be with him was, as well as how sought after he probably is, with the ability to change form he could be anyone’s type. Ofcourse, this stray string of thoughts created a new fluffy pillow...of Jacks face. Pink began to over take Max’s face as he became flush with embarrassment, quickly opting to conjure a searing fire that dealt with the new creation, burning it down to ash and hoping no one saw. He cleared his throat saying ”That wasn’t appropriate, given that message and all. What? James did you call me? Sorry gotta go, work never stops ya know? Haha” Max quickly walked away, head held low and not looking towards Jack at all, handing off the Panda Pillow to Grimlock as he walked by her.

---

---

---

Carni-Gymnastics, Perception

---

---

Jinx snickered to himself as he watched an elevator full of employees have to make way for them. This was more like it, humans subjugating to mutants, making sure that they knew their place and didn’t dare to speak back. As soon as the elevator began to descend, Jinx found himself trying very hard not to annoy Emma Frost. His hands stayed in his pockets to avoid pressing all the buttons, his swayed back to front on his heels trying to avoid jumping in place, and his mouth was tight lipped as he repeated to himself Where we going? Where we going? Where we going? Are we there yet? Where we going? over and over again, hoping that Frost wasn’t reading his mind, and if she did, she’d realize it was a big mistake.

Once they finally reached the floor, Jinx immediately opted to rush out of the confined space. His contortionist days were over and he wanted to spring free. His hands, now out of his pockets, went straight up as he went forwards into a cartwheel, his foot grazing the elevator wall just enough to potentially ruin the lovely trick, but his skill allowed him to complete it just fine. As he propelled himself out into the room, everything was upside down to him, but he found that having a different perspective on things could often help. Besides with all the blood flow now going to his brain, he must be getting smarter...right? As he made his way in an unconventional manner, turning around and looking at the ceiling for any cameras, security, or other measures that could help them in their investigation. Sure, there was the giant obvious drag marks, but Requiem could work on that; his mind was basically built for tracking weird metal or paint scraps, or finding the tiniest tuft of fluff and knowing it came form some Persian piece of clothing or what ever it was spies did.

---

---

---

---

Callie looked towards Leighton for a moment as soon as she stepped through the portal, and looked over towards Sapphire and smirked, even though she wouldn't call her Elsa anymore. Or at least for the time being since she did risk getting put in prison for her yesterday, but it was to funny to pass up. "Well looks like Elsa has two daughters now, who wants to go by Elsa One and Elsa Two?" Callie said with a slight laugh and looked back towards Leighton, as she noticed the drop of temperature in the room as well. "But anyway welcome to our little group of misfits." Callie said as she went back to sitting down as the portal closed behind Leighton.

Callie looked towards Veil for a moment. "I don't think we really have AC here, or need an AC unit now that we have Sunspot, Sapphire and the new girl now." Callie pointed out as she took another piece of chicken and started to eat it, seeing as now everyone pretty much accepted going after Shaw now. "So I guess now that it's pretty much unanimous now, how do we start taking on Shaw?" She then looked over towards her friend for a moment. "Also, totally curious how do you know the Morlocks anyway?"

---

---

---

“This is exactly why I don’t like it! I again chose not to say anything and just move past the moment and yet here we are.” He grumbled internally, now fully hoping she would hear him, and then turned his attention to where Erg wandered off. “One last thing, Erg. I have to do more rolling black outs to patch your stuff up.”

“Oh, uh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know?” James returned his attention to Casper. His dad’s what? James sent him a quizzical look but decided not to press something that made him clearly uncomfortable but returned Casper’s grin when he accepted his coffee date. A handsome guy, coffee, and a mental break from everything was definitely something to look forward to. “Sound perfect then. You’re heading back with your brother after this? Got a plan in mind or just going to see how things go?” He thought for a second and turned to Max.

“Yeah, let’s get this worked out. We’ve got to kill the old one, detach the wiring, climb around all the wiring, patch it up with what we got, and then hook up the new generator. Then we kill the other one, patch up the wiring, and fire it back up.” James explained before turning to Casper once more. “Wouldn’t mind another hand if you could spare it? God knows there is probably more wrong with this that I thought, especially those higher wires that are going to be a pain.” James set to work quickly though, used to the work. Stripping and fixing wires was a cinch and the old system slowly gave way to a variety of caps and connections. The Mordocks wouldn’t have to worry about most of their stuff for a while. James still eyed that other generator warily, not particularly pleased with its condition but shrugged. They couldn't get the other one so no point worrying about it now.

---

---

---

---

---

“It has been, Ms. Frost, but not just today it seems.” Requiem responded almost absently, already moving into the room to inspect it. He refrained from rolling his eyes at Jinx’s antics. This wasn’t playtime but he decided to ignore the man-child in favor of the job. He found the scuff marks odd. A damaged floor was one thing but damaging expensive equipment was another. He noted the additional rooms and their purpose as he made his way slowly around the room.

“If I may Ms. Frost, what is the primary purpose of this floor?

He took a moment to look over Frost. As calm as she was, the anger was still visible just beneath the surface. It was almost worrying if he hadn’t been sure it wasn’t directed at them. One blessing at least.

The anxiety bubbled under his skin. It wasn’t as horrible as it could be, more of an itch he knew he could never scratch but his fingers twitched towards the scarring anyways. Only one way out of a room however deep beneath street level and someone controlled in entirely. Requiem paused in the room and let his hand rub comfortingly over the rings he wore.

“And what kind of security do you employ? Standard access limiters of course but anything else, technological or otherwise?” Requiem asked politely.

---

---

---

---

Leighton looked around her, somewhat impressed that a group of mutants managed to have a place at all, let alone one like this. If they were anything like the Morlocks though, they struggled to keep things. From who she saw, she was kind of impressed at the gathering of people, especially the blue-haired chick. "Oh, you're kind of a bitch, aren't you? This will be fun." In truth, Leighton knew that in order to take on a bitch, you had to outbitch her. So this would be an interesting training.

"Thank you. I do not know what my long-term plans are at this moment. I would really like to be able to control my powers and not freeze an entire Target. That's the issue. I sort of froze a guy. He's fine, he just got really cold. They saw my face but I do not know if they know my name." She ignored the others, especially the girl making a joke about Elsa. "So training now or do I get a tour of the land?" She asked Sapphire, eager to be a little pest in her ear.