X-Men: The Raid (Part 4)

To Callisto’s frustration, Marvel Girl’s team was managing to hold its own, despite their leader still lying unconscious in the grass. Even while being swarmed, the X-Men’s far superior training shown through.

Dazzler turned the battle into a dance performance, her body gyrating and flowing into provocative positions in the shining blue spandex, her weariness adding a savageness to it all. All sound around her died out almost as quickly as it began, channeled into light blasts which made a keening, semi-musical sound of their own. She was using her powers to create her own surreal music video, blasting Morlocks away from her, turning aside their attacks with colorful displays of firepower, and even managing to look good while she did it.

Domino wasn’t as acrobatic as Psylocke, but she was more than nimble enough to fight close quarters with her Morlocks. She dodged, flipped, threw punches and kicks or fired her pistols point blank into her foes. The Morlocks should by all rights have simply overwhelmed her, but her luck powers kept causing infuriating mishaps among her attackers. Their attacks would miss by centimeters, often striking an ally or themselves, sometimes giving the nimble mercenary exactly what she needed to avoid someone else’s strike. The Morlocks were even hesitating in attacking her now, having grown accustomed to the effort only humiliating and hurting themselves.

The young Jubilee had greater power than Callisto had anticipated. Like Dazzler, she kept her attackers away with sheer firepower, blasting groups of Morlocks away with controlled bursts of her colorful plasma blasts. The teenager maintained her nerve despite how close they managed to get to her, firing into them from only inches away if necessary, never flinching. She even called out taunts, seeming angrier than scared.

Callisto kept her distance, then hurled a spear at the ground between Domino’s legs. Perhaps if the attack wasn’t aimed directly at the catsuited X-Man, it would circumvent her luck powers. Hopefully the spear shaft would trip her so someone else could land a telling blow.

It had the opposite outcome. The spear stuck firmly into the ground at an angle and rather than tripping, Domino jumped onto it and used it as a springboard. The spring gave her just enough of a vertical leap to flip over a charging Morlock’s head. She landed neatly behind him, firing her pistols point blank into the chest of another startled enemy, while the charging Morlock took an energy blast that had been meant for her.

“Damnit!” Callisto snarled, punching herself in the thigh.

Several Morlocks charged Dazzler, roaring their battle cries. The starlet whirled on them, pointing theatrically, and the sound of their yells vanished instantly. Before they could reach her, an explosive of rainbow light swatted them away with a reverberating chime, like a massive bell. Panting, she glared haughtily at them for a moment, before turning back to other enemies.

Jubilee backed away carefully as she continued to fire her plasma blasts, likewise sweating and showing strain, but refusing to falter. In fact, what appeared to be a retreat abruptly came to a stop when she stood over the slumped figure of Marvel Girl. Once there, she spread her legs wide to brace herself and stood her ground, letting out shrieking, colorful torrents of power with greater intensity. The teenager hadn’t been falling back out of fear, she was only moving to where she could protect her fallen teammate.

Callisto almost screamed at her men, calling them idiots, but instead forced herself to remain calm. She had to assess the situation without prejudice and make the wisest decision. With an opponent like Storm and her X-Men, she couldn’t afford to be arrogant or lose her temper.

After only an instant of reflection, it was abundantly clear this wasn’t working. The X-Men were tiring and eventually they would be overwhelmed, but it was taking too long and it was becoming too costly. At any moment Storm and the others could come to their rescue and even if they were too late, Callisto would still have to defeat them to make it out of here. She couldn’t very well do that with a force that had been whittled down to a dozen exhausted Morlocks.

She cast her eyes over the remainder of her force. Many were staying well back, intimidated, hesitating in attacking the X-Men. With her mutant tactical genius, she saw several that had the necessary tools to bring down an X-Man, but they were too afraid. They needed confidence and the courage to be creative. In short, they needed leadership.

None of this was her soldiers’ faults, it was Callisto’s. But she was going to set it right.

“Pneumonia!” she called.

A girl with pale green skin and white hair started upon hearing her name.

“Come here!”

Pneumonia swallowed, then hurried to her leader, wringing her hands nervously. She was lean, fragile, and with her cartoonishly large eyes she looked like a character from a Dr Seuss book. She was definitely not a warrior, her powers subtle, and that’s exactly what Callisto wanted.

The Morlock queen leaned close, putting her arm around the girl’s shoulder. As the battle continued, she whispered, explaining her plan. It was simple, elegant, and it made Pneumonia grin, giddy to have such an important role.

They shared quick words, Pneumonia eagerly assuring Callisto she could do her part before jogging off to prepare.

Next, Callisto called over Angler and Singularity.

It was time to turn this around.

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Dazzler was tired, hurt, and every ounce of power she used felt like it was the last, but she didn’t stop. She was in her flow state, moving from one striking pose to the next, whirling, even closing her eyes and letting the sounds move her. This was her show and she commanded it like any great performer, everything around her existing only for the show. Her weariness was only a detail somewhere in the background; she WAS the show.

On paper her powers weren’t that impressive, but with Allison’s creativity she made them almost goddess-like. She could absorb nearby sound and fire it from her hands as light blasts, but she could also alter the very soundwaves in the air, changing their pitch and direction, then disperse them in the form of that same energy. With enough noise, she could literally fill the air around her with destructive power and there was no shortage of noise on this battlefield.

Spinning, stabbing out her hip, she pointed and converted the whining sound of a Morlock’s energy attack into her own power. Her attacker’s blast backfired and he stumbled back, groaning in agony at his charred hands.

Without missing a beat, she pointed in another direction and light energy went off like a grenade beneath a different Morlock’s feet, flinging her away. Then she threw aside another trio of attackers with a sweep of vibrant energy, not even bothering to look. Her sound powers worked like echolocation; she didn’t need to see them to know where they were or when they were about to attack. This was her stage and she knew everything that went on around her.

Which is why she was so startled when she turned again and found a slender, green-skinned girl standing almost nose to nose with her.

“Hi.” The girl offered a shy smile.

Dazzler lost her rhythm. Not seeing the portal beneath Pneumonia’s feet, courtesy of Singularity, she stumbled back, eyes wide.

Pneumonia’s appearance stunned her. If a monster had materialized in the same manner, she would have instantly lambasted it with her powers, but this intruder looked like a stiff breeze would blow her over. She was somewhat pretty and looked like she could be more so if she wasn’t so sickly thin, her cheeks hollowed, white hair looking unfortunately like a mop. The sheer pitifulness of the girl made Dazzler hesitate, her vulnerability making the X-Man reluctant to attack.

It was a costly mistake.

Pneumonia suddenly coughed. The sound was almost shrill, like the yipping of a puppy, and she flushed, covering her mouth.

“S-sorry,” she smiled apologetically, “I’m a fan!”

Dazzler stared at her, panting, taken aback. The other Morlocks weren’t attacking. In fact, they were retreating, quickly scattering away from the pair of them, covering their mouths. It was like Pneumonia was a bomb that was about to go off.

But the girl didn’t explode. She simply stood there, chin tucked and squirming with nerves.

Dazzler looked around, saw the Morlocks running away from her with her own eyes, then turned back to glare at the strange girl.

“Listen, kid,” she snapped, “Whatever you’re about to—”

She suddenly coughed. It had come out of nowhere and she blinked in surprise.

The X-Man shook it off, about to say more, but more coughs came, louder, hurting her throat.

“Uh oh,” Pneumonia smiled innocently, “That doesn’t sound good.”

Dazzler coughed until it felt like her eyes were going to pop out of her head. Suddenly she had a pounding headache, chills rushed down her spine and she felt hopelessly dizzy. She stumbled to one side as the world lurched, her mouth dry, limbs trembling and weak.

Pneumonia strode after her, still worriedly wringing her hands.

“Hope you’re not coming down with something…”

Once the coughing finally stopped, it felt like a lead weight had settled on Dazzler’s chest. She wheezed, weaving around in place, even as she shivered with sudden cold. Already tired, the abrupt illness sapped the remainder of her strength, her shoulders drooping, eyelids growing heavy.

The girl continued to grin at her, though Dazzler’s vision was blurring, making it difficult to see.

“Wh-wha…?” she wheezed, coughing softly.

Frowning with concern, Pneumonia placed the back of her palm on the X-Man’s forehead. Dazzler tried to retreat instinctively, but she caught the heroine around the waist with a patient cluck of her tongue and continued to feel her forehead.

“Ooh…” the girl cooed, “I think you might have a fever, sweetie.”

Already sweating, Dazzler drooped in misery, shaking with both chills and weakness. It was becoming impossible to think, the fever making her delirious, and she found herself leaning into the girl’s body, grateful for the support.

Pneumonia leaned in and pressed cheek to cheek, feeling the flush of the X-Man’s feverish skin. Compared to Dazzler’s, her skin was almost cold, a welcoming chill.

“Mmm…” the Morlock nuzzled, rubbing her cheek up and down against her reluctant patient’s, “Definitely a fever.”

She drew back to grin, her eyes narrowed in triumph.

“I don’t think you’re going to be doing any more fighting today, hon.”

Pale, clammy, and feeling utterly terrible, Dazzler managed to meet the girl’s gaze, listless and drowsy. Less than a minute ago, she’d been in command, a force of nature, dominating the battlefield with visceral sexuality. Now she was shivering like a shorn lamb, supported by girl that looked so slender next to her dynamic, athletic curves. She knew this girl was the cause of this somehow, but was too weak, her mind too clouded to put a finger on how.

“Wh-what…” she groaned, “Did… y-you do… to me…?”

At that, Pneumonia giggled, shivering with delight.

“Oh, I just gave you my little bug,” she nuzzled Dazzler’s nose, giggling again, “Don’t worry, it’s not fatal. Lots of rest and you’ll be right as rain… when I want you to be.”

Dazzler fought to keep her eyes open, her expression hanging with exhaustion. Rest sounded wonderful right then. She was so sick and drowsy, she barely noticed the hand feeling around on her butt, exploring affectionately.

Pneumonia’s grin broadened as she groped around the spandex, so snug it seemed vacuum sealed to the skin, delving into the nooks and crannies. She could feel every slope of the tight globes and the groove between them, the spandex merely adding a shining texture, like she was wearing nothing at all.

“Yeah,” she gave one of the cheeks a testing squeeze, “You are one sick superhero. You should lie down.”

Dazzler groaned faintly, letting her head rest on the girl’s shoulder. Sleep was already closing in as she sank to the ground, the Morlock lowering her down to her knees.

“Here we go,” the girl giggled, “Poor, poor little X-Man… You just rest…”

Cupping behind Dazzler’s head, Pneumonia eased her down onto her back.

“Nice and comfy…” she sang, laying the heroine’s head down in the grass, “Until I can get you to bed.”

Dazzler’s consciousness swirled down the drain. The sounds of fighting were just background noise. Pale, sweating, dark rings under her eyes, she gladly escaped from the waking world, finding the girl’s voice calming and gentle. Memories of being taken care of while she was young and sick came back to her, a pleasant moment before her thoughts faded entirely.

Around the pair, other Morlocks stopped to stare. A few of them whistled and cheered or screamed taunts at the fallen X-Man. After downing so many of them, she’d finally met her match.

Pneumonia ignored them, curling her fingers in Dazzler’s short, sweaty hair.

“You’re going to have a good long recovery,” she whispered, “Maybe even years. We’ll see. I like you like this, all weak and needy.”

She smoothed her hand over the starburst on the heroine’s chest, smiling demurely. Dazzler’s breasts were excellent, ripe and swelling even as she lay on her back. Pneumonia cupped one and moved it around, squeezing gently.

“You know,” she leaned closer, “If I’m being honest… I don’t even like your music.”

She took Dazzler’s headband and gently slipped it off the heroine’s brow, claiming a trophy.

“I’m just a fan because…” she crooned, leaning down for a kiss, “Well… you are SOOO hot…”

She kissed Dazzler’s flushed lips, giving her just a bit more of her special illness to make sure she’d be nice and helpless for a while.

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Domino’s naturally playful attitude was being strained as she continued to fight through utter exhaustion. Her mutant powers gave her extreme luck, but the athleticism was all her and 100% natural. She wasn’t going to get a magical second wind like Wolverine or Rogue and she could tell she was slowing down, not to mention starting to run out of ammo.

She kicked a Morlock in the face and it just so happened to snap his head back just as he shot a green fireball from his mouth. The blazing orb was launched up into the air and exploded, showering his nearby comrades with sparks that hissed and burned on contact. Many of them cried out and scattered, trying to swat away the painful flecks of fire.

“Heh…” Domino rasped, “Need to… write that… guy a… thank you… note…”

The little accident gave the white-skinned mercenary a moment to breathe, buying her both room and time. It was only a matter of seconds, but she used it to take stock of her situation.

There were too many Morlocks. Best chance to get through this was to get back-to-back with Dazzler or Jubilee and lay on the firepower, maybe even take turns and let the other rest. But to do that, she had to find them in all this chaos.

She snapped her head to and fro, fitting fresh clips into her pistols. The bright colors of the X-Men’s costumes would stand out amongst the drab garments of the Morlocks, so she scanned for the canary yellow of Jubilee’s jacket or the deep blue of Dazzler’s unitard.

Jubilee was easy to pick out, the whistling, firework sound of her powers impossible to miss amongst the rest of the noise. The kid was really letting them have it too. Domino would tease her about it, but she was glad the teenager was on her side today.

She was just turning to move towards the teenage dynamo, when she caught a glimpse of Dazzler’s shining blue unitard. She was lying down, not moving.

Domino did a double take.

It took a split second to register. Her teammate was lying on her back with a green-skinned Morlock looming over her, touching her playfully. Allison wasn’t fighting back. She might have even been unconscious.

Domino changed course. A Morlock was in her way, still beating at his clothes to put out the green fire. She did him a favor by smashing her forearm into his face and dropping him onto his back, smothering the flame.

Planting a foot on his chest, using him for balance, she whipped up both pistols about to fire several rubber bullets into the back of the Morlock tormenting her teammate.

Just before she squeezed the triggers, a glowing, yellow orb appeared in front of her face.

Domino flinched back, eyes crossing to stare at the little ball that materialized at the tip of her nose. It looked almost like a glowing Christmas tree ornament, bouncing gently as it hovered in the air. It was really bright and when she looked at it, it made her feel happy. Really happy.

Whatever this thing was, she didn’t have time to mess with it. She tried to focus back on saving her teammate, even going so far as to turn her head away, but her eyes stayed locked onto the orb. There was something fascinating about it, not to mention how good she felt looking at it. She couldn’t look away just yet. Give it another second, then she’d go back to her mission.

Gradually, Domino forgot what she’d been doing. Her pistols were still held out in front of her, but now they wavered, growing heavy on her weary arms. Turning back to face the pretty bulb, she let her shaky arms lower. They sank down to her sides, shoulders slumping as her mouth fell open, staring slack jawed. It was so pretty. She never wanted to look away.

A Morlock with a black, fishy face strode towards her, hand outstretched out as he controlled the orb. His beady eyes were narrowed, his gaping, toothy mouth turned up at the corners in ghastly grin. Chuckling, he looked Domino up and down, striding closer towards her, not afraid of her in the slightest.

“Gotcha.” Angler said, swaggering towards her.

She didn’t even notice him. She didn’t notice the other Morlocks gathering around her, glaring and eager to get revenge. Many of them were preparing to attack her, maddened by her infuriating luck powers, but she didn’t care. All that mattered was the pretty orb.

The mutant she was standing on rolled out from under her foot with an angry snarl. She stumbled, blinking in surprise, but never broke eye contact with the hypnotic ball.

The Morlock foot stool wasn’t going to wait for someone else to strike first. As soon as he could get to his feet, he drew back a fist that charged with a glowing golden energy. He was just about to use it to punch the entranced X-Man in the chest, when someone kicked him back to the ground, then planted her boot on his throat to keep him there.

“Don’t attack her, you idiot!” Callisto snapped down at him, “Luck powers! Your kinetic charge will only hit someone else—Angler, in all likelihood-- and free her!”

The Morlock choked, eyes widening as he stared up at her.

Callisto glared at him, making sure he got the point, then stepped off his neck and cast her gaze around on the others. They still looked angry, but their respect for their leader kept them from acting, as well as the fact that she was probably right.

“We have the singer!” she snapped, “Angler, take care of this one! The rest of you, focus on the girl!”

She pointed at Jubilee, the only one still standing.

“Overwhelm her! The one that brings her to me will be rewarded!” the cyclopic Morlock yelled, “Go!”

Callisto’s soldiers grinned at that. Their queen could be harsh, but her rewards were always worth it. All one of them had to do as capture a teenage girl.

They roared and obeyed, turning towards Jubilee and charging, swarming her.

“I want them alive!” Callisto yelled after them, “Especially Marvel Girl! Bring her to me and by the time this day is done, the X-Men will be our prisoners!”

-------

Jubilee didn’t need to hear Callisto yelling at her minions to know she was on her own. She hadn’t seen either Dazzler or Domino go down, but she’d heard the former’s light show stop and the same with the latter’s gunfire. Add that to the fact that she was suddenly fending off twice as many Morlocks as before and she knew there was no one left to help her.

A few years ago, she would have panicked in this situation. She’d tagged along on missions before, usually by accident or without permission, and in those days the actual X-Men had been her safety net. She could throw out some quips, blast some bad guys in the face, but without the ACTUAL superheroes backing her up, she could never have been so brave.

Now Jubilee didn’t have her safety net, but she’d grown both in power and true confidence. She was on her own, but she wasn’t going to scream for help or run to the nearest fully fledged X-Man. She WAS the nearest fully fledged X-Man.

The self-proclaimed mallrat drew in a sharp breath, focusing her powers. The other X-Men were down, but they were out of the way. There was no one she was worried about hitting by accident and that meant she could really cut loose.

A bull rush of Morlocks charged at her from almost every direction. Yelling out their battle cries or threats, they swarmed on her, knowing many of them would be knocked flat but hoping to be the one that would get through. Once one of them got close, she was just as vulnerable as any other short, Asian-American teenager.

There were so many of them, Jubilee wasn’t sure she could keep them all back. But at the very least she was going to make them work for it.

“You wanna piece of me, you lame-o’s?!” she shouted back, “Come on!”

Rather than pointing and firing, Jubilee swept one arm through the air, sending a screaming arc of colorful energy into her attackers. She followed by doing the same with the opposite arm, swinging it in as wide as a motion as she could, like she was sidearm throwing a ball. The horse-shoe shaped arcs of plasma weren’t as powerful as a direct beam, but they had a wider spread and were still powerful enough to stagger the normal-sized Morlocks and slow the bigger ones.

Those single attacks only served to slow the tide of attackers, but the young X-Man continued to throw them. Each swing and backswing of her arms sent out another blast, faster as she picked up a rhythm, like she was swimming. It created a constant stream, waves of energy following one after the other, almost impossible to dodge.

The smaller Morlocks were knocked down and got up, only to be knocked down again. The light of the plasma was blinding, making it almost impossible to see the young X-Man much less aim energy blasts of their own. Some of them tried but were either knocked down immediately before they could take aim or had their blasts dissipated by the girl’s attacks before they too were knocked flat.

Some of the inhumanly strong and durable Morlocks covered their faces with their arms and tried to wade through the energy blasts, but they struggled to make any headway. The force of one blast would unbalance them, then before they could stabilize themselves another would hit them, forcing them to stagger back. Sometimes they managed to plant themselves for a moment, but when they tried to step forward it was the same story: one step forward, two steps back.

“Keep pressing!” Callisto yelled at them, “Fire at her! Get underneath those blasts! She can’t keep this up forever!”

Yet despite the Morlock queen’s words, Jubilee was showing no signs of slowing down. She was panting, getting a workout, but she was grinning wickedly, exhilarated.

“Is that all you got?!” she yelled shrilly, “Is that it?!”

One of the Morlocks finally managed to get a shot off. A jet of purple fire whizzed by her leg before its own was knocked down by another sweep of Jubilee’s arm.

“HA!” Jubilee snapped, “Do you losers know who you’re messing with?!”

Her arms were burning, her energy sapping away from the constant use of her powers, but she didn’t stop.

Many of the less invulnerable Morlocks had just sprawled flat on their stomachs and covered their heads, waiting for the deluge to stop. The few others took cover behind their more resilient comrades, even pushing into their backs to try to wade through the colorful energy as a group. They weren’t making much progress.

Jubilee laughed again. She was doing it! None of these butt munches could touch her!

“That’s right!” she called, “It’s the gorgeous, bad ass, spec-TAC-ular Jubilation—UNGH!”

Jubilee flopped to the grass, the bright lights and the whistling of fireworks vanishing instantly. The battlefield was suddenly quiet.

Morlocks blinked in surprise, their ears ringing. The ones taking cover peaked out or lifted their heads, picking themselves up from where they’d sprawled for on their bellies. Others rubbed at their eyes, still seeing spots, then squinted, curious to see what had finally stopped the light show.

Even Callisto rubbed her eye, still seeing black spots like she’d been staring into the sun. She’d expected the girl to tire before they brought her down, but something she hadn’t anticipated had stopped the teenage X-Man much sooner.

After a few seconds of blinking away blindness and simply adjusting to the abrupt end of the battle, the raiding mutants finally came to grips with what they were seeing.

Jubilee lay on her chest, arms splayed out at awkward angles, not moving. She had fallen with her head turned enough so her cheek smooshed into the grass, allowing them to see that her eyes were closed, her shades having been knocked off and lying beside her. Her clumsy sprawl and the way her limbs were splayed made it clear that she’d been out before she hit the ground, having made no attempt to catch herself.

The one responsible loomed over her, panting and staring down at the unconscious girl, his eyes wide with shock. No one seemed more surprised at this turn of events than him, his mouth hanging open, still clutching the improvised weapon that had ended Jubilee’s part in the battle.

“H-holy shit!” Techno gasped, “I-I-I got one!”

A few of the Morlocks gaped for a moment, then burst out laughing at the shocked expression on their tribemate’s face. More joined in, mingling with cheers and cries of approval. They would have been a bit jealous if it had been almost any other Morlock that brought the girl down, but the unassuming Techno had clearly acted out of sheer desperation and had never had any glory of his own. They couldn’t fault him for that.

As the reality of what he’d done sank in, a manic grin spread Techno’s lips wide. He giggled hysterically, then stopped abruptly, swallowing, a surge of adrenaline making him feel like he would throw up. This girl at his feet was his prisoner now, according to Morlock law. Like any teenage boy, the very thought made his stomach flip flop, his eyes get a little bigger. He licked his lips, swallowing again.

Suddenly he remembered the gene splicer and smoothed his hand over it, checking for damage. He’d been watching the battle when a wild idea came to him: sneak up behind her, hit her on the head. It was a stupid, stupid idea, particularly since all he had to hit her with was the splicer… but it had worked. And the device was okay, he was relieved to feel.

Techno released a sigh, just as a crowd of Morlocks came over to thump him on the back and congratulate him.

Callisto came with them. She stopped in front of him, hands on her hips, and gave him a wry, good natured smile, like she was admitting he’d pulled a good trick on her.

“Well, well, you’ve been holding out on me,” she said, “Well done, Techno.”

The boy blushed and looked at his feet. He was nearly knocked down by another hearty round of cheers and thumps on the back.

Callisto let them have their moment. It had been a hard-won victory and she wanted her men, Techno included, to enjoy it. But the real battle wasn’t over yet.

Narrowing her eyes, she turned her mind back to the task at hand.

“Where’s Lilith?” she asked one of her lieutenants. When he stammered, clearly not knowing, she cut him off before he wasted his breath, “Never mind. Find her.”

While some Morlocks were still busy congratulating and teasing Techno, others were leering down at Jubilee, simply enjoying seeing the little spitfire having finally been shut up. One of them crouched down and lifted her head with a clump of her black hair, then chuckled nastily into her gaping, unconscious face. Another gave her leg a shove with his boot and growled, clearing wanting some personal revenge for some of those energy blasts, but Morlock law restrained him. As Techno had beaten her on his own, she was his property and was no more allowed to hurt her than he was allowed to steal from the tribe.

As Angler took care of Domino, Callisto noticed a few others gather to watch Pneumonia playing nurse maid to Dazzler. The green-skinned girl had taken off the X-Man’s leather jacket, balled it up, then tucked it under her head like a pillow. She stroked as her patient shivered, cooing, and occasionally glaring protectively at some other Morlocks that got too close. She was clearly taking her newfound ownership very seriously.

That took care of three of the four, but it was their leader, still sprawled nearby, that really mattered.

“All right, that’s enough!” Callisto shouted.

The celebration dampened. Many Morlock eyes turned to her, and she stared back at them, understanding but hard, brooking no discussion.

“We can congratulate ourselves after this battle is over!” Callisto called, “I don’t have to remind you that Storm, Rogue, Wolverine, and the others still stand in our way!” she nodded to Techno, “You, see to your captive! The rest of you, tend to our wounded and prepare yourselves! We will be battling the rest of them soon enough!”

Chastened but knowing their leader was right, the Morlocks ceased their revelry and began looking around to see what they could do. A few of them gave Techno a few last pats on the back and some encouraging words before gathering up their fallen allies. They helped them get up, slapped them a few times to wake them, or simply threw them over their shoulders to be set aside.

Several of the mutant raiders were looming over Marvel Girl, still lying sprawled on her face. A pair of them grinned mischievously at each other then bent down to pick her up.

They stopped immediately when Callisto approached them, one clearing his throat and the other rubbing at his nose, looking thoughtfully towards the horizon. Both tried to act like they had crouched down simply to wax introspective, not to drag off an unconscious X-Woman for private fun.

Callisto ignored them. If they were foolish enough to take what they hadn’t earned, they would pay the price for it, but she had no time to punish them for mere intent. There was a much more pressing issue to deal with.

She stopped to look down at the mighty Jean Grey, taking in the most powerful telepath in the world laid out like a discarded doll. The X-Man lay on her face, red hair pooling out beside her, one bare leg drawn up and bent at the knee, almost like she was bracing to take off at a run. To add to the indignity of her helpless state, her skirt had flipped up (or been flipped up), revealing the backs of her thighs and a shining, golden undergarment.

Callisto snorted. The mighty Phoenix didn’t look so impressive, now that she’d been laid low.

“Bring her.” She snapped, then turned on her heel and marched away.

The Morlocks obediently bent, took an arm, then dragged the beaten X-Man after their leader. They didn’t bother to pick Marvel Girl up, merely strutting away and pulling her along behind them, like the powerful X-Man was nothing more than an old rug.

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