<<< Grendel and His Mother, [X-Factor, Morlocks, Sonny]

[Sonny]

Just After Like The Halls of Herot

---

So much anger. So much fear. Where was his mother? They'd taken her down here. They'd told him that. His bright eyes glowed dim in the black of the tunnel as power muscles that just an hour ago hadn't been there shot him through the dark like a missile. He bounded along the walls, gripping harsh and powerful claws into the stony surface, gliding along the floor in feral fury.

X-Factor would help. They were the good guys. Alex Summers saved the city, surely he'd save his mother.

Beyond that though there was something beyond the desire to see his mother again. Something not wholly in line with his other childlike thoughts. A Hunger. A Craving.

Meat.

He saw dim lights on up ahead. This was the right tunnel right? The one Callisto didn't want them to go in. The one that lead to X-Factor's house.

Callisto.

The upper set of eyes narrowed. She'd kept him away from his mom. She was dead now, he hoped. Nobody kept him from his mom. Nobody. Not when he could help her.

No, that wasn't right. Callisto was good. She helped the Morlocks. She was a little scary but she was like another mother. And he'd killed her.

The creature that Sonny Bean had become slowed to a stop, huncing up onto hits back legs and clawing at it's chitinous face. He'd ruined everything! A low moan escaped it's maw and it began thrashing, striking at the walls around it, carving deep gouges in the stone.

Sonny roared. "MAAAAHM! I DIN WAAHAN HURT YOOU>"

But still, something more powerful cried at the back of his mind.

He could fix this. But first he had to eat.

Eat Meat.

Meat.

Meat. Flesh. Red. Blood. Juicy. Tasty.

He had to eat. X-Factor would feed him, give him something. Then he could help fix things, right?

That foggyness faded into his mind again. He snarled, turning as he his now extraordinary hearing picked up signs of pursuit back down the tunnel. He'd kill them if they tried to stop them. No. No, he'd stop them but he wouldn't kill them. Or maybe he would. He was so hungry. Maybe one. One surely wouldn't get him in trouble, right?

No. Onwards.

The creature bolted forwards with a massive roar, and before long his head pocked out of the cavern's entrance, eyeing the gate to the Subterranean city.

A roar bellowed, announcing his presence.

He bounded down and slammed his head into the door.

"OPUHN!"

[Scatterbrain]

She didn't know how, after all of this, she could still be wearing a smile. She'd seen the horrific transformation, smelled the blood of her clan-mates, saw the chaos that tore through their home, but still, she couldn't help it.

Every last gulp of rage, every last bite of pain, every last sip of worry had poured into her and sent her into a state that could only be described as euphoric. Her head was swimming with the ingested emotions, and even in these dank tunnels, even when her body wasn't illuminated by one of the few "Safety Lights" placed here by sewer workers, or a beam from one of the street grates that offered a window into the world above, she was practically glittering in the darkness.

It was a rush that she would never be able to describe if any asked her. It offered clarity, happiness, confidence, and a newfound sensibility that she rarely experienced, and was the one thing that had cleared the fog that generally covered her mind to give her a single thing to focus on.

Follow Sonny... Stop him...

Tracking him was easy. Even if she had never met him before in her life, she would know where he was, and which paths to take. His emotions were reeling and writhing, an easy target for her, not to mention incredibly familiar.

She knew.

Sonny, as he was and how the Morlocks knew him, was no more. His change had brought about new perceptions, new sensations, things he'd never experienced before that were all slamming about in his head like a pinball. And now, he was running on almost pure instinct. Only the last remnants of what he was feeling gave any shape to the rage and ferocity that blared at her.

And it was how she knew to keep her distance. Until he hurt someone.. something, until she could sense that taste of murder, she would stay back.

It was hard to keep up with him at times. He was running so fast she was nearly flying at her max speed. A twist there, a turn here... She managed to close the gap by taking tiny side tunnels, drainage pipes that were just wide enough for her to quickly slip through safely into another tunnel that wouldn't be noticed by someone "just following the path".

And that was when she realized he had a destination. There was a sense of purpose underneath all the rage and pain, guiding him. A quick glance around and her lock on his location told her exactly where he was going.

Buzzkill.

"Oh no... no no no no no..." she mumbled under her breath as she darted down another corridor and finally caught sight of him, pounding on the door. Bad... bad... bad, this is SO bad!!!

She knew it probably wouldn't make any difference now, but she screamed out, hoping to stop him from pounding any further, hoping to lure him back and away from this place.

"Sonny!!! Please stop!!!"

She prepared herself as she curled her hands, her fingers itching and shimmering with the rest of her body as she clenched her teeth. The corridor was cramped enough without his massive form taking up almost the entirety of it. If he decided to come after her, she knew the only way out was back.

[Havok]

The roar shook the Old City, and Alex Summers, breaking off from where he had been working with the little moloid children on their defense class in a way that would have made his big brother proud, was the first to respond. This was his city where his people were safe between the good work they were doing. This life he had given them, his path dictated by his emotions ruling his action, was not comfortable. It wasn't sunlit and soft beds, good food... It was miles under ground, take out, and danger at every turn. But they followed him, because they believed, like he did, that there was something they needed to do, something that could only be done in this way. They trusted him, believed in him, and for some strange reason, they loved him enough to voluntarily follow him.

He would protect his people to the end. It's what he did. He was a Summers, and not just a Summers, but he was Alex Summers, alternately the destroyer and the savior of New York. He was a man who had died before to protect those he loved. It never even occurred to him not to lay his life down. It wasn't that he had a death wish. It wasn't that he was ignorant of his own mortality.

He was simply just a man who wanted the world to be better. Alex Summers was, at his core, a good man.

Running through the Old City, he tapped the radio in his head piece, and shouted, "All X-Factor in the Old City, report to the Gate, now! We have a guest knocking down our door and it doesn't look like he's delivering pizza."

Alex had been a track champion, team captain, and even now, he ran for pleasure. He was quick and he had unsurpassed stamina for one who was not superhumanly gifted with such. He arrived at the gates quickly, long before the creature who was pounding on them could knock them down. His blue eyes went wide for a moment when he saw that it was apparently a monster, and his hands filled with light and heat before he even registered. Taking a defensive stance, Alex called out to the creature, not seeing the morlock girl who crouched behind him, "Stop!" he said, forcefully, not yet willing to unleash his powers. "You need help? You want something? Talk to me, or get off my property. I don't want to have to hurt you today."

He knew monsters existed. He'd seen monsters before.

But he also knew that sometimes monsters were mutants. He was a Mutant Hunter. He brought Mutants to people who could help them.

If this monster was some overly evolved person, Alex was going to give him the chance to speak. But if it was just a monster here to do monstrous things?

Well, let's just hope it wasn't immune to heat.

[Reptil]

Humberto had been lying in his bed tracing a clawed finger into the ground creating random shapes and words when the roar hit. He immediately sprang to his feet and looked ahead. Something big had found its way down into their peaceful city and wanted to know what. Since moving in with these people, Humberto had not seen any sort of trouble from the outside. Everything had been smooth running and he liked that.

But now something big was bagging at the gate of the city determined to get inside so that it could do what… kill them? That was what monsters did right, kill and stomp on buildings? The creature sounded big, but not that big anyhow. By the time Humberto was halfway to the front of the city, Alex had called for the team’s aid. “On my way,” he responded.

Out in the open, Humberto took the skies to get an advantage on whatever was slamming into the gate. As he flew overhead he could see their leader down there charging up a blast. He did not fire it yet, possibly waiting for the beast to crash through the gate and give him a better shot. Humberto gave a roar of his own as he pulled his arms to his sides and dive bombed right at the creature.

He was about to tackle it with all of his super strength behind, but as soon as he saw a familiar green face off behind the creature he pulled up and changed directions. Humberto landed on the arc of the gate and looked to the always bubbly Morlock. “Scatter? What the heck are you doing down here and… what is this?” he yelled out.

[Ink]

His legs were weary from running. His lungs felt as though they were aflame. Most of all, his bruises coursed with pain that only seemed to grow worse with every bounding stride he took. However, none of these were in any way consequential to Ink at this dreadful moment. They were trivial in comparison to the discord that would befall the entirety of the Morlocks if Sonny were to rampage through X-Factor Headquarters. The tattooed man pushed aside his physical pain, now a dull throbbing throughout his person, and continued to rush onward.

The darkness was of little concern to the man whose eyes cut through shadow like a blade to grass. He could see the prints in the muck, the profound claw marks scored along the concrete walls. The beast-once-boy was truly a gargantuan force, but his infantile mind made him unpredictable and therefore dangerous.

“OPUHN!”

Sonny's rumbling cry echoed deafeningly throughout the tunnels, the distress in the boy's roar obvious to Ink’s ears. A faint shout from an ethereal voice followed soon after. Scatterbrain? He turned his head to Plague who was at his side and keeping up surprisingly well.

“Sounds like we’re almost there, we gotta pick up the pace!” he barked.

He took hold of the grey woman’s hand, pulling her along as he sprinted through the shadow-streaked passageways. In a minute or so, they had finally reached the entrance to the Mutant Hunter’s domain only to see Havok and Reptil nearly ready strike at the colossal Morlock. The pit in Eric’s stomach seemed to rise up to his throat as he stopped beside Scatterbrain.

”-heck are you doing down here and… what is this?”

“Stop! Dude, stop!” he yelled breathlessly. “It’s Sonny!”

As he stood trying to recover his energy, the ink-etched man nodded to Plague before looking to Scatterbrain.

“Be ready, but try not to get antsy and jump an assault,” he ordered, his tone hushed yet firm. “We saw how he reacted last time so we need to keep this as calm as possible.”

Turning to Havok now, he shouted to the X-Man, “He’s just a kid! Reptil, tell the guy!”

[Plague]

Though she felt more the nagging mother than makeshift rescuer, Plague pressed on with her tiny group meant to bring Sonny home. She had been chosen by Ink to tag along, despite the fact that the tattooed man should have stayed behind. Mall scolded him, albeit briefly, that his injuries needed tending to, not his ego. Someone else could have gone in his place.

The gray lady was, however, overly grateful for his presence when they hit the darker parts of the tunnels, reaching into areas not as familiar to her as other paths and places. His night vision had done wonders to bring them through this. She could only hope his other brands would be just as resourceful.

As the shouts and concerned tones of Morlock and Mutant Hunter alike echoed along the walls and cascaded around Eric and her, she returned Ink's gaze with a look of concern. Had things already spiraled out of control? The roars of the child mutant could mean anything, given it was his only means of communication since transforming. But as Sonny didn't have the words to explain, that was where Plague and the others would need to come in, lest he bring about an undesirable attack.

There was barely enough room to contain them at the gates. The only thing the older woman could do was wait to see which course of action was the best to take; words or pathogens? So far, Ink and Scatterbrain were doing well enough with the former.

[Skids]

Skids rocketed through the tunnels after Sonny. She was putting her recent trials and training to work and with a little effort she was completely silent. The field eliminated friction and allowed her to pick up on vibrations a little easier. This combined with her natural love of exploring the tunnels made following Sonny almost too easy. The transformed kid was fast though and she couldn't quite keep up.

She noticed where his path was heading very quickly. The one place they weren't to go the old city, home of one of the X-people groups. A thrill ran through the young 'Lock. Would they know Rusty? Perhaps know of a way to arrange another visit? Swiftly she pushed these thoughts and the heat rising in her cheeks down and focused on the mission at hand.

In what appeared to be mere moments she had caught up to Scatterbrain and Sonny at the entrance to the old city. Her first impulse was to charge forward and try to stop everything all at once. That was the old her however, the new Sally Blevins found a place to the side to watch and wait. Her powers provided almost unlimited protection, but only to herself. Far better to use them at a pivotal moment.

So she scoped out the situation. Havok, Sonny, Scatter, surprise guest star Reptil of all people, Ink, and surely a few more on the way. Words were exchanged and things were heating up way too quickly. Still she asked herself what the best action would be. Right now it seemed to be denying her instincts and waiting.

[Wanda]

A bellow echoed through the Old City. Wanda lifted her attention from the bubbling pot that held lunch and looked out toward the Old City's gate.

"Guests, Alex?" The witch asked as she stepped out of nothing and joined them, though the constant bang bang bang threatened to drowned out her voice. "We never have visitors. Not ones we did not bring here," she rambled on. "Oh, so many guests," her eyes widened as more and more of the tunnel-dwellers arrived.

The gates were strong and made of a strange metal that looked like glass, but they weren't indestructible. As Sonny beat his monstrous fists and head against the gate, it cracked and shattered under the onslaught.

That was what the monstrous being did, but really, Wanda was more interested in the those that chased after the... whatever he was. For her brother, Pietro, time crawled, letting him see an untold number of things in the blink of an eye, and with a desire and will, Wanda made time slow for her as well. For Wanda, shards of the gate hung suspended in the air, frozen in their fall to the ground. She turned her gaze from the bellowing creature, to those following at its heel. What she saw there wasn't fear, it wasn't anger, it wasn't hate; this wasn't a mob of angry villagers chasing down a creature - what she saw in their faces was concern. They were people a bit out of their depth but still struggling to hang on.

Wanda's fingers moved into an old, familiar gesture. Scarlet energy poured from her fingertips into the stones beneath the monstrous being's feet, changing them into something like tar, soft and sticky, not solid enough to stand on but sticky enough not to let go easily. It wouldn't harm the monster but hopefully slow it down.


"Trouble," Wanda snorted, "it always finds a way to our door."

[X-23]

Laura could smell that something was wrong, even before she heard the distant noises. The feral clone was off at once, sprinting through the ancient city streets in the direction of the gates. Something was very wrong. Only a few streets away, X-23 heard Alex call out for all members to assemble at the gates, ready to deal with their ‘guest’. Already she could tell that they were not alone and this became evident as she came to a stop beside the leader of X-Factor.

Taking a defensive stance, she glanced at Morlocks that had arrived behind the creature, many of whom were calling out about the beast before them being a child. Cocking her head, the feral took a few steps forward and sniffed the air cautiously. “His scent is confused, but he is indeed young…” Laura could have added that he was also highly distressed, even scared, but her teammates were not blind.

Even as they watched, Wanda reached out with her abilities and changed the state of the ground beneath his feet. It seemed to be effective in slowing him down, but it would not stop him entirely and so she did not drop her stance. At Wanda’s comment, her lips twitched upwards into a smile.

“It is fortunate we are skilled in dealing with trouble,” the clone commented, eyes fixed on what was trying to come through to them. “Child or not, he will need to be stopped somehow.”

[Sonny]

Soon enough, the Morlocks behind him began to catch up. He let loose a panicked groan and resumed his assault on the door. It would open. He was big now right? Big and strong. He could do anything. Anything. The green lady appeared behind him at the tunnel exit. He let loose a wild roar and spun, back around leveling another massive hit to the gateway. He felt it start to give under the bulk of his fist.

His assault continued. "OPUHN! OPUHN!" He grumbeld. "OPUHN!!!"

The master of this place came to greet him, shouting through the doors. He demanded explanation, and Sonny tried to parse his thoughts, but nothing came out, speaking was so hard, his mouth felt different. Was different.

"MAHM!"

His siege stopped short when he spied Reptil through the strange clear-metal of the gates, His stepped back on two feet, hunched and tilting his head. He'd almost forgot that Callisto had forced him to go. Forced him out. Forced him out!

As more of that lady's people arrived, shouting ahead to the X-Factor people, he leveled another large fist to the door, growling and roaring as he did it again, this time, however, something gave, and the gateway door shattered and crumbled under his onslaught.

He stood there, his hard skin cracked and bleeding at his knuckles. He moved forward on them, like some strange ape, towards X-Factor, towards help.

And then a scent. A familiar one.

Plague.

Meat.

She'd made him sick! He still had the sniffles, still had his throat scratched and sore. Still had his fever. He felt it all and it was her fault. She'd probably been part of why his mom was sick! He'd show her. She'd make a good meal.

Meal. Meat.

"HONGREH!"

Sonny bound forward before something caught at his hand, sending him tripping at the base of the incline leading away from the city. As he tumbled to the ground he pulled free his hand. The stone had become strangle tacky, and it taxed him to pull his feet free. He roared loudly up at the Morlocks who'd followed.

"MAHM!"

Sonny wrenched himself free again but this time spun to face the collected members of X-Factor. His four eyes blinked in concert as his snarling face went to one of mild anger and confusion.

"Mahm. Mehdsuhn."

He stared at them for another brief moment.

"MEHDSUHN!" He shouted, the word masked in a thunderous roar as his fists smashed angrily into the ground.

[Havok]

Morlocks began to appear, and as Humberto showed up, they began to identify the monster as a child, a kid named Sonny. This was a kid? Jesus, this was a hell of a mutation then. Horrible.

But he was a mutant, and Alex was in the business of helping mutants. As the crowd gathered, their people and his, and Wanda gummed up the kid's feet to keep him from rampaging, Alex puffed his powers away in a series of small plips around his hands, restoring his system's slow leak release of excess, almost instantly reabsorbing it again in a way that he didn't understand in the slightest. "Everyone needs to calm down, right now," Alex snapped, holding his hands up in the universe sign for 'hold the fuck on!'

He looked at the little boy who was trapped in the shape of a goblin, "That goes for you too, kid. You need our help, we can help you, but you have to calm down so we can do that for you." The boy started to growl something that sounded like he was calling for his mother, pounding on the strange metal of their gate. Alex looked at Laura and Wanda at his side and then at Humberto, "I'm opening the gates."

Pushing the gate open, Alex looked at the group of Morlocks and said, "Your leader is none to keen on our being here, and she's forbidden you guys from coming here. So, I'm going to guess you have a damn good reason for defying her."

Sonny began to roar again, asking for something for his mother, smashing his fists on the ground in a monster sized tantrum, "MEHDSUHN!"

"Mehd... Medicine?" Alex asked, looking up into Sonny's four eyes. "Medicine? Is that what you want? For your mother?"

He reached out to put his warm gloved hand on the monstrous child's arm, trying to calm him by treating him as a person and not a giant freak. "Hey, kid, Sonny, look, whatever's wrong, Kid, we're going to help you, but you need to calm down, ok? We're going to help. It's what we do. We help."

This was definitely one of the stranger situations Alex had ever been in, but this is what he did. This was who he was.

[Plague]

It was one thing when Sonny's gargantuan form and panicked behavior was aimed at the gates that separated him from the Mutant Hunter's habitat. But it was something else entirely when the kid turned and focused that fear and anger at her, though he had every right to be pissed with Plague. Surely, the worrisome child would later understand that the grey woman's intentions were to keep him safe. Hell, to keep all of them safe. Her disease of choice was specifically of a non-deadly sort. But when one was already upset, the littlest of things became obstacles...she would apologize later.

Plague summoned up a heavy bout of flu in both hands, readying herself for teeth and muscles, but needed only slip out of the way as Sonny collapsed at her feet. She hadn't noticed Wanda's ability at work, too caught up in evasive tactics. Mall would have to thank the Witch for that one.

The disease carrier caught her breath and settled her nerves while Alex addressed the fallen Sonny. Still thinking it best to stay out of the kid's reach, Plague hovered near Havok's backside, explaining, "Actually, Helios, Callisto is the one who sent us. Do you have any idea how rank it can get if you add a pile of corpses to the smells already claiming home down here? Not so fun."

She nodded down at their fellow Morlock, adding, "And he needs medicine for himself. I thought the flu might slow him down."

Even though Tammy probably did need medicine. Callisto, too. She gave the team around her a sideways glance. Did they ask for aide or not?

[Tourmaline]

Hurried footfalls chimed throughout the tunnel as Sullivan made his way toward X-Factor territory. His decision to stay behind and patch up Callisto (as best he could) delayed him significantly, and his mind raced through all of the possible scenarios created by his absence. There were two problems, Sonny and Hank before him, and Callisto's health behind him. This tunnel was like a no-man's-land with storms on either side, and there was nothing he could do to influence either of them. As a result, the majority of his thoughts were gruesome, but the pessimism only pushed him to move faster. He could only hope Tommy was successful in locating Healer, as he focused his mind on the struggles ahead.

Nearing the Old City, Sully saw that Callisto's dazed assumptions were correct, and took in the scene that lay before him. Pushing his way forward, he made his presence known, showing no physical signs of exertion from his sprint. Before Hank panicked, Sonny revealed powers of recognition and cogitation. Somewhere, amid the animalistic instinct and visceral fear for his mother's wellbeing, the bright young man still lived. But they weren't only chasing down a rogue mutant and friend now. The monstrous boy lead the Morlocks into a rather awkward situation, but Tourmaline was of the mind that it was nothing a dash of diplomacy couldn't solve. He wouldn't take advantage of Callisto's poor health, however. Sullivan was still loyal and respected her wishes, so they all needed to clear the area as quickly and quietly as possible.

"We have both medicine and competent personnel helping his mother already." Piped Sullivan. Before she befell the lad's ire, Callisto put in an order to Sanctuary, and for all they knew, Tamara was already recovering from her frightening episode. X-Factor's participation was unwarranted, and would only escalate matters later, in his opinion. And while he could appreciate Havok wanting to help now, there was no telling what they might do should the situation get out of control. Callisto didn't trust them, and since Tourmaline had no prior dealings with these people of his own, he would have to rely on her instincts.

As he spoke, his voice was as civil and impassive as ever, but it also carried a chilled note. "We only came here to collect the boy, so there is no need to endanger yourselves and your property…he's our responsibility. As you can see, he isn't thinking clearly, so if you truly wish to help, you'll remain uninvolved. Please, do not cloud the situation." The blond male, however, opened his gate and laid a hand on the boy. Stepping forward, Sullivan reached out to Sean and intoned: "Be calm, Sonny, Healer is with her, and we don't need to impose on these people any further. Your mother is worried about you, and seeing you will make her feel better…but you have to come with us. Come away from the gate."

[Reptil]

More and more Morlocks showed up chasing after the creature that was Sonny. His scent had been altered; however there were still traces of the kid. Humberto did not think much of it at first, but the others confirmed it. This monstrous mutant was the little kid that he often played with before being exiled for an opinion. Something had gone terribly wrong in the tunnels to cause him to change like this.

He was screaming for his mother and medicine while banging on the gate. The poor boy was out of his mind right now. The other members of the team did not even know he or his mother existed before now. As Alex opened the gate up before it was destroyed, Humberto dropped from the high wall and landed in front of Sonny.

“Sonny, you remember me don’t you? It’s alright, hermano.” The one goal here was to get him calm before anyone got injured. Sully made it clear that neither he nor Callisto wanted them to get involved. That was hard to do when the situation was brought right to your front door. Humberto growled just thinking about that one-eyed woman. Getting upset over past events would not help anyone here. “Sonny is my brother just as much as yours. We will help him whether you like it or not.” Humberto wanted to help him in anyway that he could. It sounded like something happened with his mom, but the others confirmed that she was better now.

“What happened?”

[Ink]

Ink’s nerves felt as though they’d been put through the blender as more of X-Factor began to pop up from the shadows. Goddamn X-groupies were multiplying faster than a pack of rabbits. He was nervous, but refused to let it show lest they take it for something that it wasn’t. His anxiety was purely reserved for Sonny and Sonny alone. He didn’t want a fight between the two factions to set the kid off. Still, he wasn’t too pleased with their pretentious attitude.

We will help him whether you like it or not.

“No offense to ya, Reptil, but you can pretty much go ahead and shove it. Sully’s right. You guys can go ahead and think you’re the be-all and end-all of mutants, but you guys aren’t God’s gift to mutant kind. We can take care of Sonny just fine by ourselves. Like he said, we got medicine and we’re takin’ care of Tammy.”

The tattooed man turned to speak to Sonny now as he cautiously approached the behemoth.

“You get that, kid? Tammy’s going to be fine and we got medicine on the way. We don’t need these guys, okay? We’re really sorry about the whole scuffle that happened. Dude, your mom’s probably all better by now thanks to Healer and waitin’ for you to open more presents, right?”

Now that he was only a few feet away from the gates and Havok himself, he addressed the man directly.

“We’re not looking for trouble, cuz. It’s the last thing we need here, but this is our business and we don’t want you involved. We’re taking the kid and heading back. Then we can pretend we were never even here, barring a few cracks in your gate.”

He hoped their disinterest in Morlock affairs was greater than their self-righteous egos. Pricks…