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Luna nodded when Nightcrawler expressed his desire to not talk about what it was like being on the drug. She had to respect his wishes, even though her desire to know was insane. She felt that with the more knowledge she had, the better she would be able to combat this in the future. Cayden walked into the room with pizza, briefly distracting everyone from their conversations. ”It’s alright. Death is a part of life after all. Stay and eat something at the very least before you decide to go,” she pressed. She nodded at him once more before she went to secure at least one piece of pizza.
Professor Xavier and Veil walked into the dining room along with a couple other people. Luna smiled at the professor and nodded. ”Professor Xavier, good to see you,” she noted. Xavier’s relationships with his students were hit or miss but on a whole, Luna had learned a lot from being under his direction when she was at his school. She was still learning from him and she was sent here because of him.

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Cayden glanced at Illyana, undisturbed by her threat and shrugged at Colossus. ”No worries big guy. There’s lots,” he said and handed a box to Illyana before he took another to the group of kids and all gave them a can of pop as well. ”Don’t eat too quickly,” he warned them. He had seen it back home where kids hadn’t eaten anything for days or weeks and at the first sign of food, they would gorge themselves and then be sick after.
Cayden managed to snag a couple slices himself and a can of pop before Professor Xavier showed up. He stared at the man who sat in a hovering wheelchair with wide eyes. Wow, it was really him. Cayden managed to swallow the pizza in his mouth and walked over to the group near the professor, just wanting to be a part of the conversation that was about to happen.

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Once down in the tunnels, Leighton collected herself. She couldn't rightly blame Polaris for how she acted. Had Leighton been raised with her powers in the environment she grew up in, she would have done the same thing. But if what they wanted was true, then it was peace for all of them, which meant they shouldn't attack people on the streets. "Let them be angry at us, but we shouldn't retaliate. That would only cement their beliefs."

Leighton kept her mouth shut with Max though, knowing the boy was probably still facing guilt. In the tunnels, Max had tried to conjure lights for them, instead of producing snowglobes with quite the colorful scene in them. Ana pinched the bridge of her nose. She fought off anything she might have said. The boy was gifted. She had to admit that. But he was untrained. And he was an idiot. He would kill someone soon if they were not careful and she bet dollars to donuts it would be Leighton on the receiving end, albeit unwillingly.

Leighton began to giggle and then shortly a full-on laugh. She took a deep breath but continued to laugh. She tried to contain it, but she giggled as she spoke. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh. I think it's the stress of it all finally getting to me, just...look at the snowglobes!" She chuckled again before she calmed herself down. "Sorry, I'm ok. This is a lot to take in."

Ana merely kept walking. She was irked Polaris wasn't saying anything. She didn't want to be the bad guy all the time, especially in situations like this where it was clear that things were going wrong. She also was not looking forward to seeing Jinx and the Three-in-One again. She imagined they were not her biggest fans, though she did not care.

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The Morlock Tunnels -> The Luxury - the Washington D.C. Waterfront...

Polaris wasn't aware of Ana's annoyance with her - she wasn't a Queen or King of the Hellfire Club, Ana was. She had joined this organization less than twenty four hours ago, solely because she believed the creation of Genosha was integral to the survival of mutantkind. She hated her father. She knew that his soul was dark and twisted. And she believed that each member of the Hellfire Club was just like him. But unfortunately, the angels weren't going to save her species - she had to deal with the devils in order to survive.

Polaris used her powers to force open the sewer grating above and she climbed up the ladder quickly, emerging into the sparkling daylight at the DC Waterfront. They were lucky - the crowds marching, spreading Stryker's message of hate and fear hadn't bothered with the yachts. It also didn't take Polaris too long to see her half sister over on the Luxury. She used her powers to glide over onto the ship. "Wanda... I didn't expect to see you," Polaris said.

"Oh really? Thought you were clearly father's favorite child, so why wouldn't he tell you?" she snapped, shooting daggers at Polaris with her eyes.

"Come on, we're all friends here," the Three in One reminded the sisters. Only Esme seemed to be a little bit concerned about the cattiness.

"Look, I don't crave Father's approval and honestly, you shouldn't either," Polaris replied, crossing her arms. "He's just a man."

"You can't tell me what to do especially considering the fact that you know nothing and last time I checked you were running around with Xavier's crowd."

Polaris sighed. There was a reason she never really felt close to any of her siblings. "Fine, have it your way, Wanda. I'm the bad guy, happy? Now I'm here to get the triplets and Jinx back. You're welcome to come, if not, then I'll see you at the next funeral."

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Aboveground - Mutant Underground Hideout...

"Jackie, you can't Elsa me!" Casper complained. He knew that he wasn't the most serious person around. But even despite all of his flaws, he wasn't about to let Jack just act like he hadn't dropped something mind blowing into their conversation there. It was just about the only thing Jack could have said that was more concerning than the news that their brother had been abducted. "So if your father is Mister Sinister, then..."

"Your mother is more of a whore than we thought?" Ben chimed in.

"Hey, that's my mom you're talking about! Even if it is true!" Casper snapped. He shook his head, continuing to pace in circles. They were too far from Jack's office to just walk to it anyways. "Maybe it isn't true. Maybe it was just something Sinister said to trick you - people like him do that all the time, in order to mess with heroes and Axe body spray enthusiasts like yourself."

The Dining Room - Mutant Underground Hideout...

"Thanks," Blink told Callie with a smile. She sat down against the wall with the kid, giggling slightly at the kid got pizza sauce all over their chin. It was cute and heartwarming however. The ex-Morlock was eating her delicious hot piece of 'za as well. The kid gasped slightly as Professor X wheeled into the room, Veil standing at the side of his floating wheelchair. "Is that..." the kid whispered and Blink nodded slightly. "That's Professor X."

"Pleasure to see you all again," Xavier said, nodding his head.

"Professor... It is good to see you," Kurt gushed slightly, feeling even more at ease in the presence of his mentor. Being rescued by his friend Colossus had been a blessing, but having Xavier here was a gift.

"Professor, I would like you to meet my sister, Illyana," Colossus said, beaming slightly with pride. He had always wanted to introduce his little sister to his family, the X-Men. He hadn't had the chance before - but now he did.

"I prefer the name Magik," Illyana corrected, staring at the bald telepath.

"Hello Kurt, and it is good to meet you Magik."

Veil took in the room for a moment, glad to see that the mutants they rescued were already in better conditions. Once Xavier said what he came here for, she was going to see if the rescued mutants could be taken back to the X-Mansion with him. Beast would likely be able to continue caring for them and from New York, they could easily be sent along the Underground to a station in Canada - a place where the mutant laws were a little looser, allowing them to live something like a normal life again. "I don't mean to make you feel unwelcome, X... But I think we can skip the pleasantries and get into why you're here," Veil said a bit bluntly.

"I'm in DC mainly as my daughter is currently in SHIELD custody and my oldest son is missing. As well as because I heard about what happened to the Morlocks."

She hesitated for a moment. She didn't know that Xavier had a daughter. Though to be fair, she also hadn't known he had a son until she met Casper. "If you mean Casper, he left with the detective... As for the Morlocks, we handled the issue - it was Sebastian Shaw and Mister Sinister behind it. Sinister is in the Savage Land. Shaw's trail has gone cold."

"I was not referring to Casper. I was referring to my eldest son David. Though it is somewhat comforting to hear that Casper is with his half brother right now. As Jacques tends to keep him out of trouble... As for Sinister, I know about what all happened, at least in part if you wouldn't mind elaborating a bit so I can hear it from you Veil."

Veil nodded, taking a brief pause. "Glimpse came to us with information about Sebastian Shaw. I took a team to investigate and while we were gone, Hounds attacked our headquarters. Negasonic provided us a lead to a local bar and we went there next to investigate, finding Sinister's secret lair. We barely escaped with our lives on our first scouting mission. The return trip was far more successful... I don't know how yet, but Emma Frost seems to be involved. She took two new mutants named Leighton and Max."

Medical (Room 10, Second Floor) - Mutant Underground Hideout...

"It's the food of the gods," Sunshine agreed, talking with her mouth full. The sweet garlicky crust was a symphony in her mouth, accompanied with the rich marinara sauce and the thick, oozy, creamy cheese. She was absolutely in heaven. In that moment, she could have died happy. She swallowed and forced another gigantic bite into her mouth, living entirely in this moment. She finished her slices and quickly grabbed another pair, making a sandwich out of them just the same. That was one issue with kids who grew up on the street - they often couldn't stop themselves when food was available, as they never knew when their next chance to eat would be.

"Glimpse was in the dining room last I saw her," Negasonic told James, playing on her phone again. For once, there wasn't a mean comment or sullen silence that accompanied the information.

"Hey there little brother. It's been a while. Hope you haven't been causing trouble or something," Cyclops said from the doorway of the room, looking over at Havok. His facial expression was difficult to read, largely due to the ruby red shades that covered his eyes. They were the only things preventing Cyclops' laser beams from destroying everything in the room, however.

Havok glanced over at his brother, more than a little bit surprised - and slightly annoyed, since it meant that he would have to tell Cyclops about Vulcan. He wasn't too sure how his big brother would react. "We're the same height, Scott," Havok pointed out. "I'm not your little brother." He then walked forward and brought Cyclops in for a bro hug, clapping him on the back.

"You will always be my little brother Alex whether you like it or not. What happened to you? Looks like your shirt has been put through a paper shredder or something at this rate."

"Sapphire did it," Sunshine interrupted, speaking with her mouth filled with gooey pizza. She vaguely recognized Cyclops. He was the leader of the X-Men - or at least, he used to be. She wasn't really certain why he was here, since it was an odd time for him to show up to check in on his little brother. Was that what blood family was supposed to do for each other? Check in?

"It wasn't Sapphire's fault," Havok sighed. "It was Sinister... Listen, have you heard anything from Lorna? She went off the grid. I'm worried about her."

"Well that explains it I guess... And no I haven't heard anything about her Alex, sorry."

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Strangely enough, as she watched the blonde girl, Sunshine if she remembered correctly, and James the Messiah devour the pizza still warm in her hands, their food-inspired enthusiasm almost palpable, she felt more like a superhero than she ever had since joining the Underground. Even if all she did was bring the box up the stairs, she still couldn't help her lips from curving up into a beaming smile at their evident excitement. For a moment, Waverley thought about maybe making this her permanent duty, changing her superhero name to match. Perhaps Pizzania, the Mighty Maiden of the Mozzarella, fighting against the horrors of hunger and non-greasy food items. Waverley quickly disregarded the idea as sad and pathetic, primarily due to the fact that it was sad and pathetic, but she kept the Mighty Maiden of the Mozzarella filed away. Good alliterations are a rare and important, at least in the opinion of one Waverley Watts.

Waverley looked over to James when he asked his question, but before she could answer, Negasonic spoke up. Waverley nodded in quiet agreement. It was probably best that the teenage punk answered instead, because Waverley wasn't even sure she remembered which one Glimpse was. Her immediate thought was the British woman, but her tendency to second-guess kept her from being sure. Waverley was pulled out of her thoughts when a figure appeared in the doorway, eyes covered by familiar glasses. Waverley almost dropped the pizza, her eyes widening.

"Oh my god, you're Cyclops!" she exclaimed, practically shaking. Her shock only became more evident when Cyclops interacted with Havok. They were brothers? Waverley couldn't believe it. She met two celebrities in one day, and was working with the brother of one of those celebrities? What were the chances of that? She stood there slack-jawed, unsure of what to say. So instead of saying anything, she awkwardly held out the pizza box to the ex-X-Man.

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Callie looked at Blink and smiled towards her and nodded. "No problem at all." She said, seeing the kid eating away at the pizza slice made her smile. One of the reasons why she liked working with the Underground and helping those that they managed to save, Callie took another bite of her pizza and a drink from her beer. Before turning her attention towards Professor X as he started to answer Veil's question why he was actually here. She didn't know that Professor X had three kids, since he was you know paralyzed from the waist down she wasn't sure if he could do it now, or if he had kids before the injury.

"I found Sabertooth's mission logs that he had on his laptop, I could send you or to someone if you'd like, or Veil could send it to you." Callie offered, since it was one of the things that she had found while in Sinister's lair. She wasn't sure what to think about him having one of his kids going missing, or if he wanted the DC cell to search for him or not. "So, do you want us to find him or something?" Callie ended up asking, she thought that their mission against Mister Sinister was an actual success since they did save his victims there and found some information as well.

[color=aba400]Levitation, Conjuration[/center]Psybolt, Jinx

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Max was a bit taken aback by Polaris' sudden shift in attempt to be kind. He wasn't exactly sure what her angle was or if it was simply her disorder kicking in. Ana's frustration seemed more than a bit apparent as she pinched the bridge of her nose in what could only be an attempt to stay out of the current situation. That seemed to be the end of it, that is until Leighton began to laugh at the situation at hand. There was shock in his eyes, his pupils dilating as he watched his only friend laugh at him until a small smile crept up on his face and he began to laugh too. Life didn't always have to be so grim and serious, it was important to take the little things that made us laugh and enjoy them while we could with people you love. He wiped a small tear away from his eye as he followed the green haired mutant through and out of the tunnels, watching her float on over towards a Yatch with the escapees waiting.

There was a smile and a nod towards Leighton as he motioned to the boat, lifting his hands up slowly as he chanted and then beginning to levitate in the air. His control was much better than anytime before, proving practice makes perfect and slowly heading towards the Yatch before him. Jinx however was just sitting there in a chair as the girls gabbed about. Spotting a familiar blonde tuft of hair with a flashy new outfit. Pink energy crackled in his hand as he created a Psionic bolt and lobbed it straight at Max, missing just barely as Max twirled out of the way. Noticing that Jinx hadnt been briefed that he joined the Hellfire Club, Max created a circle with his hands, moving them clockwise as the mystic energies coalesced around Jinxs wrists and bound his hands together in a tight but soft fabric.

Max was now only feet above the Yatch as he looked at Jinx "I'm not your enemy!" "Like hell you aren't!" Jinx dampened Max's power of flight, causing him to come crashing down onto the ship from three feet above. "Anyone care to tell me why the damned lollipop brigade is here?!" Max slowly got up and rubbed the back of his head as he softly said ow to himself. "I joined the Hellfire Club. I'm here with my friend Leighton. We heard about the mutant homeland, and how they're trying to bring peace to both humanity and mutants alike, how they're trying to end the bloodshed and give mutants a chance. That sounds like a cause worth working towards. But I will not agree it's worth fighting for if we can avoid it." Max looked towards Polaris, just a small glance as she argued with her sister before looking back at Jinx and the Three in One.

"Wha- No- Not worth fighting for? Do you hear this moronic bozo? There will be fighting, there will be blood spilt, and you better get used to it kiddo. This isnt some fairytale ending or a comic book where the good prevails and all is well. This. Is. Real. Life. And the sooner you understand that the better. Your hands will be stained red regardless of which side you're on and if you choose to have no side then they'll be twice as bloodied! Now I suggest you man up and untie me before I blow that blonde little head off!" Jinx inched closer and closer to Max as he spoke until finally he was inches away from his face. He could see Max's eyes begin to quiver as he fought back tears of rage and the urge to just punch Jinx in the face.

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“Good. Good, that’s good. Thanks.” James said gratefully. That little brush with death was hitting him hard. He hated to admit it but sometimes it was hard to shake the feeling he was practically invincible. Sure things hurt but as long as he could clear it out or reset it, the pain went away quickly enough. It kind of desensitized him to it. If he stuck his hand on a heating element while the stove was on, it would absolutely burn like a bitch but knowing that it would be over in a few moments after he moved his hand made it so much easier to keep his hand there. Oddly enough, it made even some of his most painful encounters feel like an extreme workout. At worst, he felt wobbly and weak and a little sore but there wasn’t any lasting damage and the next time he could handle it just a little longer, he could handle just a little more pain before he had to recover. And he didn’t even think about it.

He forgot others didn’t have the luxury to just ignore hurt. And he forgot how vulnerable he was when he gave it to someone else. He hadn’t had many opportunities to explore that part of it until the Underground so it just slipped his mind. This was a brutal awakening. He didn’t appreciate it.

He absently rubbed at his neck, unconsciously searching for his own pulse, as he watched Cyclops and Havok talk. Well, it seemed everyone had connections to the x-men here. James frowned at the thought. The Underground was clearly well connected to the more visible groups but they were severely underfunded and were forced to work entirely on their own wits and speed. James could understand limiting their interference; if they wanted to move mutants, it made sense that the public eye would make it more difficult for them to do their job but it only seemed reasonable that their parent group at least help keep their members in decent health. The group barely had enough supplies to take care of themselves, not mention reliable food stores, without stealing from everywhere they possibly could. Normally he would give the X-men the benefit of the doubt but after hearing how their leader handled his personal affairs, he was hesitant to extend that courtesy. Waverly, however, clearly didn’t harbor his inhibitions and the excitement made him smile.

“Out of curiosity, what brought you our way?” James asked. “This place is a bit out of the way for a casual drop by.” James shifted a little on the cot. The food helped him perk up a little bit and now that he had, a few concerns wiggled their way in. First, he hoped Casper made it out. Second, there was the world’s most well known telepath in the building and that put him on edge. Thirdly, why were they here. He doubted that, in light of his personal concerns, they were here for anything beneficial to the Underground.

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Luna watched Veil and Xavier interact and she stole a piece of pizza, as she hadn’t yet had the luxury to have any. She even picked up an American beer although she didn’t quite have the taste for American beer, chalking it up to nothing more than coloured swamp water. Still, it would be enough to get the edge off. She grabbed another slice of pizza after her first and relaxed. It was the first time she had truly been relaxed in days and it was nice. She didn’t realize how tired she was until now and stifled a yawn.
Luna was glad the Professor was here but she was curious as to why he was here in the first place. Was he simply checking in on the mission he gave Luna to bring to the Mutant Underground? Or did the Professor have more information on the task at hand. The problem with Professor X was he tended to withhold information a lot, claiming it was on a need to know basis or some other rubbish. It was a bit maddening, especially when his information tended to provide a straight and forward direction in what they needed to proceed with.

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Cayden listened to Veil’s recap of the events and sipped his pop happily. ”He seemed to have a lot of well known mutants working for him,” Cayden added in, all smiles. It was true there were some discrepancies on how Professor X worked but that was with any person really. Not everyone was going to get a long or appreciate their style but that didn’t mean a man like Xavier didn’t deserve some respect and Cayden was just in awe of the man. He never thought he would get to meet any X-Men, let alone the X-Man.
Cayden looked back, watching the kids and smiled as some seemed captivated by the man in the wheelchair and the others were just happy to have warm food in their bellies. Hopefully they would be able to sleep well tonight and within the next couple of days they could get them moving to someplace a little more permanent and safe. Cayden turned back to the conversation in front of him, listening intently and ready to provide any information if he needed to. Not that he knew any more than Veil did.

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"That's just it Casper, when I think about it, it makes so much more sense. I mean seriously, would it really be all that surprising if it was true? Not to mention the fact that I actually do know for a fact that it's true. Look can we just stop talking about this already Casper? I only mentioned it since I felt like you probably should know," he said, looking over at him. It was still clear that Jack was definitely stressing out over the entire situation.

“....Okay Jackie,” Casper said, pulling him in for a hug.

Jack was a little surprised at Casper pulling him in for a hug, but he returned it anyway. "It's fine Casper, don't worry about it. Our family isn't exactly a typical one, so don't worry about it. I'm fine, no one did end up actually dying because of my father, so there's something... But yeah no... We've got a lot of other things to do, and potentially deal with. Everything revolving around my dad, that's not something that is really worrisome right now. Well, I mean... It's not like I can change it or anything."

“You know what’ll make you feel better though? Donuts and rum. Or rum and donuts. Or donuts with rum filling.”

"...I wasn't planning on drinking any alcohol Casper. I was wanting to just go to a coffee shop or something and get some coffee or whatever. Not sure if I should be concerned or not that your first thought was to go get rum."

“Would you have rather I suggest heroin?”

"Hell no! Can you please just not joke about that sort of thing Casper okay?"

“What if I’m not joking?” Casper asked.

Jack let out a sigh, shaking his head slightly. "Just don't okay? Cause right now, if I'm being honest, part of my brain would totally take you up on that sort of offer. So please, don't even joke about that..."

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Sapphire was more curious than anything about Cyclops walking into the medical area to see his brother, and how Havok would feel about seeing his brother. She knew that it had been a little while since they had seen each other, and she knew for a fact that it would be an interesting interaction. Reaching the upstairs area, she snickered slightly hearing Cyclops call Havok his "little brother" and Havok more or less protesting to the idea. She totally was going to tease him about that sort of thing later. It would be a missed opportunity if she didn't!

Hearing Sunshine explain what happened to Havok, she figured that she might as well play off on it and crack a joke or something about it. "Oh, it was nothing, Havok just annoyed me horribly and I decided to use him for target practice. But is it really that surprising?" Sapphire said with a laugh, before turning to look over at James who questioned why Cyclops was there in the first place. "He came by with Xavier who is downstairs talking with Veil and everyone else right now."

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Leighton regained her composure as Max and her shared a laugh. She couldn't remember the last time she actually laughed at something. All that her life was seemed to be filled with loneliness, hatred, contempt, anger, sadness. It wasn't until she found that invisible wall and discovered who she was that she felt anything close to resembling happiness. And then it was gone. And she was left with a choice. A choice she still did not know was the right one.

As they neared the entrance, she saw the others. Polaris and Scarlet Witch were having some sibling thing going on, but her eyes went to Jinx and the triplets, fully expecting some backlash from all of them. She was prepared for it. But what she was not prepared for was Jinx attacking Max. Granted, it was kind of funny to watch the two of them go at it. After all, his last encounter with Max was when that group infiltrated their office.

Leighton was too late to stop the attack, but she was damn sure not going to let it continue. She stormed forward, standing in front of Max as he regained himself, on the verge of tears. She didn't know who this jackass was, but she would not let him take control of this. "We're the ones who came to pick you guys up, so back off!" The comment about bloodstained hands, she knew, would hit Max harder than Jin probably meant it. "It's that kind of mentality that will lead to death and destruction when it could be avoided. We're here to help ensure that all life is saved, humans and mutants alike. Now, I suggest we all calm down and get back to the headquarters. Or would you rather take someone on that is expecting it now." She felt ice grow to her fist, but she kept them down. She did not intend to start anything.

Ana rolled her eyes. The situation was growing too much, too quickly. "As entertaining as it would be to see everyone go for each other's throats, that will not be happening. We'll return to headquarters. I imagine the ice wall will not be up anymore, so there may still be protestors on the streets waiting. Jinx was right in some regard though. You can't prevent this fight, not when it's already in motion. The sooner you come to terms with that, the sooner you can do whatever it is you intend to do here with us. I suggest you both think long and hard about what you hope to accomplish and if you intend to stay here." With that, she stepped to the side and motioned everyone to get a move on.

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The Luxury - the Washington D.C. Waterfront...

"Oh please, you want to help the humans? They aren't worth the time or effort, everyone would be better off without them," the Scarlet Witch scoffed.

The Three in One nodded their heads in agreement, disembarking from the yacht. "They're agents of mutant suffering," the girls explained in unison. "If humans were fundamentally good, then we wouldn't exist. They made us to be weapons, to hunt and kill and destroy." They then turned all at once, looking back at everyone, those on and off of the yacht. The humans had killed two of their sisters. They had plans to rectify that - plans that Leighton and Ana would help with, whether they wished to or not.

"I'm not here to kill humans. I'm here to save mutants," Polaris said strongly. "But if you two are here because you want to help humanity, you'd be better off with the X-Men," she told Leighton and Max. "Xavier's team rarely helps mutants anymore. Just humans."

"Humans aren't worth the trouble, how many of us do they have to kill before you naive children learn that?" Wanda asked them, and she seemed to be sticking around, and was going to head back with them. Polaris had disembarked the yacht and with a flick of her wrist, the sewer grate cover opened up again for them. They'd return to headquarters the same way they had come - through the Morlock Tunnels.

"They're too young to know suffering," the Three in One said. "Leighton only realized she was a mutant this week," they added, their eyes glowing bright blue. "And Maximilian dreams of being a superhero."

"Oh please, I learned what humans were capable of when I was a lot younger than them. And if you want to be a superhero and help humans, I can't help but agree with Lorna. Go run off and join the X-Men like my brother did."

Polaris' body language shifted, the sewer grate bending abruptly in half. "Don't call me Lorna."

"Then don't call me Wanda."

Polaris descended into the tunnels. "Fair enough, Scarlet Witch."

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Aboveground - Mutant Underground Hideout...

"Respect his boundary, Casper," Ben said in a dry, almost disinterested tone. "Not everyone uses heroin to solve their problems. And not everyone should."

Casper sighed slightly. He really just wanted to comfort his brother. He knew better than anyone what it was like to have a monster for a father. Casper had been grappling with that his entire life, whereas Jack found out less than a few hours ago. Maybe what Jack needed was to go home to New Orleans, to confront their mother about her horrible life choices. "You don't wanna talk about it, we don't have to," Casper said.

Ben was surprised - and a bit proud.

"We'll get some rum doughnuts and maybe we can watch YouTube videos on the computer at your office... But I think afterwards, we should come back here... My father is evil and horrible, but... There's this really cute guy here. I'm going to be honest. That's most of my motivation for wanting to stay. He seems super sweet and I bet he's a power bottom, too."

"Eww, Casper!"

The Dining Room - Mutant Underground Hideout...

"So, seems as if Emma has found her niece then," Xavier mused, before looking over at Cayden's response. "That is not too surprising, Shaw is well connected and Sinister has ways of appearing to be someone he is not and tricking others to do his bidding rather easily. As for David... If you do come across him, be careful, as his powers are not exactly... Stable... And neither is his personality... As for the files, see about sending them to the mansion if you could."

Veil nodded, her arms still folded. She didn't like this at all. Jack turned out to be the son of Mister Sinister. Casper was the son of Professor X. Leighton was the niece of Emma Frost. She half expected Max to turn out to be the son of the Scarlet Witch somehow at this rate - it was all too connected. The Washington D.C. Mutant Underground cell had never been this... connected before, even with Havok around. "What do you want us to do next, X?" Veil then asked, mentally proceeding to the next order of business.

"Da... Do you want us to continue shepherding mutants to other cities? Or concentrate on Emma Frost?" Colossus asked.

"Do not get involved if you can't help it. Report any information you come across. The Underground is primarily meant to help mutants escape to other cities where the laws and such aren't quite so bad as they are in certain areas. Continuing doing that, you all have done well so far with it, so keep going, there are people out there who do need you, more than ever considering the Purifiers marching today especially."

She wasn't entirely surprised to hear that was Professor X's directive - they weren't the X-Men. They didn't have the skills or training to take down sinister plots. At best, they took mutants to safety and delivered information to Xavier that they overheard around the country. At worst, they ended up running from the police themselves, trying just to make it by another day. "Alright. We'll have the information we gathered sent to you soon. And we'll look out for your other son."

Medical (Room 10, Second Floor) - Mutant Underground Hideout...

Havok sighed, his shoulders sinking slightly. He hated not knowing if Lorna was okay or not. He knew that she was more than capable of taking care of herself, but he knew her. Her bipolar disorder could cause havoc on her life, for lack of a better term. Had it been a manic frenzy that caused her to leave the Atlanta Station? Had her father come after her with another telepath in an attempt to brainwash her to join the Brotherhood? Why hadn't she reached out to him? "Do you think you could keep an eye out for her?" Havok asked. "I'm worried this might be a... well, a Magneto related incident."

"Sure thing, I'll let you know if I hear anything," Cyclops said, giving his brother a smile before he heard Waverly's comment and he couldn't help but chuckle slightly at that. "Yeah, last I checked I was Cyclops, it hasn't changed for a while, but usually I'm fine with people nowadays just calling me Scott or something since I kind of went away from the whole superhero thing, but when the Professor mentioned that he was heading down to DC I took the opportunity to come by and see my little brother and what trouble he's causing and getting into. Xavier is talking to Veil about everything that has happened regarding Sinister and Shaw and a few other things."

Sunshine paused in her devouring of the pizza for a moment, staring at Cyclops for a moment. She knew that a cyclops was only supposed to have one eye - but he had two. His ruby shades had two lenses, meaning he had two eyes. "Why's your name Cyclops if you have more than one eye? Shouldn't you be called Normal Number of Eyes Man? It'd make more sense," she argued. She then took another gigantic bite of her pizza, not even beginning to feel full yet. She had the appetite of a teenage boy after gym class.

"Because..." he said to her, before he reached into his pocket and pulled out something that would definitely be more familiar from any pictures that generally were shown of the X-Men, and it was his visor. "When I wear this all you see is one eye. My powers make it a bit difficult to not be wearing something covering my eyes, and the visor was made specifically for me to be able to shoot the beams through it in a concentrated blast. If I wasn't wearing these glasses right now and had my eyes open I'd do a whole lot of damage to this place without really trying."

"If only there was a visor so we wouldn't have to see you at all..." Negasonic muttered under her breath, still playing on her phone.

"She does have a point - is that an option, Scott?" Havok asked with a smirk.

Sunshine finished her pizza, still looking at Cyclops as she tried to decide whether or not that was stupid. "So if you have that visor on, do you just blink or something to stop the beam? Do you see everything red? If you had to find someone with red hair, do you just panic and ask one of the other X-Geeks to do it? Do you know what green is?" Sunshine asked, before trying to swipe the visor to look at it.

Cyclops easily held the visor up above Sunshine's head so she couldn't mess with it. "Haha Alex, at least I don't use my powers by looking like I'm using a hoola hoop!" he retorted with a laugh at his brother, before thinking about Sunshine's questions. "I do actually know what colors look like, I didn't always have to wear the red lenses. As for wearing the visor and using my powers, there is a button on the side that I can use for manual operation to activate it, which honestly is the way I typically use it, but if I'm ever suited up there is a small switch in the gloves that I have that allow me to fire it off. But back to the whole colors thing and about finding someone with red hair, my wife is a red head, so not too sure what you mean by that, since I can still see everything in the world clearly."

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Leighton was Emma Frost’s niece? Well, that was a shock to the system. Luna ran a hand through her cropped hair, she was probably going to have to trim it up again at the rate it was growing. It seemed Xavier just wanted them to keep up with the usual and keep the Sinister stuff on the back-burner. To be honest, that bothered Luna a bit as she had been sent here in the first place for the Shaw and Sinister stuff but if she remained in the Underground, it would be a good cover for her. If Sinister’s intention was still to go after mutants for his little experiments, this would be the best place to remain undercover since they shepherded mutants from place to place and they always had information.
”If there is nothing else you require from me at the moment, I would absolutely love to go and get cleaned up. I can take a few people with me as well if they would like to get cleaned up,” Luna offered, speaking to Veil. Luna’s hotel was of average make and model, a Motel 6 and if she brought a couple mutants up the back way, no one would bat an eye. It was one of the reasons why she chose an average hotel rather than a high end one, where someone may recognize her or a shady one, where anyone would give anyone information for a little money.

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Cayden beamed when Professor Xavier addressed him and his information. It made sense as Shaw and Sinister were working together. Cayden paid extra close attention to the mention of the X man’s words on his son. Hopefully they would be able to come across something to help the man but Cayden wouldn’t mind returning to the normallancy of the Underground’s operations.
Cayden looked over when Luna spoke up about bringing a couple people with her to get cleaned up. ”Oh that would be nice,” Cayden admitted. He didn’t take long showers but to be able to wash his hair would be just lovely. He never really wanted to cut his hair, he liked the long look and it was a bit of a tradition for him and his people so the upkeep required a bit more work.

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Waverley's face paled at the mention of Magneto's name. She'd been so swept up in meeting all these famous heroes that she didn't even think what the implications of the Underground's connections could be. If they were a phone call away from the X-Men, how much of a target did that put on their backs? Were Sinister and Shaw just the beginning of something big, something horrifying? Waverley shook her head, trying to force the intimidating thought out of her mind. She figured she was probably overthinking things.

Waverley did her best to stifle the laugh caused by the blonde girl's attempt at renaming a past leader of the X-Men, but it managed to sputter past her lips. She was about to, in the nerdiest, fangirly way possible, go into an in-depth explanation on the man's famous visor, but before she could, she saw him reaching for his pockets. She stopped and watched with growing anticipation, before he brought out one of the most famous pieces of eyewear of all time. Waverley couldn't help a delighted squeal from tumbling out of her mouth as she saw them. It was a hundred times more glorious than the cheap plastic replica that Waverley had bought years prior. It took all of her self control not to drop the pizza and reach for them, but she managed. Sunshine, however, could not, and Waverley watched as the gutsy girl tried to grab at the visor as she shot a number of very valid, in Waverley's opinion, questions at Cyclops.

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"So, basically just continue with the status quo then correct?" Callie said looking at Professor X and Veil, though she agreed going against Sinister was a good thing, but she also knew that it would paint a rather large target on their backs. She couldn't help but clench her fist slightly at the mentioning of Leighton and Max, she still felt like they betrayed them by joining the Hellfire Club. Since they were also working alongside Mister Sinister as well, and they had attacked them in their old HQ. She really had no idea why they even joined them in the first place, and Leighton being the niece of Emma Frost didn't sit well with her either.

Callie nodded slightly, she wasn't sure who his other kid was but by the sound of what Xavier had said he was mentally unstable she would steer clear unless they were told to go after him. She looked at Luna for a moment, as she took another bite out of her pizza, and started to eat away at the crust as well which was really good as well. She didn't really feel like leaving at the moment, she wanted to get things settled in as well.

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“Seems legit.” James nodded at the response. It didn’t serve to ease any of his concerns but honestly, it was probably unnecessary worrying anyways. The Underground had operated with these people pulling the strings before he was here and will continue to do so after something inevitable takes him out while he’s here. It wasn’t a particularly reassuring thought but it did help compartmentalize it and shove it away for the time being. Which of course, led to his next biggest issue.

James stifled a yawn behind his fist as the exhaustion chipped away at the little buffer the pizza gave him. He didn’t have much to contribute to the conversation; although, he was curious if contacts would contain his power just as efficiently since the lenses weren’t being ripped apart and clearly no additional heat was lapping around the edges of the glasses so it wasn’t like they were holding back the energy beam. All questions for another time because right now, this cot was feeling incredibly comfortable. He blinked a few times and laid down, practically asleep even before he laid down and wiggled into a comfortable position.

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"It's not about helping one over the other. You think you're doing what you have to to survive but all you're doing is having the same mentality as humans do. The X-men might sound lovely but even I know they're too small minded. They focus on showing the world that mutants arent a threat by helping humans all the while they neglect their own kind to suffer like I have at the hands of my parents. You say I know nothing of suffering but you dont know what I've been through, its clear your telepathy is more surface thoughts than anything meaningful. My own blood through me against the wolves of purifiers for who I am. They allowed for me to be persecuted and I had to fend for myself. I stole, hid, and did what I had to to survive but not once did I raise my hand against the others. There are ways out of a mess without the need to fight. You need only look for them." Max's gaze switched from the group and moved from individual to individual as he spoke to them.

"You turned the humans against each other and made them fight themselves, you could have easily done the same to calm them down and end the protest but you didnt. You launched an extremely heavy metal disc at them at the heat of the moment, Wouldnt it have been simpler to use your powers to affect metals on them? Binding them, making them bow, anything that didnt involve harm? As for you two you speak as if death and fighting is the only resolution while all you're doing is stoking the flames to have them go after weaker mutants who are just afraid and trying to survive. The Morlocks were slaughtered by purifiers led by anger and vengeance caused by the hate you sew. Xavier's methods may not be fully right but surely there is a compromise in the middle of your mutant homeland and his want to show the public we are not the monsters they claim us to be."

Jinx began to slowly clap his bound hands as Max finished speaking, cutting him off a bit too early towards the end. "Wooooow. What a rousing speech from the candy man. Everyone give him a bit of applause." His words were thick with sarcasm as pink energy crackled around his hands and quickly fizzled. Annoyance began to overcome his face as he made his way down and began to head towards the sewers. "Listen blondie, this isn't a princess movie where you sweep in, giving a speech and do a little dance number and everyone is suddenly on your side helping. This is the real world, cold, cruel, and full of danger. These insects out there dont care for you or what you do and will go after you regardless because you're different and that just scares them." A brilliant flash of pink erupted around his hands and the bindings blew off. Jinx began to rub his wrists slowly before cracking his neck.

"You're either helping build this homeland or your condemning your own to the slaughter. It's your choice and you need to make it before its too late to cross that mine. If Anastasia here says you're with us then I'll avoid killing you for now. But if I get even a whiff that you might be some Xavier trash spy then you're lifes as good as mine. Capiche? Good. Now lets get a move on before some purifiers head here and I go on a murder spree." Jinx hopped down into the sewers and awaited the others.

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Jack was definitely a little bit surprised that Casper had dropped the issue so easily, considering the fact that Casper typically was the type of person who would push people's buttons as opposed to just dropping something. He was definitely glad that he had though, as it really was not the time to push the issue. Jack just had to go through his thoughts and try to straighten everything out, but knowing his luck something else was going to come up that would cause him to yet again push his own issues to the side. However, that was just the type of person that he was, putting the needs of others above his own.

"That sounds like a good idea Casper," he said, giving his brother a small smile, looking over at him. "Though not sure if rum doughnuts is actually a thing. And you know that I prefer coffee to alcohol anyway, coffee keeps me awake, whereas if you get drunk you tend to want to pass out as opposed to stay awake, that's just my thinking though." Hearing his words about going back to the Underground, he just gave him a shrug. "I'm fine with going back to the Underground if you want to Casper."

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Sapphire just listened to what the others were saying, trying really hard not to laugh still at Waverly fangirling and Sunshine's barrage of questions. Especially considering the fact that Sunshine proposed a new name for the former X-Men superhero. It was hilarious in her mind the idea that Sunshine was wondering all of those things, but some of those questions were definitely relatable. A lot of people probably questioned how the hell Cyclops' visor worked, and how did he see the world through the red tinted questions.

"Wow Havok, you just have to pick on everyone, no wonder everyone tends to pick on you in retaliation," Sapphire responded, snickering slightly at the conversation regarding the comments that Negasonic and he had made. This was hilarious to watch, and she was definitely glad that she had gone upstairs after Cyclops to see the interactions that played out. A part of her was curious as to what was being talked about downstairs with Xavier. Sometimes she wished she had super hearing or something so that she could hear both conversations simultaneously.

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Anastasia fought off a chuckle as Max went on, pointing out everything each of them did that didn't stand up to his view as to how the world should be. It was laughable, really. The boy had ideals that could not be achieved. He stuck by them though, she had to give him credit for that. Jinx basically said what she thought. The boy would get a harsh lesson in reality sooner rather than later. She only hoped she was there to witness it.

Leighton stood her ground, allowing Max to get those words off his chest. Once they were done, all of them began making their way down the tunnels. Leighton felt a tap on her shoulder and looked to see Ana. Ana beckoned her over to walk closer to her. "We need to talk." Leighton narrowed her eyes. She didn't know much about the girl other than she was dangerous, if her powers were anything to go off of. "Look, if you're going to convince me to drop out of this, you don-.." but Leighton was cut off by Ana's quick words.

"No, if you wish to stay, that is your prerogative. You could go far if you would only see reason. Humans will never get it. I mean, look at our history. The persecution of any group of people, humans did it and continue to do it. Sure, we might be somewhat better than we were then, but the fact is we aren't living in a perfect world. There will be hate, anger, and blood. The sooner you realize that the quicker you will adapt and thrive. Also, ditching the boy would help."

Leighton heard her words. The girl before, the girl she was before, would agree with Ana. But now she wasn't that girl. She was herself, a mutant, but still herself. "You're right, but you are also wrong. Yeah, we did horrible things. Still do, but we have also come far. And that is because people don't back down when adversity comes knocking. You get knocked down, you stand right back up. They tell you you can't, you tell them 'watch me'. That is how history is changed. And no, I will not ditch him. He is stronger than you guys give him credit for. He has seen some things if you would only give him a chance." With that, Leighton ran forward to catch up to Max, giving him a warm smile.

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It wasn't long after Magneto had agreed to Reeva and Emma's scheme to murder Sebastian Shaw. Elsewhere in the city, the Mutant Underground was planning to intervene at Skyrise Apartments, after Havok received a tip of Purifier activity in the area. A petite blonde haired girl named Electra was outside of a nail salon, her stomach growling as she searched for food. Leighton Brooks was inside, getting her nails done without a care in the world. No one knew what the Hellfire Club had set into motion - the nefarious scheme that the White and Black Queens had devised.

"Very well," Magneto consented to the pair. "If your actions rid the world of a Nazi brute, so be it." His red helmet glinted in the light as Magneto traversed the room, opening the doors to the balcony. He glanced back at the two for a moment. "For your sake, I hope you survive," he warned ominously, before using his powers over magnetism, he flew off into the afternoon sky.

Emma couldn't help but laugh slightly. "He never changes - always one for dramatics," she mused. "Now I have no intention on turning a blind eye, Reeva. We're a partnership."

"Mum should be involved," the Three in One agreed. "She's the closest to Shaw."

Reeva paused for a moment, the room enveloped in silence. With four telepaths, all of them genetically identical, she knew she couldn't have much privacy. She was forced to proceed with a true and open alliance with Emma. Could she be trusted? Would she turn on her and ensure that she rose to the position of Black King instead? "Of course - I suppose it was foolish of me to imagine you would sit idly by."

"Naturally. Now, spill your plans - I hate this posturing and delay," Emma scoffed, taking a sip of her martini.

"We can't kill him ourselves. It would encourage infighting and division, as well as cause the other circles to question our leadership... But perhaps we should exploit the spy that Charles Xavier planted in our midst - Sage, the mutant computer."

The Three in One rolled their eyes at the mention of Sage. Her thoughts were shielded from psychics, as she thought in binary - just ones and zeros, too difficult for them to decipher. "We still think she should be gotten rid of - teach the X-Men a lesson not to meddle with the Hellfire Club."

"No, darlings, Reeva is right - we should use Sage before she is eliminated. We can leak the information to her on Shaw's deeds, which will no doubt be sent back to Xavier. He may send the X-Men to investigate or another figure... Yet with the Mutant Underground's presence here, I believe they'll likely become involved."

"We can send Mystique with the information to the Underground as well, ensure that they get the scent," Reeva proposed. "I'll dispatch the Hounds to attack their base, radicalize them against Shaw... Those poor creatures will trace back to Shaw and Sinister, not us two."

"The Morlocks should be killed as well - add to that fire of rage. And if it doesn't move the Mutant Underground, it will at least persuade more mutants to our cause and methods," Emma mused. "Task your purifier to it."

Reeva smiled wickedly. "Should this fail, we do have the contingency plan - Anastasia. We can control her by promising her power and if she dies at Shaw's hands... She's expendable."

Emma nodded, chuckling again. "It'd be a shame if she does perish. She has spirit and ambition..."

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Early Halloween morning, only four were awake and gathered. Emma stood with her three daughters, joining hands in a circle, with the unconscious form of David Haller in the middle, better known as Legion. Their forms threw dark shadows on the wall, with only candles serving as lighting. All four pairs of eyes beamed a brilliant, alien blue as they struggled, diving through his mind. "David, you are going to listen to me," Emma instructed softly.

There were two other bodies in the room - both of them cold to the touch, covered in burial shrouds.

"You are going to reach out," she prompted, as David tossed violently, "and awaken Celeste and Mindee."

The Three in One then echoed her words. "Reach out. Awaken Celeste and Mindee," they commanded.

David thrashed again, before his body was propelled upwards, levitating. The two corpses flew up as well.

"Manifest the power of resurrection. Manifest life into my fallen daughters," Emma instructed, her voice cool yet tears were flowing down her cheeks. "Bring back Celeste and Mindee."

"Bring back Celeste and Mindee," the Three in One echoed.

They continued in this pattern for hours, until all involved were exhausted. Legion lay on the bed, broken, blood covering his face and his breaths ragged. If they continued to push, he would surely die. The corpses remained just that - empty husks awaiting the return of the two souls.

"Mum... We need to move onto the contingency plan," the Three in One pushed. "We can't bring life into their bodies... But we could place them in the bodies of others."

Emma didn't say a word, sitting down next to Celeste and Mindee. She smoothed their hair and sighed. They were her clones, but they were her daughters. She was building Genosha for them - for the children.

"Is that what they want?" Emma asked, looking at her living daughters. Celeste and Mindee were preserved in the Three in One's hive mind. They weren't truly dead, just existing without bodies or form.

"Yes."

"...Then you know the two bodies they will have to take," Emma answered, before blowing out the candles, plunging the room into darkness.

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Wundagore Mountain. The birth place of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. The home of the High Evolutionary. The tomb of Chthon. It is known by many for many reasons and purposes, yet the most important one is its service as a magical nexus point. At the mountain, all realities are close together, threatening to blur into one. Magic is heightened, achieving its peak. It is also the only known place on Earth where the Life Force can be harvested and used - the very power source used to create life... to mold destiny... to change the universe.

Wanda Maximoff has been in silent meditation here for three days, three hours, and three minutes. The ritual she is attempting to undergo was written in ancient times, designed to be used by only those of great power and might in order to correct an apocalyptic wrong. She floated off the ground, her scarlet cloak rippling along the slight breeze, a circle of candles and arcane symbols surrounding her.

She's designed the world in her mind already. She's going to give everyone what they always wished for - a world where everyone could be truly happy. No hero would stand against her, as they would be content. No villains would rise, as there would be no need for sorrow or suffering. Mutants would take their place as the dominant species on the planet.

And she would have her best friend back - her brother.

Her eyes flashed open. "No more X-Men," she whispered, as the Life Force burned within her being. The world began to warp rapidly around her, dissolving into red mist, until...

...

...

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As soon as it came up in conversation that Callie knew kickboxing, James couldn’t stop himself from asking her for a few friendly practice rounds. The group training was great and all but they didn’t quite give him an opportunity to push himself as far as he did in his personal workouts. He’d mostly reestablished his routine by now or as much as he could without the machines but he missed having a person to spar with on a regular basis. So when she agreed, he was ecstatic.

Now, looking up at her from where she knocked him flat on his ass, he couldn’t help but laugh. It started out as kickboxing but when she added a few other moves he didn’t know about, he’d asked her for some lessons. His pride was a little hurt at how quickly she managed to get the upper hand but the sting faded as quickly as the one in his back. “Mind if we take a quick break? I think I need a breather after that one.” James asked with a chuckle as he shoved himself back into a sitting position. “Where did you learn how to fight? Oh, actually before that, any bruises or aches you need me to patch up?”

Callie was actually glad to have a new sparring partner, sure the little training sessions with the others was nice and all but it was good that she had someone who knew kickboxing pretty well. Though she did have a lot more experience with fighting, and she didn't really go easy on James either, and she would occasionally add a bit of electricity to her punches as well, just enough to smart and not to injure either. "Sure thing." She said as she grabbed a nearby towel and wiped some sweat off of her face, finding a nearby water bottle and tossed it over to James and grabbed herself one.

"I spent four years at Xavier's school, there was some training there, my uncle is also an MMA trainer and would occasionally show me some moves that he picked up as well." She said as Callie walked over and sat down next to James and took another sip from her water bottle and shook her head slightly. "I know the healing takes a bit out of you, if it isn't something life threatening I usually just learned to walk it off mostly." She said.

“Thanks!” James said as he caught the water bottle and took a swig. He had to say, it was fun sparring with her. She kept him on his toes and he appreciated how she didn’t hold herself back too much. The first time she added a little electricity, he nearly knocked her in the face reflexively but he appreciated the opportunity to get used to fighting someone with some added oomph to their punches. “Yeah, the healing does but we have a rough enough time here as it is. No need to suffer any extra if you don’t need to. Offers always open.” He shrugged at the concern.

“So you trained with the x-men, huh? Why did you join the Underground, if you don’t mind me asking.” James watched her for a reaction carefully.

"No problem." Callie said as she went and sat down next to him, and cracked her neck slightly, and gave him a nod. "Yeah, actually my mom knew Xavier and Magneto a few years before either of the X-Men or Brotherhood were founded, well she hooked me up on going to the school there more than anything." She said as she leaned back a little bit, and thought about it for a moment. "Well you know the people we rescued from Sinister's lab? The X-Men cant be everywhere at once, and other groups probably could care less about politics and mutants, when I got approached and the whole pitch was something I was more than willing to join in, haven't regretted the choice either."

James nodded along as Callie explained. He had come to that conclusion after the Professor’s visit clarified how many people were connected to the group. Originally, he’d been under the impression the Underground was just a bunch of well meaning mutants unaffiliated with the major groups. He’d been half right and it still rubbed him the wrong way. If you made an effort to visit your organization, why wouldn’t you help out with supplies? It made no sense to attempt to remove yourself that far when the Underground perpetuated the criminal stereotype about mutants. But he wasn’t in charge, he just fixed the place and the people. If everyone else was content with this, so be it.

“Makes sense. Easier to help people when you have a certain degree of anonymity I guess.” James agreed. “Are you planning to stay here as long as you can or do you have a goal in mind for the future?”

"Yeah that's why we don't really have to much support from Xavier, and have to mostly rely on the other cells around the country for support. Since we have to keep hidden when we are moving others around safely, cant have to many well known people around either for to long." Callie said as she took another drink from her water bottle, and shrugged slightly. She hadn't really thought of anything else really other then working with the Underground. "Veil confides in me a lot, I am the second if something happens, or if she's not in the HQ. Or if another underground cell needs a new leader i'd move." Callie said shrugging slightly. "Though if I wasn't, probably go back to my old job as a car mechanic."

“Oh shit, really?” James beamed at that little tidbit. “Before this, I was saving up to open my own shop actually. I’d kill to get my hands on an engine again. Don’t get me wrong, patching up generators is fun and all but nothing like getting under the hood of a car. I miss the noise of a busy garage the most though, you know?” James shook his head fondly, taking another swig of water. He had a lot of fond memories in his father's garage “Where you’d learn to work on cars?”

Callie smiled a bit, it was actually really nice to hear someone, she did have her own car she uses to drive around town, though its small and not really good for making runs. "Patching somethings up around here isn't to bad, really. My dad, though he is a cop out in New York he learned it from my grandfather, and kind of passed it down onto me." She answered. "I have my own car outside of HQ, I sometimes will just work on whenever we aren't busy."

“That’s awesome.” James replied with a smile, capping his water. He’d been asking all the people who didn’t just stumble across the Underground why they’d joined rather than doing something else and the answers gave him a lot to think about. But that was for later. For now, he had a sparring session to finish. So he popped up onto his feet and held his hand out for Callie. “Ready to get started again?”

Callie took another drink from her water bottle before closing it, and nodded towards him as she took his hand and stood up again cracking her fingers a little bit and her neck as well. "Yep i'm more than ready to go one more round." She said, as she walked over towards the center of the room again getting herself into her fighting stance.