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Callie smirked to herself as she watched Max suddenly turning on Veil, as she stood there for a moment she didn't hear the door opening up until she had heard Jack's voice and could see him by the doorway now. She held out her hand, as electricity built up in her hand and tried to shoot it out at him. Only for it to hit Veil instead, which didn't do much due to her forcefield as well, Callie couldn't really see where Nightcrawler had hidden himself until he tried to attack Leighton.

She closed her eyes as she built up another charge into her hand, and shot it outwards towards her only for it to end up hitting the newbie Max that she had turned in the process by using her powers. The feeling of the high she was getting from made her feel good and she wanted to take down everyone else that was still in the room. If they didn't know that she had turned on them so suddenly they probably did now.

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“Good choice.” James complimented the music selection as it played over the intercom system. He waited for Sapphire to pop the lock. He made a mental note to suggest swinging by a hardware store at some point. Clearly picking up a lock pick gun or something would be useful if they needed to stay under the radar. Maybe Max could make him one, though he’d make sure Max was far away from the new place. Very far away.

He followed Sapphire in, taking in the rows of medicine and following the labels. While it did seem to be alphabetized, he couldn’t find anything labelled Methadone. He took a moment to double check, just in case, but no such luck. “I don’t think they have it here. Maybe it’s somewhere else or they just don’t carry it? Can we pass on the second one or do they play off each other somehow?” James asked. He didn’t know how long the distraction would keep everyone’s attention so he did want to get moving at the very least. He just didn’t want to leave if only taking one would cause a heart attack or something without the other drug.

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It seemed that Jack didn’t have a clue about the man’s true age. Either he was good at playing dumb or he truly did not know. That would be a question for another time though as Luna didn't anticipate the mystery man leaving her mind anytime soon. Perhaps she would make a phone call home later on to ask her dad about the man. Meanwhile, the bartender retrieved the picture Luna had asked for and handed it to her. She glanced the thing over, slipping it into her pocket for another question that would need answering. It seemed they were only getting more questions than answers while being here.
Luna shifted in her seat, ready to add more questions about what was going on downstairs when the bartender announced that the bar was closing due to a supposed water pipe leak. Not very likely considering it was downstairs where their partners were. Luna watched the bar empty before she looked at the bartender and slipped into his mind and bound him to his spot. ”Feel free to knock him out or question him. He doesn’t seem to know anything about what goes on downstairs other than they can’t be down there,” Luna stated. She walked around the bar and started shuffling through papers and other things, looking for clues or signs of anything sinister going on.

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Cayden grinned, impressed with the big guy’s show of force. He looked around for something of equal destructive size, bobbing his head along to the music that was playing. He wasn’t completely familiar with the song but it had a steady beat to it that seemed to make the job suddenly more fun. Cayden chuckled at Waverley’s comment. ”We’re making it work,” Cayden defended happily. Cayden decided on throwing glass figurines would be his best option. As he picked a couple out, he heard a familiar voice and stopped. Cayden turned around to see Vulcan standing in front of them. They all should have guessed this would have happened. He was hopped up on who knows what and knocking him out for a good few hours didn’t seem to do anything to slow the crazy down.
Cayden closed his hands into tight fists, ready to fight when Vulcan attacked Colossus. His eyes widened as the metal skin on the big guy started to smoke. That could not be good. When Colossus told them to run, Cayden was torn on what to do but there was still a mission going on a few floors above them and they needed Waverley to keep on top of those cameras. At the very least they had a big enough distraction now. ”Come on Wave. You stay focused on the cameras if you can, I’ll guide you.” Cayden took a hold of Waverley’s hand and pulled her away from the immediate fray. He looked around the gift shop, searching for an exit other than the one Colossus and Vulcan were fighting in the middle of. No such luck was on the young mutants sides though. Cayden pulled Waverley over to a corner of the store and stood in front of her. They would have to time their escape or Cayden would have to hold whoever came after them off long enough for Waverley to continue on with her job. He loosened the leather throng from around his wrist and tied it around his hair so it was contained and out of the way.

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Max was blasted by a volt of electricity, numbness filling his body for a brief moment before quickly coming back to him. Perhaps his brain just needed a jump start? Maybe Veils words got to him? Or there was always the chance that his will had won out. Regardless of the reason, Max was back to himself again and he stayed a hit that was marked for Veils temple. He heard as Jack asked what was going on and Max chose not to answer at the moment, instead whispering an incantation as a sparkling pink cane appeared between his hands and its reflective edges made it all the easier to see. He ran towards Nightcrawler as he watched him release Leighton and be barraged by Veil. "Let's see you try and fight when you're down a leg or two." He gripped the cane in his right hand and shot it straight towards Nightcrawlers kneecap, missing his target but using the moment of the jab to grip it with both hands, swing it back and hit the devilish mutants right kneecap head on with a loud thwack.

If anything, hopefully the mutant wouldn't be able to crawl about anymore, the seeing pain inhibiting him from doing too much acrobatic work and relying on being on the defensive instead. The tail was still an issue, yet if he could strike his other kneecap, potentially breaking it, then his legs would be obsolete for the fight and he'd have no choice but to surrender. "Hey maybe nows not the time to stand and ask what's going on, someone here has the ability to affect minds and made me feel a sick high, major aggression, and the want to hurt my friends, find them and know them out. Sunshine if that thud was you, and for once I hope it was, can you give this guy severe allergies? No anaphylactic shock, just swollen eyes." Max was used to studying his opponents and using their strengths as weaknesses, but this was a whole new level. He could hardly see who he was fighting and that made his analysis much harder to do.

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Jinx looked around and saw the display before him. Countless mutants sitting around in power dampeners looking miserable and chained as if they were mere toys to these humans. The sight was enough to make him sick. Sure he didn’t agree with what the Three in One had done, but they sure as hell deserved that death, if not one far more excruciating and painful. He walked about the car whistling a jaunty circus tune as he began to search for their prizes, ears perking up only when Anastasia had decided to speak to him in acknowledgment. She had a point, he should have a bit more self preservation, if not for his own skin than for the sake of all mutant kind. After all, who else will topple the human regime and replace it with one of mutant superiority? The Three in One? He didn’t think so.

Now why would Jinx go and upset anyone? Especially someone or something hidden away in a giant metal box covered in chains with hardly any visible entrances. Just a few cents for breathing and a sliding door to get fed, that was all. Jinx peeked through all the openings, attempting to get a good look at the prisoner within the prison and he saw a rather handsome man. He perked up his best smile and began his best attempt at persuasion. "Heeeeey buddy, listen it looks mighty cramped in there. Hows about I let you out and we can go someplace with endless food and pleasures? But you gotta play nice with me ok?" He could hear a voice respond from the other side, but what they said was less than ideal. "Why would I go somewhere with you when there are rolling hills, green valleys, endless lakes, mountains calling out to my soul....." Jinx scrunched his nose at the man and stood back "Well now that's just rude. Hey Ana, I got one over here though he doesnt wanna go with us."

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Even with her eyes closed, the joyous and carefree energies of Colossus and Cayden as they played throw-the-nearest-thing-far made Waverley feel at home, causing quiet laugh to tumble from her mouth. The chuckle was cut short, however, when a new, familiar voice piped up. She opened one eye, and her smile immediately fell from her face when she saw the source of the voice: the man who attacked them back at the base. Her eyes went wide as the man glowed, and when beams of bright light began flying in her direction, she raised her arms in front of her head, flinching backwards and letting out a terrified scream.

But instead of feeling whatever she imagined concentrated energy would feel like burning her skin, she heard only the clanking of metal. She opened her eyes to find Colossus on the ground, smoke rising up from his skin. Her wide, panicked eyes shot up to look at their attacker, and, despite his attempted attack on her and Colossus' command to run, she stood paralyzed with fear, like a deer in hot, deadly headlights. She stood like that for a moment, until she felt her friend grab onto her hand, and pull her to the side of the fight, telling her to keep focused on the cameras. He was right. She couldn't do anything to help with the fight, not without her trusty rebar, and she trusted that Cayden would be able to make sure she didn't get vaporized. So, without further hesitation, she closed her eyes once more.

Her mind went back to looking through the security cameras. On the plus side, the others had managed to get into the medicine room. All that meant was Waverley would definitely need to delete a bit of footage, but she was planning to do that already. She did her best to tune all the noise of the battle out of her mind, leaving only her and the security system. And then, as she pushed her mind, it clicked. Or at least that's how it felt. It felt like she'd finally gotten a key into a lock and turned it, and with that feeling, the cameras shut down. But before she disconnected herself from the system, her mind slithered back to where the security footage was kept, and deleted the last half an hour or so of footage.

"The cameras are down," Waverley mumbled to Cayden, but she didn't open her eyes yet. She reached out to the floor upon which the others were, in the medicine room, and felt around for a phone. Once she found one, she latched onto it, force feeding it a message.

'Good news: the cameras are down and we have a distraction. Bad news: the distraction is the evil laser guy who tried to collapse the base and he's currently trying to kill us.'

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The Amtrak Station...

"His sister is in the next car, the third cage with an alpha label," the Three-in-One's voices echoed into the minds of Anastasia and Jinx. A brief flash of images would follow, showing them exactly where the cage was and in which car. David was still safely secured in the cage that Jinx had found him in - at least he was for now. The horrifying and enticing thing about Legion was that he had every power, only each of his multiple personalities could control only one of those abilities. It was entirely possible that one or more of them was capable of blasting the containment box to shreds, mutant control collar or not.

"You know what's rude? Being confined in a cage and being deprived of nature," David pointed out to Jinx. "There aren't any squirrels in here..."

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JFK Memorial Hospital - Gift Shop...

"Really? Hiding in the corner?" Vulcan admonished, shaking his head slightly. "If this is the best the Mutant Underground has to offer, then it deserves everything that's coming to it," he boasted. He sent another blast of energy at Colossus, the metallic mutant having hardly gotten back on his feet before he was thrown backwards again, hitting the wall and sending bits of plaster coming down from the ceiling. "Come on, Piotr! I'm not even breaking a sweat!"

Colossus spit out a silver liquid - it must have been his blood - as he got back up on his feet again. He grabbed the nearest display cabinet and ripped off one of its doors, before chucking it at Vulcan. The egotistical mutant tried but failed to dodge it, the jagged glass cutting up the front of Vulcan's shirt and leaving some serious wounds. "Ve vill not be bullied," Colossus informed Vulcan, before leaping at him and tackling him to the ground. Vulcan's shirt came off entirely in the struggle, and he tried but failed to blast Colossus off of him.

JFK Memorial Hospital - Fifth Floor...

Casper couldn't help but stare at Sapphire for a moment. "...It's open sesame," he corrected her. He didn't mind her jumping down his throat over asking her to break the lock open, but the little slip of her tongue there annoyed him slightly. And since they were in a room filled with beautiful, wonderful drugs, he would much rather be focusing on that than the bottles all around him. They were calling out to him and testing his resolve. Unfortunately, while he was sober, it wasn't by choice... He hadn't been in rehab because he wanted to be there.

Wandering up and down the rows, he peaked in the various cabinets as he searched for the drugs that Magik would need. Spotting a bottle of some pretty potent painkillers, he slipped the bottle into his pockets. Sure, his pockets were pretty loose and horrible at containing things, but his phone hadn't fallen out (yet) so he figured the drugs would be fine in there. Heading back on over to Sapphire and James, he smiled slightly when he saw that Sapphire had one of the things they were looking for. "I think we're good with just the one."

"Casper, put those back..." Ben urged. "You don't need those. You've been clean."

By some miracle (a 17 out of 20, to be precise), Casper reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Ignoring any other messages (namely those from Jinx that he had yet to reply to), he looked at the one that came from an unknown number. "Guys, we got problems... Sparky Sparky Boom Man is downstairs trying to kill the others," Casper explained, looking sheepishly at his companions. "We're gonna have to go help them like now."

The Cherry Bomb - Barroom...

Havok raised an eyebrow, finding it slightly creepy how the bartender wasn't moving anymore. Behind the bar, Luna would stumble on some paperwork detailing who owned the property. The bar belonged to a shell corporation - it must have been a front for one of the companies that backed the Hellfire Club, Frost International and Shaw Industries. Under owner names, there were two listed: Sebastian Shaw and Michael Milbury. "Look, I appreciate that you're being all Hermione Granger here, and I'm not going to leave you by yourself to get killed... But we ought to head downstairs. The others might need our help."

The Cherry Bomb - Basement...

Sunshine's face was bright red as Jack helped her to her feet - while she appreciated that he helped her, she felt ashamed for needing help in the first place. Her entire life had taught her that she couldn't rely on other people and to have someone even show her the slightest kindness... it brought up all sorts of emotions and feelings that she could not accurate describe or even understand herself. "Ugh, there's like no light down here..." Sunshine complained slightly. Despite what her name might have suggested, she couldn't conjure up balls of light like Glow could. This ironically was one situation where James' generator would have come in handy - or a bunch of flash lights.

Squinting in the darkness, Sunshine could dimly make out a figure in a glowing poncho charge at someone with a sparkly pink stick. She realized a second later that was Max and she couldn't help but roll her eyes slightly. Of course he would have conjured a poncho and a stick for himself, instead of something practical like a flashlight. "Uh, sure..." she said awkwardly. She couldn't make out where the guy Max was talking about was in the dark, but she knew where Max was and she hoped she would get lucky. It took her a moment but she made a swirling ball of green smoke in her hands and she aimed for the ground by Max's feet.

Beyond disease manipulation, perfect aim just so happened to be one of her mutant powers. She hit her target - and luckily enough, Nightcrawler was right there! The teleporting mutant broke out into hives and started sneezing nonstop, not moving from his position on the floor after Max had severely bruised one of his kneecaps. "So is this guy a Nazi?" Sunshine asked. Her head was throbbing and she put pressure on it with one of her hands.

Veil let out a breath, her shoulders relaxing slightly. The attacks seemed to have been stalled and she could see their foe clearly - Nightcrawler. "...That's Nightcrawler - he's usually with Xavier and the X-Men..." Veil informed the others, a bit surprised that was him. However, with everything they had heard, she sadly realized it wasn't too shocking. It wasn't just ordinary mutants that were being abducted - Shaw seemed to have a penchant for more high profile ones. Not even the X-Men were safe from him. "Spark Plug, can you put the lights back on?" she asked, still unaware of Callie's high.

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Leighton heard the man's words again before she felt his tail wrap around her neck. She reached to pull it off but struggled against him until Veil slammed a force field on him. She fell to the ground, coughing as she got her breath back in her lungs. While she did so, the others all managed to fight back against the teleporting demon and stopped him, mainly Sunshine. As annoyed as she was, she was more thankful that the man was taken care of.

Leighton then felt something inside of her surge. She felt like she could move in ways she didn't before. She felt her adrenaline rush before it stabilized. She placed her hands on the ground lifting herself up to an almost handstand before she bent backward, placing both feet on the ground. "Well, I never did that before." Even as a cheerleader, Leighton had never been that flexible. Hell, she was probably only a cheerleader for her looks.

Once things settled, she moved over to the others. "Once we get some light, this is where we need to be. Me and Max found our way down here before he showed up. Also, there's an unconscious bartender down here too. He's fine and breathing, but just keep an eye out for him."

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Ana followed Jinx as the boy talked to the man in the steel cage. The man was clearly not buying whatever Jinx was selling given his context and Jinx called for her to take action. She rolled her eyes before she reached her mind out to latch on to the caged man. She found his mind filled to the brim with personality. The man had multiple ones all fighting for control. She tried to shift his morals around, but he fought her hard until she found a personality that she could work with.

She read it as Ksenia, a gambler-type that she figured could be reasoned with. Once she pulled it forward to the man's present state, she spoke. "Ksenia? My name is Anastasia. We are here to free you and David's sister. It is in your best interest to work with us to get you both out here safely. Once we escape the train, we'll go from there but until then, we need to go along with each other. Ready to get out of here?" She heard the Three-in-One in her head tell her where the sister was, which was good. They just needed David, or Ksenia in this case, on their side. For now.

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Callie leaned forward she felt the high finally leaving her, and took a few deep breathes as she looked around in the dark, hearing Max's voice saying about her little emotional attack on him, and Veil pointing out that it was Nightcrawler. "Yeah, that was actually me I tried getting a feel for Nightcrawler kind of backfired on me, being an empath and all I feel and can control others emotions. And he's definitely a Hound, and being one temporarily wasn't fun at all." Callie said, cracking her fingers a little bit, looking over towards Veil.

She nodded towards her friend, as she held up her hand trying to turn on the lights in the room, but only made a small bit of electricity in the palm of her hand. "I cant really get any brighter than this sadly." Callie said, while looking over at Max for a moment, really the flair was getting a little bit annoying. "Can you make something practical like a few lanterns or lamps? And for the love of god don't do the whole flashy thing either like those ponchos or that cane." Callie said, finding them really annoying in her opinion.

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"Nightcrawler, damn, that's a bit weird," Jack said, not sure what else to say about it. Nightcrawler, as Veil had mentioned, typically was a known associate of the X-Men, considering the fact that they were definitely a bit higher profile then just mutant runaways, it did not bode well at all. Glancing around the room, he shook his head slightly when he saw the poncho. Okay, sure, it was kind of a fun idea, but a glowing poncho wasn't exactly the best thing to have around at the moment.

He heard what it was that Callie was saying and frowned slightly, okay, so he was really glad he wasn't an empath who could get high off of another person's high, it was really weird to think about. Though he figured that his brother probably wouldn't have minded having that ability as opposed to being able to talk to ghosts. "So, before you all got attacked or whatever, did you find anything useful down here?" he asked, before he pulled out his phone, figuring that at the very least they could end up with a little more light because of it.

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"Yeah, he's right, we only really need the one, they both will have some sort of similar effect, and either one would help out Magik," Sapphire said, not too sure about the fact that she seemed to be agreeing with the drug addict. That was the other thing she was concerned about, the fact that they had walked into a room full of medicine with a druggie. She had said before what he did in his own free time was up to him, but hopefully he'd wait to get high until after they were back at the HQ.

Hearing his words about what was going on downstairs, her eyes grew wide, and she slipped the bottle of meds into her pocket and headed out the door. "Come on, we need to get down there and help them out," she said instantly, heading towards the elevator. "...You know what, stairs actually probably would be a bit faster and we don't want the commotions of fighting to potentially break the elevator causing us to get stuck..." she said, changing her mind and she glanced around for a staircase.

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Something buzzed in the back of his mind, something Sunshine said yesterday but he couldn’t quite remember. He knew it had something to do with Casper but it just sat there like it was on the tip of his tongue but it didn’t come to him as he watched Casper fish his phone out and point out that the other group needed backup ASAP. “Lets just hope we don’t have to blow off his head to subdue him.” James muttered as he looked around for the exit signs. Was Vulcan’s presence an excellent distraction? Yes. Did their little group really need an enemy showing up like a cartoon villain at the most inopportune time? Absolutely fucking not. James groaned and popped out of the medical supply room.

“Okay, let’s just follow the signs and we should be able to get around to them pretty quickly.” James pointed out the Exit sign and followed it. “Maybe we can get the jump on his and knock him out from behind or something. How did he even get here? I thought the girl was the teleporter and he just blew shit up.”

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The binding held thankfully while Luna shuffled through the papers and came across a few juicy ones. She saw what subsidiary of Shaw Industries owned the bar and that Shaw idiotically put his name on the lease. He truly thought he was invincible. One day that attitude was going to get him killed. Luna shook her head and gathered the papers and slipped them inside her jacket, along with the photo of Mystique. She glanced at Havok’s comment and nodded. ”I think we’ve got all we can get from up here.” She turned to face the bartender and dove into his mind deeper to try and knock him out. It was a rather forceful thing, knocking someone out via the mind, that is when it works but Luna couldn’t get the proper hold on him. Still, it wasn’t all lost. Luna turned to Havok. ”Do you mind knocking him out? If I leave the room the binding will be severed and we don’t need him calling anyone.” Havok obliged and stepped around the bar to knock out the unmoving bartender, to which he succeeded. ”Thanks,” Luna said before moving towards the basement.
Luna opened up the basement door and held it open as she peered down the stairs. It was pitch black in the basement with an odd glowing light that moved here and there and several voices drifted up to them. At least they were all familiar. ”Oi, could you use an out?” If they had it handled, she wasn’t going to interfere and just encase someone unsavoury walked through the door it wouldn’t be wise to have all the heavy hitters down in a basement that could be potentially locked.

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Sure they were hiding in the corner but that was only temporary. Cayden was waiting for an opening, he wasn’t about to risk the operation completely and he needed to keep Waverley save. He heard her speak up about getting the cameras shut off. Cayden relaxed a little, hearing the good news when Colossus took down Vulcan. There was their opportunity. He pulled on Waverley’s hand and ushered her from the gift shop quickly, moving around the fighting pair. Hopefully they looked like people who had just been trapped inside the gift shop and not part of the carnage.
Cayden saw the blood drip from Colossus as he continued to fight Vulcan which was far from good. If he couldn’t shift back to his human form after this, how would they treat a man made of metal? He looked at Waverley. ”Get to a safe spot.” Cayden had to focus on Vulcan and the big guy now. He would have to take down Vulcan if Colossus couldn’t and then carry the big guy out of there as he didn’t know Waverley had sent a message for help.

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Max watched as the demonic looking mutant began to break out in hives as a sneezing fit followed soon after. The lighting had done little to help Max identify who they were going up against but as Veil mentioned his name he soon made the connections. The fast paced movements, swashbuckling action with his tail and impressive combat, ofcourse it was a former member of the X-Men and Nightcrawler. He felt bad having to beat him up, it clearly wasnt by choice that he was here, nor that he was in this predicament. "I really hope he hasn't come to, I can only imagine the trouble we'd be in if he did." Mutants had a bad name at the moment and an even worse one thanks to Max's latest mess up. He watched as sparks began to fly and then crackle around Callies hands as she told them that was the most she could muster at the moment. His heart dropped as she asked for Max to conjure some lanterns or lamps or something more practical.

His hands began to tremble a bit, thoughts raving through his mind like harsh whispers scraping inside his skull. Each one telling him he would mess up, he would light the building on fire and push the purifiers closer to their goal. Then, like a light at the end of a tunnel, Jack pulled out his phone using the flashlight function. Max didnt have a cellphone but he hoped the others did. "That could be a good solution, use your phones to light the way. Honestly I wish I could be more help but...I'd rather not risk this mess up. Not after my last..." He began to rub his arm meekly as he looked down at the floor. "Shame James isn't here, I'm sure he could fix these lights no issue."

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As Jinx leaned against a wall, watching the blonde mutant work her powers to get them the result needed, a new voice seemed to spring out from within the cage. His eyes opened up wider, slowly, as his jaw inched closer to dropping. His expression was not unlike Dr.Grants first time viewing a live dinosaur in Jurassic Park. It was amazing really, her powers and what she could do, but also his powers and how ingeniously they were locked away. They say all the best people were mad, and Legion seemed to fit the bill. Legion's Ksenia personality smirked slightly, able to tell an opportunity when it was staring at her in the face. "Of course, dahrlings." It was interesting, seeing a person with so many people inside their head, how did he manage it all? He stepped closer to the cage and smiled at the both of them. "I do love working with you blondie, you, me, and Req, well...we could rule the world." His eyes glanced over towards the lock on the cage and it suddenly clicked open as Jinx lightly tapped the door. "Its all open for you now."

He made his way away from the cage and ontop of an empty seat. Looking overtop of the large group of mutants restricted with collars just sitting there quietly, he decided to do a bit of grandstanding. "My fellow mutants! All of you have been entrapped here and forced to suppress your superior genetic power by the whim of cowards and the frail! We should be the reigning race and yet here you are, what do you say to me setting you free?! But only if you agree not to harm any of us and go about your ways as free mutants!" Non one, not one single mutant seemed roused, stirred, or otherwise paying attention to him. It was then he realized they were all drugged, lethargic, and in far worse states than he had previously thought. The Three-in-one spoke into their minds and told them where to find the other. "I do wish theyd stay out of my head. I'm sure we could've found her ourself. Anyways we should at least release our brethren before we make our leave, set them back on the streets or in our graces. They don't belong like this..." Jinx started to make his way for the car containing Legions sister.

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The preparations were almost finished for the helicopter. Magneto and Polaris were conversing on the balcony, leaving Emma alone in the main room of the penthouse. She closed her eyes as she took a sip of her martini, dreading this conversation but it had to be done. She could not allow the power vacuum to be filled by another. "Nathaniel.... Do you have a moment?" Emma Frost whispered into the mind of Mr. Sinister - Shaw's partner in the genetic research that produced the Hounds.

"Of course Ms. Frost, though make it quick, there are a few things that I need to take care of."

"It’s Lord Imperial now, actually - I am afraid Sebastian Shaw is no longer with us." She smirked slightly, rather pleased of that. She had anticipated needing the Mutant Underground to take care of Sebastian Shaw, but the surprise recruitment of Polaris and Jinx's unforeseen cooperation helped matters greatly.

"I see... That is most unfortunate."

"Indeed. I understand that you and Sebastian had a certain... arrangement. I believe we may be able to come to an accord of our own, beneficial to all parties."

"Oh? And might I ask what it is that you are thinking about with that?"

She frowned slightly, not wanting to play games. "Your pet monsters, Nathaniel."

"I see. What sort of arrangement were you potentially thinking of Ms. Frost?"

"Oh, your research and access to the Hounds... as well as your loyalty. And what would you desire in return?" She already knew what he would ask for - a seat at the table.

"That is a lot to ask for... However, a position of power that would allow me to continue my research of course would help me immensely. As my research does on occasion as I'm sure you know, require less then willing volunteers. A position of power would allow me to obtain more volunteers and the like. That is my request."

"...You do understand how unusual it would be to have a human in the Inner Circle. Of course there was Leland so it would not be without precedent... Very well. The most I can offer to someone of your lesser genetics would be the position of Black Rook."

"I understand that it is more than a bit strange, however it would likely be beneficial to both of us to have myself be there. You'd have another member of the circle who is loyal to you and would aid you, and I would be able to continue my research which you seem to want. I agree to those terms Ms. Frost."

Her thoughts then turned to another important matter - her niece. Sage had alerted her to the fact that Leighton had gone missing and it hadn't taken Emma too long to discover the reason why - she was a mutant like her dear aunt and had the poor sense to become mixed up with the Mutant Underground. "Excellent, Nathaniel. Now as a demonstration of your loyalty, I understand that my niece has wandered into your complex. She’s terribly confused, mixed up with the wrong sort... Bring her to me, darling."

"Ah, she I believe is one of those who are nosing about my operations, of course, I'd be more than happy to send her your way."

"Yes, though I would not be too alarmed - the Mutant Underground is hardly a force to be concerned of." They were just pawns.

"No, certainly not. I have kept an eye on their operations a bit myself as of late, as my own son seems to be hanging around with them, I have been curious as to what they have been up to. They are more of just a walking disaster it seems to me."

"I have designs for them - leave them alive. Beyond that, I am flexible."

"Of course, besides, killing them would be such a shame. There are better things to do than that."

"I am afraid I have to go, Nathaniel - I imagine I will see you soon. Farewell."

"Farewell Ms. Frost, it has been a pleasure doing business with you."

Emma opened her eyes again, rising from the couch as she fixed her hair slightly. The flight to Genosha would be comfortable and a small part of her was giddy. Reeva was already on site and Emma could not wait to go see their beloved island in person. It would only be a few months before everything was ready - before the Mutant Homeland could come out of the shadows and move into the light.

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The Amtrak Station...

David stepped out of the cage, stretching his neck slightly. He couldn't stretch his arms or legs due to the massive restraints on him - it was all he could do to keep on walking. "Now, if you vould not mind, my bonds," he then added, looking at Anastasia and Jinx. Those two will want to hurry up and free David's sister as well, and rendez-vous with the Three in One. Releasing all of the mutants would be a good idea, as it would help to cover their tracks when the authorities find the massacred staff members.

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JFK Memorial Hospital - Gift Shop...

Casper had followed James and Sapphire to the stairs, quickly running down flight after flight until they emerged onto the first floor. The gift shop was just across the way from where they had come out, meaning that they had an excellent view of Colossus and Vulcan's fight. "I think your idea of knocking him out from behind might work well," he whispered, not wanting to draw Vulcan's attention.

"I know it's not the time but seriously, leave the drugs Cas..."

"You're right, Ben, it's not the time." Casper saw Waverley and Moonwalker dash out of the gift shop and he tried his best to wave them over, hoping that they could get the entire gang reunited. He didn't know how Vulcan had gotten there so quickly, but he doubted that the villain would just answer that question if they asked.

Vulcan sent blast after blast at Colossus, laughing giddily as he kicked the metal mutant around. The fight seemed to be definitely over in Vulcan's favor, given the unchecked power that he was radiating. Each time Colossus managed to get a hit in, Vulcan would send off at least three energy blasts. They would need to do something soon or they may need to bury Colossus the next day.

The Cherry Bomb - Basement...

Veil raised an eyebrow as Leighton mentioned the unconscious bartender down here - at least they hadn't killed him. She supposed that was going to be a little victory for their newest recruits, though Leighton at the very least was growing on her. Max she wasn't too certain about just yet. "Alright, let's not have you use your empathic powers when we have Hounds in the field," Veil decided, looking over at Spark Plug sympathetically. Between Max and Leighton's ponchos, and Spark Plug's electricity crackling in her hands, it was essentially low lighting conditions down in the basement. She could make out the features of her friend's face.

Sunshine was still holding her head and she couldn't help but snicker. "I can't believe your first idea was to make stupid fucking ponchos," she chastised Max. "Maybe your superhero name should be Captain Impractical," Sunshine then added. The private investigator had pulled out his phone and put it on flashlight mode, helping to illuminate the darkness of the basement. She was able to make out features now and she could see a wall of bookshelves on the far side of the basement, with the bartender knocked out by the stairs.

Havok was at the top of the stairs with Glimpse and he squinted on down. Luckily the door was open, since otherwise they wouldn't have been able to see anyone. "Everyone okay?" Havok asked. "Anyone need mouth to mouth?" he then added with a slight smirk, bringing some levity to the situation.

Sunshine pretended to gag. "Gross...." she muttered, shaking her head.

"Havok, Glimpse, come down here please," Veil called up. She knew that it was strategic to have someone up there to cover their escape if they needed it, but she wanted everyone in one place so that way they could regroup and figure out what was so important about this basement. They needed to figure out what to do with Nightcrawler as well - she figured that calling Xavier was likely on the agenda. She didn't know how to treat someone with his condition, they barely knew how to help Magik, but Xavier would have the medical facilities to treat Nightcrawler.

Havok came down the stairs, pulling out his phone and setting it to flashlight mode as well, illuminating the faces of his fellow mutants. "...So, what happened?" he asked.

"Spark Plug and I came down here shortly after Leighton and Max," Veil explained. "This place is definitely connected to the Hounds - poor Nightcrawler here must have been turned into one. He attacked us." She then looked over towards Leighton and Max, waiting for those two to elaborate if they could at all. The more information they had, the better.

Meanwhile, Sunshine was making her way over towards the far side of the room, squinting. She could barely read, so she wasn't there for books. "In movies, these things usually are secret doors or something..." she pointed out, before she started grabbing books at random and pulling them off the shelf. After the fifth book she pulled, there was a click and the bookshelves parted to reveal an elevator. "...Cool."

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"Calm down Sunshine, you don't exactly have to be rude or anything, okay?" Jack said to her, shaking his head slightly. Though he couldn't help but actually agree with her on that one. Most normal people would have done something like conjure up flashlights if able to. However there wasn't really anyone who even thought remotely like Max did, which could either be taken as a compliment, or as an insult. It depends entirely on how you viewed the sentence. He personally would take it as an insult if someone told him that.

He glanced around the area, using his phone to see the basement a bit better over all. They definitely could use some more light at the moment, "Uh, Max? I do hate to say this, but we could use some more light in here," he said to him, before he followed after Sunshine who was messing with a bookcase. Hearing the click and seeing the bookshelves part, he couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "Yup, this definitely has to lead to the evil villain's lair."

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Sapphire nodded her head, racing down the staircase after Casper, figuring that the sooner they got downstairs, the sooner they could get out of there and deal with Vulcan hopefully. Racing into the area, she hid off to the side, seeing that Colossus was getting beaten quite thoroughly by Vulcan, and she started trying to think about what they could do to help him, when James had suggested sneaking up and getting the jump on Vulcan. Nodding her head, she managed to edge her way behind Vulcan, as the man was clearly paying more attention to Colossus at the moment.

Her hair instantly turned to it's typical ice white, her skin turning pale as well and her eyes flashing to the ice cold blue. Sapphire threw a dagger at Vulcan that was completely made of ice, and it slammed into Vulcan's side, stuck there. "Oooh, looks like that hurt a little bit... Would be ashamed though if that dagger just so happened to pull off the mysterious myth of a possible ice bullet, by just, disappearing," she said coldly, before the area around Vulcan started heating up, and she was glaring at him still, when there was a puddle of water that splashed to the ground, the dagger having melted completely. Somehow, Vulcan was still standing, despite the fact that he obviously was losing a whole lot of blood from where his injury was (as she probably hit something important) he was still standing. That didn't matter to her though, as she was mainly trying to get his attention away from Colossus.

"How about you leave my friend alone."

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“Oh for fucks sake. Can we please catch a break?” James muttered as they whipped around the stairwell in time to see Vulcan just beating the ever living daylights out of Colossus. If the metal giant couldn’t handle himself against the deranged mutant, James had very little faith they could do much about it. A little voice in his head suggested they just bolt, the odds were out of their favor, but James shook his head. There was a hospital full of people that the mutant could turn his eyes on if he got bored and he’d probably just show up at the Mutant Underground ready to finish his last mission if they didn’t deal with it now.

James spotted the register in the hallway and snatched it up with all intents of slamming it down over Vulcan’s head but with the extra weight, James wasn’t nearly as quiet as he’d like to be. Vulcan definitely noticed, his hand wrapping around James throat and squeezing. In another situation, it might be a bit more welcomed but James struggled against the hold for a few moments, panic setting in. He struggled instinctively against the hold for a moment, hands scrabbling uselessly against Vulcan’s arm, before he regained control of himself and managed to yank himself out of the other mutant’s hold with a gasp. The rush of oxygen burned slightly but it was more than welcome. Hopefully, the distraction would give the others some time to get a few hits in.

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Part of Waverley was extremely tempted to throw insults back at Vulcan, the same part, perhaps, that ever thought she could last even a month as part of an wanted underground mutant activist group. But with the deranged, powerful mutant angry and shooting his lasers all over the place, that part of her was silenced by the much larger part of her that was just fucking terrified. After a few moments, when Colossus and Vulcan were rolling on the ground, she felt Cayden pull her through the gift shop and out the exit. She gave him a quick nod when he told her to find a place to hide, turning towards the door to the outside. But as she turned, she saw the other three members of their group, the scraggly one frantically trying to wave her and Cayden over. Waverley glanced back at the fighting going on behind her, and quickly pranced towards the group. She hated how useless she felt when it came to fighting. The best she could do was stay out of the way. Though perhaps, she thought, she could be both useful and out of the way.

When she got to the three of them, she immediately turned her attention to Sapphire, opening her mouth to speak. But she didn't, stepping behind Sapphire and waiting as the cold woman shot her icy blades at their assailant. Once there seemed to be a break in her attacks, Waverley spoke and spoke quickly.

"Can I have the keys so I can pull up the van?" She asked, her words slamming together in an almost spaceless strand of fast-spoken syllables that sounded more like one long word than a full sentence. Sapphire focused on Vulcan, keeping her eyes on him. Without saying a word, she reached into her pocket, grabbed the keys, and handed them to Waverley, not taking her eyes off of him for a moment. Waverley gave Sapphire a toothy smile and nodded, though the leader didn't seem to be paying any attention to her. She quickly bolted out the door of the hospital, and began to walk into the parking lot. But before she got far, she saw a line of ambulances. She paused, looking at them with interest. A flashflood of old movie scenes in ambulances invaded her head, a number of them including the use of some sedative kept on board the vehicle. It was at that moment that an idea dawned on her.

Waverley, being a suburban girl from a relatively well off family who'd always been spoon fed stories of heroes always doing what's right, had never seriously considered becoming a car thief, even after she discovered her powers allowed her to unlock cars with relative ease. But as she stared at the vehicles in front of her, she was thankful for that aspect of her powers. She concentrated her mind, her eyes squinting into slits as she stared the first ambulance in the line down. She pictured jimmying a lock in her mind, a visualization to help the process. Unfortunately, it didn't help enough. She shifted her eyes to the second one, getting the same result, and then to the third one. The third one, as she jimmied it, clicked, both aloud and in her mind.

She quickly approached the back, pulling the doors open and climbing inside. Her eyes scanned the vehicle, and it took her a moment to realize she wasn't sure what to look for. She flipped her phone out, and began to type. It only took one google search to find what exactly to look for. After a while of rummaging through the ambulance cabinets, she managed to get her hands on some of the sedative, as well as a few needles. Pocketing them, she backed out of the ambulance, and shut the doors.

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Callie looked towards Veil and nodded towards her, having been crippled the night before when Vulcan and Magik came into the Underground HQ and then the whole thing with Nightcrawler it really wasn't a good idea. "Yeah it really wouldn't be a good idea." Callie said rubbing the back of her neck slightly looking over at Max. "Also sorry for making you a temporary Hound by the way." She said, when Callie heard Havok's voice and shook her head slightly. "I'd rather go full Hound than let you give me mouth to mouth." She said sarcastically as she continued to hold out her hand seeing the bookcase there.

"Good work kiddo." Callie said as she walked over and ruffled Sunshine's hair a little bit, as she looked over at Nightcrawler for a moment and then over at Veil. "Should we have someone stay and watch over him while we check out the evil creepy villain lair or take him with us?" Callie asked looking over at Veil.

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Leighton wasn't a fan of the low-level lighting, but if Callie wasn't feeling it, then who was she to judge. "Ok so we went up to the counter where we saw the bartender dude. Really cute, too so I got my flirt on. I got him to disclose the basement and got him to give us a "private tour" of it. Once down here, we saw that there were chairs and bookshelves, which hit me weird that it was so nicely decorated down here, but upstairs looked like that. So I knocked him out and started to search and that's when the lights came out at the Nightcrawler guy attacked us."

Summing it up nicely, she almost didn't hear Sunshine's comment at Max. She would have gone off on her, but she checked herself. Sunshine enjoyed making other people miserable because she was miserable herself. Hell, hadn't she done as much during her childhood? So she let it slide, but Max was going through enough shit without her adding to the pile. However, the little turd did find a secret entrance, so kudos given and deserved. "I knew there was something down here! That's gotta be what we are after. Are we still stealthing it though? Considering everyone is coming down here, I don't suppose we still have covers?"

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"It can be reasoned with," Ana thought to herself. Ana worked on freeing David, but it stood to reason they would need a distraction. And a train car full of mutant prisoners going wild seemed like the perfect kind. "Jinx, free the other prisoners while I get Ksenia out of her restraints. Once done, we'll make our way to David's sister, get her, and get off this train before more authorities show up."

As she worked on the restraints, she wondered if David's personalities could be used further. She had seen some of them fighting for dominance in his mind. What was David like anyway? Did anyone know? And what type of life did he live if any personality could take over, changing how he thought, felt, and acted? It was a blessing and a curse, she felt. She had no pity, of course. You dealt with the hand given to you. Though he could prove a useful ally, much later, of course.

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Luna looked around for something to prop open the door after Veil asked both her and Havok to come down into the basement. She didn’t like the idea but at the very least propping the door open would give them more light plus the added bonus of seeing someone before they were locked in. Luna managed to find an actual door stopper and kicked it under the bottom of the door before she wandered down the steps after Havok. She could faintly see the outline of the room thanks to the phone flashlights and the light from upstairs. She eyed the weird light ponchos that belonged more at a rejected rave than in a bar basement.
The others seemed to start explaining why they were down here in the first place and Luna noticed a couple unconscious people, one of them being blue. It seemed they had a hell of a lot more fun down here than she did upstairs. ”Well we found who owes this lovely place. Sebastian Shaw is one and a Michael Milbury is the other. Plus Havok noticed Mystique as been here a time or two before,” Luna said and pulled out the picture and papers to hand to Veil. Luna looked over at Jack and watched him curiously. She still had questions for him about his mysterious friend, even though he seemed to not know his true identity.

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Cayden watched the others show up as Colossus continued to get a beat down until Sapphire stepped in. The ice dagger seemed only to make Vulcan more angry and didn’t even slow him down. James was up next and he tried but nothing was making a dent with the Hound mutant. Cayden clenched his fists, growing mad and shifted. He knew Waverley was safe, having left to get the car so he could focus on the task at hand down. Cayden charged forward, head down in an effort to knock Vulcan over with his strength but it backfired. Literally. Vulcan was able to blast Cayden back and he flew back across the room and into the hallway until he slid to a stop.
Cayden’s face and head felt like literal fire due to the burns now all across his face. The pain was unbearable and Cayden screamed from it, not trying to tough it out at all as tears fell across his burned cheeks. The screaming didn’t help any and pulled the burns on his face in awful directions and produced more pain. His hands shook as they flitted around his face, wanting to touch but knowing that would do no good. He couldn't even compare his pain to anything, to put it on a scale and quantify it. It just, was.

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"Maybe your superhero name should be Plague, because that's all that you are to people! Havock no one needs your damn mouth to mouth right now, but if you really wanna press your lips against something I'm sure that your flexible enough to kiss your own ass! Now why dont you all just shut it!" Max snapped at the two who couldnt help but add noise to any situation. He'd said he didn't want to go with, yet here he was, he said he didn't want to risk using his powers too much, yet they asked what seemed the world to him, he stepped away from them as he looked up towards the ceiling. "If this building catches fire I'm blaming you." Max took a deep breath before he began to mutter a few words as the energy released from his hands in thin tendrils and made their way up towards the ceiling. They wrapped around and began to create fairy lights that hung off the top and helped illuminate their surroundings.

"Happy? And don't worry Callie, controlling powers is difficult as is when you domt have the emotional burden of others weighing down on you. Now I'm going to go check on Nightcrawler to make sure his allergies havent pushed him passed the brink of breathing." As the blonde haired mutant began to look around the newly lit area, he noticed that the blue mutant was no where to be found. He began walking a bit and stopped just short of turning furniture when he exclaimed. "Guys, Nightcrawlers gone. I honestly don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing at this point..." Max turned to Callie who had suggested watching over him while the others investigated and then he turned towards Veil, the leader of the group, with a look of 'what now?'

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There was nothing more fulfilling than Anastasia, or any other mutant to be precise, telling Jimx that oje of his ideas was right. Sure he hadn't explained to her that he planned on freeing them all anyways, but hearing her demand it so, brought a bit of warmth to his heart. He popped a piece of bubble gum in his mouth and began to chew, eyeing up all of the mutants that sat within the cart looking stoned off their meds. A long drawn out bubble began to form as the sound of air filling it filled the chamber until there was a sudden pop. "You got it Queenie. I'll make sure all these lovely beings are set free to do as they wish." Jinx interlocked his fingers and bent the back, palms forward and you could hear every knuckle cracking. Another bubble soon followed before he finally stood at the edge of the cart, looking down the long hallway and onto all the mutants before him.

Jinx counted fifteen heads, that was fifteen mutant collar restraints he needed to make malfunction and fall so that his fellow brethren could be freed. In a quick burst you could hear the sounds of collars clicking off, down the line fifteen clicks forming a beautiful symphony to his ears, a symphony of freedom. "Easy as pie my queen. If you need my services again feel free to ask. I know the Three-in-dumb dont seem to comprehend the use of my abilities but it's clear that you do, and for that you have my powers at your disposal. Now let's see to finding our missing sibling so we can call this a mission success." Jinx skipped his way down towards where the triplets had stated the sister was, searching for her.