The New Warriors stood up against the mutants who ran X-Camp. Cowering behind the New Warriors were Donny and Lorna. Ultra Girl had a feeling it would come down to this and she had made it just in time before the fight broke out.

“Give the kids up and we won’t have to hurt anybody!” Archer exclaimed his body turning into pure energy as a threat. The New Warriors didn’t want to mess with him.

“And let you torture them again? Please,” Ultra Girl mocked getting in the stance to attack one of the X-Campers head on. This was going to be a fight the New Warriors wouldn’t soon forget. The Kree girl was sure of it. They were about to fight a bunch of mutants. When they group together they tended to do some ass kicking.

“It’s obvious you have all allowed yourselves to be influenced by these delinquents. We’re taking them back with whether you like it or not,” Mimic proclaimed as he fired off an optic blast at Hindsight hitting him square in the chest and sending flying back into a wall.

“Attack!” Night Thrasher yelled as he leaped into the air and kicked Caliban in the head. The former Morlock went skidding across the ground and before he could respond Night Thrasher was on top of him.

“Get off me!” Caliban yelled as slammed his knees into Night Thrasher’s midsection and sent him flying backwards into a wall. The former Horsemen jumped up to his feet and charged at Night Thrasher. He rammed his shoulder into Night Thrasher’s chest and the leader of the New Warriors could feel his armor crack.

“You’re out of your league here!” Night Thrasher yelled as he activated his armor and sent electricity flowing throughout the whole of his armor. 50,000 volts went straight into Caliban and with a sizzling cackle he went flying right into the back of Hornet. The mutant’s body was still conductive when he hit Hornet from behind. The electricity took them both out.

Cursing under his breath Night Thrasher moved forward into the fray of battle. He didn’t want to take Hornet out, but he had to get Caliban off of him. If only he had more control over this armor maybe things would be a lot easier right now. He was supposed to be the leader of this team, but he was having a harder time controlling himself than his teammates.

“Don’t ever turn your back from me!” Mimic exclaimed proudly as he covered Night Thrasher in a thick block of ice in no time flat.

Bolt sent the electricity from his hands and hoped it would reach its intended target. Kylun was too fast though and easily dodged the electrical attack. Moving gracefully amongst the medical equipment the New Warriors had laid out Kylun made his way up to Bolt. Getting right in Chris’s face the beast man growled and kicked Bolt where the sun didn’t shine too often.

Falling to the ground Chris managed to wheeze out, “Bastard.”

Kylun jumped up slightly and kicked Bolt in the head sending him into the land of unconsciousness.

“You should not have stood in our way child.”

“And you shouldn’t go for low blows,” Ultra Girl said as she came up behind the former Excalibur member and kicked him dead between the legs. Kylun let out a ghastly howl and fell to the ground struggling for breath.

“Man I really can’t stand punks,” the Kree girl said dusting off her hands when a blue optic blast struck her square in the chest. It didn’t affect her in the slightest though. Standing before her was the former X-Forcer, Syphon.

“Kylun is the furthest thing from a punk you’ll ever meet,” Syphon exclaimed as she flew forward and hit Ultra Girl square in the jaw. The woman went flying into a nearby cabinet and held her jaw slightly. With a punch like that Ultra Girl could have sworn…

“Oh shit. She copied my powers,” the Kree woman said with a surprising realization.

“Yea trick. I got your powers and I intend to use them,” Syphon said charging forward like a raging bull and slamming her shoulder into Ultra Girl’s chest. Grabbing hair Syphon flung her opponent over her back and slammed her into the ground. The whole Crashpad shook under the massive force. Ultra Girl was out cold.

Ricochet dodged the claws of Thornn gracefully and kicked her in the side of the head. The feral woman went rolling out of the way and Ricochet planted his feet in her back. Thornn cried out in pain as she turned and slashed Ricochet across the chest with her claws.

“Ouch! Damn didn’t Mommy ever take you to the veterinarian?”

“No, but she did show me around a slaughterhouse,” Thornn growled perching down in a cat-like position. She was poised to attack.

Ricochet wasn’t going to let her get the jump on him though. Leaping into the air just as Thornn pounced he sent down a rain of electrically charged disks. All of them landed on Thornn’s back and sent enough voltage through her to take her out for the moment.

“You won’t get away with that kid,” Mimic exclaimed as he blasted the young Warrior from the sky. When Ricochet hit the ground Calvin charged at him and using Jean Grey’s TK sent Ricochet bouncing off the walls like a ping-pong ball until he was unconscious.

Standing over the defeated Ricochet’s body Mimic laughed at the sight, “Poor kid. He really did try hard.”

“These guys are really kinda sad in a way,” Syphon said holding the bodies of Crux and Spiderwoman in her arms. The young girl threw them beside Ricochet. Not enough to hurt them, but hard enough so Syphon looked like she didn’t care how knocked up they were.

“Lets just go. I already got Donny and Lorna. No need to cause anymore trouble,” Archer implored.

“Alright fine. Lets just go. We got what we came here for,” Mimic replied.

“Basically we just got our lungs and then some handed to us,” Night Thrasher said as he stood in front of his whole team. As the leader of the New Warriors he felt an obligation to state the obvious, but he was just as embarrassed as the rest of his team. He was no different from Mattie or Hornet.

“So what do we do now? We just lost Donny and Lorna. Who knows what they’re going through at this very moment!” Ricochet exclaimed. He had barely known Donny and Lorna, but it was obvious that this X-Camp they were at was hardly a model facility. He didn’t want them there anymore than he wanted those other kids stuck at that place.

“I say we go in and take down X-Camp!” Ultra Girl exploded still angered at her own powers being used against her. Syphon had used her own powers against her. Nothing at the moment infuriated the Kree girl more. Her race was hardly known for their peaceful temperaments and this Syphon had just insulted her in such a way. Ultra Girl was finding it hard to even concentrate at the moment.

“We saw what happened when we had a direct confrontation with X-Camp. That’s definitely not the way to go though I do understand your frustration Ultra Girl. Ultimately, though we can’t let our anger get the better of us,” Night Thrasher advised. Dwayne had to admit to himself that the anger that was engraved on Ultra Girl’s face was also in his heart. The way he had made a fool of himself in that fight was enough to drive him wild. This new armor was beginning to prove more a hindrance than a help.

“Then what should we do? Drink tea and reminisce?” Crux asked annoyed. She trusted in Night Thrasher’s leadership, but Ultra Girl’s way felt like the right one. Sure, X-Camp caught them off-guard once, but it wouldn’t happen again. The next time they would be ready. Cristelle didn’t want to say it, but she felt that Night Thrasher was afraid. She had seen how bad he got beaten.

“No, that’s not what we’re going to do Crux. We need information if we plan on getting the best of X-Camp. I can promise you that. What we we’re going to do is go undercover,” Night Thrasher said. He could tell from the expressions on the Warriors that they weren’t too taken with his idea, “Look if you don’t like the idea I could honestly care less. I’m the leader here and it’s what we’re going to do.”

“So who’s going on this little undercover expedition?” Ricochet asked jokingly pointing a finger at Hornet.

“Glad you asked. You and Bolt will be,” Night Thrasher replied. Ricochet nearly fell out of the seat he was leaning in.

“Why us?” Bolt asked.

“Don’t ask. Just follow orders on this one. I’ll set up everything and while I’m doing that I want the two of you to pack,” Dwayne ordered sternly.

“And what are the rest of us suppose to do? Sit on our asses?” Crux asked once again annoyed with Night Thrasher’s strategy against X-Camp.

“No. You’re going to be running drills till you puke,” Night Thrasher said quite seriously. There wasn’t any indication that he was joking and that was enough to make Hornet want to vomit right there. He could just see the endurance drills running in his head.

“Guess I’ll get packing. Hope you guys have fun,” Ricochet grinned pretending to wave like a Miss America would.

“Think idiot. You’re going to a mutant boot camp,” Spider-Woman said wanting to lift up Ricochet’s foot and throwing it into his mouth for him.

“This is just peachy,” Ricochet said jabbing Bolt in the side as he pointed at the meager facilities that made up X-Camp. They were riding a bus on the way to X-Camp with other mutant delinquents. The whole ride had been rickety and full of bumpy roads in need of desperate patchwork. Bolt had remained silent almost the entire time because one of the boys seated a few rows down from him had looked like a victim of the many he had slain in Seattle. Looking at that boy bought back a flood of memories of the terror he had created alongside Wild Child, Magik, X-Man, and Blizzard. He often wondered if they suffered the way he suffered.

That’s why Chris was thankful for Gina. He couldn’t say he was love in with her, but he did have strong feelings for her. For so long Chris felt like he was dead inside and he had been waiting for someone to bring him back to life. Gina was able to see that hurting in him and she had pulled him free of the darkest that he had been slipping into. Bolt’s soul had felt barren and he was becoming undone, but Gina had saved him from the nothing he felt he was becoming. If for no other reason he had to care about her for that. She had thrown him a lifesaver when no one else could, not even Maverick.

“Hey man you there?” Ricochet asked waving in front of Bolt’s face trying to snap him out of his daze. While Ricochet liked to try and not worry about anything he did often worry about Chris. He always looked like he was carrying a weight on his shoulders that he alone would have to bear. Getting brave Ricochet had once asked Chris what was wrong. Bolt told him there were just some wounds that time cannot heal. That had been enough to make Ricochet back off.

“Yeah I’m fine Ricochet. Just get ready. This will more than likely be intense,” Bolt said as the bus came to a screeching stop.

“Pssh. I can handle anything,” Ricochet said boldly.

Hindsight looked over various documents covering a few topics that he had a feeling had to do with Lorna. Spider-Woman was behind him and she asked, “Just what are you doing man? I know Night Thrasher gave you an assignment, but articles on twitches doesn’t seem like New Warriors business to me.”

“Actually I’m researching Lorna’s strange behavior. She exhibited twitches, excessive bathing, and she seemed to have an extreme fear of being touched by males. Right now I’m cross referencing materials that might link all these behaviors together and give me a clue into Lorna’s possible mental state,” Hindsight said not once taking the time to even turn and look at Mattie.

Sighing Mattie said, “I guess I’ll leave you to your work then. I’m sure you’ll have some fun with it.”

Hindsight laughed at the sarcastic comment, “I’m sure I will.”

Mattie walked out of the room and closed the door only to find Cristelle outside waiting for her with a smile on her face.

“Looking for some company?” she asked.

Mattie shrugged, “Sure. Why not?”

“Why so down?” Crux asked trying to lean in a little closer to Spider-Woman. She could smell Mattie’s perfume and it turned her on so much that she had to fight the urge to lean over and kiss the girl. Cristelle knew why she kept persisting in trying to get close with Mattie even though the girl wasn’t even confident about her sexuality. Crux wanted a challenge and Spider-Woman was proving a worthy one.

“I’m a little worried about Chris and Ricochet,” Spider-Woman said not wanting to sound weak.

“Don’t be hun. They’re big boys. I’m sure they’ll be fine. Lets talk about more pressing issues. Like me and you,” Crux smiled.

“I haven’t the slightest clue what you’re talking about,” Mattie said playing dumb.

“Lets not get into childish games here. I know you got a thing for me,” Crux replied.

“Can’t you just drop it Cristelle? I mean is sex the only thing you think about? You’re worse than the boys I go to school with,” Mattie exclaimed becoming a bit angered at Crux’s constant pursuit of her. Folding her arms across her chest and eyeing the French girl she was hoping the point had got across.

“I like when they play hard to get,” Crux laughed as she walked away from Mattie who was shaking her head in utter disbelief.

Ricochet fell out on the bed next to Bolt and yelled, “ I can’t believe these bastards! Who would send their kids here?”

“I don’t know. I kinda like the strict regime. At least my abs are starting to look better,” Bolt said trying to joke, but he knew why he enjoyed this place. It was punishment and maybe subconsciously Chris felt like he needed to be punished.

“Well, when you have to carry a badge with your ass let me know how much you like it then!” Ricochet replied. All he did was call Archer a jerk and he ended up having to carry a pointy ass badge between his butt cheeks. If someone knew how to deal out punishment it was that damn Archer.

Unknown to the two Warriors, Caliban and Thornn stood outside of their room listening to the conversation.

“I know they’re from that team we fought before. Should we turn them in?” Caliban whispered.

“I smelled them too, but no. Let them stay and learn that X-Camp is no harm to anyone. Then maybe the whole misunderstanding between us earlier will be resolved,” Thornn replied.

“Agreed,” Caliban said.

As the two X-Camp supervisors walked away from the room, Bolt opened the door and stepped out of it.

“Where are you going?” Ricochet asked not wanting to be alone in the room knowing that his other two roommates would soon return. They were the epitome of the word assholes and it ached Ricochet knowing he could break their arms at a moment’s notice. He hated the fact he to restrain himself on the two jerks.

“You’ll be alright. I’ve got to go meet Kylun in his office. He wants to talk with me about something,” Bolt lied. In fact he had set up the meeting with Kylun. He needed someone to talk to. His guilt was just beginning to become too great and now images began to plague him even in his nightmares. Sometimes he just wished his whole life had been one big dream and someone was going to wake him up any moment now.

“Okay man. Just try and get back quick or you might find Zack and Jim in pieces,” Ricochet joked.

Almost the moment Bolt walks out of the building that houses his room another mutant makes their way to Ricochet. Banging on the door rapidly he isn’t quick to get a response. Ricochet figured it was his two roommates planning to pull a joke, but the thing with them that their jokes were just annoying and lacked the main element of being funny.

“If you guys think you’re giving me a weggie again…Donny?” Ricochet asked.

“Yea man. It’s me. We’ve got to talk. The X-Camp guys are planning something major,” Donny said handing Ricochet a piece of paper that had a design of some sort on it.

“Man this is insane. It looks like something a telepath would have to use.”

“Exactly,” Donny agreed, “It’s a brainwashing device. They’re going to use it to make all the kids here into their personal army. We’ve gotta stop them.”

“And we will man. Believe that.”

“Glad to see you showed up Christopher. You said there’s something you needed to talk to me about,” Kylun said seated atop his desk. That had caught Chris off guard a bit as he expected a supervisor to be professional and seated behind his desk.

“Yes there was something I needed to talk to you about,” Chris said taking a seat.

“Well, go ahead. I’m listening,” Kylun said trying to cover up a feral snarl at the end of his sentence.

“A while ago some other people and myself did something really bad. We caused a lot of people to get hurt and I just can’t seem to forgive myself for it. I lashed out with my mutant powers in ways I would have never thought possible and I’m paying for it. My life is haunted every moment by what I did. I don’t know what to do with myself. Redemption doesn’t seem to be the answer and neither does trying to move on. It just won’t leave me alone,” Bolt said getting out as much as he wanted to say in one breath.

“Sometimes we allow ourselves to fall into the trap of peer pressure. Were these others your friends?” Kylun asked leaning forward a little bit.

“No. I didn’t even know them. We were forced into doing what we did, but still the sin bears down on me like a rock. Nothing has seemed to help,” Bolt replied.

Kylun quickly pulled out his sword and slashed Chris across the chest with it, “My sword can’t cut those who are worthy. You were controlled and what you did wasn’t your fault. Your just as much a victim as those people that you hurt. Make sure you remember that before you go beating up yourself again.”

A voice suddenly came over the intercom. It was of the head of X-Camp, the former Commando, “We need you here quick Kylun! Those New Warriors have made their way into the camp and are herding students out even as we speak!”

“We’ll talk more later!” Kylun exclaimed as he quickly leapt through a nearby open window. Bolt cursed under his breath and knew he was going to have to meet up with his teammates.

Night Thrasher kicked Mimic in the stomach and sent Calvin doubling over. Quickly throwing a punch Mimic asked, “What happened to your big clunky armor?”

“Figured I’d go a bit more traditional,” Night Thrasher replied as he leapt past an ice blast from Mimic and flipped himself over the mutant’s head. Dwayne slammed two titanium nightsticks into the mutant’s face in mid-flip. Calvin went flying back into the ground blood flowing freely from his nose and mouth. Dwayne knew he didn’t have much room to manuver since they were fighting in a mine. It was the place he had hoped to hide the X-Camp kids, but obviously the staff caught wind of his plan. Now he was trying to fight Mimic without bringing down this old mine around their heads.

“That hurt like hell,” Mimic moaned as he rose up from the ground. He fired off a volley of red optic blasts Dwayne’s way. With skill that would make most gymnasts weep he dodged every blast except for one that hit him in the right shoulder. Night Thrasher fell back into the ground and quickly found Mimic on him pummeling him with blows.

Dwayne reached into his back pocket and produced a syringe. Stabbing it into Mimic’s exposed thigh he laughed, “That’s enough sedative to make an elephant look like he’s having a hangover.”

Mimic only managed to take two steps back before he fell unconscious.

“Maybe I should have stuck with you all along,” Night Thraser said patting his old uniform with pride.

Trying to rise up Dwayne found himself unable to move at all. He was stuck without being able to make the slightest move. All the other New Warriors, X-Camp staff and students found that they couldn’t move either. Except for Donny and Lorna.

“It’s time to make way for the new,” Donny said cracking his knuckles as Lorna moved to stand next to him.

“I’m going to lead the X-Camp kids with Lorna here to newfound glory. We’re going to make our mark on the world of mutants and it won’t ever be erased. Now show the ‘heroes’ what you’re all about Lorna,” Donny ordered with a malicious smile.

“My pleasure,” Lorna said as she rose into the air purple energy billowing off of her.