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Callie turned to look over at the front door as it opened seeing that it was Max again, seeing that he brought a computer tower with him from the mission. Maybe they did get something good off of it, she didn't even need to use her empathy on him she could tell that he was pissed off somehow. "Tell me you have a monitor or something with you? Otherwise it's just a big ass paperweight." Callie said, maybe they had a computer monitor floating around this place somewhere. "Power shouldn't be a problem, since i'm a living power cable." She said looking over a Blink. "Then we do that as well as sending it to every politician in the DC area, we are in DC after all anyway maybe not every single one of them is in their pockets." Callie said shrugging slightly.

And then a few seconds later Sapphire came into the room as well carrying Veil, she didn't look good at all either and quickly got up from where she was sitting and went over towards Veil. "What hell happened on the mission?" Callie asked looking over at Sapphire, she didn't like that the mission for them didn't turn out to well. Callie then looked over towards James, knowing that he was pretty tired though he was their only healer really in this place. "I know you are really tired, but can you do something?" Callie asked waving him over, if not maybe she could cauterize the wound like she had done when she was shot earlier.

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New Outfit

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Veil seemed to be over all the petty fighting just as much as Max was. Ofcourse, she attempted to diffuse the situation like a leader should, while Max only fanned the flames to allow himself to let out his frustration and anger from all that had just transpired. This ofcourse illicited responses from both Veil and Havok, the former showing disappointment while also taking a stab at him, the latter defending his side girlfriend with a thinly veiled threat. One that if pushed hard enough Max was more than willing to test out; after all, kicking Havoks ass would do wonders for stress relief. But no, Max decided the best course of action was to keep on walking into the Underground and alert them of the situation. He was immediately met with some minor hostility, a mutant he hadn’t noticed before was standing with rebar in hand. An understandable reaction based on the state of the building at the moment, and James explanation of a two pronged attack. Now that didn’t sit right with him.

His thoughts didn’t get a chance to wander far as Sunshine, the worlds most ironic name, informed him that the Morlock attack ended in Ergs death. A mutant attack at the same time as a purifier attack in the tunnels? This sounded way too coordinated to be those rednecks idea, but it definitely couldn’t be a coincidence. The question is what mutant would willingly work with the purifiers? The only opposition he could think of was the Hellfire Club but they seemed way too well off to want to work with such low life scums like the purifiers, surely they could do better. Max was about to ask Casper who this Krakoa person was and who his father was to be sending him against them. That was unfortunately cut short as Casper decided to bolt just after mumbling something that Max didn’t quite catch, Jack following shortly after him. He figured that what ever was going on it was a sibling matter now and he shouldn’t interfere. So much had happened in such a short time, he figured it was best to focus on the task at hand. ”No monitor, but i was thinking we could find one, use a laptop, or if we have someone savy enough then maybe we can remove the hard drive and place it into a laptop, see what’s inside. Either way it was all I could salvage since a fight ended up breaking out. Rather not talk about that at the moment though.”

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Jinx couldn’t help but giggle at the comparison between Anastasia and Emma Frost. It was true that the two were more similar than he’d care to admit. Both having powers of supreme mental prowess, and each having fallen in battle just moments ago. Really Anastasia could be her child, or even some weird genetic clone of hers...wait she wasn’t a weird genetic clone of hers was she? His face scrunched up as he thought on the subject, believing that if she couldn’t be trusted before, she definitely couldn’t be now that she’s her clone. The elevator opened up and revealed the two subjects of their conversation, Jinx giggling to himself once more when she asked them what they were talking about. ”Oh nothing, I was just thinking about how weird that kids powers were, giant candy? Really? I wonder what his super name would be, Sweet Tooth?” He laughed at his own joke as he made his way into the elevator.

”So what do you think Anastasia? Where should we head? What’s our next plan of attack? It’s getting a bit late so I wouldn’t mind just calling it a day but what’s this about a new mission and trains?” As the elevator rode down, she began to regale them with the details of their newest mission. A train heist, now that sounded like it could be some fun. It’d been so long since Jinx had been on a train, thinking back on it made him a little nostalgic for his carni life as well as his trip here. ”I love trains actually. Haven’t been on one in some time but it sure can be fun. Oh the mayhem and havock you can wreak when everyone is so close by and their life’s can cling on and depend on the tiniest of pins holding the carts together. So how do we want to do this? Air drop? Drive by? Do we have a teleporter? Or maybe we disguise ourselves as passengers until the time is right? So many possibilities so little time to think.”

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Waverley's eyebrows furrowed when she heard the kid recount the story of his unfortunate camping trip, and a small frown found its way onto her lips. Often times, she wanted so much to be able to make ice pillars and blow the roofs off buildings that she forgot how lucky she was to have a power that wasn't chaotic enough to put those around her in danger. She didn't let the frown linger, however, putting on a cheery smile as she looked down at the kids. She listened to Cayden's answer to her question, and was about to ask what the Morlocks were, when Colossus' mention of YouTube caught her attention. She seemed to perk up slightly, looking their way, running through what she could remember of the past few minutes of their conversation, which she'd been half-listening to.

"Well, it wouldn't necessarily need to hold up in court, not at first, anyway," Waverley said, her eyes on Blink at first, before shifting between her and Colossus, "we just need a bunch of people to see it. With the right keywords, we could probably trick the YouTube algorithm into promoting the video. The only real problem is...well, it'd probably be taken down and or disregarded if it seemed like he was being forced to say it. But...if we could get it to seem like a voluntary confession...that could actually work in our favor," her voice quickened with every word she said, a smile appearing on her lips. She wasn't looking at anyone at this point, instead just staring off in space. "YouTube loves that sort of confessional feel. We can probably work with the camera angles to block out the ropes, so we wouldn't necessarily have to untie him completely. We'd need some incentive to get him to play along though. It might no-" as Waverley was speaking, she was snapped out of her verbal thoughts when a woman she didn't recognize walked in carrying a body, accompanied by a dramatically perfect chill draft. Waverley turned her head to the new woman, a worried expression on her face. "Is she going to be okay?"

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The Penthouse...

Nothing really here to note again - mostly since only one of you three has managed to post at this moment in time. As you get to the bottom floor and leave the building, it's pitch black outside. There are storm clouds up above and it's raining, but the rain in Washington D.C. either is gone in a few moments or it turns into a full blown storm. There's not really an in between. Like always, they can go around to the garage and take one of the cars - or go grab a driver to take them around in a limo. Across the street, a gigantic television screen is displaying an interview between Dr. Moira McTaggert and MSNBC news, discussing the mutant gene and its potential. Moira is a noted human scientist and close ally of the X-Men - and according to the gossip network, a former lover of Charles Xavier.

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Outside...

Both Havok and Negasonic had gone inside with Sapphire, leaving the brothers and Glimpse outside for the time being. Glimpse has Xavier's number, so if she wants to call him, she's fully capable of doing so. There's even a chance that he's anticipating her call if he's currently connected to Cerebro and probing the D.C. area with his fantastic psychic abilities. The rain is coming down here as well, hard enough to leave the young mutant drenched within seconds. If she does call the big man, she might want to do it somewhere with a bit more protection from the elements.

Casper had managed to catch his breath, his hands still shaking and his pupils were wide. There wasn't anything he craved more than a shot of heroin in that moment. He hadn't always been like this, but drugs were just about the only thing that could keep the ghosts out. The poor departed souls had stuck inside with Max thankfully, not following the son of X outside. "J-Jackie... I-I think he's a murderer," Casper whispered. "Sh-should we do something?" He was conflicted about it. While he happily broke the law in order to get high, he was strongly opposed to murder. Being a mutant didn't give someone a free pass to go around and do whatever they wanted.

He wasn't really sure on the timeline of Max's killings either. Those ghosts hadn't been there earlier, but sometimes his powers didn't really make much sense. They could have a bit of a time delay and he desperately hoped that more ghosts wouldn't start to pop up all around them. He just couldn't deal with that. Ben seemingly had sensed this as well, vanishing to give Casper some space for the moment. Sure, Ben didn't scare Casper but at the moment, Casper needed less sensory input and not more.

He let go of his brother, running his hands through his hair. He pulled out a strand and had a horrifying realization - he'd probably go bald one day. "Freaking Nazis, Jackie... We gotta do something about that too. If there's one thing I learned from Steve Rogers, it's that you punch Nazis in the face." Casper didn't really mind the pouring rain too much, though it was making him look a bit like a wet dog.

The First Floor...

"You got it," Havok told Sapphire, before running off to the little supply area where they kept their medical items. James must have not heard Spark Plug ask him to help out with Veil, as he just stayed where he was on the stairs. Maybe it was the exhaustion taking its toll on him. At any rate, Havok came back a few minutes later with the very best the Mutant Underground had to offer. There was an assortment of items - gauze, tweezers, knives, duct tape, a sewing kit, pliers, bandages, alcohol wipes, latex gloves, a flashlight, and a small little bag of stickers that they gave to the little kids to calm them down. Some people arrived at the Mutant Underground for the first time in bad shape - and sadly, it was usually the little ones. "This work?" he asked her. "It better, it's all I could find, Doc..."

"Okay, but what can a politician do?" Blink countered. Maybe she had a point, maybe she just had a lack of faith in the human justice system. "They don't have the authority to arrest people. That's the job of the police. And last I checked, the police hardly are enamored with mutants..." She crossed her arms, unaware of how her words may hit a mark for some - Max. Colossus was busy speaking with his sister quietly in Russian, the two of them exchanging news rapidly back and forth. Illyana looked a bit clammy and overheated, but it wasn't anything to be concerned about just yet. And besides, Sapphire had a more pressing patient on her hands. Waverley would recognize who was on the couch - Veil, the leader of this section of the Mutant Underground.

"Guys, look at this," Negasonic interrupted, pulling up a video on her phone. It was a live news broadcast from a local network in D.C. And while those at the Hellfire Club HQ were seeing the interview with Moira, the Mutant Underground members saw something different - it was traffic cam footage of Max's assault on the police car.

"This act of terrorism, coming on the wake of 7/15, is no less than an act of war on the part of the mutants says Reverend William Stryker," the anchor said with a solemn expression. "The Reverend is calling for a demonstration tomorrow against mutant violence. Those interested in joining Stryker's Crusade can find him on his website or at his Church on Maple, the Hope of Humanity."

"Joining me to comment is a true American patriot, you know him from our sister network, Benedict Ryan."

Ryan smiled at the anchor, shaking her hand. "It's a pleasure to be here, Rita. Now, I know that I'm going to get a lot of hate for this, but enough is enough... I'm calling on Congress to deputize the Purifiers in order to keep the peace here in D.C. The police have been out there, fighting the good fight, and it's about time we got them back up against these menaces!"

Sunshine's face fell, recognizing the man on the television. She didn't watch the Ryan Hour. She couldn't read so why would she try to keep up with the news? No, she had met that man a long time ago - he had been there at her trial. He had testified that he saw her set fire to the apartment complex, that she had been a mutant extremist bent on killing innocent people. Her face twisted into a glare at the screen. The liar was the reason her friends, her real family, had been locked away in Mutant Super-Max - a prison that no one ever came back from alive.

"Καλό, καλύτερα να προετοιμαστεί για έναν πόλεμο - πρόκειται να σπάσω το κεφάλι του!"

Negasonic's eyes flickered over towards Max, Sapphire, and Havok. "Is there anything you three'd care to share with the class?"

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Leighton felt the old urge rise up as Sapphire chewed out not only Glimpse and Max, but herself. Truly, the woman knew no bounds when it came to new people entering her life. Leighton clenched her fist and fought the urge to chew her out, call her every name in the book, but what would that do at this point? They had injured people, tensions already high, it would do nothing to add to that. So she bit her tongue and allowed the others to go inside. She followed shortly as Casper came out followed by his brother.

Once inside, it seemed people were slowly figuring everything out that happened. The wounded being tended to by people that had the skills. Before she could speak, Negasonic drew her attention to her phone where a news report was broadcasting, showing the car their team arrived in and what appeared to be a police car behind them being attacked. She recognized the powers she saw. It churned her stomach, hearing the word Purifier and knowing that before she would have been on the Purifiers side. Seeing that clip would have made anyone who was on the fence hate mutants.

But Leighton also knew Max. "The news is clearly not using the entire video clip, right? Fake news at its finest. This is clearly an attempt to continue to quell the fight against mutants. It was self-defense. Right?" She looked to Max for confirmation. She knew he would never intentionally hurt anyone. It had to be doctored.

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Ana shrugged. "We have time to plot and plan a course. We'll have to be on guard if we plan to do anything stealth related since mutant concern is on the rise. They may have precautions to scan for mutants on the train, so hiding as passengers might prove difficult. We have the resources at our disposal either way." As she stepped off the elevator, she made her way outside to the darkness. It had grown late and she could use some beauty sleep.

A giant screen outside was broadcasting a report by Moira, a renown scientist, about the mutant gene. Ana had to give credit, even in the face of uncertain times for her kind, there were still people activiely trying to change the game for mutants. It was a cute effort too, but humans could not be trusted to make the right choice. They had to be forced to see who truly held the power. And they eventually would.

"I don't know about either of you, but I am not about to walk. I suggest we call for a limo to take us and we can rest up for tomorrow."

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Callie turned to look over at Blink, letting out an annoyed sigh as she rubbed the bridge of her nose a little bit. "Well, what do you suggest then? We cant go in powers blazing or anything it'd just prove what humans already think of us even worse."] Callie said as she turned to look over at Sapphire and Havok as he ran off to grab their medical kit. She hadn't really been to close to Sapphire at all to really know that she had medical knowledge. She sat down next to Sapphire, looking over at James for a moment, she figured he was probably tapped out right now.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Callie offered Sapphire, she knew that they weren't on the best of terms since yesterday looking at her. "Also, want to say sorry for yesterday." Callie said towards Sapphire, while looking over at Veil who was on the couch hoping she'd be fine. When Negasonic got their attention she looked at the screen on her phone as the news started to go on, looking at those who were on the mission. It didn't go well at all by the looks of it if they were on the news right now as well, it would be a lot harder for all of them now. "Lets just focus on patching up Veil, and we can talk about what happened, and go from there."

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"It works, it's the best that we have, and it has the basic necessities for this," she said to Havok, before hearing Callie's voice by her. "Don't worry about it, but what you can do for me is step back a little bit and let me do this. Hey Havok, mind playing nurse for me and handing me those tweezers as well as getting the gauze ready for me? The instant that bullet is out she's going to start bleeding more."

Havok nodded slightly. "Sure, just don't make me wear a dress."

"Wouldn't even dream of it," she responded as she took the tweezers from him, pulled on a pair of latex gloves, and moved Veil's shirt slightly so that she could get to the injury more effectively. She didn't understand why Callie was asking the newbie to do something, to her it was a bit insulting, but it didn't really matter at the moment. After a moment she managed to carefully pull the bullet out of her chest, and placed the gauze over it in order to stem the blood flow somewhat. "Give me an alcohol wipe and then thread a needle with black thread for me," she instructed Havok.

He handed it to her, and she used it to clean out the injury somewhat, hoping that there wasn't going to be an infection, since that would make things a whole lot worse. When he handed her the needle and thread, she stitched up the injury tightly, in order to stop the blood from flowing completely, and then put a bandage on top of it in order to get anymore blood that might come through the stitches for whatever reason. "Alright... That should do it then..." she said, before taking off the bloody gloves that she was wearing. "We'll have to keep an eye on her for a few days..."

Turning her head, she heard Negasonic question what happened, and then she cringed slightly at Leighton's voice butting in. She figured that she might as well say something about it, and she figured that she probably was going to surprise everyone with what she was going to say. "...It was an accident, we got out and were racing down the road, Veil was still unconscious so she couldn't have us turn invisible, and Max thought to try and use nails to pop their tires. Instead he accidentally destroyed the police car behind us. The whole thing was an accident and he's been kicking himself over it for the most part since, so don't be too hard on him. Accidentally killing someone is way worse then if you were trying to do it on purpose..." she said on the subject, and she wasn't planning on actually talking to anyone else.

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Casper... What are you talking about?" Jack asked his brother, raising his eyebrow slightly at him. Max didn't seem like the type of person who was a murderer, maybe whatever had happened had been an accident? Well, it didn't really matter now did it? To him, it was weird to just throw around accusations of someone being a murderer without having any hard evidence that everyone (not just Casper) could see. He was going to see about talking to Max about it later and asking him what exactly had happened, since usually there was more than one side to the story, and he was determined to figure everything out for himself.

"Of course, since why wouldn't you want to punch a Nazi in the face?" he said with a slight laugh, before nodding his head in agreement. "Yeah, we can't just stand by and do nothing, we need to help these guys out however we can..." Jack smirked slightly seeing Casper pull out a strand of his hair, "Fun fact, unless you pull out all of your hair you aren't likely to go bald, you get that sort of gene from your mother's side, not father's. So you won't be bald like your father." he said, still smirking slightly.

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As Luna hunted for her phone on her person, the sky seemed to open up and finalize the day. She looked up at the sky and allowed the rain to pelt her face. She was soaked in seconds and Luna was glad she at least wasn’t wearing her leathers. That would be difficult to try and pry off alone. She stood there a moment, listening to the roar of the rain drain the roaring in her head. The isolation was soothing for a time but unproductive. She shifted her weight and made her way to the compound but went around the building to the garage she had put her bike in the day before.
Once in a dry area, Luna sighed at the sudden silence. It wasn’t deafening at least, what with the pouring rain outside. Luna walked over to her bike, pulling off her jacket and shirt as she went in order to put on something dry from her pack. She used her semi dry shirt that she had been wearing to soak up some of the water from her hair. The nice part about her cutting it short before she got here was now it would dry quicker. Once she was semi warm, Luna pulled out her phone and hit Xavier’s button. It was number three on her list of recently called numbers so that made hunting for it easier.

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Luna supposed she could have telepathically reached out to Xavier but that wasn't always reliable and the man was the one with Cerebro. She turned and leaned against her bike, waiting for the line to pick up. "You better pick up old man, I swear..."

It took a few moments, but eventually she would hear the sound of someone answering the phone on the other end. "Hello Glimpse, I have been expecting a call from you. Things do not seem to be going too well are they?" Xavier's voice responded on the other end. From his words it seemed somewhat obvious that he already knew what was going on with things for the most part.

Luna shifted at the sound of Xavier's voice and she sighed. Of course he already knew. "Not in the ideal way, no. I'll cut to the chase Xavier, the information you gave me has holes, holes that I couldn't fill with my own research but demanded being filled by certain people here. It couldn't be achieved and now my connections have been burned. Why did you send me here? These people are nothing but children who don't want to play this particular game." There was frustration within Luna's voice but the attitude was still curbed and she spoke with as much respect as she could in this moment.

"It may seem that way, but whether you believe it or not they do have their reasons for not trusting you, you are essentially an outsider to them, and trust is not something that is easily given. Try not to let that get you down, they are good people there, and likely will help you."

"I understand that but a certain degree is needed in order to get us anywhere, is it not? If you have complete lack of trust in someone from the beginning, your guard is automatically going to be up and you're going to be looking for a problem and flaws. You know how the brain works better than anyone Xavier, how easily it can manifest hate and any other emotion. That isn't the point though, I understood fully I was walking into a family who has built a very thin veil of trust within their group and with the information I carried and unfortunate public opinion, I knew this wasn't going to be like everything else but they were utterly opposed to the whole idea of it from the beginning. They weren't in it when we went for that recon mission. So I need you to tell me why you chose these people or I'm going at it alone." Luna would figure out a way to prove herself to them, Sapphire and Havok in particular if she needed to, just so that they trusted she at the very least wasn't out to get them all killed. Yes, Luna should have done more digging, hell she should have done the recon on her own first to learn how much of a pain Shaw had become to get in touch with but she also didn't think she would have been treated this poorly. She was on her own here and after the trauma of the day she was feeling it a bit more than she would normally bring attention to.

"I understand that, but you need to understand the perspectives of those you are trying to get on your side. Sapphire and Havok have their reasons for not trusting others, as does just about everyone else," he said simply, having read her thoughts once more clearly. "It may seem out of reach to earn their trust, but it is not impossible. Understanding one another is the first step towards earning one another's trust."

Luna sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "You still haven't told me why you want me to remain working with these people or why you even wanted me to in the first place."

"The Underground is a group dedicated to helping mutants who are in need of it, and the Hellfire Club is causing much of their problems. That is why, they need the help, and they need to understand that the situation is bigger than just them. That mutants will keep being in danger and on the run if the Hellfire Club continues their activities the way they have been."

Luna relaxed a bit with Xavier's words. Some of his speech made her uncomfortable but only because there was truth in it and things she needed to work on in order to make this temporary alliance work. His words on the Mutant Underground set her at ease for the most part. It seemed he was trying to convince her she would need to be the one to do the convincing. "What of the Morlocks and their recent troubles? How will that now factor into the Hellfire Club and the Hound program?"

"Of that I am unsure... Though the fact that they had some hand in the attack on the Morlocks is a bit concerning..."

"They must have found out a location for the Morlocks by capturing one of them for the Hound Program," Luna mused. Shaw and his cronies were getting more comfortable here. This whole bloody thing is starting to go all to pot but the Morlocks may be willing to help. I am sure you will hear from me again Xavier and if you gather any more information, you know how to reach me the fastest."

"It is certainly something to think about. I will let you know if I come across anything... Just remember though Glimpse, understanding is the first step towards trusting, you need to understand the other's point of view, in order to get started on the road to gaining their trust."

”Always teaching Professor. Thanks,” she said before hanging up. ”AKA Luna, get your bloody head out of your arse,” Luna translated Xavier’s words into a more hard hitting fashion. She sighed and plugged her phone in before claiming the back seat to one of the cars that remained here. It would be best if she remained separated from the group for the night and get a fresh start in the morning.

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Cayden stayed with the kids, ready to start them moving on getting ready for their little indoor stargazing extravaganza. He smiled softly as he watched everyone else work and remained doing so even while Veil was being examined and worked on. No need to get all anxious when it seemed to be fairly under control. That would just upset the kids. His attention drifted over to the TV as Negasonic brought everyone’s attention to it. He watched it, his eyes slowly widening as a giant nail appeared out of nowhere and slammed into one of the cop cars. That, was completely not good. There wasn’t even a remotely good thing about it. The report turned worse when a man came on, preaching about deputizing the Purifiers. Seriously not good.
”Alright, I think we should all head up stairs now, what do you think? We can claim all the good spots to watch the stars ya?” Cayden grinned at the kids and looked over to the stairs. They seemed to shine a bit and he frowned, walking over and looked up. He got hit a couple of times with rain drops. Great. He tapped his foot on the step. ”New plan. Find what you can, we’re going to make a fort in the garage.”

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Waverley's head tilted slightly to the side, her eyes squinting into slits as she looked at the injured woman. Now on the couch, being worked on by the silver-haired woman, Waverley could recognize the injured woman as the one in charge. She turned her head to James, ready to ask him if he could go help with his ability, but before she could, Negasonic caught her attention. Her eyes first landed on the younger mutant's face, before falling down to look at the phone she held out in front of her. She watched the news story, her eyes widening as saw the destruction of the police cars. Caught be the camera was the lanky young man who had just rushed into the building. She could feel her heart begin to speed up, and a dull aching pain begin to eat away at her chest.

Waverley took a few steps back, mumbling an apology as she bumped into one of the children. Her hand, with a light tremor coursing through it, reached down to her pocket, fishing out her cellphone. Her body was hunched over the screen as she frantically tapped it, before lifting it to her ear. The first ring seemed to cause the feelings in her chest to intensify. The dull pain was sharpened, feeling like electricity was slowly being pumped into her chest. Behind the pain, she felt like her heart was beating at her ribs, banging on them like prison bars, begging to be let out. As the second ring rang out in her ear, she could feel what felt like her lungs being blocked off from her mouth, left with only the air that they held at that moment. At the third ring, the phone in her hand, the phone in Negasonic's hand, and the radio, as well as any other piece of technology that was connected to the internet, data, or some other variation of radio waves, began to let out high pitched, screeching tones. The phone went to voicemail.

"Mom? I-" she struggled to mumble out, choking on the words, her voice shaking. She was finding it difficult to push words out with her drained lungs, and even if she could, she wasn't sure what she'd say. Her arm limply dropped, and she tucked it back into her pocket. Her eyes turned to Max, and took a step towards him, away from the kids. The room felt like it was slowly turning, and it caused Waverley's steps to turn into stumbles. "What did she look like?" Waverley quietly asked, her voice forcing the words, the English language almost seeming foreign to her at that moment. "The police woman. What did she look like?" her mind, an anxious muddled mess, seemed to be manufacturing things, sure that she'd heard that one of the police was a woman.

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The Mutant Underground had cells all over the country, located in just about each and every major city. So many of their leaders had been handpicked by the founders of the organization: Professor X, Erg, and Evangeline Whedon. The leadership of the Atlanta station had been selected by the only female founder. Her choice had been a bit controversial at first: Lorna Dane, better known to the world at large as Polaris, Mistress of Magnetism, daughter of Magneto. Her second in command was the legendary Thunderbird.

Polaris sat in an empty booth of Stan and Joan's Legendary Diner, not too far away from the outskirts of Atlanta. The locks on the door had been undone with her magnetic powers. She was dressed in primarily black, a leather jacket with metallic spikes that matched the cuffs she wore on her wrists. Her shocking natural green hair was complimented with a headband crafted from the very same material as Magneto's helmet, preventing telepaths from gaining access to Polaris' mind as long as she wore it.

The lights in the diner burst.

Polaris rolled her eyes slightly, seeing the menacing outline in the dark: a figure cloaked in scarlet, wearing his signature helmet. "Must you always wear that stupid cape?" Polaris asked, not even flinching as the figure stepped out of the shadows. The lights of the parking lot just barely illuminated her father's sinister face.

"You didn't call me here to criticize an old man's fashion choices, daughter." He took a seat across from her at the booth, setting his gloved hands down in front of him as he looked at her with curiosity. "Of all my children... You are the only one I am truly proud of. Whereas Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Plasma lack conviction, your soul is steel, forged in the fires of adversity."

"Did you come alone?" Polaris asked, ignoring his compliments. She had fallen for her father's tricks before and she was not about to repeat those mistakes. Her headband was a precaution.

"Do you mean whether or not Mastermind is here?" he asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Is he?" Polaris pressed.

He shook his head. "No, he is not... You have nothing to fear from him, daughter. He would never dare to hurt you."

She snorted, leaning back in the booth and then shifting, propping one of her legs up on the seat so that way she was in a partially crouched position. And despite her father's assurances, her headband remained firmly on her green locks. "You mean he wouldn't dare to hurt me unless you ordered him to, Father. Or are you finally become so old even your memory has failed you?"

"Enough games," Magneto commanded. "Tell me why you asked me to come here, daughter."

"And here I thought I was your favorite..." she muttered under her breath, but her eyes never left her father's face. Even though they were family, she didn't doubt that he would not hesitate to strike her down if he thought it would be advantageous. Every conversation with her father was a game of chess. "I want you to offer me something, Father."

He raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"

"A seat at the table of the Hellfire Club," she said succinctly. "And then, I am going to help you build it."

"Oh? And what is it we are supposedly building, my dear?"

Polaris sighed. "Don't play dumb - it's not a good look on you. You and I both know that the Hellfire Club purchased an island near Madagascar called Genosha."

"...How do you know about Genosha, daughter?"

Polaris smirked slightly. "You're not the only one with spies, Father."

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It was early in the morning and almost each leader of the Inner Circle was present - all except for the Black Queen, Reeva, who had to get an even earlier start to her day and handle some pressing matters for their plans. She had taken Sage and Fade with her, leaving the Three-in-One behind to assist Ethos, Jinx, and Requiem on their mission that day. Of course, there was one person who would stand out more than post. She was wearing a sleek black outfit, primarily crafted from leather, and a green metallic headband sat on top of her vibrant green locks.

"Erik - fancy seeing you around here," Shaw smirked, making himself a whiskey at the bar. The servants had managed to clean up and repair all of the damage overnight, leaving no indication as to the brawl that had happened before. "And my oh my, just who is this little princess with you?"

Magneto glared at Shaw slightly. "This is my daughter, Sebastian," he warned.

"Oh, Lorna - what a divine pleasure it is to finally meet you. Your father has told us so much about you," Emma said, smiling like the Cheshire Cat at the young mutant.

"Right," Polaris said simply, her arms crossed defensively. "I'll have to ask - what exactly did he tell you about me?"

"Only good things, darling," Emma replied with a wink, a yogurt parfait in a crystal cup floating in the air in front of her as she ate her breakfast. The Three-in-One were behind their genetic template, smiling in unison at Polaris. The plan was that once Requiem, Ethos, and Jinx had gotten up for the day and eaten breakfast, they would discuss the strategy and head off on the mission. Emma would be coming along with them to coordinate things from the jet.

"Don't look so shocked, daughter," Magneto mused. "With Quicksilver off playing X-Man, Plasma in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, and the Scarlet Witch focusing more on her brother than the state of mutant affairs, you have to do very little to elicit praise from me."

"Gee, thanks," Polaris muttered, rolling her eyes.

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In the middle of the night, Sunspot and Cannonball finally returned to find the Mutant Underground station in a state of ruin and decay. They already had been on the road so long that they agreed to spend the night to rest up and then evacuate the children to the nearest Underground cell in the morning. It would give the adults time to relocate and tackle the problem of Sebastian Shaw and the Hounds. Sapphire's medical treatment had restored Veil largely, assisted by Veil's natural durability. It was difficult to understand, but her ability to manipulate invisible energy seemed to make the healing process go down a little easier - that or Sapphire was just a medical genius.

It was just a little before nine in the morning when Veil had called everyone for a meeting - and to eat breakfast. Their food was not nearly as decadent as the Dairy Queen Sapphire's friend had purchased for them, with their options largely consisting of watered down coffee, water, and extremely bruised apples. "Alright, we have a lot to discuss this morning and I have assignments for everyone," Veil began, her chest bandaged and she was leaning up against a column for some support. Her eyes flickered over towards Max. "Sunspot, Cannonball, I'd like for you two to fill everyone in on the details of your mission."

"Ran into assholes, dealt with assholes, that's pretty much it," Sunspot muttered, clearly on edge as his clothing was smoking constantly.

"Yeah, that's pretty much everything we really have to tell y'all," Cannonball agreed, a bit of a drawl coloring his words. "We's gonna take the kids to the Providence cell after this. They've got space to handle them."

Veil nodded, a bit relieved that they didn't have anything worse to share with her. Something heavy was weighing on her mind, but she knew that it would be better to leave it for last. Everyone was going to have questions and she needed to get everything covered before people were too distracted to think - Havok in particular. "Colossus - updates on Magik and Vulcan, please," Veil then asked, going straight to the next business matter.

Colossus was without his sister at the moment, the first time they had really been apart for hours. "Illyana is resting. She has shivers, fever... Vulcan is unconscious. No sign of anyone coming for them."

"Good, I'd like to keep it that way. Sapphire, after this, I want you to go check on Magik - it sounds like withdrawal symptoms to me but you're the one with a medical degree, so take point there. Whatever we need to steal to help her, let's get it. You've got my permission to organize a run if needed to raid a hospital, just be careful." She didn't think that James would be able to do much for Colossus' sister. Withdrawal did have physical symptoms, but a lot of it was psychological. He had seemed pretty worn out from the night before and he was an unknown variable as well. Sapphire was someone she could trust and count on. "Blink - I'd like for you to go scout for a new location for us to relocate to. I know you used to be part of the Atlanta Station, so you know what we're looking for. Take someone with you if you can."

Blink was a bit surprised that Veil just... gave her a task like that, but she nodded. "Got it, Boss Lady," she said. Veil reminded her so much of Polaris. She just hoped that Veil hadn't somehow gotten in touch with Thunderbird, that break up had been painful enough as it was. She didn't really want to revisit that.

There was still more information that needed to be discussed. Sunshine was uncharacteristically paying attention, even as she took bites out of her apple. She didn't care at all that it was bruised almost beyond recognition. It was food and she knew how unreliable food supplies could be. When there was food, she needed to eat as much as she could - who knew when she'd get to eat again, after all? "Negasonic Teenage Warhead got a tip on where the Hounds are being made," Veil explained. "Please go and fill everyone else in."

Negasonic nodded, looking up from her phone. She had been reblogging things about her OTP on Tumblr. "It's this dive bar called the Cherry Bomb. My girlfriend was working a missing's persons case, ended up discovering that her client was last seen there... It's owned by a subsidiary of Shaw Industries, which totally is just a coincidence that a missing mutant was in a sleazy bar this guy owns..." she finished, getting a little bit sarcastic. No one had mentioned yet Max's murder of the police officers from the previous night.

"I'm taking a team after this meeting to go and investigate the basement - if we find anyone, we free them and hopefully get one step closer to taking this asshole down. After last night, they know we're onto them, so we need to move fast," Veil added. Her eyes then flickered over to Havok. She couldn't avoid mentioning this much longer.

"Last night..." she paused, now looking at Max. "There was an incident in which one of our own killed some human police officers. I'm not going to lie. It's bad. There isn't anything we can do to change what happened and while I know that mutants will survive this, it's entirely likely that not everyone in this room will be alive at the end of the year because of it," she told them frankly. "If anyone wants to get out of Washington D.C., we can send you up north - Canada's got looser laws when it comes to mutants and the attitudes are better there."

"Additionally, the Atlanta station called me half an hour ago - Polaris is in the wind. They're looking for new leadership, so if anyone here wants to take charge in this fight, let me know and I can tell them you're interested in the position."

"WHAT?!" Havok snapped, his eyes wide as he looked at Veil accusingly. "Lorna is missing and you're just telling me NOW?! What the hell, Valery?!"

Sunshine frowned slightly, looking up from her food at Havok. She didn't really know him and she had no idea why he was so freaked out about another Mutant Underground leader running off. Maybe this Polaris was important to him or something - she didn't know, she'd never heard of a mutant named Polaris. She took a sip of her depressing coffee, not really liking the taste but she never cared about whether or not she liked the taste of something she had put in her mouth. "Dude, calm down, she just told you..." Sunshine pointed out, butting into the conversation.

Veil was appreciative of the kid's comments. "Havok, you're free to run after her if you want to - but we both know Polaris. She isn't fond of being tied down or followed."

"This is bullshit!" Havok exclaimed.

Casper was sitting as far away from Max as was humanly possible. Every time he glanced over at him, he could see the ghosts of the police officers he had killed. One of the ghosts was the mother of Feedback, Waverley Watts. He was doing his very best not to look at them, not to respond to them, that way hopefully they wouldn't realize Casper could communicate with them and start demanding that he pass on their angry messages to the living.

"You should tell her, Cassie... She's her daughter, it might help her to get some closure," Ben whispered in Casper's ear.

Casper just shook his head. "It'll just cause her more pain, Ben..." he whispered back.

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Callie didn't really get to much sleep the night before she wanted to make sure Vulcan didn't do anything to get out or start any problems like he had done the night before. And she was paranoid that the Hellfire Club would send in more people on them, but so far they didn't show up yet either which was probably a good thing now. She took a sip of the watered down coffee as the meeting started looking at everyone else in the room as Veil started to go on with today's task. She didn't really listen to Cannonball's or Sunspot's part, since it was pretty easy anyway getting the kids to their allied station.

She was more interested in on the update with Magik and Vulcan, it was probably going to take a very long time for Magik to recover from being pumped up with the drug Vulcan had mentioned. At least he was unconscious as well for the time being looking over at Sapphire and then Veil for a moment before speaking up. "We could probably ask that doctor and see if that clinic has anything we could use who treated me when I was shot a few days ago." Callie suggested, if they did need to go out on a medical run for Magik. They did need a new place as well since theirs was currently comprised as well due to the Hellfire Club, she wasn't sure if she would be needed to help out with that or not.

As Veil mentioned about the dive bar that the Hounds were being made from did catch her interest, though Callie really didn't like the idea that Veil wanted to take point on that so soon after being in prison and being treated poorly by the cops there. And then taking a bullet in the mission just the night before to. "I can take lead on that, you are already really bruised and you just took a bullet last night. And if it's owned by Shaw, and the Hellfire Club they already know your face and the others who went there last night. They don't know mine." Callie said, she was concerned Veil was pushing herself to hard right now.

"And not to mention you just got out of prison not to long ago either, they are on high alert now at this point to because of last night. You are running yourself ragged just take a day and rest a bit." Callie wasn't sure if Veil would or not. Then the mentioning of Polaris having gone missing, and the Atlanta Station looking for someone to help lead it was an interesting offer. But right now she felt that her place was here right now, and the news of what happened during the team's mission that ended up in the death of some police officer's wasn't good really either.

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Sapphire stood there, listening in on the conversations that were going on around her. She had spent the night for the most part not really sleeping, as she had more or less been keeping an eye on Veil to ensure that she was going to be okay. It was obvious that Veil didn't really want to actually rest, and given the circumstances it was obvious why. Though it was her own job to ensure that Veil didn't over do it, since there was a chance that her injury would start bleeding again if she wasn't careful, and Sapphire wasn't going to let that happen.

She nodded her head when Veil asked that after they were done talking she should go check on Magik. It wasn't all that surprising for her to suggest that, since Magik was going through withdrawals, and that never was fun. When Havok started freaking out about Polaris, she rolled her eyes and walked over towards him, before swinging her hand to hit him in the back of the head. She more of managed to mess up his hair, and where she had hit him was more of a tap then anything. "Get a hold of yourself! You know Polaris, she can handle herself, she'd probably be more annoyed then anything that you are freaking out over it."

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Jack was more or less still keeping an eye on his brother, figuring that if he wasn't careful Casper would wander off, get high somewhere, and then end up right back in rehab. It probably wouldn't be a bad thing for him to go back to rehab, but Jack was still somewhat determined at least to get his brother to stop being a drug addict. Though that was a major challenge and constantly was proving to be more and more impossible, but he was still trying at the least. Half the time it was like herding cats or something, and sometimes he did actually use a squirt bottle to spray Casper with water.

He was only somewhat paying attention, only really more or less sticking with the Underground for the moment since it seemed like the place where he could help stop the Hellfire Club. They were the ones responsible for the deaths of so many of the Morlocks, and he was determined to stop them from hurting anyone else, to the best of his abilities anyway. He heard Casper kind of muttering to himself, and he went over to him, "Hey Casper, are you okay?" he asked his older brother.

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Last night Luna spent it sleeping in the back of a car in the garage, surprisingly it was much more comfortable than the floor. She had a few sore spots from sleeping on buckles but for the most part, she was awake and rested. Thank goodness for the grace of make-up though because it kept the bags under her eyes from lack of sleep and stress hidden. The conversation she had with Xavier set her on edge as well as calmed her down. She still had things to learn and patience was one of them. Trust on her part was another but she was going to make the effort, this wasn’t going to work if she didn’t sit back on her own expectations and face the reality of here.
She walked over and stood by Max as Veil drew attention to him. She pressed an arm against him just so he knew he wasn’t alone. It was an awful situation and it did shine a light on all of the mutants. What happened last night was only going to further the Hellfire Club’s mission and that made their mission difficult. Luna remained silent though, even when Negasonic revealed her information and Veil talked about Lorna missing. She would volunteer to go where she was needed once the original family weighed in. Luna wasn’t surprised though that Shaw had his hand in a local business. He probably had a few on his payroll. She would most likely go with the team who went to this bar, that is if Veil deemed it wise for Luna to go. The minimal amount of cover she had was now blown as well.

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Sleep was rough for Cayden, he had been busy making sure the kids slept well and felt safe. It was a full time job being a babysitter for a couple dozen kids who had just gone through a mini battle. In the morning he went around making sure all injuries still present were well. If he kept busy, he wouldn’t fall asleep, at least that was his theory. He munched on the apples provided and even drank the coffee, just to try and get some caffeine in him to stay awake. Cayden wasn’t sure where he would be needed today but he hoped to help get the kids to safety.
As for now, Cayden sat next to Spark Plug listening to the morning’s meeting. It was a bit of a review of the event’s from the night before, which was nice to hear and it seemed some new information had been brought to light. Cayden was a bit interested in this bar with the missing mutant but his head snapped to look at Havok when he freaked about hearing Lorna had gone missing. Well, it seemed the Mutant Underground would have their hands in a few cookie jars for the next little while.

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Waverley Watts stared down at the morning light reflecting off her third cup of shitty coffee. The night had been rough for her. After her panic attack the previous evening, her mind had been racing with the news of those dead police. It had kept her up for hours after the others had gone to bed, staring up at the night sky as the moon slowly waltzed through the field of stars. Eventually, probably around one or two in the morning, Waverley had convinced herself that the odds of her mother being in one of those cop cars were low enough to be able to get some sleep, though she found herself somewhat tired when she awoke. The coffee, shitty as it was, did seem to help.

The girl took a small bite out of her bruised apple as Veil spoke, listening to it without processing it, using it as an excuse to get out of her own head. Thoughts came to her mind, like 'is it really smart to go to a bar where a mutant went missing without doing some research on the place first,' and 'how can you address the deaths of multiple people and talk about how it affects the image of the mutants,' but she shoved all of them to the basement of her mind. Instead, she kept silently sipping her coffee. That is, until she felt a vibrating sensation in her pants pocket. She lightly placed her coffee and apple on the ground beside her, taking her phone out of her pocket and looking down at the number calling her. It wasn't listed in her phone, but she knew it looked familiar. She could feel the pain back in her chest. She rose to her knees, and shuffled a few feet farther away from the group having their meeting.

"Um...Hello?" She said into the receiver, her voice choking out the words. Her face was turned away from the group, staring at a wall across the complex.

"Is this Miss Waverley Watts?" the voice on the other end said, quiet and morose. It was authoritative, yet vaguely familiar to Waverley. It made her heart beat quicken, as if her body was reacting to a puzzle she'd yet to finish.

“Um...yes...” she choked out.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but your mother was killed in the line of duty last night."

The statement caused Waverley's heart to cave in on itself. She felt like a glass coffee table, with a heavy weight placed at the center of it. She could feel the cracks beginning to run through her, but she despite how the world spun around her, she didn't fall apart.

“...The nail...” Waverley’s mind could produce no more words, only those two, and even those were unsteady. Her mind replayed the scene in her mind, except this time it wasn't on a little phone screen, but rather happening all around her. She stared at her mother being crushed over and over again.

".... Miss Watts, if you know the identity of the mutie who killed your mother...." she heard the man say. Her head turned to look at Max, swallowing down the anguish that had risen up her throat.

“I...I don’t know his name...” she said. The words didn’t feel like her own. Or rather, they did, and it scared her enough that she could feel herself dissociating. Her eyes dampened, partially from grief and partially from guilt of what she felt she was about to do. “...B-but...I have reason to believe he works under a man named Sebastian Shaw...” She felt the pain in her chest stab like a knife as she said that. She lied about her mother's killer in attempt to help a group that talked about her death in a five-sentence newsflash. And to make matters worse, the killer was only a few meters away. The cracks of the coffee table were getting worse, and she could feel herself getting ready to break.

"....Alright," the voice, who she now recognized as the chief of police, said softly. "Are you alone, Ms. Watts?"

“N-no. I’m with a few friends...I...I should go. I need to go home. I need to tell Riley. I have to tell Riley.”

“Riley is here at the station,” he explained.

"H-how is she?"

”...She’s grieving.”

“Th-thank you. I...” Waverley felt like she was drowning, her lungs filling with some imaginary liquid. She couldn’t take the weight much longer. She could feel herself beginning to crumble. “I think I have to go...” she said short of breath, feeling something other than words and panic crawling up her throat.

"....Alright, take care Ms. Watts."

As soon as Waverley pulled the phone away from her face and hung up, she shattered. She let the phone drop to the ground, and she lurched forward, head dropped to face the concrete she sat on. Her mouth fell open, and all the coffee she’d just drank gushed from her mouth, decorating the gray floor with brown goo. It pooled around her legs soaking her jeans. It didn’t take long to empty her stomach of what little was in it, but even once it was empty, Waverley remained there, arms tightly hugging herself, dry heaving as she sat in her own vomit, occasionally making a sobbing noise when she managed to inhale enough air to do so. Her eyes were red, some of her tears clinging to her cheeks, and some of them dropping to mix in with the puke. She felt like she could feel the world rotating, the earth orbiting the sun, the solar system flying through the galaxy, and the galaxy speeding through the abyss of space. It was dizzying. Nauseating. Painful.

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Leighton had barely slept that night. These compounding factors ran through her head. All of the events leading to this point and to think, just a few days ago she was worried about cheerleading. Now, she was working alongside mutants to hopefully stop whatever was coming for them, be it Purifiers or the Hellfire Club. Irony had a heavy hand, it seemed. She could have seen the humor in it had things not been so dower.

On the one hand, Erg was dead. He had been her saving grace, even if he did not intend to be. She could have easily been pushed back, left alone, told to leave and go back to the surface to most likely find herself in custody, or worse. He didn't though. He offered her a place, some training, and an in with the Underground. And now he was gone.

On the other hand, Max had gone through a lot. Well, the lot of them did, but Max seemed the worse out of all of them. The boy clearly wanted to help. Wanted to belong and she could sympathize. She knows inside that he did not intend to kill those officers. It was an accident, but the media wanted to paint it like an attack. To think she used to believe those messages before. The two of them had talked to figure things out. She was on his side. She didn't know if the group intended to kick him to the curb and feed him to the wolves, but she would have backed him. She wanted to stay to see if she could help find justice for Erg, but she also did not mind leaving to do things on her own terms. He seemed to agree.

So for now, she stayed. She sat, listening to Veil come up with plans. She wanted to join the team going to the basement, but she did not know if she had earned the right yet. So she kept quiet. Others did the talking for her anyway.

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Ana awoke that morning feeling rejuvenated. Wolverine's blood had done wonders for her system. She had healed nicely from yesterday's injuries and she was ready to tackle the day's mission. She got dressed, all black today, and went out to find breakfast. She expected it would be provided for her and she was not disappointed to see the reach of the Hellfire Club extended to ensuring the best.

She wondered if the two men would join her. She didn't know what to make of them just yet. They had uses, sure. And she would need someone on her side if the mission was to go well. But what if it did not? She would not feel bad cutting them loose and running should things get hairy. She watched the news too. She knew mutants were now public enemy #1. She did not fear it for she knew she could easily sway anyone who came at her to be on her side. Or vice versa. Really, messing with people was such fun. And the spread was just delicious.

She hoped for an easy time but prepared for the worst. It was important to keep all matters of possibility at hand. That was how a leader thought.

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New Outfit

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Max sat away from the rest of the group, close enough to hear but far enough to not appear a part of them. His eyes were glued towards the floor, hands clasped before him out of focus as he looked past them attempting to ignore the deep red stain that was etched into his skin. Why wouldnt that damn spot out? He hadnt noticed Veils eyes flicker towards him, but he did feel a sense of anxiety begin to well up inside of himself as she spoke, knowing at some point they would need to speak on what he had done. He silently listened as veil mentioned a supply run, promoting Max to slightly open his mouth before immediately closing it and remaining silent. He'd be more hurt than help, so wasnt bother volunteering? More and more missions were brought up, another information and possible rescue mission, helping kids and others transfer to Canada, as well as some Lorna mutant who has gone missing. Max uncharacteristically stayed silent throughout all of it, never once offering his aid, his face still facing the concrete floor. His attention was caught when he thought he overheard Waverly mention a nail. He began listening closer and confusion riddled him when he thought he heard her state it was one of Shaws men, it cant have been what he thought she was speaking of then.

As the meeting pressed forward, it inevitably came down to what Max had been dreading, the subject of last nights murder. He watched as Luna made her way towards him and pressed her arm against his, showing some form of moral support. It was weird, he did such a horrible act and yet for some reason quite a few of the underground were treating it like it wasn't the end of the world. He single handedly helped give the world a reason to fear mutants enough to bring up talks about a Purifier Police force. Suddenly there was an acidic scent throughout the air. The smell of vomit and coffee permeating the air and burning his nostrils. Hr didnt need powers to attempt to comfort someone. Max stood up and made his way towards Waverly, placing a hand on her back and attempting to hold her hair back. "You ok?"

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Jinx woke up feeling refreshed and amazing. He stretched his arms up high and gave a smile to his phone. It was about time to try and contact his little druggie again and see how to proceed next. He took a shirtless selfie of himself with his tongue sticking out and sent it to Casper with a following text.

"Hey I'll be busy the next few days, so if you want a hit let me know soon. Ttyl Jinxypoo"

Satisfied with his message he sent it and began getting ready for the day, pulling on an olive green button up shirt, blue jumper, and black skinny Jean's before heading over towards the mirror and making sure his hair was the right amount of uncoiffed.

As Jinx made his way towards the breakfast area grabbing himself a bagel with thinly sliced salmon, lettuce and a refreshing lemon schmear. He snagged a grapefruit juice and metal straw as he made his way towards the meeting room to meet Ana and the others. As soon as the doors opened he nearly dropped his bagel out of his mouth and onto the floor as he saw Magento standing there with Lorna. He threw his arms wide, bagel in one hand and drink in the other as he exclaimed out to her. "Lorna! Darling! It's been too long. How've you been? Love the new headdress it's very intimidating."

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James nearly considered not getting up when he felt himself stir that morning. Yesterday had been… an experience. Attacks from every side, a failed mission, and the amount of injuries all around had James seriously wondering how anyone was still fucking breathing in this place. In less than a week, he’d disappeared from his old life, made friends with a guy who pulled off magic tricks, helped someone out of a burning building because of said magic trick guy, got a date, had to piece said date and said date’s brother back together, and had to get a bunch of fucking children back on their feet because some shit heads decided to have a grand time blowing up buildings. And that wasn’t even everything. Erg’s dead, Max is a murderer and single handedly responsible for turning every mutant into public enemy number 1, and he had a massive caffeine headache on top of everything else. At least one of those things could be handled. The rest of it?

Who the fuck knew.

So James forced himself up and through his stretching routine that morning despite wanting to do anything but that. He definitely felt better but he could tell his smile was a little stiffer than normal but hey, a smile’s a smile. Fake it ‘til you make it and all that jazz. His first stop was coffee which he got set up while Veil spoke. He didn’t have any reason to leave or stay. He was kinda just in the wind but this whole Hounds thing sounded horrible and if he could help somehow, he kinda felt obligated to do so. He almost spoke up but Casper and Jack caught his eye. Casper seemed a little frazzled and Jack concerned. He didn’t know if it had anything to do with how he found the pair last night but he thought it couldn’t hurt to at least check in and if it was something else that he had no part in, he’d slip right out. Or awkwardly stumble his way out. Whatever worked.

So he prepared two more cups of watered down coffee―at least something was good around here at this point―and brought three cups over to the pair. “Hey, just wanted to check in on you guys after last night. You all still feeling alright?” James asked softly, not wanting to interrupt the other conversations going on. “I know I promised a little alcohol involved the first time but this was the best I could whip up on short notice.” James joked lightly, very much prepared to bolt if it landed poorly.

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Requiem retired to his apartment last night after the fiasco, incredibly irritated with the entire situation. His hands still stung, his leg was acting up, and he spent a few hours listening to records and reminiscing trying to get himself back in a better frame of mind. This was no time to be distracted with petty concerns, much less frustrations over the constant changing of responsibilities. A missing sentinel, an unexpected raid, a missing computer, and now an entire change of direction. It had taken him the entire time to get himself calm and refocused. It was times like these that the ache of loss hurts most sharply. Before he’d have someone to lean on, two people ready to listen and work with him when he needed these mental adjustments.

It had been difficult the first few months. He’d still spoke to them like he did before the assignment: asking Devon to pause his studies to set the table while he was cooking or yelling at Natasha when the laundry machine banged when it was unbalanced. But of course, no one answered and he contemplated more than once following them into the next life. He couldn’t afford a therapist. Financially yes but the risk involved was far too great so instead he did what he did best. He made a plan and resolved to do something about the situation.

Requiem made his way to their morning meeting in considerably better spirits than when he left the night before. He paused for a moment when he entered, both so that he could analyze the company and so he wouldn’t have to speak over the tapping of his cane. “Good morning everyone. From present company, it seems we’ll have our work cut out for us today.”

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Polaris barely even blinked before one of the knives strapped to her waist flew out and just barely grazed Jinx's cheek, just touching him enough to leave a faint scratch before it continued to fly, boomeranging around the room before she caught it by the handle. "Don't," she warned Jinx, clearly not in the mood for his antics. Unlike her siblings, she never had been a member of the Brotherhood. She followed the dreams and believed in the ideals of Charles Xavier. If it hadn't been for the Genosha project, she wouldn't have even considered joining forces with her father and the Hellfire Club. "Or the next one won't miss."

"Hmm? Oh, right, the little errand the girls have you running," Shaw recalled, smirking a little bit at Emma. "Though tell me, Requiem - have you discovered who was responsible for stealing my sentinel?" he asked. His eyes were incredibly intense as he stared at his fellow mutant, like a coyote eyeing its prey. The room noticeably became more intense and Emma smiled slightly, shifting to look at Requiem as well.

"Yes, do tell what you have learned - I think we are all dying to have this matter put behind us," she said smoothly.

Magneto shook his head slightly, making himself a cup of tea. He preferred to make his own food and drinks to having it provided for him - he was endlessly suspicious around the Hellfire Club, even though he was its White King. These people could not be trusted, they were always waiting for an opportunity to seize an even greater share of power. "It was foolish of you to manufacture the sentinels in the first place, Sebastian," he chided. "You created the tools responsible for the death of so many mutant brothers and sisters."

Shaw sighed - clearly they had had this debate before. "I would much rather we be the ones selling them than a human group - it at the very least has allowed me to introduce modifications to protect mutants of our little circle here should they fall into the wrong hands... But back to the topic - Requiem, please, your audience is waiting."

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Veil nodded at Spark Plug's suggestion that they try the mutant friendly clinic. "That's worth a shot - but you'll need to be careful, that's one of the first places Purifiers are going to patrol in order to kill innocent mutants." There was no point in mincing words about it. Clinics and orphanages and just about any service provided for mutants now had gigantic targets on them. 7/15 had already riled up the purifiers in D.C. - this had just added fuel to a fire that had been burning for months, if not years. However, she disagreed with Spark Plug's desire to lead the mission.

"They'll never see my face unless I want them to. And besides, I made the decision already to lead that team. I'm not changing my mind on the issue." She didn't offer an explanation beyond that. Sometimes it was the best to give her reasoning behind a choice - other times, she felt like it wasn't demanded by the situation. She would have the time to rest once she either died or the work was done - and given that mutant suffering was unlikely to be eradicated in their lifetime without a drastic change in the status quo, death was the more probable outcome.

Havok shoved his hands into his pockets, his head stinging a little bit from where Sapphire had slapped him. "...Sorry, it's just after what happened with her and Mastermind..." he muttered. His girlfriend had a checkered past to say the very least and the idea of her being missing sparked fear in him - his mind conjuring up a scenario where Mastermind returned and hypnotized Polaris again, bending her sense of reality until she was just a willing pawn in his schemes.

Casper nodded his head slightly at his brother. "I'm fine, just trying not to stare at the cop..." he mumbled. He pulled at his hair slightly, trying to distract himself from the bloodied woman in blue hovering a few inches away from Max. Ghosts never really seemed to stay gone long. And unlike Ben, most of them were still fixated on their past life, unable to realize that they just had to make the best of a horrible situation and move on.

"I'd tell you to tell Jack about what's going on, but you never listen to me anyways," Ben admitted with a sigh. However, the ghost winced as he watched the complete breakdown experienced by Feedback. It looked like Casper's services hadn't been needed anyways - she found out that her mother was dead. Of course, Ben still believed that Casper passing messages from Feedback's mother to her would have been helpful for the healing process, but he doubted his friend would do that.

"I listen to you sometimes, but you're always blathering on and on and on about how much you wanna sleep with my baby brother," Casper pointed out to Ben.

"...I do not go on and on about it! I mentioned it one time! Just once! In confidence!"

"Not like anyone else can hear you," Casper countered. "And no one listens to me, so I doubt they're hearing this side of the conversation either."

"...Whatever, Cassie."

Casper was about to reply to Ben, when James came over like an angel with coffee. He couldn't help but grin slightly as he took the cup and sipped at the mostly watery liquid - the Underground could barely afford anything, so their coffee tended to reflect their financial status. "Oh, I could kill for a piña colada right now..." he whispered cheekily. "But this is close enough." He was feeling fine, especially since talking to people distracted him from the ghosts hovering over by Max and Feedback.

Meanwhile, Veil was a bit surprised that the newer members were being relatively quiet. They tended to be a loud and outspoken bunch, but perhaps the gravity of their situation had begun to sink in. Feedback looked like she was on the verge of a breakdown and Veil made a mental note to talk to her about it privately later - she doubted the young woman wanted to talk about it in front of everyone else in the meeting and sadly, they also just didn't have time.

"I'm taking volunteers to go on the run to the bar. Other ways to help out today would be working with Blink on scouting a new location, helping Sapphire if she needs it with getting medical supplies, going with Sunspot and Cannonball to get the kids to Rhode Island..."

"Actually, sorry y'all - the car is going to be super full with all of the kids. It'll have to just be me and Sunspot," Cannonball admitted sheepishly.

"Yeah, you guys are fucking missing out," Sunspot agreed with a smirk. The two of them exited the meeting area and went about getting the kids outside and into the car for the long haul. They were leaving, so they didn't need to stick around to see how everyone divided up at the meeting.

Colossus already knew exactly what he was going to do. "I will help Sapphire with medicine," he announced. He wanted to help his baby sister and if Sapphire determined they needed things not at the Underground, he was going to make sure that Illyana got them.

"...Negasonic, want to come scout with me?" Blink then asked tentatively.

"Ugh, fine," Negasonic replied, rolling her eyes. Blink opened up a portal and the two of them hopped on through, before the portal closed.

"I'm going to the bar," Sunshine chimed in. She wanted to kick ass and get revenge - that mission seemed to be the best way to go on about it. Erg was dead because of these Hellfire Club people, so she wanted to make them suffer and then, once they begged for mercy, she was going to end their miserable lives. As far as she was concerned, they had killed her only real chance at a family. It wasn't like her biological father was going to turn up after years of never being there and take her in - and her mother had kicked her out of the house when she was just a little kid. She was all alone and it was all their fault.

"Count me in too," Havok said.

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Callie looked at Veil when she declined and wanted to lead, letting out a slight sigh it was her decision anyway after all as well and she wanted to lead the team to go to the bar. She looked around the room more at the newbies who seemed to all be surprisingly quiet right now, not really saying anything at all. She thought about staying and helping out with whatever Sapphire needed medical wise, but then again it was out of her area of expertise. Callie didn't have any kind of medical experience, she'd probably end up finding the wrong drugs if she was asked to go on the supply mission if they did need one.

Canonball and Sunspot, said it would just be them sending the kids out to the Underground Cell over in Rhode Island, Blink and Negasonic were both going out to scout for their new home. The new girl Sunshine, and Havok were volunteering to go on the mission to the bar, while Colossus opted to stay behind which was understandable. "I'll join you on the mission to the bar as well then. Someone here has to make sure you don't get shot again." Callie said jokingly.

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"It's alright, you freaked, everyone tends to do that at certain points in their life Alex," Sapphire said towards him with a slight smirk. She knew that Veil didn't like being called by her actual name, so what better way to subtly retaliate and stand up for her friend then returning the favor towards Havok. Sure, she herself was in the same boat as Veil and didn't like the name her parents had given her, especially since they had more or less tried to have her killed and disowned her in the span of a few hours, but still. No matter how mad Havok was, it didn't excuse the way he had essentially treated Veil with his outburst.

"Anyone who wants to help out, whatever, just don't get in my way with things, since I have one thing to say, withdrawal is never fun, so we probably will have to make a run. Now, if anyone comes along, you have to actually listen to me whether you want to or not since I know more of what we'd actually be looking for, and the rest of you probably have no clue," she said, almost shooting a bit of a glare towards the newbies. Her words were more of directed towards them then anyone, since she still did not like just about any of them.

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Jack gave his brother a bit of a weird look, hearing him go on more or less to himself, or probably Ben from the sounds of the conversation. That was one thing about Casper, he tended to forget that there were other people around him who could hear one side of the entire conversation. "Uh, Casper, you do realize that you talk out loud and other people can hear you right?" he said to his brother, mainly referencing the part that he had said someone wanted to sleep with him. That was a little more then a bit awkward to say the least.

He turned to actually pay attention to what everyone else was going on about, and noticed that Sunshine instantly volunteered to go with the group that was heading out to the bar area. "I'll go to the bar too," he said with a slight wave in the groups direction, figuring to let them know. Of course, the real reason he was volunteering to go with that group was to make sure that Sunshine was okay and didn't do anything too reckless. She was just a kid more or less, and he didn't want to see a kid get hurt.