<<< Descent, Morlocks

September 10th, Evening

The nudist crouched over the remnants of what he could only assume was a great dane sized rat or a dog of some sorts. Whatever it was, the thing had obviously been torn to pieces. Sad, really. A rat this size would've made for a kickass thing to drop onto Keral or Thornn's beds. Man, the look on their face...

"Well, this is the thing you guys found when you were down here, right?" Sack said, looking up to the rat-like mutant. Since Callisto had been busy with other things, Sack had opted to take her position down here. Whether he was considered leader or not wasn't really something he cared about. He was never one for leadership. He'd rather be a low-rung member who got the best chance to escape when things got bad. Either way, it was something for him to do when he wasn't trying to get his ass beat in some underground fighting club.

"Somethin' went to town. I always heard the government kept giant roach monsters down here. You think that's what got it?" A rhetorical question. Whatever did it was proving to be a danger to the clan of superior mutants who simply opted for living underground.

"I bet that Magneto guy could take care of this in a second. Pop its head like a zit." Sneering, Sack looked further into the tunnel, squinting his glowing eyes to try to focus his natural light. "Think we should go down, Ratatouille? I'm afraid of the black pepper, so I might have to hold your hand."

Though Caliban had led the Morlocks before whenever Callisto was away, he didn't exactly consider himself second in command. It just sort of got slapped on him. But Caliban knew there were others who could do the job, not as well as Callisto, but definitely as good as Caliban could. Callisto had told Caliban of the 'mission' that Sack and a few others would soon be going on. Everything seemed to be okay at the hearth of the Morlocks tunnels, perhaps it would be a good idea if Caliban tagged along. Caliban closed his eyes and, using his mutation, searched for the mutant Sack. Wherever he was, was most likely where this 'mission' would be taking place. Once he figured out where Sack was, Caliban began walking in that direction.

Approaching the mutant from behind he asked the mutant Sack, "What do we have here?"

Caliban did not like what he was seeing. He looked like some sort of canine or over sized rodent. Actually, it was the remains of some sort of canine or over sized rodent, for this thing was nowhere near alive or whole for that matter. What had attacked the creature lying dead on the floor, Caliban did not know, but he had a feeling they would soon be finding out. And if they found out, most likely they would have to fight to not end up like the creature lying massacred on the floor. Did Caliban regret tagging along, no, but he hoped that whatever attacked the canine had the mutant gene. That way he could sense them coming and give out a warning to those around him. In cases like these, surprises are not good. Not good at all.

It wasn't widespread news yet but it would be soon. There were murmurs among the colony. No one really said anything about it in the larger groups. Only a few trusted Morlocks were given the news. There was no need to alarm the entire community. They needed to find out the facts first. The needed to investigate. Poe's murder of crows stormed down the tunnels until it reached the 'crime scene'. A small handful of other Morlocks were there already. Sack had been crouching over the body, sitting on his haunches. His skeleton showing through his gelatinous body. The crows alighted into a large group and Poe's human body took shape from the mass of feathers and beaks.

The activitst tipped his hat up slightly to see a little bit better. The sight below him was gruesome. "Shit, dude," Poe said. "I've seen pictures from animal cruelty cases, but this is sick. This wasn't some bored kid with social problems showing off on the internet."

Poe was going to be along for this mission or investigation, whatever they wanted to call it. Poe had seen the rat-like mutant around the tunnels but never really interacted with them. He needed to make a better effort to get to know all of the Morlocks in the tunnels. They were supposed to be a family and tightly knit community and they needed to stick together. That's why there were going to try and gather information on this murder. If it was something they could handle, they would take care of it. It was beyond their ability, maybe they would contact X-Factor. The Morlocks had a good connection with the group. Satyr was even kind of dating one of them. "Shit, man," Poe said again.

Eldan had just.. tagged along. For the past few weeks... for the past month, really, he'd just.. stopped talking to people. He did his share with supplies, but otherwise, he'd stopped interacting. Pretty much like he'd been when he'd first joined the Morlocks. The fact that he was there meant that maybe this was going to change. He'd approached when Sack was talking to a ratlike mutant, crouching by a corpse. The hood of his cloak pushed back. Some things had changed at least.

"Well, I'm not sure if the government is keeping anything down here, but I distinctly remember killing a giant roach monster. Helped, at least. And where there's one insect seen, there's usually a great many.." he said, trailing off when he got a good look at the body. Oh. Damn. The tall young man paled slightly. That had to be an entirely horrible way to die. Bits of fur and blood and entrails.

Blood wasn't one of his favorite things. He'd seen too much of it in his life and he was bound to see more of it. The way of things. He didn't really think there were more of those creatures, they would likely have tried to eat them at some point. It was likely something else. Something that could tear a giant rat to shreds. That looked promising.. He nodded to Caliban and Poe as they approached, but said nothing more. His gaze was trained on the mess of a corpse.

Something had been wrong lately.

Nick wasn't exactly sure what it was, but he knew that he and Callisto had done something terribly wrong by opening that gateway that led to the other set of tunnels.

They hadn't really found anything down there that was bad, per se. It was just an old set of tunnels that opened up into a large antechamber deeper into the earth. In the center of that almost dome like cavern was a spring of water.

Warm water.

That was really it.

Well, sort of...

They had also encountered a weird pile of bones. From what Nick could tell by running his hands over them they belonged to dogs, cats, rats...and one of them had to be a human femur. All of the bones were stripped clean of any kind of flesh, and most of them had rough marks etched into them.

Like teeth.

Nick didn't know what kind of animal lived down there, but whatever it was they didn't encounter it. He smelled something for sure. There was something living down there.

Something that ate meat.

Snapping out of it, Nick turned toward Sack who was talking to him. "Yeah, it's got to be the same kind of animal that lived down under." He wasn't sure what Sack had asked, but his mind was pretty preoccupied right now. "Probably got out while we were down there exploring."

The others seemed pretty freaked out. Maybe there was a reason to be. Nick shrugged and scratched at his chin. "We could try and find it or something..."

"What do we have here?"[i]

With Sloan staring off into space like a fucking goon, Sack looked over his shoulder at the approaching sounds of the tall carapace-faced Caliban stepped through the darkness of the tunnels. Poorly lit, Sack's eyes produced the majority of light he used to see. It wasn't much, but it gave him at least a few feet to see with.

"I swear I didn't do it, officer. I just found it like this, honest!" Sack said in automatic defense of being caught with the dead pup... rat... thing. Whatever it was, it had a little mutant in it, which was more than enough for Sack to actually direct his attentions to. Being a Morlock sucked, turns out. No one in their right (or left, in Sack's case) mind would go down into the dark depths of the city where who-knows-what lives.

A cawing dispersion of air radiated through the tunnels soon after Caliban came down. Reforming into his body, the environmentalist appeared.

[i]"Shit, dude. I've seen pictures from animal cruelty cases, but this is sick. This wasn't some bored kid with social problems showing off on the internet." Really... Nice laying the blame, Poe. It wasn't subtle at all.

"Psh. Fuck you, kid! I just said it wasn't me! Can't your hundred ears hear or have birds gone deaf since I was cooped up!" Haha, irony. But really, what Poe said was totally describing him. Bastard hippy. Take a shower.

Looking to the green-eyed wraith, Sack tutted, ignoring the last subject and resuming the primary discussion. Tangents were something he could never helped. "Giant roach monster? I miss all the cool stuff, don't I? Anyways, this things been dead for a few days at least. All it's guts ripped out like a fucking cow." As if to prove his point, the nudist thrusts his hand into the corpse, feeling around a bit. With a tear of cartilage, he managed to pull out a loose rib.

"Yeah, this things been dead for a while."

When the rat-like mutant turned back to him, Sack looked up, the light of his eyes barely lighting up Nick's face. "Or something. Yeah, great plan. Let's go down into the spooky blackness without a flashlight. Ya'll can die if you want. I'll just end up lost." Damn. Even he knew not to go into those type of places without some security. Looking towards the green-eyed kid, he spoke.

"What do you do? Walk through walls? Go upstairs and get us some flashlights. Chop chop," he waved at Eldan dismissively with the rib-bone.

Marcus was not sure what he was going to do. He had tried to stay out of the tunnels for a while until he could talk to Callisto, but he still visited once and a while. He had been walking down a tunnel when he saw a group of people including Poe, Eldan, and Caliban standing over a dead, something. Marcus had never see the likes of it before. He tried to stay out of the way, but wanted to get close enough to see if he could catch a scent. He tuned his sense of smell to his fullest and had to keep from gagging. The smell was horrible.

He crept in closer to take a look at the wound patterns to see if he could tell what kind of animal could do this but he had no idea. "I know I am new down here, but that doesn't look like an attack from any animal I have seen." He knew him being here would cause some problems, but he figured they might be able to use his tracking ability. "The scents down here are too jumbled I can't really discern one from another." He wanted to take something in case he could later on but didn't know what.

It felt good to be back with the Morlocks. Caliban would pick going on dangerous missions with the Morlocks over sitting alone in a safe place any day of the week. Caliban was in a jail cell whenever the 'Giant Roach Monster', that Eldan spoke of, attacked. Caliban wouldn't exactly call it fun, but he definitely would have liked to be a part of whatever group of Morlocks 'took care' of this giant roach monster. Caliban took a quick glance at everybody around the tunnel. If they were going to do something about this creature it would be best to do it soon. Deciding to take charge, Caliban said, "Alright, that's enough." Comments on how the dead animal looked or smelled would not solve anything.

"Mr. Marcus is right." Caliban said taking a big whiff. "The scents are jumbled, most likely there was more than one attacker. It is unclear whether these creatures killed as a unit or if they scavenged one after another." Caliban looked at everyone and though for a moment. "Caliban thinks he can track one of the creatures that did this. These creatures... may be a threat to the Morlocks, but one can not be certain. It would be best if these creatures were investigated more thoroughly. Anyone want to tag along with Caliban?" He said out loud and looking up at everyone. Caliban could not help, but feel a bit of worry. If these creatures were carnivorous, no doubt that they were, this group of Morlocks would have to band together to stop them.

Caliban turned to look at Nick a.k.a Roadkill who was the one who suggested finding the creature. It was unclear to Caliban whether Nick was being brave or just dangerously curious. "Yes. Those that are willing.... follow Caliban." Caliban turned toward the direction where he believed the creature went. Marcus was more than right. The scents were very jumbled and faint, but Caliban walked trying to un-jumble them and at the same time mentally scanning a radius for mutants and worrying that his Morlock friends would not follow.

"Hmm. Yes, you'll need a flashlight in case we get separated," Eldan agreed. He could make light if necessary with energy. However if they were going to split up to look for whatever it was that slaughtered that rat thing.. they would need their own sources of light. Sack may have been dismissive of his abilities, but it was likely he didn't know that Eldan was pretty useful. Or just didn't care. Didn't matter either way.

Without waiting to see if they waited or went on without him, he went into wraith form and sped through various walls until he was at the main tunnels. There were a few people around when he started looking through the supplies to collect a few flashlights, and someone questioned what the hurry was. He ignored them and started the return trip. He didn't take very long. Traveling through the well-known paths of the Morlock tunnels in wraith form took very little time, particularly with his shortcuts.

In fact, Caliban was in the process of asking whether anyone was going to tag along with him as Eldan rematerialized. "I'll come, Caliban. Just give me a moment.." He handed three flashlights to Sack. There was only six of them, so.. if they did have to divide into groups later it would be best if they didn't consider anyone going it alone. Sack wanted one. If anyone else wanted one, there was two left. Eldan didn't need a light. As stated previously, he could make his own.

As Nick listened to Sack talk a couple of things became abundantly clear. First of all, he was scared. Really scared. Maybe they had reason to be, but hell for a guy that Callisto told him was pretty much invincible he sure was being a pussy about crawling into a hole.

"You're right," Nick said with a hand to Sack's shoulder. "Better leave this one to the blind kid." He smirked as he turned away, not feeling nearly as confident as he put off.

"Hell, if there's a monster in my closet, I want to find out."

The one called Caliban was a big guy. He didn't seem too terribly upset about the idea of going in to check it out, and honestly Nick wasn't sure whether Sack was really sitting it out, or if he just liked the sound of his own bitching.

"This might sound ironic, but I can probably see better than any of you down there...flashlights or not." He turned toward the opening and focused on the sensations that washed over his skin.

There was a steady warmth that seemed to come from within. Nick knew it was the hot springs. He also thought he felt the sound of something stirring in there, but it was brief and light and when he tried to focus on it he wasn't sure it had been there at all.

"Blind leadin' the blind," he said with a smirk as he scaled the wall effortlessly. He slipped through the hole after Caliban and disappeared into the darkness on the other side.

The group around the dead rat-thing kept growing. Eldan showed up. That was a good thing. The wraith had handled nasty things in the sewers before so Poe was confident that Eldan could handle himself. Roadkill sidled up next. He had some enhanced senses which could be great in the dark recesses of the tunnels. Maybe he could help them from being surprised by anything. Besides that though, Poe wasn't sure how the blind mutant could help at all. That's just honesty there.

Sack spat some nasty words at Poe but the bird man didn't reply he just sneered in the dark. Fuck that nudist anyway. Sack ordered Eldan to get a flashlight or two. They'd need them down in the sewers. The way that rat-mutant was gutted, it would be the Morlocks' luck to run into some beast in the darkness and get murdered. Just their luck.

Caliban could sense in the dark. He also wasn't afraid. He stepped forward and called for any that were willing to follow him. Together they'd have better luck and be safer. Eldan and Roadkill stepped up to the plate. What the fuck was Poe going to do? The sewers were his home now. He couldn't let something just go around and murder everyone. What if Eldan or Feral or Thornn were next? No, they had to find the bottom of this mystery. Poe tapped his lips so his piercings clicked against his teeth. "Fuck it," Poe said posturing. "I'm down for this Where Are You, Scooby-Doo bullshit."

He fell into step behind Caliban. He kept quiet as he tried to follow along without bumping into anyone or stepping on anyones feet. Poe could transform pretty quickly, but he wasn't sure if he could transform fast enough to evade getting ripped open across the gut. He was feeling a lot more uneasy that he was letting on.

Sack looked at the kid who called himself an animal. The only way he was an animal was for being a stinkin' stank. The boy hadn't really adjusted to the sewers, so Sack thought, so he apparently thought that none of them actually showered. Freakin' kids. Once they hit puberty they wreak of shit until they throw on some deodorant. Sack had no doubts Animal forgot that.

The creepy ghost kid flittered off into his ghosty form, Sack looked back to the remaining mutants, first giving Caliban a look. Caliban had some mental disability. He hadn't heard Caliban say so much as a word since he came back, but apparently he talked like a three year old who always had to say his name first. Well, Sack was used to speech disabilities, but usually those were a result of broken teeth or something of the like. Either way, Caliban's third-person review of his actions were gonna annoy the crap outta his ooze.

Eldan came back soon, distributing the flashlights he got from his quick escapade upstairs. Taking the one that was handed to him, he flicked it on and off to make sure it was working. "Great, now I'm a fucking Lantern," he grunted, then looked to Nick when he placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Better leave this one to the blind kid."

"Aren't you like... thirty?" he asked quizzically. He didn't know. Whatever. Rat boy could do what he wanted.

As the others progressed forward, Sack watched them descend into the darkness. Standing around and being left behind, Sack furrowed his brows. He wasn't a fan of being alone in such a deep place with hardly any light. Horror movies were made of this stuff.Taking the flashlight, Sack pressed the shaft into his chest, slowly absorbing it with a wince. It hurt a bit, but it'd pass once he was done moving his transparent organs out of the way. Shifting those around, the flashlight positioned itself just between a few ribs. Flicking it on with his protoplasmic insides, he glowed like a blue beacon, casting off glistening projection of light ahead of him.

Fumbling down the incline, Sack carelessly worked his way down after them.

Marcus ignored the looks from some of the Morlocks. He may be a Morlock, but he wasn't always. He had run his hand though his still wet hair from a shower he had taken this morning. He never said it but his shampoo was messing with his nose a little. "I think I shall join you Caliban. I might even be able to help you with seeing, or smelling since my eyes are perfect for nightvision." Marcus was proud of his senses, he could see in no light, low light. He had binocular vision and could even see color at night.

As he had passed the carcass he had knelt and tried to get a scent of the animal killed. He was hoping he could follow any lingering scents from the victim that may have been left on the predator. He also tried to stay far enough infront of the flashlights so his vision wouldn't be hampered. He walked up to Nick and held out his hand. "Hey, I am Marcus. I will be your partner today." He figured he might want to get to know a few of the other Morlocks if he was going to live with them.

He had his claws ready in case whatever hunted that animal tried anyting. He was almost giddy with anticipation. He had rarely been able to fight anything while at the Mansion. Just a few baddies from the Apocalypse invasion, so he was almost jumping, on the inside of course.

In the darkness there was safety. The darkness was a protective blanket that covered over them, concealing them from harm. The darkness was cool and protective, and they could see in it perfectly.

But the darkness kept out most sources of food. Small furry animals were not enough to sustain the ravenous burn that they felt in the pits of their stomachs. Large handfuls of sloshy mud wriggling with juicy worms and crawling bugs were not enough to even keep the endless pain of hunger at bay.

They kept growing in numbers for awhile. Now they were starting to die off.

They were starving.

But a new world had been opened to them.

The outside world had plenty of food. Larger furry animals, some big enough to feed a handful of them. With bloody faces they fed until they were full and they would purr with delight, a guttural sound that rose in pitch to almost sound like a chorus of cicadas.

Best for eating were the tall ones that walked on two legs. They were harder to bring down, but not terribly so. Bringing them down in larger numbers was the key. Drawing them in to a trap of sorts was fairly easy.

A faint buzzing sound spread across the roof of the cavern.

Some of them were coming. Still a distance off. They scurried and hid in the deepest of shadows, flattening into narrow crevices and crawling into deep holes on sharp taloned hands.

Dinner was walking right up to the plate.

Giant bug like creatures, SWAT team mutant hunters, civilized mutant haters, flood causing natural disasters, and, of course, Apocalypse using the area over the Morlock tunnels as his own battle field. It seemed as if the Morlocks had been through it all. Yes, some had not survived, but those that had were either very skilled or very lucky. However, Caliban believed that it did not matter if you were lucky or skilled, both are factors that can make a situation go in your favor. Caliban often said to the little ones, "Being a Morlock, one has to make use of all their assets. Whether it be luck or skill, the ability to create concussion blasts or the ability to hide really well."

Caliban was happy to discover the group of Morlocks that had been analyzing the carcass were now following him into the lion's den. They all had great skills that would come in handy on this trip. Whatever had attacked the creature and made a carcass out of it had went in the direction Caliban was walking. The smell was faint and jumbled with many others, but call it what you want, Caliban had a feeling they were going in the right direction. Caliban kept walking, every so often he would turn to look and make sure they were all still together. Caliban hardly ever watched horror films, but whenever he imagined what one may be like, it pictured a little like this. A group of mutants walking and searching for something dangerous.

After a few minutes of walking, Caliban led the group to where he believed the scent led him. It was a huge lobby. Like a red light beeping in a submarine, Caliban's mutation set off an alarm in his head. He could sense mutants of some sort in the area. More than one definitely. Except these mutants were different from the ones Caliban usually detected. In submarine's radar, a square would mean boats or other submarines. That's sort of how it was for Caliban, he was used to squares or mutants, but now he was detecting triangles whatever that was.

"Everybody have your guard up!.....We are not alone." He said to the rest of the Morlocks.