DISCLAIMER: All characters in this story are property of Marvel Inc., and
I'm
not making a profit from this, so don't sue me. Except from Helios and
Glow, who are my own exclusive property. They may not be used without my
expressed permission.

X-Men: Yin Yang Part 6/?- All good things. . .

Morpheus, oneill@cambus.u-net.com	

{{blahblahbla}} is thoughts
^^blahblahbla^^ is telepathy

==============

	Spiderman had been on his way to see Forge in the medi-bay, because of his
recent problems with his powers. His spider-sense had disappeared
completely. Peter felt naked without it, and vulnerable for the first time
in his life. Also, he wanted to discuss an idea he'd had with Forge.
Motorised projectile generators, or "web-shooters" as he was calling them.

	If his spider-sense had been working properly, he would probably have
sensed Nightcrawler pounce from the shadows, about to bombard his skull
with several blows through his portals. Peter was in a daze from this,
stunned, and couldn't bring himself to fight back. What felt like an iron
girder slammed into his back, breaking his spine. He collapsed onto the
floor, and looked up.
	
	Through tear soaked eyes, he made out the shapes of three figures, and
heard a female say, "Can I finish him?"

	"Sure Angie," another replied, "Knock yourself out."

	Peter groaned from the pain in his back, and tried to speak. A paw slammed
into his throat, crushing his vocal chords. In the end, he felt nothing. He
was unconscious by the time the flames set his flesh ablaze. He was left, a
heap of molten flesh, as the first victim of a gene-war about to ignite the
whole world in flames.

==========

	Logan was the first to arrive at the communal area, and he ran in shouting
"Drake! Where are ya?" As he saw the ice palace Iceman created out of
necessity, he was momentarily in awe at his power. To transform an entire
cavern in an instant. Unprecedented.

	However, that feeling soon gave way to disgust, as he caught the lingering
stench of death in the air. Then, another scent.

	"Creed." He spat the words out, growling in a low, almost wolf-like tone.
Wolverine always disagreed with Essex's decision to enroll Creed in the
Rebellion, but had never done anything to upset the status quo. He was glad
when Creed gave in to his feral urges in a way, for it saw the end of his
tenure in the Rebellion. However, Logan knew the temptations and dangers of
being a feral mutant. Years ago, after he lost his wife in an explosion, he
stopped resisting his feral side. He lived in the wild for years, hunting
like a natural predator. Essex rescued him, and returned him to
civilisation when he nearly killed a group of wandering tourists. 

	So Logan knew what it was like to have these urges, but ever since he
suspected Creed was responsible for that bombing, he had despised him. Now,
he would have the opportunity to exact revenge.

	"Logan?" Iceman's voice called out. Then, a humanoid form emerged from one
of the ice-walls, giving Logan a rare shock. He had never seen anything
like it.

	"Jesus Drake, give us a warnin' fore ya do that again, huh?"

	"Sorry Logan, I've just been trying out some new tricks."

	"Well that's fine 'n dandy fer trainin', but this is serious. Where's
Creed?"

	"I've encased Sabretooth in an ice block, but I don't know how long he'll
stay. Where's David and Chrome?"

	"They're tryin' ta hail more people on the intercom, but there's a ton o'
interference. They'll be here soon. We've got to try an ge--"

	Wolverine was interrupted by an unearthly, primal cry, followed by the
shattering of ice. Iceman whirled around, but already knew what it was.
Sabretooth was free.

	His face was contorted with rage, and he was twitching from hypothermia.
His eyes surveyed the scene, and saw red. He realised that someone had
trapped him, and he had to get revenge. But his blood lust took over that
need, and he started sniffing for a scent. He caught a familiar scent, but
his primitive mind could not distinguish it, or even put a face to it. He
grunted, confused. The next thing he knew three adamantium claws had
slashed his torso, leaving a trio of deep slashes.

	He was enraged at this, and tried to find his attacker. As he caught his
scent, he was suddenly hit by a solid lance of ice square on the chin.
Then, as he fell to the ground, his body was covered in a net of ice,
pinning him down. He roared with anger, and struggled against his bonds.

	Iceman and Wolverine were standing over him, Logan's claws dripping with
blood. "A little harsh there old man?" Iceman asked.

	"No. Creed is a wild animal, so he should be treated like one. Besides,
he's killed people here."

	Iceman was confused. "How did you know that? The bodies are covered by my
ice."

	"I can smell 'em."

	"Oh." A moment later, Chrome and Maverick ran into the cavern, and headed
towards Logan and Bobby.

	"What's happened?" Maverick asked.

	Logan replied, "Creed's back. I dunno how, but he's killed a ton o'
people. As ya see, we've got him here, but Drake's ice won't hold him. I've
been thinking Chrome, could ya transform the ice into adamantium."

	"I don't know," Chrome replied nervously, "I've not constructed it before.
I can try an alloy of lots of metals I do know, like steel, iron, platinum,
titanium."

	"Okay," Logan said, "But we've got to teach you to make more things soon,
when this is over."

=====

	Above, in the medi-bay, the Marauders stood in the entrance, assessing the
situation. Nightcrawler was the first to speak, with considerable bravado.
"Good afternoon fellow mutants, and flastscans. We are three of the
Marauders, and we are here to kill you. That is all."

	On his last words, the three killers launched into action, tearing up
makeshift beds and destroying cabinets. Forge, the most senior member of
the Rebellion, had been taken aback by the suddenness of this attack. Now,
he regained his composure, and set to work. He transmitted an emergency
psionic beacon, as well as a message over the intercom alerting all
personnel of a security breach. 

	Then, he got to work fighting the Marauders, firing wide range laser beams
at them. He clipped Colossus, but it didn't affect his omnium armoured
state. Forge realised that his patients were in danger too, and ran to the
adjoining cavern where the critical patients were held. He was astonished
at what he saw. Juggernaut, who had been in a coma for days, was sitting
wide awake, and alert. 

	"Cain?" Forge gasped. "How. . .?" Then he realised. He had transmitted a
psionic beacon from the workstation, which was on a high, almost subliminal
frequency, so that all the telepaths could hear it. It was not a frequency
which any of the telepaths' powers were on, so hadn't been used to
stimulate Cain. Apparently, it was the right one to wake him. Forge noted
this for future use, then talked to Cain.

	"Right, I know how we revived you, but there's no time now. We're under
attack from three Marauders, and I need help. You're the only one who's
here. Are you up to it?"
	
	"I dunno. Let me try." Cain flexed his muscles, limbering in preparation
for his transformation. He took a breath, and concentrated. Suddenly, a
crimson glow leapt forth from his chest, and engulfed his entire body. In
seconds, his body was transformed, thanks to Dr Strange's amulet. He had
successfully changed into the Juggernaut, and his powers were back.

	"Oh yeah! I feel great. And invulnerable! Now, show me those punks!"

	As he watched Juggernaut race forth to confront the enemy, Forge felt a
stirring of hope in his heart. Seeing Juggernaut at full strength, and on
the side of angels, was a good sign. Nothing could stop the Juggernaut. Or
could it? Outside, Forge heard an almighty explosion tear into the sounds
of battle, followed by a tremendous flash of blue light which Forge
recognised as the teleportation effect of the Hellfire Club. Panicking, he
sent out another frantic message over the intercom system, but found it was
being magnetically jammed. He didn't have time to override it, so he
switched to a psionic transmitter. As he tried to send a signal, something
blocked him again, then swiftly, someone sent a telepathic bolt along his
transmission line, rendering him unconscious. In the instant before he
passed out, he wondered who on earth had the power to do such a thing. 

=====

	A few metres away, hell on earth had seemed to manifest. Around thirty
Marauders had teleported into the Rebellion's medi-bay. Any patients that
were in there, unable to use their powers from either illness, shock, or
lack of powers, were slaughtered on the spot. Caliban alone had killed five
humans already. Juggernaut had tried to protect them, but the sheer volume
overwhelmed him, making him preoccupied. Reinforcements arrived, after
Forge's first call, but no-one was left to save. Young mutants, wounded
humans, massacred indiscriminately.

	But, there was still a battle to be fought. For honour, pride and to
avenge the dead. Gambit and Wisdom were the first to arrive, and as the
witnessed the scene before them, neither were shocked. Both knew it had to
happen eventually, so why not now? They were not cold warriors but, they
were appalled to their very souls that these Marauders could commit such
atrocities without thought for the consequence.

	Gambit's first victim was Gauntlet. He saw him stand over a dying child,
and then he kicked the boy in the skull, pushing him into the icy grip of
Death. Gambit put his hand to the stony floor beneath him, and sent a
pulsing charge along it. The ground beneath Gauntlet erupted, sending him
into the air. Before he landed, Gambit had killed him with a single thrown
blade. 

	Gambit, Wisdom and Juggernaut made a good team, but they were no match for
thirty-odd Marauders with a thirst for blood. Juggernaut was taking on
about ten Marauders, including Colossus, Warpath, Thunderbird, and all the
other powerhouses. After a few minutes fighting, Wisdom realised they were
being overpowered, so decided to do something to remedy that fact. He
assessed the situation; Juggernaut surrounded by Marauders, Gambit picking
Marauders off expertly, no survivors. He carried on fighting until he saw
an opening. As Gambit scarred Pyro with a charged blade, Pete fired a round
of hot knives into his opponents, Sack and Fenris, and rolled along the
floor to Gambit.

	"Remy! I've got a plan to get the heat off us fer a while."

	"Oh yeah?" Gambit answered, sending a charge along the wall next to them,
wounding Wolfsbane. 

	"I want you to charge th--" he stopped as one of his hotknives slid into
Northstar's throat. "To charge the cave roof above Juggernaut, but not all
the rock. Just surface rubble. Can ye do that?"

	"Probably. If I sent a small charge, it wou--" Remy's words were cut off
by a magnetic pulse striking the wall next to them. 

	Wisdom shouted above the noise, "DO IT! I'LL KEEP THEM OCCUPIED!" Then,
with a flick of his wrist, he sent a cascade of hot knives in Polaris'
direction, and rolled away, drawing her fire from Gambit.

	A few seconds later, a warm red glow emanated from the roof, before it
collapsed down upon the fighting hordes. After the raging inferno of the
battle a few seconds ago, the cave was silent, but for the crumbling of a
few rocks. Gambit and Wisdom, who knew what was coming, were able to dodge
the rockfall, and stood over the fallen, waiting. What they had expected
came soon, as Juggernaut raised one arm through the rubble, and pulled
himself out.

	"Go n' spoil my welcome back party why doncha! I was gettin' back inta
it."

	Pete replied, "You know we had to do it. Now, c'mon, we've got to get to
Mav and the others. They'll know how to contact Essex."

	"Wait," Gambit stopped them, "What about Forge?"

	"If he was here he would've helped. He must have left to find others. Now
lets go."

	The three men ran out of the ruined medi-bay, unaware that above them,
their worst nightmare had arrived. At the top of the complex, in caves
barely used, stood the Inner Circle.

	Magneto. Apocalypse. Sebastian Shaw. Charles Xavier.

===============

Sorry to all you Spiderman fans out there, but I promised some deaths would
happen. The next one is going to happen in 7. I had planned a lot of things
this installment, but writing this I decided to put this out to bridge the
gap while I recharge. Also, I was going to make Creed and Logan friends,
but some things are just too fun to ruin.  :) And, I know I said 5 people
would be gravely wounded, but that comes next installment. Promise!


Roll Call
*********

Rebellion: Essex, Wolverine, Storm, Forge, Maverick, Jean Grey, Havok,
Deadpool, Daredevil, Iceman, Hawkeye, Banshee, Clear-Cut, Chrome, Doom,
Blink, M, Iron Man, Shang-Chi, Morph, Sunfire, Callisto, Glow (original),
Boost, Speed Demon, Legion, Maggot, Spiderman (deceased), Chamber, Gambit,
Marrow, Abyss, Juggernaut, Wisdom, Sabra, Landscape, Helios (original).

Hellfire Club: Angel, Hank McCoy, Shinobi Shaw, Quicksilver, Scarlett
Witch, Reed Richards, Emma Frost, Roberto daCosta, Mikhail Rasputin. Paige
Guthrie as slave

Inner Circle: Ennur Sabah (Apocalypse), Erik Magnus Lehnsherr (Magneto),
Charles Francis Xavier (Mutant X), Sebastian Shaw.

Marauders: Warpath, Thunderbird, Moonstar, Colossus, Jubilee, Polaris,
Wildchild, Omega Red, Scratch, Deflector (Reyes), Fenris, Sack, Vessel,
Skin, Nightcrawler, Unuscionne, Caliban, Aurora, Northstar (deceased),
Pyro, Avalanche, Spoor, Rictor, Dazzler, Meltdown, Siryn, Black Tom,
Shadowcat, Multiple Man, Random, Strong Guy, Firestar, Gauntlet (deceased),
Tusk, Wolfsbane, Feral, Magma. There's loads more, but far too many to go
into here. Sabretooth as prisoner

Externals: Gideon, Mimic, Cannonball, Nemesis, Exodus, Candra, Selene,
Crule, Absalom.

==========