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Anyone could be happy? Was that true? Max had never fully thought of it before. Between the betrayal of his own blood, having never had someone who cared or loved him, it was almost impossible to think of. It was on par with waking up feeling fully rested, or the ability to fall asleep instantly. Then again, if mutations could exist then he supposed that so could happiness for all. Waverly walked in, her arm looking like it met the wrong end of a bat. What had happened to the college team? It was meant to be simple. His eyes immediately went downcast to avoid her gaze. He knew she didn't want to look at him and he didn't want to look at her either. A constant reminder of the monster he was. He simply sat still and stared into his bucket.

It took Max a second...or several, to realize who James was calling for. But as soon as he did his mushy mind let out aong drawn out whistle. "Ooooooooo you're in trouble. Hehe. Someones getting chewed ooouuuut." He spoke in a sing songy voice towards James. And low and behold Sapphire came up there rampaging as usual. A slighy giggle cut off by an immediate gasp that his only friend may meet his end due to a small mistake. Max nudged the body of Casper next to him as if having a mental conversation. I aM nOt iN ThE MoOD. When is she ever amiright? Breathe wrong and you have major issues. He mentally jabbed with Casper. It was all he could do to hold back the inane laughter that was welling up inaide of him.

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Echo tried his best to find a middle ground for the mood. He didnt want to be too chipper and have them think he didnt care, yet too sour of a mood and he wouldn't be helping much either. He placed one hand on Colossus's huge metal shoulder. Feeling the cold of the metallic plating against his skin as he simply said "I'm very sorry to hear about what happened. If you need anyone to talk to you know where to find me. Whenever you're ready big guy." He had thought about telling him he understood. About how he lost a loved one not too long ago and how it clutches to your chest. But why would his misery bring him any joy? No, he just needed support and thats what he was going to give him.

Before Echo was able to tell Callie that there was no need to fret over spilt blood, (even though he was screaming inside) Jack decided to speak up and say what was on his mind. To an extent he understood what he ahd meant. But at the same time ofcourse the man would never understand. His rent-a-PI suit and way he carried himself told Echo all he needed to know about the man. He was about as sentimental with items as a cracker jack prize. No, Echo simply smiled as he went to place his hand on the wheel and tell everyone to buckle up before a slight headache kicked in. He pressed his fingers against his temples and the pain grew stronger. For a brief moment he almost asked his late love for a pill from their bag but when he turned to face them it was Colossus. Echo blinked once as he tried to decern if this was a mental attack but it was too hard to tell.

He cursed himself for not paying more attention at Xaviers, never believing he would join the elusive X-men team. He looked forward about to drive when his vision wayned and he fully knew he was not fit to drive. "One moment sorry." Echo lifted himself off his seat and began to slide backwards into the middle seat of the car. A duplicate taking his place. "Sorry about that. Got a nasty migraine all of a sudden and its making it hard to see. Berry you're good to drive yeah?" Berry gave him a thumbs up before telling everyone to buckle up and driving off, making it all the way to the Underground without a hitch.

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Waverley flinched, partially because of the suddenness of James' freakout, and partially because the way she shifted uncomfortably when she became the center of attention sent a sharp pain through her arm. She lowered her head as James came towards her, gently guiding her into the room. Once she was inside, she awkwardly stood in front of Max's bed. When he spoke, she shot a look of distaste his way. She'd been hoping that he could've stayed quiet, and that she wouldn't have to hear his voice, but she had no such luck. She didn't bother finding herself a seat, as she didn't really label her case as one urgent enough to take up a medical bed. In all honesty, she was hoping to be in and out as quickly as possible, so she could get back to Sunshine. So when Sapphire busted in, more focused on yelling at James than getting straight to work, Waverley frowned. She didn't have time to stick around for the fight Sapphire was clearly picking. So, perhaps in attempt to gain sympathy from the ice-cold woman, or perhaps simply because she couldn't hold back anymore, the tears she'd been suppressing rose to her eyes, coating them in a glossy sheen.

"Can you guys please not fight right now?" she pleaded, her doe-like eyes wide as she looked between them. Unfortunately, as soon as she let the tears surface, she lost control of her emotion. Like a cracked dam, as soon as a crack formed, her whole semi-stoic exterior fell apart. Her tears began to fall down her face and her breath quickened, coming out in short gasps. With every word, her speaking got faster, simultaneously stuttering over them and allowing them to slur together into one long run on sentence. "O-one of my best friends just died, a-and my other best friend is on the edge o-of something I don't know i-if I can save her from, a-and I need to be there for her, and I should be downstairs w-with her right now, but I'm not, and-and I should be, I-I should be helping her through this, b-but I can't do that when I'm n-not in one piece, so-so-so c-could you guys wait to jump at each other's throats and p-please just fix me, please?" Once her mouth ran dry of words to say, her eyes stayed on Sapphire, hoping that the woman would listen and that she and James would work to fix her before they started fighting.

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“I can’t call you Sapphire anymore?” James just stared at her for a few moments, incredibly confused. Did she change her name while they were out and get upset when he didn’t know? That was a little much even for their resident time bomb but it wasn’t really his place to deal with it. Not like she’d liste even if it was; Viel’s the only one who can keep her on a leash and understandably, it’s just easier to ignore it. James was just about to move past it when he froze.

Oh shit.

“Oh, shit! I really thought I said Sapphire. Must be more tired than I thought if I’m remembering the wrong world. Sorry about that.” He apologized, turning to comfort Waverly as she panicked. Oh shit, he really fucked up didn’t he. James held his hands out placatingly, trying to comfort her without touching her. Waves didn’t need to get jostled with a broken arm. “Hey, hey. We aren’t fighting, don’t worry. I made a mistake while things are tense so I totally deserve it. I’m sorry I upset you too, okay? Sapphire’s going to get your arm straightened out and I’ll patch it up.” James smiled at her reassuringly and then turned back to Sapphire and her guests.

“That’s what I need. Can’t heal her arm while her bones are like that.” James explained to Sapphire. His eyes followed past Sapphire to the doctor and his daughter. He felt a wave of relief that they managed to find someone and if she didn’t look like she was going to turn him into an ice sculpture, he might have even hugged her. He blamed Casper for that impulse. As it was, he kept himself in check and headed over to the injured girl.

“Hey there, my name’s James. Thanks for coming by to help.” He said to the pair, looking over the injured girl. “As long as her wounds are cleared, it shouldn’t take much to get her back on her feet. I am going to have to touch her and try to keep her as still as you can.” James explained as he reached out, finding comfort in the familiar and successful feeling of wounds rapid shutting after that numbing cold that nearly consumed him back in the parking lot. He stepped back after a few moments. “There you go. She’s all set.”

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Mutant Underground - Garage...

Colossus nodded, sniffling as Echo offered him his condolences. His wailing started up again like a banshee, and by the time they got back to the Underground, if Echo hadn't had a migraine before he definitely would now. "Poor Illyana... She must have been so afraid..." he moaned. He had failed as a big brother.

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Veil looked at Kristina with surprise for a moment, before she nodded. After everything that had happened, she had assumed the newcomers would want to get as far away from Washington D.C. as they could. Their current operation wasn't the Mutant Underground it used to be - they never went on the offensive before, like they had with Sinister and Shaw. "Of course, you're welcome to stay here as long as you need. Our main mission is to get mutants to safety, which means we end up risking our lives a lot. I'm not going to ask you to do anything I wouldn't do myself however." There wasn't anything Veil wouldn't do for her people though. She would give her life so they could be free.

She bit her lip slightly, seeing Kristina walk over to Sunshine. Had Sapphire been the one crying with a body in her arms, Veil would have pulled Kristina away out of fear for her life. But in this instance, her heart was aching as she saw Magik all crumpled like a rag doll. Colossus had spent so much time trying to find her, only for her to be taken from him just months later. Everyone seemed to have left Sunshine allow with the body, a choice Veil made a mental note to investigate more later.

Sunshine lifted her head slowly, seeing a stranger offering her food and an energy drink. Her gut reaction was to take the food and kick the stranger in the shins, but she just didn't have the energy for it. All she could think about was Magik as she took the food and drink numbly. "Is it poisoned?" she asked, before cracking open the can and chugging the Energy Drink. Some stray little drops hit Magik's sword arm. "You forgot to add the poison to this one."

Maybe she would have better luck with the food. Her emotions were oscillating so fast it was hard to keep up with. In some moments, she wanted to go out there and bash in the skull of every human on the planet. In others, she wanted to curl up and die, and hope that she and Magik would end up in the same afterlife. Even the afterlives for punishment and torture couldn't be worse than this. The world was hell for mutants. But maybe it would be a good use of her time to make it hell for humans - then it would be equal.

Veil noticed that one of the newcomers had gone off to a corner, sitting by herself. Kristina seemed to be engaging more or less decently with Sunshine, so Veil went on over to check on the other kid. "Hey, kid. Are you okay? I can find you a fresh change of clothes and some blankets - or see about calling someone, if you have any friends or family nearby."

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Negasonic smirked slightly, seeing the room that the new girl had gone into. She hadn't been told yet about what had happened to Moonwalker, just knowing that Magik had perished. "James, Barbie is waiting for you in your bed. She's replacing Casper," Negasonic announced, poking her head into medical from the hallway. Her hands twitched slightly as Glimpse still had her phone. She tapped her foot impatiently, wanting her phone back even though Glimpse was making a call on her behalf.

"Sweetheart? I need you to sit down for me, okay? And have someone bring you some water, I'd come over but--" In the background of the call, Glimpse would be able to hear what sounded suspiciously like the roar of a dragon. "You still here? I'm getting you a cure, princess. It just might take--" Another roar. "Some time."

"Yikes, the ice queen is acting like an ice queen. What a shocking turn of events that no one could have predicted," Ben said with a bit of a wince. However, he was also looking pretty eagerly at Sapphire. Her outbursts were the closest things to a good soap opera that he had, as Casper tended to avoid them unless they were in Spanish - and Ben did not speak Spanish. Neither did Casper, but that also didn't stop Casper from insisting on not having the subtitles on.

"Ben, do something! She's going to hurt James! He has soft, delicate skin!" Casper complained. He stood in front of James, waving his arms helplessly, like he was trying to ward off a bull. Unfortunately, no one could see him. No one else at the Mutant Underground could communicate with spirits and Casper had no idea on how to get back into his body. He had tried poking it, lying down on top of it, he even screamed open sesame and nothing happened.

"I can't do anything, Casper! You're going to have to figure this out for yourself. You did this, so you have to have the power to undo it," Ben pointed out.

"You're the one with the powers and the mojo and the tentacles! And goddamnit, Max just touched me. I'm going to have to use more of my herbal body scrub and I'm running low on it... Do you think it's possible to get M-Pox twice? Does the M stand for Max or is it a just a coincidence? I know it's for mutants supposedly but that doesn't make sense, it's not like the flu is the H-flu," Casper waved his hands in exasperation at Max, his ghostly fingers passing through the model-like mutant a few times.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Casper, can't you stay focused on one thing for even ten seconds!" Ben snapped. He was looking at Feedback with clear concern and worry. Had he been physical, he would have pulled her into a hug right then and there and then used his powers to throw around everyone who had upset her. She was too innocent for this world.

Leda stretched her arms out. "Thanks, Doc," she told James. "Y'know, you kinda look like Kid Flash." Her rather jovial tone didn't quite match the mood in the room, with all of the tension and drama. Perhaps it was a British thing, not following social cues.

"I'm going to need blood samples from all of you," Watts instructed, also ignoring the drama. "I'll bring them with me back to Serval and begin working on a cure. It shouldn't take me more than a few days," he boasted. He had an ego bigger than the Juggernaut.

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The room seemed bare. It was a bedroom, and there were a few personal objects like a box of tools. Andy had no desire to dig through their items, but the room was currently empty. She was blissfully alone again. Andy enjoyed being alone. She sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall watching the door.

She drank the cold monster that Echo had given her and started munching on the food. She remembered the half-eaten muffin in her pocket. Andy had a little picnic from the snacks that Echo had gotten and the last of the muffin.

While she enjoyed the picnic, Andy considered what to do next. Veil had offered her a bed, a place here. Was that a permanent offer? Was this a place she wanted to be? Were these people she wanted to be around? It seemed like in general that they were good people, trying to do the right thing. They had been fighting the purifiers initially, and Andy knew precisely where her feelings on those people were. She hated them. Despised them deeply. Andy sighed; she wasn't sure still if she wanted to be here or not.

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Callie rested her head up against the side of the window, taking short breaths her sides hurt really bad after being bear hugged by Colossus, feeling her broken rib grinding slightly. She tried not to laugh slightly at Jack's little joke and groaned slightly as she felt another wave of dizziness hitting her again. She watched as Echo's clone drove the car this time, it didnt take to long until they were back home safely. Callie turned to look at Colossus as he started to breakdown again, feeling really bad for him knowing that he had just been reunited with his sister. "She fought bravely against the Purifiers Colossus, despite being really sick.." Callie said reaching out to gently rest a hand on his shoulder. "If you need a shoulder anytime, just ask." Callie said as she stumbled out of Echo's car, as she held back some more vomit.

Callie slowly started to make her way back into the entryway of the Underground, she looked around seeing Sunshine with some stranger and her still holding Magik's body. She slowly started to make her way over towards Veil seeing her talking to one of the newer faces as well, and gently rested a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Are you alright?" Callie asked as she looked at Veil, and then over towards Zari and gave her a slight wave. "I'm Callie, but if you want to you can call me Spark Plug to if you'd like." Callie said introducing herself.

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Kristina looked towards Veil and nodded towards her, her sister Maria risked her life daily while working for SHIELD as well and being a mutant herself she wanted to do whatever she could do to help. She turned to look at Sunshine when she asked her if the food and energy drink was poisoned or not and she shook her head slightly. "I'm really sorry for your loss.." Kristina said towards Sunshine, knowing that there wasnt really much that she could do to try and cheer her up at the moment. Kristina watched the green haired girl walking over towards a corner talking to her eyeball robot thing some more and Veil going to talk to her.

Kristina watched as a door opened to what looked like a garage and someone limping her way into the room as well, and checking in with Veil someone she assumed was another member of the Underground and introduced herself to Zarina. "Is there anything I can get you?" Kristina asked looking over towards Sunshine to try and cheer her up, seeing that the girl needed some support at the moment.

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"Well you are most definitely an idiot, the fact that it took you a little bit to figure out what you yourself said, that says a lot not about how tired you are but how much you pay attention to what comes out of your own mouth. Everyone is tired, not just you, so how about you just stop it with the really lame excuses" she snapped at James, before glancing over towards Waverly clearly not too thrilled with her being all sappy about everything. "I also got hit by a car for her, and her broken arm was better then her fucking going splat on the pavement after jumping from a car a hundred feet off the ground. So sorry if I'm not a hundred percent thinking that her arm should get snapped back immediately."

Despite her words, Sapphire went over to Waverly and looked at her arm, and a slightly not so nice thought crossed her mind, but it wasn't like anyone else was going to notice what she was doing (aside from Watts maybe). She purposefully was looking for the most painful way to snap the arm back into place without really caring about repercussions. After all, she was still in a really bad bubble mind set especially since she still had Cayden's blood literally on her hands at the moment. "Warning, this is going to hurt," she said simply, before with a loud crack and a yank she snapped Waverly's arm back into place and set it, though it was going to hurt like hell to Waverly when she did it. Letting go and looking over at Watts, she shrugged slightly, "Fine with me, not sure how everyone else feels about needles."

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"Yeah, she went down fighting trying to keep the Purifiers back," Jack added in agreement quietly to what Callie had said to the metal man about what happened surrounding Magik's death. He knew that Colossus was likely feeling horrible, but there hadn't been anything he could have done about it. Even if he had been there, Colossus couldn't have helped her when it was the sickness that had gotten her. When they pulled up to the Mutant Underground HQ, he headed out of the car, and headed upstairs for the medical area, as his headache was getting to be insanely bad and he still didn't know why. After he headed inside and away, Echo's painful headache would mysteriously go away.

Heading up to the medical area, he looked at what was going on in the room, but said nothing to them as he went and grabbed some pain killers to deal with his headache. Swallowing the pills, he glanced over and saw Casper lying there, his eyes partially open, and he wasn't moving. "...Uh Casper?" Jack said, a bit confused, before he headed over to him and sort of poked him, "...Well that's new, something is wrong with Casper and I don't think it's because of M-Pox," he then said out loud, before he sort of shook Casper, somewhat hoping that he would wake up and snap out of whatever stupor he was in.

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"01001111 01101111 01101000 00100000 01011010 01100001 01110010 01101001 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110111 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 01110010 00100000 01100011 01101000 01100001 01101110 01100011 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01110010 01111001 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01110100 01100001 01101100 01101011 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101000 01100101 01110010 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01110100 01100101 01101100 01101100 00100000 01101000 01100101 01110010 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110100 01110010 01110101 01110100 01101000 00100001" the eyeball beeped at her, before she even noticed that Veil had walked over and started talking to her.

"Fortelle henne sannheten? De trodde ikke på meg da jeg sa at jeg var fra Asgard, hvordan tror du de ville reagert hvis jeg fortalte dem at jeg ikke bare var fra Asgard, men fra fremtiden, en annen virkelighet og at jeg ikke engang er født ennå, og foreldrene mine lever i denne virkeligheten for øyeblikket?" Zari responded, switching languages without even really thinking, not even talking to Veil, or noticing that Callie had walked over.

"01011001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01100011 01100001 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01101010 01110101 01110011 01110100 00100000 01101000 01101001 01100100 01100101 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01101100 01101001 01100101 00101100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01101110 01100101 01100101 01100100 00100000 01101000 01100101 01101100 01110000 00100000 01011010 01100001 01110010 01101001 00101110..."

"De vil ikke tro meg, ingen gjør det noen gang," she said, looking down at her journal that was in her hands. Veil would likely be able to see that there was some writing that clearly wasn't in English, as well as a few mathematical equations and such for who knew what.

"01001010 01110101 01110011 01110100 00100000 01110100 01110010 01111001 00111111"

Zari let out a small sigh, but it was clear that her mind was somewhere else then the conversation that Veil was trying to have with her. Upon hearing Veil offer to try and help her find friends or family, she couldn't help but sniffle slightly, as she was reminded that her family wasn't exactly here. "...My family isn't around, at least not here. Mr. Eyeball says to try just saying the full truth so I'm going to attempt it... My name is Zarina, I'm from a different reality and the future, but my parents both lived here for a good part of their lives so that leads to one of the reasons why I'm here and that's because the Norns said a prophecy that if I didn't try and do something I would likely cease to exist..." she muttered, looking at the two of them for a moment before looking away.

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Luna was already sitting down so at least that she could do for her father. She heard a roar over the request of her dad asking her to drink some water and her eyes widened. ”Daddy, are you fighting a dragon!? That’s so dangerous! Are you winning? Is mama there?” Luna had completely reverted back to childhood it seemed and it would be quite entertaining for Negasonic if it wasn’t already.
Luna looked up at the girl with amazing hair and smiled at her. Blood continued to drip from her ears and then she got an awful tightening in her stomach. ”Daddy… I think I’m going to be sick,” she said and handed the phone to Negasonic before she grabbed the trash can that was still there from earlier and vomited blood into the bucket. Luna was about ready to pass out from the loss of blood and enhanced emotions she was feeling.

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“Thanks, I think? I don’t know what Kid Flash looks like.” James admitted. He ignored most of Sapphire’s remarks, easily tuning out her abrasive commentary that was borderline emotional abuse, but frowned when she mentioned she got hit by a car. If it had been anyone but Sapphire, he would have expected them to lead with that since he could make that pain go away within seconds but the opportunity for theatrics always took priority with her. “I’m glad you’re doing well enough to move around then but if you’re in any pain, just sit down and let me know and I’ll take the edge off at least.” James offered just as she went to set Waverly's arm, rushing over immediately.

“Okay, I’ve got you. Let’s get you fixed up.” James spoke softly, gently putting his hands on her other arm and closing his eyes. As awful as bullet wounds were, they were actually pretty easy to heal. Most of the time they were small and compact. A broke arm on the other hand was a hell of a workout. James felt himself sync up with her, concentrating as he pushed the bone and muscle to mend. It was slow going. Much slower than he’d like but at least the pain would ebb away quick enough. If it was a simpler injury, he would have been satisfied with that but a broken arm took forever to heal in normal people and they never seemed to have the luxury of time here.

So he pushed it every time it seemed like it was slowing down. Bringing someone back from the brink of death, or trying in Magick’s case, made him feel like he’d run a marathon twice over without a break but he refused to let up. He sighed when he finally stepped back and double checked to make sure her arm was actually whole again. “Looks like it’s all set. Let me know if you still hurt at all.” James instructed wearily, giving her a smile and a thumbs up before his attention once again snapping away to Jack.

“You think so? He tried to use his powers right when we got back. He mentioned a headache before that so I thought it was like when I pass out when I overuse my healing.” James said, coming over next to Jack and Casper. James was really hoping that was what it was because if it had to do with spirits, Casper was their only ghost whisperer. But if anyone would know that something was off about Casper, it was Jack so now James was really worried. “Shit, I didn’t think of that. I hope not because the only two people I can think of to help are all wrapped up in their own personal hell. Where the fuck is that Asgardian witch when you need her?” James sighed, rubbing at his temples.

“You said someone was waiting in my room?” James asked Negasonic after a second. James didn’t know who this Barbie was but if they were waiting in his room specifically, they must need some sort of top off. Maybe he’d run into Cayden along the way and he could help make sure Casper was okay. “I’ll go check on them then. Jack, I’ll see if Cayden can help with this at all. I’m not really sure the limit to his abilities but better than nothing.” James said, jogging lightly out of medical. He rubbed Luna’s back sympathetically and continued on. He’d get her into bed soon too but Jack had hi focused on Casper 100% now. James opened the door to his and Cayden’s room, looking around for his roommate but tilting his head curiously when he found someone entirely new.

“Hey there, I’m James. Negasoic mentioned you were waiting in here.” James introduced himself, stepping into the room and letting the door shut behind him. Clearly if she needed something and didn’t want to come to medical, she wanted privacy so he could give her that. “Did you have an injury I needed to fix up or were you waiting for Cayden?”

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Maxs attention was completely overtaken by Waverlys emotional outburst. The scene playing out began to sober him up if not a little bit from his foggy mind. He still wasn't all there, the words and sounds starting to muffle as the hit his bloodied ears. He cocked his head to the right, looking much like a dog who was attempting to understand his owner. It was clear though that emotionally today was rough. His eyes looked passed the group, out the med doors and in the general direction of where Magiks body presumably was. Maxs eyes began to glaze over as he left his headspace, only to return to it when he saw Jack walking in. He quickly sat up straighter, back against the wall and feet tucking under the bed he was sitting on, trying to put as much distance between him and the man who yelled at him so back that he got a splitting headache causing him to teleport elsewhere. Vomit began to creep its way up his throat, Max pushing it down and swallowing it as he didn't want to draw any attention in the room that was quickly filling up with the 'I hate Max club'.

Max wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but Jack approached him, prodding at Casper and prompting Max to scoot away from thr brothers. Something was apparently wrong with Casper, and Maxs head snapped to see James begin to gain panic in his voice as he muttered about an Asgardian Witch before leaving the room. Max tried to contact Runa, spittles of magic sparking off his fingers before absolutely nothing happened. It wasn't the same feeling that he got when his magic was blocked, or the kind of when it failed or the person was deceased. It was something new, as if she wasn't in the same world. As if she didn't exist at all. "Uhhh...James...the witch doesn't exiiiist. Like...at all. Know anyone who does?" He yelled out out the room from his spot in the bed. Hopefully James would hear him, and if not he was sure one of the three others in the room would fight at the chance to offer their infinite wisdom.

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Echo severly needed three things. The first was a hard drink, followed by a long cigarette and finally a quiet place to be alone. After parking the car he waited inside it for a moment until everyone else had stepped out and joined into the Underground. The was a pregnant pause and then a long sigh. His head was pounding, making him want his vices all the more until suddenly it stopped. The sharp pain was gone and his vision slowly came to as he stepped out of his jeep amd locked it up, taking the bag meant for James and patting his pocket to ensure he still had the ginger ale from before. He hiked up his pants, leaving little to the imagination and showing off his cake as he walked into the Mutant Underground, making sure he looked his best.

Echo made his way towards the room he shared with Max. Knocking gently before pressing it open and seeing that he wasnt in there. He took a few steps in and used his mirrors to check out his outfit and hair, fixing more than a few stray hairs and using his fingers to add more lift as the fight had deflated his hair slightly. Once satisfied Echo went up towards the medical area incase Max was there, seeing him sitting down and looking worse for wear. He squeezed through the others quietly, placing the ginger ale next to Max and whispering "Wait a bit for opening it yeah? It'll help your stomach." He then tip toed out of the room, catching James door close and making his way there. "Hey man, thought you might be tired and hungry. Hope you're not vegan anything. Just dropping off a Java Monster and SlimJim." Echo placed the items on the floor next to the door frame and slipped out, waiting outside as he paced and thought about what to do next.

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Ordinarily, Veil would have either relaxed or tensed up when someone unexpectedly put a hand on her shoulder. As her mutation would suggest, she liked to be able to control her physical and emotional contact. She never had had a real relationship, unable to expose herself to emotional intimacy. When Spark Plug put her hand on her though, Veil was too emotionally weary to really react. "No, but the world keeps on turning. I'll be fine," she answered honestly. Spark Plug was an empath. There wasn't much point in lying to her about feelings. Magik and Moonwalker were dead and it was her fault. All she could do was try to keep on moving forward and help the mutants who were still alive.

The new mutant, Zarina, was certainly strange. Veil was rather perceptive and astute as individuals went, quickly realizing that Zarina was speaking Norwegian. Zarina's clothing didn't stick out, really the strangest things she had on her were the robotic eye and jaw. She listened quietly as Zarina explained things a little more fully, claiming to be from a different world and time entirely, sent here on some sort of mission. It wasn't outside of the realm of possibility - Veil had been a student at Xavier's when Jean Grey merged with the cosmic entity called the Phoenix Force, she knew that the universe was vast and weird.

"Who are the Norns? And what's the prophecy?" Veil asked, giving Zarina the benefit of the doubt for the moment.

Sunshine had averted her eyes from Kristina, her sobbing a little more controlled - not because she was calming down, but because her body was unable to keep on producing an extreme amount of tears for extended periods. "How about a purifier's head on a pike? Why don't you go and get me that?" Sunshine snapped at Kristina, lashing out again in her pain. Unlike Max though, her bark didn't have much bite behind it. She had never met Kristina before and she didn't have a long list of reasons to dislike her. "Or why don't you find a way to bring Magik back and kill Max? Magic mutant for a magic mutant. And we'd all be better off without that trashcan fire around..."

Sunshine looked up, expecting to see Kristina directly in front of her, but instead Colossus was there. Her grip on Magik loosened as she couldn't think of what to say to Magik's brother. He deserved to be the one clutching her corpse and crying. They were blood. She and Magik... they were just really good friends. "I.... I.... H-here...." Sunshine mumbled, losing any nerve or bite she had as she awkwardly thrusted Magik's body into Colossus' arms.

Colossus bit his lip, his chin wobbling before the flood gates open and he started to cry all anew. "G-go in peace... Illyana..." he prayed.

---

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With Luna vomiting into the trash can and having passed off the phone to Negasonic, she would only be able to hear half of the phone conversation. And while Glimpse was acting with childlike innocence, wonder, and fear, Negasonic was the exact opposite. "Look, I need a jet in DC tonight. Colossus and I need Excalibur's help. A demon killed my friend," she said bluntly into the phone. There was a brief pause. "Great. We'll be there." She then ended the call and put her phone in her pocket. "Do you need anything, Princess?"

Casper's jaw dropped as Sapphire tore into James. He was slightly scared of her, but he loved James more than he feared her. He moved his ghostly, astral body in front of James as if to shield him and he swung his fist, trying to punch Sapphire. His fist passed through her harmlessly, his protective drive not even enough to make him corporeal. "Goddamnit, this is not fair! How come she gets to talk abuse at James but I can't punch her to defend my boy's honor?" Casper whined, throwing his ghostly hands up in the air. He wasn't sure how long he had been stuck out of his body like this, but it felt like an eternity.

Watts' eyes narrowed slightly, seeing the way that Sapphire chose to set the girl's arm. He was an asshole, but he didn't like seeing people being cruel to children. And unlike Veil, he also wasn't the sort to insist on having a private conversation. "Sapphire, she's a fucking kid. You're an adult here, so act like it, and take your aggression out on someone your own age!" Watts shouted at her.

"Is he Sapphire's dad?" Casper asked Ben, staring at the older looking man with glasses. He carried himself like he thought he was the smartest person in the room, uncomfortably reminding Casper of his own father. He was slightly worried for him though, afraid that Sapphire was about to make him into a popsicle.

"...I don't think so," Ben told Casper, shaking his head. "Remember the other group went off to find a scientist friend of hers? That's him, I believe."

"Wow, the things you learn when you pay attention," Casper commented wistfully. He perked up slightly as his brother came into the room and seemingly was the first person to notice that something was wrong with him. "Jackie, help, I'm trapped!!! I think my soul got out of my body! Do you have a magic net or something to put me back into my body? Or is there a way to press control, alt, and delete and open up task manager? Jackie? Hellooooo?"

"He can't hear you," Ben reminded him with a sigh.

"Oh," Casper moped like a neglected puppy. "Right. This sucks." He stared at James for a moment as his boyfriend left the room, before running after him. No one would be able to tell ghost!Casper had left the room, as his body was still just in a fugue, coma like state - his eyes wide open, his breathing shallow. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead and he was perfectly still otherwise.

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Waverley's tears slowed when James spoke, but they didn't cease completely. It was as if his words had soothed her, but only to the point where she managed to stop her breakdown-level sobbing. The absence of a fight was a rarity when Sapphire was around, but luck seemed to be on their side when Sapphire basically dropped the subject with minimal scolding. Then Sapphire turned on her, and winced, lowering her head to hide behind her hair. The way Sapphire recounted the series of events didn't feel familiar to Waverley; the way she remembered it, she'd used her newly discovered power to protect Sapphire from being struck with half a car. But the older woman's description of what had happened caused Waverley to doubt her own memory, assuming the more experienced MU member had a better recollection of the experience.

She lifted her head back up when Sapphire took her arm, gulping in fear as she got ready to set it. The suddenness of it shouldn't have caught her off-guard, but it did. She let out a loud screech of pain as the bone was snapped back into place. It caused her mind to blank for a few moments from shock. When she eventually came to, James was holding her newly set arm, using his abilities to heal the bone. It took her a moment to register the doctor's yelling, but when she did, she looked over at him confused.

"I-It's okay...she was just setting my arm," she mumbled, quick to defend her teammate, completely unaware of her sadistic act. She sniffled, but her tears had stopped, as if the way she'd clenched her eyes shut during the medical procedure wrung her eyes dry of tears. Her eyes then shifted back to James' hands on her arm, relieving her of the pain. It took a long while for the process to be complete. Once it was, she lifted her arm up, opening and closing her fist, as if to test if it still worked. When no pain came, she gave a nod, looking back to James. "That's better. Much better. Thank you," she said, the tremor in her voice for the most part fading. Her eyes then flicked over to Sapphire. "Both of you." With that, Waverley stood up, wiping away the dampness on her cheeks until the only sign of her crying was the red in her eyes, and quickly walked passed Jack as she left the room, making her way towards the entranceway.

Her heart fell out her face when she saw Sunshine offer up Magik's body to Colossus. She looked so bare when left without it, so vulnerable. Colossus looked to be in a similar state even with his sister's body in his arms. Had Waverley been closer to him, it would've been a harder decision whether to soothe the man who'd just lost his sister or the teenage girl one tragedy away from calamity. But she wasn't. As soon as she'd descended down the stairs, she slowed her pace, walking with care towards Sunshine. She softly took a seat next to the girl. At first she didn't speak, instead placing a gentle hand on the back of her shoulder. She gave a soft squeeze, as if to warn the girl that speech was incoming. "I'm sorry I ran off like that. I needed to get patched up...how are you feeling?" she asked, her voice soft and soothing as tissue paper that wipes away tears, so very different from the desperate sobbing she'd been doing only moments prior.

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Andy had been lost in her thoughts when the door opened and a guy came in. "Sorry I didn't know this was your room. I just picked it at random." Then words stopped. He said that this was Cayden's room too. She knew that name. It was the name of the guy who had been shot and died. They hadn't been able to help him. "Oh, this was his room." She frowned. "You haven't been told yet have you?" She really didn't want to be the one to tell him that his roommate had died. Andy didn't catch that she used the past tense.

"I don't know how to tell you, so it might be better to ask Veil. I'm sorry for bothering your room. I can leave." She stood up and straightened her clothing. "You should take care of the sick and injured. That one girl with the rainbows was shot and stuff." Andy tried to say helpfully. The guy seemed like he was the doctor or something. Andy shifted from one foot to the other. She couldn't get out of the room with the guy, James, there

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Callie started to feel something sliding down the side of her ear and reached over towards it and looked at it seeing that it was blood again. And then a wave of dizziness overcame her again as Callie suddenly leaned up against Veil, and leaned forward vomiting blood all over the floor. "Hey look it's ketchup again.." Callie said giggling slightly as she rested her head slightly on Veil's shoulder and looked over towards Zarina as she started to speak, and giggled some more for some really weird reason. "The Nornies sound like realllly weird, do they make hotdogs and burgers and stuff like that?" Callie asked and then eyed the eyeball that was in Zarina's arms and pointed over towards it.

"Does the eyeball or jaw thingy know how to make burgers and hotdogs? I could really use some now." Callie asked as she giggled again some more. "You know, you look realllly cute and sexy when your hair is all curly and stuff right?" Callie said to Veil, completely ignoring what was actually going on around her, the loonyness coming back.

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Kristina looked down for a moment and shook her head slightly, she had never killed anyone before really and she didnt want to go out of her way and try and kill some Purifiers either. She thought of a way to say something, but she had just met the girl and didnt know her well at all either. She was about to say something when the big metal man Colossus came over and Sunshine handing Magik's body over towards him. Then the other girl from earlier came over and started to talk to Sunshine, she stood up feeling a little bit claustrophobic. "I'll uhm, give you guys some space, again i'm really sorry for your loss." Kristina said as she looked over towards the others in the room seeing the blond girl starting to act really weird and vomited some blood onto the ground Kristina quickly then made her way over towards them.

"I can take her to your medical area." Kristina said as she offered to take Callie, the woman was giggling some more which she assumed was M-Pox related as well, once she pealed her off of Veil Kristina started to make her way over towards the stairs. "Where should I lay her down?" Kristina asked as she had Callie leaning over her shoulder.

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Luna looked over when she felt pressure on her back and recognized James. She smiled tiredly at him and tried to grab onto his pant leg but he was already gone. How rude. Luna pouted as she watched James walk away. James was her friend and he was normally very concerned with her but as Luna looked around and tried to listen, there was a lot to be concerned about. Still, that didn't stop her from puking up more blood. Tears started to fall from the horrid feeling and pain of it all.
Negasonic pulled her from her pity and she lit up at being asked if she needed anything. "Take me with you! I've worked with Excalibur before and my dad. My dad says he's working on a cure too. Maybe I can help. Oh please oh please take me with you," Luna pleaded. She missed her parents, more so than ever and James' touch had been comforting but it reminded her of her mom now. Besides, if Luna got away from this place, perhaps she could be useful rather than a burden.

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It was as if Watts' words broke through and got to her did she finally calm her anger and annoyance. She knew that he was right, like he always tended to be, and the little bubble of cold air that she had created had dissipated, going away entirely. Glancing away, she more or less looked at the ground, shoving her hands into her pockets as Waverly left the room, and to be honest, Sapphire was really glad that she (and James) both had taken off elsewhere. Her brain was just racing and thinking about everything that had happened in the past hour or so (how long had it been? She didn't even really know), and it was hard to focus on anything.

"...You're right," she said somewhat softly to Watts, before looking right at him. "You're right, I shouldn't have done that, I mean, I'm not angry at her, and shouldn't have taken my anger out on her. The person I'm angry at, that person is myself. I'm a fuck up who can't do anything right and whenever I try to help people things tend to go wrong and sometimes I just end up causing them to die faster. Nope, that's just me, the screw up who can't do anything right at all, and hasn't ever since I even got my powers," she said to him, before she headed out of the room, heading for the room that she shared with Veil, more or less just wanting to be alone now after that.

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Of course Jack couldn't hear Casper's ghostly words, since there currently was only one person in the Mutant Underground who could talk to ghosts, and that was Casper himself. He was really worried about Casper though, and given how things seemed to be going, the way he was wouldn't likely be anything he could fix. There was nothing that Jack could do, since he wasn't a doctor person or someone who could really identify what was even going on with him. "Damn it Casper what the hell happened?" he muttered, shaking his head as he looked at his brother still lying there.

Letting out a small sigh, he left the area and headed back down to the entrance to check on Sunshine, since she seemed to be in a pretty bad mental state, especially given how close she had been with Magik, he wondered what was going through her head. Of course later he would need to talk to her about her manipulating Colossus into going after Max. That however was going to be a conversation for another day, since right now definitely was not the time. Everyone was acting like they had been through hell, so he'd wait to talk to her about that until later.

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"Jeg visste at de ikke ville tro meg... Jeg mener det høres utrolig ut for enhver normal person..." Zari muttered, crossing her arms slightly as she thought about how best to respond to Veil, her eyes glanced down to look at the notebook in her lap that had the prophecy written on it in Norwegian.

"01011001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01110010 01100101 01100001 01101100 01101100 01111001 00100000 01100111 01101001 01110110 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01101101 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100011 01101000 01100001 01101110 01100011 01100101..."

"...Fine..." she muttered out loud towards the robotic eyeball in English, before turning to look at Veil again. "The Norns are similar in a way to the Fates and the Oracles in Greek Mythology, they are the ones who predicted Ragnarok, anything and everything they say tends to happen. Trying to fight against what they say typically makes things worse, in my case that would result in me ceasing to exist. Since I'm explaining things, going to explain what I meant earlier by Valkyriein-Training. The Valkyries are a group of warriors who serve Odin, well where I come from not exactly Odin anymore but anyway... Their main goals were to choose those to join the armies in Valhalla, but also to fight alongside those warriors. Typically we tend to defend the weaker nowadays where I come from..." she said with a slight shrug.

"As for the prophecy that I'm trying to figure out well..." she started to say, before looking at the words once more that had been burned in her mind, but she read the words out loud anyway, but accidentally didn't say them in English, "Barnebarnet til de falmede lette og døde vårblomstene. For å redde deg selv, skal du løpe gjennom sand dit tiden begynner igjen. Du må vokte deg Romas prestinne, mørk og sliten.Alene å gå fortapt i Genoshas glen, Til bølger eller ansatte må verden falle, Legacy of the Wanderer, du må redde oss alle."

"01011010 01100001 01110010 01101001 00101100 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01000101 01101110 01100111 01101100 01101001 01110011 01101000 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01101101..." Mr. Eyeball beeped to her.

"Oops... Sorry... My brain tends to speak in Norwegian a lot as opposed to English... Granddaughter of the faded light and dead spring flowers, To save thyself thou shall run through sand to where time begins again, Thou must beware Rome's priestess, dark and dour. Alone to perish in Genosha's glen,To Waves or Staff the world must fall, Legacy of the Wanderer, you must save us all." she recited, before looking up at Veil. "I've been trying to figure it out, but have been having way too many problems regarding it... Been trying though..."

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“Oh, I’m sorry! I must have misunderstood. Use this room as long as you want; no one will bother you if you just need to be alone.” James reassured her, leaving to give her whatever privacy she was looking for. He wasn’t really worried about her taking anything from there. It wasn’t like it would be difficult to track her down if she did. James wondered if she was a new addition to the group or just someone they were moving through. He was sure Veil would introduce everyone once everything settled down so he’d just have to wait. They had to help this doctor find a cure, people still needed patching up, and Casper was eerily unresponsive.

“Thanks for this. I have a feeling everyone’s going to need a touch up today.” James thanked Echo as he picked up the stuff once the door shut behind him. He cracked open the caffeine and took a long swig. “Everyone pulled the short stick, huh? What happened on your end?” James asked. He still wasn’t sure how to feel about Echo. He was definitely flashier than most of them and it wasn’t a type of person he had a lot of interaction with but Echo was nice in his own way, even if half the things he said made James feel like he was failing to live up to some weird standard Echo had in his head. James would admit. The mutant underground’s coffee quality had definitely improved with him and honestly, that was enough to put him on the good list in James book.

But James sighed as he considered where he’d find his friend. It seemed both groups had been through hell and back―a steadily growing occurrence, James noted―and Cayden was normally the first to volunteer his services in these times. He wasn’t in medical and he didn’t hear him downstairs so maybe, for once, someone was putting their mental health first and foremost. Cayden often joined him up top when he was stargazing to settle his head or just forget the world was a fucking mess, Cayden’s explanations more often than not trailing into a grand retelling of stories he’d grown up with, so maybe he was seeking solace somewhere there. James knew Sunshine’s habit of seeking solace outside had rubbed off on him; maybe Cayden needed a second to catch his breath.

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Max sat quietly as he twiddled his thumbs awaiting someone to answer him. No seemed to know or care about the Asgardian Witch and just ignored his call for information. Max shrugged an oh well with a dopey smile on his face. Everyone seemed to be upset about what was happening to him but no one appeared to be listening. That's when it it hit him, listening. Why hadn't Max just tried to talk to Casper? It seemed rather obvious. So he did something he had done so many times before in his other life and simply sent Casper a message. "Heyooooo. Casper you there at all? Its meeee" If he was still alive then it stood to reason he could talk.

"Max? Is that you? Wow, never thought I'd be so happy to hear your voice! I'm trapped in I think the spirit plane or something? I don't know, Ben won't help me, I'm stuck and there's no food here!"

Max giggled to himself as he thought about Casper and his power. If anything from what James had said earlier it just seemed like Casper ran out of energy and couldn't get himself jump started again to fix it his own. "Well Caspies a friendly ghost now but its ok I got this!" His speech was slurred as he quickly stood up and placed one hand over his mouth as his náusea hit him. "Oop too fast." Max looked about the room and saw the defibrillator that they had. How hard could it be? Just do the thing then say clear right? "Its ok Caspie I got you. CLEAR!" Max pressed the paddles against Caspers chest and he watched as the body jolted. He waited a moment and then quickly noticed Caspers heart had stopped. "Jaaaaaames!"

They didn't have a lot of time and Max knew what he had to do. If he could heal Sunshine then maybe he could help Casper? Max dropped the paddles on the ground and chuckled nervously as he placed his own hands on Caspers chest. "Clear!" He closed his eyes and sent forth a blast of healing energy towards Casper and his heart. Feeling the slow rhythmic thump of his heart beating once more. Caspers eyes opened wide and he took in a large gasp as he yelled "JESUS CHRIST THAT WAS A RUSH"

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He continued to pace for a moment, a careful finger placed between his lips as his brows furrowed in contemplation. He needed tk go out shopping, wanted to gather some supplies for everyone there and most importantly for Sapphire. This most recent development might make her hesitant to use her powers for healing again, it may put in a blockade that will cause her to hesitate when they needed her most. So, given her knowledge on medicine, it was best to go out and buy her a case. Something that held anything and everything she would need for helping battlefield wounds. They wouldn't be this unprepared again. But how to present it to her without also insulting her? Clearly it would seem as if he was rubbing it in but all he wanted to do was help. Echo slammed his hand against the railing before James walked out and spoke to him.

"Huh? I'm- I'm sorry I was distracted. And really it was no problem at all. To quote a wonderful woman, 'Whats the point of wealth if you have no one to share it with?'" Echo placed a stray hair behind his ear before cocking his hip and crossing his arms. "It appears so...the short end of the stick that is. The debate was idiotic to say the least, but it was broken up by the sound of alarms. There was a strange girl being attacked by some purifiers. They were no match but...the Hellfire club came in, ambulances wouldn't dare get near us, Sentinels attacked...it was a huge mess. And through it all one of those damned purifiers got a lucky shot and killed Cayden. We were unprepared for healing a wound like that with no powers or kit to help us. We won't be so unprepared again I'll make sure of it. Sadly future preparations don't bring back the ones we've lost."

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Last night, Negasonic and Colossus left for England, bringing Magik's body along with them. Captain Britain and Excalibur had been kind enough to agree to help, arranging the transportation that they needed. Captain Britain had also sent fresh food, water, and medical supplies to the Mutant Underground, worrying after the health of his daughter Glimpse. They hadn't been the only ones to leave however. Dr. Watts and his daughter Leda had departed once Watts gathered blood samples from everyone present, including those who were not currently afflicted with M-Pox, promising to call Sapphire with news as soon as possible.

Cayden's body had been placed on his bed in his and James' room, with Veil kindly requesting that James double up in a bed with Casper. The rest of the newcomers were placed in what had been Magik and Negasonic's room - room 7. James' old bed had been moved into the now cramped space, so at least no one had to share who did not want to. Polaris and Havok had yet to emerge from Havok's room and when Colossus had gone inside to fetch his things, Polaris had still been unconscious - a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode.

But with the tragic loss of Magik and Moonwalker, things couldn't possibly be worse today than yesterday...

... Right?

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Veil had had a hard time sleeping. They had lost two people yesterday - essentially two members of her family had perished. The prophecy that Valkyrie shared with her was haunting her as well. She couldn't make heads nor tails of it, but its words were enough to make her uneasy. There was something blowing in the wind, something dangerous, and without knowing what was coming, how could they begin to prepare? How could they defend themselves in the dark?

And once she finally had been able to fall asleep and quiet her mind, her subconscious dredged up the most horrifying of nightmares. She was on an island, watching, waiting for something. She shifted her weight and a twig snapped. Her memory of the nightmare was fuzzy, but she distinctly recalled running, running, running - her heart thumping with the knowledge that if she were caught, it was all over. She had turned her head in time to see the cliff, but not soon enough to stop herself as she plummeted, hitting the surface of the ocean like a rock.

She had woken up not long after that, gasping for air - as if she really had been drowning. The rest of her time she spent pacing back and forth, running over the lines time and time again. She had jumped when her phone buzzed with a message from Yukio, Negasonic's girlfriend -

X-Cutioner struck again. 3 dead outside the Cherry Bomb.

The blood drained from Veil's face. Yukio had dubbed the stranger with the knife from yesterday's fiasco as the X-Cutioner, after Veil called her and asked for her to be on the lookout for any future attacks. The name was horrifying and Veil couldn't help but wonder if something else might have been better - like George.

Any witnesses?

One. Tall, ginger, 50's, female. Had a lengthy scar over her right eye. I'll let you know if I find her.

Thanks. Be safe. You know you're always welcome here.

I know.

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Casper had slept like a baby, curled up into his adoring boyfriend. Throughout the night, he had switched back and forth between being the big spoon and the little spoon. His fever was gone with a headache lingering in its place. He didn't have any dreams - well, he had one where Ben had turned into a giant waffle with whipped cream, but he figured that was probably just prompted by hunger. Casper opened his eyes slowly, nuzzling James in the big spoon position. "Babes? Can we have waffles for breakfast? I think all the M-Pox and nearly dying as emptied my stomach more than when the doctors had to pump it," he whispered.

"Finally, you're awake!" Ben exclaimed, standing on the other side of James. "Jack's lost it."

"I'm sure he'll find it, tell him to look under his bed, he's always losing his hair care products there..." Casper replied sleepily. He let out a yawn, snuggling a little more into James. His boyfriend was so warm and he smelled so nice. He could have happily stayed in bed with him all day, especially if waffles were involved. Maybe after eating waffles, he could use the whipped cream for some recreational activities, as long as he could convince Jack to leave the room for an hour or so...

"No, Casper, listen to me. Jack's lost his mind. He got up in the middle of the night," Ben explained, snapping his fingers in order to keep Casper's attention. "And he's gone, he grabbed Sunshine and left!"

"So? What's your point?" Casper said with a yawn. "He's probably just taking her on a walk or something to talk about the meaning of true love. All his stuff is here, so how about you go stare at the wall in the hallway and count how many spider webs you can find?" he suggested, before chucking his pillow at Ben. The pillow went through Ben and hit the wall lamely.

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Sunshine wanted to sleep some more. She wanted to continue to drift off to the land of the unconscious mind, where she didn't need to think or feel. She didn't want to exist in any sort of meaningful way. But the more she thought about wanting to go back to sleep, the harder it was to deny that she was awake. She opened her eyes and blinked slightly, confused. She wasn't at the Mutant Underground anymore. There was a suspicious stain on the ceiling she had never seen before.

And the blanket, it wasn't the one she had in her room. It was a red plaid blanket, a bit coarse and itchy, the sort of thing that showed up on the covers of magazines. As her brain woke up, things flooded back to her - things she had assumed had just been a nightmare. The door in her and Waverley's room creaking open, someone pressing a damp cloth against her face, and then... Then she was here. She was in some sort of office. No one else was there. She threw the blanket off of her and sprung up to her feet, balling her fists in anticipation of a fight.

"Only a coward hides!" Sunshine taunted, hoping to draw her kidnapper out. Little bits of green mist surrounded her hands.

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Waverley woke with a start, gasping for breath as if she were a drowning woman coming up for air. It wasn't unusual for the anxious girl to have nightmares. Hell, she'd always been more prone to nightmares than dreams. And she probably would've assumed what had happened the previous night was one such nightmare, were it not for the lingering thrum of a recently dissipated headache ringing in her head, no doubt a result of the chemicals she'd breathed in. Before she even gave herself an opportunity to fully wake up, she swung out of bed, the blankets clinging to her legs, causing her to stumble as she stood from her slumber. Her eyes immediately flicked to Sunshine's bed, hoping she'd find the blonde girl laying there, snug as a bug in a rug. But there was no Sunshine, no bug, no rug, only a mattress devoid of an owner. Waverley could feel her heart begin to quicken, and as she reached the door, kicking away the bedding around her feet, she saw her hand shaking as opened it. She knew the symptoms of a panic attack. Soon the shortness of breath would come, and she'd be a useless lump curled up crying in a corner. But she wasn't yet.

"SUNSHINE?!" she screamed out into the Underground, her voice dry and raspy, as if her throat hadn't been told it was time to wake up yet. As she stood there in the doorway of their room, waiting for a response she didn't expect to come, a face flashed in her head, standing over her in their dark room, holding a strong-smelling rag to mouth. It was an achingly familiar face. One that she'd seen all too often, going into the room right next to theirs. It only took a few paces to get there, with her hand dragging along the wall as she did. Once she got to it, she wasted no time, banging on the door with her open palm. She didn't care if she who she woke up. She had to figure out where her roommate was. "JACK?! JACK, WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO HER?!"