The Trial of Marrow 
By Fred Garber (fgarber@kent.edu)

Rating: R for violence, adult themes (mass murder).

Author's notes:
	Although many of the X-Men have had criminal pasts, and some have
killed before, during, or after a stint as X-Men, none have been like 
Marrow.  When she was introduced, she helped kill thirty-three humans, and
attempted the murder of dozens, possibly hundreds more (one human for 
every Morlock killed in the Morlock Massacre).  Yet after her defeat, the
X-books have only briefly touched upon the fact that Sarah, as leader of
the Gene Nation militants, is responsible for her actions.  This story 
was written to provide a background story about WHY the X-Men don't turn
her over to the cops, or WHY the FBI isn't hunting her, or anything like
that.
	And there's a special treat for Gargoyles(tm) fans.  The yuppie 
couple in the car, were this drawn in the comic, would look a surprising
amount like ADA Margot Yale and her boyfriend, Brendan Lane.

	Continuity Notes: This mostly takes place the day after the events
in X-Men #79, and before the events in UXM #360. The first bit takes place
after the X-Men/Brotherhood team up in the 97 annual, but before O:ZT.
Sack's power has been modified, but since he has no OHOTMU entry yet, 
we're OK.

	FEEDBACK AND ARCHIVING : Tell me what you think.  Archive at
will, but tell me where it's going, so I can brag about it to my friends;)

	Disclaimer: All the characters involved are the property of Marvel
Comics.  Except Dolinsky. And Meyer and Ballson, and the yuppies. These 
yuppies belong to Disney. No money is being made off of these characters,
and don't try to sue me.  I'll cry.

The Trial of Marrow 		By Fred Garber (fgarber@kent.edu)

Key: 	*thoughts*		~ Telepathy ~		_Emphasis_ 

About a month ago:
	D'ken surveyed the crowd gathered before him, and the three members
of his tribe bound in front of him.  Hemingway, huge and gray, mutated into
truly monstrous form by the Dark Beast, who took most of Hemingway's 
formidable intellect as payment.  Vessel, green and gold, with the sacks on
his back all deflated, as no one's soul had been harvested for some time.  
Vessel glared at D'ken through the tangle of beaded, braided black hair that
covered his eyes, and his hate was clear and strong. D'ken turned to Reverb,
with his gold, thin skin showing underneath the cracked armor, wearing the 
two knives of Marrow's that he plucked from his chest.  
	D'ken gathered his red and gold robes, and clutched his staff for 
support as he listened to the emotions of the crowd.
	~ Flatscan-lover! ~
	~ Traitor ~
	~ Betrayer! ~
	Obviously, the crowd was not pleased.
	"Silence!" he roared.  "I am D'ken.  I lead this community.  Who 
challenges that right?"
	"I do!" cried a young mutant from the side.  With white hair 
and blue skin, she wore a sneer under her long nose. *Glass (1), * D'ken
frowned.  *They're not making this easy. *  
	"Then state your reasons, and choose your battleground."
	"I needed no reason to challenge on The Hill!"
	"We are no longer on The Hill.  People die in this world.  I will 
not see any of you wasted for a foolish challenge.  Now state your 
complaint."
	"Fine.  You talk of freedom for our people, for a right to exist in
our own way.  Yet you change the way, and say humanity is no longer the 
enemy." Glass spat. "You say that we are to determine our own destiny.  
Yet these three are being returned in chains to the American government, 
for what?  'War Crimes,' the diplomats say.  Yet we are no longer at war 
with the human world."
	"In order for the Rwandan (2) government to allow us to live in
peace, they want to offer something to the United Nations, and the United
States.  These three are responsible for the slaughter of thirty-three 
people. " D'ken sighed. He had explained this last night in the village
meeting.
	"Flatscans."
	"_People _, Glass." D'ken put a hand to the metal plate in his head
that helped him amplify his empathy.  It always ached when so many people 
were filled with anger and bloodlust.  "And they attempted the murder of 
two hundred and fifteen (3) more. If Sack and Marrow were still among us,
they would return with these three.  Be careful that you do not take their
place."
	"You are no longer fit to rule!"  And with that, Glass shimmered and
vanished, employing her mutant power of invisibility.  D'ken crouched and 
warily moved in a slow curve to his left.
	"You may be invisible to all five mundane senses, Glass," D'ken 
called, loud enough for the crowd to hear.  "But my empathy can still sense
your presence."  D'ken whipped his long staff around and felt it impact upon
Glass.  With a quick twist of his wrists, he slammed the butt into where he
assumed her chest would be, and was pleased to see Glass shimmer into view.
D'ken had aimed too high, and Glass was clutching her throat.  With a quick
movement, D'ken knocked Glass' hands away and placed the staff at her
throat.  "Yield!" he cried.
	"I... I yield," Glass croaked.  D'ken stood, and motioned for the
healers of the village to take Glass away.
	"I rule the Gene Nation!"
	'Long live D'ken!" the crowd cried, energized by the fight.  D'ken
smiled, and turned back to wait for the S. H. I. E. L. D. unit to come take
these troublemakers off his hands.

*		*		*

The morning after X-Men 79. 
	"So, Dolinsky, where you working tomorrow?"  The tall, fat cop with
the shaved head called Detective Dolinsky over, hoping to catch up on gossip
before Dolinsky left.
	"Howdy, Ballson. Meyer.  I got bathroom duty.  Asked for it, 
actually."  Dolinsky was a Homicide detective, and was always talkative.  He
sat on the edge of a desk to talk with the two beat cops.
	"Checking for bombs?"  Meyer was barely past the height requirement,
with perpetual ketchup stains on his black tie and greasy fingers.
	"Yeah.  I figure it's safer than working crowd control.  I can't
believe they called me in to flatfoot duty.  No offense, guys, but I'm 
Homicide, not General duty..."
	"I hear the Captain is trying to keep all of us with ties to the
Friends outside the building, and all of the mutie lovers inside."  Ballson
rubbed his bald head.
	"Well, you know me.  There's good muties, and bad muties, and it's
my job to catch the ones that kill people in my part of town."  Dolinsky 
shrugged.
	"We'll get you to an Friends meeting yet, Dolinsky."
	"Whatever.  What time they got you showing up tomorrow morning?"
	"6 AM."
	"Yeah, sucks, don't it."
	"Jeez! How early is that! I don't have to do my sweep until 9."
	"They want us to take up positions early. Place is gonna be packed,
more than usual."
	"Nah, I heard they're closing down the rest of the courthouse until
the trials are over."
	"Even for the vegetable." Meyer added.
	"What does he call himself?  Reverb? Think the freak's faking it?"
Dolinsky leaned forward.
	"He was all right a couple of weeks ago."
	"He just collapsed a while ago, screaming a bunch of bull about 
'damage to the astral plane,' and been all messed up since that."
	"Think he's trying for insanity?"
	"Last thing we need is another mutie trying to cheat the system."
	"Speaking of muties out there, have you talked to Simony, Dolinsky?"
	"No. What's up?"
	"He's talking to those two guys that said they met another mutant
terrorist in the park last night."
	"A little green guy?"
	'Nah.  A pink girl.  Bones poking' out of her: really freaky.  They
won't shut up about how she's living' with the X-Men now.  The X-Men said 
she's gonna be a hero.  Damn mutant vigilantes."
	Behind Dolinsky's eyes, the terrorist body-stealing mutant known 
as Sack narrowed his thoughts.  Marrow was dead, wasn't she?  Killed in 
combat by Storm.  He'd have to talk to this Detective Simony, tonight.
	"Hey, Dolinsky!  Where you going?"
	"I got to talk to Simony.  I want to know all about that little
terrorist that might be still out there."

*	*	*

MUTANT TERRORISTS TO FACE TRIAL TODAY
	The headlines screamed out at Storm as she entered the kitchen. 
	"Ah think you'd better read this," Sam Guthrie, a.k.a. Cannonball,
said around a mouthful of cereal.  "Sounds like Gene Nation finally 
coughed up the three mutants that killed all of those people in the club."
	"Three?  I remember five.  Hemingway, Vessel, Reverb, Sack, and 
Sarah as leader."
	"When D'ken accumulated his lists of wounded, healthy, or 
casualties, Sack was listed amongst the dead after the attacks by Humanity's
Last Stand. And Sarah is currently residing in our basement, unbeknownst to
the outside, non-mutant populace."  Dr. Henry McCoy, the brilliant big blue
furry former Avenger known as "the Beast" was balancing four muffins on his
left knee as he ate, taking a quick break from his experiments on Legacy.  
	Storm rapidly skimmed the article, and set it aside.  "Hmm. They 
never found Sack's body.  History has shown us that a villain's ability to
cheat death is uncanny.  Should we maintain a presence at the trial?"
	"Could Sack have employed some kind of ruse to avoid capture?  And
what happens when out malicious yet maturing Marrow discovers out her 
childhood compatriots are being held for trial?" 
	"Yeah, Ah was hoping you'd tell her, ma'am.  Last night when Ah
dropped her off she actually said she'd miss me, without any talk of 
evisceratin' or nothing."
	"Ag, mate.  Cheney, Meltdown, an' now Marrow.  What you got that
makes all the 'wild' frails want you?"  Maggott, the South African mutant
who was one of the newest to wear the costume of the X-Men, added his own
commentary.
	"Jus my natural Kentucky Charm, Ah guess.  And how'd you know about
them?"
	"I hear the talk, mate, and read the files.  We have got to share 
lines some time, eh?"
	"I will tell her after I make some calls."  Storm changed the 
subject back to serious matters.  "The Professor had some friends in the
legal profession, and maybe we can use their help.  And we are not without
political allies."  Storm headed off to the phone installed in the 
Professor's old office.
	"They're all full of words, pretty mutants laughing," Marrow watched
from the doorway to the basement as Maggot wandered off to find something 
for "his girls" to eat, Beast headed back to the lab, and Sam went upstairs
to finish packing.  No one was left to see Marrow creep to the table, and 
read the newspaper on the table.  Pulling a spike from her head, she spiked
the article into the refrigerator door, as a way of telling the X-men she'd
seen it.  Then she crawled back down into her lair, to think about what to 
do next.

*			*			*

	"Hey, Dolinsky!  What's up?  Who's that?"
	"Hi guys.  You lock up the prisoners?"
	"Yeah.  They're all under inhibitor cuffs.  The big gray one still
might cause some trouble, but he's promised to behave."
	"Well, I found this lizard woman in one of the stalls," Sack led a
handcuffed Tether into the room. "She claims she's a cleaning woman, and I
wanted to keep her in with your guys until the trial is over.
	"Sure, but those cuffs will hold her?  We don't have any more 
inhibitor cuffs.  It was hard enough calibrating the three we had to work,
though I don't know why we bothered with the yellow one."
	"She's promised not to cause any trouble while we call her boss.  
What's the deal with the yellow one?"
	"He was some kind of psychic, you know?  He's a mind reader, and
could see you coming down the hall and around the corner, that sort of 
thing.  Anyway, about a week ago he suddenly screamed and fell over.  He's
been drooling ever since.  Psych says he'll be committed."
	"As long as he's not back out on the streets, I don't care what the
hell happens to him."
	"Right on.  So, just put her in one of the cells over there, OK?" 
Dolinsky led Tether around and into a cell. "Remember, deviate from the plan
I told you, and we'll both be in here, along with your husband Boost.  I can
get to him at any time."  He bluffed, whispering.  
	"I underssstand, Ssack.  I will tear out your lungss for threatening
me, but not until Boost and I are ssafely away."
	"Now, don't worry, lady."  Sack stood, and said loudly.  "I'm gonna
go call your boss, and you'll be back on the job in no time, if your story
checks out."
	He walked back to the on-duty guards and whispered "Of course, I'll
call her boss.  Right away. After I get another cup of coffee, finish my 
sweep, and take a good, long crap."
	Sack smiled and walked away as the two guards, laughing, failed to
notice Tether's electrified tail snaking towards Vessel's hands in the 
adjacent cell.

	Within minutes, it was over.  Once free, Vessel was able to 
dismantle Hemingway's cuffs, and before the officers turned around, they
were the first prisoners the Gene Nationals caught.  Sticking to Sack's 
plan, they went straight for the courtroom, seizing the audience, including
the mayor, and leading them back down into the holding cells.  A few people
ran from the courthouse, screaming.
	"Attention NYPD," Vessel used the PA system in the courthouse to 
talk to the officers outside.  "This is Vessel, of the Gene Nation."
	"Huh?"
	"How'd they!"
	"Somebody call the Chief!"
	"We have taken hostages, including your Chief of Police, Mayor, and
his wife.  We are willing to negotiate.  We want to talk to Detective 
Dolinsky, and only him.  Send him in, and no one gets hurt.  Otherwise?
Well, we have forty flatscans captured this time..."
	After Dolinsky was let into the evacuated building, he headed down
into the holding area.  As soon as he entered the room, Vessel slammed him
up against the wall.  The detective's breath whooshed out of him.
	"Tell me again, Tether, why we're listing to this upworlder."
	"Vessel.  Leggo.  Pulse shallow.  It's me, Sack."  Dolinsky gasped.
Vessel let him slump down onto a bench.  "Glad to see you too."
	"Sack?"
	"After the attack, I used Tether to get out of the village, and once
we landed in New York, I was free.  When I heard about you guys coming to 
stand trial, I grabbed this cop and started my plan."
	"Thought you were dead, like Marrow."
	"Got news for you babies.  Marrow's alive, and with the X-Men."
	"No way!"  Hemingway chimed in. "She's surrendered to the Enemy?"
	"Yup.  And we're gonna use the X-Men to bring her right to us."
	Walking upstairs, and slipping out a side door, Sack walked around
to Trish Trilby, who was resting, waiting for a report from the police.  He
whispered briefly in her ear, and she jumped up and motioned to her 
cameraman to start filming.  Gradually, the other networks noticed, and soon
cameramen were scurrying all to point their cameras at Trish and Dolinsky.
	"This is Trish Trilby, live from the steps of the New York County
Courthouse, and I'm here with the designated negotiator, Detective Ray 
Dolinsky.  Detective?  Why are they talking to you?"
	"Ms. Trilby, that's not important.  They have specifically asked me
to present their demands, and they seem pretty fair to me."
	"What are the demands of these terrorists?"
	"The big green one tells me that their leader in the attack on the
club is currently being harbored by the vigilante X-Men.  They will release
the hostages when she is delivered to the courthouse to stand trial along 
with them."
	"That's certainly unusual.  They don't have plans to escape?"
	"They've said that they've had a lot of time to think in Africa, and
they want to face the consequences for what they've done.  But they depended
on one mutant's leadership to tell them right from wrong.  They don't think 
it's fair that she go free while they stand trial."
	"Well, that's... " Trilby floundered for only a moment. "X-Men, if
you're listening, please help us.  We've seen what these terrorists can do
when they're angry.  Please, help us resolve this, and bring the terrorist
in to stand trial."  She listened a moment to her earphone "I'm being told
that this demand will be rebroadcast every 15 minutes, until we have more 
news for you.  Thank you, Detective."
	"If you'll excuse me, I have to see to some details," Sack walked
back inside, and down to where Vessel guarded the hostages.
	"What happened?  Did it work?"
	"I sent out the call.  They won't risk the hostages, and they'll 
turn Sarah over to us. "
	"I still don't understand. Marrow joined the X-Men? What happens 
when Marrow returns to us?"  Hemingway asked.
	"She will die, for betraying our cause."  Sack chuckled evilly, and
moved Dolinsky back to work as Vessel went back to watching the door.

*	*	*

	"Marrow?  You down here, girl? We know you saw the article, and then
heard the news."
	"If I stick another knife in you, will you go away?" came a voice 
from the darkness.
	"I ain't here to pick a fight with you," Wolverine deliberately 
stood in the doorway, outlined, making himself an easy target.  "I just 
wondered what you were going to do about yer friends."
	"Let me guess.  I turn myself over to the upworlders, or there's no
place for me in the shiny, pretty X-men anymore."
	"We ain't askin' you to blindly turn yerself in.  What we're askin'
you to do is take responsibility for yer actions."
	"So I can be punished for my time as a mutant terrorist?"
	"You set yourself up as the leader of that little gang.  Right or
wrong, it's up to you to put things right. No one said redemption was gonna
be easy, kid."
	"And you're gonna make me do it alone."
	"Nobody said anything about alone.  Storm and Beast are gonna cover
your back."
	"Is the big, bad, Wolverine afraid?  Or does he just not care about
me?"
	"I got some...personal business to take care of, overseas.  Won't 
take that long.  When we get back to the mansion, we'll play a game of Tag 
in the woods.  I'll show you some black ops tricks I know."
	"Don't need your help, old man.  Maybe I'll show you something. Put 
that healing factor to the test." In the dark, Logan could just barely make 
out her smile.  He counted to ten, and reminded himself that this was how 
Marrow showed affection. 
	"We'll see about that when I get back," Logan stepped back into the 
mansion proper, and closed the door behind him.  "Stupid kid."
	"Remind you of someone, dear friend?" Storm stood, waiting for him. 
"I seem to remember a hairy mutant some years ago who had a similar 
attitude."
	"'Ro, why do I always end up with kids?  How come they always bond 
to me?  I ain't pretty.  I ain't that great of a teacher.  I ain't never 
asked for this kind of trouble.  Kitty, Jubilee, even Maggot a bit, and now
Sarah... "
	"Is it really that heavy of a duty?  Besides, you love it so."
	"Yeah, well, don't tell Scott.  Ruin my carefully constructed 
reputation."  Logan sighed, and ran a hand through his bristly hair.
	"Hey, mates!"  Maggott called from the kitchen.  "You want in on the
betting?  Ten gets you in, and we're pickin' how long they gonna put Marrow 
away."  Logan and Ororo both sighed, and went back upstairs.
	After they had gone, Marrow left her room and headed for the tunnels
to think.

*			*			*

	THOCK!  The knife quivered in the throat of the man-sized target. 
Marrow stood in the center of the deserted Morlock Alley (4), a forgotten 
bomb shelter beneath the streets of New York City.  She began to run though
her practice routine, skewering the targets Callisto had helped her set up.
At her feet was the pile of knives she had grown over the last few months.  
That was her mutant power: in addition to a healing factor (though not as 
great as Wolverine's), her bones grew amazingly fast.  Often they broke the
skin, and had to be broken off with a whole lot of pain.  Usually, the 
fragments could be sharpened as knives.  In addition, she had learned from 
Callisto how to grow plates of bone to serve as armor.
	"Don't know where you are now, Callisto."  Callisto, the mutant 
fighter who had founded the original Morlock colony living in the tunnels,
was the closest she had to a mother, teaching her how to control her rage,
and it was at her request that she had sought out the X-Men.  Now she was 
gone, out there in the city somewhere, and probably still not fully 
recovered from her battles with Prime Sentinels.
	THOCK!
	"But, well, I'm with the X-Men now, like you wanted.  They gave me a
new belt buckle." The bone growths gave her a bizarre, savage appearance.  
Combined with her purple hair and bright pink skin, she'd never be accepted
as normal in the outside world.  And yet she had to play by the outside 
world's rules, now that she'd returned to her home dimension.
	THOCK!
	"Now I gotta decide if I want to hide, or fight.  It used to be an 
easy choice, but I didn't have anything to lose, then." After Mikhail 
Rasputin had taken the Morlocks to an alternate dimension, his insanity was
evident.  He had established the rules of a new, more violent Morlock 
society, at the urgings of the Dark One. From the age of six, she had grown
up with constant war in a world where no one ever died, and time moved far
more quickly.  Now, about a year since the Morlocks were transported, they
had returned, when Storm had convinced Mikhail to bring them all back.
	Marrow was now a young adult, and learning that everything she
learned growing up about the surface world and it's human occupants was
probably wrong.  Like the Dark One.  There he was a hero, and a deified 
wizard.  Here, with the X-Men, he was known as the Dark Beast, and was a
refugee from an alternate future, a near perfect duplicate of the X-Men's
Beast, and a villain.
	THOCK! THOCK!
	"What would you want me to do? What'd make you proud?  I guess I'm
thinking you'd say something like: 'If you run from your past, you'll be 
running forever.'"  
	THOCK!  The last knife quivered in the shoulder of a target.  Except
for the first throw, every knife had impacted in a non-lethal portion of her
target, yet one that would severely injure any victim.
	"Very, very good, Sarah. Nice throwing, and nice soliloquy."
	Sarah turned, and saw a pale mutant with lavender hair standing in
the doorway to the Alley watching her, one that she found very welcome, 
hopefully.
	"Boost!" She dropped into a crouch.  "You and Tether gonna gang up
on me?"
	"Relax, Marrow.  I'm not here to fight.  Not like last time (5)."
      "You two and the X-Men, are the only ones who know I'm still alive." 
*And of course, Callisto. *  But Callisto had specifically asked Sarah not to 
mention her existence in these tunnels to any Morlocks Sarah found. "So you
must be working with the upworlders to let them know I was alive."
	"It wasn't me.  It might've been Tether.  But she's not the 
ringleader now: It's Sack."
	"Storm said he'd died." Sarah stood up, and began to collect her 
knives from the targets.
	"He didn't.  He used Tether to come to the States.  He was inside 
her during the battle with Humanity's Last Stand.  I should have known from
how bloodthirsty she was acting, but, well, I didn't.  By the time the 
Brotherhood set us up down here, he had already slid out of her and 
escaped."
	"Your problem.  You feel guilty for helping him?"
	"Nope.  I would've brought every last one of us back to these 
tunnels rather than stay in that blasted, wasted oasis."
	"Then why come here?  What's your angle with me?"
	"It's Tether.  She's with him now, in the courtroom.  He's 
threatened to turn us both in to the flatscans unless she helped him to
free your old friends.  I want her out of this, and unharmed."
	"I'll see what I can do.  No promises."
	"Oh, you'll do it.  Because I'm going to help you."  Boost leaped
~ inside ~ Marrow, and she felt instantly supercharged, as her wounds 
vanished and her full combat array of knives sprouted fresh from her back.  
	~ You see, with my help, you can take all four of those losers at
once, free the hostages, and get back to the mansion before anyone knows 
you've gone. ~
	"Nope.  I'm gonna tap those lines over there, and make one quick 
call.  I'm a 'grownup' now, and I don't want the X-Men getting into this, 
and getting hurt." Sarah put her terrorist training to use.
	After leaving a message with Maggott, she flexed her arms, did a
few knee bends, and her eyes glinted with the chance to cut loose and fight.  
"Let's get it on, then."  Marrow smiled, and headed up to the surface 
world, and the courtroom.
	
*		*			*

	"She did what?"  Storm was incensed.  "How could she be so foolish
as to head off to the city on her own?"  She whirled on Maggott, who was 
hanging up the phone.
	"Frail's crazy.  We all knew that, no?  Lucky she called us at all."
	"Maggott, you head down to the Morlock Alley to wait for her return.
Keep in touch with the mansion."  The phone rang, and Storm scooped it up?
"Hello?  Who is this?  What do you want?"  Storm stopped, and handed the 
phone to Beast.  She was in no mood to deal with the impersonal telephone.
	"Sorry about the inconvenience. This is Dr. Henry McCoy at the 
Xavier School of Higher Learning, how can I help direct your call?"
	"This is a secure call from Washington D.C.  Please hold."  There
was a series of clicking noises, and then a new voice came on the line as
Beast pressed a button on the phone so Storm could hear too.
	"I'm sorry, but unless she has some unique information or talents to
offer the American government, I'm afraid I cannot endorse any appeal for 
immunity from the courts."  Dr. Valerie Cooper, former FBI Special Agent, 
and currently head of the Mutant Relations special congressional committee,
apologized.
	"What?  Val, we were hoping for some assistance from your 
department."  Beast argued.  Storm took a deep breath, and willed the clouds
gathering over the mansion to slow and drift apart.  A thunderstorm that 
leveled the mansion would not help Sarah.
	"Unless she can do something for Mutant Affairs, there's nothing 
Mutant Affairs can do.  I don't know much about this Marrow, but you know 
what my coworkers did with Sabretooth.  I have to be really careful with
her, considering her training and past.  Sorry again."  There was a click,
and the phone went dead.
	"Hmm."  Beast was thinking already.  "I think I may have something
like what Dr. Cooper desires.  Something about Marrow's last physical is 
stimulating some forgotten neurons in my memory,"
	"Fine, Hank.  Keep working, to get Sarah free of this legally.  As 
soon as you have something, bring it to me at the courthouse.  I'm going to
try to stop this, personally, before it gets out of hand."

*	*	*

	Marrow pushed up the sewer grate, and let herself into the parking
garage near the courthouse.  She had to get inside, and so began to stalk 
towards the stairs, two knives already drawn.  She crept between the cars,
looking for signs that they had posted sentries.  It was time to start to 
using some of those skills she had bragged about.  And this was a much more
serious use than playing "Tag" in the woods.
	With a start, she realized that the car she was hiding behind was
occupied. A well-dressed yuppie upworlder couple was in the front seat of
their BMW when they spotted her, crouching besides their driver's door, and
screamed in terror.  Marrow realized she was probably looking similar to her
old appearance, with random bone growths and unkempt hair.  Not to mention 
the faint glow from Boost inside her. *I do _not_ need this now.  They'll 
lead them right to me. *  She thought, a nd dropped her knives to show her 
friendliness.  The couple stopped screaming.
	"Don't be alarmed.  I'm an X-Man."  Sarah tried to muster as much
confidence in that as she could.  She still didn't believe she was an X-Man.
	"An... X-Man?"  The blond woman whimpered.
	"I got the giant X on my belt buckle, don't I, flatscan?"  *Real
smooth, Sarah.  They'll believe you now. *  "Listen, we don't have much 
time.  I need you two to stay quiet, and hidden, until I can stop them in
there from killing hostages."
	"Listen, mutie."  The brown-haired man, seeing Sarah as a girl, and
not as a vicious warrior, began to show a little bravado.  "Why shouldn't we
call for help?"
	"Because by the time help got here, you'd be dead, or a hostage 
yourself.  Fine.  Scream.  See if it saves you."  Sarah took off past the
couple, heading for the stairwell.
	The couple looked at each other, and then scrambled to hide deeper
in the car, trying to make as little noise as possible.
	Marrow continues up into the courthouse.  She noticed with a sad
smile that the Gene Nationals had copied her decorating style, with "This
way for the wild fun trial" carved into the wood paneling.
	Following the arrows, she could see the courtroom, where Tether lay
on the floor and Reverb, out of his armor, sat drooling.  Looking closely,
she could see that Tether's breath was very shallow, her chest barely rising
and falling.  She almost headed into the room, when a voice in her head 
stopped her.
	~ It's a trap. ~  Boost said in her skull.  ~ See the gills on her
neck?  If Tether was unconscious, she wouldn't be breathing through those 
too.  I know when she's faking. ~
	*Overshare, Boost.  I don't care.  But how stupid do they think I
am? * Marrow shrugged.  It was painfully obvious that Tether was a trap, now
that she knew what to look for.
	~ Of course, if _I_ wasn't along you probably would have rushed
in. ~
	~ Boost, go back to the background.  I'm gonna follow the arrows
backwards, and hope that they haven't learned too many new tricks since I
ran with them. ~  Sure enough, the arrows began in a small room that 
revealed Vessel guarding a massive conference room door.  A few faint cries
still came from the other side of the door.
	"Guard up, Vessel.  Caught you napping."  Marrow slid into the room,
pulling knives free with a shlunking sound.
	"Marrow," Vessel was on his feet quickly, and he too began to move
in a circle.  "Sack wanted us all to be there when you died, but I guess
he'll be disappointed."
	"Not today, Richard."
	"Richard died a long time ago on the Hill.  Call me Vessel, and I'll
kill you for betraying our cause."
	"Cause?  We had no cause.  We were just angry children, lashing 
out."
	"Lashing out at the upworlders who condemned us to another 
dimension, and taught us only to battle and make war on the Hill!"
	"You are wrong, Vessel.  The upworlders are lazy and soft, but 
they did not condemn us."  Marrow feinted to the left, but Vessel knew her
fighting style, and didn't flinch.
	"Rasputin and Callisto are to blame, then?  I thought you liked 
Callisto."  He circled her slowly, waiting for a moment.
	"_We_ are to blame for our actions in the Other Place.  We believed
that only the strong would return to the surface world.  Instead, Storm 
brought us all home.  Strength didn't matter here.  Only how you used it, 
what you attacked.  I couldn't see that before."  Marrow knew she was a 
better fighter than Vessel, but one misstep and he'd take advantage.
	"You're wrong.  The X-Men. Pah!" Vessel spat, aiming for the floor,
hoping she'd slip.  No luck.  "They have clouded your vision.  You used to 
be pure.  Simple. Deadly.  Lovely."
	"I was tragic, and horrible.  I hated myself so much that I thought
no one could ever like me."  Step right.  Slash right.
	"Did they?  No.  They don't love you.  They love what they're 
changing you into." A dodge to the left.
	"We belong to change.  We are mutants. If we don't look for a 
future, we will have none." Watch his hips; look to see where he'll turn.
	"And what rewards are there in this future?  A shiny belt buckle 
with an 'X' on it?"  Marrow eyes flashed down to her waist, and for an 
instant her attention faltered.  Vessel's massive arms reached for her, and
before she knew it, she was caught in a bear hug that threatened to break 
her back, and she felt the breath knocked out of her.
	Concentrate.  She had to concentrate, not give in to the red haze 
that began to flit at the corners of her eyesight.  No, not red.  Black.  
Why was she worrying about the color of the haze?
	"Surrender, Marrow." How long can a mutant go without air?  Longer
than this?  Can't reach her knives, can't kick, can't breathe.
	"Submit, Sarah, I really don't want to kill you," Vessel's use of
her real name shocked her enough to get a hold on her runaway brain.  She
concentrated on the bony pads that covered her body, willing them to grow
quickly.  *Thank you, Boost. *
	"Arrrgh!"  Vessel relaxed his grip, as the newly grown spikes 
pressed into his thigh and upper arms.  Sarah took a deep breath and head
butted Vessel, the spike on her forehead stabbing into his right eye.  He
dropped her, and the bone shard snapped off, still embedded in the ruined
socket.  She gasped, and caught her breath as Vessel clutched his ruined 
face.
	"Goodbye, Vessel," With a spin kick to his head, Marrow ended this
fight.  She grabbed the inhibitor cuffs that lay discarded on the floor, and
relocked Vessel's around his wrists.
	She limped over to the thick doorway, looking for keys.  When she
got there, she saw that Vessel had simply bent the doorknob, locking the
door in such a way that she couldn't unlock it, and the hinges were sealed
and unreachable.
	"Hello?" she called.
	"Yes!  Yes!  We're here! Let us out!"  The frantic voices on the 
other end startled her, and she took a step back.  The need in their voices
was tangible, and she had never heard anyone, flatscan or mutant, so 
desperate.
	"I'm... I'm not strong enough to open the door.  But Vessel won't
bother you anymore.  If you can wait, some flat... somebody will be around
to let you out soon."
	"Who are you?  Help us!"
	"I'm... Marrow."
	"Who?"
	Sarah grinned.  "I'm with the X-Men.  We're here to help."

*	*	*
	"You check the alley?" The big bald cop accepted the Styrofoam cup
of coffee from his short partner.
	"Yeah, it's clear.  I'll stay here and watch these two streets, and
you check the next block."
	Using the winds to propel her silently, Storm drifted down behind 
the policemen, and moved quickly to the back of the alleyway behind the 
courthouse.  Picking the lock on a back door, she slipped in before they 
even thought to look for an intruder.
	After wandering for a bit, she found herself in the main courtroom,
where a green, reptilian body lay on the floor, and an unfamiliar mutant 
appeared to be convulsing in the witness chair.  With a start, she 
recognized the two scars on his chest.  She had placed them there herself,
after he attempted to interfere in her duel with Sarah in the Morlock 
tunnels months ago.  His eyes appeared not to track her as she edged around
the room.
	*He appears to have suffered from the same affliction as 
Jean and the other telepaths.  He seems to be incapacitated. *  Storm 
cautiously stepped over to the green mutant.  With a start, she recognized
her as one of the two Gene Nationals that had left the African village with
Havok and the Brotherhood.  Storm thought for a moment, before remembering 
her name.
	"Te... Tether?"  Storm called. "Is that you? What are you doing 
here?"  Her only response was a low groan.
	Storm bent down to see if she was all right.  "Are you injured?"
	Tether opened her eyes, and with a swift movement, wrapped her tail
around Storm's leg and sent enough electricity through her to stun her.  But
Tether had miscalculated Storm's resistance to electricity.
	But Reverb, surprisingly, stood, and hit Storm twice in the gut. She
collapsed, wheezing for breath, and cracked her skull on the concrete floor.
Instantly she went limp and passed out.
	Hemingway and Sack emerged from the judge's chamber and looked down 
at the body.  Sack nudged it with his foot.
	"I'll have trouble possessing her if she's unconscious.  Wake her 
up, Reverb.  Why'd you hit her so hard?"
	"Nasty lady stabbed me.  You wake her up."  Reverb wandered back to
the chair, and instantly was snoring.  He had not adjusted well to the loss
of his psionic abilities.
	"I hope the Dark One can fix Reverb's attitude."  Hemingway sighed.
	"He'll fix him, all right.  If we give him Reverb, he'll put Reverb
in the same soup that screwed you up, Hemy."  Sack frowned.  "Tether, get 
back in position.  Marrow will be here any second."
	"I'm jusst fine.  Thank you for assking." she said, "And I've been
wanting to do that for a long time."  Looking down at the body, none of them
saw the doorway ease open enough for someone to look through from the 
outside.
	Marrow peeked in the end of the courtroom.  *Who was that on the
floor... Storm?  She _came_ for me! *
	"But how many other X-Men are out there?"
	"Sarah'll be here.  They don't want her enough to risk all these
breeders' lives.  And besides, once Storm wakes up, I'll be able to possess
her, and then the Gene Nation will have enough power to let you and Boost 
live however you want."

	With a cry, Marrow flung open the door and sent two knives whizzing
at Tether and Reverb.  Tether dropped down, but Reverb was pinned to his 
chair by his shoulder, and could only twitch and snarl at the former 
terrorist.
	"Relax.  I've got her.  She'll be no trouble."  Hemingway swung one
of his massive gray arms, and cleared an area front of the judge's podium. 
"C'mon, Marrow.  Time to die." Unnoticed in the sudden melee, Sack began to
creep towards the limp form of Storm, who was already beginning to stir, 
lying forgotten under one of the benches.
	Marrow stalked towards Hemingway, pulling two more bone knives from
her hipbones as she did so.   "You forget, Hemingway.  I knew you on the 
Hill.  I beat you there.  I always beat you there.  I beat you then, and I
will now."
	"I have seen the Dark One, and he has helped me," Hemingway swung at
the quick, young mutant, but she had already dodged, and vaulted over his 
shoulder onto his back, where he couldn't reach her.
	"Not enough," Marrow said, plunging shards as fast as she could pull
them into Hemingway's skin.
	"Aaargh! Hurts!" He was breathing heavily, blood flowing freely down
his back as Marrow leaped off and spun to face him.  She watched with 
amazement as the skin healed up.  Where had he evolved a healing factor? 
"Marrow is enemy.  Will crush, kill, destroy Marrow!" Hemingway lumbered
around.  It seemed that as his body became more powerful, his mind became
less so.  Dark Beast hadn't been as clever as he claimed, and left Hemingway
with a weakness she intended to exploit.
	"Not today.  I've got a little help now. A Boost."  Marrow watched
Tether's eyes go wide, and prepared to fling more knives at Hemingway as her
bone growth, accelerated by Boost's presence inside her, gave Sarah new 
weapons almost as fast as she could pull them free.
	But he moved faster than she did, and his fist lanced out to
splinter the floor beneath her.  Only by leaping up did she escape a fall
into the room below her, and landing on the hard concrete there.  While in
the air, she was vulnerable, and Tether took full advantage to tackle her 
and send her smashing into the empty jury box.  Marrow rolled to her 
feet, but Tether kept a hand wrapped in her hair, and pulled Marrow's neck
back.  
	"Let my husssband go!" she screamed, worried far past the point of
self-control.  Her tail began to crackle menacingly, and she prepared to 
wrap it around Marrow's neck.
	"I'd really like to, but we're not done with him yet."  Already 
recovered from the tackle (thanks to Boost), she grabbed Tether's wrist,
pivoted and swung Tether into Hemingway, who was waiting for Tether to get
out of the way before he hit Marrow.  All it took was a graze of Tether's 
tail, and electrical fire raced around the big Morlock's frame, dropping him
into unconsciousness quickly. 
	"I know all your weaknesses, boys and girls.  You can't handle an
electrical charge, Hemy.  Whatever the Dark One did to you, that took away
your mind, he didn't fix that flaw."
	"But with Hemingway down, I can let loose!"  Storm/Sack cried, and
summoned winds to slam Marrow up against the wall as the former leader of 
the Morlocks rose up, possessed.  Unfamiliar with the powers of his host, 
he blew Tether and Marrow both out the window, and into the courtyard of the
Justice building.
	"Whoops.  Little bit too much wind.  He lifted off the ground, and
went to go see what damage he had done.  He found Boost and Tether, lying 
side by side on the ground.  "Where's Marrow?  Get up."
	"Gone."  Boost held out his wrists, and showed the bone spike 
through it, linking his hands to Tether's.  "Even if I pull this out, we'll
be bleeding, and in no shape to fight.  We're out.  If you want Marrow, 
you'll have to take her yourself."
	"Yesterday, I would have had problems.  But not in this body."

*	*	*

	When Sarah got back to the courtroom, she carefully pushed the door
open and peered inside.  She had beaten Sack to the room, Hemingway was 
still out cold, and Reverb was still gibbering in the witness chair, 
completely oblivious to the chaos that must have raged around him.  She
headed for Hemingway's heavy body.
	*If I push him into the hole, he might stay knocked out for a while
longer.  That'll give me time to head back down, and find his cuffs. *  
Sarah knew she had to keep buying time.  But for what? She didn't know how
to contact the rest of the X-Men.  And the human police?  Storm/Sack would
slaughter them when they arrived.  Callisto?  Bright Lady, she wasn't able
to fight Storm at her best!  And who knows where she was hiding now?
	Sarah smiled at that.  She was even starting to swear like Storm.
She bent her knees to push harder.
	ZZZAP!
	The ground sizzled at her feet.  Storm/Sack floated in, and Marrow
ransacked her brain.  No Boost, her own powers already pushed past safe 
limits, and she had to knock out Storm without killing her.  Unconscious, 
Sack might be rejected from her, and leave Storm alive.

	*No one said redemption was gonna be easy, kid*
	
	*Time to use those skills I've been bragging about, * Sarah thought,
as a plan began to emerge. 
	"Well, there you are.  I must say, we didn't expect to find you back
here."  Sack/Storm floated over to Marrow, Storm's boots at Marrow's chest
height.  "I expected you to run right back for the Alley, not try and 
complete your rescue.  It's no matter, I'll kill you, and then this host and
I will make this city pay."
	"Tag!"  Marrow screamed, and leaped up, grabbing a hold of Storm's
cape and hair. Startled and surprised, Sack/Storm fell to the ground, 
lightning crackling around her.  Marrow hit the ground with her shoulder and
rolled both of them into the hole, and as Storm's random lightning lashed, 
out, Marrow was paralyzed and knocked out by the fall as the rest of the 
ceiling/floor caved in above her.

*	*	*

	*Oh, my head.  Why is it so dark?  Where am I? *  Storm blinked, 
clearing her head.  The back of her skull felt wet, her hair was sticky, and
she had trouble making out shapes.  As soon as it became clear that she was
trapped under rubble in a basement, panic clutched her heart.  Letting a 
blast of hurricane winds clear the way, she burst her way to the surface.
Trying to fly up, she noticed the lack of cape, and looking down she say it
clutched in a bony pink grip.  She tapped her communicator.
	"Storm to Beast.  Get in here, quick."
	"Stars and Garters! Storm?"  Storm heard the sounds of Beast 
bounding his way into the basement from outside the courtroom.
	"It seems Sack cannot possess unconscious victims.  I am free, but
he's escaped, and Sarah's trapped."
	"The guards outside have Sack and his compatriot miscreants in
custody, and Sarah shall be freed momentarily."  Hank and Storm lifted the
debris clear, and with a frown, Hank bent down to check her condition. 
"She's alive, and other than a broken arm, it seems she's suffered no major
damage."
	"Broken arm?"
	"Well, it's bent 90 degrees halfway up, and three quarters of the
humerus is exposed.   Even for Marrow, that's unusual.  I've reset the bone
back in place, which was remarkably easy with her skeletal structure, and 
she's got several burns that may take days to heal even with her accelerated
healing, but she should be OK."
	"Storm?  Beast?" Marrow struggled to sit up.
	"Rest, Marrow.  The authorities are here, and they say you managed
to free all the hostages.  The only casualty was the man Sack used to gain
entrance to the courtroom.  In addition, our allies in the political arena
are working upon some biological samples that may prove to be the gift that
grants you legal absolution for your criminal activities."
	Sarah murmured something and passed out again.
	"What did she say."
	"I think it was...  Earned the belt buckle?"

*	*	*

MUTANT TERRORISTS CONVICTED
	"And so, thanks to the testimony of two former members of Gene 
Nation, one 'Boost' and one 'Tether,' charges have been filed against the
recaptured surviving perpetrators of last year's horrific mass-murders, 
including their leader, known only as "Sack," who engineered today's 
escape. We can see the four captured mutants leaving over my shoulder, but
authorities are keeping the press from getting clear photos of them. 
Officials have declined to comment, but the Rwandan government has asked for
all of the mutants to be returned to the Gene National Colony established 
in the center of their country.  With the recent unrest in the area, 
several concerned parties have worried about allowing a powerful, militant
mutant presence to flourish in the region."
	"What will happen to the brave mutants that agreed to testify for 
the state? No one is quite sure.  And what has happened to the terrorist 
leader, one 'Marrow?'  A report indicates she helped recapture her former 
friends, and is working with a secret anti-mutant terrorist organization. 
This reporter hopes she can find somewhere to begin her life again, and 
someone who will accept and help her grow beyond her criminal past.  
Perhaps someday she, and her friends who will testify, will simply be seen
as mutants that risked their lives to see justice done.  This is Trish 
Trilby, signing off for WNBC, New York."

	Sarah turned off the television that Boost and Tether shared, and
went to head back up to the mansion.   The two mutants were recovering in an
upworlder hospital, under FBI 'protection.' Marrow had been checking up on 
their place to make sure the other dwellers in the tunnels didn't rob them 
blind.  Maggott was still lost down here, somewhere, and she had been asked
to lead him back to the mansion.

CLAP CLAP CLAP

	From the back of the Alley, a lone human stood, clapping.  Her blond
hair cascaded past mirrored sunglasses that hid her eyes, and her tailored
suit looked very out of place in the Morlock Tunnels.
	"Congratulations, Sarah.  I'm very proud of you."
	"Get lost or get cut, flatscan.  It's dangerous down here."
	"I'm sure you think so.  Would it reassure you to know that I've got
half a dozen SHIELD Mandroids down here as backup?"
	"That makes you feel safe, Super Special Agent?  I could gut you
before you could blink."
	"Heard it all before."
	"And that's what you're doing to me?"
	"Not in the slightest.  It's your lucky day.  You get to save the
lives of millions of us flatscans."
	"Is this some kind of a joke?"
	"No joke.  It seems that your friends have been working overtime
trying to show your rehabilitation.  Frankly, I don't care what you think.
The X-Men will keep you on a short leash.  But your bones are useful."
	"My... what?"
	"Your bones are exactly what modern medical science needs.  They 
lack several key genetic markers that most people have: In other words, your
bones could be anybody's bones.  I want to harvest the marrow, forgive the 
pun, from your bones to help in transplants, cancer victims, and the like."
	"Why are you doing this?"
	"Believe me, if certain other people in the government were in 
charge of your operation?  You would have been locked up, and only seen the
light of day when we came to pluck the bones and take them away.  But you 
have some powerful friends, Sarah.  And they've decided to grant you 
immunity in return for the following deal.  Once a week you show up at
Westchester County General Headquarters, and they'll be a team there to
evaluate your condition, and remove some of your excess bone growths."
	"Westchester?  I don't live that far north."
	"It's not many mansions within easy flying distance to NYC that had
an alien power signature, Sarah.  Don't worry, I _am_ on your side."
	"I... don't..." Marrow searched for the right words.
	"Say 'Thank you,' Sarah. Then go back to the X-Men.  If we ever see
each other again, I'll pretend this meeting never happened."
	"Thank you."  Sarah turned and disappeared into the tunnels 
silently, making the trek back to the mansion. Dr. Cooper flipped her 
communicator back on.
	"This is Valerie Cooper to SHIELD Units.  Primary Objective 
terminated."  She smoothly lied.  "Proceed with Secondary and Tertiary 
Objectives at will."

The End.

Notes
(1) This is the Morlock who was holding the bomb in the Storm Limited
    Series.  She never did much there, so I made up a mutant power for her.
(2) I placed the "African Village" of Gene Nation in Rwanda, because I 
    wanted to.  Sheesh.  Marvel puts the village in "Africa" like they could
    put it in "Ohio."
(3) I took 215 to be the number of Morlocks killed in the Massacre, because
    we've never been given a firm total, and genetics seems to indicate that
    for all the pretty "Alpha" mutants, there should be a lot of Morlock 
    types running around. Plus it's one less than 6*6*6, and I have a story
    brewing about that...
(4) Marvel created this set of tunnels that run from upstate New York to
    underneath New York City.  And the X-Men seem to be able to travel from
    the mansion to NYC in about 20 minutes, when it should take them about
    an hour.  So I used that weird time distortion here, too.
    Note: A recent X-Men Unlimited has shown that Marrow uses an old
    subway creeper car to travel the distance.  I'll buy that.
(5) OK - So Sarah has never met Boost and Tether on this side of the 
    dimensional portal.  This is a back-story not yet written.


Fred Garber