Standard disclaimers:  X-Men, Generation X and all related 
characters are the property of Marvel Comics. No copyright 
infringement is intended.

This story and all original characters are the products of a deranged 
imagination and way too much caffeine.

Allow me to apologize in advance for my Spanish - I know it's 
horrible. 
________

To Hell and Back: Part Two



October 8, 1994

"Something's going on out there."

"So what else is new? Something's always going on out there, chica, 
and it's never anything good for us. So stop daydreaming and get back 
to work. We've only got an hour of sunlight left."

"I am *not* daydreaming! And something is really going on out there, 
Ange! People are running around and I hear screaming." She cast him 
a worried glance. "What do you think it is?"

Angelo Espinosa smiled at the young girl standing across from him. 
Her name was Jubilee and that was all she'd tell him, even after five 
months of what he'd like to call friendship. He figured it was short for 
Jubilation, he'd known a girl back home with that name. He knew 
nothing else about her though, just that her family had been killed in 
one of the last cullings before the Kelly Pact was enacted and she'd 
survived because she was a mutant. He didn't know what her power 
was, although it probably wasn't anything spectacular since she was 
in the genepool and not the training for Apocalypse's personal cadre 
or the army. She was Asian, maybe Chinese, but her blue eyes seemed 
to imply American heritage too. And she spoke with a definite 
California accent. A valley girl. At least she was young enough to 
loose her former way of life and adjust to the pens. 

Was that a good thing?

"It's what it always is," he finally said. "The guards are dragging some 
poor hombre off to the labs and whoever it is decided to put up a 
fight. I hope he lands a few good hits."

Jubilee sighed. "It's not, Ange. Listen and you'll hear it. They're not 
fighting, they're hurrying. They're doing something."

Angelo had to admit she was right. It *did* sound like the guards 
were rushing to get some job finished on time. "It's not important, 
Jube. Either way, we can't do anything about it."

"But don't you want to?" Jubilee asked. "Doesn't it bother you, sitting 
down here doing *nothing* every day?"

"We aren't doing nothing," Angelo told her. "We're staying alive. 
Quite an accomplishment considering the circumstances."

"Ohhh," Jubilee sighed. "You're impossible."

Angelo grinned. "No kidding, amiga. Now grab the rest of the food 
and get a move on. Claudia's waiting."

***

Claudia was indeed waiting, as were the fifteen other young men and 
women that made up their little group. Most of them were people 
Angelo had known before being captured and thrown into the pens. 
Some were old friends, others were former fellow gang members. The 
rest he'd met after arriving here, many under the same circumstances 
he'd met Jubilee. They'd all joined together to survive in the harsh 
environment of the genepens. They'd become something of a family.

Such as it was.

Angelo and Jubilee carefully stacked the food in what was jokingly 
called the kitchen. In truth, it was just the area they usually ate in. 
There wasn't even a firepit to warm the food the guards gave them.

Claudia was the 'den-mother' as she called herself. The oldest of 
Angelo's group, Claudia took it upon herself to watch after the other 
seventeen kids. At times, as Angelo more than once complained, she 
took her job as mother a little *too* seriously.

Right then, Claudia was too busy tending the food to pay attention to 
much else. Three other members of the group stood around her, silent 
warning to the other prisoners to back off. The pens were crowded on 
a good day, and when food was involved, they seemed to gain five or 
six hundred people. 

Claudia glanced over the food they'd brought back. "This is all they 
were giving out, huh?" she sighed. "I guess I can do *something* with 
this."

"Since when do the guards serve gourmet meals?" Angelo asked. "And 
we have all the faith in you, Claud. If you can't turn trash into 
leftovers, I'll eat my hat."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. You could at least pretend that 
something edible will come out of all this."

"Nine months you've been trying and it ain't happened yet."

"Jubilee, honey, hit him for me, okay?"

Jubilee snorted. "Leave me out of this. I know what you two-"

Anything could have happened next. Teasing. An argument. A 
prisoner fight.

The explosion was a bit unexpected though.

The thundering noise was almost deafening and through the grill at 
the top of the pit the fiery red and orange hues of fire could be seen. 
As the noise died away, screams reached the prisoners and bits of 
rubble and debris rained down into the pit.

Angelo reached over and grabbed both Claudia and Jubilee, shoving 
them against the wall to avoid the still-burning debris as it fell around 
them. From above the screams were replaced by frantically shouted 
orders and the sounds of running feet. 

"Madre de dia," Claudia whispered. The dirt from the walls had 
smudged her face, and her eyes were watering from the dirt and smoke 
that drifted down into the pit. "What's happening?"

There was a sound from above and a shadow fell across them as 
something blocked the light coming in. They all glanced up to see a 
body lay sprawled across the grate directly above them. 

Jubilee moaned softly. Worried Angelo looked over to make sure she 
was all right, even as she jumped away. He saw the crimson smear of 
blood across her face and hair and for an instant he was afraid before 
he followed her grimace and realized what had happened. 

The body above was bleeding on her.

He grimaced sympathetically - then grimaced for real when Claudia 
grabbed his arm painfully hard. "Angelo!"

"What is it? What are you trying to do? Rip my arm off?"

"Look at him," Claudia hissed pointing up.

"Do I have to?"

"Angelo! He's not a guard! Look at the uniform he's wearing!"

Claudia was right. The body above them didn't wear the usual colors 
of the guards, red and black. Instead it wore a pale blue uniform with 
some sort of white stripes down the sides and a symbol of some sort 
at the shoulders. An 'X'.

It was over in minutes. The screaming gradually died down and the 
chaos from above stopped. In the sudden quiet Angelo exchanged a 
brief glance with his two friends, and read the hope in their eyes that 
mirrored his.

Above them, two people stepped onto the grate and lifted the body 
away. With a thrum of machinery the grate began to slide back. 
Angelo held still, barely daring to move. Those two people had not 
worn the uniforms of the guards...

A woman jumped down into the pits, golden hair swirling around her 
waist. She stood and Angelo saw that her blue and gold uniform bore 
the same 'X' symbol as the man's above had.

The woman moved carefully, obviously trying not to worry or startle 
anyone. "My name is Dazzler," she said. "And I'm here to help you."

Angelo felt a touch on his arm and looked to see Jubilee watching 
with wide eyes. "Ange, her uniform-"

"I know, chica," Angelo whispered. "The X-Men."
________


To be continued...